| 442 | RECORD OF THE MEETING |
| | | The record of the meeting held on 29 November 2007 was signed by the Chairman as correct subject to the following amendment:
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| To amend 383(c) to read: 'A breakdown of the HRA capital programme...'
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| Further to this concerns were expressed by Councillors Harriott and Griffiths about overcharging, which had taken place in relation to the HRA capital programme. They questioned why the Council was being overcharged for various works when contractors were meant to be operating under the National Housing Federation schedule of rates. They also asked why money had been diverted from other funds to pay for the overcharging.
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| The Chief Executive undertook to have a meeting with Members on this issue.
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| 443 | APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE |
| | | Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Mackinlay and Stamp. |
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| 444 | DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST |
| | | Councillor Griffiths declared a personal interest in any item concerning Danecourt School as his wife is an employee and in any reference to the Primary Care Trust (PCT) on the grounds that he is a non-executive director of Medway PCT. |
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| 445 | ATTENDANCE BY COUNCILLOR JARRETT |
| | | Councillor Jarrett addressed the Committee about various areas within his portfolio of services including:
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| | • | The revenue and capital budgets
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| | • | Revenues and benefits
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| | • | Risk management
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| | • | Property
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| | • | Strategic procurement unit
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| | • | Prosecutions
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| | • | Corporate Bidding unit
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| | • | Communications
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| Members questioned Councillor Jarrett about the following matters:
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| | • | Floor damping
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| | • | Whether in hindsight the previous budget could have been more robust
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| | • | The provisional capital programme for 2008/2009
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| | • | Monitoring of contracts
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| | • | Property disposals
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| | • | Budget scrutiny
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| | • | Additional funding to cope with increase in Medway's residents as a result of regeneration proposals, building developments and the influx of people from other countries
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| | • | Budget for events
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| With the permission of the Committee, Councillor Burt referred to the scrutiny of the budget by Overview and Scrutiny Committees and stated that he felt it would be helpful for scrutiny to have options from the Cabinet to scrutinise more effectively.
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| The Chairman thanked Councillor Jarrett for attending the meeting and the information and answers he had provided to the Committee. |
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| 446 | DRAFT CAPITAL AND REVENUE BUDGET PROPOSALS 2008/2009 |
| | Discussion: |
| | | The Chief Executive introduced the draft capital and revenue budget proposals for 2008/2009 and stated that the proposals did not include control totals. Each directorate had been asked to put forward 10% savings and any ideas on generating income.
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| He then introduced Lisa Fillery, senior accountant, who responded to a number of questions in relation to the revenue budget.
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| In response to a query the Chief Executive undertook to look into a suggestion of deleting frozen posts, which had been frozen for some time. Members felt that the posts were either needed, in which case they should be filled, or if not then the posts should be deleted rather than remaining as vacant.
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| A briefing note was requested giving a breakdown of the £204,000 listed as miscellaneous/various on appendix four of the report.
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| Councillor Burt, with the consent of the Committee, suggested that in view of the budget position it might be appropriate for Members to forego their ward improvement budgets. The Chairman stated that this was one of a number of options being considered by the Cabinet.
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| Discussion took place around the way forward for scrutinising the budget as it was felt that the present situation was ineffective. The Chairman and spokespersons undertook to meet in an attempt to improve the situation for future years. It was also felt it would be useful for budget scrutiny to commence in April each year by focussing on a number of larger more fundamental savings or income areas that could benefit budget setting in the following financial year. A number of potential topics were discussed including the possibility of looking at the treasury. |
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| | > Capital and revenue budget (pdf file 49.1kb) |
| | > Appendix 1 (pdf file 7.5kb) |
| | > Appendix 2 (pdf file 12.2kb) |
| | > Appendix 3 (pdf file 7.1kb) |
| | > Appendix 4 (pdf file 7.6kb) |
| | Decision: |
| | | | (a) | It was agreed that with effect from 2008 budget scrutiny should commence in April and that the Chairman and spokespersons should meet to discuss how to improve the process;
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| | (b) | A briefing note on 'miscellaneous' pressures giving a breakdown of the £204,000 referred to in appendix 4 is to be sent to all members of the Committee;
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| | (c) | Consideration is given to the impact of deleting frozen posts after a certain period rather than leaving them permanently frozen;
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| | (d) | With regard to internal transactions caution should be exercised when estimating income from charges to other services in the council. |
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