| 379 | RECORD OF THE MEETING |
| | | The record of the meeting held on 16 October 2007 was signed by the Chairman as correct. |
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| 380 | APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE |
| | | Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Hunter and Royle. |
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| 381 | 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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| During discussion on the capital budget monitoring report Councillor Harriott declared a personal interest in the Rochester Bridge Trust as he is a Trustee.
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| 382 | BUDGET ISSUES - TOUR DE FRANCE |
| | Discussion: |
| | | The Director of Regeneration and Development introduced an item responding to questions raised at the meeting on 6 September 2007 concerning a budget overspend on the Tour de France. He stated that a report would be published next week by Sheffield Hallam University on the event.
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| Most Members felt that the event had largely been successful and the publicity and promotion of the area was welcomed. However, concern was expressed at the overspend and the way in which this had been agreed, particularly bearing in mind that the event was discretionary rather than a statutory responsibility. It was felt that the method used to agree to this overspend was contrary to the Council's constitution.
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| The Chief Executive and the Director of Regeneration and Development explained that there was provision in the constitution for virements to take place, up to £250,000 once the budget had been set.
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| This position was then disputed on the basis that this virement should only have been agreed if there was no impact on services. It was suggested by some Members that the recent closure of the crèche and reduction in opening hours of the Stirling Centre was as a direct result of this overspend. For this reason those Members felt that the matter should have been reported to Council for determination.
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| | > Tour de France (pdf file 27.2kb) |
| | Decision: |
| | | | (a) | The Committee celebrated the success of the event and benefits derived from it but requested that for future similar events full detailed costings, including intangibles, are dealt with at the outset;
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| | (b) | A briefing note was requested to clarify the constitutional arrangements for funding and virements arising in this situation.
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| 383 | CAPITAL BUDGET MONITORING |
| | Discussion: |
| | | The Accounting Manager introduced the capital monitoring report for the period to September 2007 and responded to Members' questions. In response to a question he stated that on page 45 of the report two budget lines should be merged, Rochester and Chatham Riverside and Rochester Riverside as these were one budget.
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| Officers, in response to a further query, undertook to provide a more detailed breakdown of the planned maintenance figures set out for the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) as set out in appendix 4 on page 44 of the agenda.
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| | > Capital Budget Monitoring (pdf file 8.5kb) |
| | > Appendix (pdf file 1.6Mb) |
| | Decision: |
| | | | (a) | The Committee noted the contents of the report and the progress to date towards achieving the outputs set by the capital programme;
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| | (b) | It was noted that the two budget lines referred to above should be merged;
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| | (c) | A breakdown of the HRA planned maintenance should be provided in future reports and the current breakdown circulated to all members of the Committee.
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| 384 | REVENUE BUDGET MONITORING |
| | Discussion: |
| | | The Chief Executive introduced the revenue budget monitoring report and responded to Members' questions. He stated that the outturn forecast had improved significantly and was now at a level of approximately £2.7m overspend. This compared to around £2.4m at a similar stage last year. He referred to the moratorium on spending, which was now in place and the freezing of posts, which had impacted on this figure.
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| The Committee debated the situation regarding the figure required to maintain the Medway Tunnel and queried whether there was any possibility of acquiring funding to support this expenditure. The Director of Regeneration and Development referred to a recent exceptional maintenance bid for funding to the Department for Transport which had been unsuccessful. It had, so far, not been possible to identify any other funding sources on the basis that the tunnel was not on a trunk road. Only a small amount of funding could be found from the Local Transport Plan money towards this expenditure. Officers had spoken to the Department for Transport and the Government Office for the South East but they were, at present, unable to assist.
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| | > Revenue Budget Monitoring (pdf file 8.4kb) |
| | > Appendix (pdf file 562.8kb) |
| | Decision: |
| | | | (a) | The Committee noted the considerably improved situation and the management action to deal with the proposed overspend;
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| | (b) | Officers were requested to explore other funding opportunities to improve and maintain the Medway Tunnel including applying for an exceptional maintenance bid next year.
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| 385 | CAPITAL PROGRAMME 2008/2009 AND BEYOND |
| | Discussion: |
| | | The Accounting Manager introduced the capital programme for 2008/2009 and beyond and responded to Members' questions.
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| The Chairman relayed a message from the Leader of the Council, Councillor Rodney Chambers, which had been referred to at the last Cabinet meeting when he stressed that Overview and Scrutiny Committees had an important part to play in setting the 2008/2009 budgets. The Leader had said that there were some areas worthy of particular consideration; in particular where the Council is predicting large pressures in the revenue budget. In his view Overview and Scrutiny Committees could add real value by looking at these areas and investigating if there are better and more cost effective ways of working without reducing current levels of service delivery. In this way it was felt that the Overview and Scrutiny Committees could make a serious and influential contribution to budget preparation.
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| Some Members expressed the view that the responsibility for setting the budget rested with the Cabinet. Members then requested further detail on proposals being formulated as part of the budget preparation in order that they could properly scrutinise them and make detailed recommendations. The Chief Executive explained that he did not feel this would be possible as this information was not at a point where it could be shared.
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| The Accounting Manager advised the committee of the transport maintenance grant allocations for 2008/09 - 1010/11 which had just been announced.
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| With regard to the proposed capital programme, the Director of Regeneration and Development announced that the Council had been granted £47 million over the next three years as part of the Thames Gateway Delivery Plan and would be circulating a briefing note to all Members.
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| | > Capital Programme 2008-2009 and beyond (pdf file 9.9kb) |
| | > Appendix (pdf file 32.8kb) |
| | Decision: |
| | | | (a) | The Committee agreed to forward the relevant parts of the capital programme to the individual Overview and Scrutiny Committees for consideration and to include the announced transport maintenance figures to Regeneration and Development Overview and Scrutiny Committee;
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| | (b) | A briefing note detailing the award of the monies for the Thames Gateway Delivery Plan is to be sent to all Members of the Council.
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| 386 | DRAFT REVENUE BUDGET 2008/2009 |
| | Discussion: |
| | | The Chief Executive referred Members to the draft revenue budget figures set out in Table 2 of the report and explained that the funding gap was just under £12m. He then emphasised that the Council must set a balanced budget. Some Members expressed their disappointment that there were no costed options made available for them to scrutinise.
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| Responding to a question, the Chief Executive stated a number of income generation and savings measures would be considered, one being the potential to re-schedule the former KCC debt. Members requested further details of these proposals by way of a briefing note. |
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| | > Draft Revenue Budget 2008-2009 (pdf file 10.0kb) |
| | > Appendix (pdf file 2.3Mb) |
| | Decision: |
| | | | (a) | The Committee agreed to forward the draft revenue budget for 2008/2009 to the individual Overview and Scrutiny Committees for consideration;
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| | (b) | Officers and/or Cabinet are requested to provide more detailed information on Service and rationalising options and the possible impact these would have, once the information became available;
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| | (c) | A briefing note is provided on the potential for re-scheduling former KCC debt.
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| 387 | WORK PROGRAMME |
| | Discussion: |
| | | The Chairman referred to a discussion with the Assistant Director (Democracy and Governance) where a proposal was made that the work programmes of all Overview and Scrutiny Committees could be brought to this Committee as part of its Role to co-ordinate the scrutiny function.
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| | > Work Programme (pdf file 12.2kb) |
| | > Work Programme Schedule (pdf file 16.6kb) |
| | Decision: |
| | | The work programme remained unchanged. |
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