Agenda item

Report of the Assistant Director Resources

The Assistant Director, Resources, submitted a report (previously circulated), which invited Members to give consideration to the Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) for 2024/25 to 2027/28, and forward any views, in particular those in relation to the services and finances which were specifically within the remit of this Scrutiny Committee.

The submitted report stated that the MTFP had been agreed by Cabinet on 5 December 2023 as the basis for consultation, and Members were asked to discuss and consider the overall contents of the MTFP, however, with particular emphasis on those services and finances within the MTFP which specifically related to those areas within their remit, and forward any views to a Special Meeting of the Economy and Resources Scrutiny Committee, to be held on 18 January 2023, for consideration. It was reported that the Economy and Resources Scrutiny Committee would then agree a formal response to Cabinet on behalf of all the Scrutiny Committees, as part of the consultation.   

A briefing was delivered to Councillors on 13 December 2023 which provided an overview and highlighted key points in the plan. It was noted that since the MTFP had been published for consultation, the Council had received notification of the draft financial settlement for 2024/25.

Discussion ensued on the potential for greater working in partnership to reduce costs, with the partnership between Darlington Borough Council, Leeds City Council and the Department for Education in 2019 to develop Strengthening Families being cited. There was an acknowledgement that there were some costs over which there was no control, with the increase in Children Looked After being provided as the example. Members also explored the reasons around the reduction in income from the services provided by the crematorium, and sought clarification on the overall year-on-year savings within the MTFP.

Members requested more information in relation to the costs around the provision of the Council’s statutory and non-statutory services, and explored whether there were any further savings to be achieved in terms of how the Council provided its statutory functions. A question was also asked as to what the minimum cost would be to dispense the Council’s statutory services.

Members recognised that there would be further savings to be made in 2025/26, and urged Officers to start the process of identifying savings earlier, however received assurances that the process of identifying savings was an ongoing piece of work throughout the year. The associated costs of applying for additional funding was also highlighted, and balanced alongside the costs associated with any failed bids for grants or funding. 

RESOLVED – (a) That the report be noted, and that the Chair of this meeting, in consultation with the Lead Scrutiny Officers supporting this Scrutiny Committee, be given authority to agree the Minutes of this Ordinary Meeting of the Scrutiny Committee, in order to enable the Minutes to be considered at a Special Meeting of the Economy and Resources Scrutiny Committee, scheduled to be held on 18 January 2024.

(b) That the minority view of this Scrutiny Committee is that it could not support the MTFP in its current form until fully appraised of the Local Government Finance Settlement.