Agenda item

Julie Evans, Strategic Director, Resources, outlined a report setting out the latest projections of the Council’s revenue budget for the period 2011/2012 to 2014/2015 following the previous Cabinet report of 9^th November 2010 and the meeting of the Policy, Performance and Review Group held on 23^rd November, 2010.  Regarding financial implications, the Committee was advised that in the short term the summary application remained as reported at November 2010, i.e. £4.423m savings already committed in 2011/2012 from the 2010/2011 PPRG process with an anticipated further savings potential of £6.9m in 2011/2012.  The Committee was advised that to date £2.68m of savings had been identified and agreed subject to consultation and a further £1.6m savings had been identified for consideration.  The Committee was reminded that the CSR had not altered the Council’s medium term financial strategy of achieving savings of approximately £20m over the next 4 years.  It was noted that the next significant milestone would be the provisional settlement where the Government would provide the Council with an estimate of the level of national grant they could expect to receive for the next year and possibly beyond. 

The Director discussed the proposed elements of savings opportunities for the six Support Service areas and it was noted that wherever possible savings had been secured via voluntary expressions of interest, the deletion of vacant posts and the removal of temporary staff.  It was noted that the Council was currently undertaking a review of its assets and its trading functions.  The  Council’s general reserve stood at £5.4 million but drawing on reserves to fund any budget gaps was considered to be a last resort.

In the ensuing debate, Members raised a number of questions/comments as follows (responses shown in italics):

·  How confident was the Director that a balanced budget would be achieved by February and beyond?

The Council had clear proposals to address the needed savings and the detail of where these would be achieved were set out in the report. The £2.7 m gap remaining exceeded the amount needed and there were opportunities around the capital programme, assets, Town Hall, debt improvement, income and fees and charges.

• Was there a ‘Plan B’ to cover the eventuality that the required savings were not achieved?

The opportunity to achieve the £6.9m remained high. There was a safety net of £2.7m but it was unlikely this would be required. Further, a decision had been made to front load the savings to buy time.

• What was the strategy regarding savings around frontline services?

The strategy would include plans to organise transactional services into one team and externalise the service. This would make a significant contribution to savings (estimated at between £1.5m to £2m).

• Were there any plans to find further savings through a review of senior management posts?

Interim arrangements were in place at present but the Senior Management Team  would be reviewed the following year. It was clear that some adjustments would be required to reflect for example, changes to public health responsibilities which would affect Local Authorities.

• On the assumption that the Census in Slough went well and population figures were accurately reflected, would the Council’s financial position be improved?

An optimistic view was that an additional 30,000 residents would be shown in the figures and this would result in a further £18m funding but it was doubtful this would be achieved. It was also important to note that any uplift in funding would not be made immediately but on a gradual basis and it would therefore take several years before the correct funding level was achieved.

• Had the Council taken steps to encourage smaller local contracts?

Yes, local providers were encouraged and national contractors were obliged to demonstrate a commitment to the local population. It would not be possible to exit contracts that were currently in place and these extended for a variety of terms, e.g. 3, 5, 7 or 15 years.

Resolved- That the recommendations to be considered by Cabinet at its  meeting on 13^th December, 2010 be noted.