Agenda and minutes

None.

There were no declarations made.

The minutes of the meeting dated 16^th December, 2019 be agreed as a correct record.

[A period not exceeding 20 minutes for statements from up

to 5 members of the public on matters within the

Committee’s remit, proposing action(s) which may be

considered or contribute towards the future development of

the Committee’s work programme].

There were no public statements made.

The Director of Corporate Resources presented the Mayor’s draft budget proposals 2021 to 2022/23 for Overview and Scrutiny’s consideration prior to them being presented to Full Council on 5^th March, 2020.

The Director outlined that the papers presented provided a balanced budget taking into account the maximum Council Tax increase of 1.99% and Social Care precept of 2%.  Other additional income sources were also investigated to maximise the resources the Council has available to deliver services, for example the business rate base, rent from the increase in Council Housing and other grants available to the Authority.

It was noted that the cost of service delivery was increasing and despite extra cost pressures, savings were still required.  There was some growth where investment was required, for example, Social Care.  Within the capital programme it was outlined that the actual number of new build properties over a ten year period was 560 but acknowledged the actual figure would be dependent on the final cost of land and construction.

The following areas were discussed in detail by the Committee:

Working with partners to provide front line services – Members were informed that as part of the Local Authority’s commissioning approach early preparation and discussions had been held with partners.  These meetings outlined expectations and challenges relating to delivery and resource availability providing secure services that would complement each organisation.  Soft market testing could also be used to explore how a service could be delivered in future.

During discussions with partners it was noted that consideration was given to ensuring investment was reaching communities at the grassroots level with work being undertaken in a smarter way.

LGA Review into fair funding formula – following questions from Members relating to the impact it would have on Doncaster it was stressed that it was only part of the budget formula and the Council was also funded through, for example, Council Tax and Business rates.  It was acknowledged that the percentage for adult social care had reduced however the Authority had been well managed financially which gave cautious optimism for the next year or two.

Brexit – In relation to the impacts during the transition period and following withdrawal from the European Union, it was noted that a cross partnership working group had been established to review plans and challenges.  It was noted that daily bulletins were being received from the Government with changes and developments that required responding to.  A tracker had been developed to monitor possible impacts with a baseline created to work against.

With regard to childrens safeguarding a Polish employee was assisting the Children’s Trust’s Brexit Planning Group.  EU nationality children in care would be supported through the settled status process, and families would continue to be supported.  Data on referrals and presenting needs would be monitored to assess the change in demand and whether there was differing support required.

Preparation to support businesses had been undertaken some time ago and resourced accordingly and would continue.  An amount of fixed funding had  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

The Committee received a presentation from the Head of Policy, Performance and Intelligence relating to the updated Corporate Plan 2020/21, providing clear direction for the work of the Council for the forthcoming year.

To reflect the latest priorities and challenges posed by the budget, the following changes were proposed:

·         Clearer focus for the six imperatives that guide transformation work, supported through new priorities and exiting pieces of work, for a better borough;  and

·         Under each DGT theme, the key priorities that resources would support had been updated.

The Committee addressed the following issues:-

Housing Development – Following a Member referring to a piece of research from UCL entitled “Housing design audit for England” it was noted that the Government had announced that it wished for a White Paper to be developed addressing the issue.

Fairer Funding Formula – additional to the budget discussion above, it was explained that in Appendix A of the budget report, it outlined the different funding components which were matched against the cost pressures of service delivery and the shortfall was an amalgam of the two.  It was reiterated that the Authority’s biggest pressure was the cost of delivery.

Climate Emergency – In response to concern, it was explained that the issue was being addressed and a Members seminar in March was being suggested, but time was required to ensure the right things were being developed for the Borough.

Service Responsibility – it was stressed that the Local Authority had worthy ambitions and strong commissioning however, concern was expressed that sometimes it may not be clear to residents that the Council was not responsible for some services and the scale of work that could be delivered needed to be clear.

The Chair concluded by suggesting that Directors be requested to identify areas that Scrutiny could review to assist with the 6 imperatives detailed, and this was supported by the Committee.

RESOLVED that

1.         The Corporate Plan, be supported;  and

2.         The Executive give consideration to providing possible areas for Overview and Scrutiny to review during its 2020/21 Work Plan.

The Committee gave consideration to the Empowered, Engaged Communities, with Devolved Locality Budgets Overview and Scrutiny Review undertaken during the Autumn 2019.

RESOLVED:  that the Overview and Scrutiny Review be approved and forwarded to the Executive for consideration.

The Committee gave consideration to the Overview and Scrutiny Work Plan and Council’s Forward Plan of Key Decisions.  The Scrutiny Panel Chairs also provided an update on recent work undertaken.

RESOLVED:  That the report be noted.