Agenda item

The Director of Environment and Culture will attend the meeting to provide a presentation for Members on current budget issues facing this service area.

Bharat Jashapara (Assistant Director – Strategic Finance, Environment and Culture) gave a presentation on this item and explained that the department covered three main areas of work, these being StreetCare and Transportation, the largest of the three, and the other two being Culture and Policy and Regulation.  Members noted the Environment and Culture 2010/11 budgets and that the department generated significant income.  However, because of the economic downturn, there had been a shortfall in income from planning fees, land charges and StreetCare of around £500,000, whilst there had also been a loss of £350,000 in area based grants.  Whilst an overspend of £850,000 was presently being forecast for 2010/11, it was anticipated that a recovery plan would be successful in ensuring that the department had a balanced budget by the end of the financial year.  Possible further risks to the budget included whether income would continue to fall and a dispute with APCOA, the parking contractors over charges for suspended parking bays.  Although demand for the recently introduced free bulky waste service could exceed expected costs, it was felt that the risk of this was low.

With the approval of the Chair, Robert Dunwell addressed the committee.  Robert Dunwell enquired whether budgetary pressures would impact upon service provision, including areas such as planning enforcement.  He also asked how much the parking revenue account had been reduced, in view that both Highways and Transportation were reliant on surpluses made in Environment and Culture.

During Members’ discussion, Councillor Long sought further clarification with regard to the dispute with APCOA over suspended parking bays.  Councillor Van Kalwala enquired what areas would contribute most to address the overspend.  He sought further details with regard to the budget position for StreetCare and the waste contract and commented that it was essential that the council took a proactive role in increasing recycling if it was to achieve the rate of 60% set by the Administration.   Councillor Van Kalwala also sought further clarity with regard to the impact on the budget of introducing free collection of bulky waste items.  Councillor Sheth highlighted problems of litter on grass verges and tree roots causing damage to pavements in the Tokyngton ward.

In response, Michael Read (Assistant Director – Policy and Regulation, Environment and Culture) advised that APCOA were attempting to back date charges of up to £400,000 for suspended parking bays as they claimed that they should have charged more, however he was confident that the council would be successful in the dispute.  He explained that income from Planning and land charges had been hit by the recession, however in the recovery plan each unit would be set targets to contribute to savings.  Managers from each unit would be empowered to identify where savings could be made and would be accountable for them.  Michael Read advised that similar plans had been successful in previous years and he was confident that the savings required this year would be achieved and he added that in 2009/10 the balance had improved from a large overspend to a small surplus by the end of the year.  There was no indication that the budget pressures would impact upon services, however if this was the case then any decision would need to be agreed by the Executive.  Michael Read confirmed that the team of six planning enforcement officers would remain, however there may be a need to consider more carefully the timing of prosecutions to reduce legal costs.  Members noted that parking revenue was down by approximately £60,000 and that in-year surpluses went into the Transportation Unit budget, which was typically around £4m to £5m a year.  Any shortfall in income, which was attributable to the recession, would be addressed by the department as a whole, although further shortfalls were not anticipated.  Members heard that implementation of the Green Zones scheme had also been cancelled as the performance award grant for it had been withdrawn.

With regard to the waste contract, Michael Read advised that missed bin collections were at their lowest rate ever, whilst external monitoring of street cleansing had demonstrated that performance was on target.  Michael Read stated that reviewing the timing of litter collections would help reduce debris collecting on grass verges.  Transportation Unit were responsible for the upkeep of pavements and would survey trees that had been highlighted by residents to be causing damage.  Michael Read informed the committee that there had been a large reduction in demand for the bulky waste collection service when the charge had been introduced and it was hoped that the removal of the charge would encourage uptake of the service and this change needed to be effectively publicised.  The costs of removing the charge had been incorporated into the department’s budget.