Agenda and draft minutes

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting.

Apologies were received from Councillors Martin Allen, Tony Muir and Craig Warhurst.

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 (Friday 22 March 2024).  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.

Previously circulated

The minutes of the meeting held on 16 January 2024 were agreed and signed as a correct record.

The Panel was updated on performance and financial information for services relating to the Economy.

In-Year Budget Monitoring

The Panel received information relating to Quarter 3 (Period 9). The Deputy Chief Finance Officer made the following main points:

• At the end of December 2023, the Council’s net overspend was £19.2m on a £401m net budget – this was after using one off monies from additional income from business rates and the additional use of reserves.
• The structural deficit (a budget deficit due to the Council’s ongoing expenditure being greater than income) was £35m.
• £22.4m of savings had been built into the Council’s overall budget and the majority of the savings would be made, the main exceptions being the income from County Hall and the vacancy management target.
• It was a very difficult time for local government and it was essential that services remained within budget and that savings were delivered. Council would continue to review and ensure that spend would be made where it was absolutely necessary throughout 2024/25.
• At the end of Q3, there was a slightly worsening position for the Economy and Infrastructure Directorate, but the direction of travel had started to improve and there would be an underspend at the end of the financial year.
• The most significant variances from budget were:

·       Planning and Regulation was forecast to overspend by £0.5 million, with pressures in Transport Planning which was after the full utilisation of the £1.037 million earmarked reserve.

·       Within Waste Management, there was a £0.5 million overspend projected, due to rates on waste tonnage increasing beyond what was assumed at budget setting. This was net of a favourable position relating to recycling within the contract.

·       £0.5 million underspend in Road Lighting, based on the current LED rollout reducing kWh usage by 20% rather than the expected and budgeted 15%.

The Panel was invited to ask questions and the following main points were made:

• A Member questioned the reasons for the continuing need to employ consultants to cover hard to fill vacancies and was advised that transport planning and development control vacancies were difficult to recruit to due to skills shortages, and so it was necessary to employ consultants.
• It was confirmed that the County Council’s contribution to the Worcestershire Local Enterprise Partnership (WLEP) was £90k. There was also an additional £100k towards the shared role of the Assistant Director for Economy (£190k in total).

Performance Information Q3 (October to December 2023)

The Lead Analyst introduced the report and the following main points were made:

·       In response to a Member suggestion that the data provided in respect of rail journeys: station usage was an incomplete picture as some stations eg Redditch did not have ticket gates and so journeys would not be recorded. The data Analyst agreed that the information provided was a snapshot at a given time.

·       Additional data relating to cargo on trains was requested for future meetings.

·       A Member questioned whether there was any goods storage in Worcestershire which the Assistant Director, Major Projects  ...  view the full minutes text for item 77.

Members were invited to consider suggestions for the Panel’s 2024/25 work programme prior to it being submitted to Council for approval.

It was agreed that details of the Capital Programme related to the Panels remit would be added to the July Performance (Q4 January – March) and Year End Budget Monitoring Update.

The Panel confirmed that it was content with the draft work programme for submission to OSPB for consideration on 25 April.