Minutes:
The Resources Portfolio Holder, Councillor Graham Arthur, attended the meeting to give an update on his work and answer questions from the Committee. He began by commenting on the new arrangements for individual voter registration, where there had been some teething problems, and on postal votes, which were expected to rise to 25 - 30% for the coming general election.
The commissioning programme was now gathering pace, and all PDS Committees would be receiving reports on services. Although this was a time of uncertainty for many staff, some staff who had already transferred to contractors had reported that the move had been very positive. Although CIPFA had stated that about 40% of Councils would be unable to balance their budgets in two years, this would definitely not include Bromley. He felt that at the recent public meetings people had been more informed about the financial pressure on the Council and accepted the need for a measured Council Tax increase and for people to do more to help themselves, as long as there remained a safety net for those unable to help themselves.
The Council had separated capital and revenue spending and was debt-free. Reserves were used to increase expenditure to support frontline services – due to careful investment an additional £1.15m interest would be earned in the current year. Collection of Council Tax was exceeding the stretch target and fears that the new Council Tax support arrangements would reduce collection rates had not materialised. However there were new burdens such as the restrictions on parking enforcement which would result in lost income of about £1m. The Portfolio Holder urged all Councillors to lobby M.P.s on such issues. The Council seemed to be penalised for being efficient, but difficult decisions would not be avoided and the budget would be balanced.
The Chairman commented that it was important that the Council developed sources of income within its own control and invited Members to put questions to the Portfolio Holder. Responding to a question about how contractors were assessed and reviewed, the Portfolio Holder stated that the Council had been a contracting organisation for more than 20 years and a range of monitoring methods were used. However, he felt that it was important to base each contract on outcomes and for Members to monitor closely, listening to what their residents said about services. In particular he advised Members to visit the Customer Contact Centre and to take the opportunity to listen in on calls.
A Member asked whether, with the increasing proportion of postal votes, there was scope for savings from combining polling stations and reducing staff where there were two or more stations in the same building. Other than for local Council elections, costs were reimbursed by central government.
The Chairman commented that it was important to communicate with residents and explain the Council’s actions. The Portfolio Holder stated that the development of the customer portal was a huge opportunity to develop dialogue with residents.
A Member asked whether there would be improvements to the Council’s spam filtering systems. The Portfolio Holder agreed that the recent increase in spam was concerning, and officers confirmed that they were always endeavouring to keep the right balance between stopping spam and allowing legitimate messages to be delivered.