Agenda and minutes

The Vice-Chairman, Cllr Emma Marshall welcomed everyone to the meeting which she would be chairing as the Chairman Cllr Emma Stokes was unable to attend.

The Chairman referred to the death of Panel member Cllr Peter Griffiths and paid tribute to his services on the Panel and as a councillor.

Cllr Kyle Daisley was welcomed as a new member of the Panel.

Apologies were received from Councillors Natalie McVey, Emma Stokes and Richard Udall.

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 Wednesday 17 January 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 23 November 2023 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

The Deputy Chief Finance Officer welcomed the opportunity to set out the corporate budget position relating to the draft 2024/25 Budget, which had been reported to the Cabinet on 10 January 2024. The draft budget was now in the final stages of consultation, of which the discussion at this Panel was a part, prior to returning to Cabinet on 1 February.

Appendix 2 of the report addressed the overall Council position, followed by the main areas of proposed investment and savings for the service areas within the remit of this Panel.

Nationally, Local Government was under severe financial pressure due to inflationary and demand pressures in the main areas of Children’s Social Care, Home to School Transport and Adult Social Care.

The current position for the Council was a net overspend of around £22m – after use of reserves, which was not sustainable in the long-term, and a savings plan had been implemented, which had identified savings of around £20m.

While everyone had been hopeful for additional funding in the Local Government Settlement announced in December, there was in fact a net reduction of £1.6m due to changes in a grant. The final Settlement was expected in early February, likely to be after the February Cabinet meeting, but before Council met.

Should any additional funding be announced, it was likely to be used to reduce use of reserves, therefore it was hoped that the Government would listen to the significant lobbying taking place, although there had been no indication to date.

The Panel’s attention was drawn to the specific budget information provided for its remit, which showed areas of proposed investment and savings for the Commercial and Change (COaCH) directorate, Chief Executive’s Unit (CEX), Communities and corporate and non-assigned items.

The Deputy Chief Finance Officer advised that an estimate of 4% had been included in the draft Budget for pay inflation. The previous pay award had been a one-off payment of £1925 which had equated to around 6%, and based on a trajectory of reducing inflation, the estimate of 4% was felt prudent.

COaCH

All contracts included a level of inflation and each had been looked at, with estimates taken although this was very difficult to do.

The total indicative investment and inflation for COaCH equalled £3.1m but these figures could change. Areas of proposed savings totalled £2.7m, therefore broadly offsetting the pressures, giving an indicative net investment of £0.4m.

The Strategic Director pointed out that after several years of identifying savings, it was impossible to identify further savings without impacting on services, although clearly Officers would endeavour to mitigate any impact as much as possible. Some small non-staff related savings had been identified, but most were predicated in a review of services, therefore a reduction in service would be inevitable.

CEX

It was pointed out that the proposed investment of £0.2m was to continue, rather than extend current wellbeing work due to the fact that the one-off use of Public Health Ring-fenced Grant funds was non-recurrent.

Similarly, areas of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 450.

The Cabinet Member with Responsibility (CMR) for Corporate Services and Communication introduced the report, which explained the planned switch off of traditional Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) analogue lines, to use a fully digital system.  The switchover was very much an operator-led change, however the report to the Panel provided information including any potential implications for more vulnerable residents.

The Strategic Director of Commercial and Change referred the Panel to the comprehensive report provided. He also pointed out that whereas some councils were reported to have invested large sums of money into preparation for the switchover, this was in fact not required and not the case for Worcestershire County Council.

The Assistant Director for IT and Digital summarised the main points of the report.

The Chairman invited discussion and the following main points were made:

·       A Panel member sought the views of Officers about access to emergency services during the digital switchover, which he was very concerned about, and the Assistant Director for IT and Digital acknowledged there would be some people who did not already have a broadband connection or a mobile phone. The report set out the potential impact in terms of equality and cost implications, for example of broadband provision.

·       When asked whether any communication with residents was planned, Officers explained that all telephone operators were contacting customers, and the Council would advise anyone receiving care from the Council through social workers, and reach out to those who were digitally excluded.

·       In response to a suggestion from the Chairman to add information to council tax bills, the CMR would consult the Council’s Communications lead, but was wary of duplicating communication from companies such as BT, who were already informing customers. It was important to make the public aware so that families could support more vulnerable family members, but numbers would be small.

·       There was information about the switchover on the Council’s website: The Digital Switchover is coming | Worcestershire County Council

·       It was explained that a lot of broadband provision was delivered via copper wires but as a digital connection – there was fibre to the cabinet and then copper is used to the home to give the internet access that was required. Ultimately the network associated with copper would be switched off but this was a separate thing.

·       It was highlighted that for the vast majority of people, the only difference would be to plug their landline cable into their router.

·       The Officers acknowledged that that there was some fear around the impact of power cuts however this was a national issue for the industry to address.

·       The CMR reminded the Panel of the huge success with broadband and superfast provision in Worcestershire.

·       Whilst reassured regarding the copper network, a Panel member remained concerned about the potential implications for rural communities, in particular older people, and felt that greater awareness was needed from the industry, for example television adverts. In response, the CMR agreed there was a role for councillors in getting the message out both  ...  view the full minutes text for item 451.

It was noted that a report on online recording of public meetings would be brought to the Panel meeting on 26 March.

The Panel agreed to request an update on the Council’s Voluntary Redundancy scheme.