Apologies were received from Councillor Hamish Badenoch (substituted by Councillor Suzanne Grocott) , Councillor Abigail Jones (substituted by Councillor John Dehaney) and from co-opted member Colin Powell.

There were no declarations of pecuniary interest.

The minutes were agreed as an accurate record of the meeting.

Members agreed to take agenda items 4,5 and 7 together.

Savings proposals for Corporate Services

(set out on pages 20-34 and 48-56 of the consultation pack)

The Director of Corporate Services, Caroline Holland, introduced the proposals for replacement, deferred and new savings. Caroline Holland outlined some of the reasons for the deferral and replacement of some of the savings, particularly in relation to proposals for shared services. She said that every effort had been made to minimise the impact on both internal and external customers but that there would be some impact.

Members scrutinised each of the savings proposals and asked detailed questions to clarify some of the detail, baseline budgets and context. In particular, members asked for more detail on savings that would result in post deletions. Caroline Holland said that turnover should minimise the need for redundancies.

Members noted the dividend received from CHAS. Caroline Holland said that there may be further dividends and that the Financial Monitoring Task Group would be receiving a report on CHAS at its next meeting.

In response to questions, Caroline Holland undertook to provide additional information on CSREP 2018-19 (11) the baseline budget for the Audit and Investigations Service (p30 of the consultation pack). ACTION: Director of Corporate Services.

Members noted that a further £3.2m savings in 2019-22 would be required to meet the target for Corporate Services. Caroline Holland said that the January report to Cabinet showed a lower shortfall for 2019/20 and that the refresh of the council’s Target Operating Model should also help with the delivery of savings.

Service plans (pages 258-270 and 288 of the consultation pack)

Members noted that the service plans provide a useful context for budget scrutiny.

Councillor Edith Macauley, Cabinet Member for Community Safety, Engagement and Equalities, said that the service plan for Safer Merton assumed that the level of demand would not change very much but that this was being carefully monitored and would be updated as appropriate.  She said that the Police had put in additional resources to respond to increased reporting of domestic abuse.

Caroline Holland provided further detail in response to questions about the service plans for Corporate Services:

·         Human Resources – the predicted overall number of council staff will be affected by staff transferring in and out of shared services and TUPE arrangements. The refresh of the Target Operating Model will enable current assumptions to be adjusted.

·         Infrastructure and Transactions – the 13^th floor is let to CLCH and the 14^th is part let to CHAS and part to CLCH. The council is looking to release further floors through flexible and mobile working.

Capital budget (pages 38 and 40, main agenda pack)

Caroline Holland identified and explained the purpose of the largest items in the corporate services capital programme. She said that an update on the customer contact programme would be provided to the Commission at its meeting on 20 February, including information on capital costs.

In response to a question about why the capital programme  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

The Commission RESOLVED to forward the comments and recommendations from the Panels to Cabinet.

The Commission also RESOLVED to forward the minutes of the Panels’ January budget scrutiny meetings to Cabinet.

In accordance with Rule 16.5 of Part 4A of the Council’s Constitution, the Chair adjourned the meeting at 20:45 and reconvened the meeting at 21:05.

The Commission RESOLVED to endorse the task group’s report and to forward it to Cabinet for approval and implementation of the recommendations.

The Commission RESOLVED to agree the work programme with the addition of an item at the meeting on 21 March on the findings of the Communities and Local Government Select Committee report on the effectiveness of local authority overview and scrutiny committees.

The Commission noted the minutes of the Financial Monitoring Task Group’s meeting on 14 November 2017.

The Commission noted the minutes of the Financial Monitoring Task Group’s meeting on 14 November 2017.