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Agenda and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber, Town Hall, Katharine Street, Croydon CR0 1NX

Contact: Simon Trevaskis  Email: simon.trevaskis@croydon.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

1/24

Minutes of the Previous Meeting pdf icon PDF 144 KB

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 21 November 2023 as an accurate record.

 

Minutes:

The minutes of the meeting held on 21 November 2023 were agreed as an accurate record.

 

2/24

Disclosure of Interests

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.

Minutes:

There were no disclosures of interest made at the meeting.

 

3/24

Urgent Business (if any)

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.

 

Minutes:

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

 

4/24

2023-24 Period 6 & 7 Financial Performance Reports pdf icon PDF 82 KB

The Scrutiny & Overview Committee is presented with the Period 6 Financial Performance Monitoring report (Period 7 to follow) for its information. The Committee is asked to: -

1.  Review the information provided in the report on the 2023-24 Period 6 & 7 Financial Performance Reports, and

2.  Consider its conclusions on the latest budget position for 2023-24

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

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee considered a report on pages 5 to 42 of the agenda that provided an overview of the latest budget position for 2023-24 up until the end of Period 6 (September 2023). This report was included on the agenda as part of the Committee’s ongoing scrutiny of the delivery of 2023-24 budget.

The Cabinet Member for Finance, Councillor Jason Cummings, Section 151 Officer, Jane West, Director of Finance, Allister Bannin and Head of Strategic Procurement, Scott Funnell were in attendance for this item at the meeting.

The Chair advised the meeting that it had been hoped the Period 7 (October 2023) report would be available for the Committee’s consideration, but unfortunately it had not been cleared in time. As such the Chair had asked the Director of Finance, Allister Bannin to provide an update on the key changes to the Budget since the Period 6 report. During this update, the following was noted.

  • The projected year end overspend across service directorates had been reduced from £5.7m in Period 6 to £1.5m in Period 7.
  • The forecasted budget for the Adult Social Care & Health service had moved from a £0.2m overspend to a £1m underspend due to continuing work on pricing and placement costs.
  • The projected overspend with the Childrens service had been reduced from £5.8m to £5.4m due to its ongoing work on high-cost placements.
  • The projected underspend within the budget for the Assistant Chief Executive’s Directorate had moved from £0.5m to £0.9m due to an underspend within IT.
  • The budget forecast for the Housing service had moved from a £2.2m overspend to a balanced position due to the transfer of funds from the Corporate economic demand pressures budget to address the additional emergency accomodation pressures.
  • It was anticipated that the forecasted overspend of £1.5m could be offset from the Corporate Contingency fund.
  • The Housing Revenue Account (HRA) revenue budget forecast remained at a £12m overspend due to the backlog of historic legacy repair work, reducing voids and the need to resolve issues experienced nationally including damp and mould and fire safety. The HRA capital budget forecast remained at £5.8m, which could be attributed to the cost for undertaking bigger repairs to properties.

As the Period 7 report had not been available, the Committee agreed to only allocate a short period for questioning the information provided. The first question asked whether the savings within the Adult Social Care and Health service could in part be attributed to staff vacancies. It was advised that the forecasted budget for staffing within the service had remained the same since Period 6 and it was the budget for placements that had improved. It was highlighted that there were a number of areas across the Council where it was a challenge to attract staff, including social care, which was a national issue and not unique to Croydon. 

An update was requested on the conversations with the Government to find a solution to the Council’s debt burden. It was advised that the discussions had not  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4/24

5/24

2024-25 Budget Setting Update pdf icon PDF 7 MB

The Scrutiny & Overview Committee will be provided with an update from the Council’s Section 151 Officer on the progress made with developing the 2024-25 Budget.

Minutes:

The Committee received a presentation from the Corporate Director of Resources & Section 151 Officer, Jane West, on the progress made with setting the 2024-25 budget. This report was included on the agenda as part of the Budget Scrutiny process. A copy of the presentation delivered can be found on the following link: -

https://democracy.croydon.gov.uk/documents/s53260/2024-25%20Budget%20Setting%20Update%20-%20Presentation.pdf

The Cabinet Member for Finance, Councillor Jason Cummings, Section 151 Officer, Jane West, Director of Finance, Allister Bannin and Head of Strategic Procurement, Scott Funnell were in attendance for this item at the meeting.

