Agenda and draft minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Jelley, Lawal, Carter, Shacklock and Wilkes.

Members were invited to make a declaration of interest if they wished to do so.

Resolved to note that no declarations were made.

The minutes of the meeting held on 21 June 2022 were approved and signed as a correct record. 

The circulated report of the Executive Director of Place and Economy, Mr Candler, was received in relation to the provision of the kerbside garden waste collection service and the options for harmonisation and funding of the service in the future.

Mr Candler referenced Table 1 at 7.1.8 of the report and Option A and reported a correction to the figure in the bottom row of the table, to read £1,543.515. He also clarified that there had been over 9,000 responses to the consultation. The report detailed four options that officers had developed to explore costs and operational factors of each funding approach. The resource and financial implications were further detailed at 7.1 of the report.

The report was presented to committee by Graeme Kane, Assistant Director, who detailed the disparity in the arrangements for the garden waste service, between those residents living in the former East Northamptonshire area and the other three former sovereign boroughs of Corby, Kettering and Wellingborough.  All households in North Northamptonshire paid for collection through their council tax charge but those in the former East Northamptonshire area are required to pay a subscription charge for the green waste service. Those in Wellingborough only received the service for eight months of the year, rather than 12 months as in other areas.

Following a public consultation, over 9,000 responses had been received, with the full results being provided on-line, with a link provided within the report.

The Executive resolved to defer making a decision on harmonisation to a later date to enable this to be considered through the scrutiny process.

Members of the Scrutiny Commission had been invited to attend this committee, to enable their comments to also be taken into consideration, alongside those of the committee.

The annual net cost to the council of providing the garden waste service was £2.695m, equating to a cost for each household, regardless of whether they used the service, of £22 per year.

If a subscription service was to be introduced, the cost would be set at £40 per bin, per year and this charge would contribute towards the costs of operating the service, thus improving the council’s financial position by £2.010m.

A universal 12-month service would create a pressure on the council’s budget of £1.543m, plus a mobilisation cost of c£687k.

Officers were aware that not all residents required a garden waste service. Many households did not have a garden, or enough room to accommodate another bin. Others chose to dispose of their garden waste through home composting or by visiting the Household Waste and Recycling Centres.

To contribute towards meeting the financial challenges presented by the medium-term financial plan, and to create equality of service, the report recommended that the service be funded through a subscription charge for a 12-month period. The subscription charge would be £40 per bin, per year. For those who wished to have an alternative sack collection service it would be £12 for 10 sacks (each being 75 litres).

A further cost-effective and environmentally responsible  ...  view the full minutes text for item FSC/59

The circulated report of the Executive Director of Finance was received setting out the draft outturn forecast for 2021/22 (period 12) as previously present to the Executive at its meeting on 14 July 2022.

The Executive Director of Finance presented the report to committee.

The forecast outturn position for the general fund showed an underspend of £1,771k, being a net reduction of 137k from the position reported in period 11. The Housing Revenue account detailed an underspend of £538k.  The report set out the reasons for the movements against the budget.  

Committee welcomed the report and the information relating to the underspend and savings.  Reference was made to the smoothing reserves and particularly to the provision set aside for Home to School Transport of £2.500m.  The Executive Director of Finance clarified that the increase in the cost of school transport was highlighted as a potential future pressure on budgets to be considered as part of the development of the medium-term financial plan.

A question was raised over point 5.23.  The Executive Director for Adults clarified that there had been additional temporary measures put in place in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.  A query was raised regarding the accuracy of the narrative and this would be discussed further outside of the meeting.

Reference was also made to the net underspend of £872k on salaries. It was explained that budgets were always put in place for a full establishment allowing for a vacancy (turnover) factor.

Resolved that the report and comments made be noted.

The circulated report of the Executive Director of Finance was received to set out the draft Capital Outturn 2021/22 as presented to the Executive on 14 July 2022.

The Executive Director of Finance presented the report to committee.

The report set out the position on the capital programme for 2021/22 compared to budget. This showed an underspend of £57.9m on the general fund and £15.7m for the Housing Revenue Account. The Executive Director of Finance highlighted the level of slippage in her introduction and some of the main causes for this, which included that some legacy projects were budgeted for in full at the time of approval, whilst others were profiled over the likely period of delivery. The position on the carry forward of slippage from 2021/22 to 2022/23, together with the in-year budget approval for 2022/23 demonstrated the requirement to further examine the deliverability of the programme.

Committee commented that slippage on the capital programme did not look good and had a knock-on effect on the cost of projects coming forward and progressing.  The Executive Director of Finance advised that work was taking place with directorates to review the position in 2022/23 and beyond, which included an assessment of the delivery of each project.

Reference was made to the administration and monitoring of Section 106 monies, as it was noted that such funds were at risk if not spent in line with the requirements of the agreements. It was confirmed that, an internal audit had been undertaken of the position on S106 agreements and that an action plan was being finalised to address the recommendations.  Reference was also made to the Community Infrastructure Levy and the Director of Place would respond to this outside the meeting.

Resolved that the report and comments made be noted.

The circulated report of the Executive Director of Finance was received to set out the budget forecast 2022/23 as at period 2 and as presented to the Executive on 14 July 2022.

This was based on the income and expenditure as at end of May 2022 and of the view of the budget managers. The forecast position for the General Fund was showing an overspend of £237k, with an underspend of £257k for the Housing Revenue account.

The Executive Director clarified that there was expected to be further challenges around inflation, which was continuing to rise.  The Employer pay offer had been proposed but was yet to be agreed and would present an additional pressure to the budget, which would need to be considered against available contingency in year.

Concern was expressed over the increasing cost of home to school transport and the Executive Director for Place and Economy responded regarding the position and that the service was due to disaggregate and was under review but that there were challenges in the current environment.

A question was asked as to whether payments to the Grant Maintained Nurseries had been made.  The Director of Children’s Services confirmed that some payments had been made but that not all the nurseries had completed and returned their documentation yet. Once they did so payments would be finalised. She further advised that she would share the details of the payments to date with the committee.

Resolved that the report and comments made be noted.

The circulated report of the Assistant Chief Executive was received to provide the following information, provided as appendices to the report:

·         Summary Performance Indicator report for Corporate Services Period 2 (May 2022);

·         Detailed Performance Indicator report for Corporate Services Period 2 (May 2022);

·         Human Resources Workforce Data Report Period 2 (May 2022)

Reference was made to the number of vacancies reported as 866 full time equivalents with some directorates having considerable numbers of vacancies.

The Director of Adults, Communities and Wellbeing Services explained that in his service area, there was a legal requirement for certain posts to be staffed at all times. Consequently during school holiday times, where permanent staff wished to take annual leave, there were positions on the establishment to account for these periods.

Similarly, in the elections area, there would be posts on the establishment for polling station and count staff, which may only be called on in an election year, but which remained on the establishment.

This was a process used in most large authorities and was therefore not unusual and was always the best use of resources and time to keep services operational.

There was, however, a ‘cleansing process’ being undertaken to remove any posts that were no longer required.

A member suggested that it would be useful to reflect this in future in the performance reporting. Officers would investigate this.

Resolved to note the report and comments made.

The Chair reported on the progress made in relation to the review of the Maintained Nurseries.  In discussion with officers an action plan was in place with dates agreed to visit the nurseries in September and report back in due course.

Resolved that the update be noted.

The meeting concluded at 9.55pm.