Agenda and minutes

The Members had before them:

A.            The Agenda Papers (previously circulated); and

B.            The Minutes of the meeting of the Cabinet held on 3 March 2016 (previously circulated).

A copy of document A will be attached to the signed Minutes.

Apologies were received from Mr A Roberts and Mr J H Smith.

Dr K A Pollock declared an interest as a governor of Great Witley Primary School.

Members of the Cabinet congratulated ex-Cabinet member Mr J P Campion on his election to the position of Police and Crime Commissioner for West Mercia.

Members of the public wishing to take part should notify the Head of Legal and Democratic Services in writing or by e-mail indicating both the nature and content of their proposed participation no later than 9.00am on the working day before the meeting (in this case Wednesday 18 May 2016).  Further details are available on the Council's website.  Enquiries can also be made through the telephone number/e-mail address listed below.

None.

The Minutes of the meeting of 3 March 2016 have been previously circulated

RESOLVED:  that the Minutes of the Cabinet held on 3 March 2016 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

The Cabinet considered a Resources Report.  The details were set out in the report.

In the ensuing discussion, the following main points were made:

(a) The Leader of the Council introduced the report and commented that:

·         the provisional financial outturn for the end of 2015/16 had broken even compared with the Council's budget which left the Council in a good position moving forward to implement the budget for this financial year. However there remained key challenges for the 2017/18 financial year. Children's social care was a particular cost pressure which had been brought under control with the additional income generation and the active management to address the number of children social care placements. This had been balanced by a favourable outcome on the Council's money market activities

·         There were a couple of particular risks facing the Council: 1) the impact of business rate appeals – reserves had been strengthened to bridge the funding gap; and 2) where savings could not be delivered as expected in 2015/16 – one off alternative sources of funding had been put in place to bridge the funding gap

·         The Council was still delivering its ambitious agenda and a number of specific earmarked reserves had been strengthened in light of known future commitments and risks (which were set out in the report)

·         General reserves of £13m had been maintained.

(b)  The Council continued to use the money markets to its benefit and he paid tribute to the Chief Financial Officer and his team for their work. Additional flexibility had been delegated to Directors to carry funds forward which was crucial for effective financial planning. Bromsgrove Railway Station was close to reopening. It was a fantastic facility that would include cross-city links and provide a better service. 350 parking spaces would be provided although detailed plans were still being negotiated with local residents. Two additional grants had been received from the Department for Transport for the Pothole Action Fund and the Highways Maintenance Incentive Element  

(c)  The Council had been allocated Section 106 funding from planning notifications which had been used to improve facilities and meet additional demand at Lickey Hills Primary School and Stourport High School. Future receipts of Section 106 funding would fund capital schemes at Great Witley Primary School and Swan Lane First School 

(d)  Good progress had been made providing Broadband across the County. There were certain areas where access was not possible but it should be noted that the Queen's Speech included the Government's intention to make it a universal service obligation so everyone could ask for and receive Broadband speeds of 10 megabytes per second

(e)  The Council had now received the final allocation of the Public Health Ring-fenced Grant for 2016/17 and an indicative allocation for 2017/18. The budget gap had been managed in 2015/16 through the use of reserves and some budgetary reductions

(f)   A member from outside the Cabinet commented that there was a lack of evidence to support the aspiration to create an additional 25,000 jobs in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 1728.