Agenda and minutes

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting.

The Democratic Services Officer will read out the emergency evacuation procedure as set out in the notes.

The Senior Democratic Services Officer read out the emergency evacuation procedure.

At this point in the meeting declarations of interest are received from Members in any of the agenda items under consideration at the meeting. Members are asked to indicate:

(a) The agenda item number in which they have an interest to declare.

(b) The nature of their interest.

(c) Whether their interest is a disclosable pecuniary interest or an other interest, (as defined in Part 4.4 Appendix B of the Code of Conduct and Rules for Registration of Interests)

Any Member who needs to clarify any matters relating to the declaration of interests is recommended to seek advice from the Council’s Monitoring Officeror a member of his staff before the meeting to expedite dealing with the item during the meeting.

There were no declarations of interest.

Cllr Sarah Warren made the following statement regarding bus services:

“As many residents are aware, several essential bus services in North East Somerset have now stopped running due to an ongoing funding crisis, including services 82, 179 and 768, and further services are currently at risk. I want to provide an urgent update on the work that we are doing to address this situation.

The West of England Combined Authority is the regional transport authority responsible for planning bus services in cooperation with local bus operators. The combined authority has a budget of many tens of millions dedicated solely to transport and to economic development.

Bath and North East Somerset Council pays an annual contribution towards the provision of supported services – those that are not deemed financially viable - through the regional Transport Levy. In this financial year we have increased our contribution by 30% to £1m, recognising the significant increases in costs to provide bus services. Unfortunately, however, the prices of our bus services increased by some 200%.

Like other councils, B&NES has no significant funding for buses over and above that which is already transferred annually to WECA as our transport levy. The remainder of our budget is fully committed to other purposes (including statutory services that we cannot choose to withdraw), such as social care, children's services (which together consume the vast majority of our budgets), housing, parks, waste management, libraries and so on, so there is very little remaining for discretionary expenditure such as on buses.

We now need the Metro Mayor to contribute a portion of the £57m of bus service improvement grant that he received from government specifically and solely for bus services, on our lost and at-risk services, as the Secretary of State has indicated he should. Other local authorities, who are not part of the West of England Combined Authority, have been able to do this – including North Somerset and Gloucestershire.

In the New Year, we were informed that the Metro Mayor planned to commission several new rural buses throughout North East Somerset. The 522, designed without consultation by the West of England Combined Authority, was introduced, and takes far longer than previous buses, travelling through areas with good bus services rather than villages with none.

The Mayor also decided to put a large proportion of his Bus Service Improvement Plan funding into the Westlink Demand Responsive Transport (or DRT) service. As many residents have found, DRT in its current form is not working. Westlink has proved unreliable and hard to access, and as the vehicles are usually seen almost empty, must be costing much more per passenger journey than the bus services they replaced, and that residents are desperate to see returned.

The Mayor has also chosen this month to commit some £8m to free travel on buses for residents in the month of their birthday. This birthday bonanza is of huge benefit to Bristolians with frequent bus services but is a further insult to our  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

Questions submitted before the deadline will receive a reply from an appropriate Cabinet member or an undertaking to respond within 5 working days of the meeting.  Councillors may ask one supplementary question for each question they submit, up to a maximum of two per Councillor.

There were 14 questions from Councillors and 15 questions from members of the public.

[Copies of the questions and responses, including supplementary questions and responses if any, have been placed on the Minute book as Appendix 1 and are available on the Council's website.]

Councillors and members of the public may register their intention to make a statement if they notify the subject matter of their statement before the deadline.  Statements are limited to 3 minutes each.  The speaker may then be asked by Cabinet members to answer factual questions arising out of their statement.

Members of the public and Councillors made statements as follows:

·  Robbie Bentley – Public Transport Issues (a copy of which is attached as appendix 2 to these minutes)

·  Joy Arnold – Loss of 179 Bus (a copy of which is attached as appendix 3 to these minutes)

·  Paul Roles (Rosewell Court Residents’ Association) – Damage to Pavement (a copy of which is attached as appendix 4 to these minutes)

·  Nicolette Boater – Draft Corporate Strategy 2023-27 - (a copy of which is attached as appendix 5 to these minutes)

·  Cllr Dine Romero – The Future of Culverhay - (a copy of which is attached as appendix 6 to these minutes)

·  Malcolm Baldwin – Time to press the re-set button - (a copy of which is attached as appendix 7 to these minutes)

To be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on Thursday 9^th March 2023 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

This is a standard agenda item, to cover any reports originally placed on the Weekly List for single Member decision making, which have subsequently been the subject of a Cabinet Member requisition to the full Cabinet, under the Council’s procedural rules.

