Meeting documents
Finance and Best Value Overview and Scrutiny Committee
Tuesday, 19th June 2007
Present
Chair
CM Teggin
Councillors
SA Brown, FM Doyle, DM Elderton, J Hale, AER Jones, ED Prout
Index to Minutes
- Minute 1 - DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST/PARTY WHIP
- Minute 2 - MINUTES
- Minute 3 - APPOINTMENT OF VICE CHAIR
- Minute 4 - SCRUTINY ISSUES AND COMMITTEE WORK PROGRAMME 2007/2008
- Minute 5 - FINANCIAL MONITORING STATEMENT
- Minute 6 - MONITORING REPORTS
- Minute 7 - PROJECTED BUDGET 2008-2011
- Minute 8 - RESTRUCTURE OF THE PROCURE TO PAY SERVICE
- Minute 9 - COMPREHENSIVE PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT USE OF RESOURCES ACTION PLAN PROGRESS
- Minute 10 - FINANCIAL MONITORING SUMMARY
- Minute 11 - CAPITAL MONITORING SUMMARY
- Minute 12 - SERVICE RE-ENGINEERING SUMMARY
- Minute 13 - MEMBERS TRAINING
Minute 1 - DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST/PARTY WHIP
Minute Text :
Members were asked to consider whether they had personal or prejudicial interests in connection with any item(s) on this agenda and, if so, to declare them and state what they were. Members were reminded that they should also declare, pursuant to paragraph 18 of the Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rules, whether they were subject to a party whip in connection with any item(s) to be considered and, if so, to declare it and state the nature of the whipping arrangement.
No such declarations were made.
Minute 2 - MINUTES
Minute Text :
Minute Decision :
Resolved - That the minutes of the meeting held on 4 April 2007, having been received or approved by the Council, be received.
Minute 3 - APPOINTMENT OF VICE CHAIR
Minute Text :
The Head of Legal and Member Services requested that the Committee give consideration to the appointment of a Vice-Chair.
On a motion by Councillor Jones, seconded by Councillor Brown, it was -
Minute Decision :
Resolved - That Councillor F Doyle be appointed Vice-Chair for the ensuing municipal year.
Minute 4 - SCRUTINY ISSUES AND COMMITTEE WORK PROGRAMME 2007/2008
Minute Text :
The Head of Legal and Member Services submitted the CfPS document 'Prioritising Topics for Scrutiny' and requested that the Committee consider its scrutiny work programme for 2007/2008. In order to provide members with an indication of those areas which may be of concern for the scrutiny function, the Director of Finance outlined the major issues which affected the Finance Department in 2007/2008 that were within the remit of the Committee.
Minute Decision :
Resolved - That the following issues form the basis of the scrutiny work programme for 2007/2008 -
(i) Budget 2008/2009
(ii) Achievement of Service Re-engineering Savings 2007/2008
(iii) Achievement of Efficiency Plan savings 2008/2011
(iv) Progress against the Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA) Use of Resources (UoR) Action Plan
(v) Benefits Subsidy
(vi) Local Pay Review and issues associated with Job Evaluation and Equal Pay
(vii) Achievement of savings from improved procurement
Minute 5 - FINANCIAL MONITORING STATEMENT
Minute Text :
The Director of Finance provided a summary in tabular format of the current position of the Authority revenue accounts and General Fund balances. The monitoring statement included the composition of the original 2007/2008 budget by department including agreed Service Re-Engineering (SRE) savings, other savings and policy options; monitoring against the 2007/2008 budget including the financial implications of any decisions by Cabinet; anticipated variance against the original budget; and an explanation of variances and areas identified as requiring further attention. The monitoring statement was based upon the information provided within the departmental financial monitoring reports and was updated and submitted to each meeting of this Committee.
Savings targets, both Service Re-engineering (SRE) and non-SRE were in the process of being implemented, and Members expressed their concern with regard to the achievement of savings by Adult Social Services and Children and Young People, which required to be closely monitored.
Minute Decision :
Resolved -
(1) That the contents of the financial monitoring statement be noted.
(2) That a further update be submitted to the next meeting of this Committee.
(3) That the concerns expressed by members with regard to savings in relation to Adult Social Services and Children and Young People be referred to the Cabinet for consideration of action to be taken to ensure that savings targets are met.
Minute 6 - MONITORING REPORTS
Minute Text :
The Director of Finance presented monitoring reports with regard to -
(a) General Financial Matters - information on the money market key indicators, current interest rates, the Council cash position, the position regarding Council Tax, National Non Domestic Rate, general debt and cash income collection and the payment of Benefits. In response to a comment from a member with regard to a potential shortfall in cash income generated by the Council, the Director indicated that Chief Officers were satisfied that income targets would be met. If they were not, a further report would be presented to a future meeting of the Committee.
(b) Finance Department Financial Monitoring - one of a series of reports to highlight the financial performance of the Finance Department during 2007/2008.
(c) Treasury Management Financial Monitoring - one of a series of reports to highlight the financial performance of the Treasury Management budget during 2007/2008.
(d) Progress made in Corporate Risk and Insurance Management against the objectives for those services and anticipated developments in the coming months.
(e) Finance Department Year End Performance Monitoring 2006/2007.
Minute Decision :
Resolved - That the monitoring reports be noted.
