Issue - meetings

An addendum to Item 10 as well as an updated table outlining the County Council’s projected earmarked reserves and balances were tabled at the meeting, these are attached as an appendices 5 and 6 respectively.

RESOLVED:

That the Cabinet agreed;

1.               the release of provisions of £2m and to use reserves of £10m to balance the 2017/18 budget;

1.               the amended savings recommended by the Sustainability Review Board, as shown in Table 1 above;

2.               the capital programme of £387m from 2017 to 2020, which is a reduction of £21m from that approved 7 February 2017;

3.               the capital programme includes £150,000 for the Community Buildings Grant Scheme;

4.               to only borrow for capital schemes where there is a compelling business case and for officers to review future years’ budgets within the capital programme to reduce spending;

5.               the 2017/18 service strategies (Annex 1);

6.               the detailed service revenue and capital budgets for the year 2017/18 and indicative budgets for the years 2018-20 including amendments resulting from the Final Local Government Financial Settlement and other Government funding changes announced since 7 February 2017, including the March Budget (Annex 1);

7.               the proactive and systematic engagement of the County Council in responding to proposed changes in local government funding to ensure these changes do not further disadvantage Surrey, and seeking the appropriate recognition of the costs of delivering services in Surrey;

8.               the following in relation to the funding of Early Years providers:

·         The Local Authority to retain £4.4m of the Early Years grant to manage the sector and allow for a devolved provision for more targeted support.

·         Fund Early Years providers at rates which are commensurate with the levels of funding in the Early Years DSG:

-       £4.51 per hour for three and four year olds

-       £5.88 per hour for two year olds

Change in the distribution of deprivation funding which has been simplified to be based on the Early Years pupil premium funding (paragraph 22);

9.               the publication of the service revenue and capital budgets as the Medium Term Financial Plan 2017-20.

It is further recommended that Cabinet notes:

1.    the additional funding for adult social care announced in the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s Budget 2017;

2.               the options for areas for additional savings and service reductions identified by Sustainability Review Board (SRB) in a separate report (Annex 2);

3.               the Director of Finance’s letter to the Department for Communities and Local Government confirming that the Adult Social Care Precept will be spent entirely on adult social care functions (paragraph 8 and Annex 3);

4.               the fees & charges approved under delegated powers (Annex 4);

5.               the cabinet establish a member led task group to review all service fees and charges and to report to the cabinet in autumn; and

6.               the Equality Impact Assessments of the savings proposals within directorate and service budgets (Annex 5).

Reasons for Decision

The Council has a legal duty to prepare a balanced and sustainable budget and to deliver statutory services to residents.  ...  view the full decision text for item 54

An addendum to Item 10 as well as an updated table outlining the County Council’s projected earmarked reserves and balances were tabled at the meeting, these are attached as appendices 5 and 6 respectively.

The report was introduced by the Leader of the Council who highlighted concerns regarding SCC’s financial stability following its funding settlement from Central Government. Of the £2 billion social care support fund announced by the Chancellor during his Budget Statement, SCC was set to receive £7.5 million for 2017/18 which would contribute towards closing the Council’s budget gap but savings of £93 million were required for 2017/18. Attention was drawn to the work of the Sustainability Review Board (SRB) who had made a series of recommendations on potential savings.

The Leader of the Council introduced the revised recommendations in the report for consideration by the Cabinet which reflected amendments to the Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) as outlined in the table attached as Appendix 5 to these minutes. He highlighted that the decision had been taken to maintain SCC’s contribution to the Community Building Grant Scheme for 2017/18 but indicated that it may be necessary to revisit this next year depending on budgetary constraints. Mr David Hodge further advised that SCC would be required to utilise £10 million of its reserves to balance its budget for 2017/18 and that it would be necessary to consider how these reserves could be replenished in future years to ensure that the Council’s resilience wasn’t negatively affected.

The Leader of the Council also announced his intention to establish a Member-led review into fees and charges levied by the Council to ensure that these were fair. Mr Mel Few stated that the Adult Social Care Directorate generates £96 million a year in revenue for the Council through fees and charges and advised that these have gone up 6% year on year.

The Chairman of the SRB, Mr Nick Harrison, read a statement to the Cabinet highlighting a number of areas where the Council could make significant and sustained savings. He suggested that the Cabinet consider achieving further budget reductions through the following steps:

·         reviewing central services;

·         co-locating of services;

·         reducing the Council’s headcount;

·         creating new revenue streams through fees and charges;

·         promoting a single services approach; and

·         more effective use of benchmarking

Mrs Mary Lewis and Mr Tim Evans, who were also on the SRB, thanked Mr Harrison for his efforts in his role as Chairman of the SRB. They both emphasised the need to work at pace to deliver the savings identified by the SRB and contained within the MTFP so that these were delivered in-year and could contribute to the Council’s attempts to save £93 million in 2017/18.

The Chairman of the Council Overview Board, Mr Steve Cosser, also read a statement to the Cabinet regarding the MTFP. He acknowledged the challenges facing the Cabinet in deciding on what services budget reductions should fall given the potential impact on residents but stressed that the pace of delivery on these  ...  view the full minutes text for item 54