Apologies for absence and notification of substitute members.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Johnstone and Councillor Bowater was present as his substitute.

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 2 November 2009.

The minutes of the meeting held on 2 November 2009 were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

To receive from Members any declarations of interest and the nature thereof in relation to:-

(a)               personal interests in any agenda item;

(b)               personal and prejudicial interests in any agenda item;

(c)               any political whip in relation to any agenda item.

There were no declaration of interest.

To receive any announcements from the Chairman and any matters of communication.

The Chairman advised the Committee that a date was being sought for a meeting in mid-January 2010 to replace the scheduled meeting at the beginning of January. He asked Members to complete the canvass sheet being passed round the meeting.

The Chairman altered the order in which items would be taken so that item 13, Review of Corporate Budget Proposals, would be considered before items 11 Quarter 2 Performance Report and 12 Quarter 2 Budget Management Report.

To receive petitions in accordance with the scheme of public participation set out in Annex 2 in Part 4 of the Council’s constitution.

There were no petitions.

This is an opportunity for questions, statements and deputations from members of the public in accordance with the Public Participation Procedure set out in section 4 of the Council’s Constitution.

There were no public questions, statements or deputations.

To consider proposals, if any, to deal with any item likely to involve the disclosure of exempt information as defined in the relevant paragraph of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 prior to the exclusion of the press and public.

No matters containing exempt information were anticipated.

To consider any matter referred to the Committee at the request of a Member under Procedure Rule 3.1 of Part D2 of the Constitution.

There had been no matters of call-in.

To consider any item referred to the Committee at the request of a Member under Procedure Rule 3.1 of Part D2 of the Constitution.

There were no requested items.

To receive an update on the current position of the ICT, Property and Assets Department, building on the information provided to the Committee at the July and August 2009 meetings.

The Committee agreed to defer this item to the next meeting in view of the relevant officer’s absence from the meeting due to sickness.

To receive high level details of the 2010/11 corporate budget proposals (to follow).

Councillor Bowater declared a personal interest in matters in this item through being the Assistant Portfolio Holder for Social Care Health and Housing and therefore being involved in discussions for growth proposals in that area.

The Committee noted that all Members except Councillor Bowater had seen a presentation on the medium term financial plan 2010/11 – 2014/15 which provided background and an aid to understanding the budget. Councillor Bowater indicated that he was satisfied with having seen the slides for the presentation. The slides are attached to these minutes at Appendix A.

Members then considered the draft budget papers which had been considered by the Executive on 8 December 2009. The Chairman stated their intention as being to understand the budget at this stage rather than to challenge decisions as to spending.

The Director provided details of the context within which the budget should be considered. A comment was made about the level of local authority determination of the budget and it was noted that in principle a large proportion of the budget spend was governed by Government requirements and so services must be delivered in cost effective ways. All local authorities were being required to save 20%-30% over the next three years and as time went on, the traditional approach to making savings would be replaced by an approach seeking more cross-cutting themes.

The Chairman commented that it was important to maximise grant income and indicated that this was a matter for the Committee’s consideration at a future meeting.

Members asked a number of question and were provided with clarifying explanations. In several cases, questions were identified which could be answered at the other Overview and Scrutiny Committees when other Directors were present.

It was noted that all Overview and Scrutiny Committees could take the opportunity in the budget process to challenge on whether negative costs which had been identified had resulted in savings.

Members noted that guidance from this Committee to the other Overview and Scrutiny Committees for scrutinising the budget could be helpful. This could include:-

• Asking what a reduction in or loss of service would really mean to customers
• Asking how the service would be affected by a loss or reduction
• Looking at the growth proposals and considering whether they were reasonable.

It was noted that the status reporting (red, amber and green flagging) on the papers indicated implications for the customer at red, but not for amber or green. A significant proportion of efficiencies identified for Children’s Services were marked as red, indicating service delivery implications.

In response to a number of suggestions from Members as to how the papers could be made more transparent when considering the budget next time round, the Assistant Director indicated that discussions would be held internally and with Members to improve the clarity of the reports. The Chairman also asked that it be made clear in the base budget if a matter was a clear saving or if there were ongoing costs associated with it.

A comment was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11.

To receive and consider Quarter 2 Performance information for the Corporate Resources Directorate.

The Committee considered the Quarter 2 Performance and the Quarter 2 Budget Management Report together.

Members noted that the budget overspend was coming down although there were still pressures in some areas. These included the difficulties in recruiting to posts for specialist lawyers in Adult Social Care.

RESOLVED to consider and note the detailed information.

The report sets out the budgetary position as at September 2009.

This report was considered together with the previous item – see minute CR/09/012 above.

To consider the Executive’s Forward Plan of Key Decisions. The document for  the period starting 1 December 2009, published on 5 November, is attached.

As the Forward Plan to be published on 3 December is not available at the time of publishing this agenda Members are asked to bring with them to the meeting the Forward Plan as included in the papers for the Executive Briefing on 8 December 2009.

The Forward Plan published on 3 December will be available on the Council’s website for any members of the press or public to download from 4 December 2009. If you require any assistance please contact Mel Peaston whose details are at the top of this agenda.

The Committee noted the Executive’s Forward Plan of Key Decision for the period 1 December2009 to 30 November 2010 which was included with the agenda papers, and also the Forward Plan for the period 1 January 2010 to 31 December 31, which was included with the agenda papers for the Executive’s meeting on 8 December 2009.

To consider the Committee’s revised Work Programme for 2009/2010.

The Committee considered its Work Programme and took into consideration items which had been included on the Executive’s Forward Plan of Key Decisions, considered under the previous item.

A number of matters were identified which would be included in the amended Work Programme. These included:-

• Moving the People Strategy to an appropriate meeting
• The Capital Programme to be considered at the appropriate time
• Anything arising from the budget setting process which the Committee should consider
• The Asset Strategy and Guiding Principles, followed at a later meeting by a detailed Asset Management Plan
• Reviewing the arrangements for the budget process at the appropriate time, in advance of it starting for next year.

Members discussed the arrangements for looking at the budget during the current round of consideration. They were of the view that it would be appropriate for this Committee to comment on behalf of itself and the other Overview and Scrutiny Committees on the Executive report.

RESOLVED to take the appropriate action to enable the Corporate Resources Overview and Scrutiny Committee to comment on the Executive budget report.

Note: After the meeting Officers checked the procedures to enable this and established that the Committee could send a recommendation for the Overview and Scrutiny Co-ordination Panel to consider. This would propose that the Corporate Resources Overview and Scrutiny Committee be commissioned to carry out the budget report scrutiny referred to above on behalf of the other Committees, with the Chairmen of the other Committees present and enabled to take part in the discussion.

The next scheduled meeting is 4 January 2010 in Room 15, Priory House, Shefford starting at 10.00am.

The Committee noted that the scheduled meeting in January was not particularly timely and that it would be better to hold it later in the month. The February 1 meeting should also be held to consider budget matters only.

RESOLVED  that the next meetings of the Committee would be held on 18 January 2010 and 1 February 2010 (budgetary matters only).