PAPER B

Purpose : for Decision

REPORT TO THE EXECUTIVE

Date : 23 FEBRUARY 2004

Title : REVENUE SUPPORT GRANT SETTLEMENT AND BUDGET 2004-05

REPORT OF THE PORTFOLIO HOLDER FOR RESOURCES

IMPLEMENTATION DATE : 23^rd February 2004

SUMMARY/PURPOSE

1. At the last meeting of the Executive it was decided to defer making a recommendation to Full Council in respect of the revenue budget and Council Tax for next year until further consideration had been given to the responses to the consultation process.

2. An updated report on consultation responses is attached as an appendix to this report. Members are requested to have regard to this in making recommendations to the Full Council. Any further updates to the information provided in the report to the last meeting will be made available to members as soon as practicable, along with a draft resolution for discussion.

BACKGROUND

3. The Executive needs to provide a recommendation to Full Council meeting later today, in order that the Council Tax for 2004-05 can be set.

OPTIONS

4. a. To recommend the draft resolution to Full Council

b. To recommend an amended resolution to Full Council

EVALUATION/RISK MANAGEMENT/LEGAL AND FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

5. See report of 11^th February 2004

RECOMMENDATIONS

6. Option a

BACKGROUND PAPERS

7. Report to the meeting of the Executive on 11^th February 2004

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

8. Appendix – updated consultation feedback

Contact Point : Paul Wilkinson (823606 [email protected]

Mike Fisher Chief Executive Officer

R Barry Portfolio Holder for Resources

Consultation feedback

1. Select Committee recommendations

Fire and Public Safety 19 January 2004

RESOLVED

a. THAT £100,000 for Personal Development System to be reinstated in the bids.

b. THAT £36,000 for two trainee posts within Consumer Protection to be reinstated.

At an earlier meeting of the Select Committee it was agreed to request £26,000 in respect of an RCC post currently seconded to the Crime and Disorder Team, for which SEEDA funding will cease to be available from March 2004.

Social Services, Housing and Benefits 22 January 2004

RESOLVED

THAT a bid for Homelessness Strategy of £200k and £100k was supported

Environment & Transport 26 January 2004

RESOLVED

a. THAT the Executive to be advised that there is a clear business case for, to fully fund Section 74 issues, Pavement Management System, decriminalised parking and the bid for Highway Maintenance Staff as capacity will be increased to deliver services and reduce the cost of any PFI bid.

b. THAT query over the bid for increased charges for Criminal Records Bureau.

Resources 2^nd February 2004

RESOLVED

a. THAT clarification was required on the £100,000 for the Home Improvement Agency Staffing – does this also include the setting up costs?

b. THAT clarification is obtained on the increase which had been received from the Government this year. (Believed to be 5.5% approx £7m)

c. THAT details were obtained of the £85,000 budget shortfall and other financial pressures in the Policy & Communications Economic Development budget.

d. THAT reasons were clarified why the appropriate salary funding was not transferred with the 2 staff from the Isle of Wight Partnership.

Economic Development, Planning & Tourism Meeting 6^th February 2004

RESOLVED

a. THAT the report be noted.

b. THAT comprehensive statistics on the “one card” be produced.

c. THAT an investigation be undertaken on how many Council Officers are wholly or partly funded by grants.

d. THAT a spend to save bid be investigated for the purchase of a marquee for Council events and the Select Committee support measures to save £25,000 required (£10k Community Fund and £15k efficiency savings unless alternative solutions can be found)

e. THAT the Executive be made fully aware of the adverse effect on tourism and the general Island economy of any reduction in the events budget.

Education, Community Development & Lifelong Learning 9^th February 2004

RESOLVED

a. THAT the revenue bids list to show which items are under which Select Committee remit

b. THAT the implications for Community Development arising from the 2004/05 budget proposals be noted.

