Agenda and minutes

County Councillors Anna Hindle and Jennifer Mein replaced County Councillors John Fillis and Matthew Tomlinson respectively for this meeting only.

Apologies were received from County Councillor John Shedwick.

Members are asked to consider any pecuniary and non-pecuniary interests they may have to disclose to the meeting in relation to matters under consideration on the agenda.

None were disclosed.

Resolved: That the minutes of the meeting held on the 16 January 2024 be approved as an accurate record.

The Chair welcomed to the meeting County Councillor Mike Goulthorp, Lead Member for Finance and Resources, Neil Kissock, Director of Finance and Kate Lee, Head of Service Financial Management.

The Board was presented with key highlights from the Money Matters 2023/24 Position – Quarter 3 report provided to Cabinet at its meeting held on 8 February 2024.

It was highlighted that a draft outturn position would be realised by the end of April 2024. There was no indication to expect any significant change in the position reported at quarter 3 in terms of the £5m overspend.

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

·  With regards to the £2.38 million underspend for Highways as set out on page 12 of Appendix A, the underspend was predominantly in relation to the over-recovery of income from utility companies and housing developers. Additionally, a significant overspend on the Public and Integrated Transport Budget relating to SEND home to school transport had taken place and was being partly offset from the Highways budget. The Lead Member agreed to provide an update on the nature of the Highways underspend.

·  It was clarified that pothole repairs was funded through the Capital Programme and was separate to the revenue position.

·  It was reported that the budget as set for 2024/25 included a significant amount of growth to meet the increased costs in SEND home to school transport. It was highlighted that future quarterly Money Matters reports would provide an update on the trajectory of this element which the Board would also receive. Additionally, it was noted that the Money Matters 2024-25 quarter 1 report up to the end of June 2024 would be provided to Cabinet in September 2024. If the increase in spend continued, then further explanation could be provided to the Board at a future meeting.

·  Members were advised that additional SEND units were in the process of being opened for SEND pupils to increase capacity across schools. Steps had already been taken to reduce the need for taxi provision and that Lancashire County Council was expanding its own fleet of minibuses, with the first set of vehicles expected to be in place by May 2024. This would reduce third party costs considerably.

·  Around 50 vehicles would be added to the county council's fleet. These new vehicles would not require a D1 101 Exemption due to the vehicles being slightly smaller in size meaning that recruitment would hopefully be easier. It was expected that this would also reduce the number of passenger assistants required to transport SEND pupils. Lancashire County Council had also been approached by other Councils that were interested in adopting this in-house fleet model.

·  Around £7.2m in funding allocated from central government to spend on highways matters previously reserved for HS2, had already been allocated with some of this going to the county council's Local Deterioration Fund. Further funding was awaited, but it was not known when this would be received. In regard to the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

The Chair welcomed to the meeting County Councillor Mike Goulthorp, Lead Member for Finance and Resources, Graham Gooch, Cabinet Member for Adult Services, County Councillor Scott Smith, Lead Member for Highways and Active Travel, Neil Kissock, Director of Finance, Kate Lee, Head of Service Financial Management, Paul Lee, Director of Adult Care and Provider Services, Kashif Ahmed, Director of Strategic and Integrated Commissioning, Michael White, Highway Regulation Manager, Peter Bell, Principal Regulation and Enforcement Officer and Oliver Starkey, Head of Service Public and Integrated Transport.

Members were provided a revised report on the tracking and delivery of savings agreed by Full Council for the current and previous financial years.

Members were invited to ask questions on the tracking and delivery of savings and a summary is outlined below under the relevant topics:

SC034 – On Street Pay and Display

On the proposed increase in the number of on street pay and display machines and chargeable parking spaces, it was highlighted that this would only take place with the agreement of Districts across Lancashire.

SC013 – Bus Shelter Advertising

Officers commented that income for bus shelter advertising was relatively low to justify staff investment. Currently, the favoured option was to procure an advertising company with the hope that the county council would receive an element of commission, which could then be reinvested into maintaining the existing stock of bus shelters. Currently, bus shelters were maintained at the county council's expense with no income from advertising.

On whether these two savings would continue to appear on the tracker, it was intended that the next Money Matters report at the end of quarter 1 would provide an update on whether any of these savings on the tracker would not be deliverable. It would be for Cabinet to then determine how to proceed and reach proposals on new savings to be agreed.

SC508/ASC025 – Different models of Supported Accommodation

·  It was clarified that there were multiple factors as to why voids occurred in supported living. One of the key factors for voids related to shared settings when up to four people lived together and someone vacated the provision. This would increase financial costs even when the numbers of people living in a shared setting reduced. The challenge for the service was to ensure how the void could be filled depended on a person having compatibility with the occupants and addressing their complex needs.

·  The modernisation of supported living scheme which started in 2018/19 was to de-commission the long standing and traditional shared settings and develop more modern bespoke individual flats and apartments. This had saved approximately £3.7 million pounds; however, it was acknowledged there was more to achieve from this programme of work.

·  Approximately 100 units (traditional settings) had been decommissioned and a similar number of new units developed over the past five years. A further 152 units were in the pipeline to be delivered over the next 36 months.

·  Predominantly, supported living provision was for people with learning disabilities and more recently it  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

Members were presented with the 2023/24 work programmes for the scrutiny committees and the Scrutiny Management Board.

The Chairs of each Scrutiny Committee were invited to provide a brief summary of the work that had been undertaken throughout their committees 2023/24 work programme.

County Councillor Gerald Mirfin, Chairman of the Community, Cultural and Corporate Services Scrutiny Committee, wished to pass on his thanks to John Morrissy, the outgoing Director of Organisational Development and Change, for his hard work and effort in supporting the Community, Cultural and Corporate Services Scrutiny Committee.

Resolved: That the work programmes be noted.

Members were presented with an in-year request from the Environment, Economic Growth and Transport Scrutiny Committee to convene an inquiry day on the Lancashire Road Safety Partnership (LRSP).

The Board was informed that the report presented to the Environment, Economic Growth and Transport Scrutiny Committee at its meeting on 25 January 2024 highlighted that the Lancashire Road Safety Partnership was not and had never been responsible for road safety. In pursuing this point further, it was felt the committee could not ascertain the current or intended role of the partnership whilst the matter was in a state of transition. The committee was therefore not satisfied and felt that an inquiry day be convened to scrutinise all the partners, review the changes and make recommendations on the future direction of the partnership. It was acknowledged that the timing of the report to the committee might not have coincided with the completion of the review.

Members requested that the list of partners who currently made up the partnership be circulated after the meeting.

Resolved: That the in-year request for the Environment, Economic Growth and Transport Scrutiny Committee to convene an inquiry day on the Lancashire Road Safety Partnership be agreed.

Members of the Board were provided an overview of matters presented and considered by the Councillor Support Steering Group at its meeting held on 31 January 2024.

Resolved: That the report of the Councillor Support Steering Group be received.

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.

There was no urgent business.

The next meeting of the Scrutiny Management Board will be held on Tuesday 23 July 2024 at 2pm in Committee Room B – The Diamond Jubilee Room, County Hall, Preston.

The next meeting of the Scrutiny Management Board will be held on Tuesday 23 July 2024 at 2pm in Committee Room B – The Diamond Jubilee Room, County Hall, Preston.