Meeting documents

Adult, Community Services and Health Overview and Scrutiny Panel
Tuesday 13 October 2009

ADULT, COMMUNITY SERVICES & HEALTH OVERVIEW & SCRUTINY PANEL

13 OCTOBER 2009


PRESENT: Councillors Meadowcroft (Chairman), Mrs Endacott (Vice Chairman), Baskerville, Mrs Kemp (substituting for Councillor Mrs Evans), Lenton, Majeed, Mrs Napier and Mrs Proctor.

Non Members: Councillor Dudley

Officers: Mr Abrahamson, Mr Brown, Mr Mist, Mr A Scott, Mrs Shawcross, Mr Taylor and Mr Thomas.
PART I

45/09 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

An apology for absence was received from Councillor Mrs Evans.

46/09 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

Councillor Mrs Napier declared a Personal Interest in Agenda Item 3 – The Preliminary Budget Report – as her son was in receipt of services from the Council.

47/09 THE PRELIMINARY BUDGET REPORT

Members considered the report due to be submitted to Cabinet on 22 October 2009 on the Preliminary Budget for 2010/11. The report set the context for discussions that had taken place in the weeks as part of the process for setting the Budget. Members were advised that due to the financial crisis the budget process had been brought forward in order that savings could be identified and made early so that a full year effect could be achieved.

The officers and the Lead Member for Adult and Community Services then responded to a number of questions/comments on specific savings proposals, in particular:-.
    • Item 38 – More effective commissioning of social care services - It was confirmed that the savings identified were those that had been identified previously and that no new policy changes were required in phase 1.
    • Item 39 – Slip opening of the Boyn Grove dementia day centre - The officers advised that it had been considered necessary to revise the opening of the Boyn Grove dementia day centre from Jan 2011 to June 2011 due to the complexity of the build and the work required relating to the specification of the service and the recruitment of staff.
    • Item 25 – Review of Car Park Charges - The savings were to be achieved by not providing a refund to leisure centre visitors.
    • Item 43 – Cross Leisure Services Reorganisations – The officers commented upon the review that had been undertaken of the service and the posts that would be deleted arising from the proposed revisions to the operation of the business. Further discussion on those proposal was taken in Part II in order to consider confidential staffing matters.
    • Item 15 – Increase the number of fairs at Dedworth Manor – In response to concerns raised, the officers advised that consultation would be held with local Ward Members prior to any decision being made.
    • Item 47 – Review of Supporting People Service – It was confirmed that, as the service regularly achieved end of year savings, the revised budget was in line with recent spend on the service. In response to a comment that any savings identified should be reallocated to fund care services, the officers confirmed that additional funding was already allocated to the service on top of the grant funding and that the savings identified would not affect the level of grant.
    • Item 49 – Review frequency of Inspections – It was noted that parks would be inspected every other day rather than every day as at present. That change in service was in line with the approach taken by a number of other local authorities.
    • Item 1 – Funding of Learning Disability Service – The officers advised that in previous years the budget had been generally under spent as a cautious approach had been taken. The savings would be achieved as placements would be budgeted for as they occurred rather than according to forecast. If additional funding was required a claim would be made to fund that from reserves. Concern was expressed that the need to make a claim for additional funding from reserves added a further layer of bureaucracy and may result in the service having to find additional savings from elsewhere within the budget.

Arising from the general discussion, the Panel made the following comments on the report.
    • The Panel found it difficult to make any meaningful comment on a number of the proposals, in particular those relating to organisational changes, as the report contained little or no information. The Panel suggested that the format of future reports should be amended to include some commentary on each proposal.
    • Greater transparency on the budget process was required.
    • The Panel were of the opinion that it would be presented with a 'fait accompli' when the Budget Report returned to the Panel in January 2009 as a large number of the savings proposal would have be implemented prior to the next meeting
    • Concern was expressed at the apparent loss of democratic accountability as the budget process has been brought forward without bringing forward the scrutiny process.
    • Members were of the opinion that the opening of the Dementia Centre at Boyn Grove should not be slipped to June 2011 but should open in April 2011 at the latest.
    • It would have been helpful if the report had provided an indication as to whether the identified savings related to the need for policy changes and whether they related to the release of recurring savings.
    • Concern was expressed that some double counting may have taken place as some budget lines had been repeated.

    RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY: That the Panel’s comments on the Preliminary Budget Report, as outlined above, be forwarded to Cabinet for consideration.

48/09 MEETING

The meeting, which began at 7.30pm, ended at 9.30pm.