SCRUTINY COMMITTEE (COMMUNITY WELLBEING AND
SAFETY)
MINUTES of a meeting held on 26th
November, 2007.
Present: Councillor Mrs. M.E.J. Birch
(Chairman); Councillor K.R. Stockdale (Vice-Chairman); Councillors
Mrs. S.M. Bagstaff, R.J. Bertin, Ms. R.M. Birch, P. Church, J.
Clifford, H.J.W. James, G.C. Kemp, Mrs. A.J. Preston, B.I. Shaw and
J.W. Thomas.
Also present: Councillors S.C. Egan, N. Moore
and Mrs. M.R. Wilkinson.
561 APOLOGIES FOR
ABSENCE -
These were received from Councillors Ms. L.
Burnett, N.P. Hodges, Mrs. A.J. Moore, A.G. Powell and
W.C. Vaughan.
562 MINUTES -
RECOMMENDED - T H A T the minutes of the
meeting held on 22nd October, 2007 be approved as a
correct record. During approval of the minutes, reference was
made to Minute No. 481 and Councillor H.J.W. James confirmed that
he had presented the PACT report to the Accountability Panel (of
South Wales Police) and to the clerk and members of the Police
Authority in order that joint working considerations could be
further explored between the Police and the Vale of Glamorgan
Council.
563 DECLARATIONS OF
INTEREST -
No declarations were received.
564 MEMBERS’ RIGHTS TO
INFORMATION HELD BY THE COUNCIL (DLPPHS) -
The report outlined for Members the differing
rules for obtaining information under the following categories:
·
Rights to Information as a Councillor;
·
Rights of Scrutiny Committee Members to documents;
·
Rights to Information under other Access Regimes.
Annex 1 to the report provided information in
respect of the Information Commissioner’s Freedom of Information
fact sheet which set out the provisions and procedures in respect
of Freedom of Information, together with Annex 2, Environmental
Information Regulations media fact sheet, and Annex 3, a Data
Protection Media fact sheet. Members were pleased to receive
the report which outlined the procedures that should be taken into
account when dealing with information and suggested that specific
Member training on the issues should be established.
RECOMMENDED -
(1) T H A
T the contents of the report be noted.
(2) T H A
T specific Member training in respect of Members’ rights to
information held by the Council be established.
Reasons for recommendations
(1&2) To advise Members.
565 SOCIAL SERVICES
BUDGET 2007/08 (DFICTP&IDSS) (REF) -
The Scrutiny Committee (Corporate Resources)
had considered the report on 9th October, 2007 and
referred the document to the Scrutiny Committee (Community
Wellbeing and Safety) for consideration. The report set out
the current position in relation to the Social Services Budget and
included details of efficiency savings that had been made to date
against each respective action contained within the Social Services
Change Plan.
At the Scrutiny Committee (Corporate
Resources) meeting, the Head of Finance advised that the General
Fund balance at the beginning of the financial year of £5,250,000
would mean that certain specific reserves would need to be
un-earmarked in order to meet any shortfall. The implications
of un-earmarking specific reserves would mean that the Council
would no longer have the funding set aside for such purposes.
The Chairman of the Scrutiny Committee (Corporate Resources) had
referred to the risks involved in such plans and sought assurances
from the Corporate Management Team that the short, medium and long
term risks had been taken into account and planned for, in order
that any result in change in risk for the Council and its services,
could be appropriately managed. Accordingly, the Scrutiny
Committee Corporate Resources made the following recommendation
:-
“T H A T the Corporate Management Team be
requested to undertake a risk assessment review with a view to
ascertaining the overall risk implications for the Council and its
services in the event of the savings associated with the Social
Services Change Plan not being achieved, including any assessment
of the risk to the Council as a consequence of un-earmarking
reserves for those projects and that the findings of the review be
reported to a future meeting of the Scrutiny Committee (Corporate
Resources).”
Members noted that the reference outlined the
main pressures and the challenges that faced the Social Services
Department, that the Children’s Services budget was currently on
line but that the Arbitration case had resulted in further
increased pressure in Adults Services.
