Resolved:  That all items on the agenda be web-cast.

Apologies were received from Councillors Hotson, Parr and Mrs Stockell.

It was noted that Councillors Mrs Gibson, Verrall and Warner were substituting for Councillors Mrs Stockell, Hotson and Parr respectively.

It was noted that Councillors Ash and Mrs Parvin were visiting Members who wished to maintain a listening brief.

a)  Disclosures of interest.

b)  Disclosures of lobbying.

c)  Disclosures of whipping.

There were no disclosures.

Resolved:  That all items be taken in public as proposed.

Resolved:  That the minutes of the meeting held on 7 July 2009 be agreed as a correct record and duly signed by the Chairman.

Interview with Cabinet Member for Leisure and Culture, Councillor Brian Moss, and the Head of Finance, Paul Riley.

The Head of Finance, Paul Riley, gave a presentation on the budget strategy 2010/11 onwards (attached at Appendix A) which highlighted a number of key issues, including:

·  There had been a reduction in investment income as a result of low interest rates and fewer capital receipts;

·  The budget included an assumption that there would be a 4.5% council tax increase in 2010/11;

·  The budget also included an assumption that the Council would need to borrow to fund the capital programme as assets were currently harder to sell due to the recession.  The Council had set a borrowing limit of £4 million;

·  Some savings would come forward in 2010/11 as a result of the 1% pay award, rather than the 2.5% budgeted for, and the savings from the staff restructure;

·  The Council needed to save around 6% of its available resources which was significant but similar to recent years;

·  This year officers were being requested to put forward potential savings in the first instance rather than being given a savings target by Cabinet Members, as had been the case in previous years;

·  A review of the Medium Term Financial Strategy had been requested by the Cabinet which would change it from a policy document to a fuller working document.  This would cover the revenue budget, the capital budget, efficiency and reserves, and would link financial information directly to corporate objectives and service plans; and

·  A report would go to Cabinet to consider options for consultation.  The budget simulator used for the past 2 years was useful but produced the same answers both years so a new approach was needed. This could take the form of interviews with residents on specific issues such as fees and charges or discretionary services.

The Cabinet Member for Leisure and Culture, Councillor Brian Moss, emphasised the need to make substantial savings and to ensure that these were considered acceptable as they would affect services.  The Council needed to find innovative ways of delivering services and the Cabinet was willing to consider any suggestions.

A Councillor asked which services were discretionary and Councillor Moss explained that there were many, with the key ones being the museum, the theatre, sports and play, parks, CCTV and Park and Ride.  The Council did not have to provide these but they impacted upon the quality of life for residents.  Another Member informed the Committee that a list of statutory and discretionary services was available, and highlighted that some discretionary services generated income.

In response to a question, Mr Riley stated that business rate and council tax collections had both gone down but only marginally.  Some of this could be due to re-profiling, with some businesses changing to monthly payments rather than making a one-off payment at the start of the year.

A Councillor asked what would happen when the Council had sold all of its assets.  Mr Riley explained that this was not expected to be the case for 2-3 years, but it had been planned for.  When that time came,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 40.

Report to Follow

The Acting Overview and Scrutiny Manager, Louise Smith, explained that following concerns at the previous meeting with regard to the amount of performance information provided to the Committee, the Chairman had agreed that a shorter report should be produced for the quarterly performance monitoring report.  The report gave a summary of performance against Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and Local Performance Indicators (LPIs); a summary of performance under the Council’s corporate priorities; areas of exceptional performance; and areas where performance was not meeting target.  It was highlighted that information on KPIs related to crime had not been available when the report was produced, however these were all on target.

A Councillor expressed concern over the rise in anti-social behaviour incidents and the Committee agreed to send a reference to the Cabinet and the External Overview and Scrutiny Committee emphasising the need to look into this.  Councillors also requested that a reference be sent to the Environment and Leisure Overview and Scrutiny Committee highlighting the declining footfall at the Leisure Centre and noting their concern about this.

The Committee discussed the format of future performance reports and agreed that while the shorter report was useful and made performance monitoring much simpler, full reports should still be received to ensure that no anomalies were missed.  However, Members agreed that performance officers did not need to attend the meetings to present these reports, as the Committee could discuss the reports and request clarification or information from the appropriate officers as necessary.

Resolved:  That

a)  A reference be sent to the Cabinet and the External Overview and Scrutiny Committee highlighting the increase in anti-social behaviour incidents being reported to the Council emphasising the need to look into this;

b)  A reference be sent to the Environment and Leisure Overview and Scrutiny Committee highlighting the decline in footfall at the Leisure Centre and noting the Committee’s concern about this; and

c)  Full performance reports be provided in the future, however officers did not need to attend Committee meetings to present these.

The Acting Overview and Scrutiny Manager informed Members that the Head of Revenues and Benefits and Community Safety, Steve McGinnes, would be in attendance at the September meeting to provide an update on benefit uptake.  The Overview, Scrutiny and Localism Manager from Kent County Council would attend the October meeting as part of the Overview and Scrutiny Function Review.

Resolved:  That the Future Work Programme be noted.

6:30 p.m. to 7:50 p.m.