Venue: Remotely via MS Teams
Contact: Scrutiny Officer - 01792 637732
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Disclosure of Personal and Prejudicial Interests Minutes: None |
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Prohibition of Whipped Votes and Declaration of Party Whips Minutes: None |
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Minutes of Previous Meeting(s) PDF 602 KB To receive the minutes of the previous meeting(s) and agree as an accurate record. Minutes: The Panel considered letters and minutes from previous meetings and agreed the minutes of the meeting on 18 January 2022 as an accurate record of the meeting. |
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Public Questions Questions must be submitted in writing, no later than noon on the working day prior to the meeting. Questions must relate to items on the agenda. Questions will be dealt with in a 10-minute period. Minutes: There were no public questions |
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Pre-Decision Scrutiny of Cabinet Reports: Annual Budget Invited to attend: Ben Smith – Director of Finance / S.151
Officer Cllr Rob Stewart - Cabinet
Member for Economy, Finance and Strategy Link
to Cabinet
Papers for 17 February 2022 containing the Budget papers Minutes: Overall The Panel welcomed the large increase in budget
provision, noting this was the largest such increase in recent years. Panel
Members look forward to expenditure across all services to benefit the people
of Swansea. The Panel welcomed an increase in spending in
Education and Social Services, and additional spending to invest in services in Swansea that have experienced
some reductions over recent years in line with constrained budgets. We are
hopeful that this year’s funding will help with repairs to the infrastructure
across Swansea. The Panel took on board the cautionary warnings
from the Section 151 Officer regarding inflation and service pressures, future
lower settlements and the central pots of one off money that
the Council will need to competitively bid for and which are not fully
assured. Panel Members understood that there will be a
one-off large increase in funds, but are mindful these figures are not reflected equally across the three-year plan. We understood that caution will be needed
moving forward, and that the Capital Equalisation Reserve may not be able to be
topped up with the increased investment levels it has seen since 2016; noting
there may be less in the reserve in future. In terms of General Revenue, the Panel welcomed the
amount of funds reinstated, noting the £700,000 increase in insurance. Joint Social
Services The Panel is very encouraged to see the budget
situation for Social Services this year, because of the increases and because
of the savings, which look as if they are all going to be contractual. The only slight concern for the Panel is how
far these contractual savings will go. The Panel understands that the Cabinet Papers show
an £8.5m increase in the Social Services Budget for 2022/23 but the actual
proposed budget for Social Services for 2022/23, in the Revenue Budget summary
Sheet, is £16m. The Panel understands
that the £8.5m is for additional pressures and that the difference between this
and the £16m is for continued growth within the Service. The Panel feels this is a great opportunity
to invest to improve services. The Panel intends to look at the transformation of
services in more detail at future meetings. There is a need to have services which are economically and efficiently run, and the
Panel needs to ensure we don’t lose sight of this. The Panel welcomed the improved communication
between Health, Social Services and Partners over the past few years and hopes
this relationship will continue to grow. Education The Panel welcomed the increase in the budget
provision for schools for the next year but noted that the funding is heavily weighted to year 1 2022/23. We share the departments concerns in relation
to the clarity of funding for schools in years 2 and 3. The Panel heard that individual school reserves are
currently at a high level. We did
recognise that this is a positive thing given the challenges coming in years 2
and 3, but we agreed that this means the schools must be encouraged to have
good medium term spending plans, in order for this to been used effectively. The Panel did have concerns regarding the
potentially inadequate funding from Welsh Government for: a. Phased
roll out of Free School Meal provision to all primary pupils b. The
emerging implications of the Additional Learning Needs Act. The Panel raised concerns about the potential
change to the proxy measure that is based upon Free School Meal allocation which is the indicator used for extra funding in
schools for vulnerable pupils like, for example, the allocation of the Pupil
Development Grant and the School Uniform Grant.
The Panel would be keen to see how this will be addressed in upcoming
policy changes from Welsh Government so vulnerable children do not lose out. The Panel were concerned
about the rising energy cost for schools and would like to see schools
switching to more green solutions, where it is feasible. The Panel welcomed the high level of delegated
spend that has been maintained by Swansea Council. Hearing that this coming year will be 83% and
will increase to 85% in 2024/25. |
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Sustainable Swansea (verbal update) Invited to attend: Ben Smith – Director of Finance / S.151
Officer Cllr Rob Stewart - Cabinet
Member for Economy, Finance and Strategy Minutes: The Panel received a short verbal update from The Leader and S.151
Officer, regarding the Sustainable Swansea programme, noting that a full report
will be made available to the Scrutiny Panel in due
course. |
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Minutes: The Panel accepted the Work Programme for 2021/2022 |
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Review of items covered in the Work Plan 2021-22 Minutes: · The Panel considered the annual review documents. · The Panel commented on what had gone well this year, including the scrutiny of the Annual Planning Performance Report and the attendance of lead officers and Cabinet Members when requested. · Members commented on the lack of up-to-date performance data, as a result of the effects of the pandemic. · Members commented on the difficulty of reading/analysing agendas and reports on screen, noting a preference for printed paper copies. |
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Property Investment Fund Strategy Invited to attend: Cllr David Hopkins – Cabinet Member for
Delivery and Operations Geoff Bacon – Head of Property Services Tom Rees – Property Investment Manager Alex O’Brien – Property Manager |
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