Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence from Councillors.

Apologies were received from Cllr B Dove and Cllr K Salmon.  Cllr B Dove joined the meeting virtually in their role as Chair of Children’s Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

To receive information on any changes in the membership of the Committee.

Note – When a member of a Committee is unable to attend a meeting of a Committee or Sub-Committee, the relevant Political Group Leader (or their nominated representative) may, by notice to the Monitoring Officer (or their nominated representative) prior to the meeting, appoint a substitute member from within the same Political Group. The contact details on the front of this agenda should be used for notifications.

Cllr J Beesley substituted for Cllr B Dove and Cllr A Keddie substituted for Cllr K Salmon.

Councillors are requested to declare any interests on items included in this agenda. Please refer to the workflow on the preceding page for guidance.

Declarations received will be reported at the meeting.

Cllr J Beesley declared for transparency an other interest in agenda item 6 – BCP Council Libraries that they were a member of Arts Council Area Council for the South West.

Cllr M Tarling advised for transparency of a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest in agenda item 6 as their spouse was employed by BCP in Library Service

To confirm and sign as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 8 January 2024.

The minutes of the meeting held on 8 January were approved as a correct record.

To receive any public questions, statements or petitions submitted in accordance with the Constitution. Further information on the requirements for submitting these is available to view at the following link:-

https://democracy.bcpcouncil.gov.uk/ieListMeetings.aspx?CommitteeID=151&Info=1&bcr=1

The deadline for the submission of public questions is midday 3 clear working days before the meeting.

The deadline for the submission of a statement is midday the working day before the meeting.

The deadline for the submission of a petition is 10 working days before the meeting.

There were no public petitions or statements. Two public questions were received in relation to agenda item 7 from Mr A McKinstry and were responded to by the Cabinet Portfolio Holder for Finance, as follows:

1.       Can we have confirmation of whether the following assets have been disposed of for capital receipt generating purposes:

35 Willis Way, Fleetsbridge;

Land on the north side of Crescent Road, central Bournemouth;

Southbourne Crossroads car park, Southbourne Coast Road.

None of these sites had been disposed of when I last looked into the matter in November 2023, though this position may have changed, as "forecast receipts" from the Fleetsbridge and Southbourne sites are mentioned in tonight's report for Item 7, Appendix 6. If any of these assets have now been disposed of, can we have details of the sale prices and the net proceeds arising; and if the Crescent Road site (unmentioned in the report) has not been disposed of, or is no longer being disposed of full-stop, please can we have the reasons?

Response:

It can now be confirmed that 35 Willis Way, Fleetsbridge was sold in December 2023 for £1.089m.

The sale of Southbourne Crossroads car park has not yet been completed but is still anticipated before 31 March 2023.

In respect Crescent Road, the private treaty sale in 2023 did not achieve the minimum Red Book valuation and was therefore withdrawn from the market. The Housing Delivery Team within BCP Council are now looking into the feasibility of a residential scheme.

2.       Apropos the Section 25 report - Paragraph 71, "Legal claims against the Council" (p. 160). Am I right in assuming that the costs of hiring consultants to defend the Highmoor Farm appeal, and/or any costs award that may go against the Council, would be treated as "unforeseen events" and thus met using the Council's unearmarked reserves? Can you also confirm whether the Council's external auditor has been made aware / is being kept informed of this matter?

Response

You are correct the councils unearmarked reserves would need to be used to cover any costs falling to the council in respect of the Highmoor Farm planning appeal. Iin respect of the auditors they are kept regularly informed of all developments within BCP on a regular basis, so I'm sure it may come up in conversation at some point.

Local authorities are constantly evaluating the way they deliver services, not only taking account of financial pressures but equally changes in social trends, new technology and the evolving needs of their communities.  However, since BCP Council was formed in 2019, there has not been a comprehensive look at our library service to ensure it remains relevant to the needs of our communities and to the circumstances in which the council now operates.  A review is therefore overdue and this report sets out the review framework.

Exploring interest in alternative models of delivery may allow libraries to sustain and even improve their offer to communities as hubs for a variety of council/community services. A range of models including those that capitalise on the capacity in our communities, and the technology that is now available to support open access, will be explored to inform the final strategy.

The Portfolio Holder for Customer, Communications and Culture and the Libraries and Customer Service Manager presented a report, a copy of which had been circulated to each Member and a copy of which appears as Appendix 'A' to these minutes in the Minute Book. The Board was advised that local authorities were constantly evaluating the way they deliver services, not only taking account of financial pressures but equally changes in social trends, new technology and the evolving needs of their communities.  However, since BCP Council was formed in 2019, there had not been a comprehensive look at the library service to ensure it remained relevant to the needs of local communities and to the circumstances in which the council now operated.  The Board was informed that a review was therefore overdue and that the Cabinet report set out the review framework.

