To consider the Panel’s work programme for the remainder of the Municipal year.

To include consideration of items scheduled on the Cabinet Forward Plan.

The Chairman said that there was an item on the customer journey which had been suggested, a scoping document needed to be completed to add this item to the work programme.

Councillor L Jones suggested an item on communication and that she was considering a scoping document on this. This work could then lead into the potential development of an RBWM app, as had been discussed during the meeting.

Mark Beeley, Democratic Services Officer, said that the Panel would potentially have an additional meeting towards the end of December 2021 to consider and scrutinise the budget.

Councillor L Jones expressed concern that the budget could be scrutinised properly in December as not all of the numbers would be available on the finance settlement, she believed that there should be another scrutiny session after Christmas.

Adele Taylor said that numbers on the finance settlement were expected mid-December but these would still be provisional. She would be looking to brief Members as soon as possible.

Councillor L Jones suggested that she would prefer to scrutinise the budget after the finance settlement figure had been confirmed.

Councillor Sharpe said that the Panel should give as much time as possible to allow the figures on the finance settlement to be confirmed. Therefore, scrutinising the budget in December might not be the best course of action.

Adele Taylor clarified that the only figure the Panel did not have was the finance settlement figure. All other aspects of the budget still needed to be scrutinised, there was no guarantee that the final finance settlement figure would be received before RBWM was legally required to set the budget.

Councillor Sharpe asked if the finance settlement figure was essential in setting in the budget.

Adele Taylor explained that it was not, it was not the function of scrutiny to consider the finance settlement number. It was not unusual for local authorities to not have a final confirmed figure for the finance settlement when setting the budget.

Councillor L Jones asked if it meant that the figures in the budget would therefore not change.

Adele Taylor responded by saying that the budget proposals would not change, the estimated finance settlement number was £3 million.

Councillor L Jones commented that it would be useful to have as much information as possible at the time the budget was scrutinised by the Panel.

Councillor Werner said that the budget was based on assumptions but the budget could need to change if the £3 million finance settlement was not received from the government. Councillor Werner argued that if the figure was confirmed, the December meeting should go ahead, if the figure was not confirmed then the Panel should delay the meeting until the new year.

Adele Taylor said that any changes would be proposed in the final budget. This was an opportunity for the Panel to see the budget early and feed into the process. Officers had to make estimations on government funding before final figures were confirmed.

Councillor Werner asked what would happen if RBWM only received £2 million, for example, but the budget was set on the assumption that the figure would be £3 million. He felt that the process did not make sense, it was important to discuss things like additional savings.

The Chairman said that the budget was not going to be reissued and he would close off the discussion on this topic. Officers would review the situation and bring the budget to the Panel when it was ready.

Councillor Larcombe said that he was pleased to see in the budget that £200,000 would be going towards the Barrel Arch. He suggested that Wraysbury drain should be looked at and should be added to the work programme for the Panel to consider.

The Chairman said that Councillor Larcombe should liaise with Members on the Panel to produce a scoping document, if appropriate. The Panel could then decide if they wanted to add the item to the work programme.