Agenda item

Cllr Judy Roberts, Cabinet Member for Infrastructure and Development Strategy, Cllr Andrew Gant, Cabinet Member for Transport Management, Lorna Baxter, Executive Director of Resources and Section 151 Officer, and Paul Fermer, Director of Environment and Highways, have been invited to present a report on Budget Management Monitoring Report (BMMR).

The Committee is asked to consider the report and raise any questions, and to AGREE any recommendations it wishes to make to Cabinet arising therefrom.

Cllr Liz Leffman, Leader of the Council, Cllr Dan Levy, Cabinet Member for Finance, Cllr Andrew Gant, Cabinet Member for Transport Management, Cllr Pete Sudbury, Deputy Leader of the Council with responsibility for Climate Change, Environment & Future Generations, Lorna Baxter, Executive Director of Resources and Section 151 Officer, Paul Fermer, Director of Environment and Highways, and Robin Rogers, Director of Economy and Place, attended to present a report on Budget Management Monitoring Report (BMMR).

The Cabinet Member for Finance introduced the BMMR, noting that the Council was heading in the right direction, being run prudently and effectively. 

Moving quickly to questions, the Executive Director of Resources stated that achieving the same level of planned savings next year as this year would be addressed in the forthcoming year's budget. This meant this year's budget should not affect next year's, as any unachievable savings would have been managed during budget planning.

The inquiry about including the metric for household waste reuse, recycling, or composting in the report was addressed by the Director of Environment and Highways. Although managed by districts, this legacy indicator remained as the indicator originally agreed upon through the waste partnership.

Another inquiry questioned whether the limited KPIs for environment and highways suggested missed targets. The Director clarified that the small number of KPIs represented broader monitoring efforts. It was agreed that there may be a need to review and increase KPIs to reflect current priorities like road conditions, gully cleaning, and road safety.

The meeting paused at 10:19 to fix a technical issue, and restarted at 10:27

Concerns were raised about removing the customer satisfaction metric for the customer service centre, especially with the new telephony platform. The Cabinet Member for Finance explained the reason to do so was due to a lack of baseline data. The need to assess customer satisfaction was acknowledged, as well as a plan to refine and reintroduce the metric once baseline data was available. Ensuring the new system provides excellent service remains vital.

Members asked if data on external agency responses, especially from Thames Water, was collected and shareable due to frequent issues. The Director of Highways and Environment stated that while extensive data on FixMyStreet and other inquiries existed, specific metrics on external agency responses were not detailed. Direct reporting to agencies like Thames Water provided immediate feedback, which was not possible through the Council's system. Emphasis was placed on maintaining the feedback loop.

The inquiry into KPIs for section 106 agreements highlighted its importance and noted delays in implementation. Concerns were raised about approximately £250 million of held funds, mostly allocated to education projects. The Director of Economy and Place mentioned that strategic risks were being addressed and would be updated in the risk register. A detailed report was to be presented at the next Place Overview and Scrutiny meeting in April.

Cllr Sudbury left the meeting at 10:50.

Members addressed the importance of delivering Oxfordshire core schemes with public support and how this support was measured to mitigate associated risks. The Cabinet Member for Transport Management confirmed that public support was crucial, and various methods, including formal consultations and stakeholder engagement, were used to gauge it.

The Executive Director of Resources explained that the residual risks of greatest concern included financial resilience and cybersecurity, with priority actions being taken to address these. It was also explained that the financial risks associated with the High Needs Block in SEND were captured within the financial resilience risk, and it was noted that this risk had likely increased due to the end of the statutory override without further information from the government.

The Executive Director of Resources explained that the £10.5 million underspend, in the Council’s Overall Financial Position, for 2024-2025 stemmed from higher interest on balances, lower pay inflation, and unused social care contingencies. These funds were discussed for financial contingencies and reserves to mitigate future risks, including funding reforms and local government reorganisation.

The Executive Director of Resources explained the £4.7 million underspend, in the Growth Deal Programme, was due to delays in Osney Mead, Kennington Bridge, and Steventon Lightning projects, caused by a mixture of slippage, planning decisions and judicial reviews. To use the growth deal funding by the deadline, funds were reallocated to other schemes, allowing the Council to claim the full housing and growth deal funding. The delayed projects could then proceed by using the already identified funding from the ‘switched’ projects.

The Committee AGREED to recommendations under following headings:

• Recycling KPI: Review and update the recycling KPI in light of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR).
• Customer Service Centre Satisfaction: Retain a measure of satisfaction with the customer service centre despite changes to the system.
• Public Support for Core Schemes: The Council should measure and report public support for core schemes as part of the BMMR report. 
• Residual Risks: Provide commentary on the actions taken to reduce residual risks in the risk register (wording to be agreed with the Executive Director of Resources)

Cllr Mallon left the meeting at this stage.