Agenda and minutes
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Apologies
To receive any apologies for absence. Additional documents: Minutes: Apologies were received from Councillors Buller, Aldridge, Hunt, D Wedderkopp,
The following substitutes attended:- Hassall (in vacant Lid Dem committee place), Whetlor, Buller and Coles, |
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To approve the minutes of the previous meetings of the Committee held on 2 and 9 September. Additional documents: Minutes: (Minutes of the meeting of the Scrutiny Committee held on 2 and 9 September circulated with the agenda)
Resolved that the minutes of the Scrutiny Committee held on 2 and 9 September be confirmed as a correct record. |
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Declarations of Interest
To receive and note any declarations of disclosable pecuniary or prejudicial or personal interests in respect of any matters included on the agenda for consideration at this meeting.
(The personal interests of Councillors and Clerks of Somerset County Council, Town or Parish Councils and other Local Authorities will automatically be recorded in the minutes.) Additional documents: Minutes: Members present at the meeting declared the following personal interests in their capacity as a Councillor or Clerk of a County, Town or Parish Council or any other Local Authority:-
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Public Participation
The Chair to advise the Committee of any items on which members of the public have requested to speak and advise those members of the public present of the details of the Council’s public participation scheme.
For those members of the public who have submitted any questions or statements, please note, a three minute time limit applies to each speaker and you will be asked to speak before Councillors debate the issue.
Temporary measures during the Coronavirus Pandemic Due to the Government guidance on measures to reduce the transmission of coronavirus (COVID-19), we will holding meetings in a virtual manner which will be live webcast on our website. Members of the public will still be able to register to speak and ask questions, which will then be read out by the Governance and Democracy Case Manager during Public Question Time and will either be answered by the Chair of the Committee, or the relevant Portfolio Holder, or be followed up with a written response. Additional documents: Minutes: No members of the public had requested to speak on any item on the agenda. |
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Financial Strategy 2020/21 to 2022/23 - Review and Update
This matter is the responsibility of Executive Councillor Ross Henley, Portfolio Holder for Corporate Resources.
The purpose of this report is to review and update the Financial Strategy 2020/2021 to 2022/23. The Strategy outlines the Council’s proposed approach to managing its financial position over the medium term, underpinned by the projected 5-year Medium TermFinancial Plan. Additional documents: Minutes: The Executive approved the 3 year Financial Strategy for the Council in September 2019. The Strategy outlined the Council’s proposed approach to managing its financial position over the medium term, underpinned by the projected 5-year Medium Term Financial Plan. It is a legal requirement that the Council set a balanced budget each year, and it was in the public interest that priority local services were both affordable and sustainable with the Council remaining financially resilient. It was appropriate to undertake an annual review of the strategy, reflecting the up to date financial position and context for the Council. It was clear that the COVID-19 pandemic was not a known situation or risk when the strategy was approved last year, with significant impact on national and local financial environment as well as on service demands for the public sector. Equally, the organisation had continued to evolve during the past year with the agreement of a new Corporate Strategy, the appointment of a new Senior Management Team (SMT) and move to a new directorate organisational structure completed in April/May this year. There continued to be a high degree of uncertainty regarding future funding, compounded with uncertainty regarding future service demands as the country and local area adapted to COVID-19 impacts. It was clear that local authority finances were under increasing pressure within this environment, with the challenge of meeting local need and at the same time preserving adequate financial resilience of the Council. This report therefore set out an updated forecast of medium term funding, service costs and income, and updated proposals for the financial strategy in responding to the challenges ahead. The strategy included judicious allocations from reserves to provide funding towards council priorities – notably towards the climate change strategy – and to underpin some service costs for the next two years as the Council’s modernisation and efficiency plans were progressed. At the time of preparing this strategy the debate around the future structure of local government in Somerset had brought an added dynamic. The County Council had submitted a business case to the Secretary of State setting out SCC’s preferred proposal to create a single unitary council for Somerset – replacing the County and four Districts. The Districts had also prepared an alternative business case proposing two smaller unitary authorities. Any decision by the Secretary of State on a preferred future for Somerset was not likely to be made before January 2021. At this stage the core forecasts within the medium term financial plan in terms of net expenditure and funding were based on the continuation of Somerset West and Taunton as a district authority. This will need to be reviewed if and when any decision for change is confirmed. The strategy set out showed the Council was financially resilient with strong reserves to withstand short term pressures, but with a challenging budget gap in the longer term albeit with a high degree of uncertainty in the longer term forecasts. It was expected that structural change for local government ... view the full minutes text for item 48. |
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This matter is the responsibility of the Executive Councillor Ross Henley, Portfolio Holder for Corporate Resources.
Additional documents: Minutes: The report provided an update on the projected outturn financial position of the Council for the financial year 2020/21 (as at 31 July 2020).
Reporting is undertaken monthly to the Senior Leadership Team, with quarterly reporting to Scrutiny and the Executive Committee. Reporting is primarily ‘by exception’ and focusses on the forecast position for the year as a whole compared to the Annual Budget. Forecasts were compiled by budget holders, with support and advice as appropriate from finance specialists (accountants) and case officers. Forecasts will take into account known / committed items as well as assumptions about future performance and demand.
The primary focus for the first 4 months had been around the impact of COVID-19 on the Council’s costs, and the mitigation available through the receipt of emergency grant funding from Government towards additional costs and loss of income. The report also summarised the position on ‘pass through’ funding where the Council had provided significant financial assistance to local businesses and council tax payers funded by Government.
The current revenue forecast outturn for the financial year 2020/21 was summarised as follows. These were the best estimates at month 4 of the financial year based on information currently available: a) General Fund (GF) Revenue Budget = forecast net overspend of £1,012k (1) £657k relates to COVID and it is recommended that a supplementary budget is approved to fund this from General Reserves. The full extent of COVID is still being monitored and therefore these figures could change and will be updated in future reports. (2) The remaining £355k is due to other pressures which will continue to be monitored throughout the year. b) Housing Revenue Account (HRA) Revenue Budget = forecast net overspend of £180k.
There was £30.6m of budget rolled forward with the GF capital programme from 2019/20 to 2020/20 and it was proposed to reduce the 2020/21 programme by £1.370m for budgets no longer required, bringing the total proposed budget for 2020/21 to £95.4m. There were currently no forecast variances to report at this early stage in the financial year.
There is £15.8m of budget rolled forward within the HRA Capital Programme from 2019/20 to 2020/21 bringing the total budget for 2020/21 to £31.7m. There are currently no variances to report for the HRA capital programme. During the discussion the following comments and questions were made:-
· Concerns were expressed in relation to the carry forward of the Disabled facilities grant. Further information was requested on the proposed budget of £3.5 million. · It was questioned if recent commercial loans made by the council were irrecoverable if the company went into administration. A response would be provided following the meeting. · Many budget holders were consulted across the organisation, making assumptions and plans around financial planning for the rest of the year. · The Budget was set on reasonable estimates in good faith with a balance between caution and optimism, services and chances of budgets being 100% accurate. · Any Growth in income would be offset by valuation reductions and appeals in respect ... view the full minutes text for item 49. |
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Financial Monitoring - Outturn Position 2019/20
This matter is the responsibility of the Executive Councillor Ross Henley, Portfolio Holder for Corporate Resources.
The purpose of this report is to provide information related to SWT’s financial performance for the 2019/20 financial year. The outturn figures included are provisional subject to the completion of the external audit of the statutory financial statements.
Additional documents: Minutes: The report set out information relating to SWT’s financial performance for the 2019/20 financial year. The outturn figures included were provisional subject to the completion of the external audit of the statutory financial statements. The audit was due to be completed between July and October with the findings to be reported to the Audit, Governance and Standards Committee on 2nd November this year. 2019/20 was the first financial year for the new Council, which was created on the 1 April 2019 and replaced the predecessor Councils – Taunton Deane Borough Council and West Somerset Council. The budget was set by the Shadow Council in February 2019, and created to a large extent by mapping the two historic budgets of the old Councils into a single budget structure. The past financial year was significant in terms of change in leadership, both senior management and political, and an ongoing period of organisational change and disruption. The year started with budgets reflecting the operating model designed through the transformation project. Changes through the year meant that this did not reflect the organisation structure as it is now. The organisational changes during the year had also led to changes in budget holders and budget responsibilities, and changes within the finance officer team too, with a loss of background knowledge of the previous Councils / budgets where experienced staff left during the year. All of these changes presented some challenges within the budget monitoring process, meaning some variances now reported were not predicted or not identified sooner. The risk of budgets and costs/income not aligning was higher than normal due to the scale of continuous change through the year. The budget for 2020/21 had been re-shaped to reflect the directorate structure. This should provide a solid foundation for financial management and reporting in the current year. COVID-19 impact started to effect service expenditure and income in March, therefore the financial consequences were not significant in the last financial year. However, it was evident that there were significant impacts in 2020/21 that were not expected or anticipated when the budget for 2020/21 was approved in February. This was covered within the separate financial strategy and financial monitoring reports. The leadership team and S151 Officer had prudently considered the financial risks as part of their year-end analysis and prioritised strengthening the Council’s reserves. A robust review of earmarked reserves had been completed with £1.2m proposed to be released to general balances. Equally, SMT considered requests from services to carry forward £0.7m of budget underspend into the next financial year, however SMT took the prudent view that it was better to return the full reported underspend to increase General Reserves due to these financial risks. On this basis the full reported £1.8m underspend had been added to the general reserves balance to provide greater flexibility and resilience where the COVID impact was expected to be at its greatest. Overall, General Reserves had been boosted by £3m as a result of this action.
