Agenda and draft minutes

Members are asked to declare any interests in the items under consideration and in doing so state:

(1) the type of interest concerned either a

(a)   personal interest

(b)   prejudicial interest

(c)    disclosable pecuniary interest (DPI)

and

(2) the nature of the interest concerned

If any member requires advice on declarations of interests, they are advised to contact the Head of Democratic Governance in advance of the meeting.

There were no declarations of interest on this occasion.

To agree the minutes of the last meeting held on 17 October 2023 as a true and correct record.

The Committee agreed that the minutes of the last meeting held on 17 October 2023 be signed by the Chair as a true and correct record.

To report the level of spending and exposure against the Council’s Revenue budgets and reserves and balances for the first 9 months to 31 July 2023.  The report also includes an update on the Medium Term Financial Plan 2024/25 – 2026/27.

Mr Steve Thompson, Director of Resources provided a comprehensive overview of the financial performance monitoring as at Month 9. He noted that the Board had last received the monitoring information at Month 4 when a £5.1 million overspend had been forecast. At Month 9, the overspend had significantly reduced to £1.8 million with working balances of £5 million.

The pressures in Children’s and Adult Services remained. However, after significant efforts to manage demand in Children’s Social Care, the number of children in residential placements was reducing. The overspends in these two service areas, which comprised 75% of the Council budget, were being offset by other areas such as treasury management.

Mr Thompson highlighted that the Executive received financial monitoring information from Month 3 to Month 10 with the data presented in the same way every month in order to provide consistent reporting allowing for the identification of trends. The information presented also included an aggregate position of the Council’s wholly-owned companies, the income and expenditure of all services and the performance of key income streams including Council Tax, the Council Tax Reduction Scheme and Business Rate collection.

It was reported that the draft Month 10 data indicated further improvement to the financial position and a positive trajectory and Mr Thompson identified that reserves were currently at an acceptable level. He also highlighted that 45 Councils were known to be in financial distress.

The Chair highlighted the role of the Scrutiny Leadership Board in providing an independent review of the financial and operational performance of Council services.

Members noted that it had been indicated that the Medium Term Financial Plans of Children’s and Adults’ Services should be considered by the relevant scrutiny committees and queried how often it would be appropriate to do so and in what timescale they could be presented. Mr Thompson noted the request and advised that he would seek to identify with the relevant directors when they would be available for scrutiny.

In response to a question regarding the current risk appetite of the Council, Mr Thompson advised that he would not want earmarked reserves to fall lower than their current level of £28 million and that approximately £10 million of that total related to insurance. He noted that Leisure Assets had made an in year surplus for the first time and it was hoped that this would continue and add to reserves in future years.

Growth and Prosperity was also highlighted as an area with future potential and it was noted that the service also had its own Medium Term Financial Plan. Mr Thompson advised that it was a significantly different type of Plan to that in Children’s and Adults’ Services and it would not provide an accurate picture for scrutiny due to timing. It was noted that Mr Thompson would refer the Plan to scrutiny if in the future he considered it would be beneficial.

The Board considered the previous low interest rates and recent increases. In response, Mr Thompson advised that it was expected  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

To consider for approval the scoping document for the proposed Council Tax Scrutiny Review.

The Board considered and approved the proposed Council Tax Scrutiny Review document.

To conisder the proposed questions to be asked as part of the Scrutiny Self-Assessment 2024.

The Board considered the proposed scrutiny self-assessment for 2024 and considered that it had the right mix of questions to ascertain progress. It was requested that a version for officers also be produced.

To receive an update from the Committee Chairs and Vice Chairs on the work of their Committees and consider the workplan of the Scrutiny Leadership Board for the remainder of the 2023/2024 Municipal Year.

The Chair of the Board requested that for future meetings, the Committee Chairs in conjunction with the Vice- Chairs and members of the Committee provide a written statement for inclusion on the agenda setting out the progress of each Committee, learning of what had gone well and not so well and the identification of any barriers.

An update was provided on the work of the Children and Young People’s Scrutiny Committee and it was noted that an informal meeting had been held to discuss the potential for the provision of Council-owned Children’s homes. It was noted that Government research had indicated that often local authorities were not particularly good at running children’s homes and it was unlikely to be more financially efficient than utilising private sector accommodation, however, Members held felt it could be useful to consider the potential models that other local authorities were using.

The area of Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) had also been identified as of concern and this topic would be potentially included within the workplan with a review of previous work undertaken being considered. There was the potential for joint working with the Adult Social Care and Health Scrutiny Committee on this matter.

The Chair also highlighted that he intended to meet with each Committee Member to ascertain skills and explore the structure of the meetings.

In relation to the Climate Change and Environment Scrutiny Committee, the Chair advised that the previous meeting had been full of well-considered questions. A series of briefing sessions and reports had been received during the first six months of the Municipal Year which had provided a good information basis for Members.

The Chair of the Committee added that he also intended to speak with Committee Members to assess skills and determine whether it would be appropriate to appoint subject leads in certain areas.

With regards to the Adult Social Care and Health Scrutiny Committee it was noted that work continued to build the relationship with the Integrated Care Board with consistency in staff of all NHS organisations noted as a challenge for the Committee. Key areas of focus included dentistry, the Carers Strategy and also improving the relationship with Healthwatch who could be a good resource for the Committee.

The new Chair of the Levelling Up Scrutiny Committee advised that he had reviewed the workplan and wished for it to be as reflective and adaptive as possible with the regular verbal levelling up update now provided as an exceptions report. It was noted that the Oral Health Strategy as a Public Health strategy was on the workplan of the Committee and that an informal meeting would be sought with the Adult Social Care and Health Scrutiny Committee in due course to consider the matter as a cross-cutting issue.

An overview was also provided of the Audit Committee and it was noted that problems identified by scrutiny could be referred to Audit and vice versa, areas for potential improvement could be referred from Audit to scrutiny.

The  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

To note the date and time of the next meeting is subject to confirmation at Annual Council.

It was noted that the date and time of the next meeting was subject to agreement at Annual Council.