Agenda and minutes

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

An apology for absence was received from Councillor Matthew Dean.

An apology was also received from Councillor Ruth Hopkinson, who would be presenting the proposals from the Liberal Democrat Group, and as such absent for the entirety of the meeting in her capacity as a committee member. Councillor Hopkinson was substituted by Councillor Clare Cape.

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

There were no declarations.

To receive any announcements through the Chair.

Through the Chair there were the following amendments:

1)    That it be noted that following further meetings with officers the proposals from the Liberal Democrat Group in Agenda Supplement 1 had been updated, along with the report from senior officers, to include use of the recently announced rural grant.

2)    Scrutiny normally focuses on matters of policy determined by the Executive, rather than on staffing structures, which are determined by management. However, in this case operational savings are listed in the Administration’s budget, under Appendix 1C

Savings pertaining to staffing structures refer to “a review of structures and job design to identify inefficiencies and potential duplication with other services” as, at this stage, the detail of exactly where these savings will come from is still to be finalised.

In all cases the first step will be identify the potential for deleting vacant posts, or identifying where vacant posts may provide suitable alternative employment for any staff who may be at risk of redundancy as a result of savings proposals.

Any discussion at this stage about which roles may be affected by these proposals would be inappropriate as this would not only jeopardise the consultation that will be required with staff whose roles are affected, but it may also unsettle staff in these roles unnecessarily.

Managers in these services are responsible for determining how these savings will be delivered so it is important that any discussion about alternative proposals does not include reference to specific roles, or staff.

I would therefore encourage members to focus on the potential service impacts or risks of any proposals pertaining to staffing structures.

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 2 February 2018 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 6 February 2018. 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.

There were no statements or questions submitted.

To note the procedure for the meeting.

The procedure for the meeting was noted.

To consider amendments from any political groups or councillors on the initial draft of the executive proposed budget.

Proposed amendments will be circulated as soon as they are available.

Amendments to the administration budget proposals as published on 26 January 2018 had been received from the Liberal Democrat Group.

Councillor Ruth Hopkinson, in her capacity as Liberal Democrat Group Deputy Leader, presented the Group’s proposed amendments as detailed in Agenda Supplement 1. The amendments sought to use the Rural Grant for two years at £0.262m per year to fund the Communities investment whilst further recurring savings are identified and to fund additional borrowing to allow for more LED replacement for street lighting. The total cost of the two investment amendments was £0.345m, and in addition to the rural grant was to be funded with a reduction in the number of Portfolio Holders to achieve £0.058m and to reduce councillors’ travel mileage allowance to 25p a mile for a saving of £0.025m

The proposals had been confirmed as legal and financially viable by the Corporate Leadership Team in consultation with the Monitoring Officer and Section 151 Officer, with additional comments as detailed in the agenda supplement report.

The Committee, along with other members in attendance including members of the Executive, discussed the proposed as detailed fully in the appended report, including examining how savings had been calculated, how the rural grant could be used and the process of achieving the proposed savings.

At the conclusion of discussion and on the motion of Councillor Graham Wright, seconded by Councillor Alan Hill, it was,

Resolved:

1)    To note that the amendments to the Financial Plan Update 2018/19 proposed by the Liberal Democrat group have been scrutinised; and

2)    To ask Full Council to take note of the comments of the Committee, which will be presented in a report.

To confirm the date of the next meeting as 20 March 2018.

The date of the next meeting was confirmed as 20 March 2018.

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

There were no urgent items.