Council and democracy

Agenda and minutes

Venue: Microsoft Teams

Contact: Lucy Tricker, Democratic Services Officer  Email: Direct.Democracy@thurrock.gov.uk

Media

Items
No. Item

24.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 334 KB

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committeemeeting held on 10 November 2020.

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Minutes:

The Senior Democratic Services Office updated the Committee regarding the recent scrutiny review. She stated that the report had been approved by Cabinet in December 2020, and since then officers had been working to begin the review’s implementation. She stated that the team were working to outline how to progress the recommendations, with the majority being implemented at the beginning of the 2021/22 municipal year. She summarised and stated that regular update reports would be brought before the Committee.

The minutes of the Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 10 November 2020 were approved as a true and correct record.

25.

Items of Urgent Business

To receive additional items that the Chair is of the opinion should be considered as a matter of urgency, in accordance with Section 100B (4) (b) of the Local Government Act 1972.

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Minutes:

There were no items of urgent business.

26.

Declaration of Interests

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Minutes:

There were no interests declared.

27.

Communications Strategy (Verbal Update)

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Minutes:

The Director of Strategy, Communications and Customer Services began the update by stating that the Local Government Association had been invited to peer review the Council’s communications and perform a ‘health check’ of the communications functions. She outlined that this peer review had been completed in October 2020, and the feedback report had been received in mid-December 2020. She explained that as part of the review the LGA team had interviewed local media representatives, officers, partners and Councillors, and the feedback report had included some recommendations. The Director of Strategy, Communications and Customer Services outlined some of the recommendations, which included a ‘who reads what’ survey to look into how residents accessed information, such as via social media, local media, or the Council’s newsletter website. She stated that the LGA report would be used to inform the Communications Strategy, as well as to develop an action plan, both of which would be brought before the Committee. She summarised and explained that the Committee would have the chance to look over the peer review and action plan in March 2021, before the final Communications Strategy would be brought to Committee in June 2021.

Councillor Hague questioned how the Council utilised social media platforms such as Facebook. The Director of Strategy, Communications and Customer Service replied that Thurrock Council had their own social media channels on platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, but also utilised community forums to share Thurrock Council information. She stated that Thurrock could also comment directly on some open social media pages or groups. She added that social media would form a big part of the Communications Strategy. Councillor Rice questioned whether the local elections due to take place in May 2021 would still be going ahead, due to the increasing numbers of COVID deaths. The Corporate Director of Finance, Governance and Property replied that current information indicated that the local elections would still be going ahead, and the Council were working with the Electoral Commission to ensure the elections could safely be delivered, particularly at polling stations and counting centres. He stated that the elections team would continue to organise the elections, until instructed otherwise by central government. Councillor Hague stated if there would be a communications campaign to highlight the postal vote system, as this would reduce the level of contact. The Corporate Director of Finance, Governance and Property responded that the elections team were currently undertaking the registry elections process, which reminded all local residents of the postal vote option. 

28.

Draft General Fund Budget & Medium Term Financial Strategy Update pdf icon PDF 602 KB

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Minutes:

The Corporate Director Finance, Governance and Property introduced the report and stated that in the current 2020/21 financial year, a six month forecast Cabinet report had outlined a deficit of £2.7million. He stated that at the beginning of the financial year, the Council had been reporting a surplus of £4.7million, which indicated a £7million in-year change due to the COVID pandemic. He explained that additional funding had now been received which would ensure the budget was balanced at the end of the 2020/21 financial year, but the budgeted surplus had been lost and this would affect future budgets. He outlined that there was currently a £34million funding gap over the next three years, with a £19million deficit in 2021/22 and a £25million deficit split between 2022/23 and 2023/24. He explained that the lost surplus this year would be compounded by an increased collection fund deficit from decreased business rates and council tax collection, which would impact on potential expenditure in the next few years. He added that this would also be affected by increased costs in adult and children’s social care. He described how Thurrock were in the lowest quartile for adults social care expenditure, but this meant there were still pressures in the system and the pandemic would have a greater impact on the service. He stated that the reasons for the pressures in the service were due to demographic changes, an increased number of resilience payments, increased inflation, increased staff pay, increased treasury budgets and interest costs.

The Corporate Director of Finance, Governance and Property stated that the Council were currently undertaking a number of one-off approaches to buy some time, due to the size of the deficit. He stated that the government had undertaken a spending review in November 2020 and the Chancellor had agreed on a one year settlement, but this only informed resources for 2021/22. He added that government grants and council tax income had been built into the budget, which ensured it would be balanced.

The Corporate Director of Finance, Governance and Property then explained that the team had been working on ways to reduce expenditure and increase income, which included the freezing of non-essential vacant post recruitment. He explained that this would reduce the number of employees over the Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS), and would save approximately £4million. He stated that this would have an impact on services as it would reduce the number of the staff, but directorates would try to mitigate this as much as possible. He stated that the Council would also be stopping some allowances such as overtime, car allowances, and shift work. He explained that over the past two years the Council had undertaken a review and restructure of staff pay grades, which had been affordable but had led to increased funding. He stated that he understood that this was a sensitive issue, but outlined that it would save the Council approximately £800,000.  The Corporate Director of Finance, Governance and Property then outlined the proposed rise in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 28.

