Meeting documents

To receive an update on the Implementation Plan budget proposals.

The LGA Scrutiny Committee noted the monitoring report, the process and approved criteria.

The Strategic Director and Section 151 Officer for Sedgemoor District Council provided a presentation which set out details of the Implementation Plan and Budget Update.

The Business Case identified that £18.5m of on-going savings could be achieved by creating a unitary council. In order to achieve this, the estimated implementation costs set were estimated to be £16.5m

The proposed contributions for each council were based upon an 80:20 split between County & Districts which approximately reflected the relative net budgets. The 20% contribution from District Councils was then split between the individual councils based upon population.

The process for applying for resources was set out, with bids being reviewed by section 151 Officers and members of the Programme Management Office and assessed against approved criteria. The criteria for approving resources had been approved by the LGR Programme Board on 30^th November.

The deadline for workstream leads submitting implementation bids was 20^th January 2022. 35 bids have been received, of which 5 are for project management resources for the overall project and specific workstreams. The total of all bids were approved is £7.5m. The bids are currently being reviewed against the approved criteria.

During the debate the following comments and questions were raised: -

·  It was questioned if there would be additional costs after the five-year period.

·  Savings were predicted to be generated by 2025, however further savings were anticipated beyond this period.

·  The Proposed funding of implementation costs and split and how this was decided was questioned with SCC funding 80% and Districts 20%.

·  This had been agreed by members at the Joint Committee on 5^th November and was based on the existing authority’s budgets which was considered reasonable by both SCC and Districts Councils.

·  It was recognised the timescale of the LGR programme remained a challenge but ensuring the right resources were in place to deliver the challenge remained key to its success.

·  A RAG rating was requested in future updates to consider which areas were on track or not. This would be considered for introduction at future meetings.

·  Financial risk was a recognised risk on the risk register. There was likely to be areas of the LGR programme where specific advice was needed in relation to tax arrangements leading into the new council.

·  Districts had set up a SPV’s to carry out investments, it was questioned if there was the internal expertise to undertake these associated tasks.

·  External advice could be used and was funded from the implementation budget, if was questioned if the budget could be used to ensure Business as usual activities and backfilling could take place.

·  After concerns were raised around hidden costs it was understood the implementation budget would not cover backfilling of posts.

·  The Programme Board included 5 CEOs’ 151 and programme director

·  £16.5 million was fixed and didn’t account for inflation, this needed to be utilised to ensure value for money is achieved.

·  The risk register was being considered at the joint committee on 4^th February and was requested to be considered at the next LGR Scrutiny committee.

·  Officers were thanked for the update by the Committee

Recommendation:

The LGR Joint Scrutiny Committee noted the implementation budget monitoring report, the process and approved criteria.