No single member items were requisitioned to Cabinet.

This is a standing agenda item (Constitution rule 3.3.14) for matters referred by Policy Development and Scrutiny bodies.  The Chair of the relevant Policy Development and Scrutiny Panel will have the right to attend and to introduce the Panel’s recommendations to Cabinet.

Cllr Robin Moss, Chair of the Corporate PDS Panel attended the meeting and gave feedback following the Panel’s consideration of the draft Corporate Strategy 2023-27 at its meeting on 11^th July 2023.

Cllr Moss highlighted the following issues:

·  Concerns were expressed by the Panel regarding the cost-of-living crisis and how this would impact the Council over the next couple of years.

·  There are three main elements to consider within a Corporate Strategy – internal (i.e. budgets and staffing), external factors not within our control and unforeseen consequences (such as the Covid pandemic).

·  It is likely that Local Government will have to deal with the financial crisis with no help from Central Government.

·  He thanked the Chief Executive and the Cabinet Member for Council Priorities and Delivery for attending the PDS Panel meeting to present the Corporate Strategy.

The Leader thanked Cllr Moss for attending the meeting and Cabinet noted the feedback from the Panel.

(A document setting out the detailed feedback from the Corporate PDS Panel is attached as Appendix 8 to these minutes).

To note the list of Cabinet Single Member decisions taken and published since the last Cabinet meeting (no debate).

The Cabinet agreed to note the report.

The attached report updates Cabinet on the progress made in delivering the Corporate Strategy 2020-24 and our performance in 2022-23.

Cllr Dave Wood introduced the report, moved the officer recommendation and made the following statement:

“This is a moment to really reflect on the last four years and the incredible achievements this Council and its staff have made against the backdrop of the Covid pandemic and rising inflation. 

We have:

·  Invested extra millions into road repairs and cleaner streets, starting to reverse a decade of cuts to local government

·  Introduced the first charging clean air zone (CAZ) outside of London

·  Invested in high streets in Midsomer Norton, Keynsham and Bath

·  Sharply increased renewable energy in the district

·  Achieved and sustained our best recycling rate ever

·  Built more pedestrian crossings, segregated cycle lanes and 20mph zones than ever before

·  Created the Chew Valley recreational trail

·  Found new ways of engaging people through Citizens’ Juries

·  Created the first new social rent properties in a generation

·  Built a state-of-the-art new recycling centre in Keynsham

·  Is the first Council in England to adopt a net zero based housing plan

These are the building blocks of future success as we embark on the historic second term voters have given us.  The first administration to prove itself worth being re-elected for another four years.  This is our record of action and I’ll go on to talk about our promise of more in the next item.”

Cllr Alison Born seconded the motion and made the following statement:

“As has been noted, this systematic approach to planning and performance was introduced by the previous Liberal Democrat administration. It has provided a structure for articulating our aims and our planned programmes of work; it has increased transparency and accountability to the residents we serve. Our clear guiding principle is to improve people’s lives and this report accounts for progress across our services.

When developing the strategy for our first term, we were not expecting to spend two years in the grip of an unprecedented global pandemic that had a massive impact on people’s lives, but the authority responded well to that challenge, we continued to deliver services throughout the pandemic, supporting residents and businesses and adapting to meet changing needs and circumstances. Our focus during the height of the pandemic was to protect, contain and mitigate the impact of the emergency and to lay the foundations for an effective and sustainable recovery.

The 2022/23 performance report provides information on the extent of that recovery and demonstrates the success of that strategy. I am going to focus particularly on actions we have taken to meet the needs of vulnerable people. We have continued to invest in social care and are now supporting significantly more looked after children with many more on child protection plans. Our Connecting Families Service has continued to provide effective support for families with complex needs and our children’s services were rated Good by recent OFSTED inspection.

We have increased support to local third sector groups through the Community Contribution Fund and through targeted use of community Infrastructure Levy funds. We have responded positively and robustly to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12.

The Council’s Corporate Strategy provides a framework for the Council’s plans over the next four years.  The attached report invites Cabinet to approve the draft Corporate Strategy document, as set out in the Appendix, and to recommend its subsequent adoption by Council.

Cllr Dave Wood introduced the report, moved the officer recommendation and made the following statement:

“The Corporate Strategy is a framework for what the Council will deliver for residents over the next four years.  It brings together what you’ve told us is important, what you voted for in the election in May – and integrates this into the Council’s plans and way it makes decisions.

