Issue - meetings

The Panel will be looking at the proposed savings and income proposals within its remit. The full Draft Budget Proposals 2024/2025 will be considered by the Corporate PDS Panel on 23rd January.

Councillor Paul May, Cabinet Member for Children’s Services introduced this report to the Panel. He said that he had listened carefully to the statements that had been made and that the Council does value the work carried out by the 3^rd sector.

He explained that the timing of any changes would be key and that the public consultation on these proposals closes today prior to further discussion at meetings of the Cabinet (8^th February) and Council (20^th February).

He stated that B&NES had, in his view, been given a poor local government settlement and that the Council is still required to provide a balanced budget.

He said that significant growth was planned across the services; £5.6m within Children’s Services and £2.3m within Adult Social Care.

He added that there is a proposal to use £200,000 from the ring-fenced Public Health Grant across other services providing Public Health activities.

He stated that £9.4m of Capital Schemes are being proposed across both Children and Adult Services with £4m outlined for a SEND Residential School and £5m service supported borrowing for further Supported Living for Adults.

Councillor Alison Born, Cabinet Member for Adult Services addressed the Panel. She said that she believed that the Council has a good track record for enabling savings to be made.

She stated that demand for services across the Council has increased substantially, particularly within Home to School Transport.

She explained that they had not yet had confirmation of the Public Health Grant, but that in previous years this had been around £10m.

She said that the proposed reduction in non-statutory spend was likely to impact our local 3rd sector partners and the area of housing support the most. She added that the Council values the work of the 3^rd sector immensely and that it will listen and engage with those that are likely to be affected.

The Director of Children & Education addressed the Panel. She echoed the comments made by the Cabinet Members about a significant increase in demand for their services.

She explained that there has been a 30% increase in children and young people that have SEND and this has required a proposal for additional staff at a cost of £90,000.

She stated that continued pressure is being seen in the area of Home to School Transport and that due to increased demand in routes, inflation costs and a lack of suppliers they are seeking a further £1.76m within the budget.

She said that contractual inflation from our residential and specialist providers has resulted in a proposal for a further £941,000 in this regard.

She said that an increase in demand across Children in Care, Child Protection, Looked After Children, Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children and other service users has led to a proposal for an additional £2.786m.

She stated that the overall total growth within Children’s Services was expected to be £6.879m.

The Director of Adult Services addressed the Panel. She explained that the savings required across the service were £2.1m,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 75

In preparation for the Draft Budget Proposals 2024/2025 – the savings and income proposals (currently subject to public consultation) are linked below:

https://beta.bathnes.gov.uk/budget-consultation-2024-2025

The Panel will be looking at the proposed savings and income proposals within its remit. The full Draft Budget Proposals 2024/2025 will be considered by the Corporate PDS Panel on 23^rd January.

The Deputy Council Leader (statutory) and Cabinet Member for Climate Emergency and Sustainable Travel - Councillor Sarah Warren and the Cabinet Member for Highways - Councillor Manda Rigby introduced the item and answered the Panel questions along with Sophie Broadfield - Executive Director of Sustainable Communities and Chris Major – Director of Place Management.

Councillor Warren stated that local government is facing challenges in managing intense pressures on budgets and recently a number of councils have issued S114 notices. In 2013 our Revenue Support Grant from central government was £31m, this year, it’s £800k.  She explained that we can bid for government grants for one-off specific purposes but this involves working up competitive bids which takes a lot of officer time, and makes it difficult to plan. The pressures on spending, particularly in social care (statutory service), accounts for a large portion of the budget.  This means discretionary areas - such as Green Transformation – have less available.

Councillor Warren stated that on Green Transformation - the proposed budget for next year we will sustain levels of funding to support the corporate priority on climate and ecological emergencies. Many of the new posts across Green Transformation and Strategic Transport teams are in place. She stated that the Council will: invest in renewable energy generating infrastructure on the Council estate, contributing to our 12MW target for Council-generated energy; work with partners to develop new renewables projects contributing to our district-level targets of an additional 300MW generating capacity by 2030; work with WECA and with local partners to support scale up of retrofit activity across the district; increase work with communities to raise awareness and support local action for climate and nature; implement biodiversity net gain through the planning system and continue to take action on sustainable transport.

(Delivery of significant improvements in public transport infrastructure through the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement, A4 Bristol to Bath Corridor and Somer Valley Links projects. Developing an active travel masterplan to help shape and inform future roll out of active travel infrastructure. Working with the combined authority to develop and deliver electric vehicle charging points across the district. Earmarking £2m of our CAZ reserve to commence the build out of the Scholars’ way cycle route, as well as a supplement for local highways improvement schemes aiming to improve pedestrian safety around the district in support of our recent vision zero declaration).

Panel members raised the following points and asked the following questions:

Councillor David asked if there was any more information regarding the parks teams’ operational strategy. The officer commented that the importance of open spaces is acknowledged, however these spaces cost £2.5m per year to maintain and a few options are being considered that would save money – this would be a small percentage of the overall spend. He further explained that the entirety of the model will be looked at and there may be some tough decisions regarding future development but there is a recognition of the importance of green spaces.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 44