Agenda and minutes

To receive details of any apologies or substitutions for the meeting.

Apologies were received from Councillors Stewart Dobson, Alan Hill and Ruth Hopkinson.

Councillor Dobson was substituted by Councillor Jacqui Lay, and Councillor Hill was substituted by Councillor Suzanne Wickham.

The Chairman also welcomed Councillor Atiqul Hoque to the Committee following his appointment in October 2020, and thanked Councillor Tony Trotman, who had been removed from the Committee, for all his contributions to the Committee and to Overview and Scrutiny generally.

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 29 September 2020.

The minutes of the meeting held on 29 September 2020 were presented for consideration, and it was,

Resolved:

To approve and sign the minutes as a true and correct record.

To receive any declarations of disclosable interests or dispensations granted by the Standards Committee.

There were no declarations.

The Council welcomes contributions from members of the public.

Guidance on public accessing the meeting

Statements

If you would like to make a statement at this meeting on any item on this agenda, please submit a copy of the statement by 5pm on 22 January 2021. Up to 3 speakers are permitted to speak on any agenda item. Please contact the officer named on the front of the agenda for any further clarification.

Questions

To receive any questions from members of the public or members of the Council received in accordance with the constitution.

Those wishing to ask questions are required to give notice of any such questions in writing to the officer named on the front of this agenda no later than 5pm on 19 January 2021 in order to be guaranteed of a written response. In order to receive a verbal response questions must be submitted no later than 5pm on 21 January 2021. Please contact the officer named on the front of this agenda for further advice. Questions may be asked without notice if the Chairman decides that the matter is urgent.

Details of any questions received will be circulated to Committee members prior to the meeting and made available at the meeting and on the Council’s website.

Questions on the Budget will be referred to the Executive for consideration and response.

There were no questions or statements submitted.

To receive any announcements through the Chair.

There were no announcements.

To note the procedure for the meeting.

The Chairman took the meeting through the proposed process for the meeting in considering the budget papers, as detailed in the agenda.

Following comments on the timescales for consideration and scrutiny of the budget ahead of Cabinet and Full Council, it was,

Resolved:

To note the process for the meeting.

A report from the Chief Executive and the Director of Finance on the Council’s Financial Plan Update for 2021-2022  and Medium Term Financial Strategy 2021-2026 will be circulated to all councillors.

It will be accessible at the following link.

The draft Wiltshire Council Financial Plan Update 2021-22 and Medium-Term Financial Strategy 2021-2026 was presented by Councillor Pauline Church, Cabinet Member for Finance, Procurement and Commercial Investment, with support from Andy Brown, Interim Corporate Director of Resources and Section 151 Officer, along with Councillor Philip Whitehead, Leader of the Council, Terence Herbert, Chief Executive, and other members of the Cabinet and Corporate Leadership Team.

The published budget papers included a 1.99% rise in Council Tax and a 3% Adult Social Care Levy, with additional investment of £34.236m and an additional savings target of £2.000m.

It was stated that the budget was a holding budget with certainty only being provided for one year, and the settlement from Government was based on Covid-19 funding being provided for the first quarter of 2021/22 and estimates in relation to the pandemic response and recovery progress. Details were provided on the setting up of new earmarked reserve accounts, budget monitoring in the current 2020/21 financial year and ongoing and expected impacts or variations from council tax and business rate receipts, especially the ending of furlough arrangements or increases on universal credit.

Full details of matters raised in discussion by and with the Committee would be included in a report appended to these minutes. The report from the Financial Planning Task Group in consideration of the budget was also received and considered.

Topics raised included, but were not limited to, discussion of the Latent Demand Reserve and how it would be allocated, anticipated growth and impact from Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCP) and the calculation of total demand for Children’s Social Care, projected impact on library and leisure services, price of recyclables, homelessness grants, inflation estimates, and the risk assessment balance including in relation to care home providers, along with other topics as detailed in the appended report.

At the conclusion of discussion, it was,

Resolved:

1)    To note the Financial Plan Update 2021-22 and Medium-Term Financial Strategy 2021-26 and to refer the comments of the Committee and the report of the Financial Planning Task Group to Cabinet and Full Council for consideration on 2nd and 26th February 2021 respectively.

2)    To support ongoing scrutiny investigation of the budget, including the Financial Planning Task Group’s continued focus on monitoring delivery of the budget and the development of the budget for 2022-23.

Councillor Howard Greenman left the meeting at 1100.

A report will follow in an agenda supplement.

A Covid-19 update report which would be considered at Cabinet on 2 February 2021 was presented in Agenda Supplement 2. The Leader of the Council, Councillor Philip Whitehead, as well as the Chief Executive, Terence Herbert, and other members of the Corporate Leadership Team were in attendance.

The Committee discussed the report, seeking additional details on communications being sent out regarding the mass vaccination site in Salisbury, and were informed the site had been running as of 25 January 2021 and communications should now have been started to be sent out to residents. It was confirmed the programme was being run through the Clinical Commissioning Group.

Further details were sought on the youth provision and the pause in recovery workwas detailed in response to the latest national lockdown. There were also queries on analysis of demand for emotional health and wellbeing services for schools and colleges in response to Covid-19, with it being stated there had been mixed news, with Wiltshire College reporting an increase but some schools reporting a decrease. Work was being undertaken through the Vulnerable People Stakeholders Group to understand demand.

At the conclusion of discussion, it was,

Resolved:

To note the update on the council’s ongoing response to Covid-19.

To receive Forward Work Plans for the Select Committees.

To confirm the date of the next meeting as the extraordinary meeting on 9 February 2021 to consider any proposed amendments to the Budget.

To confirm the date of the next ordinary meeting as 9 March 2021.

The forward work plans of the Select Committees and current inactivity of Task Groups during Covid-19 was noted.

The next meeting would be on 9 February 2021 to consider any opposition amendments to the budget provided to Overview and Scrutiny.

The next ordinary meeting would be on 9 March 2021.

Any other items of business which the Chairman agrees to consider as a matter of urgency.

There were no urgent items.