Listening to residents and acting on their concerns is our commitment.  We will find new ways to reach residents to find out their views and priorities.  We will work with communities to identify the local priorities that people really care about.  Area working will ensure Council thinking is joined up and focussed on local communities.

We will continue to improve frontline services.  Services declined after a decade of central government cuts to local government, but over the last four years we have started to reverse those cuts – millions extra invested in road repairs and cleaner streets as one example.  We will continue to improve frontline services and take pride in our area.

We will continue to put climate at the heart of everything that we do and will use an evidence based approach to ensure all our decisions are helping us on our journey to Net Zero. 

I’d like to thank the residents of B&NES for trusting us and giving the Lib Dems a historic second term in control of the Council, and with an increased majority.  We will repay that trust by listening to you and focussing on the issues that matter to you the most.”

Cllr Sarah Warren seconded the motion and made the following statement:

“This evening I am proud to support this corporate strategy, the first time ever that an administration in Bath and North East Somerset has been entrusted by voters with a second term to really embed their policies. This will be an opportunity to double down on action on the climate and ecological emergencies declared in the last four years.

This month, the world has repeatedly recorded the hottest day since records began, and it follows the UK’s warmest year on record. Lord Deben, Chair of the Committee on Climate Change told the Prime Minister a fortnight ago that, “the UK has lost its clear global climate leadership”, and that, “game-changing interventions from the US and Europe, which will turbocharge growth of renewables, are leaving the UK behind.”

The situation also remains serious for nature. The Department for Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs published biodiversity indicators for the UK last December, showing declines since 2015 in biodiversity of marine life, of habitats and species of European importance, of wild birds, and of pollinating insects. Bearing in mind of course, that the natural world provides our food, our clean air and water, and ultimately disposes of our biodegradable waste. The same report also shows declining investment in biodiversity over the same period.

It is in this context, of an ambivalent UK government that has lost interest in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 13.

The attached report gives details of performance against the Council’s Treasury Management Strategy for 2022/23.

Cllr Mark Elliott introduced the report, moved the officer recommendation and made the following statement:

“Just to provide some context, this is an information report on Treasury Management performance for the last year in line with the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy Code of Practice which requires council to approve an annual Treasury Management report within 6 months of the end of the financial year. 

So, it's a backward-looking report, detailing how the council's savings and borrowing performed over the financial year from April 2022 to March 2023.

Treasury management is obviously a vital part of the council's financial activity and whilst it can seem a dry topic, sound and successful treasury management is a major part of the bedrock on which the council's finances are built.

Looking at our investment performance – the average rate of interest earned across the portfolio was 2.09% but that obviously hides some volatility. It's important to remember this period starts in April 2022, when the economic environment was very different - prior to the disastrous period of Trussanomics and the KamaKwasi budget in the early Autumn.  Bank of England Base Rate increased to 4.25% from 0.75% over the year with Bank of England interest rate action remaining robust in line with their remit for tackling inflation. This trend has continued with rates now 5% following further increases as inflationary pressures remained elevated.

The average return has continued to increase during the year from around 1% in April to just below 4% in March, as the Bank of England interest rate rises over the period fed through to our investments. 

The report highlights the impact on the investment market of persistent inflation, increasing interest rates and risk of recession which has led to decrease in the valuation of the Council’s strategic long terms investments which reduced from £10.3m to £8.8m over the year. However, this change does not directly impact on the revenue position of the Council as there is currently a statutory override in place. Under the current rules any movement would only affect the revenue position if the investments were sold - and these are long term investments, so that is not our intention.

Turning to borrowing - at the end of the year our total borrowing was £210m - a reduction of around £9m from the start of the year.  This is because we didn't take out any new borrowing during the year, and obviously principal capital repayments continued on our long-term Annuity Public Works Loan Board loans, and some shorter-term borrowing was repaid as loans reached maturity.

Overall - an underspend of £2.8m was achieved in respect of interest and capital financing, as result of higher than budgeted investment income, a delay in borrowing and savings on Minimum Revenue Provision due to capital spend reprofiling.

Finally - The report includes performance against all the indicators set in the Treasury Management Strategy and confirms that these are all within approved limits.  I'd like to commend officers on both the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 14.

The attached report presents the revenue and capital outturn for 2022/23.  The report also refers to requests to carry forward specific revenue budget items to 2023/24 and to write-off revenue over budgets where recovery in future years would have an adverse impact on continuing service delivery.  It also refers to requests to re-phase specific capital budget items to 2023/24 and to remove net capital underspends.

Cllr Mark Elliott introduced the report, moved the officer recommendation and made the following statement:

“Again, this is a backward-looking report, this time setting out the revenue and capital outturn for 2022/23 - in other words, it reports how the council performed compared to the budget set out at the beginning of the year.