29.

Capital Strategy 2021/22 pdf icon PDF 231 KB

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Minutes:

The Corporate Director Finance, Governance and Property introduced the report and stated that the report set out the approach to capital borrowing over the coming years, as well as outlining prudential indicators. He stated that the report also contained the capital and treasury management strategy, and in previous years would have outlined the targets for investment and the investment approach. He explained that as the council were no longer pursuing new investment opportunities, the report was now based on existing capital investments, which meant that future borrowing requirements had decreased. The Corporate Director of Finance, Governance and Property highlighted point 3.3 of the report and stated that this was the same as previous years, and included temporary borrowing which had been undertaken since 2010. He explained that this also outlined changes to interest and the ability of the Council to borrow, including the Council’s move to PWLB borrowing. He commented that the MRP had not changed, but was an annual requirement to be included in the report. He summarised and stated that current levels of net borrowing were between £300 and £400million.

The Chair highlighted table 4 on page 39 of the agenda, and questioned why the total future debt appeared to increase. The Corporate Director of Finance, Governance and Property replied that this was due to the decreasing number of investments which would not be replaced once they matured. He added that this also reflected the capital programme, for example the A13 project and ongoing HRA development, as this borrowing equated to funding the capital programme. The Chair then questioned the process for the sale of assets. The Corporate Director of Finance, Governance and Property replied that the asset team were currently reviewing and classifying all government assets. He stated that these had been classified into approximately 60-70 operational assets; 50-60 community assets; and 200 assets that did not fall into either of these categories. He explained that the assets team were liaising with all directorates to ascertain service needs, for example housebuilding or local plan development potential, and then deciding if the assets needed to be disposed or could be utilised. He explained that all asset disposals over £250,000 now needed to go through Cabinet for approval, and felt that asset disposal was not just about increasing capital receipts, but also about decreasing exposure and liability. The Chair queried what level of democratic oversight occurred for asset disposals. The Corporate Director of Finance, Governance and Property replied that the asset disposal would be brought before the relevant overview and scrutiny committee. He explained that the assets due to be brought forward to Cabinet in February were not controversial, for example some tenants wished to purchase the assets. He stated that the team were developing a flowchart process for housing sites, which would go before the Housing Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

Councillor Ralph sought reassurance that all assets would be properly valued before they were sold. The Corporate Director of Finance, Governance and Property replied that since 2019 all  ...  view the full minutes text for item 29.

30.

Draft Capital Programme pdf icon PDF 150 KB

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Minutes:

The Corporate Director Finance, Governance and Property introduced the report and stated that this report was brought before the Committee every year and outlined the new schemes that would be included in the capital programme, and formed part of the budget setting in February. He stated that due to the Council’s financial position the capital programme did not include as many schemes as in previous years, as the majority of capital schemes required lots of staff and resources to deliver, which would be reduced due to a reduction in capacity and vacant post staff freezes. The Corporate Director of Finance, Governance and Property outlined the two aspects of the capital programme which were: smaller schemes outlined in 4.2 of the report which were divided into the digital, operational, and property pots; and larger schemes which were included at appendix 2.

The Chair questioned the affordability of some of the projects, and asked how budgets were going to be managed. The Corporate Director of Finance, Governance and Property replied that over the past year the Council had worked hard to improve its project management capabilities, including increased senior management involvement, and new team members who had project management experience. He explained that the Project Board met monthly and was chaired by the Chief Executive to monitor delivery, timescales, and budgets of ongoing projects. He explained that there were always challenges on public sector budgets due to project cost overruns and delays, but controls were now in place to improve project management.

Councillor Ralph questioned the Stanford-le-Hope Interchange project, and asked if the Council had claimed back funds from DP World. He felt it was good to see third party investment in these schemes, and urged the Council to claim back any necessary monies. The Corporate Director of Finance, Governance and Property replied that the Council claimed as much back as possible on these schemes, and would confirm in writing if DP World funds had been claimed. Councillor Rice then queried the spend of £9million on consultants for the Stanford-le-Hope Interchange project. He also questioned overspend on the A13 widening project, and potential funding for the A13 East Facing Access scheme. The Corporate Director of Finance, Governance and Property stated that he did not recognise the figure of £9million spent on consultants, but would come back to the Committee with a written reply and brief update on the position. He stated that the Council were contractually obliged to pay for the A13 widening scheme, and the team were working hard to mitigate the £30million overspend, including through monthly claims to Kier. He added that the team were also working to increase the contributions from third parties, including SELEP and the Highways Agency. He stated that as a last resort the Council could use prudential borrowing, but would use capital receipts before then. He explained that the Council were currently undertaking feasibility studies regarding the A13 East Facing Access Scheme, but explained that government grants could be used to cover this cost. He  ...  view the full minutes text for item 30.

31.

Work Programme pdf icon PDF 268 KB

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Minutes:

The Chair stated that the Communications Strategy report would be brought before the Committee in June 2021. The Corporate Director of Finance, Governance and Property requested an additional finance update in March 2021. Councillor Duffin requested a paper on commercialisation, and the Corporate Director of Finance, Governance and Property replied that he would look into this to ensure it fell within the remit of Corporate Overview and Scrutiny, particularly surrounding asset disposal.