Minute 7 - PROJECTED BUDGET 2008-2011
Minute Text :
The Director of Finance reported that following the Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) being undertaken by the Government, the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) was expected to announce a provisional Local Government Finance settlement for the three year period 2008/2011 and that local authorities would be expected to budget on a three year basis. He set out variations identified for 2008/2011 and referred to a number of other developments which were likely to impact on the financial position of the Authority during that period.
He referred to the Local Pay Review, to the need to increase balances to £5m and to the anticipated levels of Formula Grant. He presented an update of the projected budgets for 2008-2011 and indicated that the gap between projected expenditure and anticipated resources would need to be bridged by a combination of savings and/or increased Council Tax. An Efficiency Plan had been agreed by the Cabinet on 24 January 2007 (minute 227 refers), which aimed to deliver savings of £30m, and Chief Officers were to report to a future meeting of the Cabinet to detail how their apportioned element of the efficiency plan would be delivered.
Minute Decision :
Resolved -
(1) That the projected budget for 2008 to 2011 be updated and reported regularly to the Cabinet.
(2) That the projected budget be incorporated into the Medium Term Financial Strategy for 2008-2011.
Minute 8 - RESTRUCTURE OF THE PROCURE TO PAY SERVICE
Minute Text :
The Director of Finance reported upon the Executive Board decision on 12 April 2007 (minute 294 refers) to approve the review of the procurement and payments sections, which had merged within the Procure to Pay (P2P) Service, to enable better working practices, achieve savings and facilitate the delivery of a key element of the three year Efficiency Plan. The Director commented on the challenges for the service and set out the rationale for the restructure of each section together with the costs of implementation of the proposals.
Minute Decision :
Resolved -
(1) That the revised structure of the P2P Section be noted.
(2) That the detailed staffing proposals be reported to the Employment and Appointments Committee.
Minute 9 - COMPREHENSIVE PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT USE OF RESOURCES ACTION PLAN PROGRESS
Minute Text :
The Director of Finance reported that Use of Resources (UoR) was assessed annually by the Audit Commission, and the UoR assessment provided a judgement of performance over five themes: financial reporting; financial management; financial standing; internal control and value for money. The UoR assessment fed into the overall CPA scoring framework and within this framework the UoR was classed as a level one assessment area, which meant that it had a high weighting within the overall CPA scoring matrix. In 2006, Wirral was assessed as scoring 2 in its UoR assessment, which equated to 'adequate performance' and the Director indicated that the 2007 and 2008 assessments would take place under a harder test regime. An action plan had been devised to provide the continuous improvement that was required and he set out progress that had been made.
Minute Decision :
Resolved -
(1) That the progress in delivering the Use of Resources Action Plan be noted.
(2) That regular update reports be presented to future meetings of the Committee.
Minute 10 - FINANCIAL MONITORING SUMMARY
Minute Text :
The Director of Finance provided a financial monitoring summary report based upon updates on departmental budgets provided by Chief Officers, which included references to growth items (including progress on the implementation of policy options), savings (including separate comments on service re-engineering) and any other variations from the approved budget. Work was continuing on the completion of accounts for 2006/2007, and for 2007/2008 he commented upon progress on the implementation of policy options, the delivery of savings and the impact of Cabinet decisions. Although no variations were reported at this stage of the financial year, he indicated those areas of the budget that had been identified as key risks in the delivery of departmental objectives within the available resources. In response to a comment from a member with regard to PCT debt, the Director indicated that discussions were still ongoing in respect of older cases.
Minute Decision :
Resolved - That the report be noted.
Minute 11 - CAPITAL MONITORING SUMMARY
Minute Text :
The Director of Finance provided a summary of progress being made in the delivery of the agreed capital programme based upon information prepared by each Chief Officer in relation to approval, progress and funding of capital schemes. He provided a summary of resources and expenditure and commented that variations identified resulted in slippage in expenditure from 2006/2007 to 2007/2008, together with associated resources.
Minute Decision :
Resolved - That the report be noted.
Minute 12 - SERVICE RE-ENGINEERING SUMMARY
Minute Text :
The Director of Finance reported upon progress being made by departments in achieving service re-engineering (SRE) savings of £5.35m that were contained within the budget for 2007/2008. He indicated that he had some concerns, as a number of departments had not as yet identified where the required savings would come from and the budget had been prepared on the basis that the gross SRE savings would be achieved. Of the total sum, £1.2m represented an allocation for reinvestment into services and the Director reported that £0.6m had been committed to supporting expenditure.
Minute Decision :
Resolved -
(1) That the Committee remains concerned that SRE savings in the order of £2m are yet to be identified.
(2) That the Director of Adult Social Services and the Director of Children's Services be requested to attend the next meeting of the Committee to explain their strategies for achieving the savings still to be identified.
Minute 13 - MEMBERS TRAINING
Minute Text :
The Director of Finance reported that the revised Use of Resources (UoR) assessment, which formed an integral part of the Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA), included a requirement for members involved in Finance to have undertaken training to enable them to understand the finances of the Council, if the Council was to achieve an improved score of 3 in the UoR. He commented that two finance training sessions had been arranged for members, the first on 26 June would cover the General Fund and the second on 18 July would cover the other funds of the Council. The costs of attendance would be met from the Members Training budget and he urged members to attend if it was possible for them to do so.
Minute Decision :
Resolved - That the report be noted and members be requested to make every effort to attend the training courses.
(Minutes Published: 25 June 2007)