Notes of the East of England Finance Members’ Network

Held on 21 January 2015

At Norfolk County Council, Norfolk

Present

Name Position OrganisationCllr Derrick Ashley (Chair) (DA)

Cabinet Member for Resources and Transformation

Hertfordshire CC

Cllr David Harrison (DH) Deputy Leader and Vice Chair of Policy and Resources Committee

Norfolk CC

Peter Timmins (PT) Interim Executive Director of Finance Norfolk CC

Cllr Jenny Antill (JA) Cabinet Member for Finance Suffolk CC

Stephen Clarke (SC) Finance Adviser National LGA

Eddie Gibson (EG) Senior Manager East of England LGA

Cinar Altun (CA) Policy and Secretariat Manager East of England LGA

Apologies

Name Position OrganisationCllr Michael Headley Cabinet Member for Finance and Asset

ManagementBedford BC

Cllr Roger Hickford General Purposes Committee Member Cambridgeshire CC

Cllr Maurice Jones Deputy Leader and Executive Member for Corporate Resources

Central Bedfordshire BC

Cllr John Spence Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance

Essex CC

Cllr Mohammed Ashraf Portfolio Holder for Finance Luton

Cllr David Seaton Cabinet Member for Resources Peterborough

Cllr Ron Woodley /Cllr I Gilbert

Leader of the Council and Finance Portfolio Holder

Southend-on-Sea

Cllr John Kent Leader of the Council Cabinet Member for Finance and Education

Thurrock

Marie Finbow Strategy Manager New Anglia LEP

Welcome, Apologies and Introductions

DH welcomed members to Norfolk. DA thanked Norfolk for hosting the meeting..

1. Minutes and matters arising

1.1. The minutes of the previous meeting (22 October 2014) were approved.

ACTION: Recirculate the Essex Commissioning Model Powerpoint to members from Nicole Wood (Attached)

2. Host Member Update: Norfolk CC

2.1. PT presented on the current financial challenges faced by Norfolk CC (presentation attached as Appendix A).

2.2. PT highlighted in his presentation that when developing the budget they struggled to finalise the details because it takes time to obtain the data that they need and there were numerous changes which they had not seen before. He also noted the unexpected increased in council tax base as a result of the welfare changes.

2.3. It was highlighted in particular that the costs of transformation are larger and deeper because of the need to achieve a culture within the organisation and with partners.

2.4. Statutory deadlines and unstable systems are hindering progress on setting budgets. Furthermore in 2015-16 it is much harder to make savings and cuts are more likely to impact front-line services

2.5. Norfolk have undertaken a survey to which 75% of respondents said that increasing council tax is the most acceptable thing to do. The net effect of the council tax freeze in Norfolk is £2.5m.

2.6. Norfolk undertake a risk based approach to reserves, which means that the amount of reserves held is determined by identifying the financial impact of covering specific areas of risk

2.7. Members also discussed parking fees in their respective councils as this is a key issue for Norfolk at present.

2.8. Members also discussed how the incinerator contract impacted on Norfolk CC’s finances, and that the renegotiation of the contract is ongoing. Hertfordshire CC have had their incinerator application turned down

3. Infrastructure Case Study: The Great Eastern Rail Campaign

3.1. Apologies were received from Marie Finbow who was unable to attend due to a family bereavement. Members requested that the invite was extended for NALEP to attend a future meeting of the network.

4. LG Finance Settlement and what this means for councils in the East

4.1. Stephen Clarke presented on the Local Government Financial Settlement (slides are attached as Appendix B).

4.2. Stephen stressed that the cut to local authority budgets is measured differently by different organisations depending on which calculations are adopted.

4.3. Members cautioned against using revenue spending power as a measure of the financial position of county council and unitary authorities.

4.4. The LGA will be launching a fair funding campaign, targeting spending review of the next government.

4.5. ACTION: Members were invited to contact Alan Finch with regard to free finance peer review pilots. CA to get more information to circulate to members.

5. Member Discussion on anticipated shortfall in council budgets for 2015-18:

5.1. The budget shortfall spreadsheet including data from Suffolk CC, Bedford BC and Norfolk CC is attached as Appendix C.

5.2. Members discussed their respective budget shortfalls and how they anticipate making further savings.

5.3. Hertfordshire have a £67m gap in their budget projected for 2016-18. In Hertfordshire for they are considering increasing council tax by 1.99% and going forward they will be looking to making savings on libraries and by grouping childrens’ services. Hertfordshire are also cutting back on bus services on evenings and Sundays, except hospital services).

5.4. Norfolk are exploring car parking charges and are also looking at Suffolk’s Care in the Community Model as a way of saving £45m.

6. AOB

6.1. The Chairman proposed hosting all future meetings of the network in either Cambridge or Bury St Edmunds (West Suffolk House) as they are central to the region. This was discussed and agreed.ACTION: CA to move all future meetings to Cambridge or West Suffolk House.

6.2. ACTION: CA to email finance members asking them for indicative days of the week to avoid when setting up future meetings post October 2015.

6.3. ACTION: CA to continue working on Finance Summit Agenda for 23 July 2015. 6.4. ACTION: CA to recirculate invitation to the Cost of Care Act Event on 19 March 2015.

Future Meetings:

East of England Finance Members’ Summit23 July 2015 at 11:30 – 16:00 (Cambridge, venue tbc)

The East of England Finance Members Network Meeting 22 October 2015 at 13:30 -16:00 (Cambridge or West Suffolk House, TBC)

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