Witnesses:
Matt Furniss, Cabinet
Member for Transport
Natalie Bramhall,
Cabinet Member for Environment & Climate Change
Denise Turner-Stewart,
Cabinet Member for Communities
Katie Stewart,
Executive Director – Environment, Transport and
Infrastructure (ETI)
Steve Owen-Hughes,
Director – Community Protection Group (CPG)
Rachel Wigley,
Director – Financial Insight
Mark Hak-Sanders,
Strategic Finance Business Partner - Corporate finance
Tony Orzieri,
Strategic Finance Business Partner – Environment, Transport
and Infrastructure (ETI)
Key
points raised during the discussion:
- The
Strategic Finance Business Partner – Corporate Finance
explained that the core assumptions that underpinned the budget
were generated using the established PESTLE Framework that focuses
on political, economic, social, technological, legal, environmental
and climate factors, thus the draft budget was based on an
assessment of the likely operating environment for the county
Council for 2021/22 and over the medium term. COVID-19, demand
pressure and inflation were also considered within this framework.
The draft budget was developed in an integrated way across the
organisation and was to be linked with the Council’s four new
priority objectives and the community vision 2030. The immediate
priority for 2021 was to stabilise the Council’s finances
following the COVID-19 crisis.
- Funding
estimates would continue to be iterated following further clarity
from the detailed local government finance settlement that was
expected before Christmas 2020. The November spending review had,
however, given relative confidence that the £18.3m gap in the
draft budget could be closed without directorates being required to
provide further efficiency savings.
- The
medium-term estimates assumed that the Government Fair Funding
Review would have an overall negative effect on the Council’s
funding, with estimates suggesting that the funding gap would rise
to £170.1m over the 5-year period to 2025/26. Thus, there
would be a sizeable gap to close over the medium term if these
funding projections were accurate.
- A Member
queried how the Council could achieve a reduction in waste prices.
The Executive Director informed the Select Committee that some of
the waste efficiency was achieved by renegotiation of a residual
waste subcontract, within the existing Suez contract. The
Directorate would continue to monitor contracts and market prices
to ensure best value for money.
- A Member
asked why the reduction in highways insurance claims was projected
to continue. The Executive Director acknowledged that there had
been fewer road users during the COVID-19 pandemic which would have
caused a decrease in insurance claims. However, the Council’s
increased capital investment into the county’s highways and
subsequent reduction in highways defects were also driving down
claims and costs.
- A Member
asked if there were any efficiency savings rolled over from the
2020/21 budget. The Executive Director stated that there were
several efficiencies that had not been achieved in the previous
budget, namely waste and recycling efficiency savings due to
COVID-19. A £700k efficiency in network managements and
£200k efficiency in bus lane enforcement were also rolled
over and were either expected to be delivered in 2021, or have
additional savings made to enable delivery. The Executive Director
assured the Select Committee that these efficiencies would
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