The Cabinet Member for Finance highlighted to the Committee that there had been advice from the Government to local authorities to use existing reserves to manage any current financial difficulties. However, given the ongoing financial challenges facing the Council from its debt burden, the reserves held would not address the problem, and as such the guidance was not thought to be applicable in Croydon’s circumstances. It was also highlighted that it was unlikely the financial situation for local government would improve dramatically, whoever won the forthcoming general election, as such there was a need to address these challenges across the sector.

The first question on this item asked for more information on the work to close the identified £6m gap in the 2024-25 budget. It was advised that there were several different factors to be resolved before the budget report was produced in early February that may help to address the gap. Final confirmation of the Government settlement was expected on 5 February, the Council Tax and Business Rate base was still being reviewed, there was likely to be a saving on Freedom Passes and it was hoped that capital charges would reduce as interest rates started to come down.

As a follow-up, it was questioned whether the previously indicated 4.99% increase in Council Tax could potentially rise to help meet any remaining gap. It was confirmed that no change to the proposed Council Tax was expected and it was highlighted that the Mayor had given a public commitment to not increasing Council Tax above the referendum rate.

It was noted that £20m savings had been included in the budget for each year from 2025-26 onwards, with the basis of this figure questioned. It was acknowledged that delivering savings of £20m each year would be difficult and it was a reason why the Council was investing in its transformation programme. Given the challenging financial landscape for local government it was essential for councils to modernise and manage demand. There were ongoing discussions with both the Improvement & Assurance Panel and the Government on how far the Council could go in reshaping itself. It was highlighted that even with £20m of savings, the Council would still have a budget shortfall of £38m, that based on current projections would need to be met through capitalisation.

It was questioned whether there would be any further contingency built into the 2024-25 budget to mitigate against the risk of a potential inflationary spike as a result of recent  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5/24

6/24

Capital Programme and Capital Strategy 2023-29 pdf icon PDF 67 KB

The Scrutiny & Overview Committee is provided with a report considered by the Mayor at the Cabinet meeting on 6 December, regarding the Capital Programme and Capital Strategy 2023-2029. The Committee is asked to: -

1.  Review the information provided in the report on Capital Programme and Capital Strategy 2023-29 and

2.  Decide whether there are any concerns or recommendation to reflect in the Committee’s report on 2024-25 Budget.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee considered a report on pages 43 to 98 of the agenda that provided an update on the capital programme and capital strategy covering the period 2023 to 2029. This report was included on the agenda at the request of the Committee to help inform its discussion on the forthcoming budget.

The Cabinet Member for Finance, Councillor Jason Cummings, Section 151 Officer, Jane West, Director of Finance, Allister Bannin and Head of Strategic Procurement, Scott Funnell were in attendance for this item at the meeting.

During the introduction to the report, the following points were noted: -

  • The principal driver for the capital programme was cost reduction and the Council was not in a position to be making choices on investment, unless it would deliver a saving.
  • It had also been decided not to cut back on areas that could lead to further costs down the line, such as highways maintenance.
  • The capital budget for 2023-24 and 2024-25 would be balanced through the use of income capital receipts from asset disposal. At present, it was projected that the capital budget in subsequent years would require additional borrowing.

Following the introduction, the first question of the Committee asked how the capital programme aligned with the Mayor’s Business Plan and the Improvement & Assurance Panel’s Exit Strategy. In response, it was highlighted that the Mayor’s Business Plan did not include any significant capital promises, as it was known that the Council was not in a position to deliver these. The Exit Strategy did not have a significant focus on capital spend, beyond the Council managing its debt burden and asset disposal. It was also highlighted that the capital budget was funded to a far higher percentage from external sources that other local authorities, given the need to do as much as possible without costing the Council.

It was questioned what percentage of the capital budget was derived from external funding sources. In response, it was advised that external funded equated to approximately 28% of the total income when taking account of capitalisation, but if capitalisation was not included, it was a much higher percentage. It was also asked whether a breakdown could be provided on the funding allocated to meet statutory requirements and proportion that was discretionary. It was advised that this was difficult to define as what was required to meet statutory need was a matter of judgement. In general, areas such as school funding would be considered as statutory, while other areas such as IT would be considered discretionary.

It was questioned whether the capital budget presented in the report was in breach of the Prudential Code. It was acknowledged that although the Council was in compliance with many of the indicators within the Code, it was not in overall compliance. It would be difficult to achieve compliance unless a solution was found for the Council’s debt burden.

