Agenda and minutes

There were no apologies for absence.

To invite Councillors to declare any Disclosable Pecuniary Interests and / or Other Disclosable Interests they may have in items on the agenda, and to confirm the nature of those interests.

There were no declarations of interest.

The Leader circulated a list of announcements at the meeting.

In addition, the Leader advised Members that a response had been received from the Government regarding the review of Councils’ membership of the Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs).  The Government had requested that Councils and the LEPs resolve membership arrangements locally and a deadline of 28^th February had been set for this process.  However, if the matter was not resolved locally the Government had indicated that a decision would be imposed.  A letter was in the process of being drafted which outlined the Council’s perspective in respect of this matter and the preferred approach, if required to remain in one LEP, would be for Redditch Borough Council to be a member of the Greater Birmingham and Solihull LEP (GBSLEP).

The Electoral Services Manager presented the Independent Remuneration Panel’s (IRP) recommendations in respect of Redditch Borough Councillors’ allowances for 2020/21.

Members discussed the proposals that had been made by the IRP and noted that this included the suggestion that the basic allowance for all Members should increase, which would have implications for the level of Special Responsibility Allowance (SRA) available to eligible Members.  There was general consensus that Members could not justify increasing their allowances at a challenging financial time for the Council.  However, Members agreed that the recommendations from the IRP which would not result in any additional financial costs for the Council should be approved.

RECOMMENDED that

1)        travel allowances for 2020-21 continue to be paid in accordance with the HMRC mileage allowance;

2)        subsistence allowances for 2020-21 remain unchanged;

3)        the Dependent Carer’s Allowance remains unchanged; and

4)        for Parish Councils in the Borough, if travel and subsistence is paid, the Panel recommends that it is paid in accordance with the rates paid by Redditch Borough Council and in accordance with the relevant regulations.

The Executive Director of Finance and Corporate Resources presented the Pay Policy Statement 2020/21.  The Committee was informed that this was a statutory document that had to be produced every year as part of the Council’s budget setting process.  The report needed to include information about senior managers’ remuneration as well as spinal column points for staff pay grades.  Members were asked to note that the report reflected the current management team arrangements prior to any changes and should have clarified that the Head of Housing’s remuneration was covered 100 per cent by Redditch Borough Council.

RECOMMENDED that

the Pay Policy be approved.

The budget Scrutiny Working Group will be pre-scrutinising this report at a meeting on Monday 10^th February 2020.  Due to the timing of the group’s meeting any recommendations arising from this meeting will be tabled for the consideration of the Executive Committee.

The Executive Director of Finance and Corporate Resources presented the Medium Term Financial Plan 2020/21 to 2023/24 and in so doing highlighted the following for Members’ consideration:

·                As Members were aware the Council had been issued with a Section 24 Notice in September 2020 by the external auditors, Grant Thornton.

·                In the Section 24 Notice Grant Thornton had raised concerns about the financial sustainability of the Council moving forward.  The Council was required to have a realistic financial plan and to monitor the budget and expenditure in 2019/20.

·                Officers had been monitoring the Council’s performance in relation to the 2019/20 budget.  By the date of the meeting the authority was on track to deliver significant savings by the end of the financial year.

·                Throughout the year updates in respect of the Section 24 Notice and the Council’s budget position had been provided to the Budget Scrutiny Working Group and the Audit, Governance and Standards Committee.

·                At the start of the financial year the Council had had less than £1 million in balances and this had been a cause for concern for the external auditors.

·                Grant Thornton had been clear that Members needed to be able to demonstrate that they could make difficult decisions in order to balance the Council’s budget.

·                In 2019/20 a number of difficult decisions had been taken, including in respect of Rubicon Business Centre, funding for Voluntary and Community Sector groups and the closure of the One Stop Shops.

·                At the start of the 2019 financial year a financial gap of £1.1 million had been expected for the Council in 2020/21.  By February 2020 the Council was anticipating a surplus of £82,000 in that year.

·                The £82,000 surplus would be returned to balances which would bring the Council’s budget to a total just over £1 million.

·                Savings had been secured in relation to areas such as the Management Review and as a result of a review of the operational model for the Dial a Ride service.

