The report (which is to be considered by each of the Scrutiny Committees on 15 December) forms part of a series relating to the Service and Resource Planning process for 2012/13 to 2016/17.
Each Committee will meet in turn to consider the Business Strategies and savings proposed for their service areas. Comments from each Committee will then be considered by Strategy & Partnerships Scrutiny Committee on 12 January 2012 prior to being fed back to Cabinet in order that they can take the comments into consideration in proposing their budget and Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) in January 2012.
The following annexes are attached:
Annex 1 |
Assumptions in current Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) |
Annex 2 |
a) Detail of previously agreed pressures/funding – MTFP 2011/12 – 2014/15 b) Detail of previously agreed savings – MTFP 2011/12 – 2014/15 |
Annex 3 |
Autumn Statement Briefing |
Annex 4 |
Summary of changes to Business Strategies & MTFP by Scrutiny Committee responsibility/remit |
Annex 5 |
Updated Business Strategies 2012/13 – 2014/15:
a) Children, Education & Families b) Adult Social Care c) Community Services d) Community Safety and Fire & Rescue e) Environment & Economy f) Chief Executive’s Office
|
Annex 6 |
Capital Strategy |
Annex 7 |
a) Capital Prioritisation Principles b) Capital Prioritisation Assessment |
Annex 8 |
Service Areas considered by each Scrutiny Committee |
The Director for Environment & Economy will be available to respond to questions, together with the Cabinet Member for Growth & Infrastructure.
Minutes:
The Committee received a presentation from Officers outlining progress that has been made since the Business Strategy was agreed by Council in February 2011. They also set out the new pressures and variations to the Medium Term Financial Plan that are proposed for next year’s budget.
The Committee raised a number of areas of concern that should be monitored by Scrutiny throughout the year:
The committee were concerned with how accurate the plans could be beyond 2012/13 and reinforced the need to monitor upcoming national policy changes that will affect local government funding, responding and influencing as much as we can.
Cllr Skolar was concerned by the reduced budget for the schools capital programme, which has been caused by a change in the funding received from central government.
Cllr Strangwood challenged Officers to find bigger savings on contracts and re-negotiating with suppliers.
The Committee broadly supported the Business Strategy.
Cllr Nicholas Turner proposed that Officers and Cabinet members explore
The recommendation was seconded by Cllr Strangwood and carried unanimously.
Supporting documents: