Agenda and minutes

Any Member who is substituting for another Member should so indicate, together with the name of the relevant absent Member.

There were no substitutes declared.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Beccy Hopfensperger, Betty McLatchy,  David Nettleton, Karen Richardson and Paula Wade.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 25 November 2015 (copy attached).

The minutes of the meeting held on 25 November 2015, were unanimously accepted by the Committee as an accurate record and signed by the Chairman.

Members of the public who live or work in the District are invited to put one question/statement of not more than 3 minutes duration relating to items to be discussed in Part 1 of the agenda only.  If a question is asked and answered within 3 minutes, the person who asked the question may ask a supplementary question that arises from the reply.

A person who wishes to speak must register at least 15 minutes before the time the meeting is scheduled to start.

There is an overall limit of 15 minutes for public speaking, which may be extended at the Chairman’s discretion.

Public participation had been included within the previous informal discussions and there had been no questions/statements from members of the public.

Report No: PAS/SE/16/001

(For reference purposes, Forest Heath District Council’s Report Number is PAS/FH/16/001)

Further to the joint informal discussions held prior to the meeting with Forest Heath District Council’s Performance and Audit Scrutiny Committee, the Committee formally considered Report No: PAS/SE/16/001.

Members had scrutinised the report and there being no decision required, the Committee noted the Council’s performance using the Balanced Scorecards for Quarter 3, 2015-2016.

Report No: PAS/SE/16/002

(For reference purposes, Forest Heath District Council’s Report Number is PAS/FH/16/002)

Further to the joint informal discussions held prior to the meeting with Forest Heath District Council’s Performance and Audit Scrutiny Committee, the Committee formally considered Report No: PAS/SE/16/002.

Members had scrutinised and there being no decision required, the Committee noted the contents of the Quarter 3 West Suffolk Strategic Risk Register monitoring report.

Further to the joint informal discussions held prior to the meeting with Forest Heath District Council’s Performance and Audit Scrutiny Committee, the Committee formally considered the verbal report.

Members had scrutinised the information and there being no decision required, the Committee noted the contents of the verbal update.

Report No: PAS/SE/16/003

(For reference purposes, Forest Heath District Council’s Report Number is PAS/FH/16/003)

Further to the joint informal discussions held prior to the meeting with Forest Heath District Council’s Performance and Audit Scrutiny Committee, the Committee formally considered Report No: PAS/SE/16/003.

Members had scrutinised the report in detail and had asked a number of questions to which responses were duly provided. 

In particular Members discussed the various payment options, and suggested that a future report be presented to the Committee, which provided a breakdown on how residents who did not pay their council tax by direct debit, what alternative payment methods they used.

There being no decision required, the Committee noted the contents of the report.

Report No: PAS/SE/16/004

(For reference purposes, Forest Heath District Council’s Report Number is PAS/FH/16/004)

Further to the joint informal discussions held prior to the meeting with Forest Heath District Council’s Performance and Audit Scrutiny Committee, the Committee formally considered Report No: PAS/SE/16/004.

Members had scrutinised the report, and noted that the meeting scheduled for 27 April 2016 had be deferred and would now be held on Wednesday 25 May 2016, at St Edmundsbury Borough Council, commencing at 5pm.

There being no decision required, the Committee noted the contents of the work programme and that:

1)   The next meeting of the Committee would be held on Wednesday 25 May 2016, and

2)   A future report be included in its forward work programme on how residents who did not pay their council tax by direct debit, what alternative payment methods they used.

Report No: PAS/SE/16/005

The Committee received Report No: PAS/SE/16/005, which set out the financial performance for the third quarter of 2015-2016 and forecasted outturn position for 2015-2016.

The current forecast position for the Revenue Budget year end was showing an underspend of £60,500 (Appendix A and B).  Members were requested to note the current position and the significant variances as outlined in paragraph 1.2.3 of the report.

In terms of the Council’s Capital Finance position, the Council had spent £2,345,840 of its capital budget of £13,660,104 at 31 December 2015 (Appendix C).  The table set out in paragraph 1.3.2 of the report provided a high level summary of capital expenditure against budget for 2015-2016, as well as the year end forecast variances of £5,289,000.

Finally attached at Appendix D was a summary of the earmarked reserves along with the forecast year end position for 2015-2016.

The Resources team would continue to work with Budget Holders to monitor capital spend and project progress closely for the remainder of the financial year and an outturn position would be presented to the Committee at the end of the financial year.

Members discussed the report in detail.  In particular Members discussed the year end forecast variances over £25k relating to the Council Tax and legal court costs which now all went through the Anglia Revenue Partnership, and the Planning income underachievement.  Officers assured members that the expectation for 2016-2017 was for the Planning service not to have an underachievement. 

Members also discussed Appendix B (Revenue and Budget detail) relating to Building Control and the lower than anticipated income and the additional costs associated with changes in the staffing structure.  Members questioned the variance in forecast and what was being done to increase future income, to which officers agreed to provide a written response.

There being no decision required, the Committee noted the quarter 3 financial performance report 2015-2016.

Report No: TMS/SE/16/001 will be considered by the Treasury Management Sub-Committee on 18 January 2016.  The Chairman/Acting Head of Resources and Performance will update the Committee verbally on any issues or recommendations arising from the consideration of this report.

The Committee received Report No: TMS/SE/16/001, which had been considered by the Treasury Management Sub-Committee on 18 January 2016.  The Business Partner (Resources and Performance) provided a verbal update on the Sub-Committee’s consideration of the report, which summarised the Treasury Management activity for the first nine months of the 2015-2016 financial year.

The Sub-Committee was advised that the total amount of budget income from investments for the period 1 April to 31 December 2015 was £191,888 (average rate of return of 0.70%).  Interest earned during the period totalled £290,749, an overachievement of £98,863.  The overachievement was predominantly due to the higher cash balances being available for short-term investments mainly due to timing differences in the collection and payment of Council Tax, Business Rates and government grants. 

The Council continued to hold its general policy objects, which was to invest surplus funds prudently, with security of its investments as its primary objective.  The base rate remained at 0.5% throughout the period and most market analysts continued to predict that this would continue throughout 2015-2016 with a small staged increase not expected until 2016-2017.

The Sub-Committee had scrutinised the investment activity for 1 April to 31 December 2015, and had asked questions to which officers duly responded.  In particular the Sub-Committee discussed business rates and questioned what St Edmundsbury Borough Council billed out on business rates.

The Performance and Audit Scrutiny Committee considered the report and there being no decision required, noted the contents of the report.

Report No: TMS/SE/16/002 will be considered by the Treasury Management Sub-Committee on 18 January 2016.  The Chairman/Acting Head of Resources and Performance will update the Committee verbally on any issues or recommendations arising from the consideration of this report.

The Committee received Report No: TMS/SE/16/002, which had been considered by the Treasury Management Sub-Committee on 18 January 2016.

The Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy’s (CIPFA) Code of Practice on Treasury Management required that prior to the start of the financial year, the Council formally approved an Annual Treasury Management and Investment Strategy, setting out the Council’s treasury management policy and strategy statements for the forthcoming year.

The Business Partner (Resources and Performance) provided a verbal update on the Sub-Committee’s consideration of the report, which sought approval of the Annual Treasury Management and Investment Strategy Statements 2016-2017, including treasury related prudential indicators (attached as Appendix 1 to Report No: TMS/SE/16/002).  No major changes had been made to the Strategy since it was presented to the Sub-Committee on 19 January 2015.

The Treasury Management Code of Practice (attached as Appendix 2) had also been updated accordingly to reflect the proposed Annual Treasury Management and Investment Strategy Statements 2016-2017.  No major changes had been made to the Code of Practice since it was presented to the Sub-Committee on 19 January 2015.

The Sub-Committee had scrutinised the content of the report, asking questions of officers who duly responded.  In particular the Sub-Committee discussed the revised interest rate projections from Sector (the Council’s advisors), which were based on the current economic climate.

The Performance and Audit Scrutiny Committee considered the report and asked questions to which officers duly responded.

With the vote being unanimous, it was

          RECOMMENDED

That subject to the approval of Full Council:

1)   The Annual Treasury Management and Investment Strategy Statements 2016-2017, as contained in Appendix 1 to Report No: TMS/SE/16/002, be approved.

2)   The Treasury Management Code of Practice 2016-2017, as contained in Appendix 2 to Report No: TMS/SE/16/002, be approved.