62.
MINUTES
RESOLVED :
THAT the Minutes of the meeting held on 4 December 2003 be confirmed.
63.
DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
No interests were declared at this stage.
64.
URGENT
BUSINESS
(a) Retirement
of Mrs D Cousins and Mrs S Gregory
The Chairman advised members that Mrs D Cousins,
Head of Resources and Mrs S Gregory PA to the Head of Resources would shortly
be retiring. Tributes were paid to the work of both officers.
RESOLVED :
THAT the Select Committee’s appreciation of the
service given by Mrs Dawn Cousins and Mrs Sylvie Gregory to the Council be
recorded in the minutes.
(b) Departure
of Mr J Doyle
The Chairman advised members that this would be the
last meeting attended by Mr J Doyle, Head of Children’s Services who would be
leaving for a post in Wiltshire. The Select Committee paid tribute to his work.
RESOLVED :
THAT the Select Committee’s appreciation of the
service given by Mr Jimmy Doyle be recorded in the minutes.
(c) Budget
Consultation
The Chairman indicated that he had agreed to
consider the report of the Chief Financial Officer, relating to the 2004/05
revenue budget, as an item of urgent business to enable any appropriate
comments to be passed onto the Executive on 11 February 2004.
The Chief Financial Officer advised that although
the Council had received an improved Formula Spending Share for 2004/05 this
fell short of providing the level required for a standstill. This also took
into account the changes being made to the discounts in Council tax on second
homes and empty properties. It was anticipated that a rise of 5.9% would be
required in the Council Tax to provide for a standstill budget.
Consideration was given to the revenue bids,
excluding education and social services, that were seen as priorities. A 1%
increase in Council tax equated to expenditure of £532,000. Members were also
made aware of areas where savings had been identified as the result of a
headroom exercise. In addition the Chief Financial Officer listed all the
revenue bids that were contained in Service Plans. It was noted that one of the
bids to be considered for inclusion as part of the 2004/05 related to the
Homelessness Strategy which was one of the Council’s priority improvement
areas. This amounted to £200,000 with an additional £100,000 as a spend to save
item.
RESOLVED :
THAT the revenue bid of £200,000, plus the £100,000
spend to save, for the Homelessness Strategy be supported.
65.
BUDGET MONITORING REPORT AS AT END OF NOVEMBER 2003
The Select Committee was advised of the budget and
spending position in respect of Social Services revenue and capital. Work was
ongoing to identify the balance of savings, amounting to £194,000, still to be
achieved as part of the 2003/04 budget settlement. There was the possibility of
being overspent by approximately £123,000 at the end of the financial year was
highlighted. Another area of concern related to the potential outturn position
on income levels for residential care client contributions. Financial
assessments were being undertaken for affected clients arising from changes in
the benefit system introduced in October 2003.
RESOLVED :
THAT
the position be noted.
66.
THE FUTURE SHAPE FOR SERVICES TO CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE
The Portfolio Holder for Social Services and Housing
reported that the Executive had, at its meeting on 17 December 2003, approved a
series of key steps in respect of services for children and young people. This
was in response to the principles contained in the Green Paper – ‘Every Child
Matters. Staff consultation was being undertaken on the establishment of a
Children Services Directorate. It was intended to report to the Executive in
March/April 2004 on the major changes required.
A number of key areas were discussed and in
particular IT and sharing of data between agencies. There was concern as to the
funding arrangements that would be agreed by the Government. Officers indicated
that the amalgamation of related services under the new Directorate was not
seen as a cost saving exercise. It was hoped that the Government would continue
funding the services at the same level and not reduce grant aid in the expectation
that cost efficiencies will be achieved.
The Select Committee considered that it was
necessary to monitor the progress made and implications for staffing, training
and budgets. It was noted that there would be changes to the political
structures to reflect the new Directorate.
RESOLVED :
THAT progress on reorganising services for children
and young people be monitored by the appropriate Select Committee in 6 months
time.
67.
HOUSING AND TAX BENEFITS
The Chairman welcomed Mr A Sullivan from the Benefit
Fraud Inspectorate, who had been invited to make a short presentation following
completion of the meeting on his findings arising from the inspection recently
carried out of the Revenues Section.
Members considered the report of the Chief Financial
Officer on progress towards meeting performance standards, forthcoming
legislative changes and the Best Value Review. Reference was made to proposals
to improve claim processing times. It was the intention of the Revenues Section
to introduce a fast tracking process whereby those claims which were fully
supported by all the relevant documentation from the claimant would be dealt
with in 21 days. At present the majority of claims took approximately 70 days
to process, mainly due to delays caused by the lack of supporting documents.
Members suggested that to assist in the new processing arrangements a check
list should be displayed outside Benefit Offices.
Mrs E Oulton, the lead member on the Best Value
Review on the Benefits Service, outlined the work undertaken and some initial
improvements that had already been identified. It was intended that a detailed
report on the Review would be presented to the Select Committee at its meeting
on 15 April 2004.
RESOLVED :
THAT the service improvements be noted and further
monitoring be agreed after the Best Value Review has been considered at the
Select Committee meeting on 15 April 2004.
68.
INVESTMENT DECISIONS FOR 2004/05 AND BEYOND
The Portfolio Holder for Social Services and Housing
reported on the work to produce a three year investment framework for the
Social Services and Housing Directorate. It was apparent that the Council would
not be able to meet in full the resource bids arising from the Service Plans
for the Directorate. These had
therefore been reviewed these in the light of key priority areas through a
headroom exercise. As the result of this a revised schedule of resource
investments had been produced taking into account strategic issues up to 2006.
It was intended that the background to this would be outlined to members
informally after the conclusion of the meeting.
RESOLVED :
THAT
the production of a 3 year investment framework be noted.
CHAIRMAN