Agenda item

To consider a report by the Corporate Director – Finance and Commercial

The committee received a report, and the Chair introduced the item and noted the informal budget sessions that had taken place prior to the meeting. There was an introductory discussion which covered.

·       An initial comparison between the budgeted figures and actual spend for the past 3 financial years.

·       Differences between budget and actual spending including the impacts of the pandemic on budgets.

·       Assets and property budget in relation to the compliance activities that were undertaken in the recent years to update and maintain its estate.

·       The wider context was described and the removal of funding from central government to rural counties and the impact on this and future budgets.

Appendix 1d

Appendix 1e

No discussion or recommendations

Appendix 1f

When looking at this appendix the discussions covered the following areas.

·       Staffing costs and the impacts of holding vacancies on service provision, including the extension of the holding time given to vacancies to increase savings.

·       Technology, automation and AI’s role in delivering efficiencies and the availability of tools that can have impacts with low implementation and use costs and the example of AI in the consultation process was given.

·       Dorset Travel and the ongoing pressure on that service in terms of ongoing and increasing demand. The renegotiation of the contracts had a positive impact on spend and there was a discussion around the merits of alternative provision to further reduce and manage costs.

·       The impact of the parking charge changes including the addition of nighttime charging

·       Changes and the addition to out of county charging for the use of Household Recycling Centres and the nuances that could be considered in any changes adopted.

·       Moors Valley and the services there which have had contract negotiations and changes to offerings had realised benefits for the 25/26 budget

·       The approach being taken with greenspace services including collaboration with town and parish councils in service delivery

·       The impact of changes around Department for Education funding removing the funding from sites not providing national curriculum education and the decisions around the future provision of built leisure facilities.

·       Changes to garden and food waste contract changes and renegotiation impact on the budget.

·       How the interest accrued was dealt with and attributed in the budget which was clarified by the overall financial operation of the council is held centrally

Appendix 1h

On this appendix there was concern raised as the detail of the savings from the Our Future Council (OFC) Programme were yet to be provided to councillors which made it difficult to scrutinise it effectively. There was discussion on the following points.

·       The sources of savings within the budget and those attributed to OFC and the risks of double counting.

·       Staffing considerations including morale, engagement, apprenticeships and training opportunities, the skills needed to deliver the changes.

·       Climate change and environment prevalence in the Council Plan but not distinguished in the budget.

·       Contingency funding, safeguarding and the general volatility of the current context and set aside to manage this risk effectively

·       The current reserves and the organisations resilience for a section 114 notice.