Agenda and minutes

At the start of the meeting, the Committee Chair, confirmed that Councillor Ellily Ponnuthurai had replaced the Deputy Chair, Councillor Rowenna Davis as a member of the Committee, following the Full Council meeting on 9 October. As such the first item of business for the meeting was to appoint a new Deputy-Chair for the remainder of the council year.

Resolved: That Councillor Ellily Ponnuthurai is appointed as Deputy-Chair of the Scrutiny and Overview Committee for the remainder of the 2024-25 council year.

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 17 September 2024 as an accurate record.

The minutes of the meeting held on 17 September 2024 were agreed as an accurate record.

Members and co-opted Members of the Council are reminded that, in accordance with the Members’ Code of Conduct and the statutory provisions of the Localism Act 2011, they are required to consider in advance of each meeting whether they have a disclosable pecuniary interest (DPI), some other registrable interest (ORI) or a non-registrable interest (NRI) in relation to any matter on the agenda. If advice is needed, Members should contact the Monitoring Officer in good time before the meeting.

If any Member or co-opted Member of the Council identifies a DPI or ORI which they have not already registered on the Council’s register of interests or which requires updating, they must urgently complete the disclosure form which can be obtained from Democratic Services at any time, copies of which will be available at the meeting for return to the Monitoring Officer.

Members and co-opted Members are required in general to disclose any relevant DPIs, ORIs or NRIs at the meeting.

-       Where the matter relates to a DPI they may not participate in any discussion or vote on the matter and must not stay in the room unless granted a dispensation.

-       Where the matter directly relates to the financial interest or wellbeing of an ORI they may not vote on the matter unless granted a dispensation.

-       Where a Member or co-opted Member has an NRI which directly relates to or affects their or a relevant person’s financial interest or wellbeing, whether they can participate in any discussion or vote on the matter or stay in the room depends on the detailed rules in paragraphs 7 to 9 of Appendix B of the Members’ Code of Conduct.

The Chair will invite Members to make their disclosure of interests orally at the meeting and they will also be recorded in the minutes.

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 presented for its information with the Period 4 Financial Performance report, due to be considered by the Cabinet on 16 October 2024. The Committee is asked to: -

1.    Review the information provided in the draft 2024-25 Period 4 Financial Performance Report, and

2.    Consider its conclusions on the latest budget position for 2024-25

3.    Consider whether there are any recommendations to bring to the attention of the Cabinet at their meeting on 16 October 2024.

The Committee considered a report set out in the Agenda Supplement that provided an overview of the latest budget position for 2024-25 covering Period 4 (July 2024). This report was included on the agenda as part of the Committee’s ongoing scrutiny of the delivery of 2024-25 budget.

In attendance for this item were the following: -

• Councillor Jason Cummings – Cabinet Member for Finance
• Katherine Kerswell – Chief Executive
• Jane West – Corporate Director for Resources and Section 151 Officer
• Kiri Bailey – Head of Commercial, Housing & Litigation Law

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

• The overall budget position had improved by £3.3m since the period 3 report, with the forecasted overspend now standing at £20.6m.
• The improved position was the result of a variety of small improvements within departments and the reallocation of £2m funding previously allocated to transformation, which was not forecasted to be used within the current year.
• There had been a Pan-London meeting of Councils held at the Guildhall last week to discuss the financial challenges faced.  As the Council produced monthly financial monitoring reports rather than quarterly, like other authorities, it allowed greater oversight of the financial position.
• It was reiterated that it was still the intention of the Administration to manage the in-year overspend without having to use the General Fund Reserve. 

Following the introduction, the Committee proceeded to ask questions about the information provided. The first question was whether any indication could be given on the future direction of travel in managing the forecasted overspend. It was advised that the next monthly financial monitoring report was still being prepared, so any prediction was subject to change as the report was finalised. At this stage, no significant change was expected in the next report, although it was hoped that there might be further positive improvement.

The next question asked why £2m had been transferred from the corporate fund and reallocated towards managing the overspend, and whether this was an indication of the challenge of managing demand at a departmental level. In response, it was highlighted that given the level of overspend forecasted, a whole Council approach was needed, as there was no indication that the level of demand experienced within the services would reduce. As part of this approach, £2m from the corporate budget that had previously been earmarked for transformation projects, but unallocated to in-year projects, had been reallocated towards managing the overspend. It was confirmed that this reallocation would not result in the cancellation of any planned transformation projects.

Clarification was sought by the Committee on the use of reserves to manage the forecasted overspend. It was advised that the Corporate Earmarked Reserve would be used in the first instance to mitigate any in-year overspend. At this stage, it was not envisioned that the General Fund Reserve would be used, unless there were no other reserves or unspent income to mitigate the budget position. It was highlighted that the level of General Fund Reserve held was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 70/24

The Scrutiny & Overview Committee is presented for its information with 2025-29 Medium Term Financial Strategy Update report, due to be considered by the Cabinet on 16 October 2024. The Committee is asked to: -

1.    Review the information provided in the 2025-29 Medium Term Financial Strategy Update Reports and

2.    Consider its conclusions on the information provided.

3.    Consider whether there are any recommendations to bring to the attention of the Cabinet at their meeting on 16 October 2024.

The Committee considered a report set out in the agenda supplement which presented an updated Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) for 2025 to 2029 and initial budget savings proposals for 2025-26. This report was included on the agenda as part of the Committee’s scrutiny of the budget setting process.

In attendance for this item were the following: -

• Councillor Jason Cummings – Cabinet Member for Finance
• Katherine Kerswell – Chief Executive
• Jane West – Corporate Director for Resources and Section 151 Officer
• Kiri Bailey – Head of Commercial, Housing & Litigation Law

A copy of the presentation delivered by the Council’s Section 151 Officer, Jane West, can be found on the following link –

https://democracy.croydon.gov.uk/documents/b15010/Agenda%20Supplement%20Item%206%20-%20MTFS%20Update%20Presentation%2014th-Oct-2024%2018.30%20Scrutiny%20Overview%20Commi.pdf?T=9

Following the introduction, the Committee proceeded to question the information provided in the Cabinet report. The first question asked whether there had been any indication from the Government when they would be confirming the 2025-26 financial settlement for local authorities. It was advised that no confirmation had been provided at the time of the meeting, but it was not anticipated that it would be much earlier than the previous Government, which tended to be late in December. It was hoped that going forward a multi-year settlement would be provided, which would give greater financial certainty for local authorities.

It was noted that the MTFS included £52m of growth for 2025-26, but only £19m of savings. As such, it was questioned why the level of savings was so much lower than the growth. In response, it was highlighted that, as noted in the period monitoring report, three services were experiencing significant overspends, which made it difficult to identify savings. The level of growth was needed to right-size the budget based on the current level of demand and increased costs. The current increased level of demand for services had been modelled into the MTFS, but there was no indication that there would be a further increase going forward. There had been conversations with other local authorities across London to try to understand the potential future demand for temporary accommodation. If there was a significant increase, it would have a serious impact on the sustainability of local government in London.

In response to a question about how the budget deficit of £187m compared to other boroughs, it was noted that there was not a huge sample size at this stage, as Croydon was presenting its updated MTFS earlier than many other boroughs. Of those available, some were higher and some lower, although Croydon would always be at the higher end of the spectrum due to its population size.

Further information was requested on the savings included within the £19m. It was advised that savings included those arising from the transformation work in both Adults and Children’s services with their respective transformation partners. No savings from the transformation work of BCG had been included at this stage, although it was anticipated that savings would be realised across the life of the MTFS. A request was made for further clarification to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 71/24

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 motion was not required.