The Committee
RECOMMENDED That
(A) The participatory budgeting tool be brought to the attention of village colleges to support their curriculum and allow the Council to benefit from consultation with young people.
(B) The Council continue to advertise through South Cambs magazine how we spend the Council Tax and the headline value for money issues.
(C) Officers work with the County Council, Police and the Fire and Rescue Service to review the Council Tax booklet to make it more accessible, attractive and fit for its audiences.
Cabinet ENDORSED the Action Plan for monitoring during 2010/11.
Cabinet WELCOMED the report of the Finance Task and Finish Group and INSTRUCTED officers to draft an updated action plan for consideration at the 13 May 2010 Cabinet meeting.
Cabinet AGREED that:
(a) the corporate cycle illustrated at Appendix B to the report be endorsed and used to inform future budget, consultation, service and scrutiny planning;
(b) a closer working relationship be established between the accountancy team and cost centre managers to improve on-going financial control;
(c) a procedure be adopted for budget variances of more than +/- 5% and more than +/- £2,500 (both conditions to apply) within individual service levels whereby the relevant cost centre manager and his / her Portfolio Holder must justify the variance to the Chief Finance Officer and the Finance Portfolio Holder;
(d) a budget roll-over from the previous year be permitted only where the budget-holder can show that the current year’s budget has been fully committed and that there were no other sources of funding;
(e) it be ensured that all budget-holding officers receive at least one core skills training session to understand the procedures and processes relevant to their financial management role and that this be a feature of performance appraisals;
(f) the Council presents its financial information more clearly and concisely electronically so that it could be more easily understood by residents providing this could be accommodated within existing budgets;
(g) the Chief Finance Officer and Finance Portfolio Holder discuss the level of detail presented in reports to Council bodies, other than full Council which must receive comprehensive information as part of its budget-setting process, to enable members’ discussions to focus on strategic consideration linked to the Council’s priorities;
(h) the Council present financial and performance information for residents in such a way that value for money can be more readily understood, with promotion of the low council tax level and high value for money provided;
(i) the Council’s community engagement strategy include cross-cutting public involvement in the budget process, which should aim to include all sections of the community, business, parish council and voluntary sector partners and at times when it can genuinely have an influence, likely at an early stage in the budget-setting process; and
(j) the annual training programme for Members include at least one refresher session for all Members regarding their role in understanding and influencing the Council’s budget and financial processes and that an annual refresher session be offered for scrutiny monitors.
Cabinet DEFERRED, until the new Executive Director (Corporate Services) was in post, making a response to recommendation 6: that officers examine whether budget proposals could be accompanied by more performance information showing comparative data and the potential impact that budget proposals could have on performance, to ensure a more accurate way of analysing spending and outcomes.
The Committee
AGREED
A) The 11 recommendations to Cabinet, subject to the removal of the word “or” in recommendation 3.
B) That the Group should only meet as necessary to monitor the progress made on its recommendations, until the new Executive Director has been appointed, and the outcome of the Housing Futures vote becomes known.