Agenda and minutes

The following substitutions were made:-

Councillor Malyon for Councillor Hart

Councillor Beswick for Councillor Fallows

RESOLVED:

·         That the work programme included a car park analysis.

·         That the minutes of the meeting held on 24 September 2024, be approved as a correct record.

Members discussed service heads joining and presenting to the committee. It was suggested that the service would be identified and Officer’s invited one or two meetings in advance.

RESOLVED:

That the work programme be noted.

The purpose of this report was to inform members of the Council’s overall performance and financial position for the period ended 30 September 2024 (“Second Quarter 2024/25”).

Members discussed the efficiency challenges faced by AES, a correlation between footfall/loss of carpark revenue and alternative approaches of carparks to generate revenue.

Members requested additional detail to the car park analysis to include date markers for potentially material factors to carpark income such as closure of major stores, the pandemic, parking charge increases and market refurbishment closures.

Members commented on the forecast outturn position for Development Services, which relate to lower incomes received and higher costs incurred, notably from failed appeals. They requested a report on the number of sites with planning permission that remain undeveloped, the data should include the size of the site.

Members discussed how local expenditure was measured in the procurement report, the breakdown of spending within the district and how councillors could influence the procurement strategy.

Members were advised on the recent activity with Stoke on Trent City Council which had established a consortium group for anchor institutions. The group would involve senior officers and focus on purchasing locally, joint procurement processes, supporting businesses, developing platforms for consistency, develop social values and create a charter.

Members discussed the timescales of the key priorities, staff sickness and monitoring of any trends. They suggested that KPI’s are compared against the last financial year.

RESOLVED:

·         That the Second Quarter 2024/25 financial, procurement and performance position detailed in Appendices A, B and C and summarised at 3.3 of the report be noted.

·         That additional detail to the carpark analysis be returned to this committee.

·         That data on undeveloped sites be bought to this committee.

·         That the workplace report expected in January includes sickness data.

·         That a report detailing the key priorities is presented at the next meeting which includes the progress made and when they are expected to be achieved.

Members received a report which presented 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 2024/25 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 2025. To this extent, the report and its contents should be considered indicative.

Members discussed the commercial opportunities for AES, the change in financial reserves, growth strategy, budget calculations, opportunities for growth and savings, efficiency target calculations and the required data collected for the capital programme.

RESOLVED:

·         That members of the Committee endorsed the draft Medium Term Financial Plan (Appendix A) and recommended that it should proceed to Cabinet for approval prior to being refined in advance of full approval in February 2025.

·         That a growth strategy is developed swiftly.

·         That clear costs savings are recommended to support the efficiency programme.

The Chair moved:-

“That, pursuant to Section 100A(2) and (4) of the Local Government, 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 101 (1) of part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act would be disclosed o the public by virtue of the Paragraphs indicated.”

Consideration was given to a report on the application for write-off of non-recoverable debts.