Agenda and minutes

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

None received.

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

·         8 October, 2018 (extraordinary)

·         24 October, 2018

The minutes of the previous meetings of the Corporate Scrutiny Committee held on the following dates were presented and confirmed as correct:-

·      8 October, 2018 (extraordinary);

·      24 October, 2018 (subject to the inclusion of Councillor John Griffith as being present at the meeting).

To present the report of the Scrutiny Manager.

The report of the Scrutiny Manager incorporating the Committee’s current Forward Work Programme for 2017/18 to 2019/20 was presented to the Committee.

It was RESOLVED to accept the Forward Work Programme.

ACTION : None

To present the report of the Head of Profession (Human Resources) and Corporate Transformation.

Submitted – the report of the Head of Profession (Human Resources) & Transformation incorporating a proposed plan for conducting the public consultation process 2019/20 Budget during the period from the week commencing 12^th November to 31^st December, 2018 was presented for the Committee’s consideration.

The Portfolio Holder for Corporate Business reported that the initial internal stage of the Budget consultation process i.e. with Elected Members and Officers within the Council has been completed.  The plan was also discussed recently within the Engagement and Consultation Board which gave guidance that there was a need for better attendance and discussion with young people as part of this year’s consultation plan.  The second stage is to ensure that input and response of as many residents of Anglesey possible is secured. 

The Committee considered the proposed Financial Proposals Consultation/ Communication Plan and made the following points:-

·      Clarification was sought as to the process as regard to engaging and receiving comments by young people in respect of the Budget Consultation Plan.  The Leader of the Council explained the previous year budget consultation process and noted that she attended Secondary Schools on the Island.  She further said that the same process will entail together with a ‘Question and Answer Session’ being arranged with representatives from ‘Llais Ni’ and pupils of all ages to participate in the financial consultation process.  She further said that representatives from the Urdd, Anglesey Young Farmers and homeless young people have also been contacted to arrange a session as regards to the participation within the consultation on the Council’ Financial Proposals;

·      Reference was made to the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 and questions raised whether the Public Services Board is consulted as regards to the consultation process and the possible effects of savings proposals will have on the Councils stakeholders.  The Leader of the Council said that the Councils partnerships will be invited, as the previous year, to discuss the financial proposal.

It was RESOLVED to agree to the proposed Budget Consultation Plan for 2019/20 and to recommend its adoption by the Executive.

(Councillors Aled M Jones and Bryan Owen abstained from voting).

ACTION :  As noted above.

To consider adopting the following:-

“Under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, to exclude the press and public from the meeting during the discussion on the following item on the grounds that it may involve the disclosure of exempt information as defined in Schedule 12A of the said Act and in the attached Public Interest Test”.

It was RESOLVED to adopt the following :-

“Under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, to exclude the press and public from the meeting during the discussion on the following item on the grounds that it may involve the disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraphs 12, 13, 14 and 15 of Schedule 12A of the said Act and in the Public Interest Test.”

To present the report of the Scrutiny Manager and the Head of Function (Resources)/Section 151 Officer.

Submitted – the report of the Head of Function (Resources)/Section 151 Officer outlining the context to the 2019/20 budget setting process.  The report incorporated at Appendix 1, on the initial proposals for the 2019/20 budget.  The paper provides a position statement on the following issues:-

·      The Executive’s initial budget proposals

·      Local Government initial settlement (Welsh Government)

·      Council Tax

·      Reserves and general balances

·      Savings proposals

·      Budget pressures

·      Risks

·      Impact on the Medium Term Financial Plan

The Portfolio Holder for Finance reported that setting the budget for 2019/20 will be a challenge due to the provisional local government budget settlement announcement by Welsh Government on 9 October, 2018 with a 1% cut in funding.  He noted that before identifying any savings and increasing the Council Tax or the Council Tax premium the Council is facing a financial gap of £7.156m for the 2019/20 financial year.  The services within the Council have identified savings of £3.7m and details of the savings have been reported to the Elected Members Briefing Sessions and has been included within Appendix 4 of the report to this Committee.  He further referred to the Council’s balance of general reserves as at 31 March 2018 stood at £6.9m, which was just above the balance assessed by the Head of Function (Resources)/151 Officer as the minimum required.  However, the current budget position for 2018/19 is projecting an overspend of over £2m and this will have to be funded from the general reserves which will result that the level of general reserves will be below the minimum recommended balance.  However, he said that following the UK Budget announcement on the 29^th October, 2018, it is expected that additional funding will be received by the Welsh Government (as part of the Barnett formula for Wales), and Welsh Government has expressed that local government will be in the forefront to receive any additional funding available.  The Portfolio Holder further said that Welsh Government is also considering as to how the new Teachers’ Pension is to be funded as it will be a financial burden on local authorities.  He wished to note an amendment to the report that the nappy collection service will be consulted upon during the consultation process of the 2018/19 Budget.

The Head of Function (Resources)/Section 151 Officer reported that the Medium Term Financial Plan sets out a number of assumptions and these have been taken into account in calculating the standstill budget for 2019/20.  He referred to the Standstill Budget as regards to the services provided at present by the Council and which highlights the requirements for additional funding for services which are under financial pressure i.e. Children’s Services.  He said that ‘Committed Changes’ within the budget are amendments which are taken into account in drawing up the standstill budget and they reflect an increase/decrease in costs which are outside the control of the Council.  These were highlighted within paragraph 3 of the report.   The Head of Function further said that any change to the Council Tax premium will impact  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.