Agenda and minutes

Decision: That the minutes of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 11 October 2018 be approved as a correct record for signature by the Chair.

Decision: That the minutes of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 29 November 2018 be approved as a correct record for signature by the Chair.

Decision: That the minutes of the Overview and Scrutiny Performance Panel held on 29 November 2018 be noted.

Members are reminded of their responsibility to declare any pecuniary interest in respect of matters contained in this agenda.

If you have a pecuniary interest you must withdraw from the meeting. Normally you should leave the room before the business starts to be discussed. You do, however, have the same right to speak as a member of the public and may remain in the room to enable you to exercise that right and then leave immediately. In either case you must not seek to improperly influence a decision on the matter.

There were no declarations of interest received.

There were no public questions for consideration.

To consider the Executive Cabinet minutes of the meeting held on 15 November and 13 December.

Decision: That the minutes of the Executive Cabinet meeting held on 15 November and 13 December 2018 be noted.

To view the latest notice of Executive Decisions click here: https://democracy.chorley.gov.uk/mgListPlans.aspx?RPId=115&RD=0&bcr=1

The document is also attached and correct as of 15 January.

Members considered the Notice of Executive Decisions.

Decision: That the Notice of Executive Decisions be noted.

Report of the Chief Finance Officer.

The Executive Member for Resources will be present at the meeting to answer any questions the Committee may have.

The Executive Member (Resources), Councillor Peter Wilson, presented the report which sets out the budget position for 2019/20 including the forecast for the following two years to 2021/22 and also presents proposals for the use of forecast resources identified in 2019/20 and consultation on the Budget. 

Chorley Council has experienced and may continue to experience in the coming three years, large reductions in its major funding sources, in particular the Revenue Support Grant and income from Lancashire County Council.

The Council’s gross budget deficit is based upon the reductions in funding and some key budget assumptions, including growth in the Council Tax Base, and relating to Business Rates Retention and the New Homes Bonus.  It should be noted that some of the assumptions are still potentially subject to change that may impact positively or negatively on the budget.  The Chief Finance Officer is comfortable with the assumptions made. 

A key influencing factor on the forthcoming budget is the effective management of the budget in the preceding financial year.  Reductions in funding and ongoing expenditure budget pressures have resulted in a budget gap of £1.716m in 2019/20.

To bridge this immediate budget gap the Executive Cabinet has achieved and identified proposals for immediate permanent budget savings of £1.484m in preparation for 2019/20.  This is in addition to a total of £3.574m savings already achieved in prior years, including efficiency savings, reviews of contracts, base budgets and income streams.  

Through freezing or reducing council tax in previous years, Chorley Council has one of the lowest precepts (excluding Parish precepts) in Lancashire. 

Councillor Paul Clark left the meeting at 6.50pm.

Through savings achieved to date, additional income identified, a review of net financing and increases in council tax the Council is able to set a balanced budget in 2019/20 whilst still investing in corporate strategy priorities.

Despite the budget savings identified there remain large forecast budget deficits of £1.196m in 2020/21 and £1.672m in 2021/22.  To achieve a sufficient reduction in net expenditure the Council’s strategy will be:

1.    To realise savings through the procurement of its contracts.

2.    To identify the efficiencies through investment in infrastructure, ICT and through exploring alternative delivery models that will enable the Council to balance the budget whilst seeking to minimise the impact on front line service users.

3.    To make the Council more financially self-sufficient with specific emphasis on creating investment that generates income. This includes identifying future resources to support income generating schemes.

The latest three year Capital Programme can be found in the Revenue and Capital Budget Monitoring Report 2018/19 Report 2 approved at November Executive Cabinet 2018. Further changes to the capital programme include £1.3m for investment in council offices, at Union Street and the Town Hall, £1.750m investment in Astley Hall and Park and £2.7m investment in a new sports facility at West Way playing fields.  Balances remain at £4m. 

The proposals are currently out for public consultation and feedback received will be fed into the report considered by Council in February.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 19.OS.8

To consider and receive the report of the Director (Policy and Governance). 

Rebecca Huddleston, Director (Policy and Governance), presented the report which updates Members on the improvements made to communication mechanisms with Councillors following the review in March 2018. 

Members noted the different communication mechanisms utilised, including intheknow, Member Learning Sessions and briefings.  The iPad is fundamental to the role of a Councillor, and to ensure Members are fully trained on their iPads the Member Support Working Group has agreed to offer all Members an iPad 121 as part of their Personal Development Plan review in the summer.

Following the feedback relating to My Account additional staff training has taken place in order to reduce the instances of service requests closed before work has been completed.  ICT will work with the Member Support Working Group to identify and implement enhancements to My Account over the next twelve months. Investigations are also ongoing for an app to provide officer contact details, as requested by Member Support Working Group, within existing Office 365 functionality. 

In the coming weeks the Council is rolling out Yammer (an internal social networking tool) across the organisation and Members will have the opportunity to be involved, following the trial by staff. 

Decision: That the report be noted.

To consider the Work Plan of Lancashire County Council’s Health Scrutiny Committee.  The Council’s representative on the Committee, Councillor Alistair Morwood, will give a verbal update. 

Councillor Alistair Morwood updated the meeting on the items considered by Lancashire County Council’s Health Scrutiny Committee. 

In November the Committee considered the delayed transfers of care in Lancashire.  Councillor Morwood advised that concerns had been raised about the increase in delayed transfers of care across the Trusts from April 2018 to August 2018. It was reported that the increase in delays was in part due to the long heatwave over the summer months.

Councillor Morwoodinvited Councillor Steve Holgate to update the Committee for the December meeting as he was unable to attend.  The matter under consideration was the Transforming Care Partnership.  Councillor Holgate raised his concerns about the proposed closure of Caulderstones in 2020 and whether new facilities would be open by that time. 

Decision: That the update be noted.

Task and Finish Group - Quality of housing provided by social landlords

To receive a verbal update on the inquiry from the Chair, Councillor Matthew Lynch.

CouncillorMorwood updated the Committee as Councillor Matthew Lynch, Chair of the Task Group, had submitted his apologies. 

The draft final report has been produced, which incorporates a lot of information from Registered Providers and the tenant survey undertaken.  Information from the review will be fed into the Housing Strategy, which is currently being drafted.   

The draft final report will be considered by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee in March. 

Decision: That the report be noted.

To consider the Scrutiny Work Programme for 2018/19.

Members considered the work programme and requested an update on the Leisure contract and the Syrian refugee settlement programme at the next meeting. 

The arrangements for Neighbourhood areas following the implementation of the Electoral Review in 202 was requested for June and a report on how the Council deals with air quality issues was requested for September. 

Decision: That the work programme be noted.

To consider the exclusion of the press and public for the following items of business on the ground that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972.

By Virtue of Paragraph 3: Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information)

Condition:

Information is not exempt if it is required to be registered under-

The Companies Act 1985

The Friendly Societies Act 1974

The Friendly Societies Act 1992

The Industrial and Provident Societies Acts 1965 to 1978

The Building Societies Act 1986 (recorded in the public file of any building society, within the meaning of the Act)

The Charities Act 1993

Information is exempt to the extent that, in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

Information is not exempt if it relates to proposed development for which the local planning authority may grant itself planning permission pursuant to Regulation 3 of the Town & Country Planning General Regulations 1992(a).

Decision: To exclude the press and public for the following items of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972.

To consider and receive the report of the Director (Customer and Digital). 

Asim Khan, Director (Customer and Digital), presented the report which updates Members on progress with mobilisation for the new waste and recycling collection contract which starts on 1 April 2019.  The award of the new contract has made a significant contribution to the Medium Term Financial Strategy. 

Councillor Greg Morgan requested a copy of the risk register for the mobilisation.  Members noted that the Council has a duty to collect clinical waste from households. 

On behalf of the Committee Councillor Walker thanked Jo Oliver, Waste and Streetscene Manager, for her work over the years and wished her all the best for her new role. 

Decision: That the report be noted.