Venue: Sparkenhoe Committee Room, County Hall, Glenfield
Contact: Mr. S. J. Weston (Tel: 0116 305 6226) Email: sam.weston@leics.gov.uk
No. | Item |
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In Attendance: Mr P. C. Osborne CC – Cabinet Lead Member
for Economic Development (support to the Leader) Mr B. L. Pain CC – Cabinet Lead Member
Highways and Transportation (both members present for Minute 34) |
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Minutes: The minutes of the meeting held on 5 July 2013 were taken as read, confirmed and signed. |
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Question Time. Minutes: The Chief Executive reported that no questions had been received under Standing Order 35. |
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Questions asked by members. Minutes: The Chief Executive reported that no questions had been received under Standing Order 7(3) and 7(5). |
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Urgent Items. Minutes: There were no urgent items for consideration. |
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Declarations of interest. Minutes: The Chairman invited members who wished to do so to declare any interest in respect of items on the agenda for the meeting. The following
members declared personal interests in relation to monitoring report on the
Medium Term Financial Strategy 2013/ as members of District Council’s given
that the report refers at various places to arrangements for the collection of
local council tax:- Mrs. R. Camamile CC Dr. R. K. A. Feltham CC Mr S. Galton CC Mr. S. J. Hampson CC Dr. S. Hill CC Mr. Max Hunt CC Mr. K. W. P. Lynch CC Mr. R. J. Shepherd CC Mr. L. Spence CC |
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Declarations of the Party Whip. Minutes: There were no declarations of the party whip. |
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Presentation of Petitions. Minutes: The Chief Executive reported that no petitions had been received under Standing Order 36. |
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2013/14 Medium Term Financial Strategy Monitoring (Period 4). Additional documents:
Minutes: The Commission
considered a report of the Director of Corporate Resources which provided an
update on the 2013/14 revenue budget and capital programme. The report also set
out:- i) recommendations to be made to the Cabinet
on 13th September regarding the use of projected revenue underspends
to fund ‘invest to save initiatives; ii) the outcome of a review of the deliverability
of the capital programme and a revised capital programme for approval. A copy of the
report marked ‘1’ is filed with these minutes. Revenue Budget In introducing
the report the Director of Corporate Resources drew attention to Appendix 1
which set out the difference between the projected outturn and original budget.
In particular he drew attention to a projected overspend
of £3,000,000 in the Adults and Communities Department which was offset by
underspends elsewhere the most significant of which were the following:- Centrally Managed Schools Budget -£530,000 Children and Young People’s Services -£580,000 Corporate Resources -£610,000 Contingency for Efficiency Savings -£4,460,000 Contingency for Inflation -£1,500,000 Revenue Funding of Capital Spend -£2,500,000 Business Rates Additional Income -£370,000 The effect was a
net underspend of £7,700,000. A report was due to be submitted to the next
Cabinet meeting which would suggest that part of the
underspend be utilised for the following purposes:- ·
A
potential contribution to the City of Culture if the bid was successful; ·
A
£60,000 contribution to the Bradgate trust to enable the purchase of some land
adjacent to Swithland Wood; ·
Funding
for two highway projects namely bridge strengthening at Zouch
and for further development of the Leicester and Leicestershire Integrated
Transport Model (LLITM); ·
Utilisation
of outstanding underspends towards either the repayment of pension liabilities
or to repay debt. With regard to
the proposed suggestions for utilising the underspends a number of members were
of the view that this should be considered in the context of the responses to
the consultation on the MTFS and the significant budgetary pressures faced in
Adult Social Care. In this regard the following points were made:- ·
Whilst
recognising that the City of ·
Some
concern was expressed about further investment in the LLITM and members were of
the view that a clear business case needed to be made before additional
resources were made available. On the issue of
localisation of council tax collection, the Commission welcomed the additional
investment of £50,000 to engage an external company to undertake checks on
single person discounts. Whilst noting that risks to the collection fund
balances were being monitored there remained some concern regarding future
years when existing government support for the scheme was phased out. The consultation
currently underway regarding the New Homes Bonus was a concern as it could have
