Agenda and minutes

Performance and Finance Scrutiny Sub-Committee - Wednesday 27 July 2022 6.30 pm

Venue: Council Chamber, Harrow Civic Centre, Station Road, Harrow, HA1 2XY. View directions

Contact: Mwim Chellah, Senior Democratic and Electoral Services Officer  Tel: 07761 405966 E-mail:  mwimanji.chellah@harrow.gov.uk

Media

Items
No. Item

1.

Attendance by Reserve Members

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.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

RESOLVED:  To note there were none.

2.

Appointment of Vice-Chair

To consider the appointment of a Vice-Chair to the Performance and Scrutiny Sub-Committee for the Municipal 2022-2023 Year.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

RESOLVED:  That, in accordance with Committee Procedure Rule 7.2.2, Councillor Graham Henson was appointed Vice-Chair of the Committee for the 2022/2023 Municipal Year.

3.

Declarations of Interest

To receive declarations of disclosable pecuniary or non pecuniary interests, arising from business to be transacted at this meeting, from:

 

(a)          all Members of the Sub-Committee;

(b)          all other Members present.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

RESOLVED:  To note that there were none.  

4.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 165 KB

That the minutes of the meeting held on 29 March 2022 be taken as read and signed as a correct record.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

RESOLVED:  That the minutes of the meeting held on 29 March 2022, be taken as read and signed as a correct record.

5.

Public Questions

To receive any public questions received in accordance with Committee Procedure Rule 17 (Part 4B of the Constitution).

 

Questions will be asked in the order in which they were received.  There will be a time limit of 15 minutes for the asking and answering of public questions.

 

[The deadline for receipt of public questions is 3.00 pm, 22 July 2022.  Questions should be sent to publicquestions@harrow.gov.uk  

No person may submit more than one question].

Additional documents:

Minutes:

RESOLVED:  To note that no public questions were received at the meeting.

6.

Petitions

To receive petitions (if any) submitted by members of the public/Councillors under the provisions of Committee Procedure Rule 15 (Part 4B of the Constitution).

Additional documents:

Minutes:

RESOLVED:  To note that no petitions were received.

7.

References from Council and Other Committees/Panels

To receive any references from Council and/or other Committees or Panels.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

RESOLVED:  To note that there were none.

Resolved Items

Additional documents:

8.

Revenue and Capital Monitoring 2021-22 - Final Outturn pdf icon PDF 917 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Members received the Revenue and Capital Monitoring 2021-2022 Final Outturn Report, which set out the Council’s final revenue and capital outturn position for 2021-2022.

 

The final spend on the Capital Programme was £74.646m, 35% of the budget. The final spend on the General Fund was £44.117m, 39% of the budget.  The variance of £69.758m was made up of proposed slippage of £64.626m and a net underspend of £5.132m.

 

The final spend on the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) was £30.529m, 30% of the budget. The variance on the HRA of £72.116m was made up of budget realignment of £51.980m, agreed by Cabinet in February 2022.  There was a proposed slippage of £18.322m, and an underspend of £1.815m.

 

In the discussion that ensued, Members asked questions and made the following comments: 

 

·                 what effect the underspend on staff recruitment was having on operations, and whether there was an over-reliance on agency staff;

 

·                 if there were enough funds for adult social care in the reserves, and whether financial pressure was growing as care homes increased their rates;

 

·                 what other measures the Council could take to maintain financial accountability;

 

·                 some services had been underfunded for several years, and Councils across the country, including Harrow, would need to take decisions on services that could scaled down;

 

·                 though financial pressures were enormous for Councils, including Harrow, the scrutiny of finances continued to function appropriately by keeping spending under check; and

 

·                 whether more funding would be forthcoming from Central Government. 

 

In response, Dawn Calvert, Director of Finance and Assurance, advised that:

 

·                 recruitment and retention of staff was challenging for some posts, and inflationary costs were also having an effect.  However, inflationary pressures were better than the year before;

 

·                 there was around £3.7m in reserve for adult social care carried forward from last year.  However, it would depend on how much more demand there would be during the year to determine if additional resources would be required;

 

·                 the Council had continued to maintain strong financial management.  There was a statutory obligation to have a balanced budget, which was monitored on a monthly basis;

 

·                 Central Government officials were required to keep the commitments made to local government, including Harrow, to provide the funds that had been promised.

 

Members were pleased that the Council had continued to maintain financial prudence.

 

RESOLVED:  That the Report be noted.