Members were also concerned in relation to the
un-earmarking of specific reserves and requested details on
suggested areas that would be un-earmarked. The Finance
Officer present advised that it would be a matter for Full Council
to decide at its budget meeting in February 2008.
RECOMMENDED - T H A T the issues contained in
the reference be considered later in the meeting in conjunction
with the Budget Report.
566 INITIAL REVENUE
BUDGET PROPOSALS 2008/09 (DFICTP) -
Committee was advised that the budget
estimates were to be presented to all Scrutiny Committees for
consultation with the Scrutiny Committee (Corporate Resources)
being the lead Scrutiny Committee and that all responses would be
required to be made no later than 14th December,
2007. The Cabinet Budget Working Group would also be holding
a series of meetings in December 2007 and January 2008 with the
relevant Cabinet Members and officers to consider the budget
proposals, with the intention that recommendations are submitted to
Cabinet no later than 6th February 2007 and onward to
Council by 13th February, 2008.
Appendix 1 to the report before the Committee
set out the necessary transfers to the original estimate for
2007/08 which were detailed as follows:
·
Asset Rents - the reason for the movement was due to the revisions
to the Accounting Code of Practice that required deferred
government grant income be released to revenue services to offset
the asset rent which had been already charged;
·
Recharges etc - this was movement in charges between Internal
Council services;
·
Budget Transfers - budget adjustments to reflect transfers of
functions and responsibilities between services which related
primarily to transfers within Social Services that had taken place
but had a nil net value.
The report also highlighted the additional
pressure that had arisen from the increased price of care home fees
which could not have been predicted at the beginning of the year
and it was stated was unrealistic to expect Social Services to
cover the costs within their existing budget at the current
time. It had therefore been proposed that an additional
allocation of £1.11m. be given to Social Services in 2007/08 to
cover the costs as well as the costs of
arbitration.
The report further highlighted that Social
Services would need to identify savings to cover additional costs
in future years and that it was essential that early measures were
taken to bring down spending in view of the predicted poor
settlement and current financial position of the Council. In
light of discussions with individual Directors of the Council, it
had been proposed to set an additional savings target for 2007/08
as detailed below:
|
|
£,000
|
|
Environmental and Economic Regeneration
|
650
|
|
Legal, Public Protection and Housing
|
200
|
|
Finance, ICT and Property
|
200
|
|
Chief Executive
|
60
|
The Social Services Department had not been
given an additional savings target but had been advised to bring a
revised Budget Action Plan to Cabinet setting out how they intended
to bring their expenditure down to their revised target. A
moratorium on the filling of all vacant posts in the Directorate
had been put in place, with the exclusion of staff in residential
homes and in other exceptional circumstances. A similar
moratorium had also been put in place for the Learning and
Development Directorate.
Appendix 2 to the report outlined the summary
of the overall base budget for 2008/09 which had been arrived at by
adjusting the 2007/08 budget for items such as inflation and
unavoidable growth. The cost pressures identified by Social
Services were attached as Appendix 3 to the report. In
respect of the cost pressures Members queried whether any were in
priority order and were advised that no priority had been given,
they were all cost pressures to the Service. In respect of
outstanding reviews the Interim Director advised that the
Children’s Services Section had undertaken a number of reviews of
cases in that area and were currently working with an underspend on
the service albeit at any point in time new cases could
considerably affect the budget.
In respect of Community Care and Health
further work on reviews of cases would be required in order to try
to manage the service area in a similar way to Children’s
Services. He further advised Committee that in respect of
budget management and allocation of resources, the process of
allocation of budgets to managers of the right levels was
on-going. Committee Members noted that the arbitration case
would have a detrimental effect on the budget for the forthcoming
year and the Cabinet Member, Councillor S.C. Egan being
permitted to speak, raised a number of initiatives he was
considering.
