Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Will Harmer and Councillor Stephen Carr.

There were no declarations of interest made at the start of the meeting.

In accordance with the Council’s Constitution, questions to this Committee must be received in writing four working days before the date of the meeting.  Therefore please ensure that questions are received by the Democratic Services Team by 5pm on Thursday 28^th August 2014.

No questions had been received.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 8^th July 2014 be confirmed.

Report CSD14120

The Committee received an update on matters arising from previous meetings. Councillor David Livett reported in relation to minute 8 (Treasury Management – Annual Report) that he had only met the Director of Finance once, and that he had had no input into the Treasury Management report going to the Executive’s next meeting.

The Committee noted the Forward Plan of key and private executive decisions published on 12^th August 2014.

In accordance with the Council’s Constitution, questions to the Portfolio Holder must be received in writing four working days before the date of the meeting. Therefore please ensure that questions are received by the Democratic Services Team by 5pm on Thursday 28^th August 2014.

No questions had been received.

Councillor Graham Arthur, the Resources Portfolio Holder, gave a short presentation to the Committee and answered questions on his work. He began by highlighting two events which illustrated the quality of the staff employed by the Council (the Bromley Stars evening) and the commitment of volunteers across the borough (the Volunteers Reception.) He then remarked on how the Council was changing – around six hundred staff had left the Council at all levels. It was important to ensure that the organisation was not “top heavy” with senior staff, although he recognised that losing many experienced and senior staff in recent years was a challenge and possibly more thought needed to be given to succession planning. He accepted that Members also needed to reflect on their role.

Councillors had to consider what the borough should be like in the future. As the local plan was developed there would be difficult decisions on how to develop the three areas identified at Biggin Hill, the Cray Valley and Bromley Town Centre, and, with homelessness continuing to be a pressure, also on whether to set up housing zones to attract the New Homes Bonus. The Council had to review its own land-holdings, liquidating those that were not needed, and look to generate income. While the Council was correct to be risk-averse with Council taxpayer’s money, it also had to pursue ways of getting better returns on its investments.

With around 40% of Councils stating that they would not be able to balance their books in the 2014/15 and 2015/16 financial years, it was vital that Bromley was not one of these, despite already having the lowest costs per head in London. The current projected overspend of £4m could not be tolerated and all portfolios would have to continue to live within their budgets. 

Members of the Committee questioned Councillor Arthur. A Councillor asked why Bromley was losing money by not levying additional Council Tax on landlords who kept their properties empty. Councillor Arthur stated that it would be wrong to add an additional penalty on landlords who usually did not want their properties to be empty – it was also suggested that this would prevent landlords from investing in improvements between tenants.  A Member suggested that too many staff were leaving in areas such as planning due to the commissioning programme and criticised what he saw as a move away from working in partnership with other local agencies. Councillor Arthur responded that the commissioning programme had not affected planning yet, and staff in the Customer Service Centre, for example, felt that the situation had improved since they had been outsourced. He also stated that relationships with local NHS agencies were good and continued to improve, although local NHS Leaders often had little power and had to defer to central decisions. Another Member added that although the concept of “total place” was useful the old Local Strategic Partnership only amounted to a “talking shop” and there was little incentive for partners to work together to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 43.

The Committee considered the following report for pre-decision scrutiny where the Resources Portfolio Holder was minded to take a decision.

Report FSD14058

At its meeting on 16^th July 2014 the Executive had agreed a revised Capital Programme for the four year period 2014/15 to 2017/18. The report also covered detailed issues relating to the 2013/14 Capital Programme outturn and changes agreed by the Executive in relation to the Resources Portfolio.

RESOLVED that the recommendation that the changes to the Capital Programme be noted and confirmed is supported.

Members of the Committee are requested to bring their copy of the agenda for the Executive meeting on 10^th September 2014.

Report CSD14121

The Committee considered the following reports on the part 1 agenda for the meeting of the Executive on 10^th September 2014.

(5)  Budget Monitoring 2014/15

Report FSD14060

The Committee considered the second budget monitoring report for 2014/15, based on expenditure and activity levels up to July 2014. The report sought authorisation for the release of particular sums from Central Contingency and for a number of carry-forward requests.

The projected net overspend on services for 2014/15 was now £4.351m, with full year cost pressures of £5.5m. It was suggested that officers were being over-optimistic in the setting of budgets and in projecting savings from invest to save schemes. The Director of Finance’s representative summarised the rigorous procedures in place to identify cost pressures and justify any growth items. She assured the Committee that budgets were realistic, but there were inevitably changes in activity levels that could not always be predicted. When this happened Chief Officers had to take action in-year to ensure that cost pressures were reduced or balanced by savings elsewhere in their budgets. 

In the current year most of the pressures were within the Care Services budget and the Chairman of the Care Services PDS Committee confirmed that there had been significant unexpected pressures. She was expecting to see an updated budget report in the next few days. Issues for Care Services included the costs of new care placements, the need to review emergency placements for older people on time and delays in implementing anticipated savings. 

A Member appealed for all budget documents to be in the same format across committees - officers confirmed that the templates drawn up by the Costs and Charges Working Group were being used in the formation of budgets. 

Members also commented on the anticipated overspend in the Adult Education budget and possibilities for reducing waste collection costs.

The Chairman requested a summary of the significant changes in costs since the budget had been set.

RESOLVED that the recommendations be supported.

(6) Treasury Management – Investment Strategy Review and Q1 Performance 2014/15

Report FSD14057

The report summarised treasury management activity during the quarter ending 30^th June 2014 and recommended changes to the Council’s Treasury Management Investment Strategy, which would require approval by full Council. These were an increase in the total investment limit for the two part-nationalised banks, Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland, to £80m each and in the maximum investment period to three years; a reduction in the minimum credit rating for corporate bond investments to A-; and the addition of Diversified Growth Funds as permitted investments, with a total investment up to £10m.

Councillor David Livett criticised the graph showing relative investment risk provided by the Council’s advisors, Sector, and suggested that it would be more appropriate to limit investments to Investment grade, rather than A-, which was not used by Moody’s. He was also against the use of Diversified Growth Funds, which he felt included risky investments in derivatives, currency positions and overseas investments which few  ...  view the full minutes text for item 45.

Report CSD14123

The Committee noted its updated work programme. It was also noted that Care Services PDS Committee was setting up a Budget Sub-Committee – this would be progressed after the PDS Committee’s next meeting.

The Chairman proposed that a Working Group be set up to establish an overall strategy for the Council.

In relation to the work of the New Technology Working Group, Councillor Nicholas Bennett asked for an update on the provision of Office 365 for Councillors’ i-pads.

RESOLVED that the Press and public be excluded during consideration of the items of business referred to below as it is likely in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings that if members of the Press and public were present there would be disclosure to them of exempt information.

The following summaries

refer to matters

involving exempt information

The exempt minutes of the meeting held on 8^th July 2014 were confirmed.

The Committee scrutinised the following proposed decision of the Resources Portfolio Holder.

Bromley Town Ward

Report DRR14/079

The Committee received the results of the marketing of this property and supported the letting of the property.

The Committee scrutinised four reports on the Executive’s part 2 agenda for the meeting on 10^th September 2014 concerning Acquisition of Investment Properties, Operational Property Review and Disposal Opportunities, Chislehurst Library and Local Land Charges Litigation.