Agenda and minutes

To note the attendance at this meeting of any duly appointed Reserve Members.

Reserve Members may attend meetings:-

(i)                 to take the place of an ordinary Member for whom they are a reserve;

(ii)               where the ordinary Member will be absent for the whole of the meeting; and

(iii)             the meeting notes at the start of the meeting at the item ‘Reserves’ that the Reserve Member is or will be attending as a reserve;

(iv)              if a Reserve Member whose intention to attend has been noted arrives after the commencement of the meeting, then that Reserve Member can only act as a Member from the start of the next item of business on the agenda after his/her arrival.

RESOLVED:  To note the attendance at this meeting of the following duly appointed Reserve Members:-

To receive declarations of personal or prejudicial interests, arising from business to be transacted at this meeting, from:

(a)               all Members of the Committee, Sub Committee, Panel or Forum;

(b)               all other Members present in any part of the room or chamber.

RESOLVED:  To note that there were no declarations of interests made by Members in relation to the business to be transacted at this meeting.

That the minutes of the meeting held on 11 June 2009 be deferred until the next ordinary meeting of the Committee

RESOLVED:  That the minutes of the meeting held on 11 June 2009 be deferred until the next ordinary meeting of the Committee.

To receive deputations (if any) under the provisions of Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rule 10.

RESOLVED:  To note that no deputations were received at the meeting under the provisions of Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rule 10.

[The Question and Answer Session will concentrate on the Council’s Year Ahead Statement, Corporate Priorities and Finances.]

On behalf of the Committee, the Chairman welcomed the Leader of the Council and the Chief Executive to the meeting.  He added that this was a valued opportunity for scrutiny to discuss issues with the Leader and the Chief Executive and the Committee looked forward to hearing their views.

The Chairman informed the Committee and the guests present that 30 questions had been received but, due to time constraints, a number of questions had been deferred for consideration through alternative means.  All Members of the Committee would receive written responses to the deferred questions.

The Chairman reminded Members to be brief when asking questions, and stated that questions would fall under the following categories of the financial crisis, the budget and other issues.

Financial Crisis

In response to a question on how the financial crisis had influenced the Council’s cash flow, the subsequent impact on service delivery in health and social care, and how the issues would be tackled, the Leader of the Council spoke briefly about the cash flow problems facing the Council.  He stated that there would be some impact on service delivery as a result of the economic downturn.  The Council was facing fluctuating energy costs and a shortfall of £2m in the budget partly because of lower capital receipts.

Whilst the recession had not affected the London area in the same way as other parts of the country, the Council was expecting upward pressures on health and social care, and amongst other services.

Budget

Members of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee asked questions about the expected out-turn for 2008/09 and the expected out-turn for 2009/10; savings that could be achieved through natural wastage, efficiency savings and economies of scale, challenges that would affect the Council’s finances and how these would be dealt with, and the position with regard to the reserves in the current difficult financial climate.  They were concerned about how these issues would impact on the Council and in its delivery of services. Further pertinent questions were asked during the responses given by the Leader of the Council and the Chief Executive.  Members also asked questions about the views of London Councils and the reasons behind the Transformation Programme. Members were concerned about

The Leader of the Council replied that the out-turn for 2009/10 was not known but there were a few pressures that the Council was facing.  Any overspend would not be welcomed.

With regard to the 2008/09 out-turn, there had been opportunities to:

·                     build on reserves;

·                     invest money in certain services and, as part of this exercise, the Portfolio Holders had been asked to present a programme for improving and delivering on cleaner and safer streets;

·                     allocate money for special projects; and

·                     use money to build schools for the future.

The Leader of the Council added that a sum of £0.5m had been allocated for the Council’s Transformation Programme and the reserves held by the Council would amount to £5.25m.  He explained that future grant settlements were expected to be poor  ...  view the full minutes text for item 571.