Agenda and minutes

The Chair welcomed all Members and Officers to the meeting and he extended a particular welcome to Mr Clive Thomas, Headteacher of Ysgol Gyfun Llangefni and Mr Alan McDonald, Headteacher of Ysgol y Borth, Menai Bridge who were present to make representations on behalf of the secondary and primary education sectors respectively.

To receive any declaration of interest from any Member or Officer in respect of any item of business.

No declaration of interest was received.

To present the minutes of the previous meetings of the Corporate Scrutiny Committee held on the following dates –

·         23 November, 2018

·         10 December, 2018 (extraordinary)

·         17 January, 2019 (extraordinary)

The minutes of the previous meetings of the Corporate Scrutiny Committee held on the following dates were confirmed as correct –

23 November, 2018

10 December, 2018 (extraordinary)

17 January, 2019 (extraordinary)

To give further consideration to the 2019/20 Budget proposals as follows –

·        Strategic context and the role of Scrutiny (Covering report)

·        Final Revenue and Capital Budget proposals for 2019/20 (Appendix 1)

·        Key messages from the Public Consultation exercise including engagement work with citizens and other stakeholders. (Appendix 2)

The report of the Scrutiny Manager was presented for the Committee’s consideration. The report outlined the strategic context to the 2019/20 Budget setting process along with the key issues and questions for Scrutiny in evaluating the final Budget proposals in light of the outcome of the public consultation on the initial draft Budget proposals. The report incorporated supplementary documentation as follows –

3.1       The report of the Head of Function (Resources) and Section 151 Officer outlining the proposed Revenue and Capital Budgets for 2019/20 and the key financial considerations on which those budgets are based including a position statement for each of the  following:- the Local Government final settlement; the revised budget position; Council Tax; the Council’s reserves and balances; savings proposals and accompanying Equality Impact Assessments for those proposals in service areas likely to have a direct effect on stakeholders, and budget pressures and risks.

The Portfolio Member for Finance reported that the Council will have to make some important decisions in the next few weeks as it seeks to deliver a balanced budget for 2019/20 in the context of increasing pressures in Children’s Services, Education and Adults’ Social Care and a reduced grant settlement. The Council in Anglesey like others in Wales, is also facing other pressures in the form of inflation, staff pay awards, the requirements of new legislation, increased employer contributions to the Teachers’ Pension Scheme and an increased Fire Service levy. These are beyond the Council’s control and together with demographic pressures leading to a rising demand on services, they represent a perfect storm of challenges which place the Council in a very difficult situation. The initial Standstill Budget of £137.402m approved by the Executive in November, 2018 based on the Welsh Government’s provisional settlement of £95.159m gave a funding gap, before increasing Council tax, of £7.156m. Although the final revenue settlement of £95.791m for Anglesey announced in December improved on the provisional position, it is a reduced settlement compared to last year and is insufficient to meet the Council’s commitments. The Portfolio Member said that as well as reconciling its budget overall, the Council has to set service budgets that are realistic especially for those areas that have experienced increasing demands; arguably those areas may have been historically underfunded.

The Head of Function (Resources) and Section 151 Officer outlined the key milestones and principal considerations in relation to the 2019/20 Budget setting process as follows –

•           The context for the 2019/20 revenue budget was set out in the Medium-Term Financial Plan (MTFP) for 2019/20 to 2021/22 approved by the Executive in September, 2018 based on a projected 1% reduction in Aggregate External Finance (AEF - the total amount of support the Council receives from Welsh Government) a Council Tax increase of 5% and savings requirements of approximately £5m. The initial Standstill Budget (the amount required to deliver services at their current levels) of £137.402m received Executive approval in November, 2018 and, based on the provisional settlement of £95.159m, led to a funding gap  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

To present the report of the Scrutiny Manager.

The report of the Scrutiny Manager incorporating the Committee’s Forward Work Programme to April, 2019 was presented for consideration and was noted by the Committee without comment.