53 Finance Report Quarter 2 2019/20 PDF 88 KB
To consider the Finance Report Quarter 2 2019/20 as presented to Cabinet on 5 November 2019.
Additional documents:
Minutes:
The committee
reviewed the Quarter 2 Finance Report, which had been presented to Cabinet on 5
November 2019.
As requested by the
committee, the Executive Director of People - Children and Portfolio Holder for
Children, Education and Early Help attended the meeting to answer questions in
respect of the Budget for Children’s Services:
·
Where
possible, children would be placed with an appropriate guardian including with
other family members
·
There
was a cost pressure associated with securing accommodation and an issue with
capacity. Cabinet had recently agreed to
re-establish a children’s hub and suitable properties were being looked for
·
Demand
in this area was high and liaison was being undertaken with the Government as
to how they were able to influence national issues in this area
·
Areas
for focus included the development of a residential hub, training and support
for foster parents, preventative work and providing the best service possible
where provision was out of county. Work
had started but would take time
·
The
Executive Director confirmed that there had been involvement and support from
portfolio holders, Cabinet and Council for work in this area
·
In
terms of forecasting for future budgets, there would always be an element of
being led by demand, however there was recognition that more control could be
achieved if the right level of edge of care services were in place
·
Part of
the Blueprint for Change consultation was about locality area partnership
working and working more closely with the community in order to safeguard
children
·
The
Executive Director of Corporate Development noted that part of building the
budget for the following year was about trying to anticipate the level of
demand on the service. There was a model
but it was recognised that some factors could not be anticipated and this
needed to be built into the budget
·
Reference
was made to the disposal of children’s homes by the former Dorset County
Council and the background to this was discussed. The Executive Director of People, Children,
noted that the provision currently being considered by the council was
different to what had been in place before.
Areas currently being explored included the provision of supported
lodgings for 16 to 18 year olds and in particular, a model including partner
involvement and contributions and potential income
·
In
response to a question, the Executive Director of Corporate Development noted
that a number of factors were taken into account when setting the budget and this
included using market intelligence to understand likely inflationary pressures
·
Consideration
was given to the number of looked after children in the council area and the budget
forecast for the next financial quarter
· The impact of the recent tranche 2 restructure on finance team support for Children’s Services was raised and it was noted that moving forward, the model was to have a central corporate finance team in place with business partners allocated to each service area. The level of resource and expertise required for Children’s Services was recognised and would be in place moving forward ... view the full minutes text for item 53