Agenda and minutes

Members are invited to declare any personal or disclosable pecuniary interests, including the nature and extent of such interests they may have in any items to be considered at this meeting.

            If Councillors have any questions relating to predetermination, bias or interests in items on this Agenda, then please contact the Monitoring Officer in advance of the meeting.

*HC 78          

Members were invited to declare any interests in the items of business to be discussed and none were made

Minutes of meeting held 28 January 2020

*HC79 

The Minutes of the Hub Committee meeting held on 28 January 2020 were confirmed as a correct record.

– a period of up to 15 minutes is available to deal with issues raised by the public

*HC 80

There were no questions submitted by the Public

*HC 81         

Members were presented with the Hub Committee Forward Plan setting out items on the agenda for Hub Committee meetings for the next four months. 

The contents of the Forward Plan were agreed subject to the following amendments:

-          Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) being deferred to a Committee meeting in October/November 2020; 

-          In the light of the Recovery Plan, if agreed, Forward Plan (FP) to be reviewed and brought to next Hub Committee meeting;

-          The Commercial Investments Update agenda item to be reassigned to Portfolio Area of Council with Lead Member therefore being Cllr Jory.  

*HC 82          

At the Meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 23 June 2020, consideration was given to a report titled: ‘Coronavirus (COVID-19) Response and Draft Recovery and Renewal Plan (the report and four parts of the Appendix that were initially presented to the Meeting were outlined at Appendix A of the published agenda report).  The Meeting had considered at length both the Response and Draft Recovery and Renewal Plan and the key discussion points were outlined in parts 1 to 4 of the recommendation and Appendix B of the published agenda report; 

The Leader introduced the report and invited Member questions and comments.

Following Member discussions, it was agreed that, due to the potential overlap, the Council’s adopted Corporate Strategy should be reviewed in light of the emergent Recovery Plan and the two plans amalgamated to one single document to take the Council forward.  Officers confirmed that an Extended Leadership Team lead officer for the proposed Business theme would be appointed soon.

The Chairman moved the recommendations on block and these were seconded by the Vice-Chairman.

It was then declared CARRIED by unanimous vote that:

1.     the Council’s response to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic to date be noted and endorsed and the Town and Parish Councils and other Community Groups be thanked and congratulated for their response and actions to the COVID-19 Pandemic;

2.       Officers develop a Recovery and Renewal Plan in-line with the Framework and Objectives that are outlined in Appendices A2, A3 and A4 of the presented agenda report;

3.       the conclusions of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting on the priority areas for the Strategic Framework for Recovery and Renewal (as summarised at Appendix B) be taken into account;

4.       an update on progress against the development of the Plan be presented back to a meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee to be held on 1 September 2020; and

That, in light of the discussions at the Overview and Scrutiny Committee Meeting:

5.       A series of Recovery and Renewal Theme-Based Member Workshops be convened in advance of the Meeting that is to be held on 1 September 2020.

PART TWO ITEMS ARE THOSE WHICH MAY BE TAKEN IN THE ABSENCE OF THE PUBLIC AND PRESS ON THE GROUNDS THAT EXEMPT INFORMATION IS LIKELY TO BE DISCLOSED (if any)

If any, the Committee is recommended to pass the following resolution:

“RESOLVED that under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the Meeting on the grounds that exempt information may be disclosed as defined in the paragraphs given in Schedule 12A to the Act.”

This document can be made available in large print, Braille, tape format, other languages or alternative format upon request. Please contact the Committee section on 01822 813664 or email janice.young@swdevon.gov.uk

*HC83         

Members were presented with a report that outlined the impact on the Council’s Budget following the lockdown caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Lead Member introduced the monitoring report which was the first since the outbreak of the pandemic.  It was confirmed that there would be monthly reporting to Members going forward with an amended budget to be brought to Council in September.  When questioned, it was confirmed that regular meetings of the Financial Stability Review Group would be arranged once the definitive financial announcement had been received from Central Government. 

Members were informed that the financial accounts were nearly completed for 2019/20, with a report presenting the accounts to be brought to the Audit Committee in July.  Also, a Member Budget Setting workshop would be set up during August and would follow the same format as previous years.  It was then intended that a draft amended Budget for 2020/21 would then be presented  to the Overview & Scrutiny Committee meeting to be held on 1 September, on to the Hub Committee meeting to be held on 15 September, and then on to Council for ultimate approval at its meeting to be held on 22 September.

Cllr Edmonds moved the recommendations on block and these were seconded by Cllr Mott.

It was then unanimously RESOLVED that:-

i)      the significant forecast income and expenditure variations for the 2020/21 financial year and the overall projected overspend of £1.028 million (14.3% of the total Budget £7.212 million) be noted.

ii)     the loss of income streams already experienced by the Council in April 2020 and May 2020 of £0.371 million in total as shown in Section 6 of the presented agenda report be noted.

iii)    an Amended Budget for 2020/21 be presented to the September cycle of Committee meetings, setting out recommendations as to how the projected losses could be financed and what action could be taken. This is in order to achieve a balanced budget for 2020/21, in light of the Covid 19 pandemic.

iv) a comprehensive review be undertaken into all of the Council’s Earmarked Reserves.

(NOTE: THESE DECISIONS WILL BECOME EFFECTIVE FROM

 WEDNESDAY 8 JULY 2020 UNLESS CALLED IN, IN ACCORDANCE WITH

SCRUTINY PROCEDURE RULE 18).