Agenda item

(would Members please bring their copy of the draft budget circulated on 7 January 2009)

(1)       The Committee considered the Communities Directorate’s Draft Budget proposals set out in the Draft Budget 2009-10 and the Draft Medium Term Financial Plan 2009-2012 and also the report which was circulated specifically relating to the key areas of these documents for Communities. 

(2)       Mr Hill, Ms Honey and Mr Shipton introduced the MTP, the Revenue Budget and Capital Budget for the Communities Directorate.  Mr Hill and officers answered questions from members about the following issues:-

(a)       Inflation

(3)       In response to a question from Mr Northey on how far the inflation figures had been built into the budget and what strategies there were to deal with variations in the rate of inflation, Mr Shipton explained that contracts for rent, cleaning etc relating to the cost of running buildings include an annual indexation and therefore it was easier to predict the rate of inflation on the contracts.  However, the area of greatest risk was the cost of electricity, as the Council had not entered into any long term contracts for energy provision, and a figure of 20% for inflation had been built into the budget for this.  This represents prudent provision for what was the most volatile cost in recent months (with estimated increases in excess of 40% earlier in the year) and he was confident that they would be able to cope with any other variables.

(b)       Contact Centre re-charges

(4)       In response to a question from Mr Chell, Mr Shipton confirmed that there would not be any charge to the Directorate for the services provided by the Contact Centre as these costs were covered corporately and have not been included in the corporate budget delegated to service Directorates.

(c)        Personnel Services – charges

(5)       In response to a question from Mr Chell, Mr Shipton explained that the cost to the Directorate for Personnel Services would be based on the number of requests that the Directorate made to them and the support given.

(d)       Use of kent.gov to advertise vacancies

(6)       Mr Shipton confirmed that KCC only used kent.gov to advertise its vacancies.  Evidence had shown that this was the most effective way of recruiting staff.

(e)       Adult Education - income

(7)       In response to a question regarding the vulnerability of the market- related income from Adult Education, Mr Shipton explained that there was a contingency plan that identified potential risks and action which could be taken in the event of these risks coming to fruition.  Adult Education had a very detailed financial plan.

(f)                 Staff reductions

(8)       In response to a question from Mrs Rowbotham, Mr Shipton stated that regarding the management restructuring and staff efficiency savings, one post had been identified in the MTP, which was subject to consultation, and a reduction of one post in the central support team.  He explained that if an officer took early retirement then the portfolio would pick up the retirement cost until the officer reached normal retirement age.  This might be an issue with the proposed restructuring of Registration Services.  Ms Honey confirmed that there would be a confidential update on this restructuring at the next briefing for Dr Eddy and Mrs Dean.

(g)       Vacancy Management

(9)       Mr Shipton explained that a flexible approach was taken to vacancy management, there was local discretion and that savings were adjusted according to actual turnover of staff during the year.

(h)       Homesafe Van funding

(10)     In response to a question from Mrs Rowbotham, Mr Shipton explained that the funding for the Homesafe Van, which had previously come out of the Communities Directorate budget would now be funded from the Supporting People programme within the Adult Social Services budget as this was more appropriate.   He confirmed that the Directorate would continue to look at all possible sources of government funding for their services but it was important to have an exit strategy for any such funding should it come to an end.

(i)         Review of essential user’s car allowance.

(11)     In response to a question from Mr Rowe, Mr Shipton explained that officers were contracted as car users but whether they were an essential or casual car user would depend on the number of miles travelled in a year and was not a contractual condition.   Where staff were not going to reach the required mileage to qualify as an essential user it was important to give them adequate notice that they would be re-classified as a causal user.

(j)         Grants to village halls

(12)     Mr King emphasised the importance of investing in community infrastructure, i.e. village halls, which were a good way of stimulating community activities and stated that he would like to see more flexibility in this budget in future.

(13)     Officers and the Cabinet Member were congratulated by members on the budget that had been produced for Community Services, which safeguarded frontline services and achieved savings and were in line with the Committee’s views, as expressed at the last POC.

RESOLVED that that the Budget 2009-10 and Medium Term Plan 2009 to 2012 for the Community Services Portfolio, along with the responses made to the questions from members, be noted.