Agenda and minutes

Resources and Performance Select Committee - Friday, 6 December 2024 10.00 am

Venue: Council Chamber, Woodhatch Place, Reigate

Contact: Jake Chambers, Scrutiny Officer

Media

Items
No.	Item
41/24	APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE AND SUBSTITUTIONS Share this item Purpose of the item: To receive any apologies for absence and substitutions. Additional documents: Webcast for 41/24 Minutes: The Chairman noted apologies were from Cllr Andy Lynch, Cllr Tim Hall, and Cllr John O’Reilly was attending remotely.
42/24	MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETINGS: 18 OCTOBER 2024 PDF 153 KB Share this item Purpose of the item: To agree the minutes of the Resources and Performance Select Committee held on 18 October 2024 as a true and accurate record of proceedings. Additional documents: Webcast for 42/24 Minutes: The minutes were AGREED as a true and accurate record of the previous meeting.
43/24	DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST Share this item 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. Additional documents: Webcast for 43/24 Minutes: No declarations were received.
44/24	QUESTIONS AND PETITIONS PDF 149 KB Share this item Purpose of the item: To receive any questions or petitions. NOTES: 1. The deadline for Members’ questions is 12:00pm four working days before the meeting (2 December 2024). 2. The deadline for public questions is seven days before the meeting (29 November 2024). 3. The deadline for petitions was 14 days before the meeting, and no petitions have been received. Additional documents: Webcast for 44/24 Minutes: Witnesses: Simon Crowther, Executive Director of Environment, Property and Growth (EPG) Diane Wilding, Director of Land and Property Key points raised during the discussion: The Chairman raised that one member question was received from Cllr Catherine Baart, the answer to which was published as a supplement to the agenda. The Chairman raised that he felt the response did not specifically answer the reason for the statement in the draft budget for EIG relating to Land and Property, that “all individual service estate transformation projects should be stopped”. The Director of Land and Property explained that no existing projects would be stopped and that projects were being sense-checked to ensure that more community and customer-based programmes were being investigated. The Chairman asked whether the statement only gave part of the picture. The Director of Land and Property confirmed, and that the statement meant a review of all the current programmes. The Executive Director of Environment, Property and Growth (EPG) added that the 2019 Asset and Place Strategy contained a direction to minimise the adoption or maintenance of single-use assets, meaning that Land and Property was seeking to identify opportunities to bring services together in fewer locations and minimise or optimise the Council’s overall estate size, which could also reduce its carbon footprint. Land and Property were not seeking to impact the overall and agreed capital programmes. A member asked when an updated Asset and Place Strategy could be expected. The Director of Land and Property explained that the Strategy was originally designed to cover up until 2025 and that the Strategy was always being reassessed, and ongoing improvements being made, which could be clarified in an update to the committee. The Executive Director of EPG added that the Land and Property team had a site-specific strategy for every property and that, by 2025, these could be aggregated to provide a picture of the current situation and what the picture by 2030 may look like. The Vice-chairman requested that the Asset and Place Strategy be added to the Committee’s Forward Work Programme. The Executive Director of EPG stated that an update regarding what had been achieved against the current Asset and Place Strategy (2019) could be provided as part of this. Actions/requests for further information: The Scrutiny Officer to investigate adding consideration of the Asset and Place Strategy to the committee’s Forward Work Programme.
45/24	CABINET RESPONSE TO SELECT COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS PDF 102 KB Share this item Purpose of the item: For the Committee to consider the response of Cabinet to the recommendations of this select committee throughout the scrutiny of the budget-setting process. Additional documents: Webcast for 45/24 Minutes: The Committee NOTED the Cabinet response to the Select Committee’s recommendations. The Vice-chairman brought attention to the Cabinet’s response to the select committee’s ‘Workforce Costs’ Deep Dive recommendation that ‘[The select committee] recommends the model behind the Organisational Design Principles as well as their upcoming review’. The Vice-chairman noted that information shared with the committee was a set of principles that detailed the number of ‘spans and layers’ proposed for the council workforce, though felt that it was not clear what updates to the organisation had been made and if all aspects of this organisation model were fully completed and implemented. The Vice-chairman requested clarification on these points at an upcoming Forward Work Programme meeting with officers and Cabinet Members.
46/24	SCRUTINY OF 2025/26 DRAFT BUDGET AND MEDIUM-TERM FINANCIAL STRATEGY TO 2029/30 PDF 129 KB Share this item Purpose of the item: Scrutiny of the Draft Budget and Medium-Term Financial Strategy. Additional documents: RP Select Committee - Dec 24 Draft Budget , item 46/24 PDF 986 KB Webcast for 46/24 Minutes: Witnesses: David Lewis, Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources Denise Turner-Stewart, Cabinet Member for Customer and Communities Andy Brown, Deputy Chief Executive and Executive Director of Resources Rachel Wigley, Director of Finance Insights and Performance Nicola O’Connor, Strategic Finance Business Partner (Corporate) Louise Lawson, Strategic Finance Business Partner for Resources, Land and Property and Economy and Growth Adam Whittaker, Principal Strategy and Policy Lead Liz Mills, Strategic Director of Customer Service Transformation Simon Crowther, Interim Executive Director of Environment, Property and Growth (EPG) Diane Wilding, Director of Land and Property Key points raised during the discussion: Prior to the discussion the Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources and Officers provided a slide presentation on the Draft Budget 2025/26 and Medium-Term Financial Strategy to 2029/30 (See Item 6 in the agenda, pages 27-38) The Chairman asked if officers wanted to add anything further about rate retention levels.The Strategic Finance Business Partner (Corporate) outlined that council tax collection rates were informed by information from boroughs and districts. The collection rate was forecasted at 98.5% in the draft budget, and council tax growth was assumed at about 0.95%. In terms of business rates, upper tier authorities retained 10% of collections, they added, also noting that relief and additional business rate grants set by central government were also received. The Vice-chairman requested more detail on how the £17.7 million (m) budget gap for 2025/26 would be closed, particularly regarding restructuring and staffing reductions. The Director of Finance Insights and Performance explained that the options included possible additional Government funding, finding efficiencies and driving down pressures, a council tax increase and the possible use of reserves for one-off expenditure. Opportunities from the Organisational Redesign programme were being explored. It was also noted that joining services together is being reviewed where possible, and that a recruitment and retention programme is also in place. The Vice-chairman echoed officers’ statement in the presentation that every 1% rise in council tax generates ~£9m in revenue and referred to the proposal of a 2% Adult Social Care Precept to cover the budget gap, in addition to the 2.99% Council Tax increase already assumed in the draft budget, giving a total proposed increase of 4.99%.The Vice-chairman asked for assurance that other options would be assessed before considering a council tax increase. The Executive Director of Resources noted that the council was likely to receive less formula funding than previous years, with any redistribution to be considered via a methodology weighted through tax bases and deprivation, and that funding would likely move more significantly towards metropolitan areas, effectively forcing councils in areas such as Surrey to raise rates of council tax. One area of concern is employer National Insurance Contributions (NICs), noting that the council was informed that these would be funded directly for costs associated with SCC staff, though the level of grant was unknown and council’s suppliers would still be impacted. He noted that the exact cost of this was not yet known. The Council’s Corporate Leadership Team ... view the full minutes text for item 46/24
47/24	FORWARD WORK PROGRAMME AND RECOMMENDATION TRACKER PDF 145 KB Share this item Purpose of the item: For the Select Committee to review the attached Forward Work Programme and Recommendation Tracker, making suggestions for additions or amendments as appropriate. Additional documents: RPSC Recommendations and Action Tracker December 2024 , item 47/24 PDF 145 KB Webcast for 47/24 Minutes: The Chairman raised that the ‘Customer Transformation Programme Update’ was on the Forward Work Programme for the select committee’s February 2025 meeting, and there were discussions around what else would be added for that meeting. Reference was made to bringing a paper on the MySurrey/Unit 4 Stabilisation Board work to that meeting of the select committee. The Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources stated that the Audit and Governance Committee had asked for a report to be produced around MySurrey in January, and that the committee should be careful to not duplicate this effort. The Committee NOTED the Recommendations and Actions Tracker.
48/24	DATE OF THE NEXT MEETING Share this item The next meeting of the Resources and Performance Select Committee will be held on 5 February 2025 at 10:00am. Additional documents: Webcast for 48/24 Minutes: The Chairman noted the date of the next meeting was 5 February 2025.