Agenda and minutes

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 16 July 2018 are correctly recorded and that they be signed by the Chairman. 

1.            Mr Oakford (Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance and Traded Services) introduced this report which set out the budget monitoring position up to 30 July 2018-19 for both revenue and capital budgets.

2.            The forecast revenue position was £6.726m including roll forwards which was an improvement on position at the same time last year. 

3.            Mr Oakford referred to Table 1b at 3.3 within the agenda papers.  This showed the building pressure on the Children, Young People and Education Directorate, part of this pressure related to the Asylum service.

4.            Ms Head explained that the authority was in a considerably better position this year than this time last year and initial monitoring for next month suggests this should continue. 

5.            The Leader invited each Cabinet Member and Corporate Director to give a brief overview of the improved position.

6.            Children, Young People and Education:  

·         overspend in this area was a national phenomenon. 

·         Asylum was a material factor with the bulk being the gap relating to care leavers and costs associated with the reception centre.

·         SEN related expenditure and educational psychology were large areas of overspend.  

·         Home to School Transport and Special Educational Needs or Disabilities (SEND) and High Needs represent the two largest financial risks to the County Council. 

Adult Social Care

·         Pressure in learning disabilities, this was mirrored nationally.

·         Mental Health, whilst majority of expenditure incurred by NHS this was an important issue and KCC continued to ensure that it protected voluntary organisations.   

·         Adult Social Care balanced budget was looking achievable.  There were significant risks around transfers of care.

·         Increased residential nursing placements – this would be monitored. 

·         Planning for the winter; joint working with NHS. 

Growth Environment and Transport

·         MRs Cooper was confident that the budget would be balanced, the biggest variables were waste tonnage and the effects of the weather.  Mr Whiting explained that the service remained vigilant about the waste situation.

Strategic and Corporate Services

·         There were significant pressures mainly relating to property, infrastructure and the contact centre and there was confidence that the budget would be balanced. 

Public Health

·         Public Health was forecasting an underspend and this reflected the good work that was being done.  The big issue was the Public Health Grant which had been reduced

RESOLVED that Cabinet:

i)             Note the forecast revenue budget monitoring position for 2018-19 and capital budget monitoring position for 2018-19 to 2020-21, and that the forecast pressure on the revenue budget needs to be eliminated as we progress through the year.

Richard Fitzgerald (Business Intelligence Manager – Performance) was in attendance for this item.

1)    Miss Carey introduced this report which set out the key areas of performance for the authority.  The strength of this report was that the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) had been measured consistently over a long period.  The report brought together an overview of the Council with just 34 KPIs.  Each Cabinet Committee looked in more detail at their own directorate. 

2)    Mr Fitzgerald set out the highlights of the report, it was the Quarter 1 report with results up to the end of June 2018.  Performance was generally good for the quarter with the majority of indicators rated as green.  He drew out important information for Members as follows:

a.    Customer Services

                                  i.    Good performance was maintained for caller satisfaction although call volumes were up. 

b.    Economic Development

                                  i.    Jobs created and safeguarded from the Regional Growth Fund (RGF) stood at 4192 jobs.  

c.    Environment and Transport

                                  i.    Following the bad weather in early 2018 outstanding works were high at the end of June, the pot hole blitz continued over the summer and so it was hoped that figures in the next report should be lower. 

                                ii.    Waste Management performance was maintained with only 1% of waste going to landfill.

d.    Children, Young People and Education

                                  i.    The provision primary attainment results were above the national average

                                ii.    Percentage of schools good or outstanding 91%

                               iii.    Apprenticeship starts have not shown the levels expected but the numbers should improve as we move into the new financial year.

                               iv.    There continued to be pressure on the completion of Education, Health and Care Plans and this was significantly off tartget.  There were high levels of demand and this was expected to continue. 

e.    Integrated Children’s Services

                                  i.     Early help closed with outcomes achieved was ahead of target,

                                ii.    Number of children in care remained stable.

f.     Adult Social Care

                                  i.    Contacts resolved at first point of contact remained above target.

                                ii.    Admissions to residential nursing care were higher than expected and number of people experiencing delayed transfer of care continued to be a pressure

g.    Public Health

                                  i.    Health Checks completed in year was below target but this was a temporary issue relating to IT systems. 

                                ii.    Number of universal checks completed by the health visitor continued to be ahead of target.

3)    In conclusion there were many positive results, areas where performance was lower than expected were being monitored and were subject to management action. 

4)    The Leader commented on the rising number of placements into nursing care, it was important to ensure that health partners were paying their fair contribution.  Regarding young people in care, it was thought that there should be a report on those leaving care with an additional column to monitor this. 

5)    Mr Whiting (Cabinet Member for Planning, Highways, Transport and Waste) explained that his portfolio was above target for all indicators.  He drew Members attention to the 100,000 LED lights which  ...  view the full minutes text for item 78.

That under Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972 the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 of part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act.

RESOLVED: That under Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972 the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 of part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act.

RESOLVED that the exempt minute of the meeting held on 16 July is correctly recorded and that it be signed by the Chairman.