Agenda and draft minutes

An apology for absence was received on behalf of Councillor Chris Kane.

To note any urgent items of business which the Chairman has consented to being considered under the provisions of Section 100(B) 4(b) of the Local Government Act 1972.

There were no urgent items of business to consider.

Members should declare the existence and nature of any Disclosable Pecuniary Interest and Non Statutory Interest as defined by the Members’ Code of Conduct in respect of:

a)  any business on the agenda

b)  any urgent additional items to be considered

c)  any matters arising out of those items

and if appropriate, withdraw from the meeting at the relevant time.

There were no declarations made.

To consider the minutes of the last meeting held on 17^th July 2024.

Moved by Councillor Rowan Clarke and seconded by Councillor Janet Tait

RESOLVED that the minutes of the last meeting held on Wednesday 17^th July 2024 be approved as a true and correct record.

(Members should contact the officer whose name appears on the List

of Key Decisions for any further information. NB: If Members wish to

discuss an exempt report under this item, the meeting will need to

move into exempt business and exclude the public in accordance with

the Local Government (Access to Information) Act 1985 and Local

Government Act 1972, Part 1, Schedule 12a for that part of the

meeting only).

The Committee considered and noted the List of Key Decisions and Items to be considered in private.

RESOLVED that the List of Key Decisions and Items to be considered in the             private document be noted.

The Information, Engagement and Performance Manager provided Members with an update on the Quarter 1 outturns for Council Plan targets 2024-2028.

Councillor Lucy King entered the meeting.

Out of the 34 targets:

·       31 (91%) targets were on track;

·       1 (3%) target had been extended by one quarterly period;

·       1 (3%) target had yet to start;

·       1 (3%) target was requested to be withdrawn as it was incorporated within other targets.

Out of the 53 key performance indicators:

·       35 (66%) indicators had a positive outturn;

·       11 (21%) indicators had a negative outturn;

·       7 (13%) indicators were within target.

A summary of performance against each Council aim was detailed within the report.

More detail had been provided within the report so Members could better monitor the performance against targets.

Members noted that the real time feedback being used by the Contact Centres was a positive step to be able to monitor performance instead of after the event when it was too late to implement changes.

Moved by Councillor Justin Gilbody and seconded by Councillor Lucy King

RESOLVED that the quarterly outturns against the Council Plan 2024-2028             targets be noted.

The Section 151 Officer provided Members of the Committee with a detailed Budget Monitoring Report. The purpose of the report was to update the Committee on the financial position of the Council following the first quarter’s budget monitoring exercise for the General Fund, the Housing Revenue Account (HRA), Capital Programme and Treasury Management activity.

A presentation on the Budget Monitoring Report for Quarter 1 was provided and discussed by the Section 151 Officer. Members were reminded that the General Fund covers all services except the Housing Revenue Account. No known budget pressures were identified on the general fund at the end of Quarter 1.

At the end of the first Quarter there was a significant issue to report regarding the overall position for the HRA, as the reduction in income caused by voids was at a higher level than budgeted for.

A Member queried voids and if it was possible to split out those that were empty and could be due to relets and those that were purposely left vacant awaiting development / being demolished.

There remained a great deal of uncertainty regarding the future funding of Local Government. The change in Government after the general election made trying to predict what may be in the Spending Review for 2024, extremely difficult.

There were no significant financial issues to report regarding capital expenditure at

the end of the first quarter.

Further information could be found in the appendices to the report.

Moved by Councillor Justin Gilbody and seconded by Councillor Jane Yates

RESOLVED that: 1) the Finance and Corporate Overview Scrutiny Committee     notes the monitoring position of the General Fund at the end of the first           quarter as detailed in Appendix 1 to the report (A net favourable   variance of £0.576m against the profiled budget) and the key issues            highlighted within this report; and,

2)    the Finance and Corporate Overview Scrutiny Committee notes the position on the Housing Revenue Account (HRA), the Capital Programme and Treasury Management at the end of the first quarter (Appendices 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6).

Moved by Councillor David Bennett and seconded by Councillor Sally Renshaw

RESOLVED that the Finance and Corporate Overview Scrutiny Committee           Work Programme be noted.