To agree the minutes as a true record of the
meeting.
Minutes:
The minutes were agreed as an accurate record
of the meeting.
33/17
DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
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All Members present are
required to declare, at this point in the meeting or as soon as
possible thereafter
(i)Any disclosable pecuniary interests and /
or
(ii)Other interests arising under the Code of Conduct in
respect of any item(s) of business being considered at this
meeting
NOTES:
·Members are reminded that they must not participate
in any item where they have a disclosable pecuniary
interest
·As well as an interest of the Member, this includes
any interest, of which the Member is aware, that relates to the
Member’s spouse or civil partner (or any person with whom the
Member is living as a spouse or civil partner)
·Members with a significant personal interest may
participate in the discussion and vote on that matter unless that
interest could be reasonably regarded as prejudicial.
Minutes:
There were no declaration of interest
made.
34/17
QUESTIONS AND PETITIONS
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To receive any questions or petitions.
Notes:
1.
The deadline for Member’s questions is 12.00pm four working
days before the meeting (Tuesday 21 March 2017).
2.
The deadline for public questions is seven days before the meeting
(Monday 20 March 2017).
3.
The deadline for petitions was 14 days before the meeting, and no
petitions have been received.
Minutes:
There were no questions or petitions submitted
to the Board.
35/17
RESPONSES FROM THE CABINET TO ISSUES REFERRED BY THE SCRUTINY BOARD
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There are no responses to report.
Minutes:
It was noted the Scrutiny in a
New Environment Task Group’s recommendations would be
considered by Cabinet on Tuesday 28 March 2017.
This report details the Sustainability Review
Board’s progress towards identifying £30m permanent
service reductions and up to a further £22m one-off
reductions required to achieve a balanced budget in 2017/18
alongside the Council’s Medium Term Financial Plan for
2017-22 prior to Cabinet approval
Tim Evans, Cabinet Associate
for Adult Social Care, Wellbeing & Independence, Sustainability
Review Board Member
Mary Lewis, Cabinet Associate
for Children, Schools and Families, Sustainability Review Board
Member
Kevin Kilburn, Deputy Director
of Finance
Key
points raised during the discussions:
The Board were
informed that the following report on the Medium Term Financial
Plan (MTFP) would be considered by Cabinet on Tuesday 28 March and
also incorporated the progress report of the Sustainability Review
Board (SRB).
The Chairman
expressed gratitude to the Cabinet Associates in attendance,
however expressed disappointment at the absence of senior Cabinet
representation which was necessary for the meeting as it involved
views on Council leadership. The Chairman advised Members that this
would be reflected in the report to Cabinet from this
Board.
It was noted that the
SRB was formed to identify £30m permanent service reductions
and up to a further £22m one-off reductions required to
achieve a balanced budget in 2017/18. SRB Members explained that it
had not been possible to identify these savings in the short period
of time the SRB has been working.
Members were
concerned with proposals to abolish Members allocations and Local
Highways funds and argued this would reduce Members ability to
resolve issues and respond to resident concerns in their own
division effectively diminishing their role as Councillors. It was
suggested that the proposals to stop these functions be amended to
reduce the amount rather than stop it in its entirety. SRB Members
noted these concerns and assured the Board they would be
communicated to Cabinet.
SRB Members further
responded that a narrative of the Council’s situation needed
to be endorsed by all Members to make sure residents understand why
some local matters could not be responded to. It was further
advised that a place-based approach would need to be established
and developed at a local level in order to start delivering savings
and mitigate the concerns to stop Members Allocations and Local
Highways funds.
The SRB report
indicated that £3-5m in savings were achievable, SRB Members
were asked where this saving was recognised in the MTFP and whether
it was an immediate saving. Members were advised that the
£3-5m in savings was identified in a number of themes and
service areas and these proposals were subject to approval by
Cabinet. The Board were informed that the unsuccessful delivery of
these proposals from the start of the financial year would mean
falling back on reserves to achieve a sustainable
target.
Members raised
concern with inconsistencies in the MTFP report in relation to the
identified savings and when these savings would be delivered. The
Deputy Director of Finance advised the Board that the identified
savings of £170m in the MTFP were subject to approval and
would be delivered from 2017/18, over three years. The MTFP was
developed in parallel with the SRB therefore there are some
differences in where savings had been identified.
This report details progress made by the
Investment Strategy and the income being delivered in support of
the council’s services. The Board
will consider proposals to amend governance arrangements in order
to continue to grow the investment portfolio.
Denise Le Gal, Cabinet Member
for Business Services & Resident Experience
Susan Smyth, Strategic Finance
Manager and Secretary to the Investment Advisory Board
Peter Hall, Asset Investment
and Disposal Manager
Key
points raised during the discussions:
Keith Witham and Michael Gosling briefly left the meeting during
this item
The Chairman began
discussions by informing Members that he was pleased the report
included the annual report proposal previously put forward by the
Council Overview Board as a recommendation to Cabinet.
It was noted that the
new Investment Board (IB) would provide an update of decisions made
to Cabinet each month, as a confidential agenda item and a summary
investment position would continue to be reported as part of the
monthly budget monitoring report considered by Cabinet.
Members questioned whether these monthly reports
and summaries would be available to the Scrutiny Board, as the
Council Overview Board had the responsibility to hold the Cabinet
to account for progress in relation to achieving the stated aims of
the Investment Strategy. TheCabinet Member for Business Services and Resident
Experience explained that arrangements on this matter were unclear
and assured the Members a review on the scrutiny process was in
place to resolve this. It was further advised due to the
competitive nature, proposed investments were time sensitive and
until they were secure and complete, disclosure will need to be
restricted to prevent leaks that could jeopardize the investment
opportunity.
The Board noted that
one of the justifications in delegating to the IB the authority to
take decisions was to allow investments to progress quickly and to
secure the opportunity against competition in the market. The
Chairman requested that Officers relate to the Board one example
where under the existing arrangements, an investment opportunity
was lost. Officers provided the example
of a warehouse in Banbury which had interest from six other
institutions and the Council was unsuccessful as heads of terms
could not be agreed with the vendor due to the Cabinet’s
timetable in approving the acquisition.
Officers noted that
the Evaluation Criteria at paragraph 14 in the Investment Board
terms of reference would be better served under Scrutiny, paragraph
11, to clearly identify the criteria the Council Overview Board
would need to take into consideration when scrutinising the IB on
the aims of the Investment Strategy.
Bob
Gardner left the meeting at 11:44am
The Chairman
expressed the view that the rates of return should be included in
paragraph 1, page 2 of the Investment Board terms of reference as
part of the adviceon how each investment
proposal could be taken forward. It was explained that the rates of
return were not specified as there was a broad list of criteria of
which rate of return was one but the Strategic Finance Manager
would include this.
The Cabinet Member
stated that the growth of the portfolio was dependent on the
opportunities available and had the potential to reach £2bn
going forward. Officers further advised the Board that that the
...
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39/17
DATE OF NEXT MEETING
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The next meeting of the Board will be held at
10:00am on Wednesday 31 May 2017.
Minutes:
The Board noted that its next meeting would be
held on 28 June 2017.
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