The main headline here is the extremely positive news that the council had a favourable outturn position of £60,000 in 2022/23.  In other words, we finished the year £60k better off than the budget predicted.

This is all the more impressive given that at Quarter 3 last year we were forecasting a £1.54m negative position, and in Q2 that figure was well north of £4m.  Balancing the books has been made extremely difficult for everyone by the national Tory government's financial incompetence, with the current Sunak administration seeming unable to stop the rot started by Johnson and accelerated by Truss and Kwarteng, and that affects local government as much as everyone else.

It's nothing I can take credit for of course, having only taken up this role in May, but I'd like to congratulate my predecessor, the officers and the previous cabinet, on their hard work in pulling that position back in line despite the pressures outside their control.  It demonstrates a really constructive, collaborative and positive approach to dealing with the financial pressures we, along with all other local authorities, are facing.

However, the overall figure does smooth over some significant variability between different services.  The main pressure continued to be in Children’s Services which resulted in an over budget position for that service of £5.4m during the year. 

This was largely mitigated by increased income in both Heritage & Transport services, by reduced borrowing costs, by higher interest earned on cash balances and by the release of corporate contingencies.

The year-end position of uncommitted non-earmarked reserves was £12.6m which is in line with the risk assessed requirements agreed in the 2022/23 Budget Report.

The capital spend in 2022/23 was £74m against a budget of £107m giving a variance of £33m. This is primarily because of the delivery time to complete some projects moving them into future financial periods.

The report seeks the Cabinet approval to the revenue carry forwards of £158k to fund commitments that will now take place in 2023/24, and to transfer the £60k net underspend to the Revenue Budget Contingency Reserve which provides for future revenue pressures during the year which can't be mitigated by management action.

So again, I'd like to thank officers for the production of the report, and for their hard work throughout the year.”

Cllr Manda Rigby seconded the report and made the following statement:

“I am very pleased to second this report and endorse all that my colleague Cllr Elliott has said.

First, I need to wholeheartedly echo his praise and thanks for all those who worked so hard to bring us in on budget. You don’t have to look too far to see examples of where  ...  view the full minutes text for item 15.

The attached report presents the financial monitoring information for the Authority as a whole for the financial year 2023/24, using information available as at the end of June 2023.

Cllr Mark Elliott introduced the report, moved the officer recommendation and made the following statement:

“Rather than being a backward-looking report, this one is giving the current, in-year position compared against this year's budget.  It's designed to give an early review of budget performance using the first two months of financial data.  This is to help us identify budget risks early.

I mentioned in previous reports the national Tory government's inability to get inflation under control, and UK Inflation (CPI) is still proving very stubborn - holding at around 8.7% - which is obviously affecting the cost of delivering Council services.

To cover the easy topic first, the 2023/24 Capital Programme is a forecast of £92.8m against a budget of £95.0m - so a small underspend. Whilst we want to see our capital programme proceeding according to plan, I don't think there is anything of serious concern here.

With regard to the Revenue Budget, the current forecast to the end of the year has identified above budget pressures of £3.96m.  For context that's against an overall revenue budget of just over £135m - so just shy of 3% over budget.  Whilst 3% might not sound like a lot, this is in the first two months of the financial year - there is absolutely no room for complacency and we, the whole cabinet, need to be working to bring this back in line as quickly as possible. 

The major part of the overage is down to the continuing pressure on Children’s services which makes up £3.3m of the forecast budget pressure.  This is a national problem being faced by all councils across the country - central government simply isn't providing enough funding into the system to cope with the constantly rising pressures in this area.

There are also workforce pressures across Council services which is creating a reliance on higher cost agency staff and we need to reduce that reliance as quickly as possible.

On the up side, we have seen good income performance across our corporate budgets and chargeable services that is helping to mitigate some of the rising costs in other areas.

I don't want to be too gloomy - identifying the issue this early in the financial year is a really good thing. I know the council's leadership team are now working on financial recovery plans to bring us back into budget, this will be reported back to Cabinet as part of our Quarter 2 monitoring.  I urge all cabinet colleagues to continue to work closely with their senior directors and other senior leaders over the coming couple of months to quickly identify, and then monitor, mitigation plans for your individual portfolios. Whilst we're seeing particular pressures in one portfolio, getting the budget back on track is something for us all to pull together to resolve.

I'll finish with thanks again to officers both in the finance dept and across the council. We have a great team and I'd like to thank them for their efforts in less-than-ideal  ...  view the full minutes text for item 16.