Agenda and minutes

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

Apologies for absence had been received from Cllr Tony Pickernell.

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting held on 27 November 2024.

The minutes of the meeting held on 27 November 2024 were presented for consideration.

Cllr Jonathon Seed made a statement of clarity in relation to a statement that he had made in the previous meeting in relation to the urgent item in which Wiltshire Publications and Melksham Independent News was discussed. The statement confirmed that Cllr Seed maintained his position in regard to biased journalism, however clarified some matters of detail including relating to the financial management of Wiltshire Publications and that it had been for several weeks and not months, as had been previously stated before officers had ceased sending press released to the Melksham Independent News.

After which, it was;

Resolved:

To approve and sign as a true and correct record of the minutes of the meeting held on 27 November 2024.

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

There were no declarations of interest.

To receive any announcements through the Chair.

The Chairman made the following announcement:

A)   Overview and Scrutiny Legacy Process

The Chairman outlined that an opportunity for Overview and Scrutiny (OS) to look back on its activity during the outgoing council would be an important part of its improvement journey Additionally, doing so would allow the Committee to consider its successes and challenges, including the key activities which had been undertaken.  Suggestions for further scrutiny under the next council could then be made.

It was therefore outlined that at the Committee meeting in March, the Committee would receive a report outlining the Committee’s key activities during 2021-24 and would also propose some future work priorities for its successor Committee after the elections in May.

To feed into this process, members of the Committee would soon receive an email from Henry Powell asking for submissions on ideas on what scrutiny should be looking at, within this Committee’s remit, under the next council.

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 Tuesday 21 January 2025 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 Thursday 23 January 2025. 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 questions or statements submitted by members of the public.

To consider the Budget 2025/26 and Medium-Term Financial Strategy 2025/26-2027/28.

Please note that this report will follow as a supplement.

The Chairman introduced a report and appendices within the Agenda Pack which presented the administration’s Budget for 2025/26 and Medium-Term Financial Strategy for 2025/26 to 2027/28. The Chairman noted that on Page 19 of the Agenda Pack there was a short report setting out a suggested process for the Committee’s consideration of the budget.

The Chairman also noted that the debate that would take place during the meeting was in the context of the following meetings:

·       An open to all members budget briefing provided on 22 January 2025;

·       The special budget meeting of the Financial Planning Task Group on 24 January; and;

·       Informal meetings of the other three select committees, where questions on the budget were submitted to their chairmen to be addressed to the Executive.

The draft Wiltshire Council Budget 2025/2026 and Medium-Term Financial Strategy 2025/26-2027/28 was presented by Leader of the Council, Councillor Richard Clewer and Cabinet Member for Finance, Councillor Nick Botterill, supported by the Director of Resources and Section 151 Officer, Lizzie Watkin. In addition, the Director of Legal & Governance (Monitoring Officer) and other members of the Corporate Leadership Team were present to provide clarification and answers to issues and queries raised by the Committee.

The published budget papers proposed the net general fund budget for 2025/2026 to be £527.420m as well as a 2.5% general increase to Council Tax and a levy of 2% to be spent solely on Adult Social Care. In addition, the papers proposed that the Council Tax requirement for the council be set at £368.818m for 2025/26 with a Band D charge of £1,886.99, an increase of £1.56 per week.

Topics were raised included but were not limited to discussion on the receipt of government grants, the removal of posts, the potential impact of savings on the delivery of services, income generated through carparking and street works, asset transfer plans and departmental capacity to deliver.

The Chairman noted that the key points of the debate that took place would form a report which would be taken to the Cabinet meeting set to take place on 4 February 2025 as well as the Full Council meeting scheduled for 25 February, along with the budget report of the Financial Planning Task Group. In addition, it was noted that an additional meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee to scrutinise any opposition amendments to the budget before Full Council had been arranged for Thursday 13 February at 10.30am. The deadline for submitting budget amendments was 5.00pm on Wednesday 5 February.

