Agenda item

Report CSD15002

The Committee considered the following reports on the part 1 agenda for the meeting of the Executive on 14^th January 2015.

(5)  Draft 2015/16 Budget and Update on the Council’s Financial Strategy 2016/17 to 2018/19

Report FSD15001

The report set out the initial draft budget for 2015/16 and indicated actions to reduce the Council’s medium term “budget gap.” The report set out potential savings to be considered by the Executive, but there were still outstanding issues and areas of uncertainty remaining. All PDS committees would be asked for their views before the Executive made its final recommendations to Council. 

The Committee commented on a number of issues as follows –

·  A Member commented that he found it unusual that the Council had three separate long term insurance policies expiring at different times, and that it would be better to approach insurers now and move towards a common renewal date, packaging these risks together.

·  It was noted that the recent Working Group on the Effectiveness of Children’s Centres had recommended 10% savings from the 2015/16 and 2016/17 budgets.

·  It was noted that a strategic decision was being taken to charge Renewal Team and some Strategic Property costs to the Economic Development Fund and the Investment Fund respectively.

·  A Member queried why the central contingency for the street cleansing contract could be reduced from £200k to £60k. It was explained that the context was that a saving of £1m had been made on the contract and a large contingency had been needed in case this saving could not be delivered; as no problems had been encountered it was possible to substantially reduce the provision.

·  There was a £1m reduction in parking enforcement income; the Portfolio Holder had already been lobbying government on this issue.

The Chairman concluded that costs must continue to be contained.

RESOLVED that the recommendations be supported.

(6)  Invest to Save

Report RES14078

At the September meeting of the Executive the Resources Portfolio Holder had asked for a report on the overall progress on Invest to Save schemes, including the amounts paid back so far. Many schemes had already repaid the amounts taken from the Invest to Save Fund, but there were also a few schemes where the anticipated savings had not yet been achieved, and this was having an impact on the projected budget overspend. Feedback on individual schemes had already been provided to the relevant PDS Committees and they were encouraged to focus on schemes where there was major under-achievement. 

An additional table summarising the financial implications was tabled.

Councillor William Huntington-Thresher, as Chairman of the Environment PDS Committee, commented that the Green Garden Waste and Textile collection service was not intended as an invest to save project – rather, it was a service that had to cover its costs. 

RESOLVED that the recommendations be supported.

(7)  Gateway Review of Housing IT Systems

Report CS14106

The Council’s contracts for Housing Systems software suppliers, currently held by Northgate and Home Connections, expired in March 2016. A gateway review of current and future system requirements had been carried out and the market had been surveyed to understand what alternative systems were available. It was proposed to procure a fully integrated Housing IT system from a framework developed by Crown Commercial Services. 

An updated version of Appendix 2b was tabled which factored in reductions in the additional costs of upgrades and maintenance.

Members commented that the procurement exercise should be tightly controlled and that it was important to get the system specifications right from the start. It was also suggested that the Council should be buying a proven system. 

RESOLVED that the recommendations be supported.