Agenda item

The Medium Term Financial Strategy was considered by the Cabinet at their 9^th September 2021 meeting. It presents the future years Medium Term Financial Strategy that sets how the Council will need to respond to the budgetary impacts of Covid over the next 5 years.

Kevin Burnett asked are there Services that will provide less than they currently offer after possible savings have taken place.

The Chief Operating Officer replied that a number savings lines involved the rebasing of budgets with Physical Disability & Sensory Impairment Purchasing

Activity as one example.

She added there were also a number of growth areas listed within Appendix 2 such as Home to School Transport and Educational Psychology.

Kevin Burnett commented that there are a lot of ‘amber’ coded proposals. He asked what will happen if these savings don’t materialise.

The Chief Operating Officer replied that in terms of savings being ‘amber’ this was more a timing issue for when they could be achieved.

Kevin Burnett asked what new initiatives will be brought in with this budget.

The Chief Operating Officer replied that interesting work was anticipated around the Transformation projects listed in the report.

Councillor Liz Hardman said that she felt it was hard to comment as there was not enough detail in the report. She asked how savings would be made in Library Services.

The Chief Operating Officer replied that they were looking to introduce a package of measures to increase opening hours for self service use with staff on site at peak demand hours. She added that they were assessing whether outreach services could be delivered differently via Hubs or home delivery.

Councillor Hardman asked if the savings listed for the Bath West Children's Centre Service were linked to Family Hubs.

The Director of Children's Services & Education replied that the savings involved were as a result of reduction in contract value and would have no impact on services. She added that this was not linked to Family Hubs.

She added that a bid for funding in terms of Family Hubs has been submitted to the DfE which if successful would see the remit of this work expand to 0-19. She said that a decision on the funding was likely in March.

Councillor Hardman asked if the proposed saving about home to school transport to alternative provision is linked to the development of Culverhay.

The Director of Education & Safeguarding replied that a feasibility study in terms of site use and possible relocation of services was taking place with respect to Culverhay. He added that if any work was required on the site that would be funded from the Schools Capital budget.

Councillor Paul May said that he would not want to see the quality of our services weaken through any of these budget decisions. He asked if any contingency plans had been made regarding Virgin Care / HCRG.

The Chief Operating Officer replied that the budget remains in place and that they are awaiting outcomes of the ongoing due diligence.

Councillor Andy Wait asked why the proposal relating to the Foster Care Transformation Project / Reunification Transformation Project had not been done before and was it achievable.

The Chief Operating Officer replied that work had already begun in this area to attempt to increase the number of in house carers. She added that the timing of these savings was a potential risk.

The Chairman commented that the use of £5.2m reserves, which has to be repaid, was only likely to add pressure to the budgets of future years. He asked if the year on year saving of £711,000 linked to the Foster Care Transformation Project was manageable.

The Chief Operating Officer replied that the use of reserves was required to manage the reduced income from Heritage Services and the Commercial Estate due to Covid-19.

The Director of Children's Services & Education added that they have been looking to increase the number of in house foster carers for some time and that the project will also seek to address the sufficiency of placements and provide support to parents from our foster carers.

She added that B&NES was working with the NSPCC to support re-unification, and that locally they have a target to initially work with 8 young people.

The Chairman asked what had happened to the £540,000 in the last budget that was allocated to Youth Centres.

The Director of Children's Services & Education replied that this figure related to Capital Reborrowing and would be delivered through our maintenance budgets.

The Panel RESOLVED to;

i)  Note the update to the Medium Term Financial Strategy budget

assumptions.

ii)  Note the draft budget items in the supporting appendices.