Firstly, a meeting had been requested with
Operational Managers to consider the budget information and to
break down the costs further in order to ascertain which particular
area was overspending on a regular basis. He confirmed that a
number of care homes within the Vale were happy to continue working
with the Vale and that he had requested that the cost for Community
Care and Health be drilled down and costed out separately from the
arbitration issues. It was important that the Council
identified all changes that had been made since April 2007 against
the budget and whether the Social Services Department was
performing as expected. Regular meetings had also taken place
with the Local Health Board and Cardiff and Vale NHS Trust in order
to consider the way in which each organisation addressed care
packages for people and that they were completed on a consistent
basis.
Members queried the impact of reviewing
packages and the Interim Director advised that the majority were
going down, but significant numbers were remaining static and some
going up. He confirmed that further urgent work would be
required in order to complete all assessments and reviews.
There were also a number of performance and capacity issues and as
such progress was at varying levels. The Cabinet Member also
referred to block booking a number of beds in care homes and
Members queried how it would affect choice for clients. The
Interim Director confirmed that block booking would not necessarily
impact on choice.
In view of the settlement received from the
Welsh Assembly Government and the pressures on the Social Services
Department the Committee
RECOMMENDED -
(1) T H A
T the report be noted.
(2) T H A T the
minutes of the meeting be forwarded to the Scrutiny Committee
(Corporate Resources) for consideration.
Reasons for recommendations
(1&2) To inform Committee.
567 INITIAL CAPITAL
PROGRAMME PROPOSALS 2008/09 (DFICTP) -
The purpose of the report was to advise the
Scrutiny Committee of the progress on the 2007/08 Capital Programme
for the period 31st August, 2007 and to submit for
consultation initial Capital Proposals for 2008/09. Appendix
A to the report detailed the progress on the Capital Programme as
at 31st October, 2007 which carried the
Directorates of Legal, Public Protection and Housing Services and
Social Services. Under the Directorate of Legal, Public
Protection and Housing Services the report highlighted that under
Emergency Powers the Chief Executive Officer had approved the
purchase of a Vale Community Alarm System to be initially funded
from the Computer fund on an internal lease basis. It was
therefore requested that the 2008 Capital Programme be increased by
£203,000 in order to initially fund the procurement of the
system.
In respect of the Directorate of Social
Services, Cabinet had, on 4th July, 2007 approved
the funding of £200,000 for the works required at the Woodlands Day
Centre to complete a transfer facility from the Day Centre to Holm
View Leisure Centre and it was requested that the 2008 Capital
Programme be increased in order to enable the works to be
undertaken. The Welsh Assembly Government had also approved a
bid for capital funding of £34,402 in respect of setting up an
outdoor play area at Camau Cyntaf Nursery, Kidzone and the
provision of a storage area for Flying Start offices at Skomer
Road. The works were to be completed by 31st
March, 2008 and Cabinet would be requested to approve an increase
to the 2007/08 Capital Programme of £34,500.
In respect of EMI Beds Committee was advised
that Social Housing Grant funding had been approved in relation to
Extra Care Housing but due to the fact that existing capital
programme funding would not be spent in the current financial year,
it was requested that the budget for EMI Beds of £500,000 be
slipped into 2008/09. For Adult Respite Care the current
year’s allocation of £500,000 had been intended for the purchase of
property in order to provide day care facilities for adults with
learning disabilities. Problems had however arisen in the
attempt to progress the sale of the property and as a result
slippage was requested while the service considered the most
appropriate way forward to meet the respite care need.
The Welsh Assembly Government had announced on
14th November, 2007 the provisional 2008/09 General
Capital Funding being £8,198,000 but the final settlement was
expected to be announced during January 2008. The Major
Repairs Allowance had however not yet been announced for 2008/09 by
the Welsh Assembly Government albeit the Cabinet would be advised
as soon as the announcement was made. In addition to the
funding from the Welsh Assembly Government the Council had agreed
to finance part of the Capital Programme from its own resources
e.g. capital receipts and reserves which amounted to £13,806.
Appendix B to the report detailed the
indicative 2008/09 Community Wellbeing and Safety Capital Programme
and an indicative assets renewal budget of £150,000 had been
included for Social Services which constituted an un-earmarked
general provision.
