Agenda and minutes

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 28 March 2023 as an accurate record.

The minutes of the meeting held on 28 March 2023 were agreed as an accurate record.

Members are invited to declare any disclosable pecuniary interests (DPIs) and other registrable and non-registrable interests they may have in relation to any item(s) of business on today’s agenda.

There were no disclosures of interest made at the meeting.

To receive notice of any business not on the agenda which in the opinion of the Chair, by reason of special circumstances, be considered as a matter of urgency.

There were no items of urgent business for the consideration of the Scrutiny & Overview Committee at this meeting.

The Scrutiny & Overview Committee is asked to: -

1.   Review the information provided in the report on the Month 11 Financial Performance Report, and

2.   Consider its conclusions on the latest budget position for 2022-23

3.   Consider whether there are any recommendations to bring to the attention of the Mayor .

The Committee considered a report that provided an overview of the latest budget position up to the end of Period 11. This report was included on the agenda to give the Committee the opportunity to scrutinise the delivery of 2022-23 budget.

The Cabinet Member for Finance, Councillor Jason Cummings, and members of the Corporate Management Team were in attendance at the meeting for this item.

At the start of the item, the Chair noted the Committee’s support and appreciation for the earlier publication of Financial Monitoring Reports, but shared concerns that the reports were still not as clear or as timely as they could be. The Chair asked if there was scope to bring forward the publication of the Financial Monitoring Reports or to change the composition of the data in future papers. The Director of Finance explained that time was required for individual departments to conduct their own forecasting, for this to be challenged by Finance, and for commentary and narration on the figures to be added. Members heard that because of this, there would always be some lead-time between the publication of the report and the period it concerned.The Director of Finance highlighted that these reports would now be published as soon as they were ready, instead of following the Cabinet publication schedule, and would be available on a dedicated page on the Council’s website.

The Deputy-Chair asked if reports were still being collated by spreadsheet, or if specialised software was now being used. Members heard that Oracle software was being used to input departmental forecasting, and this data was extracted from Oracle to include in the reports with narration; other specialised software was also used, such as for social care placements, as these required substantial modelling in order to be accurate. The Corporate Director of Resources & Section 151 Officer explained that the Oracle project was still at the scoping stage, and a timetable for this project would likely be reported to Cabinet in July 2023. Members heard that forecasting and getting better reporting from the system directly would be a high priority in terms of improving how budget holders were working with the Finance team.

The Chair explained that timely reports were important to catch issues as soon as they became apparent, and noted that this had been the motivation in moving from quarterly to monthly reporting. The Cabinet Member for Finance explained that Financial Monitoring Reports still required oversight from the Executive, but accepted that this did add some degree of delay. The Deputy-Chair queried whether the publication timeline was in line with best practice and the Corporate Director of Resources & Section 151 Officer explained that Croydon compared favourably in publishing monthly reports, but accepted that the manual nature of producing reports could mean these were slower to finalise than at other authorities. The Cabinet Member for Finance explained that the reports had incorporated previous feedback from scrutiny, and that iterative improvements had been made over the period monthly reports had been produced.

The Chair  ...  view the full minutes text for item 31/23

The Scrutiny & Overview Committee is presented with the Annual Asset Disposal Plan 2023/24 report due to be considered by the Mayor at the Cabinet meeting on 24 May 2023.

The Committee is asked to: -

1.     Review the information provided in the attached report, and

2.     Consider whether there are any recommendations to bring to the attention of the Mayor.

The Committee considered a report that provided the Annual Asset Disposal Plan 2023/24 report due to be considered by the Mayor at the Cabinet meeting on 24 May 2023. This report was included on the agenda as it was identified by the Committee as an item for pre-decision scrutiny.

The Cabinet Member for Finance, Councillor Jason Cummings, and members of the Corporate Management Team were in attendance at the meeting for this item.

The Chair asked what the rationale was for the £50 million figure, and asked why these assets had been selected for disposal. The Cabinet Member for Finance explained that this figure had been chosen as a target for the first year as it was thought to be achievable, but it was highlighted that this was the minimum that should be achieved. The list was considered to be assets that were ‘excess to requirements’ and that the Council was in a position to dispose of. The Corporate Director of Resources & Section 151 Officer explained that there had been over £50 million of Capital Receipts achieved in 2022/23, and that this was the second tranche of £50 million; it was expected that at least £50 million of Capital Receipts would be achieved in 2024/25 and 2025/26 respectively.

The Deputy-Chair asked what percentage of the Council’s total asset base were included in the report. The Cabinet Member for Finance explained that the total useable asset base was valued at around £300 million; currently all properties thought to be excess to requirements were on the asset disposal list, and this would be kept under review to ensure assets were added when appropriate. The Deputy-Chair asked how £50 million of Capital Receipts could also be generated in 2024/25 and it was explained that some assets needed more work, or were currently being used to deliver services, and so could not be added to the asset disposal list at this time but would be added in the future once these issues were resolved. The Chair queried the definition of ‘excess to requirements’ and heard that this was any asset the Council could sell while continuing to deliver its statutory responsibilities. The Interim Director of Commercial Investment & Capital explained that there was a rolling list of assets that could be defined as surplus, but that each asset required forensic analysis through the lens of service need. As a result of this, deciding if an asset was surplus needed to be carried out through the Transformation Programme to look at service need and demand and the locality of service need. Members heard that heat maps of assets were used to bring forward comprehensive plans that embraced supporting the Voluntary and Community Sector in developing Family and Community Hubs to deliver services in localities. The Interim Director of Commercial Investment & Capital stated that additional resources were being used, alongside operational leads of the Council, to augment the process of producing heat maps that would accelerate the process of identifying surplus properties to repurpose or dispose of.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 32/23

The Scrutiny & Overview Committee is presented with the Waste and Street Cleansing report due to be considered by the Mayor at the Cabinet meeting on 24 May 2023.

The Committee is asked to: -

1.     Review the information provided in the attached report, and

2.     Consider whether there are any recommendations to bring to the attention of the Mayor.

Due to the evacuation of the Town Hall, this item was not discussed.

The following motion is to be moved and seconded where it is proposed to exclude the press and public from the remainder of a meeting:

“That, under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act, 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information falling within those paragraphs indicated in Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended.”

This item was not required.