Minutes:
The
Mayor invited Councillor Clement Williams to ask a question, which had been
submitted under Rule 9.2 of the Council’s Procedure Rules.
Cllr
Clement Williams asked:
“Our
Labour Group believe that the Budget Proposals currently out for Consultation
does not present a balanced Budget. There are no income and expenditure tables
and we are concerned that the Budget documentation is very basic and lacks
in-depth details.
During the Cabinet Scrutiny
meeting the Labour Group raised concerns about the lack of detail and we were
assured by Officers that more information would be added and would be sent out
with the consultation document. This has not happened.
We therefore ask as a question: As the consultation
has already started and ends on 10th February that this information
be provided and released by the Council by the end of this week so that
residents responding to the consultation get the chance to have their say on
what this Budget actually means to their Services”.
Cllr
Simon Knoyle (Cabinet Member for Finance, Performance and Social Justice) responded
and stated that a budget ‘explainer video’ had been produced and uploaded to the
Council website and had been promoted via social media channels as well as a
hard copy being produced and distributed.
He
stated that face to face and hybrid budget briefings are still ongoing as part
of the communications plan and have been shared with the scrutiny committee
members. The Cabinet report of the 19th January 2023 showed a
balanced budget as the Council is required to produce by law, which forms the basis
of the consultation document, together with a detailed analysis of the risks
associated with the proposed budget strategy. These documents have also been
presented to each scrutiny committee to allow for as much member involvement as
possible.
Councillor
Clement Williams responded with concerns surrounding budget specifics of subsidies
and fees and charges which she felt were not included in detail in the budget
consultation documentation. She reiterated the concern of the lack of detail
and how the budget documentation refers to delegated decisions in relation to
fees and charges.
The
Mayor clarified the process in asking a question under rule 9.2 and drew the
question to a close.