Agenda item

Recommendations

That the Executive:

a)     notes the forecast outturn position against the 2023/24 Revenue Budget, as summarised in paragraph 2.2.2.

b)     notes the forecast outturn position for the Housing Revenue Account as set out in paragraph 2.3.1.

c)      approves the carry-forward of any unallocated sums for each of the Area Constituency Committees into 2024/25 for one-year only as set out in paragraph 2.6.1.

d)     approves the recommendation to fund £795k for design work on the Harbours from the Supply Chain reserve as per paragraph 2.7.1

e)     notes the position on the Council’s Treasury Management activities during the third quarter of 2023/24

f)       refers this report to the Audit Committee for their consideration as part of the overall monitoring arrangements for Treasury Management.

g)     notes the updated Q3 2023/24 Capital Plan; and

h)     approves capital funding of £795k from the Supply Chain Reserve to progress Scarborough Lighthouse and Roundhead Piles replacement (£543k) and Whitby West Pier Lighthouse (£252k) in order to complete the design works to be in a position to bid for external funding for the actual delivery of both schemes.

 

Considered:  A joint report of the Chief Executive and Corporate Director - Strategic Resources, bringing together key aspects of the County Council’s performance on a quarterly basis.

 

Councillor David Chance introduced the Quarter 3 performance monitoring and budget report, confirming it provided an overview on all of the ambitions of the County Council but with a key focus on the council plan ambition for ‘Every child and young person has the best possible start in life’.

 

He went on to summarise the performance update which covered the services previously provided by the former County Council and those transferred from the District and Borough Councils and drew attention to the progress made in converging those services and systems.

 

He noted the purpose of the new office of Local Government (OFLOG) was to monitor local authority performance and reviewing productivity and drew attention to the work underway to revise the Council’s performance framework to meet the changing needs of the Council and the new requirements of OFLOG.    

 

He went on note:

·         The pressure in HAS from hospital discharges and reduced assessor capacity in frontline teams;

·         An increase in front door contacts and an increase in referrals for Children’s Services;

·         A slight drop in the public’s satisfaction in the county’s Highways network, compared to a larger recorded drop in satisfaction nationally, moving the Council in to the top quartile;

·         A significant drop in waste to landfill compared to Quarter 1;

 

In regard to his own portfolio area, he confirmed

·         An increase in apprenticeships with 50 new starters in Quarter 3;

·         An increase in applications for Local Assistance funding, with 91% of applications being approved;

·         An increase in the accessing of healthcare by the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities

 

In response to questions to Executive Members from Scrutiny Members, the following was confirmed:

 

·         Occupancy rates in Care Homes across the county was currently around 90-95%.  The main reasons for care home closure were workface recruitment or quality related;

·         Across the county the uptake of the MMR vaccine was above the national average but still below the target set by the Authority, and interventions were in place in identified hotspots;

·         C&F assessments remained high, and well within the variance expected compared to recent years;

·         Schools were still re-setting behaviour post pandemic and so the increase in suspensions and permanent exclusions was not unexpected at this stage.  There was no evidence to suggest that staff shortages or any other factors were affecting the figures and the County’s position was not out of kilter with the rest of the country.  The situation was being monitored and a gradual improvement was expected;    

·         The maintenance window at the Allerton Park facility had been extended from every 6 months to 9 months to help reduce the reliance on landfill.  Yorwaste were also looking for alternative tipping points;

·         Different ways of alerting residents of potential delays to kerbside waste and recycling collections were being examined, and a Member Working Group was looking at good local practice and the lessons learnt by the former District & Borough Councils;

·         Whilst there had been a slight drop in public satisfaction, evidence showed a year on year improvement in the condition of the County’s road network across all road categories. 

·         There had also been some recent changes made to the Highways Safety Inspection Manual to reflect the need for treating defects at an earlier stage on popular cycling routes;

·         The had been an unprecedented increase in reported street lighting faults due to recent weather conditions, and some took longer to address as they required traffic management to carry out the repairs;

·         There had been an increase in the number on the housing waiting lists and in temporary accommodation in Quarter 3.

·         To inform the narrative around planning decisions it was suggested the data should be split between committee decisions and officer decisions;

·         Auto library enrolment for children had previously been considered but not pursued due to issues around parental consent and GDPR. Instead new parents were being asked if they wanted to enrol their child in the Library Service at the same time as registering their birth;

·         In the main, leisure facility memberships were holding steady across the county - the recorded increase in memberships was thought to be due to the reopening of Harrogate & Knaresborough Leisure Centre;

·         Intelligence gathering on national and global trends was a constant for the Council in order to proactively prepare for and mitigate against changing requirements;

 

Revenue Budget, Treasury Management & Capital Plan

Councillor Gareth Dadd introduced each section of the report.  In regard to Revenue, he confirmed there had been little change since the last quarter’s report and noted the Council’s medium term financial strategy was to be considered in depth at the coming meeting of full Council. And, whilst welcoming the £4m underspend, he acknowledged that still required a call on reserves of £26m for the year.  He also drew attention to the £8m overspend in Children’s Services and HAS which had largely been offset by a $10m underspend in Central Services, attributed to a drop in utility costs and interest earned on cash balances.

 

Attention was also drawn to the proposed carry forward of £50K economic development pot given to each Area Constituency Committee, for one year only pending a review of that Scheme, and to the detail provided on the Housing Revenue Account.

 

In regard to the Capital Plan, attention was drawn to the proposed allocation of capital funding of £795k from the Supply Chain Reserve to progress the replacement of Scarborough Lighthouse and Roundhead Piles (£543k) and in order to complete the design works for Whitby West Pier Lighthouse (£252k) in order to be in a position to bid for external funding for the delivery of both schemes.

 

Having considered the report and the information provided at the meeting in full, Executive Members were referred to the recommendations in the report, and it was

 

Resolved – That:

 

a)     The forecast outturn position against the 2023/24 Revenue Budget, as summarised in paragraph 2.2.2. be noted

b)     The forecast outturn position for the Housing Revenue Account as set out in paragraph 2.3.1. be noted

c)      The carry-forward of any unallocated sums for each of the Area Constituency Committees into 2024/25 for one-year only as set out in paragraph 2.6.1. be approved

d)     Funding of £795k for design work on the Harbours from the Supply Chain reserve as per paragraph 2.7.1 be approved

e)     The position on the Council’s Treasury Management activities during the third quarter of 2023/24 be noted

f)       The report be referred to the Audit Committee for their consideration as part of the overall monitoring arrangements for Treasury Management.

g)     The updated Q3 2023/24 Capital Plan be noted; and

h)     The allocation of capital funding of £795k from the Supply Chain Reserve be approved to progress Scarborough Lighthouse and Roundhead Piles replacement (£543k) and Whitby West Pier Lighthouse (£252k) in order to complete the design works to be in a position to bid for external funding for the actual delivery of both schemes.