Agenda and minutes

Residents, Education and Environmental Services Policy Overview Committee - Thursday, 19th July, 2018 7.00 pm

Venue: Committee Room 6 - Civic Centre, High Street, Uxbridge UB8 1UW. View directions

Contact: Neil Fraser  01895 250692

Items
No. Item

11.

Apologies for Absence

Minutes:

Apologies were received from Councillors Hurhangee, Kauffman, Makwana and Markham.

 

Councillors Graham, R. Mills and Stead were present as substitutes.

12.

Declaration of Interest in matters coming before this meeting

Minutes:

None.

13.

To confirm that all items marked Part 1 will be considered in Public and that any items marked Part 2 will be considered in Private

Minutes:

It was confirmed that all items were marked as Part I, and would therefore be considered in public.

14.

To agree the Minutes of the previous meeting pdf icon PDF 140 KB

Minutes:

Minute 8: Update on School Admissions. Councillor Sweeting suggested amendments regarding her questions on spare capacity for Year 7 in 2018, and future forecasted demand for school places. It was agreed that the minutes be ameded as per Councillor Sweeting’s suggestions.

 

Minute 9: Regarding the Cabinet report on the School Capital Programme, it was confirmed that any request for the Committee to review the report prior to its determination at Cabinet would need to come from an individual Member. Councillor Sweeting confirmed that she would make this request to the Cabinet Member.

 

RESOLVED:  That the minutes of the meeting held on 27 June 2018 be agreed as a correct record, subject to the amendments as referenced above.

15.

2019/20 Budget Planning Report for services within the remit of REESPOC pdf icon PDF 95 KB

Minutes:

Iain Watters, Financial Planning Manager, and Peter Malewicz, Finance Manager, introduced the 2019/20 Budget Planning Report for services within the remit of the Residents, Education and Environmental Services Policy Overview Committee.

 

For the benefit of the Committee, the report was summarised and set into the context of the Council’s medium term financial position, as presented in the 2018/19 Budget Setting Report approved by Cabinet and Council in 2018. It was forecasted that the next four years would prove challenging, with a budget gap of £54,987k for 2019/20 to 2022/23 against a 2018/19 budget requirement of £220,336k.  £20,635k of this figure fell within 2019/20, which was the final year of the current multi-year funding settlement.

 

As in previous years, the gap was driven by a combination of inflation, service pressures and funding reductions, with the additional challenge of substantial increases in the debt servicing costs to support planned capital expenditure.

 

However, the Committee was informed that the Council was well placed to respond to the financial challenge, and over the four year period since 2015/16, had successfully implemented (or were expected to deliver for 2018/19), a £47.024k savings programme, which responded to the challenges of reduced funding and growing demand for services while minimising the impact on services to residents.

 

Members sought clarity on a number of points, including:

 

The reduced expenditure figure of £20,635k for 2019/20 was double the figure for the current year. Was there any good news, for example via social care precepts, or the Fair Funding Review, etc.?

 

Although the required savings of £54,987k over the next four years was a challenge, the Council was in a strong positon. The Government’s reduced funding was forecasted to flat line over the next four years, and NHS funding could see an inflationary increase. The result of the Fair Funding Review would be phased in from 2020/21, and could result in an additional £5,000k, although receipt of an additional £50m would be unprecedented.

 

There were a number of factors influencing the higher budget gap for 2019/20, including borrowing to support capital investment, however as in previous years the Council would be able to smooth the requirement for savings through use of balances.

 

The School Capital programme had increased with regard to secondary schools, and servicing the debt was considerable. Was there a risk of schemes, other than the school programme, having to be put on hold? E.g. the new pool in West Drayton?

 

A proportion of the Capital Programme was self financing, and for many capital projects there was scope to either secure additional revenue or generate efficiency savings to offset investment costs as an alternative to pausing projects.  Capital financing costs associated with delivering the current capital programme were fully reflected in the projected £54,987k savings requirement, with the MTFF process identifying options to manage this gap.

 

Was there a plan in place to adequately fund High Need pupils?

 

High Need pupils were a major challenge, nationally. While Hillingdon’s funding was higher than other Authorities, the Education and Children  ...  view the full minutes text for item 15.

16.

Scoping Report for First Review: Reviewing User Payment Experience and Modernisation Across Key Resident Service Areas pdf icon PDF 55 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Consideration was given to the draft scoping report for the first review of the new Residents, Education and Environmental Services Policy Overview Committee.

 

Members recommended that the review should include an equalities impact assessment, to ensure that the needs of vulnerable residents were addressed, as well as receiving input and feedback from residents themselves.

 

RESOLVED:  That the draft scoping report be noted.

17.

Cabinet Forward Plan pdf icon PDF 51 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

RESOLVED: That the Cabinet Forward Plan be noted.

 

18.

Multi-Year Work Programme pdf icon PDF 56 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Councillor Mathers suggested the addition of an informational item on youth services. It was agreed that this be noted and considered for future addition to the Work Programme.

 

Reference was made to the quarterly admissions update. Members clarified that this should be a quarterly school places planning update.  

 

RESOLVED: That the Multi-Year Work Programme be noted.