Agenda and minutes

Budget Scrutiny, Wellbeing Overview and Scrutiny Committee (Expired replaced by Education and Children's Social Care and Health and Adut Social Care) - Wednesday 25 January 2017 3.00 pm

Venue: Warspite Room, Council House

Contact: Kristin Barnes  Democratic Support Officer

Media

Items
No. Item

26.

Declarations of Interest

Members will be asked to make any declarations of interest in respect of items on this agenda.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest made by Councillors in accordance with the code of conduct.

27.

Chairs Urgent Business

To receive reports on business which in the opinion of the Chair, should be brought forward for urgent consideration.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Councillor Mrs Aspinall advised members that Councillor Bowie was present in her capacity as Chair of the Place and Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Panel and had been invited to attend this meeting in that role.

28.

Budget Scrutiny pdf icon PDF 398 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Councillor Bowyer (Leader of the Council), Councillor Mrs Bowyer (Cabinet Member for Health and Adult Social Care), Carole Burgoyne (Strategic Director for People), Andrew Hardingham (Interim Joint Strategic Director for Transformation and Change (Finance)), David Northey (Head of Integrated Finance) along with senior officers presented the draft budget for 2017/18 which highlighted the following key areas –

 

(a)

the Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) had been approved by Council on 21 November 2016 and outlined measures to address the funding gap of £37 m over the next three years;

 

(b)

the forecast budget gap for 2016-17 was £2.5 m, and it was acknowledged that some difficult decisions needed to be taken to address this gap;

 

(c)

the Council had accepted a four year Revenue Support Grant (RSG) settlement from the Government which provided a level of certainty and would alleviate some budget pressure for future years;

 

(d)

a modest increase in Council Tax was planned, however the increased cuts to Governments grants had exceeded the proposed increase, with the continuing demand for Council services such as Adult Social Care and Children’s Social Care causing additional financial pressure;

 

(e)

the Council faced a number of pressures to their budget (in addition to the loss of grants and funding) including –

 

·         staff pension fund costs;

·         significant demand for Council services;

·         loss of the New Homes Bonus;

·         pressure of the Living Wage;

·         cost of the Apprenticeship Levy;

·         cost of Housing Benefit Subsidy;

 

(f)

the People Directorate recognised the complex and challenging financial circumstances they faced, and were trying to be innovative with the resources available to them.

 

 

The key areas of questioning from Members related to –

 

·         the number of children currently in care, in particular those in residential care, and the measures being taken to reduce this number;

 

·         the source of additional funding to support a higher number than anticipated of children in residential care;

 

·         the level of support (both financial and training) offered to the Council’s foster carers;

 

·         the budget for Children, Young People and Families for the next financial year;

 

·         what steps the Council were taking to retain the city’s ‘Dementia Friendly’ status;

 

·         the training opportunities available within the care sector in Plymouth;

 

·         the number of staff who were currently absent due to long-term sickness, and the steps being taken to address this;

 

·         the action being taken to deal with delayed discharges;

 

·         the steps being taken by Public Health to improve the health of Plymouth’s residents, particularly in light of budget cuts;

 

·         the number of rough sleepers in the city and the steps being taken to address the issue of homelessness;

 

·         the number of 16-17 year olds housed in bed and breakfast for a period longer than six weeks;

 

·         what help was being offed to help educational organisations within the city with the apprenticeship levy;

 

·         how schools were using the Pupil Premium;

 

·         whether school governors were being fully supported;

 

·         whether the risks associated with the need to make efficiency savings were known;

 

·         the projected reduction in the workforce.

 

Agreed to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 28.