To receive and consider the Performance and Finance Reports considered at the Cabinet on 26th March, 2019.
Minutes:
The Committee received the Performance and Finance Reports considered at the Cabinet on 26th March, 2019. The Committee also noted that the Finance Report showed the position at 28 February 2019.
The Scrutiny Manager advised the Committee that its role in considering these reports was to try and make the links between the objectives set in Vision 2025 and how the budget (both revenue and capital) was being used to achieve those objectives.
The Committee considered those elements of the Performance, Finance and Capital Reports which were within the remit of the Committee. The following comments were provided:
· Page 196 – Overspend on Public Transport due to a loss of income on the T4 bus route. The Committee noted that an operator has the ability to declare a route commercial at any point and the Council would then have to step away. However most routes in Powys are subsidised.
· There is a need to unpick issues within services. Most services seem to be operating within their budgets except Highways, Transport and Recycling.
· Savings – there needs to be assurances that savings targets will be met. Councillors did not enjoy putting Council Tax up by 9.5%, therefore services need to stay within their budgets. There is also no sense of a recovery plan to achieve savings.
· It is difficult for Members to understand the budget without looking at “Making It Happen”. It was questioned why the spend on “Making IT Happen” increased from £24 million (2018/19) to £47million (2022/23) (Page 163) when services are only allowed to spend at or near inflation rates.
· It would be useful if Finance Officers and the Leader could attend the next meeting when the budget was being discussed.
· Do we have sufficient information to scrutinise this subject? Why is the Council hiring equipment when it has that equipment in stock? The Chair suggested that this could be a suggestion to the Co-ordinating Committee for an item for scrutiny.
· Need for this information to be in a far simpler format e.g. pie charts. It was suggested that there is also a need to get the budget out in the next 4 months so that discussions could start with the public. The Council also needs a longer term plan. The Scrutiny Manager indicated that he would speak to the Head of Finance about the issue of the simplification of the information.
· The Council would benefit from an earlier indication as to where we are likely to be in terms of the budget for next year. The Portfolio Holder for Finance to be requested to ask Welsh Government for an earlier position statement.
· Highways, Transport and Recycling (HTR) – is the overspend shown in the services’ risk register and what are the plans to turn this around. The Corporate Director (Economy and Environment) indicated that HTRs turnover was around £100million last year and at year end the deficit was around £200k.
Outcomes:
· There is a need for assurances that either savings targets will be met by services or that a recovery plan is in place;
· Need for an explanation for the increased budget for “Making It Happen” from 2018/19 to 2022/23;
· Finance Officers and the Leader to be invited to the next meeting when the Committee is discussing the budget;
· There is a need for simplification of the financial information e.g. using pie charts;
· The Portfolio Holder for Finance to be asked to contact Welsh Government for an earlier indication of the budget position for 2020/21.
Supporting documents: