Agenda item

The Committee considered a report of the Finance Manger which outlined the Conservatives’ suggested amendments to the Administration’s budget proposals for 2022/23. The report identified additional savings proposals totalling £0.892m in 2022/23 and £0.013m in 2023/24 which could be considered individually or collectively. It was also proposed that there was a partial reversal of the Administration’s Development Fund investment proposals saving £0.500m per annum. There would also be an additional contribution from reserves of £0.986m in 2022/23 and £0.032m in 2023/24.  Creating a resource of £2.423m, this would therefore support the Conservative proposals to:

·         invest £0.300m in fly tipping enforcement

·         postpone the 10p increase in school meals for 12 months costing £0.154m

·         not increase the Council Tax for general purposes in 2022/23 costing £1.969m

The Deputy Leader of the Conservative Group and Shadow Cabinet Member for Finance and Low Carbon commended Officers for their assistance in compiling these budget proposals.  As an overview, the aims of the Conservative proposals were to alleviate the cost of living pressures many families were facing, especially from higher gas and electricity bills as well as increases in the price of many other goods and services caused by worldwide supply chain disruption exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

To help finance the proposals set out at paragraphs 3.2 to 3.4 f the report, the Conservatives recommended the reversal of two Development Fund investment initiatives proposed by the Administration which would reduce expenditure by a total of £0.500m per annum:

• District Partnership Working (£0.300m per annum)

• Improved Customer Engagement (£0.200m per annum)

Conservative Alternative Budget Reduction Proposals

Inclusion of an Additional Vacancy Management factor within the budget estimates to achieve greater efficiency including limiting the present use of agency staff and consultants (£0.550m)

The proposal sought to assist in reducing the number of agency staff and consultants used across the Council further by applying an Additional Vacancy Management factor of 0.75% to all Council mainstream employee budgets. 

Reduction in the amount of stationery purchased across the authority (£0.010m)

The purchase of stationery is completed by individual teams across the organisation on an ad hoc basis which did not always ensure best value for money through economies of scale. The purchase of stationery could be centralised in specific locations across the borough such as the Civic Centre, which would ensure that better value for money was being achieved through increased understanding of which items were required.

Reduction in car allowances and mileage budgets to reflect changes in work practices (£0.087m) in 2022/23 and £0.013m in 2023/24.

It was proposed that due to the increase in Council employees working from home and the increase of Teams based meetings, the requirement to travel on Council business using a personal vehicle had reduced.

It was proposed that a review of the posts which attract essential car user status be undertaken with the intention of removing the lump sum payment from posts where users routinely record zero or very few miles.  It was noted to the Committee that many staff who did use cars regularly did not hold such status. 

Reconsideration of Council priorities with regards to the Communications and Research Service (£0.245m)

It was proposed to reduce the service budget for the Communications and Research team by £0.245m in 2022/23. This reduction would be met by halting production of the Current version of Borough Life magazine and disestablishing 5.18 FTE posts which may include redundancies.

RESOLVED that the Committee referred the Conservative revenue budget reduction and investment proposals to Cabinet for consideration.