The Head of Finance and Procurement introduced the reported as set-out in the agenda papers.

The Chair invited questions from Members and points raised included:

·         Would the increase in Local Housing Association (LHA) to the 30% percentile have any impact on the Council’s Temporary Accommodation (TA) costs?;

·         referred to page 81 of the report and asked if the utility contracts for leisure centres would be considered in the future?;

·         was the overspend on the grounds maintenance at Barton’s Point, Sheerness due to not having an operator at the café?;

·         referred to page 79 of the report, and asked what was the reason for the drop in hackney carriage licences, and was their anything the Council could do to encourage people into that line of employment?;

·         referred to the development management forecasting overspend of £462,000 on page 80 of the report, and in particular the £586,000 on staff and related costs.  Concerned that the Council had a lot of agency staff, what was being done to recruit and fill posts and were the external consultants for recruitment an extra cost?;

·         good clear report;

·         welcomed the work undertaken to clear the backlog of rent reviews;

·         had received good reports about the reconfiguration of the second floor of Swale House which improved the working area and encouraged staff to come into work;

·         the LHA rates had a profound impact on the Council’s finances and viability of affordable housing.  It was a cost that should be met by Central Government;

·         the Council should consider restoring the £20,000 removed from the Faversham pools small subsidy; and

·         were the Council providing the correct support to retain staff and that all Members considered the budget and the human cost of decisions.

In response, the Director of Resources reported that the LHA change would not have an impact on the Council’s TA costs, as the rates for TA were still set at the 2011 rates and would not be changing.  The Leisure contract was due for renewal and the utility part would be included in the specification.

With regard to the drop in Hackney Carriage Licences, the Head of Finance and Procurement said that whilst the Covid-19 Pandemic may have caused the initial downturn the assumption was that the levels were not going to ‘bounce-back’ to pre-covid levels.  The Chief Executive said that ultimately it was due to market forces and the Council’s licensing team did not preclude people unless they did not pass the relevant tests.

The Head of Environment and Leisure explained that the Barton’s Point overspend was expenditure of the Levelling-up grant and included repairs to the lake, trees and various other items and not from the absence of operator.  This would be offset by the incoming grant from Government.

The Head of Regeneration, Economic Development and Property and Interim Head of Planning acknowledged that within Planning Services there was a greater reliance on interim agency staff than they would like and the increased costs were regrettable but necessary to stabilise the service.  She reported there would be a restructure of planning services in 2024 and resilience and capacity was at its heart, the restructure would remove any reliance on interim agency staff.  The Chief Executive added that there was a shortage of planning staff across Kent and the Joint Kent Chief Executives were launching a piece of work in consultation with Kent universities on what planning courses could be introduced.

In response to the query regarding the reinstatement of the Faversham Pools subsidy, the Chief Executive advised that the Member needed to send a request for an officer report on the proposal to the Chair of the Policy and Resources Committee to agree.  She added that for 2023/24 budget they would need to use reserves and if it was for the 2024/25 budget it would be an amendment.

Resolved:

(1)      That the projected revenue position, which was balanced through a reduction of £500,000 in the amount to be taken from reserves be noted.

(2)      That the capital expenditure of £1.4m against the budget as detailed in Table 2 and Appendix I be noted.

(3)      That the transfers to reserves to create an insurance reserve and an investment smoothing reserve be approved.