Decision details

The Chair welcomed to the meeting Noel O'Neill, Interim Director of Finance and Commerce, Kate Lee, Head of Service Financial Management (Operational), Kashif Ahmed, Director of Strategic & Integrated Commissioning and County Councillor Alan Vincent, Cabinet Member for Resources, HR and Property (Deputy Leader).

Members were presented with a report on the tracking and delivery of savings agreed by Full Council in the current and previous financial years. It was highlighted to Members that £73 million of the £80 million predicted savings were achieved, and the savings for 2024/25 had increased by approximately £28 million. It was further highlighted to the committee that the Budget Savings Tracker would be brought to the committee every quarter, to ensure adequate scrutiny.

Comments and questions were as follows:

·  Concerns were expressed regarding what was felt to be above average pay increases for public sector employees and that subsequently, the Budget Savings Tracker would need to be reviewed as a result of this decision. It was highlighted to Members that the report was subject to change and funding from central government and through monitoring of spending, it would be adjusted accordingly.

·  Regarding Adult Services, Members highlighted that 42.29% of savings were in this Directorate, and the concentration of amber categories also fell under Adult Services. On whether these savings would be particularly difficult to achieve, It was highlighted that the largest part of the council's budget was in Adult Services, therefore this was a direct correlation. Members were reassured that a number of benchmarking exercises had been undertaken in Adult Services to ensure the development of cost-effective solutions.

·  It was queried if savings would be monitored through any Combined County Authority (CCA) arrangements in the future. It was highlighted to Members that the CCA would have its own governance structure, and therefore would be scrutinised independently of Lancashire County Council.

·  Regarding Education and Children's Services, it was queried if the 'Use of Resettlement Grant Income' service (reference ECS003) was ringfenced to young people new to the country and how this linked overall. Members were informed that more information on this would be circulated to the Board after the meeting.

·  Members were informed that virements were not easily achievable anymore, instead it was explained that savings were investigated to determine if these were a one off or permanent reduction and was a piece of work the Finance team was working on.

·  Members requested that a comparison be included in the Budget Savings Tracker along with more narrative on key savings to monitor progress. It was confirmed that this would be included in the next report to the Scrutiny Management Board.

·  It was explained to the Board that 'ECS005 - Funding MIT advisers through central schools block' saving under Education and Children's Services could no longer be funded and therefore, was in the red category of the report. Further information on the reasons for this were requested.

·  Regarding Appendix A, it was felt the table listed as 'all county council services' was too broad a description and it was queried what all council services referred to. It was acknowledged that more narrative was needed to reflect what was captured under this heading, but essentially it referred to services that affected all of the council e.g. in a cross-cutting way., The terminology would be reviewed for future reports.

Resolved: That the report be considered.