Agenda item

To consider the following Finance and Transformation related reports scheduled for Cabinet consideration on 23 June 2021:

·       Financial Outturn Report 2020/21

·       Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) Update

The O&S Board is asked to scrutinise the reports and make recommendations to Cabinet as appropriate.

Cabinet member invited to attend for this item: Councillor D Mellor, Leader of the Council and Portfolio Holder for Finance and Transformation.

The Cabinet report for this item is included with the agenda for consideration by the Overview and Scrutiny Board.

Financial Outturn Report 2020/21 – The Leader of the Council and Portfolio Holder for Transformation and Finance introduced the report. A copy of which had been circulated to Board members and a copy of which can be found at Appendix A to these minutes in the minute book. The Leader outlined the key points from the report and the Board discussed a number of issues including:

·     Potential problems for the future in adult social care which were not being provided for. There was a changing profile of risk, the cost of expenditure going forward would be different from that seen recently. The Portfolio Holder indicated that the Council was in better position to deal with issues coming forward and further detail was included within the Medium Term Financial Plan Paper. The Chief Financial Officer advised that with the impact of Covid it was quite difficult to see in comparison to what would have been spent originally.

·     Part of the reason Council was in a good investment position was that the previous administration had provided sound foundation. The Leader noted that the previous administration had been more cautious, and the political preference of the current administration was that it was a good time to invest.

·     The previous year was unprecedented due to Covid. The impact of grant funding had meant a positive surplus at year end. However, there was lots of uncertainty around a number of issues, e.g. car parking. Board Members expressed their hope that this was being monitored and that future plans were being implemented for uncertain times. The investment strategy for the Council was part of the big plan.

·     The solutions that were being planned to deal with the overspend in care home placements as this was an issue which would continue. Adult Social Care was being more interventionalist in the market and technology would also be part of the solution. The Care Homes and Older People Strategy would be taken through Cabinet in September. Investment was also being made to help people live in their own homes for longer.

·     It was noted that the core part of the Poole Civic Centre would be retained. The Council would be looking to retain ownership as well. There were no plans to dispose of either asset.

·     East Cliff Lift was not included in the Town Fund spending as outlined in the report. It was suggested that this could be looked into further via the Futures Fund.

·     In response to a query the Chief Financial Officer advised that in relation to the collection of council tax and business rates, whatever the Council precepts for the year, this was received from the collection fund. However, this could put the collection fund into deficit which would then be adjusted.  It was confirmed that the £40 million referenced in the report was part of the Council’s share of relief, this would need to be paid back into the collection fund to account for deficit. As well as the deficit caused by retail relief, there was also deficit caused by reduced collection rates.

The Chairman thanked the Chief Financial Officer and the finance team for their management of the finances and the position the Council was in. It was noted that nevertheless there were some uncertain times moving forward.

Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) Update – The Leader of the Council and Portfolio Holder for Finance and Transformation introduced the report, a copy of which had been circulated to Board members and a copy of which could be found at Appendix B to these minutes in the Minute Book. During consideration of the item a number of points were raised including:

·        A Board member questioned some of the investment choices of the administration, including installation of beach barbecues and coast festival live.

·        Although BCP had a low level of debt compared to most councils this didn’t mean it should be near the level of any of the councils with high debt. BCP should decide for itself on an appropriate level of debt not follow what other councils were doing. The administration wanted to invest in the local area. The Government had already severely restricted what Councils could borrow for investment. Borrowing would not be undertaken without a

·        The level of unearmarked reserves was questioned and it was noted that this provided greater flexibility in terms of the capacity of the financial strategy to respond to emerging issues. The level of best case and worst-case planning was based on a prudent assumption and experience.

·        In response to a question the Leader advised that this was money that can be invested not necessarily money that would be invested. The urban regeneration company would be judged on its record of delivery.

·        A Board member queried the assumptions on underlining figures future government funding for local authorities. There had been years of austerity for government funding and it was not helpful to only receive one-year spending plans. However, it was expected that government funding would be more restrictive over the coming years.

·        In relation to the paragraph on appropriate services for the vulnerable and assistive technology for ongoing personal care. It was confirmed that this was not intended to stop personal visits but was about providing better support to enable a better outcome if people can stay in their own homes. There would be investment rather than cuts in the adult social care budget.

·        In relation to a local government pay settlement it was noted that a 1% contingency had been put in place and that if the agreed increase was greater this would need to be factored in for following years.

·        The purpose of the outlined investment in adult social care was questioned as to whether it was to facilitate the purchase of a nursing home, which would be an investment in property rather than in social care. It was clarified by the Leader that the Council was providing investment according to what was set out in the budget.

·        A Board member questioned whether the cap on exit pay may have a material impact on the transformation programme. It was noted that redundancy provisions were in place.

The Chairman thanked the Portfolio Holder and Officers for the report.