Agenda and minutes

In accordance with the Council’s Code of Conduct and the statutory provisions of the Localism Act, Members and co-opted Members of the Council are reminded that it is a requirement to register disclosable pecuniary interests (DPIs) and gifts and hospitality to the value of which exceeds £50 or multiple gifts and/or instances of hospitality with a cumulative value of £50 or more when received from a single donor within a rolling twelve month period. In addition, Members and co-opted Members are reminded that unless their disclosable pecuniary interest is registered on the register of interests or is the subject of a pending notification to the Monitoring Officer, they are required to disclose those disclosable pecuniary interests at the meeting. This should be done by completing the Disclosure of Interest form and handing it to the Democratic Services representative at the start of the meeting. The Chair will then invite Members to make their disclosure orally at the commencement of Agenda item 3. Completed disclosure forms will be provided to the Monitoring Officer for inclusion on the Register of Members’ Interests.

There were none.

To receive notice of any business not on the agenda which in the opinion of the Chair, by reason of special circumstances, be considered as a matter of urgency.

There were no items of urgent business.

For Members to consider the Chief Finance Officer’s Section 114 report and the proposed amendments to the General Fund Budget.

Lisa Taylor, Director of Finance, Investment Risk and Section 151 Officer, introduced the Presentation which detailed the response to the Section 114 (S114) Notice and Amendments to the General Fund Budget Report.

Madame Mayor opened the 30 minute session for Members to ask the Director of Finance, Investment Risk and Section 151 Officer questions of a factual nature concerning information contained within the report.

Councillor Jason Cummings asked if there was any reference in the S114 notice to the fact that the budget development meetings were failing to deliver the necessary savings proposals and options to reduce growth. He asked if this was one of the reasons the notice had to be issued, who was chairing those meetings and if any minutes to those meetings were available.

In response, the Director of Finance, Investment Risk and Section 151 Officer stated that the budget development meetings were set-up for each individual department to present options to a range of members and officers. The Leader of the Council generally chaired those meetings and notes were taken which detailed the actions of the meetings. The meetings were honest and open forums which allowed for discussion on what budgets were needed for next year to deliver services safely.

In his supplementary question, Councillor Jason Cummings asked if the meeting notes would be made publically available so people were able to oversee the process described. He noted that the honesty in those meetings seemed to have generated requests for additional funding, instead of savings proposals. In response, the Director of Finance, Investment Risk and Section 151 Officer stated that growth was not a surprise and the budget process included rightsizing in some areas. She confirmed that the notes of the budget development meetings would be made available.

Councillor Clive Fraser asked what the total level of savings were expected to be in the current financial year 2020/21 and how that compared to previous years.

In response, the Director of Finance, Investment Risk and Section 151 Officer stated that when the budget was agreed at the beginning of the year, an ambitious savings target of over £40 million was set. They were now expecting to deliver around £24 million.

In his supplementary question, Councillor Clive Fraser asked if the council was on track to achieve those savings and how progress was being monitored. In response, the Director of Finance, Investment Risk and Section 151 Officer stated that they were on target to deliver the £24 million of savings and they were monitoring their financial performance and risk based areas on a monthly basis. Part of the work of the Finance Review Panel (FRP) was to monitor in-year savings and there were dedicated officers who tracked performance and reported to the Executive Leadership Team (ELT). Additionally, going forward, Cabinet would receive quarterly financial reports.

Councillor Robert Ward said that the Brick by Brick Annual Report 2019 stated that Croydon Council had provided a letter of support to confirm they would continue to finance Brick by Brick  ...  view the full minutes text for item 148/20

The following motion is to be moved and seconded where it is proposed to exclude the press and public from the remainder of a meeting:

“That, under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act, 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information falling within those paragraphs indicated in Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended.”

This item was not required.