Councillor John Sargeant queried the context of the indicative Capital Programme, what was significant and what assumptions had been made in the longer term planning. Should the Panel take a view on these assumptions?

Caroline Holland explained that there was an ongoing call on the revenue programme and that the Capital Programme was dominated by school expansion, primary in the first instance and secondary schools later.  Highways, Footways and the Street Lighting Replacement Programme would remain as is.

Regeneration programmes are not planned as far in advance as major schemes and are dependent on funding from others, for example, TfL. For example, the Mini Holland Bid to improve our cycling provision.

Councillor Ian Munn asked for clarity on the settlement funding assessment: RSG and Business Rates and the latest central Government funding projections following the 2013 spending review. Caroline Holland explained that refinements are ongoing and that DCLG had undertaken more work in relation to the Council Tax freeze grant and how this would feed into assumptions and impact on the funds available. The settlement is expected from DCLG early/mid December 2013.

Councillor Samantha George asked about the use of reserves to eliminate the budget gap and what cabinet had agreed, and if there was an easier way to show capital and revenue changes from last year’s budget.  Caroline Holland explained that no new additional savings for 2014/15 had to be found and that there was a savings target of £1.7 million for 2015/16. This is a significant improvement over other boroughs. Revenue monitoring is undertaken on the Capital programme and schemes are being profiled into later years. Each monitoring report shows profiling each year. There are likely, however, to be some slippages into later years, particularly in CSF. The department are keeping this as up to date as possible.  Chris Lee added that changes are made clear in the monitoring reports received by Cabinet and the Scrutiny Financial Monitoring Task Group on a quarterly basis.

Councillor John Sargeant felt that it was important for the Panel to take an annual look at the figures and the key changes to enable the Panels discussion to be more focused. Comparison year on year would be helpful. Furthermore, could the recommendations from last year’s budget scrutiny be built into the January report to determine how these have been taken forward?

Councillor Samantha George enquired about the new savings identified for 2016/17 and 2017/18 in the MTFS (page 78 of the report) and when the Panel could have further detail on this.  Caroline Holland explained that these new savings were built in to address the budget gap and that these proposals would be brought to December Cabinet and January Scrutiny Panel meetings. In 2014/15 there are no new savings to be found but £1.6 million in savings needs to be found in 2015/16.

Councillor Samantha George asked about leisure centres and savings. Chris Lee explained that there was a £1 million budget for 2014/15 and a substantial budget in 2015/16 available. The department are working to this timetable for the Morden Park Pool scheme and developments will begin in 2015/16.

Councillor Samantha George enquired about the reason for profiling the street lighting replacement programme and enhancement and also about town centre investment.

Chris Lee informed the Panel that this should be treated with caution. Regeneration programmes are match funded and the figures outlined are markers to ensure that funds are available to deliver the scheme. The Mitcham Regeneration scheme is largely dependent upon match funding from TfL. The councils input into is outlined in the capital programme but this can be brought forward or slip to make the best use of alternative funding sources. This applies to all schemes.

Cormac Stokes explained that there were pressures in terms of the standard of street lighting and that replacement was required. There is a fairly urgent street lighting replacement programme over the next year and this is why the monthly figures seem higher. There will be investments in terms of energy efficiency which have been front loaded.

Councillor Miles Windsor asked if new items required for renewable energy in this area were being brought into this budget. Cormac Stokes confirmed this was the case.

Councillor Stan Anderson enquired if there were any plans to reduce street lighting for certain periods. Cormac Stokes confirmed that this wasn’t the case. Councillor Russell Makin reminded the Panel that they were due to consider street lighting at a future panel meeting.

Councillor Samantha George asked about equipment for parking and why there was a reduction in 2013/14 in DFG.  Chris Lee explained that there was a small budget for parking and display machines and that all other parking is captured as revenue.  The DFG is under scrutiny from outside of the council. Demand for this grant has increased. Last year there were 110 applications and this year there are a projected 230 applications. There is therefore a pressure on this grant/budget.

RESOLVED: Panel noted the report.