Agenda and minutes

Venue: Meeting Room 1, 135 Eastern Avenue, Milton Park, Milton, OX14 4SB

Contact: Candida Mckelvey, Democratic Services Officer 

Items
No. Item

Sc27

Apologies for absence

To record apologies for absence and the attendance of substitute members. 

Minutes:

Apologies received from Councillors Robert Maddison and Andy Foulsham.

Sc28

Declarations of interest

To receive any declarations of disclosable pecuniary interests in respect of items on the agenda for this meeting.  

Minutes:

None.

Sc29

Urgent business and chairman's announcements

To receive notification of any matters which the chairman determines should be considered as urgent business and the special circumstances which have made the matters urgent, and to receive any announcements from the chairman. 

Minutes:

There were no Chairman’s announcements. The Chairman briefly ran through housekeeping.

Sc30

Public participation

To receive any questions or statements from members of the public that have registered to speak. 

Minutes:

None.

Sc31

Work schedule and dates for all South and Vale scrutiny meetings pdf icon PDF 86 KB

To review the attached scrutiny work schedule. Please note, although the dates are confirmed, the items under consideration are subject to being withdrawn, added to or rearranged without further notice.

 

Minutes:

None.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sc32

Revenue budget 2020/21 and capital programme to 2024/25 pdf icon PDF 173 KB

To consider the head of finance’s report (to follow).

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The committee considered the Interim Head of Finance’s report on the revenue budget 2020/21 and the capital programme to 2024/25.

 

Councillor Crawford briefed the committee on the budget report. It was a difficult task to provide the report on time, due to the December elections. The officer’s hard work resulted in a forensic, line by line analysis of the budget.

 

Councillors attended a comprehensive pre-briefing on the budget report.

 

Council Tax announcement has been delayed until the 14February, due to the Thames Valley Police tax element being delayed.

 

There was a £500,000 budget for transformation, and a £5 Council Tax increase for Band D properties. Climate Emergency has been allocated £106,000.

 

Clarifications:

 

·         It was confirmed that when the budget allows next year, there will be a working group to consider a move towards a single district council.

·         Transformation will include a review of community and leisure services, to reduce losses.

·         Enforcement budget is lowered due to the department already having 14 enforcers. Further staffing would not improve outcomes.

 

The Portfolio Holder for finance confirmed that he had confidence in the 2020/21 budget. It was forensically carried out. 96 percent of budget lines delivered within 2 percent of budget; the variance was small. The council’s external auditors commented that this is a well-managed budget and councillors were encouraged to attend the Audit and Governance Committee if they want to.

 

The committee discussed budget assumptions, and clarification was given by officers and the portfolio holder.

 

For example, planning fees overestimation: There is little control over some budget aspects – the estimates are based on historical evidence and land in the pipeline. The budget has been produced alongside services, to identify where we can offset income and expenditure. For example, if there are less planning applications, do not recruit vacant posts.

 

The new IT system in Revenue and Benefits has shown a reduction in overpayments, meaning the council has less to clawback.

 

Thanks were given to the Officers. The committee noted the report but did not make any recommendation to Cabinet.

 

 

 

Contact us - Democratic services

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01235 422520
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Vale of White Horse District Council
Abbey House, Abbey Close,
Abingdon
OX14 3JE