Agenda and minutes

An apology was received from Councillor Coates.

To approve the minutes of the meetings held on 25 September 2014 (PSC3a) and 3 November 2014(PSC3b – to be circulated separately) and to receive information arising from them.

The minutes of the meetings held on 25 September 2014 and 3 November 2014 were approved and signed.

Speakers will be invited to address the committee at the point in proceedings where the relevant proposals are being considered, as listed in the timetable below.

There were no petitions or requests to address the meeting.

The report forms part of a series relating to the Service and Resource Planning process for 2015/16 to 2017/18.

The Committee will consider in turn the savings proposed by each directorate for their service areas. Comments from the Committee will then be fed back to Cabinet in order that they can take the comments into consideration in proposing their budget and Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) on 27 January 2015. Council will meet to agree the budget and MTFP on 17 February 2015.

The report contains the following annexes:

Annex A:  Service & resource Planning Report 2015/16 to 2017/18 to Cabinet 16 December 2015

Annex 1:  New revenue budget pressures and savings 2015/16 – 2017/18

Annex 2:  Review of charges 2015/16

Annex 3:  Forecast earmarked reserves 2015/16 – 2017/18

Annex 4:  Service & Community Impact Assessments (SCIAs) Overarching Assessment (SCIAs for individual proposals are available on the Council’s website https://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/cms/content/service-and-community-impact-assessments-scias-201415)

During the meeting the Director together with the Cabinet Member for the relevant Directorate will be available to respond to questions as follows:

The timings below are indicative and will be updated on the website on Wednesday 17 December:

1000 – 1020 Overview and introduction (Lorna Baxter)

1020 – 1150  Environment & Economy

1150 – 1320  Children, Education & Families

Break for lunch

          1335 – 1415 Fire & Rescue Service

          1415 – 1445 Chief Executive’s Office

          1445 – 1600 Adult Social Care

The Committee had before them a report that formed part of a series relating to the Service and Resource Planning process for 2015/16 to 2017/18.

The report contained the following annexes:

Annex A:  Service & resource Planning Report 2015/16 to 2017/18 to Cabinet 16 December 2015

Annex 1:  New revenue budget pressures and savings 2015/16 – 2017/18

Annex 2:  Review of charges 2015/16

Annex 3:  Forecast earmarked reserves 2015/16 – 2017/18

Annex 4:  Service & Community Impact Assessments (SCIAs) Overarching Assessment (SCIAs for individual proposals are available on the Council’s website https://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/cms/content/service-and-community-impact-assessments-scias-201415)

The Committee considered in turn the savings proposed by each directorate for their service areas.

They also took into consideration councillor comments from briefing sessions and the cabinet meeting held on 16 December 2014. The Director and the Leader, or relevant Cabinet Member for each Directorate, were available to respond to questions.

The Committee received a presentation from Lorna Baxter, Chief Finance Officer setting out the overall picture including the national context, the local impact of Government funding reductions to Oxfordshire and a high level summary of the budget pressures and savings.

Economy & Environment

Sue Scane, Director for Environment & Economy, Mark Kemp, Deputy Director, Commercial; Bev Hindle, Deputy Director, Strategy and Infrastructure Planning, Graham Shaw, Deputy Director, Oxfordshire Customer Services, and Councillors Nimmo Smith and Carter came to the table.

Following detailed consideration it was agreed that the following point be made to Cabinet:

The Committee were exercised about the need to maintain the quality of Council services that are delivered through contracts, particularly where there is a need to make savings. They noted that it is important to ensure quality services are provided and not just to drive out value.

Children, Education & Families

Jim Leivers, Director for Children’s Services, Lucy Butler, Deputy Director Children's Social Care & YOS, Margaret Dennison, Interim Deputy Director – Education and Early Intervention, Gillian McKee, Finance Business Partner (CEF), Kate Terroni, Deputy Director Joint Commissioning and Councillor Ian Hudspeth came to the table. Councillor Melinda Tilley sent apologies.

During consideration of the funding for school transport it was agreed that the detail of the services provided could usefully be looked at by locality meetings.

In response to a query about the full day nursery fees for Day Care Provision at the Roundabout Centre (page 32) Jim Leivers undertook to provide information on the details and breakdown of the figures.

Following further detailed consideration it was agreed that the following points be made to cabinet:

·       The committee drew attention to the importance of ensuring that the reshaping of early help services is effective, not just in delivering savings but also in ensuring quality services for families and children.

·       The committee also noted the interdependency between the reshaping of early help services and the need for wider change to the shape and structure of services across the whole Children, Education and Families directorate.

OFRS & Community Safety

Dave Etheridge, Chief Fire Office and Simon Furlong, Assistant Chief Fire Officer and Councillor Ian Hudspeth came to the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 45/14