Agenda and minutes

Councillor Plant was substitute member for Councillor Malyon.

In response to a query in relation to the date the Panel would receive the Empty Homes Strategy, it was intended for this report to be considered at the meeting in February 2023.

Members also commented on the number of items scheduled for February’s meeting.

DECIDED:

That the minutes of the previous meeting held on 21 September 2022 be approved.

There were none.

      i.        Disclosable Pecuniary Interests;

     ii.        Other Interests.

No declarations of interest were made.

Question received from Councillor Bowen:

Q1. “How many of the major projects initiated by the previous administration have been cancelled or shelved and which are they?”

Response:

None – Details of progress for all projects are contained within the regularly quarterly performance reports that are considered by the Resources Overview & Scrutiny Panel.

Supplementary question:

“How much of the external funding attracted by these projects has to be repaid?”

Response:

As no projects have been cancelled or shelved there has been no requirement to repay any funding.

Any additional items to be added to the Work Programme:-

       i.         Chairman’s items;

     ii.         Members’ items;

Due to the number of items listed on the Work Programme the possibility of an additional meeting was discussed.

DECIDED:

That the work programme for 2022-23 be approved.

The report informed members of the Council’s overall performance and financial position for the period ended 30th September (“Second Quarter 2022/23”)  Detailed analysis was provided in the appendices to the report and the overall position was summarised in paragraph 3.3 of the report.

Discussion took place around the underspend for Planning, processing backlogs and national staff shortages. The Panel was advised that the Council had commissioned external support to improve the backlogs and improvements had now been seen. Statistical information on the performance of the Planning Department was requested.

A member of the Panel highlighted the need to accelerate the replacement of LED lighting in Council buildings and suggested the Car Parking Working Group should be reconvened in the new municipal year to review the performance over the past 12 months.

Clarification was provided around the figures for external funding and movement of reserves. It was confirmed that the earmarked reserves were not transferrable and could only be used for the original purposes.

In response to concerns raised around CCTV coverage, it was explained that measures were being taken with the contractor for the service to be improved and to ensure the Council received value for money.

DECIDED:

1)    The Panel NOTED the Second Quarter 2022/23 financial, procurement and performance position detailed in Appendices A, B and C and summarised at 3.3 of this covering report.

2)    For it to be reported back to the Panel, if recruitment and retention of staff had impacted the Enforcement Team..

3)    Confirmation of the types of projects the earmarked reserves could be made available to be provided to members.

4)    More information to be made available to councillors in relation to the contractor for CCTV.

5)    For the status of Wharf Road Masterplan, Tunstall Road and Cheadle Town Centre Delivery Board to be updated.

The Panel considered the Council’s updated draft Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP). The MTFP presented the Council’s priorities in the context of the likely resources available, providing a financial context to future decision-making. It was reflective of the current financial position of the Council part way through the 2022-23 year and contained a large number of assumptions that would be refined and quantified to inform a final version of the MTFP for approval in February 2023. To this extent, the report and its contents should be considered indicative.

As was typical at this stage of its production, the draft MTFP remained unbalanced and awaits the development and refinement of a large number of current assumptions and, significantly, the outcome of the Local Government Financial Settlement which is not expected until December 2022. Due to the high number of long-range forecasts and a prudent approach to establishing the draft plan, the cumulative revenue deficit reaches £1.01million by year 4 of the Plan and would require £2.66million in savings and reserve usage to balance the Plan over the medium term. Further work was underway that would continue over the coming months to refine and improve this position to bring the Plan onto a more sustainable footing.

A member of the Panel highlighted the importance of residents being able to access affordable leisure facilities, given the current cost of living. An update on the Leisure Facilities Strategy was expected once the outcome of the Levelling Up Bids was known.

DECIDED:

Members of the Panel NOTED the updated draft Medium Term Financial Plan (Appendix A) with the recommendation that it should proceed to Cabinet for approval prior to being refined in advance of full approval in February 2023.

Members received a report which set out a revised approach to conducting consultation and engagement across the Council following feedback from the Local Government Association’s Corporate Peer Challenge.

To make good decisions the Council needed to understand the views, needs and priorities of the local community and, recognising that our community was diverse, we needed to understand the perspectives of the different groups of people within our community.

In order to ensure there was a high level of quality and consistency in consultation carried out across the Council corporate support will be provided by Democratic Services.  A consultation checklist had also been built into the council’s report management system for all major decisions which required a formal sign off from the Democratic Services team prior to report publication.

The revised framework for corporate consultation and engagement takes into account the recent feedback from the Local Government Association’s Corporate Peer Challenge (LGA CPC).  In the CPC Joint Action Plan the Council committed to conducting a planned biennial Residents’ Survey which would inform the corporate plan setting process.

The Consultation and Engagement Policy would work alongside the Council’s Communications Strategy (to be revised shortly) to inform and stimulate public interest and provide clear background information on the issues being discussed.

Members commented on the distribution of a residents’ survey and the need for the survey to focus on the responsibilities of the District Council which would be taken into account during the design stage. 

DECIDED:

The Panel supported the approval of the Consultation and Engagement Policy and the proposals made at section 8 of the report with regards to the conduct of a Residents’ Survey.

The Chair to move:-

“That, pursuant to Section 100A(2) and (4) of the Local Government Act, 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings whereby it is likely that confidential information as defined in Section 100A (3) of the Act would be disclosed to the public in breach of the obligation of confidence or exempt information as defined in Section 10 I (1) of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act would be disclosed to the public by virtue of the Paragraphs indicated.”

The Chair moved:

“That, pursuant to Section 100A(2) and (4) of the Local Government Act, 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings whereby it is likely that confidential information as defined in Section 100A (3) of the Act would be disclosed to the public in breach of the obligation of confidence or exempt information as defined in Section 10 I (1) of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act would be disclosed to the public by virtue of the Paragraphs indicated.”

Members gave consideration to the write off of non-recoverable debts.

(Paragraph 3 – Financial or business affairs of any particular person)

DECIDED:

That the exempt minutes of the previous meeting held on 21 September 2022 be approved.