Agenda item

A report by the Director of Finance and Support Services setting out the performance and finance position as at the end of June 2019.

23.1   The Committee considered a report by the Director of Finance and Support Services(copy appended to the signed minutes) which was introduced by the Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources who told the Committee: -

·       The Total Performance Monitor (TPM) sets out how funds will be found to make all services, especially Children’s Services and the Fire & Rescue Service, the best they can be

·       It was possible that some money from reserves would be needed this year to balance the budget

·       Work was on-going to find ways to mitigate the predicted overspend

23.2   The Director of Finance and Support Services told the Committee: -

·       There had been positive discussions about identifying possible underspends

·       There were proposals to utilise capital receipts flexibly to finance transformation

23.3   The Cabinet Member for Corporate Relations updated the Committee on the Whole Council Design (WCD) project saying: -

·       The Council was trying to generate savings by changing how it delivered services via a more flexible workforce, more efficient use of technology to support residents and reducing administrative functions

·       Expectations were high, but some money had been diverted to Children’s Services which affected the delivery of WCD

·       There was scope to review how the programme was administered

·       WCD was an essential programme with potential to produce long-term savings

23.4   Summary of responses to Members’ questions and comments: -

·       The budget set out for the Children’s Improvement Plan is based on information to date, if the Commissioner identifies other issues these will need to be funded. This may mean using reserves.

·       There was concern about finding future savings without knock-on effects – savings proposals were always challenged by Cabinet Members, and officers should be thanked for finding possibilities in an extremely difficult situation

·       There was concern that the TPM presented to the Committee was out of date – better scheduling of meetings or an update paper would be useful

·       The Children & Young People’s Services Select Committee had looked at the lack of capacity in schools for children with special needs and learned that five special support centres had been set-up this year and that more would follow – this should reduce the number of children being placed out of county

·       The new appraisal system aimed to be beneficial to staff, managers and ultimately residents

·       The number of officers completing appraisals was as expected for a new system

·       Any concerns with resourcing the new appraisal system and non-performance should be passed to the Director of Human Resources and Organisational Change

·       Concerns around the predicted savings linked to the Shaw Homes contract should be raised with the Executive Director for People Services via the Health & Adult Social Care Select Committee

·       The Cabinet Member for Corporate Relations would provide a response to concerns about money being spent on new office furniture when the Council’s budget was strained

·       The Council was not completely struggling to identify the £1.5m savings for 2019/20 identified through the WCD programme and was offering up targets on a year by year basis to avoid any non-achievement of savings

·       Proposals for WCD needed to be developed fully through business cases before possible staff reductions were known

·       A timetable was being developed to give assurance and confidence that the WCD savings identified in the Medium-Term Financial Strategy for 2020-21 (£5.3m) and 2021-22 (£3.5m) were achievable as there are issues achieving the savings identified for 2019/20. Work is also on-going to improve the monitoring of the programme.

·       Delivery plans for WCD were being strengthened and a lot of positive work had taken place improving online accessibility for residents

·       The changes being made through WCD should be better publicised

·       The Committee supported WCD, but felt more urgency and focus was required and wanted to see more detail on the programme costs and savings

23.5   Resolved: - that the Committee: -

     i.        Asks the Health & Adult Social Care Select Committee to look into issues around the Shaw Homes contract

    ii.        Recognises the continuing challenge to achieve savings

  iii.        Supports the Whole Council Design programme, but needs more insight and asks for more in-depth information on expenditure and savings at a future meeting of the committee

  iv.        Feels that Committee meetings should be scheduled closer to publication of the Total Performance Monitor or an update paper produced if the report is out of date