Agenda item
PRE-DECISION SCRUTINY OF EXECUTIVE REPORTS
Members of the Committee are requested to bring their copy of the reports due for consideration by the Executive on 13 January 2021.
Minutes:
The Committee considered the following reports on the Part 1 agenda for the meeting of the Executive on 13th January 2021:
(5) DRAFT 2021/22 BUDGET AND UPDATE ON THE COUNCIL'S FINANCIAL STRATEGY 2021/22 TO 2024/25
Report FSD21001
The report sought approval of the initial draft 2021/22 Budget including the full year effect of changes agreed as part of the 2020/21 Council Tax report and savings approved during the year with the resultant impact on the Council’s medium term “budget gap”. The report also provided details of the Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement 2021/22 which was published on 17December 2020 and represented a one year settlement only following the postponement of the longer-term Spending Review until 2021. The outcome of the Fair funding Review and Devolution of Business Rates, which could have a significant impact on future funding, had been delayed by one year until at least 2022/23. The Committee noted that there were still outstanding issues and areas of uncertainty remaining. Any further updates would be included in the 2021/22 Council Tax report to the next meeting of the Executive.
In opening the discussion, the Chairman suggested that it would be helpful for service specific PDS Committees to review the individual growth items relating to their committees to ensure that robust plans to mitigate were in place.
In response to a question concerning the Beehive Housing Scheme, the Director of Finance confirmed that it was a finance lease whereby the Council would end up owning the properties at the end.
The Committee noted that in future by default any inflationary increases included in contracts would be linked to the consumer price index (CPI) unless there was a compelling reason otherwise.
The Chairman proposed that in the interests of transparency in future the budget for Members’ Allowances should be separated from the Democratic Services budget. This proposal was agreed by the Committee.
In response to a question concerning how likely it was that the Council would be in a position to deliver Phase 2 of its Transformation Programme, the Chairman suggested that it may be helpful for the Committee to undertake a review later in the year. Currently the one-year local government financial settlement and delays around the delegation of business rates and the fairer funding review created a great deal of uncertainty.
The Committee noted that the income and rent in relation to investment property represented the best judgement that could be made at the current time. The Director of Finance confirmed that in his opinion at this stage the assumptions outlined in the report were reasonable and that there was contingency to manage any risks.
Members noted that, in relation the Adult Social Care precept, there was currently no legislation enabling the Council to levy an Adult Social Care precept in future years and the assumption had to be made that the provision would not continue. The Government had undertaken to review funding for adult social care where there were a number of undeniable pressures.
With reference to the concessionary fares credit, the Director of Finance confirmed that the figures in the report were based on usage in the current year and it was therefore possible that the credit may increase if restrictions arising from the Covid-19 pandemic continued.
The Committee noted that the report to the Executive had been produced within a week of the notification of the Local Government Finance Settlement, consequently there may in time be further changes to the proposed budget. As yet, no information regarding the GLA precept or the Business Rate Pool had been received. Once in receipt of this information, the Director of Finance would be providing a further update for the Executive.
RESOLVED: That the Executive be recommended to:
(a) Agree the initial draft 2021/22 Budget detailed in Appendix 7 including continuation of the iBCF hospital discharge funding reserve and setting aside New Homes Bonus funding for housing investment;
(b) Refer the initial draft 2021/22 Budget for each portfolio to the relevant PDS Committees for consideration;
(c) Note the financial projections for 2022/23 to 2024/25;
(d) Note that there are still areas of financial uncertainty which will impact on the final 2021/22 Budget;
(e) Delegate the setting of the schools’ budget, mainly met through Dedicated Schools Grant, to the Education, Children and Families Portfolio Holder, allowing for consultation with the Schools Forum (see section 11 of the report);
(f) Note that the outcome of consultation with PDS Committees will be reported to the next meeting of the Executive;
(g) Agree the proposed contribution of £247,274 in 2021/22 to the London Boroughs Grant Committee (see section 10 of the report);
(h) Note the outcome of the Provisional Local Government Financial Settlement 2021/22 as detailed in the report;
(i) Note the budget gap remaining of an estimated £14.1m per annum by 2024/25 and that any decisions made for the 2021/22 Budget will have an impact on the future year projections;
(j) Note that any final decision by Executive on recommended Council Tax and Adult Social Care Precept levels to Council will normally be undertaken at the next meeting of Executive;
(k) Note that further details are awaited on arrangements to consider for the pan-London Business Rate Pool 2021/22. Any updates available, following publication of this report will be circulated separately (see section 6.19.7 of the report).
