Agenda item

To consider a report of the Corporate Director for Corporate and Support Services and the Borough Treasurer

Earlier this year, in September, the Cabinet presented a series of proposals in response to the summer term of the Medium Term Financial Plan undertaken earlier this year. The review highlighted the continued uncertainty, complexity and volatility facing local government funding – presenting significant challenges for local citizens and their local public services. The Cabinet’s proposals were developed in line with the medium term strategy (fig.1) which was introduced in 2018(1) to frame the choices the Council will make about its budget, both next year and in future years.

Since this report there have been further developments nationally, such as the 2019 spending review which will inform the local government finance settlement expected to be announced in December.

The Cabinet remain committed to engaging widely on proposals and this report includes an update on those draft proposals that fall within this Committee’s remit. Since they were originally presented to this Committee for discussion and comment, further development on proposals have been undertaken. The updated proposals presented as part of this report also now reflect further engagement, or where appropriate consultation, with partners, citizens and relevant groups. These proposals are being presented to Scrutiny for further comment before being considered by the Cabinet on 6 January 2020 for inclusion within the Budget.

The Cabinet are keen to seek views from Scrutiny on these plans ahead of decision making in January 2020. In order to enable broad engagement on Cabinet’s plans, Scrutiny Committees are receiving this report and suite of appendices relevant to their remit.

The Scrutiny Committee is invited to comment on the proposals and consultation results presented within the report relevant to the remit of this Committee.

Officer Contact: Holly Rae on 0161 474 3014 or email: holly.rae@stockport.gov.uk

The Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Devolution, Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Resources, Commissioning and Governance, and Cabinet Member for Citizen Focus and Engagement submitted a report (copies of which had been circulated) providing an update on the Medium Term Financial Plan Budget choices for 2020/21.

In September the Cabinet had presented a series of proposals in response to the summer review of the Medium Term Financial Plan undertaken earlier this year. The review highlighted the continued uncertainty, complexity and volatility facing local government funding, presenting significant challenges for local citizens and their local public services. The Cabinet’s proposals had been developed in line with the medium term strategy which was introduced in 2018 to frame the choices the Council would make about its budget, both next year and in future years.

The Cabinet remained committed to engaging widely on proposals and the report included an update on those draft proposals that fell within the Committee’s remit. Since they were originally presented to the Committee for discussion and comment, further development on the proposals had been undertaken. The updated proposals presented as part of this report now reflected further engagement or, where appropriate, consultation with partners, citizens and relevant groups. These proposals were being presented to the Scrutiny Committee for further comment before being considered by the Cabinet on 6 January 2020 for inclusion within the Budget.

The following comments were made/issues raised:-

• A request was made for additional pre-decision scrutiny, if possible, if any of the proposals changed as a result of the Government’s financial statement following the General Election.
•  In response to a Member’s question, it was clarified that Proposal 9.2 to increase the budgeted Council tax collection rate from 98.5% to 98.75% was based on increases in the collection tax collection rate over at least the last five years.
• In response to a question about the proposal to reduce the number of staffed hours at libraries, the Cabinet Member for Citizen Focus and Engagement clarified that it would not be a blanket reduction across each library but assessed according to need and the resources available. More local consultation would be undertaken in the new year.
• Five libraries currently had the Open + system and another two were being considered. The capital investment had been identified. The idea was to promote library services across the borough so that people aged 16 and over could access services at a time which suited them.
• To address comments from young people that they did not know about the Open + system in some of the Council’s libraries, the original proposals in the consultation would be sent to the schools’ network.
• With regard to Proposal 3 – Support Funds, a Member complimented the development of the proposal since it first came forward, the effective scrutiny of it and the consultation undertaken.
• The uneven amount of consultation for the different proposals was highlighted, for example the small amount of consultation on the libraries’ proposal compared to the Support Funds’ proposal. It was felt that the consultation undertaken should be summarised more consistently.
•  With regard to the proposal affecting the Council’s museums, a Member felt that the Council’s assets should be publicised more and have their own individual websites.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.