Agenda item

To receive a report by the Deputy Leaderand Cabinet Member for Finance and Procurement; the relevant Cabinet Members for the Growth, Economic Development and Communities portfolio and Corporate Directors for Finance and Procurement;and Growth, Environment and Transport that sets out the proposed draft budget 2015/16 and Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) 2015/18 as it affects the Growth, Economic Development and Communities Cabinet Committee.  The report includes extracts from the proposed final draft budget book and MTFP relating to the remit of this committee.  This report also includes information from the KCC budget consultation, Autumn Budget Statement and provisional Local Government Finance Settlement as they affect KCC as a whole as well as any specific issues of relevance to this Cabinet Committee.

(Report by Mr J Simmonds, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance and Procurement, Mr M Dance, Cabinet Member for Economic Development, Cabinet Member for Community Services Mr A Wood Corporate Director for Finance and Procurement and Ms B Cooper, Corporate Director for Growth Environment and Transport)

(Mr K Tilson, Finance Business Partner, GEDC Directorate, was also present for this item)

1.            The Finance Business Partner, Mr Tilson, introduced the report explaining that it sets out the financial assumptions made in formulating the budget when it was sent out for consultation on 9 October [Feedback from the consultation in is appendices 5 and 6 of the report] that indicated the savings that needed to be made in the next 3 years.  The Provisional Settlement, received on 18 December, meant that those assumptions were broadly in line.  The one change was the receipt of an additional £6 million from council tax and rebates from district councils, which allowed for pressures to be funded and saving requirements to be reduced.

2.            The budget 2015/16 was launched on 12 January 2015 and would be considered by the County Council at its meeting on 12 February.

3.            Mrs Cooper and Mr Tilson noted comments and responded to questions by Members as follows:

a)    Mr Tilson advised that the consultation on the Kent Libraries was on going.  There were no savings for 2015/16 for the Libraries Registration and Archives or the Trust as the outcome for the consultation was not yet known.  The savings of £710k from staffing, was to make the management team, back office and support team as lean as possible prior to the transfer to a Trust or any other option.  There was a four year reduction to the book fund made in 2014, £150k came from the book fund in the current year and a further £150k would be taken out next year.

b)    The income referred to was in relation to Registration and the amount of income was unknown as the number of ceremonies was not known each year but was based on the last 3 to 4 years when there had been a consistent level of income.

c)    Mr Tilson agreed to forward the formula calculations on the Community Services section of the Budget 2015/16 to Members.

d)    Mr Tilson agreed to circulate in detail how the savings were going to be delivered on the Gypsy and Travellers budget.

e)    Mrs Cooper advised that from an economic development point of view the key capital projects were the transport projects which were important to unlock residential or commercial sites.  There were also capital projects for “No Use Empty”.  This was an excellent initiative KCC had with the district councils which helped with the quality of life and perception of an area. 

f)     The Rendezvous site was situated next to the Turner Contemporary Art Gallery and the Winter Gardens, Margate.  KCC owned the land and was looking at options for building a hotel at that location.  Mrs Cooper agreed to arrange a visit to Margate and suggested that the visit included the Dreamland site, Turner Contemporary and Margate town.

g)    Mr Tilson advised that there was no reduction in Road Safety but the way in which it was being funded had changed. 

4.            RESOLVED that:-

a)     the responses to questions by Members be noted;

b)     a Member visit to Margate be arranged as detailed in paragraph (d) above; and

c)      the Growth Economic Development and Communities Cabinet Committee noted the draft budget 2015/16 and MTFP 2015/18 (including the responses to the consultation and government announcements) prior to them being considered by Cabinet on 28 January and the County Council on 12 February 2015.