Report FSD21003
The report proposed that the Empty Homes Premium be increased from April 2021 to the maximum premiums permitted under the Rating (Property in Common Occupation) and Council Tax (Empty Dwellings) Act 2018.
RESOLVED: that the Executive be recommended to:
(a) Note the responses to the public consultation exercise;
(b) Note the Equality Impact Assessment; and
(c) Consider an increase in the Empty Homes Premium from the financial year 2021/22 to 100% for properties empty longer than 2 years, increasing to 200% where the property has been empty for 5 years and 300% when the property has been empty over 10 years.
(7) OPERATIONAL BUILDING MAINTENANCE BUDGETS AND PLANNED PROGRAMME 2020/21 AND 2021/22
The report set out the proposed maintenance budgets and planned programme for 2021/22 and detailed a request for additional budgetary provision of £2m for essential works in 2021/22 and 2022/23.
The Committee noted that a condition survey across the whole Bromley estate had been instructed and this would provide a view on any maintenance liabilities and would be reported back to Committee in June 2021.
In respect of proposals for maintenance at West Wickham leisure centre, the Chairman noted the plans for redevelopment and queried whether the proposed expenditure represented value for money. The Assistant Director of Strategic Property explained that the redevelopment of the leisure centre was some years away and the proposed repair to the air handling unit was an essential repair that was required in order to keep the facility open. Members were provided with assurances that the most economically prudent approach would be taken to any repairs required. Similarly, in the case of the Saxon Day Centre, essential health and safety repairs to glazing were required and Officers would ensure any repairs represented value for money.
The Committee noted that any requests for drawdown would be reported in the Budget Monitoring reports and would be subject to scrutiny by the PDS Committee.
RESOLVED: That the Executive be recommended to:
(a) Approve an overall expenditure of £2.188m for the Building Maintenance budget in 2021/2022, subject to the Council agreeing the budget.
(b) Delegate authority to the Director of Housing, Planning, Property and Regeneration to vary the programmes to accommodate any change in the approved budget or where such action is considered necessary to either protect the Council’s assets or make the most effective use of resources.
(c) Approve an additional provision of £1m in each of the next 2 financial years 2021/22 and 2022/23 to be set aside in the Infrastructure Investment earmarked reserve to fund essential and statutory works.
(d) Where urgent works are needed in the current financial year, following consultation with ERC PDS, funding to be drawdown from Central Contingency in 2020/21 and the additional provision of £1m in 2021/22 will be reduced by an equal amount.
Report ACH20-088
Services for co-occurring mental health, and alcohol and/or drug use conditions (COMHAD) were delivered locally by Oxleas Foundation Trust (Oxleas) as part of the local NHS Mental Health contract held by Bromley Clinical Commissioning Group (BCCG). The COMHAD part of the contract was funded and paid for directly by the Council and formed part of the Section 75 arrangement between the Council and the BCCG.
BCCG had now become part of the wider South East London Clinical Commissioning Group and given local provision was pertinent to the client group it serves it has been agreed that the COMHAD element would be disaggregated from the BCCG contract.
The report set out the case for a direct award of a contract, via an exemption from tendering, to be granted to Oxleas.
The Chairman of the Adult Care and Health PDS Committee provided a brief background to the report, explaining that it had previously been circulated to members of the Adult Care and Health PDS Committee for comment. The Chairman had not received any comments, although a question had been sent to the Assistant Director of Public Health who had provided a response.
