Lead Member – Councillor Gwilym Butler – Portfolio Holder for Finance and Corporate Resources

Report of James Walton – Executive Director of Resources

Report to Follow

RESOLVED:

That Cabinet

1.1.     Notes that this is the first year in which a new alternative budget process has been used and considers if changes to the process should be considered by PMSC with recommendations to cabinet and ‘proposed to Council

1.2      Considers whether to include any of the Opposition Groups’ proposals presented to Performance Management Scrutiny Committee, should be included in the Leader’s budget proposal to Council for 2023/24 or later years

Cabinet agreed to merge agenda items 6 and 7 – Scrutiny Items - report from Performance Management Scrutiny Committee and Alternative Budget Proposals 2023-2024.

The Portfolio Holder for Finance and Corporate Support said there were two key elements to the report, one being process, the other the alternatives discussed at length at the Performance Management Scrutiny Committee (PMSC) meeting on 11 January 2023 which the Chair of that Committee would report on.   He welcomed the significant amount of dialogue with the opposition groups in considering alternative proposals and thanked officers for the time they had made available to enable this to happen. 

He explained that it was intended in future that greater opportunities would be available for scrutiny to contribute to the budget process with a more medium term view rather than the reactionary process seen to date and he asked that PMSC review the process undertaken.  He also suggested that scrutiny have the opportunity to consider whether the capital programme and alternatives should be discussed mid-year and a modified alternative budget form created to assist in understanding whether an item was a statutory service and whether it was funded or not.

He proposed that for clarity, recommendation 1 of the report be amended so that after ‘should be considered by PMSC’ the following be added ‘with recommendations to cabinet and proposed to Council’.  Cabinet members agreed this amendment. 

He went on to report that following the PMSC meeting on 11 January, the following categories could be used - category A – already being done or agreed for consideration by Cabinet for inclusion in the following year’s budget (2023 – 2024); category B – agreed for further consideration by scrutiny perhaps utilising the Green Paper process or added to work programme  for the following year for appraisal and consideration for inclusion in the next budget round (2024 – 2025) category C – not recommended for approval

Councillor Wild commented on the new process and discussions held at the meeting. There had been some issues around understanding as alternative budget proposals were based on stopping the North West Relief Road and the amount set aside in the capital programme for the project could not be capitalised if the project was cancelled.  This would have an adverse impact on revenue budget, adding a considerable strain. 

The committee had discussed proposals and referrals would be made to the relevant overview and scrutiny Committees in relation to:   health and care issues and use of the hospital at Bishop’s Castle; proposals in relation to the retrofitting of properties with energy efficiency measures and installation of solar panel PC arrays on council sites;   provision of therapeutic services for children and renovation of properties to the highest standards when building or purchasing houses and renting them to meet housing need. 

Responding to comments from Group Leaders in relation to the funding of the North West Relief Road, Cabinet members said that implications of cancellation had been shared during budget setting for the previous year.  The Leader confirmed that it was not intended to cancel the project. 

The Portfolio Holder for Finance and Corporate Support noted that a number of the proposals would form part of a future work programme for Scrutiny with recommendations then made back to Cabinet to possibly influence the future of any further MTFS proposals.  He also added that some proposals would form part of policy reviews around parking, council tax relief, and possibly green waste.

RESOLVED:

That Cabinet

1.1.     Notes that this is the first year in which a new alternative budget process has been used and considers if changes to the process should be considered by PMSC with recommendations to cabinet and proposed to Council

1.2      Considers whether to include any of the Opposition Groups’ proposals presented to Performance Management Scrutiny Committee, should be included in the Leader’s budget proposal to Council for 2023/24 or later years