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Agenda and minutes

Venue: Kennet Room - County Hall, Bythesea Road, Trowbridge, BA14 8JN. View directions

Contact: Kieran Elliott  01225 718504, Email: kieran.elliott@wiltshire.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

1.

Apologies

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

Minutes:

An apology for absence was received from Councillors Chuck Berry and John Walsh.

2.

Declarations of Interest

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

 

Minutes:

There were no declarations.

3.

Chairman's Announcements

To receive any announcements through the Chair.

Minutes:

Through the Chair Councillors were reminded that an Overview and Scrutiny Workshop would take place on 28 February 2019 at 1000 in the West Wiltshire Room, County Hall.

4.

Public Participation

The Council welcomes contributions from members of the public.

 

Statements

If you would like to make a statement at this meeting on any item on this agenda, please register to do so at least 10 minutes prior to the meeting. Up to 3 speakers are permitted to speak for up to 3 minutes each 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 24 January 2019 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 28 January 2019. 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.

Minutes:

There were no questions or statements submitted.

5.

Procedure of Meeting

The Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee is asked to scrutinise the budget papers in accordance with previously agreed procedure and in the context of:

 

·       The briefing to all councillors on the budget setting process which will

take place on 24 January 2019;

·       Any initial views from public consultation events;

·       Remarks from the Leader of the Council, Cabinet Member for Finance, Interim Director of Finance and any input from the Corporate Directors or other Cabinet Members;

·       The meeting of the Financial Planning Task Group.

·       The views of the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Select Committees

 

The Financial Planning Task Group will have gained knowledge throughout the year whilst undertaking budget monitoring on the issues that have caused

pressures, the underlying reasons and mitigating actions. They will have taken a view on the robustness of the responses including variations made and on the overall effectiveness of budget management. It is important that this knowledge from the current year and how these matters will be addressed for 2019/20 are included in today’s debate.

 

Likewise, the Select Committees, through the reviews they have undertaken in terms of policy development and service variation during the year, will have

been aware of the financial implications (and commitments given or efficiencies expected) of each. The committees will have had ongoing dialogue with their respective cabinet members, portfolio holders and senior managers regarding implementation so it is important that an opportunity is given to the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Select Committees to comment on whether these commitments and efficiencies have been reflected in the budget proposals.

 

Having heard from those with a direct responsibility and interest, the Chairman will open out the debate to the Management Committee members to make enquiries of the Executive representatives based on the Financial Plan Update report (see next item) and what has been said.

 

As in previous years, the Committee is asked to focus on the main strategic and policy issues and not those that sit at an operational officer level.

 

The Chairman will look to gain consensus to the key points made as the

meeting moves through the debate. These key points will be listed in the

minutes and form a report to Cabinet on 5 February 2019 and Council on 26

February 2019.

 

An additional meeting of the Committee to scrutinise any opposition group or

other amendments to the budget before Council has also been arranged for 12 February 2019.

Minutes:

The procedure for the meeting was detailed.

6.

Wiltshire Council's Financial Plan Update 2019/20

A report from the Corporate Directors and Director of Finance on the Council’s

Financial Plan Update for 2019/20 has been circulated to all councillors.

 

It can be accessed at the following link.

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

The draft Wiltshire Council Financial Plan Update for 2019/20 was presented by Councillor Philip Whitehead, Cabinet Member for Finance, Procurement, ICT and Operational Assets, with support from Becky Hellard, Interim Director of Finance and Section 151 Officer, ahead of its submission to Cabinet on 5 February 2019 and Full Council on 26 February 2019.

 

The proposals for 2019/20 were considered as part of an updated Financial Plan that covered the five years 2019-2014. These included the proposed 2.99% rise in Council Tax,  as well as details of the proposed £44.815m increase from demand and inflation, and £27.290m of savings, which included both service efficiencies and anticipated growth in income within services.

 

The Committee discussed the proposed budget and clarification was sought on many issues from the attending Cabinet Members and Corporate Leadership Team, with full details contained in the report as 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, the continuing large savings required arising from the adult social care transformation programme, savings in the conference and reviewing service, future involvement of scrutiny to assess proposed service savings, the high variance between predictions of savings contrasted with the predictions made in 2018/19, the level of capital spend identified for forthcoming years, achievability of savings from the reablement service, commissing and others, the level of reserves, along with other topics as detailed in the appended report.

 

At the conclusion of discussion, it was,

 

Resolved:

 

To note the Financial Plan Update 2019/20 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 5 and 26 February respectively.

 

To welcome the Executive’s early and positive engagement with the Financial Planning Task Group in the budget development process.

 

To recommend that future annual budget reports and councillor budget briefings describe the development process that all budget proposals must go through in order to be considered robust.

 

To continue to support the Financial Planning Task Group’s focus on supporting the development of robust council budgets.

 

7.

Forward Work Programme and Date of Next Meeting

To consider the Forward Work Programme and any requests from the Select Committees.

 

To confirm the date of the next meeting as the extraordinary meeting on 12 February 2019 to consider proposed amendments to the budget.

 

The next ordinary meeting will be on 19 March 2019.

Supporting documents:

Minutes:

The Forward Work Programmes of the Select Committees were received. A request was also received to endorse a Task Group on Youth Transport. It was also requested that clarity be provided between the remits of the Financial Planning Task Group and the Third-Party Advertising Policy Task Group in respect of commercialisation and income generation, with revised terms of reference to be proposed at the next meeting.

 

The date of the next meeting was confirmed as 12 February 2019 to consider any opposition group or other amendments to the budget. The next ordinary meeting was confirmed as 19 March 2019.

 

Resolved:

 

To note the Forward Work Programmes and endorse a Task Group on Youth Transport.

8.

Urgent Items

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

Minutes:

There were no urgent items.