Agenda item

RESOLVED: To

1.1.          Receive the recommendations arising from the meetings of the Children & Young People Sub-Committee held on 27 June 2023 (Appendix 1), the Streets and Environment Sub-Committee held on 11 July 2023 (Appendices 2) and the Scrutiny & Overview Committee held on 25 July 2023 (Appendix 3).

1.2.         Agenda Item 5 2.3 To provide a substantive response to the recommendation (a Scrutiny Stage 2 Report) at the Cabinet meeting on 22 November 2023.

The Executive Mayor introduced the Scrutiny Stage One and Stage Two reports together where the recommendation detailed on Early Help, Parking Policy consultation, Flood Risks, Equalities, and other areas. Further, there were responses to Scrutiny recommendations on the Financial Performance, Asset Disposals, and the Waste Contract.

The Chair of Scrutiny and Overview Committee, Councillor Rowenna Davis, addressed the Cabinet highlighting the following concerns from Scrutiny:

-        Upon reflection on the recent Birmingham Council bankruptcy news: Scrutiny was assured by the Corporate Director of Resources (Section 151 Officer) that this council had no outstanding equal pay claims, and the request for extra funding for Croydon’s Oracle system was very different to that in the Midlands, where it was functioning and able to meet capacity, though the funding was still a lot of the public’s money.

-        The Period 3 Finance Monitoring Report: Scrutiny were concerned that the General Fund was projected to balance with £4.5m from the corporate contingency fund with a projected departmental overspends, with more contingency fund spent than in the month before and could impact the Period 4 financial report should the trajectory continue. Officers acknowledged the scale of the challenge and assured Scrutiny that corporate control would be inserted into departments that were in breach of their budgets, which was welcomed.

-        People’s Finance: Following the rise in Council Tax, the hardship support funds was introduced, and Scrutiny welcomed the transparency following their request for the applications and awards of the scheme broken down into each ward. The total number of households receiving the support was still very low as only 181 awards had been made. Scrutiny welcomed the Cabinet Member of Finance’s commitment to change the back of the council’s reminder and summons notifications to include a link to the hardship schemes.

-        People Strategy Action Plan: The council’s plan to transform its workforce concluded with excellent staff engagement on the project marking a real change in culture in the council. Scrutiny strongly recommended for target and action plan be reviewed to be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time bound).

The Executive Mayor thanked the Chair of Scrutiny for her comments, and pointed out to the dedicated webpage for all the monitoring financial reports which were published online upon sign off instead of waiting to be heard at Cabinet meetings.

The Cabinet Member for Finance, Councillor Jason Cummings, responded to the point raised noting that the council was not in a position to be operating in a faster and more comprehensive financial procedures in relation to the Period Monitoring Report, and was working towards efficient working using standard operating procedures with the resources available. It was further noted that due to the council’s financial position, reports were provided monthly, and published at the earliest possible opportunity. Secondly, it was to be noted that the hardship fund was specifically targeted following the council tax raise that was above the referendum level last year and should not be mistaken as a general hardship fund for the cost of living crisis or other financial pressures. There were other avenues of support provided by the council.

The Executive Mayor in Cabinet RESOLVED: To

1.1.         Receive the recommendations arising from the meetings of the Children & Young People Sub-Committee held on 27 June 2023 (Appendix 1), the Streets and Environment Sub-Committee held on 11 July 2023 (Appendices 2) and the Scrutiny & Overview Committee held on 25 July 2023 (Appendix 3).

1.2.         To provide a substantive response to the recommendation (a Scrutiny Stage 2 Report) at the Cabinet meeting on 22 November 2023.