Agenda item

Resolved: that the report be noted. It was also agreed that additional information would be provided regarding:

·         the numbers of families identified through the troubled families programme and the success in receiving funding for these families.

·         the overspend relating to Beckenham Place Park and Green Scene.

·         prosecutions for fly-tipping.

·         the figures for over/underspend in the adult social care budget.

5.1      Selwyn Thompson (Head of Financial Services) introduced the report. The following key points were noted:

·         The general fund revenue position was showing an overspend of £12.8m, this was greater than in previous years.

·         This time last year (2016-17) the overspend was £7.7m, it was £8.6m the year before that (2015-16) and £11.2m the year before that (2014-15), making the current overspend the worst position for some years.

·         The housing revenue account was projected to be at a balanced positon at the end of the year.

·         Council tax and business rate collections were being received in line with expectations.

·         There were budget pressures at the end of 2016-17 that had continued into 2017-18.

·         Greater focus would be placed on areas of budget pressure, including: social care (particularly children’s social care), environment, and technology and change.

·         A number of schools continued to face financial difficulties. The finance team was providing support where it could and scrutinising budget plans with rigour.

5.2      Selwyn Thompson, Janet Senior (Executive Director for Resources and Regeneration), David Austin (Head of Corporate Resources), Robert Mellors (Group Finance Manager, Community Services) and Dave Richards (Group Finance Manager, Children and Young People) responded to questions from the Committee. The following key points were noted:

·         A programme reviewing transport costs had been ongoing for two/three years to deliver savings. Passenger services would still be provided to children with learning difficulties.

·         In adult services, the review considered how savings could be delivered by changing the way in which service users travelled.

·         In children’s services work was taking place to review eligibility thresholds for services as well as to give consideration of the options for more independence for service users.

·         The troubled families programme was grant funded scheme from central government to engage with families with complex needs to engage with services and to support them back into work. It worked on a system of payment by results.

·         Families might have a range of different needs but the criteria for defining a ‘troubled’ family were decided on by central government.

·         Last year – the Council did not get as many families as it thought it would into work.

·         Government had tightened the criteria for achieving results with troubled families.

·         The Council had missed the target for working with troubled families. It was anticipated that this gap would be made up – but the timetable for closing the deficit was not yet clear.

·         The Council was required to set a balanced budget at the beginning of the year. Some additional funds had been put into services facing pressures, but a number of areas were facing pressures that were greater than had been anticipated.

·         Some savings still needed to be delivered from previous years in addition to savings for the next two years that had been identified but not yet implemented.

·         There was some uncertainty about some areas of budget, including government rules about spending of the Better Care Fund and the savings that might be achieved from the expansion of the shared service.

·         Officers would be using data to more closely examine some of the areas of overspend and pressure, including children’s social care and environmental services.

·         Officers predicted that £50m of savings needed to be made between now and 2022, this was in addition to pressures and services that required funding.

·         In order to ‘stand still’ in terms of the delivery of Council services funding of at least this amount would need to be made available.

·         There was very little certainty about the likely funding position in 2020-21 and 2021-22.

·         £32m of savings were required in the next two years in order to balance the budget. This was in addition to the delivery of the savings that had already been identified.

·         There was great amount of uncertainty in projections beyond the next two years.

·         Further information would be provided regarding the budget for the running of Beckenham Place Park.

·         In previous years there had been an overspend of approximately £100k in the running of the park.

·         There was an error in the paper relating to the under/overspends for adult social care, which would be clarified following the meeting. There was not a £3.3m underspend at the end of 2016-17.

·         There had been a delay in the introduction of the food waste and fortnightly residual waste collection. This would now happen in September.

5.3       In the Committee discussions, the following key points were also noted:

·         It recognised the benefits of the troubled families programme – and the wider positive aspects there might be of working with families facing difficulties.

·         It was concerned that the budget set at the beginning of the year was unachievable.

·         The Council might need a major strategic re-think in order to balance its budgets in the coming years.

5.4      Resolved: that the report be noted. It was also agreed that additional information would be provided regarding:

·         the numbers of families identified through the troubled families programme and the success in receiving funding for these families.

·         the overspend relating to Beckenham Place Park and Green Scene.

·         prosecutions for fly-tipping.

·         the figures for over/underspend in the adult social care budget.