Issue - meetings

To consider a report by the Assistant Director, Finance and Resources.

Recommended the draft Medium Term Plan to Council as a basis for the development of the 2014/2015 budget and the revised Medium Term Plan 2015/2019.

Consideration was given to a report by the Assistant Director, Finance and Resources (a copy of which is appended in the Minute Book) setting out the draft budget for 2014/2015 and the Medium Term Plan (MTP) for the period 2014 – 2019.

An addendum to the report was also circulated outlining the impact on revenue savings of the Government’s announcement in the Autumn Statement that the pooling of the New Homes Bonus would now only apply to authorities within the London Local Enterprise Partnership. Executive Councillors were advised that despite this announcement, the Council would still need to achieve savings of £3.6m by 2018/19. In that respect, the Cabinet reiterated that the Facing the Future process would continue and remained an important element of the savings programme.

With regard to the proposed variations within the Base Budget, attention was drawn to those items identified as an extra cost or reduced income. With reference to the charge for second green bins, Members were informed that the income target did not reflect the revenue savings anticipated from reusing returned bins.  Members referred to the cost of providing wheeled bins to new properties.  Executive Councillors were reminded that the Developer Contributions SPD 2011 required new housing development to make a contribution towards the provision of residential wheeled bins.  Having been advised that this only applied to new housing applications received after January 2013, the Cabinet were of the view that the cost of providing any new bin should be recouped from either the developer or house owner.

In relation to the targeted savings, the Cabinet revisited the decision not to provide grants to Town and Parish Councils to offset the implications of the Government’s Local Council Tax Support Scheme on their precepts. In that respect, Executive Councillors commented on the importance of all levels of authorities making efficiencies and referred again to the concept of localism.

Members’ attention was drawn to the conclusions reached by the Overview and Scrutiny Panel (Economic Well-Being).  In that respect, the Cabinet confirmed that provision would need to be made in the Medium Term Plan for costs arising from the potential redevelopment of Wyton Airfield over the period 2014/2017 and that the outcome of the pay review and senior management review would be reflected in the final budget report to Council in February 2014, the Cabinet

RESOLVED

  (a)  that the contents of the report now submitted be noted; and

  (b)  that the draft Medium Term Plan be recommended to Council as a basis for the development of the 2014/2015 budget and the revised Medium Term Plan 2015/2019.

To consider a report by the Assistant Director (Finance & Resources).

(All Members of the Council have been invited to attend for the discussion on this item).

(Councillor J A Gray, Executive Councillor for Resources, was in attendance for this item from 7.15pm).

With the assistance of a report by the Assistant Director (Finance and Resources) (a copy of which is appended in the Minute Book), the Panel considered proposed variations to the new Budget and Medium Term Plan. Given that the Local Government draft settlement had not yet been published, the Facing the Future reviews were only partially complete and other key financial data was not yet available, a draft Budget for 2014/15 and a Medium Term Plan had not yet been produced.

By way of introduction, Members were informed that the Government had announced through the Autumn Statement that a portion of the New Homes Bonus would not now be given to Local Enterprise Partnerships. Although this reduced the level of savings that would be needed, the Council would still need to make adjustments of £3.6M by 2018/18. The Autumn Statement contained a number of other changes that would have an impact on the Council but details were not available at this stage.

The Executive Councillor stated that despite the announcement on the New Homes Bonus, the Authority still faced a significant task to identify savings and the Facing the Future process would continue for this purpose. He emphasised that the Cabinet wanted to safeguard the Council’s long term financial stability and to ensure that it was to cope with any changes in circumstances. He expressed his appreciation of the Panel’s ongoing assistance with this task, particularly through the Facing the Future process.

Having noted that the date of the announcement of the Local Government draft settlement was still unknown, Members’ attention was drawn to the impact of the Autumn Statement on the Authority’s revenue savings requirement to 2017/18. It was also explained that a number of the more straightforward issues which had been identified from the Facing the Future process had been incorporated into the proposed variations (Annex D). The remainder would be included as they were clarified and identified.

The Panel proceeded to examine the proposed variations for inclusion within the new Budget and Medium Term Plan. Members discussed building control income, District elections savings, reduced income from recycling credits and the charge for the second green bin. They were then informed that a report would be submitted to the Cabinet on the reasons for additional capital costs incurred by the St Ivo Leisure Centre re-developments.

The Panel reviewed the progress of targeted savings (Annex C), in particular those to be achieved through outsourcing / shared services. Having been advised of the work which was ongoing to produce detailed business cases for some services, Members questioned the extent to which the figures within the report were robust. With reference to their Facing the Future discussions on the Information Management Division, they were reminded that, in the absence of a list of the service’s on-going projects, it had not been possible to make a recommendation on its future. This message would be conveyed to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 62