Members of the Committee are requested to bring their copy of the agenda for the Executive meeting on 17 January 2024..
The Executive, Resources and Contracts PDS Committee will be looking at the following items on the Executive Agenda:
· Draft Budget 2024/25 and Update on the Council’s Financial Strategy
· Outcome of Ofsted Inspection of Children’s Services
· Academy Information System and Aspien Corporate Debt Management System Software Licence And Maintenance Arrangements
Minutes:
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(5) |
DRAFT BUDGET 2024/25 AND UPDATE ON THE COUNCIL'S FINANCIAL STRATEGY |
Report FSD24001
The report sought approval of the initial draft 2024/25 Budget including the full year effect of changes agreed as part of the 2023/24 Council Tax report and savings approved during the year with the resultant impact on the Council’s medium term ‘budget gap’.
A key part of the financial strategy was to highlight the budget issues that would need to be addressed by the Council over the coming financial years, by forecasting the level of available resources from all sources and budget pressures relating to revenue spending. More details of the capital programme and the impact on the revenue budget would be reported to the next meeting of the Executive.
PDS Committees views would also be sought and reported back to the next meeting of the Executive, prior to the Executive making recommendations to Council on the 2024/25 Council Tax and Adult Social Care precept levels.
The report provided details of the Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement 2024/25 which was published on 18th December 2023 and represented a one-year settlement only. The awaited Fair Funding Review and changes relating to the devolution of business rates, which could have a significant impact on future funding, had been delayed and were unlikely to be implemented until at least 2026/27.
There were increasing challenges facing the Council as identified in the report. These included the need to address the ongoing Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) funding deficits, the medium-term risk of depletion of reserves and the resultant impact, funding the future capital programme and progressing to the next steps for the Transformation Programme. The report provided an update on the local authority landscape and the implications on a deteriorating financial position for many local authorities. As indicated later in the report there was no significant additional new funding announced in the Autumn Statement or Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement 2024/25 to address the significant cost pressures facing the Council.
There were still outstanding issues and areas of uncertainty remaining, including various grant allocations and associated grant conditions, which could impact on the final revenue budget. Any significant changes would be reported at the meeting and further updates would be included in the 2024/25 Council Tax report to the next meeting of the Executive.
In opening the discussion, the Chairman proposed that the word “not” be inserted at the beginning of recommendation 2.1.9 which would read:
2.1.9 [That the Executive be recommended to] Not agree the proposed contribution of £247,872 to the London Boroughs Grant Committee.
The Committee, by majority, supported the proposals noting that the conditions imposed ruled out a number of the charities within the Borough from being able to apply.
A number of Members expressed concerns regarding recommendation 2.1.5 – a request to approve a one-off Transformation Fund 2024-2028 earmarked reserve of £1m to resource the next phase of the Transformation Programme to assist in delivery of significant future year savings. Members of the Committee were concerned about the lack of detail and scrutiny around use of the funds. In response the Director of Finance highlighted the duty on the Local Authority to deliver a balanced budget and the work that would be required to do this. The Director explained that these proposals were about creating the capacity to deliver the scale of the savings required and were crucial to the delivery of the required service transformation.
The Committee discussed the scale of savings that would be required and acknowledged that there would be a need to do things differently. A Member suggested that there should be a review of what could be delivered in-house with the current staffing resources. Staff should also be asked to put forward any potential areas for saving that they had been able to identify. In addition, a Member highlighted that any funds set aside should not be used to pay for external consultants where there was an adequate in-house resource to complete the work. The Chairman also suggested that consideration should be given to establishing a cross-cutting contracts management department to ensure that the Council was achieving value for money for all its contracts. The Committee agreed that more scrutiny of any expenditure was required. Consequently, it was agreed that recommendation 2.1.5 should be amended to read:
“Given the scale of financial challenges, approve a one-off Transformation Fund 2024-2028 earmarked reserve of £1m to resource the next phase of Transformation Programme to assist in delivery of significant future year savings. This will be funded from the Growth and Investment Fund earmarked reserve and the final allocation of these resources will be delegated to the Chief Executive in consultation with the Resources, Commissioning and Contract Management Resources Portfolio Holder (See Section 6.8 of the report). Full details of any proposals should be presented to the Executive, Resources and Contracts PDS Committee for detailed scrutiny prior to any decisions relating to spend being taken.”
Councillor Jeal proposed that recommendation 2.1.6 in the report should be amended to:
“Agree to increase rent levels for London Affordable Rents and Social (Formula) Rents by 3.85% from April 2024.”
The motion was seconded by Councillor Adams and following discussion around the cost of the proposals and the impact of the amendment on the viability of housing schemes, put to the vote and LOST.
Noting that as part of the Operational Property Review the Executive had approved a number of property disposals, a Member queried why it was being proposed that the budget for the team responsible for disposals stay the same when there were fewer properties to manage. The Committee questioned whether there had been a review of the current needs of the Council, and it was suggested that consideration should be given to whether there was a need for a working party to be set up to look at the Council’s requirements and whether the current staffing structure met those requirements. The Director of Finance advised that the Operational Property Review included major works required to properties which was still to be undertaken and would continue to require staff resources and that any review should be considered once such works and major projects were complete.
