Agenda, decisions and minutes

Members are asked to declare any interest and the nature of that interest which they may have in any of the items under consideration at this meeting.

There were no declarations of interest.

The Chairman to advise whether they have agreed to any item of urgent business being admitted to the agenda.

There were no items of urgent business.

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 24 June 2014.

The Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 24 June 2014 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

To receive communications from the Chairman.

There were no Chairman’s announcements.

Report of the Interim Head of Finance and Procurement

Purpose of report

To provide members of the Budget Planning Committee with a summary update on the progress of capital schemes slipped from 2013-14.

Recommendations

The meeting is recommended to:

 1.1          Consider the contents of this report.

Resolved

1.1         That the report be noted

1.2         That relevant budget holders be invited to future meetings of the Committee to address concerns when budgets are not being spent

1.3         That the Interim Head of Finance and Procurement be requested to draft an outline for a possible central contingency budget, including how any such system would be administered, for consideration at a future meeting

The Committee considered a report of the Interim Head of Finance and Procurement which detailed progress on capital schemes which had slipped from the 2013-14 financial year. 

In response to concerns raised by the Committee, it was agreed that the sequencing of financial update items to Budget Planning and Executive be looked at by officers to make sure they were considered in a logical order.

The Committee also requested that further information be included in future slippage reports, such as the date the slippage was first requested, in order for them to be able to monitor more accurately the length of time and reasoning for the slippage.

It was agreed that inviting relevant budget holders to future meetings to answer project specific questions would also be useful.

In response to a request from the Committee the Interim Head of Finance and Procurement agreed to draft an outline for a potential central contingency budget, to include how it may be administered, as there was concern that some of the slippage was in fact contingency.    

Resolved

(1)            That the report be noted

(2)      That relevant budget holders be invited to future meetings of the Committee to address concerns when budgets are not being spent

(3)      That the Interim Head of Finance and Procurement be requested to draft an outline for a possible central contingency budget, including how any such system would be administered, for consideration at a future meeting

Report of the Interim Head of Finance and Procurement

Purpose of report

To address areas for improvement raised following the capital budget process of 2014-15 ahead of the process for 2015-16. 

Recommendations

The meeting is recommended to:

1.1     Approve the Capital Scoring Matrix for 2015-16

1.2     Approve the Capital Bid Proforma for 2015-16

1.3     Note the proposed budget timetable for 2015-16

Resolved

1.1         That, subject to the amendments requested by the Committee, the Capital Scoring Matrix for 2015-16 be approved

1.2         That, subject to the amendments requested by the Committee, the Capital Bid pro-forma for 2015-16 be approved

1.3         That the proposed budget timetable for 2015-16 be noted

The Committee considered a report of the Interim Head of Finance and Procurement which detailed suggested refinements to the Capital budget process for 2015-16.

With regard to the proposed revisions to the Capital Project Appraisal Form, the Committee requested that the ‘Highly Recommended’ box in section 5 be renamed ‘Essential’, and that the ‘other’ box in section 15 be expanded to include reference to any conditions or restrictions attached to funding.

With regard to the revised Capital Scoring Matrix, the Committee requested that the ‘Highly Recommended’ column be renamed ‘Essential’, and the section of the matrix referring to ‘Efficiency – net revenue implications’ be expanded to include a reference to ‘per first full year’ or similar wording, to make it clear the level of savings and time frame they relate to.     

Resolved

(1)            That, subject to the amendments requested by the Committee, the Capital Scoring Matrix for 2015-16 be approved

(2)      That, subject to the amendments requested by the Committee, the Capital Bid pro-forma for 2015-16 be approved

(3)      That the proposed budget timetable for 2015-16 be noted

To review and note the Committee Work Programme

Resolved

1.1         That, subject to the inclusion of an IT strategy update for the September 2014 meeting and the addition of an informal meeting on 11 November 2014, the work programme be noted. 

The Committee considered the draft Work Programme for 2014/15.

The Committee requested that relevant officers be invited to attend the September 2014 meeting of the Committee, to answer questions relating to the IT Strategy.

Resolved

(1)            That, subject to the inclusion of an IT strategy update by Officers at the September 2014 meeting and the addition of an informal meeting on 11 November 2014, the work programme be noted. 

The following report contains exempt information as defined in the following paragraphs of Part 1, Schedule 12A of Local Government Act 1972.

3 – Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information).

Members are reminded that whilst the following item has been marked as exempt, it is for the meeting to decide whether or not to consider it in private or in public. In making the decision, members should balance the interests of individuals or the Council itself in having access to the information. In considering their discretion members should also be mindful of the advice of Council Officers.

Should Members decide not to make a decision in public, they are recommended to pass the following recommendation:

“That under Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972, the public and press be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business on the ground that, if the public and press were present, it would be likely that exempt information falling under the provisions of Schedule 12A, Part 1, Paragraph 3 would be disclosed to them, and that in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.”

Resolved

That under Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972, the public and press be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business on the ground that, if the public and press were present, it would be likely that exempt information falling under the provisions of Schedule 12A, Part 1, Paragraph 3 would be disclosed to them, and that in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

Exempt presentation of the Interim Head of Finance and Procurement

Resolved

1.1       That the update be noted

The Interim Head of Finance and Procurement gave an exempt presentation detailing the latest position for the 2015-16 budget. The presentation utilised the ‘alternative options’ spread sheet which had been put together, which allowed Members to input various figures to measure the impact on the five year budget position.

Resolved

(1)            That the update be noted