Shropshire Council website

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Contact information

E-mail

customer.service@shropshire.gov.uk

Telephone

0345 678 9000

Postal Address

Shropshire Council
Shirehall
Abbey Foregate
Shrewsbury
Shropshire
SY2 6ND

Agenda and minutes

Venue: Oswestry Room, Shirehall, Abbey Foregate, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, SY2 6ND. View directions

Contact: Julie FIldes  Committee Officer

Items
No. Item

37.

Apologies for Absence and Substitutions

Minutes:

Apologies were received from Councillors Karen Calder and Alan Mosley.

38.

Disclosable Pecuniary Interests

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.

 

Minutes:

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

39.

Minutes of the meetings held on 21st September 2017 and 10th October 2017 pdf icon PDF 127 KB

To consider the Minutes of the Performance Management Scrutiny Committee meeting held on 21st September 2017 and 10th October 2017.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Minutes of the meetings held on 21 September 2017 and 10 October 2017 were confirmed as a correct record. 

40.

Public Question Time

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 5pm on Friday 3rd November 2017.

Minutes:

There were no public questions.

41.

Member Question Time

To receive any questions of which members of the Council have given notice.  Deadline for notification for this meeting is 5pm, Friday 3rd November 2017.

Minutes:

There were no questions from members of the public.

42.

Council Tax Support Scheme pdf icon PDF 265 KB

To consider the Council Tax Support Scheme.

 

Contact: James Walton, Head of Finance, Governance and Assurance. James.Walton@Shropshire.gov.uk

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Members considered a report, copy attached to signed minutes, on the Shropshire Council Council Tax Support Scheme 2018 – 2019.

 

The Head of Finance, Governance and Assurance, and the Revenues and Benefits Service Manager gave a presentation (copy attached to signed minutes) which covered: the background to the proposals; the Council’s Financial Position and current Council Tax Support Scheme; the approach of other Councils; the options being considered; how council tax support is calculated; the effect of the proposed changes; the consultation; discretionary scheme; and council tax collection.

 

Members asked questions and made comments relating to:

 

How much of the predicted £1.19m would be delivered at the outset of implementation of the recommended option 4 and how likely it was the collection rate would decrease post implementation; what percentage of a person’s weekly income might the additional cost to them represent; could council tax be taken at source from a Universal Credit payment; was it possible that the cost of collection could exceed the amount collected.

 

In response to questions, the Director of Finance confirmed that implementation of option 4 would result in an additional saving to the Council of £1.19m.  He explained that it was anticipated that collection rates would decrease to start with and that £600,000 of this additional £1.19m would be gained in the first year.  It was expected that collection rates would gradually improve in subsequent years as experienced by other local authorities following the introduction of a minimum payment.  He confirmed that the change would only apply to people of working age.  Officers also reported on a scenario where £4 a week could come from a person with an income of £73.10 a week.

 

Jackie Jeffrey, Chief Executive, Citizens Advice Shropshire, was invited to address the Committee.  She circulated the CA’s response to the consultation (a copy is attached to the signed minutes) and drew attention to the concerns raised and steps recommended to ensure those struggling most would be protected.  It was appreciated that the Council was facing difficult financial decisions but CA believed that the proposal would not solve this problem, and that the cost of collecting arrears from those who had been unable to pay would be greater than the amount the Council was able to collect in additional income.  They felt that further research into the impact of the changes was needed and a strategic view formed over how all the Welfare Reform changes would impact on Shropshire Residents.  CA wished to work with the Council to ensure that enforcement action should be affordable and proportionate, and had been pursuing a date to do this for some time, finding it harder to make contact then previously as officers were stretched.  . 

 

It was confirmed by the Revenues and Benefits Service Manager that a date for this had now been arranged and that flexibility would be possible in negotiating payment plans.  Other CA recommendations included placing accounts on hold whilst encouraging the household in arrears to engage with advice agencies.  It was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 42.

43.

Digital Transformation Programme Update

To receive a verbal update from the Head of Human Resources and development on the progress of the Digital Transformation Programme.

 

Contact:  Michele Leith, Head of Human Resources and Development, Michele.leith@shropshire.go.uk

Minutes:

The Head of HR provided an update on Digital Transformation, a hard copy of which would be circulated after the meeting.  This covered the Social Care Project, ERP, Customer Relationship Management System, Infrastructure and Architecture, Programme Assurance, Budgets and Programme Management. 

 

Members requested that acronyms be avoided in the next update to the Committee.  A request was also made for an update on the ways that people contacted the Council.  Members asked when the Programme would start providing a return.  The Chief Executive explained that the original budget did not forecast any returns as timeframes were so broad at that stage.  As things moved closer to reality the financial strategy could start to reflect where savings would be made or income raised. 

44.

Financial Strategy pdf icon PDF 543 KB

To consider the Financial Strategy and to consider the establishment of the Financial Strategy (2018/19 to 2020/21) Task and Finish Group.

 

Contact: James Walton, Head of Finance, Governance and Assurance, james.walton@shropshire.gov.uk

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Head of Finance, Governance and Assurance introduced the report on the Financial Strategy (copy attached to signed minutes) and explained the reasons for the increase in funding gap for 2018-19 from £24m to £36m.  This was then predicted to grow by £6m a year subsequently.  Cabinet and officers would develop an approach in response which would be presented to Cabinet on 6 December 2017 and consulted on in the new year.  Council would then set the budget for 2018/19 and agree proposals for the following two years at its meeting on 22 February 2018.  He also reported that an overspend of £5m for 2017 – 18 was currently predicted and addressing this in-year was an imperative as using one offs to try to offset this next year would not be enough.

 

Discussion covered cuts to the Education Improvement Service, how the Financial Strategy could be scrutinised and whether there would be enough time for PMSC to comment on the proposals and feed these to Cabinet on 6 December.  Members asked what the management action would be to minimise the £5m overspend, for detail around how savings would be achieved in adult services and how any actions taken now would impact on the following year’s budget. 

 

Members also asked about the Council’s investment strategy and whether plans for income generation would eventually be able to place the Council in a sustainable position.  Officers reported that the Council was not just looking at the short term, but also the long term, with a clear ambition to generate enough income and reduce costs to achieve a sustainable position.  Short term decisions were however required to achieve a balanced budget. 

 

In response to further questions, the Chief Executive explained that Shropshire was funded at a level significantly less than other Councils and that joint activity with other authorities had already been investigated.  As Shropshire was such a low cost and high quality authority any such activity would be more beneficial for other authorities.  It was confirmed that Shropshire Council was currently exploring work it could do for the CCG.  

 

The Head of Finance, Governance and Assurance confirmed that implications of action needed for 2017 – 2018 for future years were under discussion.  A spending freeze until 31 March 2018 was likely in a number of areas and there was an opportunity to do that in Adult Social Care using one off grants.  This would reduce expenditure and deliver an underspend in Adult Social Care which would be offset by an overspend in Children’s Services.  The Chief Executive added that although predictive tools used by the Council were good, they could not cover completely unforeseen circumstances. 

 

Members asked if the Head of Finance, Governance and Assurance’s membership of the Government Technical Working Group on funding had provided a clearer picture of the future.  He reported that the main concern of urban areas was deprivation whilst in rural areas it was older people.   An attempt was being made to establish a fair funding formula which  ...  view the full minutes text for item 44.

 

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