Members of the Committee are requested to bring their copy of the agenda for the Executive meeting on 30 June 2021.
Minutes:
The Committee considered the following reports on the Part 1 agenda for the meeting of the Executive on 30 June 2021:
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(5) |
PROVISIONAL FINAL ACCOUNTS 2020/21 |
Report FSD21020
The report considered the 2020/21 provisional outturn at portfolio level and Council wide as well as the potential implications for the Council’s financial position in 2021/22. The purpose of the report was to give a broad overview of the financial outturn. The 2020/21 provisional outturn provided for no variation in general fund balances, subject to the recommendations in the report being agreed. The report referred to the financial impact of the Covid-19 situation which needed to be treated with some caution because of the ongoing uncertainty arising from moving out of lockdown to transition and ultimately the ‘new normal’. The report sought agreement to set aside resources to support funding housing investment as well as partly fund future Covid related cost pressures. The report also referred to the arrangements to address Government funding received during 2020/21 where the corresponding costs were charged to the Council’s general fund in future years.
In introducing the report, the Director of Finance highlighted that it had been a remarkable year with the requirement to manage unprecedented levels of funding from the Government to deliver the response to the Covid pandemic. Now was the point of transition where attention had to be turned to thoughts about adjusting to the ‘new normal’ and the pressures which would inevitably present in the coming years.
Another key focus would be supporting the Council priority of housing. Officers would continue to work on the basis of delivering value for money and targeting resources where they were needed.
In relation to the carry forward request, the Committee noted that some would be utilised for the ongoing response to the Covid pandemic. It was clear that current levels of government funding could not be sustained in future years, as such there was a need to manage the current funding to ensure future resilience as well as manage the ongoing risks around the pandemic.
RESOLVED: That the Executive be recommended to
1. consider the provisional revenue and capital outturns for the 2020/21 financial year and the earmarked balances on the General Fund as at 31st March 2021;
2. consider the variations in 2020/21 impacting on the Council’s 2021/22 financial position;
3. consider the comments from Chief Officers;
4. approve the requests for carry forwards totalling £749k (net) subject to the funding being allocated to the Central Contingency in 2021/22 to be drawn down on the approval of the relevant Portfolio Holder;
5. agree the changes to the central contingency sum;
6. recommend to Council that a sum of £3.887m be set aside as a contribution to the Housing Invest to Save Fund earmarked reserve;
7. recommend to Council that a sum of £6.506m be set aside as a contribution to the COVID impact/recovery earmarked reserve;
8. note the creation of a Business Rates Adjustment earmarked reserve relating to the timing differences of grant income received and the costs charged to the Councils General Funds.
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(6) |
CAPITAL PROGRAMME OUTTURN 2020/21 |
Report FSD21038
This report set out the final outturn on capital expenditure and receipts for 2020/21. Capital expenditure in the year was £19.7m, compared to the final approved budget of £46.0m, resulting in a total net variation of Cr £26.3m. For funding purposes, £15.0m slippage was assumed in the Quarter 3 capital monitoring report, so there was an overall variation of Cr £11.3m in the use of capital receipts and external and revenue contributions.
RESOLVED: That the Executive be recommended to:
(i) Approve an increase of £2,443k to the Disabled Facilities Grant scheme to reflect the 2020/21 allocation as detailed in paragraph 3.2.1;
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(7) |
GROWTH FUND SUPPORT FOR PLANNING |
The report sought Growth Fund support for a 2-year temporary Planner for the Development Management team to work on major applications.
The Assistant Director for Planning explained that the temporary Planner post would be directly and indirectly supporting the growth of housing schemes across the Borough and would also be supporting the pre application process and the growth in planning applications. In response to a question, the Assistant Director reported that over the course of the year there had been a roughly 20-30% increase in planning applications.
A Member expressed concern that capital funding was being used for revenue expenditure, in response the Chairman suggested that in this case there had been a surge in planning applications and it was not anticipated that the surge would be sustained in the long-term therefore this was fixed-term expenditure. The Director of Finance confirmed that the proposal was to effectively pump-prime and initially fund the service whilst developing sustainable funding solutions for future years. It was possible to fund short-term staffing from capital. The purpose of this post was to support the development of housing schemes across the Borough and there met the criteria of the growth fund.
