Paul Goodwin, Head of Financial Services & Deputy Chief Finance Officer attended the meeting and introduced the item to the Committee. It was noted that Tracey Baldwin, Principal Accountant was also in attendance to answer any questions from the Committee.
The Committee was advised, as noted in the report, to focus its scrutiny on the financial performance of services within its Terms of Reference (TOR).
The Committee was given the opportunity to ask questions.
Councillor Tony Dean made a general point that as a member of the committee, he understood the areas of responsibility, however at present this committee had no influence on the budget. Whilst Councillor Dean did comment he could lobby Finance Sub-Committee, he felt it would be more productive, before the next round of the MTFS, to attend a half-day seminar that covered the changes being proposed in order to have more influence over the areas of scrutiny for this committee.
Paul Goodwin advised that the council was within the first year of moving to a committee system, and that this budget had been set under the previous Leader and Cabinet system. One of the reasons for the governance move was to widen committee engagement in budget setting, as reflected in the item on the agenda that related to the Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS). It was suggested that further briefings could be held for members, that would provide more information on the budgets of services under each committee’s remit, earlier in the next financial cycle.
RESOLVED: That
1) the report of the Finance Sub-Committee (1st December 2020) be received and noted;
2) the recommendations of the Finance Sub-Committee to:
a) note the financial update and forecast outturn relevant to the Environment and Communities Committee terms of reference; and
b) note that officers will seek to improve the outcomes and financial outturn across all Committees to mitigate the overall forecast overspend of the Council.
be received and noted.
3) Appendix 7 and the following sections specific to this Committee:
· Changes to Revenue budget 2021/22
· Policy Proposals Update
· Corporate Grants Register
· Debt Management
· Capital Strategy
· Reserve Strategy
be noted;
4) the additional specific grant supplementary revenue estimate over £500,000 and up to £1,000,000 in Appendix 7, Section 3 Corporate Grants Register, Table 2 be approved.
5) further briefings be scheduled for members, to provide more information on the budgets of services under each committee’s remit, earlier in the next financial cycle.