Agenda and minutes

Councillor Paul Bates - Finance and Communication Portfolio Holder

Councillor Janet Clowes -  Portfolio Holder for Adult Social Care and Integration

Councillor Liz Wardlaw - Portfolio Holder for Health

Councillor Ainsley Arnold - Housing, Planning and Regeneration Portfolio Holder

Councillor Jos Saunders - Children and Families Portfolio Holder

Mark Taylor - Interim Executive Director of Corporate Services

Alex Thompson - Interim Section 151 Officer

Sara Barker - Head of Strategic HR

Dan Dickinson - Acting Director of Legal Services

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 1 November 2018

Resolved – That the minutes of the meeting held on 1 November 2018 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

To provide an opportunity for Members and Officers to declare any disclosable pecuniary and non-pecuniary interests in any item on the agenda.

There were no declarations of interests.

There were no declarations of the existence of a party whip.

There were no members of the public present who wished to speak.

1.    To consider pre-budget proposals relating to Corporate Services contained in the pre-budget report 2018.

2.    To formulate a response to the pre-budget report October 2018 on behalf of the four Overview and Scrutiny Committees.

The Committee considered matters contained in the Council’s Pre-Consultation Budget document 2018 that fell within the committee’s remit relating to outcome 6. Members put questions and made comments as follows:-

·         Whether there were examples of outcomes from the brighter futures programme that had made a positive difference to staff welfare;

·         How did the Council measure the effectiveness of promoting local democracy;

·         Further clarification on the figures on headcount quoted on page 66 of the document;

·         Further information on the restructure of Corporate Services mentioned in paragraph 54 , the growth item in legal services (para 55) and growth item relating to HR services  (para 56);

·         From which reserves would the additional budget required to run borough and town and parish council elections in 2019 be taken;

·         An update on the mutually agreed resignation scheme for the forthcoming year;

·         What level of response had there been to the pre-budget consultation to date;

·         How did the insurance claims relating to highways compare with previous years;

·         Were the figures referred to in paragraph 62 accurate and could additional detail be included in the consultation document?

·         Could contact details for the officers now responsible for administering the New Homes Bonus fund be circulated to all members of the Council;

·         How would the Council bridge the Gap of £2.3 million in the Children and Families budget?

·          

The Committee then received a summary of questions and comments raised by Environment and Prosperity, Children and Families and Health and Adult Social Care Overview and Scrutiny Committees on their respective elements of the pre-budget consultation.

RESOLVED –That the questions and comments of this committee set out above, together with the summaries of questions and comments received from Environment and Prosperity, Children and Families and Health and Adult Social Care Overview and Scrutiny Committees be forwarded to the Interim Executive Director of Corporate Services and Interim Section 151 Officer.