Minutes:
The
Committee received a detailed presentation of the report of the Director of
Finance and Corporate Services on the Revenue Outturn and Reserves Position
Statement for 2016/17. Members then
raised the following:-
·
What was the Corporate Equalisation Reserve and were advised that this
consisted of underspends from within Corporate Services which were then used to
cover any future unforeseen overspends.
There were also equalisation reserves in each of the other Directorates;
·
Although Homecare now showed an under spend, there were concerns at the
cost of external residential placements in childcare and also in learning
disabilities – would these eventually achieve the anticipated savings? The Director of Social Services, Health and
Housing advised Members that there was always volatility around budgets and
that overall there would be an under spend.
Direct Payments would, it was anticipated, help
keep service users in their own home, if this was the best option for them,
thus reducing the costs of residential care.
There was however scope to deliver services within adult
services, differently and achieve savings. In relation to external placements in
childcare, these were very expensive with the last two placements being in the
region of £250k and £280k. The number of
Looked After Children had reduced by a significant
amount, however this decrease could not continue indefinitely as children would
always need to be looked after by the Authority. The Head of Financial Services advised
Members that monthly budget monitoring was undertaken by Directorates to
monitor closely any under/over spends.
·
Members were pleased to note the £179k savings realised in Ysgol Maes Yr Coed.
·
Members raised the overspend on parking and
asked what was being done to address this.
The Director of Environment advised that the overspend was due in part
to increased utility costs in relation to the Neath Multi Storey Car Park,
reduced charges in both Neath and Port Talbot Town Centres and also pilot
projects such as free parking for the first hour in Pontardawe
Town Centre. During the forthcoming
budget round there would be greater emphasis on income generation in all areas
of the Authority. The Director would
therefore be commissioning some analysis on the impact of the reduced car
parking charges on shoppers within the 3 town centres and whether this supports
the local economies. In addition it was
noted that the Auditor General had issued a statement advising that local
authorities were not maximising income in relation to parking charges. Members
asked which Scrutiny Committee would consider the report on parking charges and
were advised that this would either be the Policy and Resources/Cabinet
Scrutiny Committee or the Streetscene and Engineering
Scrutiny Committee.
·
Members raised the specific reserves held by schools and noted that some
schools reserves were above the recommended 5% of their annual budget, whilst
some were below. The Director of
Education, Leisure and Lifelong Learning would be monitoring the position.
·
Members acknowledged the need for the Authority to work ‘smarter’ and to
achieve savings, but also acknowledged the need to ensure that the services
provided were safe and fit for purpose.
·
Some Members asked whether reserves could be used to support other
services, and were advised that reserves could only be used once and that this
would not address the issue of reducing budgets, year on year. The Chief
Executive advised that there were no plans to draw on Reserves to support
Social Care and that the way forward was to increase the pace of change. Members were advised that the CSSiW had issued a positive Annual Performance Review Letter in
relation to this Authority, which would be reported to the relevant Cabinet
Board shortly.
Following
scrutiny, the report was noted.