Agenda item

Officer: Jo Negrini

Key decision: yes

The Leader of the Council delegated authority to the Cabinet to make the following decisions:

RESOLVED: To

1.    Note the extraordinary financial context, as set out in the report;

2.    Endorse the further actions and governance arrangements which have been put in place, outlined in the report, to ensure the Council delivers within the 2020/21 approved budget;

3.    Note the statements from the Head of Paid Service, S151 Officer and Monitoring Officer; and

4.    Agree the principles informing actions to deliver within the 2020/21 approved budget.

The Leader noted that items 6 & 7 would be heard together.

The Cabinet Member for Finance & Resources and the Director of Finance gave a presentation and outlined the years of funding cuts, the COVID-19 impact this had had on the councils finances, and the objectives to bridge the budget gap. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) return had an approximately £65.4m gap, resulting in ambitious saving targets to be set for 2020/21, but ensuring the same commitments to residents was being provided.

The Cabinet heard that multiple measures were being put in place to bridge the budget gaps, including a staffing review, enhanced budget development, heavily lobbying Government and improved budget monitoring. The Finance Review Panel had also been established, who were meeting fortnightly and making recommendations to the Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance & Resources. A short term savings programme had been developed, which included 25 different projects being consolidated into nine, and staffing, where over £170m was spent each year.

It was explained to the Cabinet that a Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) would be developed to set targets medium term and set out key financial planning and assumptions. It would enable early development of budget proposals, which would be evidence led and benchmarked. The MTFS would be presented to Cabinet in September 2020?

The Cabinet welcomed Duncan Whitfield, Chair of the Financial Review Panel, to the meeting

Duncan Whitfield introduced himself and explained that the Panel comprised of two additional co-optee members, Matthew Kershaw and Debbie Warren, the Leader, Deputy Leader, Cabinet Member for Finance & Resources and ELT. He noted that it was a difficult time for Croydon Council and difficult decisions would need to be made to improve the budget gap and increase resources.

The Shadow Cabinet Members expressed concern for the staffing review and queried how the reduction would be conducted. The Shadow Cabinet Member for Finance & Resources explained that he wanted to give his full support; however, felt that the report did not include the full information regarding the budget gap. He stated that he had requested a full MHSFC return at the previous Cabinet meeting on 8 June 2020 and had not yet received it. The Leader responded and stated that he would make sure the information was available to the Shadow Cabinet, as cross-party support would be beneficial.

The Chief Executive explained to the Cabinet and Shadow Cabinet that the organisation would be kept as stable as possible during the staffing cuts; the council were meeting with unions on a weekly basis to ensure they were working together to reduce compulsory redundancies. It was recognised that it was not a good time to begin staffing cuts, due to lockdown and having sensitive conversations virtually, however, it was necessary.

The Leader of the Council delegated authority to the Cabinet to make the following decisions:

RESOLVED: To

1.     Note the extraordinary financial context, as set out in the report;

2.     Endorse the further actions and governance arrangements which have been put in place, outlined in the report, to ensure the Council delivers within the 2020/21 approved budget;

3.     Note the statements from the Head of Paid Service, S151 Officer and Monitoring Officer; and

4.     Agree the principles informing actions to deliver within the 2020/21 approved budget.