Minutes:
The
Committee received a presentation in relation to the Draft Budget for
2018/19. Members noted that the
proposals would, following agreement by Cabinet, be put out for consultation
until15 January, 2018. The report would
also be considered at Special meetings of the Authority’s Scrutiny Committees
as part of the consultation process. The
responses received would then be considered by Cabinet and Council.
Members
then raised the following points:-
·
The cost of an additional half hour service at the Margam Crematorium
was quite low compared to crematoria in neighbouring Authorities. Members were advised that the fees and
charges in relation to the Crematorium at Margam were determined by the Margam
Joint Crematorium Committee and a review of the charges would be carried out in
the usual manner.
·
In relation to the proposed increase in Council Tax of 4.5%, concern was
expressed at the amount of the increase and asked whether this could be
reduced? The Director of Finance and
Corporate Services advised that every 1% decrease in Council Tax was equivalent
to needing another £500k savings or income generation. English Local Authorities had been
investigating income generation opportunities for some time as their Council
Tax rises had been capped at 2%. Members were therefore pleased that the Deputy
Leader was now chairing an Income Generation Working Group in order to identify
relevant opportunities.
·
Members questioned whether the consultation process was accessible
enough for residents and stakeholders as there appeared to be few responses
received. Officers agreed that this was the case during the 2016/17 budget
consultation as it was felt that the report was too complicated. Going forward for the 2017/18 we changed the consultation process, this had
been issued to libraries, on line and in addition press releases had been
issued highlighting the proposals and recerived more eedback. The Council
will again be following that process for the 2018/19 consultation. Officers
were looking at ways of making the process more inclusive for the future. The Leader of Council advised Members that he
had recently made a video recording which would be issued as part of the consultation.
·
Members asked whether there would be flexibility in relation to the
proposed £40k cut in funding for Pontardawe Arts
Centre as the Friends of Pontardawe Arts Centre had
recently been formed and would require some time to get established. In addition consideration should be given to
the future use of the Centre by Social Services clients as this may not be
possible on the current basis. Members
were advised that the Arts Council for Wales had undertaken an audit of the
Centre which had highlighted potential income generation opportunities, which
were being reviewed.
·
Members asked for an update on the car parking charges throughout the
County Borough and were advised that the pilot scheme, reducing the charges in
order to increase the numbers, had not produced an increase in footfall to
local shops and hence income was down in the current year. Officers were therefore looking at proposing
that the charges be increased and be consistent across all the Authority’s car
parks.
·
Members questioned the increase in Council reserves as a result of
budget management and were advised that some of these monies would be used to
offset the costs of ER/VR over the next 2 years.
·
Members acknowledged the potential issues over the next five years
including Brexit, interest rates and legislative
changes, etc. Officers advised that
austerity would probably continue for some time.
Following
Scrutiny, the Committee was supportive of the proposal to be considered by
Cabinet.