Agenda and minutes

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Venue: Committee Room 'B' - The Diamond Jubilee Room, County Hall, Preston. View directions

Contact: Gary Halsall  Tel: (01772) 533419, Email:  gary.halsall@lancashire.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

1.

Apologies

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from County Councillor Mrs L Oades.

2.

Disclosure of Personal and Prejudicial Interests

Members are asked to consider any Personal/Prejudicial Interests they may have to disclose to the meeting in relation to matters under consideration on the Agenda.

Minutes:

The following County Councillors declared a personal interest in item 3 - Scrutiny of the Proposals for Lancashire County Council's Revenue Budget 2011/12 – 2013/14 accordingly:

 

·  F Craig-Wilson – Member of 'Friends of St Annes Library' and Fylde Borough Council;

·  P Malpas – Member of Chorley Borough Council, School Governor at Coppull Primary School and Children's Centre, and School Governor at Parklands High School;

·  P Steen – Member of Rossendale Borough Council, School Governor at Whitworth Community High School, Governor at Bacup Britannia Community Primary School, and SureStart Centre at Rossendale and Bacup;

·  Mrs J Hanson – Member of Lancaster City Council;

·  S Chapman – Governor at Albany Science College;

·  D Westley – Member of West Lancashire Borough Council, and Governor at Ormskirk School;

·  M Devaney – Member of Chorley Borough Council, and School Governor at Manor Road Primary School;

·  B Winlow – School Governor at Lea Community Primary School;

·  D O'Toole – Member of West Lancashire Borough Council, Governor at Ormskirk School; and

·  J Shedwick – Member of Dukes Playhouse Board of Directors, and Member of the Sounding Board of the Lancashire Sinfonietta.

3.

Minutes of the Meeting held on 10 December 2010

To follow

Minutes:

Resolved: That the minutes of the meeting held on 10 December 2010 be confirmed and signed by the chair.

4.

Scrutiny of the Proposals for Lancashire County Council's Revenue Budget 2011/12 - 2013/14 pdf icon PDF 62 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee considered a report regarding the County Council's Revenue Budget proposals for 2011/12 – 2013/14 which were agreed by the Cabinet at their meeting held on 6 January 2011.

 

The Chair welcomed Steve Freeman, Principal Accountant, to the meeting.  Mr Freeman attended the meeting to answer any questions from the Scrutiny Committee.

 

The Chair proposed a process for the scrutiny of the Below the Line Savings, Service Efficiencies, Service Policy Proposals and Service Charging Proposals which were outlined in the Cabinet's Budget Proposals. He suggested that all the matters raised by the Cabinet under those headings be allocated to each of the Scrutiny Committees in accordance with their terms of reference.  A document was handed out at the meeting which identified the proposed allocation of work to the Scrutiny Committee, Health Committee and the Education Committee accordingly, a copy of which is set out in the minute book as Annex 1.

 

The Chair reminded the Committee that additional Scrutiny Budget Meetings had been organised for the 12 and 14 January where Cabinet Members T Ashton, M Calvert, S Charles, M Perks and A Atkinson, G Driver, M Green would be in attendance respectively. 

 

The Committee agreed the allocation of work for each of the Scrutiny Committees as set out at Annex 1 to these minutes.  The Committee then considered its allocated work identifying issues for further consideration at the informal Budget Meetings to be held on 12 and 14 January 2011.

 

The following issues were identified as areas for further consideration by the committee:

 

Corporate / Cross Cutting

 

Below the Line Savings:

·  These will be given consideration specifically at the meeting with the Leader, but may also be raised with other Cabinet members where issues are cross council

 

Adult and Community Services

 

Libraries and Arts:

·  Further information was requested on the four proposals relating to Libraries and Arts funding (Reduction in mobile library service; Reduction in Resources Fund (Book acquisition); Libraries staff and service rationalisation; Reduce grant support for the Arts).

Specific questions raised were:

·  Is the "Regenerate" programme for libraries still in place?

·  What impact does Regenerate have on the revenue savings (and vice versa)?

·  Are there any financial implications in relation to the agreement with Lancaster City Council on the Lancaster Museums?

 

Children & Young People

 

Transforming Care Services

·  Further information was requested on the two options "Transforming Care Service for Children and Young People" and "Transforming Care Services - Reducing numbers of authority residential places and the number of adolescents accommodated in children's home provision"

A specific question raised was

·  Whether specific children's homes had already been identified for closure and / or the process for doing so.

 

Early Years / Family Support

·  Further detail was requested on the policy proposals for Early years/Family support.

 

Environment

 

"One Team" working

·  The committee asked for further detail on the proposed efficiency saving connected to "One Team" working

 

Waste

·  Further information was requested on the four proposals relating to waste (Maximising efficiencies of the PFI contract; Closure of Household Waste  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

5.

Urgent Business

An item of urgent business may only be considered under this heading where, by reason of special circumstances to be recorded in the Minutes, the Chair of the meeting is of the opinion that the item should be considered at the meeting as a matter of urgency. Wherever possible, the Chief Executive should be given advance warning of any Member's intention to raise a matter under this heading.

Minutes:

There were no items of urgent business.

6.

Dates of Future Meetings - January 2011

The following dates have been scheduled for the Scrutiny Committee throughout January 2011:

 

·  12th January – 2pm (extraordinary meeting);

·  14th January – 2pm (extraordinary meeting); and

·  21st January – 10am

 

All meetings will be held in Cabinet Room 'B', County Hall, Preston.

Minutes:

It was noted that the following meetings would take place in January 2011:

 

·  12th January – 2pm (Informal Budget Meeting);

·  14th January – 2pm (Informal Budget Meeting); and

·  21st January – 10am (formal committee meeting)

 

All meetings will be held in Cabinet Room 'B', County Hall, Preston.