Agenda item

(To receive a report from Michelle Grady, Assistant Director – Finance, which invites the Committee to consider and comment on the budget proposals for the Public Protection and Communities services for the financial year 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025, prior to consideration by the Executive at its meeting on 6 February 2024)

Consideration was given to a report from the Assistant Director – Finance, which invited the Committee to consider and comment on the budget proposals for the financial year 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025 for the Council’s Public Protection and Communities services prior to consideration by the Executive at its meeting on the 6 February 2024.  It was noted that at this meeting the Executive would be agreeing a final budget proposal to be taken to the budget setting meeting of the County Council on 23 February 2024.

In guiding the Committee through the report, the Assistant Director – Finance referred to the background to the budget proposals; the 2024/25 Revenue Budget; and the proposed Capital Programme.

During consideration of the revenue and capital budget proposals for 2024/25 as detailed in the report presented, the following comments were noted:

·       Concerns were raised about the lack of an increase in the revenue budget for a number of service areas and whether this would be feasible. It was clarified that the relevant directors and assistant directors had been consulted with on their budgets, and the only items not included in those service budget proposals was the pay inflation for 2024/25. These had been budgeted for in the Council’s contingency budget to ensure that when those pay awards were given, they could then be added into the service budgets;

·       Disappointment was expressed regarding the late announcement of the additional £500m funding for councils from the Government which could have provided more certainty around the Council’s financial position earlier in the budget setting process. It was confirmed that no information had been received yet regarding how much additional funding the Council would be receiving from the Government and it was hoped that more information would be included in the final settlement which was due shortly. The challenge for the Council going forward was that the additional funding was only for 2024/25 whereas the cost pressures were being built into the base budget and would be a constant year on year cost which needed to be planned for accordingly;

·       In response to a query regarding the budget for the Fire Fleet and Equipment capital scheme, it was confirmed that it was difficult to estimate the cost for a new fire appliance as this would depend on the standards and requirements needed and market research. When the contract goes out to tender in the future, there could be next generation replacement appliances available, and there could be a need to consider different capabilities which would be based on what the future risks were. For the previous contract, the cost was around £8m for 33 fire appliances, which meant that each one had cost approximately £242,000. However, it was clarified that there might not be a need to replace all the equipment depending on risk and usage, and it was anticipated that the costings would be different moving forward;

·       The Committee questioned the £614,000 additional costs for the contract inflation on the libraries contract, and it was confirmed that this would be included in the base budget for the service moving forward. It was clarified that a report on the recommissioning of the libraries contract from April 2026 would be brought to a meeting of the Public Protection and Communities Scrutiny Committee over the next few months. Consideration was being given to the potential impact on the budget of recommissioning, and it would be approached in a way that would allow for some negotiation of the contract to ensure the Council could maintain an affordable and deliverable library service; and

·       The Committee explored whether there were any future risks to the Public Protection and Communities services which could impact on the budget. It was clarified that there was a contingency of £6m planned for next year to deal with some of the volatility around prices, particularly for the contracts which were easier to forecast as they tended to be a year behind and could be built in. In addition, there were some general reserves which could support any unplanned cost pressures.

The Chairman on behalf of the Committee thanked the Assistant Director – Finance for her presentation.

RESOLVED

That support be given to the budget proposals presented in the report for the Public Protection and Communities services for 2024/25 and that the comments raised by the Committee be passed on to the Executive for consideration at its 6 February 2024 meeting.

Note: Councillor K E Lee wished it to be noted that she had abstained from voting.