Agenda item

Report by the Chief Executive

16.1     The Assistant Director, Operations introduced the report setting out the background to the Reconciling Policy, Performance and Resources (RPPR) budget setting process for the financial year 2017/18. This is the start of the annual RPPR process which is looking at the budget for 201718. The Council is currently in the first year of the three year Savings Plan (Medium Term Financial Plan – MTFP) agreed by the Council in February 2016. The report asks the Committee to look at areas of interest and establish an RPPR Board that will meet in December.

16.2     The Chair proposed that the Committee to start by looking at the existing savings plan which a particular focus on the savings for the current financial year and those proposed for 2017/18.

Transport and Operational Service

16.3     The Assistant Director, Operations explained that this saving referred to the net cost of the subsidised bus transport scheme. The proposal is to fill the gap in funding between the money received from central government and the actual cost of operating the subsidised bus transport scheme with money from the parking surplus.

16.4     The Committee asked if there will be any adjustment to these savings figures.  The Assistant Director, Operations responded that there are no proposals to adjust the savings figures. However, the department is undertaking a piece of work to look at the operation of the parking enforcement service and how much surplus ESCC can generate. The department is confident that it is going to achieve the surplus required, and is not proposing to increase the contribution from the parking surplus.

Waste Operation - Leachate Disposal

16.5     The closed landfill sites that ESCC is responsible for are open to the elements. There is a requirement to collect the rain run-off and leachate which is taken off-site by tanker and treated. There is an existing scheme, funded from the capital budget, to build a retention tank at Pebsham and then feed the leachate into the Southern Water waste water treatment plant at Pebsham. The department is on target to deliver the project and achieve the £85,000 savings outlined in the plan. A planning application will be submitted to Rother District Council shortly. There are no opportunities to increase savings in this area.

Waste Disposal

16.6     The Assistant Director, Operations explained that this item is a reduction in the amount of revenue money transferred to the waste reserve. The department has reduced the contribution to the waste reserve in line with an assessment of the risk to the Council. There is a saving of £1,780,000 in 2016/17, which the department is on target to deliver. The £25,000 in 2017/18 will come from savings made as a result of a review of the waste contract. A report will be presented to the Committee in November to outline the areas of potential savings and efficiencies that have been identified by a review of the contract.

Transport Hub

16.7     The restructure of the transport hub has been completed with the merger of the Public Transport and Home to School Transport teams. This will achieve the savings for 2016/17 and 2017/18, but there is no scope for further savings.

Rights of Way and Countryside Management

16.8     The £50,000 savings have been achieved for 2016/17 and £50,000 savings in 2017/8 are dependent on the implementation of the Countryside Access Strategy. The Assistant Director, Operations is fairly confident these savings can be achieved.

Planning and Environment Service

16.9     The savings for this year have been achieved and the department is on track to achieve £40,000 savings in 2017/18. The Transport Development Control team have increased the number of staff funded from income, so the whole team of 20 staff will be funded from external income. Although the Transport Development Control team is completely funded by external income, the remainder of the Planning team is not.

16.10   The Committee commented that there are other teams within Planning Services that are not highlighted in the Savings Plan. The Committee asked for further information on the other services to be provided at the November meeting.

Trading Standards

16.11   Both the savings targets for 2016/17 and 2017/18 will be met. This will be achieved through staff changes and additional income streams from Check a Trade and income from training provided for local businesses. The Committee asked if the Trading Standards team could generate more income or achieve further savings.

16.12   The Assistant Director, Communities informed the Committee that the Trading Standards Team is currently looking at income from Check a Trade and potential new income streams to see if it is possible to achieve a modest increase in the income generation target. The Trading Standards Team has reduced in size by 42% since 2011/12 and any further reduction in the current staffing level would not be possible without compromising services.

16.13   The Committee asked if Devolution will provide opportunities to work more closely with neighbouring authorities to achieve savings. The Assistant Director, Communities replied that this issue has been discussed by Trading Standards South East and the ESCC Team has had discussions with West Sussex, Kent and Surrey County Councils about sharing specialisms across the South East.

16.14   The Committee asked if there is a risk to services if the Team is no longer as proactive as they would like to be. The Head of Communities responded that the Team are now more focussed on vulnerable adults and less on those who are able to take action for themselves. The Assistant Director, Communities added that the Team are undertaking all statutory duties, but any further reduction in net budget would lead to a negative impact on services.

Concluding Comments

16.15   In terms of the key areas of interest, the Committee requested a table with all service areas on it (including the other sections within Planning and Environment), to provide information on:

·                  team sizes;

·                  a narrative of what the service does;

·                  the service net budget with details of revenue costs and income; and 

·                  the scope for further savings and/or increased income generation.

16.16   The Committee agreed that it would also be useful to have further detail on where teams are funded from (e.g. revenue budget, capital, income from fees, grants etc.) and to highlight the areas of the departmental net budget where it would be extremely challenging to make further savings. The Committee asked for this information to be provided at the November meeting.

16.17   The Lead Member for Resources informed the Committee that there may be additional budget pressures that require further savings as highlighted by the Q1 Council monitoring report. It is likely there will be an additional savings requirement of around £7m across the Council.

16.18   The Committee RESOLVED that:

1) the RPPR Board will be made up of all the Committee members; and

2) to have a further report at the November Scrutiny Committee meeting to review the information on the department’s services as requested in paragraphs 16.15 and 16.16 above.