Decision details

(Cabinet Member with Special Responsibility Councillor Whitehead)

Cabinet received a report from the Chief Officer (Resources) to consider proposed allocations from the Budget Support Reserve to enable the progress of related matters.

The options, options analysis, including risk assessment and officer preferred option, were set out in the report as follows:

Approve the allocation as proposed:

Senior Management - Essentially the proposal is to help ensure that the Council has adequate senior management capacity for the relevant periods, to progress various initiatives and to protect its interests. Should the allocation be supported, it is advised that some flexibility be built in, to manage the corporate turnover savings position.

Environmental Services restructuring - The proposal provides the one off funding required to produce the ongoing savings agreed by the Council in 2016. It will not impact negatively on service delivery.

Amend the proposed allocations

Should Cabinet consider this option, the rationale and implications of any proposed amendment would need to be considered and addressed.

Do not approve the allocation

Should this option be chosen, regarding the HR proposal, as there are no other obvious sources of financing available at this point, then as a consequence the Council would need to readjust its work priorities, and put in place other arrangements to ensure that meets its legal obligations.  There is no guarantee that these could be met from within existing budgets, and so alternative reserve allocations may arise in due course.

Regarding the Environmental Services proposal, the restructuring could not go forward and the budgetary savings and operational efficiencies would not be realised.  Alternative ways of achieving savings would need to be identified, but any such options are likely to involve other up-front costs in any event.

The relevant Officer preferred options are as set out in the attachments. In respect of the interim capacity proposal, some flexibility regarding the corporate turnover position is advised; this is reflected in the Member recommendations of this report.

Councillor Whitehead proposed, seconded by Councillor Burns:-

“That the recommendations, as set out in the report, be approved.”

Councillors then voted:-

Resolved unanimously:

(1)          That Cabinet approves a total allocation estimated at £145,000 from the Budget Support Reserve to cover:

-     the continued engagement of the interim Head of Legal and Democratic Services to 31 October 2018, and the interim Human Resources Manager to 31 July 2018, with any further extension being subject to decisions regarding the management restructure; and

-     the one off costs arising from a minor structural reorganisation resulting from Council’s decision to reorganise the management and administration of Environmental Services.

(2)          That the allocation regarding interim capacity be subject to the use of turnover savings to help finance the engagement and should any adjustment be required to the allocation, it be addressed through quarterly financial monitoring reporting (through which the corporate turnover position will be monitored).

Officer responsible for effecting the decision:

Chief Officer (Resources)

Reasons for making the decision:

As reflected within its Medium Term Financial Strategy and related Provisions and Reserves Policy, the Council holds a Budget Support Reserve.  Its purpose is to provide resources to help finance capacity, feasibility/review and other development work in support of the Council’s corporate planning and budgeting arrangements.  Allocations from the reserve above the key decision threshold are a matter for Cabinet.