At the conclusion of discussion, it was,

Resolved:

The Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee agreed:

A)   To note the Draft Wiltshire Council budget for 2025-26 and Medium-Term Financial Strategy for 2025-26 to 2027-28 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 4th February and 25th February respectively.

B)   To support ongoing scrutiny investigation of the budget, including the Financial Planning Task Group’s continued focus on monitoring  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

To receive a report on the Executive Response to the Final Report of the Evolve Task Group.

The Chairman noted that on page 21 of the agenda pack, was a report presenting the response of the relevant Cabinet Members to the Final Report of the Evolve Task Group. The Chairman noted that on 27 November 2024 the Overview & Scrutiny Management Committee endorsed the Final Report of the Task Group and that the Committee resolved to refer the following Task Group’s recommendations to the relevant Cabinet member for response at the Committee’s next meeting on 28 January 2025.

Cllr Richard Clewer, Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Military Civilian Integration, Health and Wellbeing, Economic Development, Heritage, Arts, and Tourism discussed the report and stated that the work which had taken place had been useful and had produced positive recommendations.

Cllr Jon Hubbard, Chair of the Task Group thanked the Leader for his acceptance of the recommendations and that having a dedicated Cabinet Member for this area of work would be positive. Reference was also made to how the LGA had set up a Transformation Network and that through discussion it was shown that the issues encountered had not been exclusive to Wiltshire. Gratitude was also placed to the Members of the Task Group who had been willing to spend their time on the work.

At the conclusion of discussion, it was,

Resolved:

A.   To note the Executive Response to the Final Report of the Evolve Task Group.

B.   To note that further monitoring and scrutiny of the actions set out in the Executive Response will be considered as part of the Committee’s legacy process.

To receive a report on the Executive Response to the Final Report of the Transformation Task Group.

The Chairman noted that on page 29 of the agenda pack, was a report presenting the response of the relevant Cabinet Members to the Final Report of the Transformation Task Group. The Chairman noted that on 27 November 2024 the Overview & Scrutiny Management Committee endorsed the Final Report of the Task Group and that the Committee resolved to refer the following Task Group’s recommendations to the relevant Cabinet member for response at the Committee’s next meeting on 28 January 2025.

Cllr Richard Clewer, Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Military Civilian Integration, Health and Wellbeing, Economic Development, Heritage, Arts, and Tourism discussed the report with it noted that it would be positive to have a dedicated Cabinet Member for this area of work.

Cllr Chris Williams, Chair of the Task Group thanked all that were involved in the Task Group including Members, Officers and Cabinet for accepting the recommendations. It was suggested that having the Cabinet Member leading on this area would be positive with various projects set to take place within the area.

At the conclusion of discussion, it was,

Resolved:

A.   To note the Executive Response to the Final Report of the Transformation Task Group.

B.   To note that further monitoring and scrutiny of the actions set out in the Executive Response will be considered as part of the Committee’s legacy process, including the Committee’s request to receive quarterly performance reports on the Transformation Programme.

To receive updates from the Chairmen and Vice-Chairmen of the Select Committees in respect of the topics under scrutiny in their areas, including any recommendations for endorsement by the Management Committee.

The Committee considered the forward work programmes for each select Committee, as well as updates from the Chairman for each Select Committee with gratitude placed towards officers for their work over the past four years.

At the conclusion of discussion, it was,

Resolved:

The Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee agreed to note the updates on select committee activity and approve the Overview and Scrutiny Forward Work Programme.

To receive a brief verbal update from attending Cabinet Members (or Portfolio Holders on their behalf) highlighting any news, successes or milestones in their respective areas since the last meeting of the committee, not covered elsewhere on the agenda.

The Committee received a Cabinet Member update from Cllr Laura Mayes, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Children's Services, Education, and Skills, which outlined that earlier in the day she had attended a SEND into employment event in Devizes. The event had been attended by employers and young people, with positive work being done for young people which would enable them to be employed and active members of the Wiltshire community.

To confirm the date of the next meeting as 13 February 2025.

The date of the next meetings were confirmed as 13 February 2025 (opposition budget amendments) and 13 March 2025.

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

There was no urgent items.