RESOLVED: That the Executive be recommended to:
1. To approve the use of up to £116k from the Growth Fund earmarked reserve to fund a Planning Officer post for a two-year fixed term;
2. To note that this will be reviewed after one year, taking into account the anticipated additional income generated and any underspends within the Planning Department’s existing budget, and that any funding not required will be returned to the Growth Fund.
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(17) |
IT SERVICES PROCUREMENT |
Report CSD21075
This report summarised options to be explored for ensuring the continued provision of IT services currently provided by BT, following the end of the current contract in December 2023. It set out procurement options to be explored in further detail to enable decision making, procurement and transition to any new or changed arrangements. The report also outlined the approach for undertaking the next phase of work with a detailed review of the options to provide for the member decision on choice of the final options. It did not address specific technologies, as this had been covered in previous reports and decisions, but on the means of provision of IT services.
In response to a question from the Chairman, the Assistant Director for IT confirmed that the use of new technologies to drive modernisation would be looked at part of the procurement options and Officers would be seeking partnership working for the implementation of artificial intelligence and assistive technology. Members noted that the key focus on new technologies (such as artificial intelligence and 3D printing) would be through the Digital Strategy which was being developed and would be presented to the Committee in September 2021.
A Member expressed concerns around the high project management costs detailed in the report. The Assistant Director confirmed that the costs set out in the report were the indicative costs that had been obtained through market research. It was agreed that the Assistant Director would provide details of the costings that had been received to Councillor Will Harmer following the meeting.
RESOLVED: That the Executive be recommended to:
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(18) |
TRANSFORMING BROMLEY 2019 - 2023: FIRST TWO YEARS |
The report provided the Executive with key updates on the progress of the Transforming Bromley agenda two years into the four-year Transformation Programme (2019 - 2023).
The Chief Executive provided an overview of the report highlighting that the 2019 Staff Conference had been the genesis of transformation and details of the progress that had been made would filter through to individual PDS Committees, but it was important to recognise the importance of celebrating the progress that had undoubtedly been made. Since 2019 there had been key development around the Council’s Digital Strategy and this, along with the Building a Better Bromley Strategy would be reported to the Committee in September 2021. Despite the ongoing Covid-pandemic and the additional demands that this had placed of a number of Officers, the corporate transformation process had continued. The Covid pandemic had inevitably had an impact and had presented challenges which no one could have foreseen in 2019, however, the Transformation Roadmap had never been designed to be a static document and had instead evolved in order to respond to these new challenges.
In response to a question, the Chief Executive highlighted that in 2019, one of the key aspirations had been to introduce agile and home working. The Covid pandemic had accelerated these plans and currently 60-90% of the workforce were working flexibly. A report on the Civic Centre Accommodation Strategy would be presented to Members in the coming months.
In response to a series of questions, the Chief Executive confirmed that reports concerning the 17 strands of the Transformation Programme could be made available to Members. However, a number of these reports would have been presented to individual PDS committees or Executive as part of the savings identified in the medium-term financial strategy. It was clear that the Transformation Roadmap was an organic document and where necessary Officers would approach committees and garner comments and views from Members in order to ensure that the process of corporate transformation was flexible and reactive.
In response to a suggestion that the language of transformation should be more focused on service improvement, the Chief Executive confirmed that all members of the Corporate Leadership Team focused on three key areas:
- What could be done to improve the lives of residents?
- What could be done in terms of improving processes? and
- What innovations could be delivered?
It was only when these three key areas were addressed that savings could be delivered through transformation.
In relation to staffing resilience and continuity, the Chief Executive confirmed his awareness of the age profile of the Council’s Senior Leadership Team and the inevitable loss of experience and wisdom that was likely to manifest in the coming 5 to 10 years. In response to this, efforts were being made to develop and build programmes of support and promote internal staff. Through mentoring, supporting and coaching the Council would be able develop its own pipeline strategy. Members noted that this was not a problem unique to Bromley, in the past year 7 Chief Executives and a number of Directors across London had retired.
RESOLVED: That Executive be recommended to: