To agree the minutes of the meeting of the
Resources and Performance Select Committee held on 16 December 2019
as a true and accurate record of proceedings.
Minutes:
The minutes were agreed as a true record of
the meeting.
3/20
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 of 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:
None received.
4/20
QUESTIONS AND PETITIONS
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To receive any questions or petitions.
NOTES:
1.
The deadline for Members’ questions is 12:00pm four working
days before the meeting (20 January 2020).
2.
The deadline for public questions is seven days before the meeting
(17 January 2020).
3.
The deadline for petitions is 14 days before the meeting (10 January 2020).
Michael Coughlin, Executive
Director of Transformation, Partnerships and Prosperity
Anna D’Alessandro,
Director of Corporate Finance
Mel Few, Cabinet Member for
Finance
Zully Grant-Duff, Cabinet
Member for Corporate Support
Mark Hak-Sanders, Strategic
Capital Accountant
Nikki O’Connor, Strategic
Finance Business Partner
Rachel Wigley, Director of
Financial Insight
Key
points raised during the discussion:
Having received the
Treasury Management Strategy Statement (TMS) on the morning of the
Select Committee meeting, it was agreed that the Select Committee
would adjourn for a short time after discussion of the main budget
to give Members of the Select Committee time to read the TMS
report, following which the Select Committee would again reconvene
to discuss and scrutinise the TMS. It is annexed to these
minutes.
The Witnesses
introduced the budget report. While this budget was the first in a
decade to be balanced without the use of reserves, it still
entailed challenges, such as growing demand in adult social care
(ASC) and children’s special educational needs and
disabilities (SEND) services, a need for further transformation in
order to achieve efficiencies, in turn resulting in savings, and
the delay of the Fair Funding Review (FFR) from central government,
which meant that the budget could only go so far to address the
short and medium terms. The general election of December 2019 and
Britain’s imminent exit from the European Union had created
further uncertainty.
Ayesha Azad arrived at 10:08am.
The Director of
Corporate Finance emphasised the positive differences between the
2020/21 budget and those of previous years. Where previous budgets
had been short-term and defensive, the 2020/21 budget was
realistic, achievable, sustainable and medium-term. While a number
of assumptions had to be relied upon, no reserves had had to be
used to balance the budget, and it was not forecast that any
reserves would have to be used over the medium term. Revenue was
budgeted to increase incrementally, driven by a 1.99% increase in
council tax and an additional 2% ASC precept, which the government
had confirmed that the Council was able to levy.
The Select Committee
was informed that the capital programme would increase to
£1.4 billion over the medium term.
The Director of
Financial Insight outlined the budget of the Resources directorate,
50% of which was to be spent on staffing costs. Long-term
efficiencies in this directorate would come from changing working
practices.
The Executive
Director of Transformation, Partnerships and Prosperity (TPP)
remarked that while the TPP directorate spent the least of any
directorate in the Council, it acted as a catalyst for efficiencies
to be made elsewhere, and multiple steps had been taken to achieve
efficiencies within the directorate. He was determined to ensure
that the TPP directorate had a focus on resident outcomes and was
not perceived as purely transactional. Moreover, the Strategic
Finance Business Partner asked Members to note that there was no
capital budget in the TPP directorate.
A Member requested
more information on progress that had been made on bringing
looked-after children back into Surrey from out-of-county, which
could save ...
view the full minutes text for item 5/20
Purpose of report:For the Select
Committee to review the attached Recommendations Tracker and
Forward Work Programme, making suggestions for additions or
amendments as appropriate.
Members were updated
on the planned programme of work of the Customer Experience Task
Group.
It was agreed that
the Select Committee would examine the conclusions of the Budget
and Assets Task Group, rather than trying to obtain month-by-month
budget RAG (red, amber, green) ratings.
The Select Committee
was updated on the Budget and Assets Task Group. The group would
specifically be looking at the property portfolio, and would meet
the Director of Strategic Land and Property Assets, who had now
been in-post for some months.
Members were keen on
the prospect of scrutinising the Coroner’s service in a
future meeting.
Members were reminded
that the MCTR Task Group would be meeting soon and would present a
report to the next Select Committee meeting.
7/20
DATE OF THE NEXT MEETING
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The next meeting of the Resources and
Performance Select Committee will be held on 23 April 2020 in the
Ashcombe Suite, County Hall at
10:00am.
Minutes:
The
next meeting of the Resources and Performance Select Committee
would be held on 23 April 2020 in the Ashcombe Suite, County Hall at 10:00am.
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