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Agenda and minutes

Venue: Committee Suite - County Hall

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

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Items
Note No. Item

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100.

Minutes

Minutes of the meeting held on 27 November 2018 (previously circulated).

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

RESOLVED that the Minutes of the meeting held on 27 November 2018 be signed as a correct record.

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101.

Items Requiring Urgent Attention

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

Additional documents:

Minutes:

There was no matter raised as a matter of urgency.

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102.

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.

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103.

Budget 2019/20 and Capital Programme for 2019/20 to 2023/24 pdf icon PDF 868 KB

Overall Approach

 

The 2019/20 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 2019/20;

×          the likely implications of the 2019/20 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 2019/20 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/19/04) on the proposed budget for Corporate Infrastructure and Regulatory Services for 2019/20, attached.

 

For ease of reference:

Communities, Public Health, Environment and Prosperity  (page 10)

Corporate Services  (page 20)

Highways, Infrastructure Development and Waste  (page 32)

 

[NB: An overview of  ...  view the full agenda text for item 103.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

(Councillors Randall-Johnson, Sellis, Barker and Davis attended in accordance with Standing Order 25(1) and spoke to this item at the invitation of the Committee.)

 

(Councillors Atkinson and Colthorpe declared personal interests in this item by virtue of being a trustee of the Exeter Food Action and a trustee of Involve, Mid Devon CVS respectively.)

 

Councillors Randall-Johnson and Sellis as Chair and Vice-Chair respectively of the Health and Adult Care Scrutiny Committee and the Children’s Scrutiny Committee reported on the proceedings and recommendations from their respective Budget meetings.

 

The Committee noted that the proposed budget for the 2019/20 financial year would be scrutinised by individual Scrutiny Committees according to the remit set out in the Constitution, 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 Scrutiny 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.

 

The Chairs of the Children’s Scrutiny Committee and the Health and Adult Care Scrutiny Committee will present any relevant resolutions and an overview of those issues arising to the Corporate Infrastructure and Regulatory Services Committee.  This Committee will also consider the draft budget proposals within its own remit, providing an opportunity for Scrutiny Members to comment on proposals for the Council’s Budget in its entirety. The resulting resolutions from Scrutiny will be reported to Cabinet and Council.

 

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 that might be considered at the Corporate Infrastructure and Regulatory Services Committee 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/19/04) 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 12th December 2018, had set Revenue Budget targets for 2019/20 which totalled £493.850 millions.  The targets incorporated inflation and pressures and income initiatives and savings required to set a budget within reduced funding levels provided by Government in the recent provisional financial settlement. This included funding for budget pressures of £33.353 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 £13.398  ...  view the full minutes text for item 103.


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