Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Cllr Shirley Webb.

None.

Members of the public wishing to take part should notify the Assistant Director for Legal and Governance 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 14 December 2021).  Further details are available on the Council's website.  Enquiries can also be made through the telephone number/e-mail address listed in this agenda and on the website.

None.

The Board was asked to consider the initial feedback provided from the November Scrutiny meetings in respect of the emerging pressures and challenges in relation to the 2022/23 Budget.

The draft Council Budget 2022/23 was due to be presented to Cabinet on 6 January 2022. Comments from the January Scrutiny Panels discussions of the Cabinet Report would be submitted to the Board on 26 January 2022 and final comments would be formulated for Cabinet on 3 February 2022.

The Board was provided with written feedback from the November Scrutiny meetings in the Agenda Report and the following main points were discussed:

Corporate and Communities Overview and Scrutiny Panel – 8 November 2021

·         The Panel Chairman highlighted to the Board that a post pandemic review of operations had identified a number of key pressures which would impact services, including the rising costs of transport, energy and pay. It was noted that in the Commercial and Change Directorate (CoaCh), the majority of the budget related to staffing.  The Government had confirmed that it would return to an annual pay award, but the pay award had not yet been set for this financial year.

• There were difficulties in recruiting key specialist staff and agency staff were therefore being used to support certain specialist roles, leading to significantly increased costs. 
• With the Retail Price Index (RPI) increasing and likely to be at 3% by the end of the calendar year, the Panel was advised that inflationary factors were putting pressure on services just to remain at the status quo.
• The Panel would be looking at smarter and greener was of working in 2022.

During the opportunity for questions, the following main points were discussed:

·         The future use of County Hall would be discussed as part of smarter and greener ways of working.

·         In terms of the concerns about recruitment and retention of staff particularly in specialised areas, the Panel would add the recruitment process and the engagement of consultants to its work programme.

Children and Families Overview and Scrutiny Panel - 12 November 2021

• The Panel Chairman highlighted the Panel’s concerns about the previously reported pressure on the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) from the High Needs Block, a pressure that was in line with the national picture. 

During the opportunity for questions, the findings of the recent consultation on the school improvement grant which had suggested a 50% reduction into the grant provided to local authorities was queried. Specifically,  if there had been any consideration of the possible impact that it would have on services that Worcestershire Children First offered to schools.  It was agreed that the Chairman of the Panel would look into this and report back to the Board.

Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee HOSC) – 3 November 2021

The Chairman of HOSC explained that the Committee had been provided with a brief overview of the budget for Public Health, which took the form of a Public Health Ring-Fenced Grant. The budget of approximately £30m was allocated at the start of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 1226.

No further updates were added.