Return to Agenda

ITEM EX5C  

EXECUTIVE – 14 JANUARY 2004

REVENUE BUDGET AND CAPITAL PROGRAMME 2004/05 - 2006/07

COMMENTS OF SCRUTINY COMMITTEES

Community Safety Scrutiny Committee - 24 November 2003

The Committee noted the revenue and capital expenditure proposals for their programme areas and the relative priorities of the proposals.

Environment Scrutiny Committee - 26 November 2003

The Committee agreed, whilst recognising the budgetary pressures on the County Council, to ask the Executive to consider:

· allocating an extra £750,000 to Category A to fund the abnormal inflation on tender prices for Public Transport Subsidies;

· allocating an extra £1.4m in Category A for Highway Maintenance;

· pursuing partnership arrangements for advertising bus shelters;

· investigating charging for residents permits in the City at an economical level;

· fulfilling the County Councils statutory responsibilities on public rights of way;

· encouraging all efforts to recruit permanent staff in order that fewer agency staff are used;

· funding the Countywide Special Parking Area from the On-Street Parking Account.

Learning & Culture Scrutiny Committee - 2 December 2003

The Scrutiny Committee identified issues around the following:

• The teachers’ 2.5 pay rise agreed for 2004/05 and how much should be allowed to meet the real costs in teachers’ pay in the 2004/05 budget
• Support for newly qualified teachers
• Developing strategies for statementing and out-county placements
• Pressures on the Schools’ Finance Team in the light of the outcome of the 2002/03 Settlement and the number of deficit budgets submitted. However, there was also a need to monitor the effectiveness of the Finance Team. The Committee felt that budget commitments should as far as possible relate to realisable and measurable (SMART) targets so that subsequent performance can be more readily accounted for.
• Precise use of targeting transitional grant needs to be resolved. The Committee was concerned that grants were not simply used to pay off school deficits. School finances needed to be considered holistically across the County.
• LSC funding needed more clarification
• Efficiency savings for 2004/05 were low in comparison with 2002/03
• Major issues around ICT support / MIS Pilot; roll-out for April 2005 looked unrealistic
• Need to verify pupil demography figures; data came from January Form 7 count not from the School Organisation Plan
• The Committee drew attention to the successful funding of the MAP Youth Arts project with young people in Banbury, Bicester and Witney and would wish to see similar cross-service and cross-agency provision provided (page 30)
• Alignment of Countryside /Rights of Way/ Portfolio / Directorate / Finance
• Importance of libraries’ internal upgrade for attracting external funding and encouragement for Friends’ Groups
• The provision of affordable housing in the context of recruitment & retention of teachers.
• The Committee supported funding of Stage 2 developments at Standlake Museum Centre in line with the recommendations made in its Scrutiny Review of Museum Services.

D. Social & Health Care Scrutiny Committee - 3 December 2003

The Committee agreed to advise the Executive as follows:

· that the Youth Service (LC3), as listed under revenue expenditure proposals should be given priority and should move from category B to category A (in March 2003, the Executive agreed in principle that the County Council’s funding for the Youth Service should be increased over a period of 3 years so as to bring it in line with the benchmark figure laid down in recent national guidance); and

· that this Committee welcomes the initiatives on Office Accommodation as listed under the capital expenditure proposals.

The Committee agreed that an additional meeting should be scheduled in January to consider this item prior to the budget setting meeting of the Executive on 27 January.

E. Corporate Governance Scrutiny Committee - 18 December 2003

The Scrutiny Committee supported the following in the Corporate Governance programme area :

• Category A.
• Category B:
• Control of asbestos at work regulations;
• Strengthening of Financial Services;
• Additional resources for Health and Scrutiny;
• Social Inclusion;
• (In place of the existing ‘Human Resource & Performance Management Employee Development’) the proposals in the Consultant’s Report - Review of Human Resources Function’ at item 6.
• Category C
• Local area working but at a cost lower than £200,000.
• Capital
• Repair & Maintenance of Buildings;
• Improvement to Council Buildings;
• Central Buildings;
• Energy Conservation Programme.

   

CHRIS GRAY
Head of Finance

January 2004

Return to TOP