·                Proposed changes to the Dial a Ride service would result in a reduction of buses in operation from six to five and the introduction of a voluntary car scheme.  There would be no associated redundancies arising from these changes

·                The Council’s actuaries reviewed the authority’s pension scheme each year.  The investments that had been made for the pensions fund had performed better than expected and as a consequence the Council’s contributions to the pensions fund would not be as great as had originally been anticipated therefore an annual saving had been included in the budget projections.

·                During the year there had been capital reprofiling work undertaken in respect of the Council’s Capital Programme.  This had resulted in significant changes and savings in respect of borrowing costs.

·                The Council had unexpectedly received additional income in the form of New Homes Bonus (NHB) funding for 2020/21.  The Government had been very clear that there would be no legacy payments associated with the NHB available to the Council in subsequent years.

·                The Council Tax  ...  view the full minutes text for item 105.

The minutes of the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on Thursday 9^th January have been attached.

There are no outstanding recommendations for consideration.

Officers confirmed that there were no outstanding recommendations arising from the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on Thursday 9^th January 2020 that required the Executive Committee’s consideration.

RESOLVED that

the minutes of the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on Thursday 9^th January 2020 be noted.

To receive and consider any outstanding minutes or referrals from the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, Executive Panels etc. since the last meeting of the Executive Committee, other than as detailed in the items above.

Officers confirmed that there were no further minutes or recommendations from other Committees requiring the Executive Committee’s consideration on this occasion.

Members are invited to provide verbal updates, if any, in respect of the following bodies:

a)      Climate Change Cross-Party Working Group – Chair, Councillor Brandon Clayton;

b)      Constitutional Review Working Panel – Chair, Councillor Matthew Dormer;

c)      Corporate Parenting Steering Group – Council Representative, Councillor Julian Grubb;

d)      Member Support Steering Group – Chair, Councillor Matthew Dormer; and

e)      Planning Advisory Panel – Chair, Councillor Matthew Dormer.

The following verbal updates were provided in respect of the recent work of Executive Advisory Panels and important working groups.

a)        Climate Change Cross Party Working Group – Chair, Councillor Brandon Clayton

Councillor Clayton explained that the following meeting of the group would take place in April.

b)        Constitutional Review Working Party – Chair, Councillor Matthew Dormer

Councillor Dormer advised that a meeting of the Constitutional Review Working Party was due to take place on 14^th July 2020.

c)         Corporate Parenting Board – Council Representative, Councillor Julian Grubb

Councillor Grubb informed the Committee that he had attended the latest meeting of the Board.  Members were advised that Councillor Grubb was monitoring the potential for Redditch Borough Council to provide assistance to Worcestershire County Council with respect to offering support to young people leaving care.

d)        Member Support Steering Group – Chair, Councillor Matthew Dormer

Councillor Dormer explained that the latest meeting of the group had taken place on 4^th February 2020.  During the meeting Members had finalised the content of the induction pack for new Members due to be elected in May 2020.  Members’ attendance at training had also been discussed and would continue to be monitored by the group.

The Committee was asked to note that two more data protection training sessions for Members would be held on the evenings of Tuesday 18^th February and Thursday 27^th February 2020.  All Members who had not yet attended data protection training during the municipal year were urged to attend one of these sessions.

e)        Planning Advisory Panel – Chair, Councillor Matthew Dormer

Members were advised that no meetings of the Planning Advisory Panel were scheduled to take place.

NOTE: The exempt minute (Minute Item No. 99) attached for this item has only been made available to Members and relevant Officers. Should Members or Officers wish to discuss this exempt minute in any detail, a decision will be required to exclude the public and press from the meeting on the grounds that exempt information is likely to be divulged, as defined in paragraph 3 of Schedule 12 (a) of Section 100 1 of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended by the Local Government (Access to Information) (Variation) Order 2006.

(Paragraph 3: Subject to the “public interest” test, information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information.))

RESOLVED that

subject to the amendments to the exempt Minute Item No. 99, as discussed in exempt session, the minutes of the meeting of the Executive Committee held on Tuesday 14^th January 2020 be approved as a true and correct record and signed by the Chair.

(During consideration of this item Members discussed matters that necessitated the disclosure of exempt information.  It was therefore agreed to exclude the press and public prior to any debate on the grounds that information would be revealed relating to the financial affairs of any particular body (including the authority holding that information)).