Agenda item

The Commission considered a report of the Chief Executive and Director of Corporate Resources concerning the overall position on the Medium Term Financial Strategy for 2008/09 to 2010/11. A copy of the report marked ‘C’ is filed with these minutes. Appended to the report were the following documents:-

i)                    the Medium Term Financial Strategy which had been approved by the Cabinet on 10^th January as a basis for consultation;

ii)                  a supplementary report of the Director of Corporate Resources setting out additional information that had become available since the MTFS was approved by the Cabinet on 10^th January;

iii)                the comments of the following Overview and Scrutiny Committees:-

·        Community Services;

·        Adult Social Care and Health;

·        Children and Young People’s Service;

·        Environment.

The Director of Resources drew the Commission’s attention to the changes that had taken place since the Cabinet report had been written. This would result in a net additional spend of £193,000. This additional expenditure would be met from the £1million set aside in the budget for the LAA and service improvements. He also advised that the Council’s contribution to the flood defence levy had reduced by £60,000.

The Leader advised the Commission as follows:-

i)          Delivering cashable efficiency savings was necessary to:

·              deliver the MTFS with lower council tax increases and service improvements

·              meet the Government’s efficiency target;

·              retain the Council’s 4 star ‘value for money’ rating.

ii)         Achieving the efficiency savings would not be easy. He drew a distinction between savings which involved service reconfiguration (most likely in the case of adult social care) and those which would be invisible to service users and members. In the case of the latter he suggested that these should be left to officers to implement and manage. He gave an assurance that if changes affecting service users were being proposed a report be brought to the Scrutiny Commission and the relevant Overview and Scrutiny Committees in the summer setting out areas which were being considered.

            The Chairman of the Commission suggested that it would be helpful for each Overview and Scrutiny Committee to discuss, in a workshop setting, issues and challenges facing relevant services following the Annual Meeting of the Council.

The Commission was also advised of a proposal to be considered by the Cabinet to allocate an additional £200,000 to expand an existing youth work team (the Impact Project) which worked with young people to dissuade them from becoming involved in anti-social behaviour and crime. The Commission asked that details of the proposals should be circulated to members.

In response to questions, the Commission was advised as follows:-

i)                    Government efficiency targets were based on net expenditure and, as such, it was considered important to ensure that clear efficiency targets were set for each service area which could then be scrutinised. These efficiency targets were particularly challenging and, in recognition of the risk associated with their achievement in 2010 and subsequent years, a contingency had been built into the budget. The Change Programme was instrumental in assisting the Council to deliver cashable savings but also to look critically at how services were provided to ensure service improvements. Discussions would take place with other Authorities to share experience and good practice, as appropriate;

ii)                  good progress had been made with neighbouring City and County authorities including Leicester City Council, on the shared services agenda. Work was in hand to engage further with District Councils on this agenda but, so far, the District response had generally been disappointing.

iii)                The Cabinet on 11^th February would consider the initiative to extend the Impact Project which worked with young people to dissuade them from becoming involved in anti-social behaviour and crime, and then come to a view as to how this might be funded.

With regard to the views of the Scrutiny Committees, the following points were highlighted by members of the Commission which the Leader undertook to draw to attention of the Cabinet:-

i)                    the need for further investment in highways drainage as a flood alleviation measure;

ii)                  the proposals from the Community Services Scrutiny Committee on closer working with the City Council including developments linked to the ’Curve’ (the new Performing Arts Centre);

iii)                the implications of the decision of the Arts Council to withdraw funding for the Literature Support Officer.

RESOLVED:

That the report and information now provided on the Medium Term Financial Strategy be noted and that the comments now made including those of the Scrutiny Committees be forwarded to the Cabinet.