Agenda and minutes

(previously circulated – Members are asked to bring their copy with them to the meeting)

Mr N J D Chard, Cabinet Member for Finance; Mr A Wood, Head of Financial Management; and Mr B Smith, Group Manager, Financial Planning and Budget, will attend the meeting at 10.00 am to answer Members’ questions about the draft medium-term plan and budget proposals. 

The five Policy Overview Committees will be meeting during the week leading up to this meeting to consider the medium-term plan and budget proposals relating to their service areas.  Any proposals from any of the POCs which, if accepted, could have an impact on other parts of the budget will be reported to the Committee at its 1 February meeting.  The comments on the medium-term plan and budget proposals made by the five Policy Overview Committees and by this Committee will be reported to Cabinet at its meeting on 6 February.

(1)       Mr N J D Chard, Cabinet Member for Finance; Mr A Wood, Head of Financial Management; and Mr B Smith, Group Manager, Financial Planning and Budget, attended the meeting to answer Members’ questions about the draft medium-term plan and budget proposals. 

(2)       The Head of Democratic Services reported that the five Policy Overview Committees had met during the week leading up to the meeting to consider the medium-term plan and budget proposals relating to their service areas but that none had made any proposals which, if accepted, could have an impact on other parts of the Budget.

(3)       Mr Chard made a brief introductory statement in which he explained that, in presenting the Budget, Cabinet had attempted to achieve the following objectives:-

·          Protect services for the most vulnerable;

·          Support KCC’s priorities; and

·          Affordability for the Council Taxpayer.

(4)     Mr Chard also announced that the Audit Commission had recently published the results of its Use of Resources Assessment.  KCC had achieved Level 4 (the highest).  The Assessment was made up of five individual elements and KCC had achieved Level 4 in four of the five elements, a better result than any other County Council had achieved.

(5)       Members’ questions covered the following issues:-

Proposed Council Tax Increase

(6)       In answer to a question from Dr Eddy, Mr Chard explained that 3.9% was considered to be an affordable increase because it was the rate at which the Government had announced that pensions would be uplifted for 2008/09.  Any lower increase would have impacted on the Cabinet’s other two objectives (protecting services for the most vulnerable and supporting KCC’s priorities).

Area-based Grant (ABG) System

(7)       In answer to questions from Mr Smyth, Mr Bullock, Mrs Newell and Mr Chell, Mr Chard said that he supported the ABG concept because it was designed to achieve outcomes for the area which had been agreed jointly by KCC and its partners with Government.  However, while some aspects of the proposed new ABG System were clear, such as:-

·          What would be included in it (Mr Wood confirmed that there had been a transparent transfer of specific grants to ABG);

·          That ABG would not increase in line with inflation so there would be increasing budgetary pressure (Mr Wood said that, overall, provision had been made for a 0.7% increase in 2008/09; a 5.5% increase in 2009/10; and a 3% reduction in 2010/11);

·          That KCC would be accountable for the ABG allocated to Kent,

the detailed arrangements for allocation of ABG, including the local partnership governance structure, were not yet clear.

Capital Receipts

(8)       In answer to a question from Mr Parker, Mr Wood said that he was confident that the planned level of Capital Receipts for 2008/09 (£21m) was achievable, because the new figure reflected the recent re-phasing of the capital programme.

PFI

(9)       In answer to a question from Mr Bullock, Mr Wood explained that PFI schemes were not shown in the Prudential Indicators because they were not normally funded by borrowing.  Instead, they  ...  view the full minutes text for item 49.