Agenda item

A presentation will be delivered to the committee members at the meeting.

Councillor McLennan (Deputy Leader of the Council) introduced Archa Campbell (Head of Finance), Althea Loderick (Strategic Director, Resources) and Minesh Patel (Head of Finance) and who gave a presentation on the current context of the council’s financial position. The committee heard about local government sources of income, the likelihood of future reductions, Brent’s financial position as at February 2016, budget savings previously agreed, further savings required, and the impact of Council Tax changes and also new legislation. Councillor McLennan drew attention to the budget timetable and reminded the committee that the budget had been set for two years to allow more flexibility and time for an overall strategy to be in place. The committee requested that the budget timetable be amended to include scrutiny by this committee in January 2017.

Members in discussion raised questions on the increasing Council Tax base and the impact on collection rates, the effect of business rate devolution on new services, the protection of existing services and how schools could protect special educational needs provision from forthcoming Dedicated Schools Grant restrictions proposed under the review of the national funding formula. Minesh Patel responded that council tax collection rates were currently at 98%, the council had new responsibilities and there would be gains and losses. Consultation was still taking place on the national funding formula and some aspects of SEN support would be protectable should schools not be able to provide. Councillor McLennan stressed that strategies needed to be in place to ensure that funding was spent appropriately. Minesh Patel confirmed that national minimum wage increases had been taken into account and agreed to confirm the minimum recommended level of reserves for a local authority. The committee supported the continuation of the two year budget cycle. Discussion took place on the possibility of a Council Tax rise and Councillor McLennan advised that work would take place on options.

The recent EU Referendum was raised and the potential impact of the decision for the UK to leave the European Union. Minesh Patel assured that that planning was taking place and that the council would have a greater understanding of the impact within a few weeks’ time. The committee also questioned whether, in the light of NHS England’s £22bn efficiency savings by 2020/2021 target, what was the likelihood of the NHS being able to fund the social care gap across NWL (approximately £145m). The committee heard that the request had been made to NWL and the council was committed to funding PREVENT and social care. Councillor McLennan added that Sustainability and Transformation Plan (STP) was a priority and that the Health and Wellbeing Board would be most involved. Following the decision to leave the EU, Councillor McLennan assured that communication with stakeholders would be maintained and members kept informed of the impact on the council’s finances.

The committee discussed the possibility of increasing the council tax and questioned the reasoning behind the council’s suggestion that if required to take on more responsibilities, transport would be the preference. Councillor McLennan put the view that Brent was often better placed to take decisions on transport matters and work with neighbouring boroughs. She reminded the committee that the council was already sharing services with other boroughs for IT and procurement and this work would continue.

RESOLVED:

that the presentation be noted.