Issue - meetings

To consider and respond to the Call-In in accordance with the procedure set out in the Council’s constitution.

The Chair of the Scrutiny & Overview Committee, Councillor Sean Fitzsimons, introduced the call-in item outlining the reasons why the key decisions set out in the two Cabinet reports, namely ‘Responding to the Local Government Funding Challenge’ and the ‘July Financial Review’ had been called in. It was confirmed that the reason for the call-in related to an insufficiency of detail in the reports to allow the Committee (see Scrutiny & Overview Committee – 22 July 2020) to reach a conclusion on whether the measures proposed were the right course of action or not. As such the call-in submission had requested a range of additional information to aid the Committee’s consideration of the call-in.

The Chair explained the process for considering a call-in, confirming that the Committee needed to agree whether to review the decision and, if it decided to proceed, confirm how much time it wished to allocate for the item. The Committee agreed that it would review the decision and allocated two hours for consideration of the item.

The Chair went on to explain that there were three outcomes the Committee could reach as a result of the review. These were:-

1.         That no further action was necessary and the decision could be implemented as originally intended.

2.         To refer the decision back to the decision maker for reconsideration, outlining the nature of the Committee’s concerns

3.         To refer the decision to Council, if the Committee considered that the decision taken was outside of the Budget and Policy Framework.

The Cabinet Member for Finance & Resources, Councillor Simon Hall and the Council’s Section 151 Officer, Lisa Taylor, were in attendance at the meeting to address the call-in and answer any questions arising.

The Cabinet Member was given the opportunity to respond to the call-in request and in doing so highlighted to the Committee that the current situation was unprecedented with the Council having to manage the covid-19 pandemic on top of an already challenging budget situation following ten years of austerity.

The Section 151 Officer confirmed to the Committee that at present the Council did not have a balanced budget. Although the Cabinet, the Executive Leadership Team (ELT) and the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government were working together to address the budget shortfall, it could not be guaranteed that a Section 114 notice would not be issued.

The first question from the Committee related to media rumours about changes to the senior management of the Council and how any such change would impact upon the staff restructure process.  In response it was advised that the Cabinet, ELT and the Corporate Leadership Team (CLT) were working together to deliver the necessary savings to balance the Council’s budget. Although additional time had been added to the staff restructure process to allow the Trade Unions longer to respond, the timetable for the process was set. If there was any change within senior management then the process would continue along the already set timetable.

It was noted that in the commentary provided by  ...  view the full minutes text for item 35

Officer: Jo Negrini

Key decision: yes

The Leader of the Council delegated authority to the Cabinet to make the following decisions:

RESOLVED: To

1.    Note the extraordinary financial context, as set out in the report;

2.    Endorse the further actions and governance arrangements which have been put in place, outlined in the report, to ensure the Council delivers within the 2020/21 approved budget;

3.    Note the statements from the Head of Paid Service, S151 Officer and Monitoring Officer; and

4.    Agree the principles informing actions to deliver within the 2020/21 approved budget.

The Leader noted that items 6 & 7 would be heard together.

The Cabinet Member for Finance & Resources and the Director of Finance gave a presentation and outlined the years of funding cuts, the COVID-19 impact this had had on the councils finances, and the objectives to bridge the budget gap. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) return had an approximately £65.4m gap, resulting in ambitious saving targets to be set for 2020/21, but ensuring the same commitments to residents was being provided.

The Cabinet heard that multiple measures were being put in place to bridge the budget gaps, including a staffing review, enhanced budget development, heavily lobbying Government and improved budget monitoring. The Finance Review Panel had also been established, who were meeting fortnightly and making recommendations to the Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance & Resources. A short term savings programme had been developed, which included 25 different projects being consolidated into nine, and staffing, where over £170m was spent each year.

It was explained to the Cabinet that a Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) would be developed to set targets medium term and set out key financial planning and assumptions. It would enable early development of budget proposals, which would be evidence led and benchmarked. The MTFS would be presented to Cabinet in September 2020?

The Cabinet welcomed Duncan Whitfield, Chair of the Financial Review Panel, to the meeting

Duncan Whitfield introduced himself and explained that the Panel comprised of two additional co-optee members, Matthew Kershaw and Debbie Warren, the Leader, Deputy Leader, Cabinet Member for Finance & Resources and ELT. He noted that it was a difficult time for Croydon Council and difficult decisions would need to be made to improve the budget gap and increase resources.

The Shadow Cabinet Members expressed concern for the staffing review and queried how the reduction would be conducted. The Shadow Cabinet Member for Finance & Resources explained that he wanted to give his full support; however, felt that the report did not include the full information regarding the budget gap. He stated that he had requested a full MHSFC return at the previous Cabinet meeting on 8 June 2020 and had not yet received it. The Leader responded and stated that he would make sure the information was available to the Shadow Cabinet, as cross-party support would be beneficial.

The Chief Executive explained to the Cabinet and Shadow Cabinet that the organisation would be kept as stable as possible during the staffing cuts; the council were meeting with unions on a weekly basis to ensure they were working together to reduce compulsory redundancies. It was recognised that it was not a good time to begin staffing cuts, due to lockdown and having sensitive conversations virtually, however, it was necessary.

The Leader of the Council delegated authority to the Cabinet to make the following decisions:

RESOLVED: To

1.     Note the extraordinary financial context, as set out in the report;

2.     Endorse the further actions and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 54