Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Yvonne Smith.

To invite Councillors to declare any Disclosable Pecuniary Interests 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 did not have any announcements for this meeting.

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting of the Executive Committee held on 20^th January 2015.

(Minutes attached)

RESOLVED that

The minutes of the meeting of the Executive Committee held on 20^th January 2015 be agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

To consider the revenue budget position for 2015-16 – 2017-18 and recommend to Council on 23^rd February.

The Committee considered a report which set out the current financial position for the revenue budget 2015-16 – 2017-18. 

In presenting the report the Executive Director Finance and Resources highlighted the following points:

·         The Council had not yet received confirmation of the reduction in government grant for 2015-16, although it was unlikely to change much from the indicative figure received just prior to Christmas.  A 5% reduction in the level of grant had been built into the assumptions for the medium term;

·         Risks for the medium term included the outcome of the Comprehensive Spending Review following the election in May and the potential for the New Homes Bonus scheme to change so that the authority would cease to receive proceeds from this;

·         The planned use of capital receipts to reduce borrowing costs;

·         A typographical error in paragraph 3.22 of the report which it was confirmed should read “The current projections do not include any use of balances over the 3 year plan period”;

·         A proposed Council Tax increase of 1.9%.  Government grant was available to meet the costs of keeping an increase in Council tax to 1% but this restricted the base for future years.

The following were the main points raised by members during consideration of the report:

·         Whether the Council owned sufficient assets to enable the savings predicted from the asset review to be realised.  It was noted that Redditch would be the first locality review undertaken under the proposed Joint Property Vehicle.  This would seek to establish the most efficient use of the Council’s and other public authority assets in the Borough.  Arising from this item, the Executive Director Finance and Corporate Resources undertook to let Councillor Brunner have a list of the Borough Council’s assets.

·         Whether the level of savings projected resulting from the proposed review of how Leisure Services were delivered were achievable and how any shortfall would be made up.  Officers responded that if Councillors agreed the proposed changes then significant savings could be achieved in the 2015-16 financial year.  If during the year it became apparent that the full £150k would not be achieved, the management team would seek to meet the shortfall corporately.

·         Details were provided of the revenue bids for the Essential Living Fund – which should be match funded by Worcestershire County Council; small business support, to be delivered through the Economic Theme Group, and energy management “spend to save” proposals.

At the conclusion of the debate Councillors thanked the officers, especially in the finance team, for their hard work in delivering the information necessary for the Financial Plan to be considered at this meeting.  Members also thanked officers for their continued efforts to deliver savings so that residents could continue to receive services from the Council.

Members requested that officers work immediately to identify where savings would be made to meet the shortfalls predicted for the second and third year of the Plan.  

RECOMMENDED that

1)    The bids of £91k for 2015-16 as set out in the report relating  ...  view the full minutes text for item 100.

To receive the minutes of the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 13^th January 2015. 

The Committee received the minutes of the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 13^th January 2015.

RESOLVED that

The minutes of the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 13th January 2015 be received and 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 those detailed in the items above.

There were no outstanding referrals for the Committee to consider.

To consider, for monitoring/management purposes, an update on the work of the Executive Committee’s Advisory Panels and similar bodies, which report via the Executive Committee.

(Report attached)

RESOLVED that

The report be noted.

To consider an update on the actions arising from previous meetings of the Committee.

It was noted that the Head of Customer Access and Financial Support had e-mailed the information requested regarding land at Easemore Road to members.

RESOLVED that

The position be noted.