Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillor Yvonne Constance (Councillor Pete Handley substituting) and Councillor Patrick Greene (Councillor Michael Waine substituting).

It was proposed by Councillor Brighouse and seconded by Councillor Hannaby and it was:

RESOLVED: that Councillor Godden be elected Deputy Chairman for the remainder of the 2016/17 Council Year.

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 27 October 2016 (PSC4) and to receive information arising from them.

The Minutes of the meeting held on 27 October 2016 were approved and signed as a correct record subject to the following correction:

Minute 51/16: Second bullet point, add: “An outside agency has been engaged to review the responses.”

Regarding Minute 50/16 – Thames Valley Police and Police and Crime Commissioner’s Annual Report, The Chairman reported that she will follow up with the Chief Constable on his response to the requests for further information.

Councillor Lilly reported that he had heard that the Chancellor of the Exchequer had agreed to provide funding for improvements to the A34.

The Chairman had agreed to provide an opportunity for Councillor Pressel to address the Committee.  However, Councillor Pressel was not present at the time.

10.10

This report is one in the series on the Service & Resource Planning process for 2017/18 to 2020/21, providing councillors with information on budget issues for 2017/18 and the medium term. This report presents the new pressures and savings for 2017/18 and the medium term, the key announcements of the Autumn Statement announced on 23 November 2016; and the capital programme proposals for 2017/18 to 2020/21. 

The Committee is invited to consider and comment on both the revenue and capital budget proposals.

Indicative timings:

10.10 Service and Resource Planning 2017/18 – 2020/21

12.00 Capital Budget 2017/18

Officers made a presentation outlining the council’s future development, particularly via the “Fit for the Future” transformation programme. It was explained that this is the context in which the budget, savings and pressures should be seen. 

A key element of the approach to making savings would be the “digital first” workstream within the Fit for the Future programme. This seeks to use digital tools to make services and back-office processes more efficient, and in doing so create the opportunity for the savings identified.

Members considered the budget, savings and pressures presented by officers, and discussed points of detail with the relevant directors in attendance. However, no substantial changes to the draft budget were requested at this point.  

In discussion of the contextual presentation and budget, the following broader issues were raised and discussed:

The role and involvement of members

Members questioned their collective role in the council’s business. Members cited perceived difficulties in accessing information about the council’s business. Difficulties experienced in using the council’s website were part of this. Members also felt that more use should be made of their knowledge and experience of local and county-wide issues, both to properly help develop the council’s business and to ensure members are equipped to be accountable to local residents. Specific examples of difficulties experienced included:

·         Announcements of Traffic Regulation Orders not including the reasoning for the decision.

·         Difficulty of finding information on the council’s property assets.

·         In situations where something cannot be done, the importance of members knowing why not

Mr Clark acknowledged members’ concerns and assured members that a strong relationship between councillors and officers remained at the heart of all future plans. It was agreed that a Councillor Reference Group should be re-formed, and that members’ involvement in the review of the council’s website would be sought. 

Staffing

The opinion was expressed that some aspects of the Council’s administration seemed threadbare.  There were also concerns that the reduction in staff numbers and costs set out in the proposed savings could result in existing staff being overloaded or demoralised, and that service levels could be affected.

Officers responded that the Transformation programme is looking at making processes more efficient so that the Council can be run better even with lower staff resources.

Potential over-reduction of service levels

Concern was expressed that savings in some services – especially preventative services – could be counterproductive if cut back too far. Officers acknowledged this potential, citing for example gully emptying services, where predicted savings were not now being sought because of this.

Child placements

Councillors asked the reasons why child placements were increasing at such a high rate (12%) and how this compared with other authorities. Officers noted the following points:

·         Increased general awareness of issues leads to an increase in cases.

·         OCC placements historically were low and there is an element of catching up

·         The criticisms from the serious case reviews led to more placements

·         Last year’s comparable increase in other authorities was about 5%.

Links with voluntary sector

Councillors asked  ...  view the full minutes text for item 59/16

12.30

The Lead Commissioner (Adults) will give a presentation (PSC7) on the current consultation process for the review of Daytime Support. A summary of the new model is attached for information. The full consultation documents and detailed report on which the consultation is based are available online at https://consultations.oxfordshire.gov.uk/consult.ti/DaytimeSupport/consultationHome

It was agreed to defer this item to the meeting on 5 January 2017 as the previous item had overrun the meeting time.