Skip to content

Agenda and minutes

Venue: Committee Suite - County Hall

Contact: Wendy Simpson 01392 384383  Email: wendy.simpson@devon.gov.uk

Media

Items
Note No. Item

*

39.

Minutes

Minutes of the meeting held on 28 November 2017 (previously circulated).

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

RESOLVED that the Minutes of the meeting held on 28 November 2017 be signed as a correct record.

*

40.

Items Requiring Urgent Attention

Items which in the opinion of the Chair should be considered at the meeting as matters of

urgency.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

There was no matter raised as a matter of urgency.

*

41.

Public Participation

Members of the public may make representations/presentations on any substantive matter listed in the published agenda for this meeting, as set out hereunder, relating to a specific matter or an examination of services or facilities provided or to be provided.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

There were no oral representations from members of the public.

*

42.

Budget 2018/19 pdf icon PDF 836 KB

Overall Approach

 

The 2018/19 budget proposals will be scrutinised with consideration of relevant service area budgets by individual Scrutiny Committees with the Corporate Infrastructure and Regulatory Services Scrutiny Committee considering both its own budget responsibilities as well as any issues raised by the Children’s Scrutiny Committee and also the Health and Adult Care Scrutiny Committee, to produce an overarching series of recommendations.

 

This approach will enable all Scrutiny Members to critique, question and challenge the budget proposals across services, to better understand the implications of the budget proposals across the Council and to make effective recommendations to Cabinet and the Council. 

 

The proceedings of all Scrutiny Committees will be webcast and publicised through normal channels including Twitter and other social media.

 

The Council must have full regard to and consider the impact of any proposals in relation to equalities prior to making any decisions, as set out in equality impact assessments, and any identified significant risks and mitigation action required.

 

Public Participation

 

Additionally, there will be an opportunity for members of the public to address each Scrutiny Committee meeting and make oral representations/presentations on any matter relating to the proposed budget, in line with the public participation scheme.

 

This Meeting

 

At this and other Scrutiny Committees in the current cycle, Members are asked to identify salient issues within each Committee’s areas of responsibility, to examine the general thrust of the budget and take an overview of priorities and prospects.

 

At this meeting Chief Officers / Heads of Services will report, inter alia, on:

 

×          the Cabinet’s Target Budget for services/suite of services;

×          how that compares to the target figure for 2017/18;

×          the likely implications of the 2018/19 target for individual areas of service (e.g. in percentage terms compared to current levels) and how those areas have been prioritised;

×          any comparisons between the current year and next year’s proposals for the major service areas, to illustrate the scale of change within those activities and how the budget has been allocated across services in those years (to illustrate changes of emphasis or priority);

×          any “alternative delivery models” or other initiatives contemplated for given services and how it is thought that these may reduce costs; and

×          impact assessments undertaken in relation to the draft budget.

 

In addition, the Chairs of both the Children’s Scrutiny Committee and Health & Adult Care Scrutiny Committee will also be invited to comment on their Committee’s deliberations – in the context of any wider corporate issues that might be incorporated into any recommendations from that Committee to Cabinet and the Council

 

Report and Budget 2018/19 Impact Assessment

 

Joint Report of the County Treasurer, the Chief Executive, the Head of Communities, Public Health, Economy and Prosperity and the Head of Highways, Infrastructure Development and Waste (CT/18/04) on the proposed budget for Corporate Infrastructure and Regulatory Services for 2018/19, attached.

 

For the sake of clarity:

Communities, Public Health, Environment and Prosperity (pages 12 – 21)

Corporate Services (pages 22 – 31)

Highways, Infrastructure Development and Waste  ...  view the full agenda text for item 42.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

(Councillors Hannaford, Randall Johnson and Connett attended in accordance with Standing Order 25(2) and spoke to this item at the invitation of the Committee.)

 

(Councillors Atkinson, Colthorpe and Saywell declared personal interests in this item by virtue of being a trustee of the Exeter CAB, a trustee of Involve, Mid Devon (CVS) and a member of the South West Energy and Environment Group, respectively.)

 

Councillors Hannaford and Randall Johnson, as Chairs of the Children’s Scrutiny Committee and the Health and Adult Care Scrutiny Committee, respectively, reported on the proceedings and recommendations from their respective Budget meetings.

 

Revenue Budget 2018/19 and Capital Programme for 2018/19 to 2022/23.

 

The Committee noted that the proposed budget for the 2018/19 financial year would be scrutinised by individual Scrutiny Committees, with an overview of those issues arising being further debated by the Corporate Infrastructure and Regulatory Services Committee as well as draft budget proposals within the Committee’s own remit, providing an opportunity for Members to comment on proposals for the Council’s Budget in its entirety and also the Chairs of both the Children’s Scrutiny Committee and Health and Adult Care Scrutiny Committee attending and presenting, as required.

 

This would follow the opportunity for individual Scrutiny Committees – at this meeting – to have an initial overview of the budget proposals and examine them to identify any specific issues or areas of interest for incorporation into any recommendations to Cabinet and Council.

 

The Committee then considered the joint report of the County Treasurer, the Chief Executive, the Head of Communities, Public Health, Economy and Prosperity and the Head of Highways, Infrastructure Development and Waste (CT/18/04) on the provisional financial settlement made by Government within the current and anticipated public sector funding regime and the spending targets set by the Cabinet for each service area which included inflation, commitment and service prioritisation reductions. The Report also detailed the proposed medium term capital programme for the Corporate Infrastructure and Regulatory Services and how it was funded.

 

The Cabinet, at its meeting of 13th December 2017, had set Revenue Budget targets for 2018/19 which totalled £477.391 millions. The included funding for budget pressures of £28.593 millions that mainly related to additional expenditure to allow for service growth to cater for demographic changes such as increased children and adult service users and unavoidable cost pressures. Savings and income initiatives of £20.842 millions were required to set a balanced budget. The target for Adult Care and Health also included £10.148 millions in relation to the One-off Improved Better Care Fund grant announced by the Chancellor in March 2017.

 

The announcement by Government on the Local Government Finance Settlement for 2018/19 was made on the 19th December 2017. The 2016/17 local government finance settlement previously announced Core Spending Power figures for the four-year period of 2016/17 to 2019/20 and the Provisional Settlement for 2018/19 confirmed the Core Funding figures was at the expected level of £115.2 millions.  There were however other changes in relation to the proposal to reduce the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 42.


Top