2. Other Consultation Feedback

Background

A public consultation exercise, aimed at identifying budget priorities for the coming year, was undertaken during December 2003 to February 2004. The consultations involved and engaged a wide range of the community through a variety of methods. These included:

1. An interactive web site, where users could leave views and ask questions received 723 hits.

2. A radio phone-in involving the Leader, the portfolio holder for Resources and the Council’s Chief Financial Officer

3. Face to face meetings with the Leader, members of the Executive and senior officers of the Council. Meetings were held with the following groups:

a. The local business community, including trade councils and Unison

b. The Island youth, including the IW Youth Council and Connexions

c. Members of the Island community partnership panel and Island Futures local strategic partnership

d. The voluntary and community sector and Island minority groups

e. Members of Town and Parish Councils

f. Members of the public were consulted at a televised “Question Time” type debate at the Medina Theatre, which was attended by approximately 200 people.

There were few distinct references to which services should or should not be reduced but rather, a collection of comments about the services offered currently and suggestions to increase the Council’s purse. For ease of reference the views expressed at these meetings have been compiled under the relevant Directorate heading. A comprehensive file containing comments and views from all of the meetings is available in the Policy Unit should Members wish to see them.

Education & Community Development

• Funding for education should not be cut
• A lack of access to Island-based higher education for some professions needs to be addressed
• Increased job opportunities for the young should be a priority to enable them to stay on the Island
• More should be spent on the arts, theatre and tourism
• The IW Music Festival should be supported as a means of increasing tourism
• Obesity levels are high and may increase if leisure centres are closed or if fees at leisure centres are raised
• Tourism is a non-statutory service, providing many jobs but more funding is needed for it

• If there is to be a 21% cut in the tourism budget, what will the knock on effect be on the quality of life and encouraging people to come to the Island?
• Less substantial fees should be spent on consultants, example head of tourism
• More funding needed to promote the Island

Environment Services

• Need to investigate IWC getting more European money or grants
• Can the Council introduce a road tax on the IW to provide an income tax to regenerate the Island?
• We need to control the size of lorries coming on to the Island as heavy duty lorries cause damage to our roads and increase costs
• Highways maintenance is contracted out; how well are contractors monitored and are we getting best value?
• If IWC wish people to use public transport more they need to make it more accessible in terms of coverage, costs and accessibility
• Ferry companies are increasing the size of the ferries and adding to the over-population and usage of the roads. The Council should get them to contribute to road maintenance and improvements.
• Could the Council charge the ferry companies for landing cars?
• Council needs to pressure bus companies for lower fares; it is cheaper for 4 people to get in a taxi than use a bus

Corporate Services

• Any cuts may impact on service delivery with resultant sickness caused by stress increasing proportionately
• IWC needs to look at cutting staff costs across the board to minimise the effect of inflation
• The Council should minimise their costs and expenditure on consultants by using in house professionals or by growing their own

Social Services & Housing

• Some concern from the voluntary sector that the size of the Social Services budget may not vary from last year but the distribution of it may

General Issues

These views have been drawn from all the meetings undertaken and were felt to be the most common held concerns.

• IWC needs to maximise the amount they can borrow and the tax available from second homes and be more business-like when looking at investment decisions
• Pay deals are coming up and the IWC needs to be frugal
• Council needs to consider efficiency savings as the bulk of money goes in salaries for the services provided
• We need to be setting a budget that preserves our services, 7.3% would be more realistic, painful as it is
• Council Tax does not take into account people’s ability to pay. If it increases some people could be homeless
• The public generally do not know enough about the services the IWC provides therefore cannot really comment. People need to be educated to make them understand how difficult this job is
• People need to know facts like closing swimming pools would raise £700k and would save 1.5% on Council Tax
• The council tax should be pegged at the rate of inflation or there should be a 2.5% ceiling for pensioners

• It is easy to talk about cutting waste or cutting staff. When you are talking about public services, people deliver them; there are no machines to deliver home help services or to teach people.

Summary

In order to asses the effectiveness of the budget consultation process, participants were requested to complete evaluation forms at each event.

The following is a brief compilation of the results:

• 74% of those attending rated their opportunity to be invited as good or excellent.
• 82% of those attending rated the quality of the answers they received as average to excellent.
• 77% of those attending rated the value of the meetings in the consultation process as average to excellent.

Points of interest to note were:

• Meetings need to be scheduled early in the budget evaluation process.
• More information needed prior to meetings.
• Information and answers need to be in “plain English”.
• Feedback on how the consultation impacted on budget decisions would be valued.