Agenda and draft minutes

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting.

The Chair drew attention to the emergency evacuation procedure.

Councillor Robin Moss gave his apologies. Councillor Treby (Vice Chair) chaired the meeting.

Councillor Ian Halsall gave his apologies.

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.

David Redgewell (Transport South West) made a statement regarding the Transport levy which as been frozen for 5 years. He stated that the cost of running buses has risen and the Mayor has asked that the levy be raised. He urged that the levy be in place by Friday otherwise less bus services from September.

The Executive Director explained that a request has been received from WECA, the budget will be published shortly.

The Panel confirmed the minutes of the previous meeting as a true record and they were duly signed by the Chair.

The Cabinet Member will update the Panel on any relevant issues. Panel members may ask questions on the update provided.

The update is contained in the Budget item.

The Cabinet Member for Resources, Councillor Mark Elliott introduced the report. He explained that the underlying theme was uncertainty and that the final figures would be available in early February. He stated that a cautious and carefully balanced budget would be presented.

The Chair of the Children, Adults, Health and Wellbeing PDS Panel gave feedback from her Panel. Councillor Romero stated that there was a lack of information due to the growing lateness of information from Government (for example funding of the safety valve) which made the budget proposals difficult to scrutinise. She stated that there were concerns about there being similar proposals to last year. She pointed to the huge amount of work in non-statutory services and work on early support.

The Chair of the Climate Emergency and Sustainability PDS Panel gave feedback from his Panel. Councillor Wait stated that most things within the remit of the Panel are non-statutory activities so difficult to scrutinise. He agreed that there had been a lack of information in that no Capital Budget information was available. He stated that he was pleased to see funding for 3 school streets in the budget. He asked that more information be supplied in future years.

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

Councillor MacFie asked if the costs regarding Children’s Services are being investigated. The Cabinet Member stated that the plan is to bring more back in house and address the home to school transport issue as we are currently at the whim of the external market. He stated that things that were dismantled a long time ago are being rebuilt. Regarding home to school transport he stated that there is some work we can do around single taxi journeys. The Executive Director added that there is an action plan regarding home to school transport and that there are several drivers to the current pressures in the budget area such as more children in residential care. She stated that the focus was on what is best for young people. She stated that work is being done with health colleagues regarding children with education and health needs.

Councillor Blackburn stated that the Panel had consistently asked for data to show the context of the budget proposals to include information from the previous year and trajectory. He stated that we can look at a 5 year projection but not look back. He stated that he totally took on board the pressures but asked for more data. The Cabinet Member stated that he would be happy to work with the Panel to produce the detail they want. He stated that Annex 1 shows the last year and this year for each portfolio. He stated that there is no attempt to hide information.

Councillor Simon stated that these are more transparent budget papers than in previous years and in other authorities. He stated that it can be difficult to balance the bigger picture with too much detail. He stated that he felt there were  ...  view the full minutes text for item 132.

The Cabinet Member for Neighbourhood Services, Councillor Tim Ball, introduced the report.

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

Councillor Simon explained that he had asked for the report. He pointed to the suggestion in the report that we might disengage from Libraries West which he believes should be ruled out. He stated that this was an attempt to learn to run a multi authority procurement system for IT and this one has not worked. He stated that as a regular user, he has not noticed any improvements since the early days. Pages are still taking 20 seconds to load, there is not enough computer power. He thanked the Cabinet Member and officer for the information regarding correspondence with Axiell. He had hoped the Panel would have access to all KPIs and monitoring figures to see if the contract addressed all important issues. He stated that there are lessons to be learned regarding major IT procurement. The officer stated that he agreed. He explained that Somerset are leading on this and all are speaking from the same hymn sheet. He stated that Axiell had provided full 10% backdated. There will be a ‘lessons learned’ piece of work coming in the following months. It has been difficult. The Libraries West Board meets weekly, there is a lot to discuss.

Councillor Blackburn stated that this organization has been doing this for years so it will be interesting to see the ‘lessons learned’ information. He stated that 10% and no apology was shocking considering the poor performance. He stated that he hoped Somerset will do their job. The officer stated that it was challenging to work with multiple authorities.

Councillor Hounsell stated that there was no question of withdrawing from Libraries West and no criticism of support BANES officers have given – this is about a procurement contract.

Councillor Simon stated that when the ‘lessons learned’ review is done, this could be a future item for the Panel to consider, maybe in connection with other authorities. He asked the officer to pass on the flavour of the Panel discussion on to colleagues at Somerset.

The Chair thanked the Cabinet Member and officer.

This report presents the latest workplan for the Panel. Any suggestions for further items or amendments to the current programme will be logged and scheduled in consultation with the Panel’s Chair and supporting officers.

Panel members noted the future plan.