The Leader of the Council, Councillor Colin Smith,
attended the meeting to respond to questions from the
Committee. Councillor Smith gave a brief introduction
highlighting the following issues:
-
The Council had received more grants which would be
dispersed.
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The country currently sat in a window of uncertainty
between the end of the second wave of Covid-19 and concerns around
what may still be to come in terms of a third wave, mindful of the
very successful local vaccination programme.
-
The budget had been set for the
forthcoming year and this established a realistic funding structure which it was hoped would enable a
return to inflation level Council Tax rises moving forward.
However, much depended upon what happened in terms of the pandemic
over the next few months. To some extent the plans of the
local authority depended on the decisions taken at a national
level, the speed of the recovery, the speed at which businesses and
shops could reopen, and the extent to which schools could remain
open.
-
Broadly speaking the picture appeared
quite bright and optimistic. As the country emerged from what
could best be described as a year of misery, there would need to be
a key focus on the mental health and loneliness agendas and
Officers and Members are well sighted to
that.
Councillor Smith then responded to questions, making
the following comments:
-
It appeared that the aviation college at Biggin Hill
was now on the “back burner”.
-
Work on the Council’s Digital Strategy was
ongoing, and Officers would be presenting the Strategy to Members
as soon as possible.
·
In relation to the ongoing review of the
most efficient ways to deliver the Council’s statutory
obligations, it was important to remember that simply because a
service related to a statutory duty did not mean that it could not
be delivered more efficiently. Officers were continually
looking for further efficiencies through the Council’s
Transformation Programme. The Leader encouraged Members
themselves to put forward ideas for efficiency savings to PDS
Committees as these were the most appropriate forum to discuss such
issues.
-
The Officer lead on the relaunch of Building a
Better Bromley had been seconded to the Local Authority’s
Covid Response and was currently supporting the testing centres
across the Borough. Consequently, there had been an
understandable delay in presenting the updated document to the
Committee.
-
Officers at a managerial and supervisory level were
encouraging all staff to take up the offer of a vaccine when it was
made. In terms of addressing vaccine hesitation, this was
possibly something the Government would be reviewing and as an
employer the Council would comply with employment law. In the
meantime, all staff were encouraged to have the vaccine when they
were called. In terms of Covid testing for staff, the Council
would follow any advice from government.
-
In relation to managing growth pressures going
forward, if there were demands around adults and children’s
– both demand-led services for which there were statutory
obligations - the bottom line was that money to support the
services would need to be found. There would be no growth in
non-statutory services above and beyond anything approved by
Members. There was an increasing need for the Council to live
within its means and the future would be about working increasingly
closer with residents and the voluntary sector. There was an
ever greater need for spending to remain within the agreed budget
and additional spending could not be considered until it was clear
from where funding would come.
On behalf of the Committee, the Chairman
thanked both the Leader and the Portfolio Holder for Resources,
Commissioning and Contracts Management for the support they had
provided the Committee during the year.