Lead Member – Mr Malcolm Pate – Portfolio Holder for Strategy, Financial Strategy, Budget and Business Plan.

Report of the Head of Finance, Governance and Support is attached, marked 5.

Contact: James Walton 01743 255001

RESOLVED:

i)     That it be noted that at the end of Quarter 3 (1 January 2016), the full year forecast is a potential overspend of £0.403m;

ii)    That the impact of this on the Council’s General Fund Balance be considered.

130.1  The Leader presented a report by the Head of Finance, Governance and Assurance – copy attached to the signed Minutes – setting out the revenue forecast for 2015/16 as at Quarter 3 and identified current projections on delivery of savings included within the forecast.

130.2  The Leader commented that the growth in elderly care figures represented a problem that needed to be acknowledged. In answer to a Member’s concerns relating to the figures illustrated in paragraph 5.3 of the report illustrating the non delivery of Amber savings, the Leader acknowledged the funding gap that was being funded by one-off sources of funding.  He added that unpalatable decisions would need to be made the following year but the situation would not be fully known until the settlement figures for that year were known.

130.3  In answer to the concerns raise re the Amber savings, the Chief Executive advised that Officers and Directors had plans that they believed to be robust but they were not yet sufficiently evidenced to allow the Section 151 Officer to factor them in at this stage.

130.4  A Member commented on the spiralling costs of Adult Social Care [ASC] and considered that rigorous scrutiny was required with professionals in ASC being brought in to advise the process.  The Leader stressed that ASC was critical but was not solely a Shropshire problem but part of a national trend.  He stated that it was essential to make Government understand the issues and acknowledge this national problem.  The Chief Executive stated that, subject to the agreement of the Portfolio Holder, assistance from the LGA could be sought but he stressed that Shropshire was no more and no less affected by rising ASC costs than any other authority.

130.5  The Leader added that preventative measures needed to be investigated thoroughly.  A Member commented that technology was available that could help in some parts of Shropshire but the current Broadband cover would not allow this to be implemented across the whole of the Council’s area at the moment.

130.6  The Portfolio Holder for Adults stated that the Council’s ASC had a good track record of delivering savings and was effective in delivering a high quality service.  He stressed that the Council’s spend in this area was not discretionary and demand was rising exponentially.  He added that the Council needed to be smarter in predicting demand and he concluded that he would be happy to work with scrutiny to look into the issues in detail.

130.7  The Head of Finance, Governance and Assurance commented that the ASC budget was large and volatile and decisions made in recent years had had a great impact on the current position.  He added that small variations in this budget area made a significant difference but with more and improved data the Council would be able to make decisions from an informed position going forward.

130.8  In drawing the debate to a close the Leader commented that the Council’s main priority was to protect vulnerable people but this did not exclude consideration of efficiencies in this area.  He reminded Members of the ongoing Government lobbying and the Government panel looking at how settlement figures would be calculated in future.  All political groups were willing to join the necessary Government lobbying on this issue.

130.9  RESOLVED:

i)             That the recommended level of general balances to support the 2016/17 revenue budget at £28.20m, noting that the projected balance will be below this for 2016/17, be approved;

ii)         That the projected recommended level of general reserves for the following two years at £26.45m in 2017/18 and £20.13m in 2018/19 be noted.