Appendix C to the report listed the Capital
Bids that had been received but were unsuccessful and had therefore
not been put forward for inclusion in the 2008/09 Programme.
The report noted that due to the shortage of capital funding the
only addition to the indicative Capital Programme for 2008/09 was
the Reallocation of the funds for the Road to Dunraven Bay whereby
further costs were required on an already committed scheme.
Members were advised that the likely start date for Dunraven Road
would be any time from 1st April 2007. Members
considered they were unable to make any relevant comments on the
report before them and as such
RECOMMENDED - T H A T the report and the
suggestions be supported and referred to Scrutiny Committee
(Corporate Resources).
Reason for recommendation
In order that the views of the Scrutiny
Committee can be known.
568 INITIAL HOUSING
REVENUE ACCOUNT BUDGET PROPOSALS 2008/09 AND REVISED BUDGET 2007/08
(DLPPHS & DFICTP) -
The Initial Housing Revenue Account Budget
proposals were before the Committee for consideration together with
the revised budget for 2007/08. The table below compared the
original budget with the proposed revised estimate.
|
|
2007/08
Original
Budget
|
2007/08
Proposed Revised
Estimate
|
Variance
(+)Favourable
(-)Adverse
|
|
|
£’000
|
£’000
|
£’000
|
|
Housing Revenue Account
|
(421)
|
(868)
|
447
|
The net decrease of £447,000 in the budget had
been due to several reasons. The budget had been adjusted to
reflect more accurately the capital financing charges (£250,000), a
decrease in security measures at Harbour View (Penarth
Heights) would save (£53,000), and the amount payable
to the Welsh Assembly Government in respect of Housing Subsidy was
likely to reduce by (£117,000). General efficiency savings
and vacancies accounted for the remaining balance of the
reductions.
Cabinet had approved the budget strategy and
timetable for 2008/09 on 25th July, 2007 as part of
the 2007/08 - 2010/11 Medium Term Financial Plan (Minute No.
C3160). The Budget Strategy had outlined that in order to
establish a baseline, services should prepare revenue budgets for
the following year based on the cost of providing the current level
of services and approved policy decisions and the cost of price
increases and pay awards would be included. In respect of the
Housing Revenue Account due to the nature of it being ringfenced
any growth would have to be funded from the balance and no cost
pressures had been formally identified.
The proposed 2008/09 budget was set out at
Appendix A to the report. It was noted that the charges for rent
and other services provided by the Housing Division were reviewed
on an annual basis and as such would be subject to a future report
once the information had been received from the Welsh Assembly
Government. The report however further highlighted that a
consultant was currently undertaking a Rent Review which was due to
be finalised by December 2007. The change in the budget was
therefore itemised as follows:
|
2007/08
Original
Budget
|
Inflation/
Pay
Award
|
Committee
Growth
/
Savings
|
Estimated
Rent
Increase
|
2008/2009
Proposed
Budget
|
|
£’000
|
£’000
|
£’000
|
£’000
|
£’000
|
|
(421)
|
102
|
346
|
(540)
|
(513)
|
The committed growth of £346,000 had been due
to the increases in subsidy repayable to WAG, a reduction in rent
income due to right to buy sales reducing the stock levels and an
increase in the cost of security at the hostel and general budget
adjustments, the estimated capital financial recharge, a reduction
in central recharges and a reduction in the security provision at
Penarth Heights. The Committee considered that in light of
the fact that the true settlement had not been received from the
Welsh Assembly Government it was difficult to make any comments on
the proposals and
RECOMMENDED -
(1) T H A
T the report be noted and referred to the Scrutiny Committee
Corporate Resources for consideration.
(2) T H A
T this Committee receive a report on the increases suggested for
rent and other services, as and when available, from the Welsh
Assembly Government.
Reasons for recommendations
(1)
Having regard to the contents of the report and the final
settlement figures awaited from the Welsh Assembly Government.
(2) In
order to meet the statutory deadline to notify tenants of the new
charges as required by statute.