Apologies for absence were received from Councillor R Hughes, Councillor D Minnery attended as substitute.

Members are reminded that they must not participate in the discussion or voting on any matter in which they have a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest and should leave the room prior to the commencement of the debate.

None were declared.

To consider the Minutes of the Environment and Services Scrutiny Committee meeting held on 20 October 2014. TO FOLLOW

The Chairman stated that, due to staff sickness, the Minutes of the meeting held on 20 October 2014 were not yet available and would be considered at the next meeting of the Committee.

To receive any questions, statements or petitions from the public of which members of the public have given notice.  Deadline for notification for this meeting is Wednesday 5 November 2014.

There were no questions received from members of the public.

To receive any questions of which members of the Council have given notice.  Deadline for notification for this meeting is Wednesday 5 November 2014.

There were no questions received from Members.

Members will consider the progress in delivering the Council’s Financial Strategy [and therefore the Business Plan] and help inform the refresh and refocus for 2015/16 onwards.

The Committee will work with the Financial Strategy and the Business Plan as 3 year rolling documents.  Members will be given the opportunity to undertake proactive scrutiny by feeding back and sharing issues and thoughts on the areas that may require updating or refocusing in the coming year’s refresh of the Business Plan [as part of the delivery of the Financial Strategy] to achieve the required savings.

The following documents are included:

a)    Performance report and dashboards relevant to the Committee’s specific remit TO FOLLOW

b)    Quarter 1 performance report and dashboards [from 15 October 2014 Cabinet meeting]

c)    Business Plan and Financial Strategy document [from 27 February 2014 Council meeting]

d)    Financial Strategy [from 30 July 2014 Cabinet]

The Committee considered the performance report and dashboards relevant to its remit together with a wealth of background documentation illustrating the progress being made in delivering the Council’s Business Plan and Financial Strategy.

Some Members considered that the format of the report to the Committee was unwieldy and did not facilitate comprehension of the information as too much material was presented and the format was difficult to navigate. A Member commented that trends in the financial reporting and significant variations in the budget should have been provided in a short, one page report that systematically identified areas of change. The Committee considered that the dashboards provided a useful starting point but were only successful to a degree as their generality resulted in a loss of understanding. 

The Performance Manager explained that an attempt had been made to provide as much information as possible to Members without compiling a single report.  He noted that this format had not been readily accepted by Members but stressed that the underlying aim had been to ensure that Members understood the context to the specific information relating solely to areas within the Committee’s remit.  The information provided in the dashboards was available as a starting point from which members could ‘drill down’ to the underlying detail.

The Committee noted that savings totalling £10.5M over three years needed to be made in those areas within the Committee’s remit in the 3 year period of the current Business Plan and Financial Strategy that had been agreed by Council in February 2014. The savings were broken down annually as follows, Year 1 £4.3M, Year 2 £4M and Year 3 £2.6M.  [Areas within the remit of the Committee being: natural environment, waste management, highways, social housing, drug and alcohol misuse, leisure and libraries]

The RAG ratings of areas within the Committee’s remit were noted as:

·         Year 1 – Green £2.95M, Amber £18k, Red £1.3M

·         Year 2 – Green £400k, Amber £1.1M, Red £2.5M

·         Year 3 – Green 0, Amber £800k, Red £1.8M

The Director of Commissioning provided an update on progress and made specific reference to:

·         Redesign of Waste Collection Services was progressing well but still in prototype and savings would not show this year.  September 2015 was now the likely target for redesign in this area.

·         A delay in the consultation on libraries and community hubs resulted in some proposed savings not taking place in the current year.

·         Visitor Information Centres – Year 1 savings as Green but Red in some areas of Year 2 savings.

·         Outdoor recreation, Community Action Team and leisure developments currently Green and potential redesign in Years 2 and 3.

Referring to Year 1 Red savings, the Director of Commissioning stated that the largest element of this saving related to the renegotiation of the Veolia contract, savings from which would not be realised in this financial year and there would also be no full level savings this year from the waste service redesign.  It was accepted that other areas, such as development management, were  ...  view the full minutes text for item 32.

The Committee is next scheduled to meet on Monday 8 December 2014 at 2.00pm.

It was noted that the Committee’s next meeting was scheduled to be held at 2.00pm on Monday 8 December 2014.