The Chairman of ERC PDS noted that some additional Part 2 (exempt from publication) information had been circulated to Members in advance of the meeting and this demonstrated the compelling case for the continuation of the service. It was suggested that this paper should also be circulated to Members of the Executive.
A Member expressed concerns about the amount of modelling work that had been undertaken around the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and stressed the need to ensure sufficient capacity to deal with issues in the future.
RESOLVED: That the Executive be recommended to approve the direct new award of contract, via an exemption to competitive tendering, to Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust for a period of 3 years from 1st April 2021 (with the option to extend for up to a further two years) at an annual value of £87,000 (average) and a whole life value of £432,000.
(9) UPDATE ON THE TRANSFER OF CRYSTAL PALACE PARK
Noting that this report had already received pre-decision scrutiny from the Renewal, Recreation and Housing PDS Committee, Members requested that the Executive give consideration to the request for contingency draw down.
(18) ADDITIONAL RESTRICTIONS GRANT SCHEME (ARG SCHEME)
Report HPR2021/55
The Committee agreed to consider the report as a matter of urgency to ensure the roll out of grants in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Council had received payment of £6,646,720 from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) on behalf of Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (‘BEIS’). This sum was to form the Council’s Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG) which would be used to provide financial support to local businesses through grants and business support functions.
The report outlined the proposed ARG Scheme which would be delivered in phases. There is a Government requirement that all monies be allocated by 21 March 2022. The report included full details on the overall scheme plus a detailed Phase 1. Authorisation from Executive would be sought for Phase 2 as it was developed.
Members requested that once the proposals were agreed a short briefing outing the main points be provided to councillors to enable them to support local small businesses.
With reference to the Online Enterprise Hub within Phase 1C, the Committee received assurances that that any system put in place would be self-sustaining and there would be no cost to the Council in future years. A Member suggested, and the Portfolio Holder for Renewal, Recreation and Housing agreed that it may be helpful to have a discussion with the BIDs to see if there was any possibility of one of them running the Online Enterprise Hub. The Portfolio Holder for Renewal Recreation and Housing stressed that the primary purpose of the Online Enterprise Hub was to support businesses during the Covid-19 pandemic – it was not intended to compete with the BIDs in any way.
In relation to the time limit for grant applications, the Assistant Director of Culture and Regeneration confirmed that there was an expectation that guidance for businesses would be prepared and additional help terms of preparing the necessary evidence would be available to businesses to ensure that the system was as equitable as possible. However, there was a finite pot of funding and once all the funding had been allocated the schemes would close.
The Committee stressed the need to ensure that there was appropriate due diligence to minimise instances of fraud. The Assistant Director of Culture and Regeneration confirmed that officers had been working closely with Liberata and Internal Audit to ensure that robust systems were in place and that funding was allocated appropriately.
The Committee agreed that, due to the urgency of the decision, the Leader should take the decision the following day.
RESOLVED: That the Leader be recommended to:
(a) Approve the recommendations for the distribution of this grant fund set out in the report, namely the funding streams proposed in paragraphs 4-9, Phase 1 of the Council’s ARG scheme and to allocate £5.5m from the Government grant to fund payments to businesses.
(b) Authorise payments to be made based on the proposed eligibility criteria as detailed in section 4 of the report, which has been developed in line with the guidance from MHCLG, noting that subsequent phases will be subject to future reports as they are developed.
(c) Agree that authority be delegated to the Portfolio Holder for Renewal, Recreation and Housing in conjunction with the Director of Housing, Planning, Property and Regeneration to increase the allocation for Phase 1 Business Hardship Fund by up to £500k should uptake of the initial £1m show significant levels of demand.
(d) Agree that authority be delegated to the Director of Housing, Planning, Property and Regeneration, in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Renewal, Recreation and Housing, to make changes to grant distribution approach as may be required for compliancy, ensuring government guidance is followed, and to exercise limited discretion during the award process.
(e) Agree that appropriate due diligence be carried out to minimise fraud and consider if the existing Bids could be used for distribution to minimise set up costs of the Online Enterprise Hub to ensure no further running costs to the Council, beyond those to be met by the ARG.