Agenda item

1.            The Cabinet Member for Finance, Mr P J Oakford, introduced the report and advised that, as in previous years, Cabinet Committees were being asked to discuss and comment on the budget before it was considered by the full Council.  Mr Shipton then summarised the report and detailed the national and local context in which this year’s budget had been set and the measures taken by the County Council to manage the impact of these.

2.            Mrs Bell advised that the Making A Difference Every Day (MADE) programme had been developed as a re-design of the Directorate’s operating model and would be vital in ensuring that limited resources were used in the most effective way to maintain service delivery to the people of Kent. Mr Smith referred to the latent demand for services which would become clear only when people currently in hospital settings were ready to move on to other provision, but which the County Council needed to predict and be ready to meet. The long-term picture of adult social care funding was complex, with many unknowns, both in terms of the longer-term economic effects of covid-19 and future Government funding.

3.            Ms Cooke and Mr Smith then responded to comments and questions from the committee, including the following:-

a)    disappointment was expressed about the lack of detail in the budget report relating to the savings to be made, and on this basis, the speaker did not feel able to support the recommendation to note the budget.  Ms Cooke set out the two-stage process for setting the budget and advised that no change to service provision would be made without detailed proposals being set out and Members being consulted; this would happen after the agreement of the planned budget at February’s full Council meeting.  The aim in presenting the current report and budget was clarity and transparency on the key areas of focus, such as proposed growth and savings, but avoiding an exhaustive level of detail.  Most of the detail historically provided related to changes which the County Council was unable to change, i.e. contractual inflation.  Ms Cooke said she was very happy to answer questions of detail from Members outside the meeting; and 

b)    the same speaker said he did not feel able to agree the budget in February with the current level of detail about the adult social care savings provided. The speaker felt that if it were not possible to be clear about savings at the start of the financial year, it may prove necessary to make additional savings part-way through the year, which may involve reductions in services. On this basis, he felt unable to explain and justify the budget to his local electorate. To Ms Cooke’s assurances about the budget process, Mr Smith added that his duty was to ensure that the County Council met the adult social care needs of Kent’s population, and had to ensure that any savings made did not compromise this provision. To guard against this, service redesign such as the MADE programme had been developed. Mr Smith also confirmed that he was happy to answer questions of detail from Members outside the meeting.  

4.            With the exception of Mr J Burden and Ida Linfield, who stated that they were unable to support the recommendation, the committee RESOLVED that:-

a) the draft capital and revenue budgets, including the responses to

the budget consultation, be noted; and

b) Members’ comments on the draft capital and revenue budget be reported to the Cabinet and full County Council when they consider the draft budget, on 25th January and 11th February 2021, respectively.