To receive additional items that the Chair is of the opinion should be considered as a matter of urgency, in accordance with Section 100B (4) (b) of the Local Government Act 1972. To agree any relevant briefing notes submitted to the Committee.

There were no urgent items of business.

There were no declarations of interest.

Slides from the meeting can be viewed from the following link:

(Public Pack)Scrutiny Slides Budget Saving Agenda Supplement for Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee, 14/02/2024 19:00 (thurrock.gov.uk)

The report outlined the second tranche of the revenue budget savings proposals, totalling £6.9 million that followed the £11.3 million of saving proposals discussed at the overview and scrutiny meeting of the 28 November 2023 and then at the Cabinet meeting of the 10 January 2024. The proposals were summarised at Appendix 1 and this report excluded those totalling £11.3 million as previously scrutinised and approved by Cabinet which were noted under Appendix 4.

The following points were raised:

·       Requested that a narrative be added to the fees and charges changes so Members could understand the reasons for the changes.

·       Questioned the current value of the Transformation Budget.

·       Questioned whether the savings figures were a full year equivalent or were savings to be achieved.

·       Referred to the business rate retention and asked for some clarification on the original and proposed savings.

·       Sought clarification on whether the original £11.3 million had been approved by cabinet as the report presented was to note.

·       Concern that with only two weeks to Budget Council and to ensure the most vulnerable residents in the borough were protected was the Portfolio Holder confident that savings could be made in time.

·       Questioned whether these last-minute decisions were a good example of financial management.

·       Questioned whether any changes had been made to the Hardship Fund.

Action

1.   A narrative be added to the fees and charges changes so Members could understand the reasons for the changes ahead of full council meeting.

In turn, Portfolio Holders provided members with a summary of their portfolio 2024/25 savings proposals. These can be viewed from slides 8 to 14 from the above link.

Children’s Services – Councillor Johnson

The following points were raised:

·       Referred to Health Contributions and questioned how that would work to ensure savings were made.

·       Clarification was provided that additional health funding would be received from health colleagues through the ICB budgets and would be external to council funding.

·       Acknowledged the recouping of costs through the health contributions was a good idea and questioned why the council had not been undertaking this previously.

·       Informed the initial consultation costs were in the region of £30,000 with council staff now being trained to undertake those healthcare assessments.

·       Referred to the review of social care and questioned whether cost savings had already been made and how confident was the Portfolio Holder in those savings being delivered.

·       Questioned whether those savings would impact the improvement of the service and cause any problems for the next Ofsted inspection.

·       Questioned what the specific barriers were from accessing funds in the past and what would be put in place going forward to enable those funds to be accessed.

·       Informed of the figure available in grants following on from staff training and were reassured that money had been coming in following the training.

Education – Councillor Carter

The following points  ...  view the full minutes text for item 22.

The report set out the proposed Revenue Budget for 2024/25 that allow the Council to set a legally balanced budget for 2024/25.

The following points were raised:

·       Commissioner’s comments would be added to the reports being presented at next week’s cabinet meeting.

·       Concern that going into a budget setting council meeting in two weeks’ time there was still over £1 million gap in the budget and savings still having not been identified.

·       Concern that members may lose sight of the gravity of the situation that the council was in and would remain so for several years.

At 10.10pm, Councillor Spillman left the meeting.

RESOLVED

1.    The second tranche of savings as set out in the Budget Savings Report, elsewhere on this agenda.

2.    The 2024/25 Budget to enable the Council Tax requirement for 2024/25 to be set at £91.266 million (as per section 5), a 7.99% increase on 2023/24.

3.    The Council Tax Resolution 2024/25 as set out in Appendix 2 which sets the following Council Tax precepts increases:

•     The Police and Crime Commissioner has increased Council Tax for Band D property to £246.42 per annum, a 6% increase on 2023/24,

•     The Fire Authority has increased Council Tax for a Band D property to £82.62 per annum, a 3% increase on 2023/24.

4.    The proposal for Members to work with officers to identify £1.7 million in additional savings by 22nd March 2024, potential actions are presented in Table 18.

5.    The proposed 2024/25 Budget based on the estimated financial deficit to be funded by a capitalisation direction of £68.6 million.

6.    The submission of business cases by services is required to secure approval to utilise budgets earmarked for contract Inflation, use of contingencies and budgets earmarked for pressures (Section 10, Table 21) for approval by the Chief Finance Officer and the Finance Commissioner in conjunction with the Portfolio Holder for Finance, Human Resources and Payroll to allow in-year budget adjustments. Members comments on those business cases seen and presented.

