Agenda item

To consider the level of spending against the Council’s Revenue and Capital budgets for the first nine months to 31 December 2017.

Mr Thompson, Director of Resources presented the level of spending against the Council’s Revenue and Capital budgets for the first nine months to 31 December 2017.

Members expressed concern regarding the PAUSE project and removing children at birth from families which could be considered an extreme measure and would be costly. Councillor Campbell, Deputy Leader of the Council clarified that there were many young vulnerable women who had had several children placed into care upon birth. The PAUSE project aimed to work with these families to reduce and prevent similar issues arising, e.g. by reducing pregnancies through the use of Long Acting Reversible Contraceptives (LARCs). She added that there was a range of work to effectively support families and the best options needed to be pursued. The PAUSE project had secured a 97% success rate in one London borough.

Members referred to the overspend due to reduced income within Print Services and the service review which had been ongoing for some time. Mr Thompson confirmed that the review had completed and the proposed budget for 2018-2019 was more appropriate. He gave assurance that there would be no future overspend.

Members queried the £164k borrowing charge relating to Bonny Street. Mr Thompson explained that this related to debt financing of the new police head-quarters and would be managed within the proposed budget for 2018-2019. The old Bonny Street building would be demolished for development.

Members enquired whether Government was still being lobbied for increased funding and the response. Mr Thompson advised that work was ongoing with the Local Government Association and supporting information was being developed by the University of Huddersfield. A joint letter had also been sent, by Portfolio Holders and Directors of Children’s Services from across the North West, to Government seeking support to respond to the national pressures facing Children’s Services.

Members referred to the impact of budget pressures on staff morale. Mr Thompson explained that staff recognised that most services had had to reduce spending and that Children’s Services needed time for improvement and demand reduction strategies to have a significant impact. He added that Looked After Children numbers had been slowly decreasing although had risen again recently. The budget overspend had therefore increased.  It was noted that there continued to be more complex cases and placements required out of Blackpool. Alternative care options were being considered to reduce costs and cases would be ‘stepped down’ when safe and appropriate.

Members were concerned that £2.5m had been transferred from the Education Basic Needs Funding to Children’s Services and commented that it appeared to be a large amount to move away from its original intended purpose. Members also noted that performance standards in some secondary schools needed to be improved and suggested that such funding could have been used to support improved class sizes. Members added that support for mental health issues in schools should also be considered and funded.

Mr Thompson explained that the funding had been allocated for the fabric of buildings and to help provide sufficient school places and resource. He advised that all local secondary schools and a large number of primary schools had now become independent academy trusts. However, the funding had not been ring-fenced although remained within the Children’s Services budget to help tackle critical pressures. He reported that there were a range of initiatives to support the mental health needs of children such as the Head Start programme for emotional resilience. Councillor Campbell added that the Head Start programme was proving effective and that more effective support was needed at primary school level to help prepare children for secondary school. Mr Thompson added that there would be additional Basic Needs Funding for 2018-2019.

Members referred to the Council Tax Reduction Scheme which was meant to support vulnerable people through appropriate discounts and noted that the level of discount had more than halved in the last year. Members also noted that over 650 summonses had been issued for non-payment of business rates and enquired what payments had been secured.

Mr Thompson reported that overall Council Tax collection rates had increased annually. However, since the Council Tax Reduction Scheme had been introduced in 2013, there had been a growing number of arrears. The collection rate for people on the Reduction Scheme was 60-65% which reduced the overall annual collection rate by approximately 4%. This was a challenge as it involved the most vulnerable people who had no assets. Collection of business rates overall was good and had been increasing by 1.2% annually which was also a good performance. The overall rate demonstrated a buoyant local business sector. There were a few defaulters who were positively pursued regularly with good outcomes.

Members had a lengthy discussion on the usage of Members’ ward budgets. There appeared to some correlation between the most underspent budgets and the most deprived wards although this varied. Members recognised that budgets could be carried forward for a year and acknowledged that money needed to be spent on the best value projects. However, more might need to be done to ensure that all Members were proactively promoting awareness and use of their budgets. Councillor Campbell undertook to encourage all Members to ensure their budgets were used effectively.