RESOLVED

That in taking decisions relating to the Business Plan 2020-24, the Cabinet take into account the comments and recommendations made by the Overview and Scrutiny Commission and the outcomes of consideration by the Overview and Scrutiny Panels.

At the invitation of the Chair, Councillor Peter Southgate Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Commission presented the report which set out the comments made by the Commission and Panels in relation to the first round of budget scrutiny.  It was noted that there was a significant level of uncertainty for the Council due to the delay in the funding announcement from central government.  The scrutiny members would continue to support the Cabinet in lobbying central government for a more realistic, multi-year funding settlement.

The Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance thanked Councillor Southgate and the scrutiny panels for their work on the first round of budget scrutiny; and for accommodating the change in the timetable due to the delays caused by the General Election.  In respect of the recommendation from the Sustainable Communities Panel, he wished to reassure Members and residents that the locations where moving traffic offences are monitored are checked regularly to ensure that they comply with regulations.  The Cabinet would continue to lobby central government, as it was the consensus across local government that it was not being funded properly by central government.  However there would still be a need to produce a balanced budget and therefore savings would need to be made which would have some impact on residents using those services.  He looked forward to working with scrutiny in the second round to make the savings as least damaging as possible.

The Director of Corporate Services advised that due to the delays in the government’s funding announcement, the timetable set out in the report had changed and the Business Plan would now be reported to the Overview and Scrutiny Commission and Cabinet meetings on 12 and 24 February 2020.

The Chair thanked the scrutiny panel members and chairs for their work.

RESOLVED

That in taking decisions relating to the Business Plan 2020-24, the Cabinet take into account the comments and recommendations made by the Overview and Scrutiny Commission and the outcomes of consideration by the Overview and Scrutiny Panels.