Agenda and minutes

Previously circulated – Members are asked to bring their copy with them to the meeting.

Mr P B Carter, Leader of the Council; Mr J D Simmonds, Cabinet Member for Finance; Ms S J Carey, Deputy Cabinet Member for Finance; and Mr A Wood, Acting Director of Finance; will attend the meeting at 10.00 am to answer Members’ questions about the draft medium-term plan and budget proposals. Mr K Abbott, Director of Resources and Planning, has also been invited to attend the meeting, to answer Members’ questions in relation to the Education elements.

(1) The Chairman explained that the debate on the Budget would follow the order of the Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP).

(2) Mr Simmonds introduced the Budget, explaining the aim had been to preserve frontline services, particularly to vulnerable people. In doing so, little had been cut, and an approach which was equitable as possible had been adopted. Replying to a question about whether it was difficult to see where the cuts were, Mr Simmonds explained that it was clear, by Directorate, where savings had been made.

(3) Responding to a comment that it was difficult to see where the reduction of approximately 1500 posts would be, Mr Simmonds explained that Managing Directors had undertaken to achieve these efficiencies throughout the year. The Leader added that in some Directorates conversations had already begun about the lower tiers. Mr Wood explained that there were around 960 vacancies across the authority as at November 2010, although some were posts that needed to be filled.

(4) Referring to a need to front load staff reductions, the Chairman asked when Members would know the effects of this in terms of post reductions. The Leader responded that there might be some announcements before the end of February, with different parts of the organisation at different stages in the process (e.g. Environment, Highways and Waste were already beginning to look at interviewing for posts in the new structure). Mr Simmonds and Mr Wood explained that Finance were in the process of evaluating the tasks the unit had to undertake and which were essential and non-essential, and the risks associated with each, and the structure would emerge over the next three months.

(5) Mr Manning expressed a view that, given that savings had been forced on the Council by Government, the focus should be on finding the £95 million of savings and that there was not a need to scrutinise staff cuts as part of the debate on the Budget. Mr Christie thought that it was not unreasonable to ask where posts were going to go, since it was impossible to reduce 1500 posts without affecting services. Responding to a question from Mr Christie about whether the turnover of 10% of staff had been factored into the plans to reduce posts, the Leader explained that this would enable the reshaping of the organisation without significant compulsory redundancies, since 1500 posts corresponded to 10% of the workforce, and that there were already approximately 900 vacancies in the organisation.

(6) The Leader explained that there was a desire to give staff certainty and reshape the organisation as quickly as possible but that it was difficult to identify what services would be stopped, because of the move to different and creative means of service delivery. There would be reductions to staff within Children, Families and Education (CFE), as the Council began to deliver the Secretary of State’s more minimalistic approach; in Highways, as highways maintenance would be a priority and traffic improvement schemes would not take place over the next  ...  view the full minutes text for item 1.