7.    The submission of a spending plan by services is required before the newly announced additional grant funding for Social Care can be utilised (£1.4 million). This will require approval by the Chief Finance Officer and the Finance Commissioner in conjunction with the Portfolio Holder for Children & Housing to allow in-year budget adjustments.

8.    Note the Council’s estimated position on Reserves as set out in section 13.

9.    Note the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) settlement for 2024/25 and the Thurrock allocation of £53.3 million as set out in Section 11.

10. Note the continued use of measures to control expenditure as set out in section 14.

At 10.18pm, the Chair suspended standing orders until 11.30pm.

At 10.18pm, the meeting adjourned.

At 10.18pm, Councillors Rigby, C Kent, Shinnick and Liddiard left the meeting.

At 10.23pm, the meeting reconvened.

The Council’s financial position was virtually unprecedently challenging and would remain so for several years. The position was forecast to improve considerably in the next five years, via the divestment of assets, the implementation of a challenging savings programme, working differently and service delivery changes. The report presented the council’s financial position.

No comments were made.

Action

8.Medium Term Financial Strategy 2024/25 recommendations for Cabinet papers to be revised to include the committee received the report and considered it.

RESOLVED

The committee received the report on the Medium-Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) and in doing so considered:

·       the financial targets summarised in paragraph 1.3,

·       the financial assumptions / deliverables as summarised at paragraph 1.4 to 1.7;

·       that if any of the above targets or assumptions adversely vary, alternatives to the same timescale and value would need to be identified and implemented.

At 10.33pm, Councillor Manwa left the meeting.

The report set out proposed changes to the Council’s capital strategy from 2024/25 to 2028/29.

No comments were made.

RESOLVED

1.    That the Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee noted the matters set out in this report prior to it being presented to Cabinet on 22 February 2024 and Council on 28 February 2024.

2.    That the Committee noted that Full Council will be asked to agree the following:

(a) approved the revised capital strategy and 5-year capital programme for 2024/25 to 2028/29 as set out in this report.

(b) approve that the capital projects:

? currently “on hold” totalling £119.0 million (see Appendix 2) are not included in the Capital Programme and the associated borrowing of £62.9 million is not required,

? the capital schemes that have not started totalling £3.3 million (see Appendix 4) are also formally confirmed as removed from the capital programme and the associated borrowing of £3.3 million is not required,

? those schemes assessed and considered no longer necessary totalling £60.1 million (see Appendix 5) are confirmed as removed from the capital programme and the associated borrowing of £56.5 million is not required.

(c) approved the proposed financing of the capital programme as set out in Appendix 3.

(d) delegated to the Interim Director of Finance s151 all decisions surrounding the financing of individual items of expenditure within the revised capital programme, in line with the overall capital programme as set out in Appendix 3, in a manner which achieves the most effective use of Council’s resources.

(e) approved that any future changes to the capital programme should be approved by Full Council, whilst ensuring that external funding is able to be used in a timely manner, with any new borrowing requirements subject to Commissioner approval.

(f)  approved that the Capital Programme Board review and receive updates on the action plans put in place to address the further improvements identified in Appendix 7 and to note progress on continued delivery of these improvements.

The report set out the proposed 30-Year Business Plan for the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) and considered both the Revenue and Capital position. The Revenue Business plan over a 5-year period projects gross income of £360.666 million and gross expenditure of £350.814 million. The HRA Capital Programme provided for a total capital investment of £175.069 million over the next five years, of which £83.77 million related to existing properties, and £91.291 million relating to new developments and property purchases. Over the 30-year business plan period, £646.214 million was to be spent on the HRA Capital Programme.

No comments were made.

RESOLVED

1.    Noted the HRA revenue budget for 2024/25 (Table 1 & Appendix A).

2.    Noted the HRA 5-year revenue budgets for 2024-25 to 2028-29 (Table 1 & Appendix A).

3.    Noted the HRA 30-year revenue budget for 2024-25 to 2053-54 (Appendix B)

4.    Noted the HRA 5-year capital programme for a total of £175.069m (Table 3 & Appendix C).

5.    Noted the 30-year capital programme for 2024-25 to 2053-54 (Appendix D).

6.    Noted the draft HRA reserves and balances for the 5-year business plan (Appendix E).

7.    Noted the submission of the two requests to the Secretary of State. The outcome of it will be reported to Cabinet / Council.

A full recording of this meeting can be viewed from the following link:

Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee - Wednesday 14 February 2024, 7:00pm - Thurrock Council committee meeting webcasts (public-i.tv)