It was noted that 49% of the capital budget was being spent on capitalisation and as such it was questioned whether this  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6/24

7/24

Quarterly Procurement Plan Update pdf icon PDF 66 KB

The Scrutiny & Overview Committee is presented with the Quarterly Procurement Plan Update report considered by the Mayor at the Cabinet meeting on 6 December 2023. The Committee is asked to: -

1.  Review the information provided in the Quarterly Procurement Plan report and

2.  Decide whether there are any concerns or recommendation it wishes to make to the Mayor on the content of the report

3.  Decide whether there are any areas where further scrutiny should be scheduled at a later date.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee considered a report on pages 99 to 108 of the agenda which provided the latest quarterly update on the progress with delivering the Procurement Plan, which had been considered by the Mayor at the Cabinet meeting on 6 December 2023.  This report had been included on the agenda as procurement was identified as an area of focus for the Committee.

The Cabinet Member for Finance, Councillor Jason Cummings, Section 151 Officer, Jane West and Head of Strategic Procurement, Scott Funnell were in attendance at the meeting for this item.

During the introduction to the report, the following points were noted: -

  • Procurement had been a key target for the Administration since its election in 2022.
  • Progress had been made, but there was still a lot to do. Both the quarterly and annual reports were a key part of the improvement journey.
  • It was essential to ensure that the Council was being transparent over its contracts, as it allowed companies to see what contracts were coming up for procurement and prepare bids.
  • There had been improvement in identifying the reprocurement window when contracts were coming to an end, but some were still being missed which was reflected in the report.
  • A current focus for the Procurement service was ensuring officers across the Council had the right skills to deliver procurement projects and that the end to end procurement process was joined-up.

Following the introduction, the first question from the Committee asked whether it would be possible to reflect in future reports where values had been amended from previous reports. It was explained that the types of contracts the Council procures varied. Some, such as the contracts for emergency accommodation, showed the maximum value spend a contract could go up to. An alternative option the Council was progressing was using a dynamic purchasing system, which allowed a lot of different smaller providers to bid for contracts. It was agreed that where contract variations have been agreed, these could be included, although further exploration was needed to confirm the exact format for this.

It was questioned whether the Council had the right balance between the number of long and short term contracts it held. It was advised that the length of a contract would depend on the nature of the service provided. For instance, if a contractor needed to invest a significant amount of money upfront, a contract would usually need to be over a longer period. It was quite common in local government to use a contract with an initial three year term followed by two single year extensions (3+1+1), but there was an intention to move away from this towards using five year contracts as needed. A targeted improvement was to ensure that any decision to extend a contract was based on sound contract management, rather than convenience.

It was questioned whether reassurance could be given that the Council now had a complete list of its contracts and what work was being done to reduce the risk of contracts  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7/24

8/24

Scrutiny Recommendations pdf icon PDF 85 KB

The Scrutiny & Overview Committee is asked to review the response provided by Mayor to recommendations made by the Scrutiny & Overview Committee.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee considered a report set out on pages 109 to 116 of the agenda which presented the response of the Mayor to previous recommendations submitted by the Scrutiny & Overview Committee for his consideration.

The Committee noted its disappointment that the Mayor had rejected two recommendations made following its consideration of the Asset Disposal Strategy relating to notifying ward members and community groups ahead of the publication of the next tranche of assets identified for disposal. Although the reason for rejection given was due to a process already being in place, the Committee noted it had heard from community groups at its previous meeting where this had not been the case. It was agreed that communication around future disposals would be revisited when the Committee next looked at subject.

Resolved: The Scrutiny & Overview Committee agreed to note the response provided by Mayor to recommendations made by the Scrutiny & Overview Committee.

 

9/24

Scrutiny Work Programme 2022-23 pdf icon PDF 92 KB

The Scrutiny & Overview Committee is asked to: -

 

1.     Note the most recent version of the Scrutiny Work Programme presented in the report.

 

2.     Consider whether there are any other items that should be provisionally added to the work programme as a result of the discussions held during the meeting.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee considered a report set out on pages 117 to 142 of the agenda which presented the most recent version of the work programme for the Scrutiny & Overview Committee and its Sub-Committees.

It was noted that there may be an additional meeting scheduled in March 2024 to provide the Committee to specifically look at crime and disorder. A request was made a review of the Borough of Culture programme to be brought to the Committee later in the year.

Borough of Culture t scheduled.

Resolved: The Scrutiny & Overview Committee agreed to note the most recent version of the Scrutiny Work Programme 2023-24.  

 

10/24

Exclusion of the Press and Public

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.”

 

 

Minutes:

This motion was not required.