The revenue outturn position for the ... view the full minutes text for item 50. |
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Corporate Performance Report, Month 4, 2020/21
This matter is the responsibility of Executive Councillor Ross Henley, Portfolio Holder for Corporate Resources.
The purpose of this report is provided the performance information for a range of key indicators for the first 4 months (April – July) of the 2020/21 financial year for Councillors to consider and comment. In addition to the usual report on key performance indicators, due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and the impact this has had on the council, this report also contains some data to provide an overview of some of the additional work the council has undertaken. Additional documents: Minutes: The report was introduced by the Business Intelligence and Performance Manager and the Customer Services Manager.
This report provided the performance information for a range of key indicators for the first 4 months (April – July) of the 2020/21 financial year. In addition to the usual report on key performance indicators, due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and the impact of this on the council, this report also contained some data to provide an overview of some of the additional work the council had undertaken.
The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic started during March 2020, and has been ongoing throughout recent months and has had a significant impact on the work of the Council during the period covered by this performance report (April, May, June and July).
There have been separate briefings to provide detailed updates on the additional work of the council, and this report does not aim to cover the entirety of the tasks undertaken. The information included below provides some facts and figures to give an overview of some of the ways in which the council has supported residents, especially those who are most vulnerable.
1) A total of 1,384 calls were routed to SWT from the countywide Coronavirus Helpline (April = 484, May = 415, June = 286, July = 199).
2) A letter was sent to all households where someone was shielding, and these were followed up by telephone calls to the most vulnerable (in excess of 500 homes where up to 3 phone calls were made, and, where no response was received there were 300 home visits required).
3) Food pack distribution was supported by local hubs and the SWT depot provided over 160 food parcels.
4) Rough sleepers were supported in new accommodation and 42 were housed at Canonsgrove, and 20 at the Beech Hotel (with ARC and YMCA support).
5) A new web based process was designed and implemented for Business Grants. SWT have processed over 3,500 applications & have paid out over £41m to eligible businesses.
6) A new web based process was also designed and implemented for Discretionary Business Grants from 1st June. SWT have processed over 340 applications & have paid out over £2m.
7) Over £27m additional business rate reliefs were appliedto 1,300 accounts and removed liability to pay rates for this year. This was completed with 2 weeks and involved processing over 3,000 accounts manually to assess eligibility.
8) Applied one-off £150 awards to 7,017 working age Council Tax Support claims, exceeding £1m in total.
9) Reviewed and extended the awards for 285 Discretionary Housing Payment claims to provide ongoing help to people to pay their rent.
10) Recalculated 1,693 Housing Benefit claimsfollowing the Government’s announcement to increase both the additional earnings disregard in Working Tax Credit cases and Local Housing Allowance rates, providing additional support for people to help pay their rent.
11) The Councils terms for paying suppliers were changed to enable much quicker payments. During April and May, £6.4m was paid ... view the full minutes text for item 51. |
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Scrutiny Committee Forward Plan
To receive items and review the Forward Plan. Additional documents: Minutes: (Copy of the Scrutiny Committee Forward Plan, circulated with the agenda).
Councillors were reminded that if they had an item they wanted to add to the agenda, that they should send their requests to the Governance Team.
Resolved that the Scrutiny Committee Forward Plan be noted. |
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Full Council Forward Plan
Additional documents: Minutes: (Copy of the Full Council Forward Plan, circulated with the agenda).
Councillors were reminded that if they had an item they wanted to add to the agenda, that they should send their requests to the Governance Team.
Resolved that the Full Council Forward Plan be considered at the meeting scheduled on 7th October 2020.
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Executive Forward Plan
Additional documents: Minutes: (Copy of the Executive Forward Plan, circulated with the agenda).
Councillors were reminded that if they had an item they wanted to add to the agenda, that they should send their requests to the Governance Team.
Resolved that the Executive Forward Plan be considered at the meeting scheduled on 7th October 2020.
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