Agenda item

A proposed draft 2022/23 revenue budget and capital programme was presented. This explained that, due to current capacity constraints, a pragmatic approach had been taken regarding the distribution of pressures and savings to achieve a balanced budget position for 2022/23, namely:

Tranche 1 – savings and pressures which were straightforward to allocate (those for this Committee are shown in Appendix A).

Tranche 2 – those requiring more time to allocate correctly to each committee, including £367k of pressures (£193k of staffing increments and £174k of contract inflation) plus savings of £200k regarding staff vacancies. These were being held as ‘corporate items’ pending consideration during the next cycle of committee meetings.

Tranche 3 – the more complex cross-cutting savings totalling £450k, which would require service reviews and business cases to be undertaken to ensure accurate distribution to committees.  The recently established Benefits Board would oversee this process to ensure that the benefits were being defined, owned and delivered.  These budgeted savings were being held as ‘corporate items’ pending consideration during the June cycle of committee meetings.

In response to questions regarding budgeted savings, Officers explained that:

·      the ‘mechanical sweeper utilisation’ saving involved the replacement of just one of the two present vehicles (an additional vehicle would be hired during the leafing season) and that proposals to revise the street sweeping schedule would be discussed with Members in due course;

·      ‘consolidating the lot structure’ referred to the intended consolidation of current parks / grounds maintenance / playground contracts into ten lots (defined areas of work for which potential suppliers could bid, i.e. for one, some or all ten).

It was also suggested that parish and village councils should be able to procure additional street sweeping services from TDC to supplement its standard service and that a ‘price list’ should be made available (to parishes) accordingly. 

The Chief Finance Officer advised that progress against budgeted savings would be reported to Members on a monthly basis.

Member suggestions for potential savings in 2023/24 were also discussed. 

            R E S O L V E D – that:

A.    the Committee’s draft revenue budget for 2022/23 in the sum of £3.975m (as shown at Appendix A) be agreed, taking account of pressures and savings allocated as part of Tranche 1, and it be noted that a further two tranches of pressures and savings currently held in corporate items on behalf of other Committees will be distributed over the coming months;

B.    the Committee’s final capital programme for 2022/23 in the sum of £522,000 (as shown at Appendix B) be agreed;

C.    the subjective revenue budgets in Appendix C, including movements from 2020/21 to 2022/23 and an estimated movement to 2023/24, be noted;

D.    it be noted that due to timing and capacity constraints across the Council, c£0.7m of savings (as part of a £1.1m savings programme) and c£0.4m of pressures could not be allocated in time for the January and February committee cycle and, as such, will be allocated in three tranches as follows:

·        Tranche 1 which are directly attributable to this Committee have been allocated as   per Appendix A;

·        Tranche 2 will be brought to the March committee cycle for approval; and

·        Tranche 3 will be overseen and monitored by the Benefits Board and will be brought to the June committee cycle for approval.

In accordance with Standing Order 25, Councillor Allen wished it to be recorded that he abstained from voting on resolutions A to D above