Agenda item

Recommendations

That the Executive

1. notes the forecast outturn position against the 2024/25 Revenue Budget, as summarised in paragraph 2.2.1

2. approve £1m funding from the LGR reserve to fund replacement devices to support the transition to Windows 11 in paragraph 2.5.2 and Appendix I

3. notes the position on the Council’s Treasury Management activities during the second quarter of 2024/25
4. refers this report to the Audit Committee for their consideration as part of the overall monitoring arrangements for Treasury Management.

e.     approve the refreshed Capital Plan summarised at paragraph 4.2.3

f.      approve the allocation of £182.3k from the Capital Receipts Unapplied Reserve to fund the Claro Road Depot Welfare Facilities scheme (paragraph 4.7.3)

g.     approve the allocation of £23k from the Harrogate Council investment Reserve to address overspends on the Harrogate Convention Centre redevelopment scheme (paragraph 4.7.4)

h.     approve the allocation of £126k from the Strategic Capacity Reserve to fund the works to the Whitby Old Town Hall and Marketplace (paragraph 4.7.5)

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

The Executive Member for Corporate Services, Councillor Heather Phillips, introduced the report which covered the period 1 July to 30 September 2024.  In her introduction, the Executive Member highlighted areas of improving performance such as numbers of library visits and reablement packages delivered, and time to process new benefit claims, in contrast to areas of concern such as timeliness of initial Early Help assessments and the number of children entering care.

The Leader welcomed members of the Scrutiny Board to the meeting.  In response to questions to Executive Members from Scrutiny Chairs and Member Champions the following was confirmed:

·       The Customer Service key performance indicator of the percentage of telephone calls answered in 4 minutes was based on data from the legacy councils.  There was no industry standard which could be used and the annual customer satisfaction survey helped establish a baseline.  Currently, the average customer waiting time was less than a minute.

·       The rise in fly tipping was disappointing, although the council was helping to address the problem through the establishment of local enforcement teams.

·       The trend in increasing use of temporary accommodation was a national issue, in part caused by the rising cost and limited availability of private rented housing.  The council was addressing this challenge through multi-million pound investment in new temporary accommodation which was of better quality and less costly to the taxpayer.

·       In terms of planning key performance indicators and the time taken to determine planning applications, time extensions were currently included in the data.  There was no single data set on the time taken to validate planning applications.  This information was still disaggregated across the seven legacy councils, but typically it would only take a few days.

·       The growth in the number of reablement packages delivered in Quarter 2 reflected the higher number of hospital discharges but was also testament to the success of the service and the resources deployed in supporting people to remain in their own homes.

·       As had been discussed at full Council, the impact of the new National Living Wage rate and employer National Insurance contributions on the cost of care home placements was still be determined.

·       The reduction of Living Well referrals was attributable to a number of factors including the changing nature of the service and data recorded elsewhere such as the NHS so the forthcoming review of the service was timely.

·       An important outcome of the Addressing Poverty in a School Setting project would be the launch of a new Poverty Proofing Toolkit in the new year.

·       The national target for the number of adults accessing a structured drug treatment offer was very challenging and the fact that the council was 10% away from the target and improving was encouraging when compared with similar local authorities.

·       The increase in referrals to Children’s Social Care and Child Protection Plans remained a cause for concern. This was in line with national trends and was being closely monitored.  However, the council’s overall rate remained low compared to similar local authorities and a very active Early Help service was deployed to prevent issues escalating.

·       The comparatively high youth reoffending rates in the county remained something of a conundrum given the excellent preventative work undertaken by the Youth Offending Team.  One factor was that numbers were small and consisted in large part of young people presenting with complex problems at greater risk of reoffending.  The way data was recorded was also being examined.

·       The vast majority of looked after children were placed with carers within North Yorkshire although the geography of the county and other considerations meant that it was often not possible nor desirable to place children within 20 miles of their home. In Quarter 2 the percentage figure of looked after children placed within 20 miles of home had dropped from 64.7% to 62.2% compared to the previous year.  Placement outside a 20 mile radius did have an impact on transport and associated costs, but not the Home to School Transport budget.

·       In respect of the reduction in the timeliness of Early Help assessments, this showed a reduction of 0.9% from an exceedingly high figure of 96.5% over the last year which was within the tolerance range

Revenue Budget, Treasury Management and Capital Plan

Councillor Gareth Dadd, Executive Member for Finance and Resources, introduced each section of the report.  In respect of the Revenue Budget he noted with concern the £1.7m net overspend at Quarter 2, a deterioration since Quarter 1.  This was attributable in the main to the rising demand for, and increasing cost of the people services of Health and Adult Services and Children and Young People Services (the costs of the market were increasing at rates that were unaffordable) but partially offset by underspends within other directorates, including a significant underspend against energy budgets in both property and street lighting.  These were in addition to the £5m saving taken from these areas as part of the 2024/25 budget. These savings would be offered up for inclusion within the 2025/26 budget; however it was highly likely that there would need to be further growth provision in the 2025/2026 budget for Health and Adult Services and Children and Young People Services, thereby increasing the savings gap. 

The relevant Executive Members and Corporate Directors then provided further commentary and detail on the Health and Adult Services and Children and Young People Services expenditure and the challenges they faced to deliver services within budget.  Councillor Dadd confirmed that the council continued to lobby government through professional bodies and local MPs for a fairer and more sustainable funding model for these services.

In respect of the Capital Budget, Councillor Dadd noted the breadth of activity across the council including the major highways scheme of the Kex Gill realignment, multiple regeneration schemes, and a range of internally inspired schemes to bring services up to standard.  Importantly, the Capital Plan paved the way for a series of possible schemes including the Extra Care programme and development of Care and Support Hubs to help address some of the demand issues highlighted in the Revenue Budget report.  It was noted that the £126k recommended to support the Whitby Town Hall project was as a contingency to enable the project to be completed.  With reference to the Catterick Levelling Up Fund project, timescales set by government around the delivery of the scheme had not changed, although the deadline of March 2026 now pertained to committed expenditure rather than actual expenditure.

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

Resolved (unanimously) that the Executive:

1. notes the forecast outturn position against the 2024/25 Revenue Budget, as summarised in paragraph 2.2.1

2. approve £1m funding from the LGR reserve to fund replacement devices to support the transition to Windows 11 in paragraph 2.5.2 and Appendix I

3. notes the position on the Council’s Treasury Management activities during the second quarter of 2024/25
4. refers this report to the Audit Committee for their consideration as part of the overall monitoring arrangements for Treasury Management.

e.     approve the refreshed Capital Plan summarised at paragraph 4.2.3

f.      approve the allocation of £182.3k from the Capital Receipts Unapplied Reserve to fund the Claro Road Depot Welfare Facilities scheme (paragraph 4.7.3)

g.     approve the allocation of £23k from the Harrogate Council investment Reserve to address overspends on the Harrogate Convention Centre redevelopment scheme (paragraph 4.7.4)

h.     approve the allocation of £126k from the Strategic Capacity Reserve to fund the works to the Whitby Old Town Hall and Marketplace (paragraph 4.7.5)