Noting the funding set aside in respect of Audits, Councillor Tickner, in his capacity of Chairman of the Audit and Risk Committee, emphasised that this was a significant issue for the Council. Councillor Tickner reported that he had lobbied local MPs as there was no benefit to local residents arising from any increase in this expenditure.
In response to a question about the Capital Programme, the Director of Finance confirmed that there were no new capital receipts to fund projects. There would need to be a debate about the future funding of the capital programme. In respect of the possible move of the Central Library, the report, when it was presented to Committee, would need to detail funding arrangements.
The Committee emphasised the importance of the service PDS Committee thoroughly reviewing the proposed budget and giving consideration to any areas where savings could be identified. The views of the PDS Committee would be captured and reported back to the February meetings of this Committee and the Executive.
RESOLVED: That Executive be recommended to
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OUTCOME OF OFSTED INSPECTION OF CHILDREN'S SERVICES |
Report ECHS19017
On 6th November 2023, Ofsted inspectors notified the London Borough of Bromley to complete a one week ILACS inspection of children’s social care services in Bromley. A team of seven inspectors reviewed the effectiveness of services for children in need of help and protection, children in care and care leavers. The inspectors also judged the impact of leaders on social work practice with children and families and evaluated the overall effectiveness of children’s services in Bromley. The inspection team gave a feedback presentation on Friday 17th November 2023.
On 12th January 2024, the Ofsted inspection report was published and formally outlined the following awarded judgments:
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Judgement |
Grade |
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The impact of leaders on social work practice with children and families |
Outstanding |
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The experiences and progress of children who need help and protection |
Outstanding |
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The experiences and progress of children in care |
Outstanding |
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The experiences and progress of Care Leavers |
Outstanding |
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Overall effectiveness |
Outstanding |
The report to Executive provided Members with:
· A summary of the key feedback for each judgment area and any identified areas for improvement
· The next steps for the completion of an improvement plan to addressed the recommendations identified in the report
Councillor Gabbert, in her capacity of Chairman of the Children, Education and Families PDS Committee, offered heartfelt congratulations to everyone involved in the outcome of the Ofsted Inspection. The Committee extended its gratitude to the Council’s Senior Leadership Team, the Portfolio Holder for Children, Education and Families and all the officers across the Council who had been involved in the inspection process. Councillor Gabbert recognised the extra-ordinary journey that the service had been on since 2016 and expressed pride in what had been achieved and all the people that had made it happen. The comments were unanimously endorsed by all Members of the Committee, and it was recognised that the challenge was now to maintain the outstanding services provided to children in the Borough.
The Executive were asked to note the congratulations, pride and gratitude of the Committee.
RESOLVED: That the Executive be recommended to note the findings of the Ofsted report and the outlined plan to address the recommendation identified in the report.
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ACADEMY INFORMATION SYSTEM AND ASPIEN CORPORATE DEBT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM SOFTWARE LICENCE AND MAINTENANCE ARRANGEMENTS |
Report FSD24006
In July 2018, officers recommended to the Executive that the future provider of the Exchequer Service should undertake a health check of several IT systems used to deliver the service. The Executive noted that due to the complexities of a number of the systems and the need to provide sufficient time to migrate high risk data, these health checks should be carried out within 12 months of the contract start date to confirm the value for money options going forward.
The Exchequer Services Contract commenced on 1st April 2020; however, the review of the Academy Information System (now known as Capita One Revenues & Benefits) and the Aspien Corporate Debt Management System were significantly delayed due to the impact of the pandemic.
Quotes for completing a full review of the Academy Information System were requested from our IT contractors, BT and from Liberata. Unfortunately, there were delays with obtaining the quotes and the delivery of the report, which was eventually delivered at the end of September 2023.
The report from Liberata recommended migrating to the NEC Revenues & Benefits system with transition costs of £1.52 million and annual costs of £259k on the basis that the NEC system offers greater automation which will improve collection and processing performance, however the indication from colleagues in the London Revenues Group (LRG) was that there was very little difference between the two systems.
Discussions with Liberata regarding the contents of the system review were ongoing and were likely to be completed within the next few months. The Department was also exploring the greater use of automation available within the Academy system.
The Aspien Corporate Debt Management System was used by the Council’s contractors Liberata in conjunction with the Council’s financial system Oracle Fusion to bill and collect in the region of £60 million each year and the authorisation for extension of the agreement was due to expire in January 2024.
The Council changed its financial system from Oracle R12 to Oracle Fusion in April 2022. The review of the debt recovery module, Advance Collections had commenced however it had not been possible to complete this due to the bedding in of Oracle Fusion. It had been estimated that the review would be completed within the next 12 months and if the outcome of the review was that Advance collections should be implemented a further 18 months would be required.
The report sought authorisation to renew the licence agreements for both the Academy System and the Aspien Corporate Debt Management System beyond 2024. The cumulative value of these extensions made this an Executive decision.
RESOLVED: That Executive be recommended to
1. Approve the renewal of the agreement for the Academy Information system until 31st March 2027 at an estimated annual cost of £182k; £546k over 3 years.
2. Approve the renewal of the agreement for Aspien Corporate Debt Management System until 31st January 2027 at an annual cost of £9.9k; £30k over 3 years.