Issue - meetings

RESOLVED:

That the Budget Task Group report be noted and recommendations considered.

The report was introduced by the Chairman of the budget task group who thanked officers for their engagement with the task group and thanked Cabinet for their response. She explained that the recommendations in the report were in addition to the Select Committee recommendations shared with Cabinet on 19 December 2023. The task group Chairman still remained concerned about the value the council placed on early intervention/ prevention support services but welcomed the additional £5m being spent in this area. There was still concern around SEND schools and the increase in costs which were noted in the recommendations. With regard to EIAs these had been made available in January 2024 although having them available last October would have been welcomed.

The Leader thanked the task group for their work on the budget and made a few comments. He stated that investing in prevention work went hand in hand with the challenges of funding daily services. £30m had been put into the budget to specifically target early prevention and support. Work needed to be done to clarify what we meant by prevention and what this work entailed. None of the efficiencies being made by the council would impact front line services. An analogy had been drawn up in the press regarding debt levels of the County Council and Woking Borough Council but the Leader explained that the capital budget would focus on building facilities to support and improve outcomes for residents which in turn would generate savings in the future. The capital programme supported the preventative agenda. The Leader also hoped that as there had been more than 20 meetings where members could make suggestions to be included for consideration in the budget process, that there would not be any last minute suggestions being made at the Council meeting when the budget would be approved.