Venue: Remotely via Microsoft Teams
Contact: Scrutiny – 01792 637732
Media
Items
No. |
Item |
1. |
Disclosure of Personal and Prejudicial Interests.
Minutes:
No disclosures of interest were made.
|
2. |
Prohibition of Whipped Votes and Declaration of Party Whips
Minutes:
No declarations were made.
|
3. |
Minutes PDF 319 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 20th January 2021
as an accurate record of the meeting.
|
4. |
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:
No questions were submitted by members of the public
|
5. |
Budget Proposals 2021/22 - 2023/24 - pre-decision scrutiny
Invited to attend:
Ben Smith – Section 151 Officer &
Chief Finance Officer
Rob Stewart – Cabinet Member for Economy, Finance and
Strategy
Link to relevant Cabinet
Papers
Minutes:
The Service Improvement and Finance Scrutiny Performance
Panel, including members of the Development and Regeneration Scrutiny
Performance Panel, met to consider this year’s Annual Budget Proposals. The Joint Social Services Scrutiny
Performance Panel and the Education Scrutiny Performance Panel both met in the
days running up to the meeting and their feedback was
considered.
|
6. |
Summarising Views for Feedback to Cabinet
Minutes:
Joint Social Services
- The Panel feels it is
vitally important we ensure there is sufficient money allocated in the
budget to provide additional health and wellbeing support to staff
following the pandemic. The Panel is keen to see a joint venture with the
Health Board in terms of support for staff.
- Very pleased to see the
budget situation for Social Services this year, with an increase in the
overall budget and very little in terms of cuts. However, the Panel is aware that there
is a great deal that needs to be achieved with
this money.
- The Panel is concerned
that it only sees the net budget.
It would be useful to see details of the income streams as well as
expenditure. Officers have agreed
to work with Cabinet Members to provide this information.
- The Panel would like to
support the budget process in any way it can and therefore intends to
revisit the budget again later in the year to closely
monitor progress.
Education
- We were satisfied overall
with this year’s budget as it relates to education matters.
- We
welcome the capital spend and the 3.3% gross uplift in the
delegated schools budget.
- We were pleased that Education
continues to be one of the top priorities for Swansea Council.
- Is there provision in the
budget to ensure the reimbursement of any expenses incurred by those
schools that remained open throughout the Covid period?
- We asked what savings
proposals there are in relation to School Transport. We were informed that the proposals that
are for consultation will be put to Cabinet in
March. Can they
be circulated to the Education Scrutiny Panel, once they are
available?
- Has the cost of the
potential new footprint of ERW and the closing down of the existing ERW
structure been factored into the budget moving forward?
- We would like to take this
opportunity to thank Schools, Governors and the Education Department for
their excellent work over the past year. Particularly how they have
managed the challenges that this Covid period has brought.
Natural Environment
The recruitment into new posts, as an outcome of the Natural
Environment Scrutiny Inquiry, should reflect the following recommendations:
- Planning Ecologist to be a
full time role (rather than part-time as currently advertised)
- Biodiversity Officer to be
a full time role (rather than part-time as currently advertised)
- Climate Action Officer
should be 0.5 (rather than 0.2)
Development and
Regeneration
- In terms of the risk
associated with the City Deal, the Panel would like clarification on the
level of borrowing and how this will affect revenue
streams in the future.
- The Panel seek clarity
over how many jobs will be created to reflect the
amount of investment in the City Deal projects.
- The Panel would benefit
from a more detailed breakdown on what money has been spent in relation to
the City Deal and on what is planned currently.
- The Panel would like a
clear understanding of risks around ongoing capital costs and the income
from the new developments.
Service Improvement and Finance
- The Panel noted the Budget
this year is unique and unprecedented. That it is very much a live
document and it is the first time that a substantial part of the budget is based on what might happen. We
thank officers and staff for their hard work and acknowledged the quick
turnaround of funding distribution.
- The Panel would like a
greater understanding of the risk register with regards to ongoing revenue
costs, with the uncertainties around pay back from Welsh Government
- The Panel note that the
Budget is a live document subject to change, and as such
it has been difficult to scrutinise to full effect this year.
- We raised concerns about
the financial and performance impact on Council finances of the future
multiple joint committees that will be levied
against the budget, and the risks of such committees to the Council
Budget.
|
7. |
Work Plan 2020-21 PDF 208 KB
|
|
Letter to Cabinet Member PDF 512 KB
|
|
Cabinet Member Response PDF 501 KB
|
|
Cabinet Member Response - Appendix PDF 47 KB
|