Agenda and minutes

Items which in the opinion of the Chairman should be considered at the meeting as matters of urgency.

There was no item raised as a matter of urgency.

The purpose of this Joint Scrutiny meeting is to enable all Scrutiny Committee Members to consider the Council’s budget proposals, across all service areas, and to examine the implications of those proposals for the Council’s draft revenue budget and capital programme for 2017/18.

The meeting may wish to consider whether it wishes to draw to the attention of the Cabinet any particular issues or make any observations upon the proposals relating thereto.

The detailed budget papers previously considered by individual Scrutiny Committees (referred to below) are enclosed with this Agenda) and the meeting will also be provided, as soon as is practicable, with a summary of any issues or themes identified thereat and by Scrutiny Committee Chairmen & Vice-Chairmen to facilitate and enable discussion of a single, cohesive, set of recommendations to Cabinet and the Council on the overall implications of the budget proposals:

(a)        Health & Wellbeing (CT/17/2);

(b)        Place Services (CT/17/3);

(c )       People’s Services (CT/17/4);

(d)        Corporate Services (CT/17/5).

[NOTES:

1. The Order of Proceedings will be:

·         the Chairman of each Scrutiny Committee will comment on any issue(s) identified by their Committee

·         the Chairman of the meeting will introduce any summary or draft recommendations

·         receipt of public representations/presentations*, if any

·         questions to individual Cabinet Members, if any

·         questions to Leader of the Council, if any

·         general debate

·         summing up/vote

* upon which the meeting may wish to reflect or incorporate in its views to the Cabinet and Council: this is not a facility for persons to ask specific 'questions' requiring detailed answers; rather to enable persons to make representations and /or express views or opinions only]

2. Impact Assessments: Members are requested to bring with them to this meeting the 2017/18 Impact Assessment for all service areas: previously been made available to all Members of the Council in order that members of individual Scrutiny Committees may have had regard to the content thereof for the purpose of those meetings - and also for this Joint meeting - and to all necessary equality impact assessments undertaken as part of the budget’s preparation. This Impact Assessment (which contains links to all documentation referred to therein) may be found on the Council’s website at:

https://new.devon.gov.uk/impact/published/budget-setting-201718/.  Further relevant information may be found also at:  https://www.toughchoices.co.uk ;   

https://new.devon.gov.uk/impact/  and   https://new.devon.gov.uk/haveyoursay/

(Councillors Barker, Clatworthy, Croad, Davis, Hart, S Hughes, Leadbetter, McInnes and Parsons (Cabinet Members) attended in accordance with Standing Order 25(1) and spoke to this item at the invitation of the meeting).

Public Participation

No member of the public had given notice of intention to speak to or make representations at this meeting on any matter relating to the proposed budget, as provided for in the Council’s Public Participation Scheme.

Budget Consideration

Members noted that, in line with previous practice, the proposed budget for 2017/18 was to be subject to a collective scrutiny exercise at this joint meeting, providing an opportunity for Members to comment on the Council’s proposed budget in its entirety, following earlier consideration of service budgets by the relevant Scrutiny Committee. 

The meeting examined and discussed the proposed budget(s) and had regard to the views, observations and comments of individual Scrutiny Committees, as set out below, for approval and/or incorporation into any final recommendations to Cabinet or Council on the overall implications of the budget proposals, if desired.   

The meeting had been provided with the Officer’s Reports and accompanying detailed budget proposals considered previously by Scrutiny Committees (CT/17/2,  CT/17/3,  CT/17/4 and CT/17/5) which complemented the earlier Reports of the County Treasurer (CT/16/81 and CT/17/1) relating to the provisional settlement and spending targets for 2017/18 endorsed by the Cabinet on 14 December and 11 January 2017, respectively. 

The Reports referred to above, taken together, outlined (a) the provisional financial settlement made by Government within the current year, (b) the spending targets set by the Cabinet for Adult Care & Health; Children’s Services; Communities, Public Health, Environment & Prosperity; Highways, Infrastructure Development & Waste and Corporate Services and (c) proposed service budgets, reflecting the aforementioned and the  pressures and influences faced by those services.

As indicated, the aforementioned Reports had been prepared in line with the provisional settlement announced by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, on 15 December 2016, of £128,300,000 (a reduction of £23,300,000 or 15.4% from 2016/17) together with details of a number of changes to the previously announced core spending power figures for the period 2016/17 to 2019/20. 

The announcement of the final settlement and Council Tax Regulations was expected during the month of February 2017 and budget preparation had therefore necessarily been based on the provisional settlement: acknowledging that additional  capital funding of £3,200,000 had been made available for 2017/18 for the Pothole Action Fund.

Members noted that while the Social Care Precept on Council Tax in 2016/17 had originally been set at 2% per annum for the period 2016/17 to 2019/20 inclusive, the terms of that additional precept had been altered to allow it to be increased by up to 3% per annum in 2017/18 and 2018/19 or 2% per annum over the remaining 3 years of the  'quadrennial' core spending period (i.e. a total increase of 6%).   Changes to the New Homes Bonus allocations would see the County Council’s allocation reduced by £709,000;  ...  view the full minutes text for item 2.