It was noted that exploring interest in the alternative models of delivery may allow libraries to sustain and even improve their offer to communities as hubs for a variety of council/community services. A range of models including those that capitalised on the capacity in our communities, and the technology that was now available to support open access, would be explored to inform the final strategy. The Board raised a number of issues in the subsequent discussion including:

·     The Private Finance Initiative for Bournemouth Library – It was noted that the £1.6million payable was for each year, for the next 8.5 years. The figure may vary slightly due to utility costs, etc. After investigation it had not been found that it was financially viable to withdraw from the contract as the scheduled payments would still need to be made.

·     Use of Bournemouth Library – It was being used by the Citizen’s Advice Bureau. Whilst there was some office space there wasn’t additional space suited for other commercial uses.

·     Support from the Arts Council – It was noted that it had no statutory responsibility for Libraries but were through the Department of Culture, Media and Sport working to encourage advocacy and collaboration. There were two types of grant funding available for projects and collaborative work. The next round of grants funding was due to take place in 2025.

·     Consultation Process - It was acknowledged that it was good that the consultation would be engaging with non-library users. There was a need to understand why people were coming to libraries and also the reasons people were not using libraries.

·     Building Survey - It was noted that the building survey seemed to be out of date for a number of locations, for example Christchurch and was not particularly relevant for the consultation.

·     Volunteers – It was highlighted that this wasn’t always an effective means to deliver a service and it was something which officers and the Portfolio Holder would need to take into account.

·     Stock Budget – It had reduced marginally over the years but there was a healthy budget which was shared. Consultation should be included on how the stock budget was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 44.

To consider the proposed Council Budget for 2024/25 and the medium-term financial plan (documents to follow). The Council is required to set an annual balanced budget presenting how its financial resources, both income and expenditure, are to be allocated and utilised. Cabinet will consider this and make recommendation to Council at its meeting on 7 February.

The Board is asked to consider the proposals and make comments and/or recommendations to Cabinet as appropriate.

The Portfolio Holder for Finance presented a report, a copy of which had been circulated to each Member and a copy of which appears as Appendix 'B' to these minutes in the Minute Book. The Board was advised that the report set out for Cabinet consideration and recommendation to Council the proposed 2024/25 budget and council tax based on; increasing council tax by 2.99% in 2024/25 in line with the government’s annual basic threshold, Collecting the full additional 2% Adult Social Care (ASC) precept in 2024/25, implementation of the approved financial strategy, £41m of further savings, efficiencies, and additional income generation required to correct the structural £30m deficit inherited from 2023/24 and other pressures, to set a legally balanced budget, and provide the basis of a more financially sustainable council moving forward. Recognise that the council is projecting to spend £29m more on Special Educational Needs and Disability services in 2024/25 than the funding specifically being made available by government. The consequential deficit this creates in the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) will mean the council is technically insolvent on 31 March 2024 (as the deficit on the DSG will be greater than the total reserves held by the council with a negative overall general fund position). Statutory guidance which means the deficit can be ignored by all councils until the 31 March 2026 provides interim protection for the Council. In the subsequent discussion a number of issues were raised by the Board including:

·     Additional Funding - The use and amount of additional funding expected to be received from Central Government was discussed. It was expected that the Council would receive an additional £3.5million in addition to the previously notified finance settlement. A number of suggestions were made throughout the meeting with regards to the use of the additional funding including restoring the complex safeguarding service in Children’s Services, general pressures around children’s social care, day centres, areas identified within the public consultation.

·     Report recommendations - It was confirmed that the report recommend the delegated authority be given to the Chief Executive in consultation with others to agree the proposed use for additional funding. However, it was noted that if the amount was confirmed prior to the Cabinet meeting it may be possible to take an addendum to the recommendations to Cabinet.

·     Financial priorities of the administration – The Portfolio Holder advised that his personal priorities was to ensure a good level of reserves to mitigate any arising risks with some of the funding but in terms of spending it should be used on services which to reduce the most impact on end users.

·     Impact on arts and culture provision – It was noted that a 10 percent reduction in the grant for the BSO had been negotiated. The Arts by the Sea festival was currently funded for next year but it was suggested that more community based events should be considered. The social value of the music service was highlighted.

·     Housing Revenue Account - It was noted that this was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 45.

The Overview and Scrutiny Board is asked to consider the identify work priorities for its next meeting pending a wider review of its forward plan at a future meeting.

The Board noted the work plan and the items included for the next meeting. The Board was reminded that the next work programming workshop was scheduled for Monday 12 February.