Decision details

The Chair welcomed County Councillor Alan Vincent, Cabinet Member for Resources, HR and Property (Deputy Leader), Noel O'Neill, Interim Director of Finance and Commerce, Kate Lee, Head of Service Financial Management (Operational), Mark Howe, Director of Quality Improvement and Principal Social Worker to the meeting.

The Board was presented with a copy of the 2024/25 Quarter 1 Financial Monitoring Report as presented to Cabinet at its meeting held on 5 September 2024. The report provided an update on the 2024/25 revenue and capital financial position, as at the end of June 2024.

It was reported that the 2024/25 Quarter 2 Financial Monitoring Report was due to be presented to Cabinet at its meeting scheduled for 5 December 2024. Members raised a concern that the receipt of this report was not timely, and as such impacted on the effectiveness of a review by the Scrutiny Management Board. The Cabinet Member for Resources, HR and Property (Deputy Leader) agreed to ask the Political Governance Working Group to carry out a review on whether budget scrutiny was an appropriate function for the main scrutiny committees to undertake.

Members were invited to ask questions and a summary is outlined below:

On the challenges with funding to provide services, it was reported that there remained pressures across all key service areas such as adult services, SEND and school transport services. However, services continued to take steps to ensure that service requirements were met.

A number of questions were raised in relation to monitoring savings and processes in place. Officers sought to assure the Board that all identified and approved savings were closely monitored through Directorate Finance and Performance Boards. This included identifying mitigations required where there were delays in savings. This could include aspects such as in year one off savings via extra grants, and staffing vacancies. Members were advised that ongoing challenges with regards to achieving savings continued to be monitored closely. On whether the minutes of the performance boards could be shared with members, the Interim Director of Finance and Commerce agreed to consult the council's Monitoring Officer to confirm the position.

On the £2m procurement savings identified, it was highlighted that the savings were primarily related to commissioning and were regularly reviewed both internally and externally. Members were informed that contract management would be reviewed, which had been identified through an external audit undertaken.

With regard to a question on targets and working from home savings, including rationalisation of buildings, it was reported that a review was underway on building running costs and the production of a new property strategy to assess rationalising buildings and bringing services together to support and reduce a growing backlog of maintenance.

It was noted that in future, financial and performance reporting would be linked and scheduled for consideration by Cabinet at the same meetings throughout the year. There was a commitment to ensure both reports would be presented to the Scrutiny Management Board.

On a query raised concerning agency costs and staffing in Adult Services, it was reported that there has been an increase in staff leaving the authority. In addition, the recent staff survey has indicated some areas for improvement. There continues to be a need to look at reducing agency costs which was under discussion with the People Service. It was acknowledged that Adult Services continued to be under significant pressure due to rising demand, workload challenges and ability to respond, alongside the complexity of working with a number of partner agencies and the appropriate funding of services. However, it was reported that teams within the service continued to seek ways to work smarter and more cost effectively as well as staff engagement to raise awareness and seek feedback on cost pressures.

Resolved: That the Scrutiny Management Board welcomed the proposal to align the timing of the Corporate Performance and Financial Monitoring reports presented to Cabinet and this Board.