Agenda item

Report of the Director of Finance and Assurance.

The Sub-Committee received a report of the Director of Finance and Assurance, which had previously been considered by Cabinet on 19 February 2015.  The Portfolio Holder for Finance and Major Contracts assisted the Director in delivering the report.

Following a brief overview of the report by the Director of Finance and Assurance, Members asked the following questions and received responses from the Director and the Portfolio Holder:

·                     Q:  What plans were in place to deal with the introduction of Universal Credit, and the implementation of the Care Act 2014?

A:  Some money from the Better Care Fund had been set aside for the implementation of the Care Act.  The total cost was as yet unclear, but Officers would be watching the cost carefully once the Act was implemented.  There had been discussions about different boroughs being part of a pilot scheme for a small number of recipients of Universal Credit, and contingency funds were there for the pressure of this.

·                     Q:  How did the demolition of Grange Farm stack up as a mitigation of the costs of housing people in bed-and-breakfast accommodation?

A:  Properties that had been bought back from leaseholders were being used as short-term accommodation for people who were being housed in bed-and-breakfast accommodation, and almost every vacant property that had become available in Harrow was being used for homeless families.

·                     Q:  Was this not being considered in 2013?

A:  This had been proposed by the Portfolio Holder for Housing, and was featured in the manifesto.  Arrears had risen by a third due to benefits cuts and a 40% cut in the Discretionary Housing Fund.

·                     Q:  How many houses had been built by this administration?

A:  No houses had been completed, but the building process was underway for a number of homes.

·                     Q:  Had rent increases above inflation affected arrears?

A:  Most rental arrears had come from the private sector. Benefit cuts and a 40% reduction in the Discretionary Housing Fund were the main contributors to arrears and homelessness.

·                     Q:  Will the Council receive money from the Home Office at the end of the Council’s financial year?

A:  The Council had budgeted to receive money from the Proceeds of Crime Act, but the amount received would probably be less than in previous years.  The money would usually come from large fraud / wholesale crime.

·                     Q:  At what stage in the year did the bed-and-breakfast problem become apparent?

A:  The increase in people who require bed-and-breakfast accommodation had risen in a linear fashion, and was a big issue for the Council.

·                     Q:  Had the option of moving people who couldn’t afford rents in Harrow out of the borough been explored?

A:  There were a few initiatives, but these tended not to be taken up by families whose children were at an important time in their education such as their GCSEs.

·                     Q:  If the Council is in reach of 62% of the total capital programme, what progress has been made towards being better at spending?

A:  A scrutiny panel had been investigating this area.  The capital spend was much more focused, and the fragmented way in which this was spent could lead to underspending, for example, money could be reclaimed due to work not completed by service providers.  Some money was being spent in order to save more money in the long term, such as the spending of next year’s budget on street lights.

·                     Q:  Are there allowances in the budget for the fact that the Council is required to deliver complicated projects in urban environments?

A:  There are some allowances for this, but there is room for improvement in this area.

·                     Q:  Are robust resources being dedicated to the handover of the IT contract?  There had not been effective scrutiny of this area, involving the opposition.  At the Chief Officers’ Employment Panel Members were told that the handover was being sufficiently resourced, and the Director of Finance and Assurance’s post was being reduced to three days per week.

A:  The rationale for the post was to manage the handover of the contract, and the reason for the reduction in days was that the day-to-day work undertaken by this post had been distributed to other posts.  There had also been an extra £100,000 contribution from the Council going towards the contract.

·                     Q:  What level of resource was being dedicated to this contract, as Members were informed at Chief Officers’ Employment Panel that the reduction in days would be sufficient?

A:  The amount of resources at the Director level was sufficient.  The £100,000 would pay for two relatively junior officers to work on challenging invoices.

·                     Q:  When in the financial year will the handover of the contract take place, and what will be the impact on service delivery?

A: Harrow Council were having discussions with the current service provider about what they can deliver before the end of the contract. 

·                     Q: Is Harrow Council doing enough to keep energy bills as low as possible?

A: The lights in the Civic Centre are activated by motion sensors.  The building is patrolled by security officers 24 hours a day, which is why the lights can sometimes be seen on at night.

RESOLVED:  That the report be noted.