Agenda and minutes

There were none.

Councillor Charles Gerrish declared a non pecuniary interest in Item 8 as a member of BANES Inclusive Sports Association. Councillor Gerrish also declared an interest in this item regarding the proposals on the residential care for adults with learning difficulties.

There were none.

The Panel confirmed the minutes of the previous meeting as a true record following the amendment set out below:

43 SERVICE ACTION PLANS (last line)

"Members noted the EIA which they used in their consideration of the report".

Please see report attached (this report had previously been marked 'to follow' but is now available.

Appendix 1

Councillor Bull questioned the phrase 'listening approach of the Council' (page 4). Councillor Bellotti - Cabinet Member for Community Resources explained that there was further information on page 13 but he acknowledged the point and said that he would get the phrase re-worded.

Councillor Jackson asked what had happened to the £235k dedicated to the homeless. Tim Richens - Divisional Director Finance, explained that this was part of the 'On-going Headroom Allocations'. (page 13).

Councillor Gerrish asked if spending on the Gypsy and Traveller site was being identified too soon in the budget. The officer explained that in theory, the some of the money could be made available as a one off but that the recurring cost had to be shown. Councillor Gerrish asked if there could be a breakdown of the £250k. Councillor Bellotti explained that the Cabinet instructions to officers was that there is a need for a Gypsy and Travellers site as soon as possible and the money is in the budget to do it.

Councillor Jackson asked what the £0.5m for Radstock Regeneration was for (page 23). Councillor Bellotti explained that it was a new scheme for a further boost to the area.

Councillor Gerrish asked about the change in the decision making process regarding Local Transport Improvement Schemes (page 25). He explained that in the previous process, there was a greater degree of openess in the pre-decision stage and that the new process takes away a level of engagement. The Cabinet Member explained that the new administration wanted as few single member decisions as possible. He accepted the point and stated that maybe the following year, a compromise could be reached.

Councillor Laming referred to the 20 MPH scheme (page 25) and asked what the £500k included. The Cabinet Member explained that this would fund the scheme, where required, for whole authority.

Councillor Watt entered the meeting at 6.10pm.

Councillor Laming asked about the £100k for River Safety (page 27). He explained that there had been ongoing efforts to find out who the relevant land belongs to so he was not sure how the Council would proceed with the safety measures. The Cabinet Member explained that the RoSPA report was clear and that where necessary, the authority would take legal advice.

Councillor Jackson asked why the estimated reserves had gone into sharp decline (page 40). Andrew Pate - Strategic Director Resources, explained that some of the reserves had been used in 'invest to save' projects. There was a plan to recover the reserves.

Councillor Watt explained that when the three parishes were separated, Charlton Road was put into the Westfield area in the precept budget in error. The Strategic Director explained that the adjustment had been made and the Equalisation Grant was there to avoid any impacts in the first year.

Councillor Watt asked about 'Other Miscellaneous Budgets' (Appendix 1 Annex 1). The Divisional Director, Finance explained that this was a presentational issue and that there would be a presentation with more  ...  view the full minutes text for item 52.

The presentation on Corporate Budget Items is attached.

Tim Richens, Divisional Director - Finance gave a presentation on 'Analysis of Corporate Budgets 2011/12 to 2012/13'. (A full copy of the presentation is held on the Council's minute book for the Panel in the Democratic Services office)

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

Councillor Chris Watt stated that large figures can be lost in the assumptions made in the budget and he wanted more clarity and visibility, including further scrutiny of the corporate / treasury management function within the council and in particular assumptions made around internal rates of return. The Cabinet Member replied that the assumptions are prudent and that officers cannot predict interest rates, they can only project.

Councillor Gerrish stated that there has to be a degree of prudence as interest rates are not as historically stable as they have been over the last couple of years. He pointed out that the Council had chosen not to put money in Icelandic banks and sought reassurance of the continued use of robust assessments of risk. The Strategic Director commented that the Corporate Audit Committee get very involved in this.

Regarding savings on electricity, Councillor Watt explained the way electricity is supplied and charged and pointed to savings that could be made in the Council.

Councillor Watt asked about the 'Misc' column in the presentation and stated that there should be more clarity and visibility.