Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Leanne Hempshall, Majid Khan, Richard Jones and Councillor Gary Stapleton.

There were no items on the agenda.

Councillor Jane Kidd declared that she worked for the voluntary sector.

RESOLVED that:-  the minutes of the meetings held on 3^rd November and 1^st December, 2022 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

[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 Committee gave consideration to a report outlining the Mayor’s Budget proposals 2023/24 to 2025/26 following it’s initial consultation on 26^th January, 2023.  The Committee used four specific lines of enquiry to assist with considering the basis and assumptions upon which the budget had been developed and how those proposals would be implemented. 

 The four key areas considered were:

 i.      To what extent are the Mayor’s proposals in line with Central Government policy, pressures and directives?

 ii.     To what extent will the Mayor’s proposal ensure that the Council is able to contribute to the outcomes detailed within Doncaster Delivering Together bearing in mind the constraints detailed at i. above?

 iii.    To what extent do the Mayor’s proposals demonstrate that the results of any consultation, research or other evidence have been taken into account?

 iv.   To what extent are the challenges in delivering the savings within the timescales and the capacity to deliver services with reduced resources being addressed?

The Committee highlighted that the Council was continuing to operate in a challenging and volatile financial environment and that was having an impact on all the services it provides. 

The national changes that had taken place since a balanced budget in March 2022 were highlighted and the work being undertaken to propose a future balanced budget over 3 years, in line with the Corporate Plan, Delivering Doncaster Together priorities, Central Government policy and a challenging programme of service transformation and savings targets, was acknowledged. 

The Committee recognised that overall, the £10m funding gap for 2023/24 and £22m budget gap over the forthcoming 3-year period, the issue of rising inflation, energy prices and significant increases in pay were key pressures moving forward along with the challenge to deliver key services within budget.

The Following areas were addressed in detail:

Housing Revenue Account – the proposed housing rent increase of 7%, was accepted by the Committee along with the assumption that it would fund the anticipated inflationary cost increases and support the acquisition of additional properties over 4 years to ease waiting list pressures. 

The backlogs in service delivery following the Covid Pandemic, were noted, and were partly due to some difficulty with material shortage and recruitment in certain trades, for example, Electricians.

The Committee noted that there was an ambitious capital programme including external cladding, re-roofing and replacement boilers all of which would support reducing energy costs.

To conclude Members noted St Leger Home’s balanced budget with a proposed 10 year delivery programme.

The Local Authority’s income sources - including Council tax, business rates and fees and charges.  The Committee supported the proposed Council Tax rate acknowledging that it continued to be one of the lowest nationally.  With regard to fees and charges, the increase was accepted but highlighted that it generated a small amount of income.  Therefore, the Committee accepted that further investigations to charge for certain non-statutory services would continue to be addressed, for example green waste collections, which would require a specific decision to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 39.

Prior to consideration by Cabinet and Full Council, the Head of Policy Performance and Intelligence, provided an overview of the revised Corporate Plan for 2022-23.  He outlined how the Plan contributed to the Great 8 priorities in the Doncaster Delivering Together (DDT) Borough Strategy ensuring as an organisation it continued to deliver quality services.  

Here is a broad outline of the feedback provided from the discussion:

Council’s key ambitions – The Committee acknowledged that the Corporate Plan 2022/23 included Great 8 priority areas for the Borough as well as an internal ‘Regenerative Council’ priority programme.  It was set out that this internal programme was set against a framework that would ensure that the Council was fit for purpose in helping to deliver those priorities.  It was explained that each year the plan takes on difference elements of prominence and that some priorities became more important than others and may change in the future depending on external circumstances such as cost of living.  It was continued that coverage wise, the plan was linked into the Borough Strategy to make sure that the Councils contribution this year, alongside the budget, was undertaken correctly through the framework in place.  The Committee noted that to support the pressures identified in the budget, it was important that there was also flexibility in place.

Impact of Budget on Delivering Corporate Plan Objectives – The Committee noted areas of pressures arising from the budget that included the Placement Strategy, Education Care and Health Plans, Public Health and waste.  It was acknowledged that issues such as inflation played a significant part in creating further pressure on the delivery of the Corporate Plan’s priorities.  Members heard how those priorities worked as a driving force beyond the Corporate Plan, helping to structure service plans and identify and review targets in taking forward the work required.

How the Corporate Plan Supports Locality Working – Members were informed that there was a specific section in the Corporate Plan with steps to ensure that locality was being embedded across the organisation.   This included what had been achieved with locality working this year and also the four or five key areas that the Council wants to drive forward.  Reference was made to Great 8 priorities that also had their own set of actions relating to localities including Priority 6. Nurturing a child and family-friendly Borough and Priority 4.  Building opportunities for healthier, happier and longer lives for all.  It was added that there was also mention of how locality working was going to be implemented within teams as part of a specific action. 

In terms of partnerships, it was explained how the Doncaster Delivering Together 10-year vision, was set out through the Corporate Plan.  Members heard that there was a separate partnership Team Doncaster structure and governance model using the same framework to help show how the Council was contributing to those partnership objectives.  It was stated that this framework would be kept for the duration of the Borough Strategy to make sure that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 40.

RESOLVED that:-  The Scrutiny Work Plan and Council’s Forward Plan of Key Decisions, be noted.