a significant adverse effect on the County Council particularly if the
Government were to opt for a 100% top slice from County Council. The Commission
was reassured that the underspends in the Early Years and Childcare, Short
breaks for disabled children were as a result of lower demand and not a
reduction in service. Similarly, the demand for Community Care and Crises Loans
had been lower than anticipated and the £200,000 contingency that had been set
aside would not be required. The overspend in Adults Social Care was primarily as a result of significantly lower than expected savings being achieved in the ‘Effective Support Efficiency Programme’. That programme had anticipated savings in the order of £6,500,000 resulting from a reassessment of client needs and investment in less expensive preventative services. To date savings ... view the full minutes text for item 33. |
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Workshop: Economic Development. A
presentation will be delivered under this item. The
Cabinet Lead Member for Transport, Mr. P. C. Osborne CC and Cabinet Lead Member
for Economic Development, Mr. B. L. Pain CC have been
invited for this item. Minutes: The Commission
received a presentation which provided an update on economic development
priorities and in particular progress in relation to the City Deal and the
Local Transport Board. A copy of the presentation is filed with these minutes. The Chairman welcomed
to the meeting Messrs Osborne and Pain who had kindly agreed to attend the
meeting and assist the Commission in its deliberations. Arising from the
discussion and questions the Commission was advised as follows: City Deal ·
The City
Deal would be considered by the City Council, the County Council and the
District Councils prior to the submission of a Draft Negotiation document to
the Government in late October. The Leaders of each of these Councils had been
involved in the preparation of the document and were supportive of the way
forward. One of the key challenges was to get agreement to governance
arrangements which conformed to the Government’s requirements of a body which
could deliver binding decision making; ·
At
this stage it was envisaged that the delegation to meet with the Deputy Prime
Minister and other Ministers regarding the City Deal Negotiation Document would
involve key political leaders (such as the City Mayor, the Leader of the County
Council and a district council leader), the Chairman of the LEP, and senior
representatives from the business and academic sectors. The final decision on
City Deal was expected by the end of the year; ·
The
focus of the City Deal document had changed since its first iteration. It now
focussed on supporting people into jobs and job creation through business
growth as the issues around infrastructure were being dealt with through other
mechanisms and funding streams; ·
The
EU Structural and Investment Fund opportunity for the sub-region included a
requirement to invest in supporting the
low carbon economy and this could be used to help and support businesses
become more energy efficient and hence drive down costs; Members welcomed
the new focus of City Deal and in particular the focus on supporting people
into employment and signposting/brokerage support for local businesses. Local
Transport Board ·
The
County and City Council as Local Transport Authorities were now major scheme
sponsors and the role of the LTB would consider the business case for schemes
put forward. The decision of the LTB needed to have regard to the DFT Assurance
Framework if the LTB were to be successful in any future bid; ·
The
two schemes ‘approved’ by the LTB, namely improvements to the A50 and A6 corridors
had been put forward by the County Council but had received full support from
the City Council. The scope of the schemes would extend beyond the County
boundary into the outskirts of the City. Section 106 Funding and mainstream
County and City funds would also be used for the proposed schemes; ·
Further
work was currently underway to ensure that the LTB was supported in its
decision making by officers of both Councils as well as having access to
independent technical and financial advice. RESOLVED: That the update
now provided on economic development priorities, the City Deal and the Local
Transport Board, be noted. |
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Date of next meeting and Schedule of Meetings for 2014. The
next meeting of the Commission is scheduled to take place on 6 November at
2.00pm. The following meetings have been scheduled to take
place in 2014 (meetings to commence at 2.00pm): 29 January 26 February 26 March 30 April 4 June 3 September 5 November Minutes: It was NOTED that
the next meeting of the Commission would be held on 6th November at The following
meeting dates were AGREED for 2014 (all meetings to commence at ·
29th
January ·
26th
February ·
26th
March ·
30th
April ·
4th
June ·
3rd
September ·
5th
November |