Issue - meetings
Presentation on the Budget Process, recommended Capital Programme and Draft Base Budget for 20??/?? - 20??/??
Meeting: 02/12/2008 - Joint Overview and Scrutiny Board (Item 4)
4 Budget Presentation 
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Minutes:
The Head of Financial Services gave a presentation with updated information on the Medium Term Financial Plan (Revenue Budgets) for 2009/10 to 2011/12, including the proposed pressures and savings and the Capital Programme.
It was explained that the Budget linked to the Council’s Priorities, as agreed earlier in the year, and officers had also consulted a small cross section of the public which was called a ‘Budget Jury’.
Several questions were raised during and after the presentation with ensuing discussions. Items raised included: car parking charges; neighbourhood wardens; town centre redevelopment; community transport; CCTV; Street Scene vehicle replacement; chargeable green waste service; collection of Business Rates; spatial project savings; Monitoring Officer investigations; Equality and Diversity Forum bids; Customer Service Centre (CSC); Assistant’s Chief Executive’s team, including Improvement Manager; Basement Project and Foyer Scheme; consultants; and smoke free post.
There was a particular concern regarding the car parking charges. It was understood that the budget proposals suggested car parking charges would not be increased in 2009/10 and 2010/11. However, it was believed that having smaller annual increases at approximately the rate of inflation (2.5%) would be a better option than no increase followed by a high increase in future years. It was also noted that the same view was put forward by the Budget Jury.
With regard to car parking, questions were also raised regarding whether neighbouring areas, such as Kidderminster, had also seen a drop in car parking receipts.
It was explained that it was proposed that Neighbourhood Wardens would be increased by one rather than two posts in the proposed budget.
There was a brief discussion relating to the community transport bid and it was stated that this related to a recommendation put forward by the Public Transport (Buses) Task Group after consulting the Equality and Diversity Forum.
It was noted that there was funding within the Capital Programme to replace CCTV equipment. This led to a brief discussion on the effectiveness of CCTV in other areas and the possibility of removing CCTV equipment in Worcester City. It was believed that in Bromsgrove District, there was evidence to suggest that there had been a significant reduction in anti-social behaviour. However, it was suggested that West Mercia Police benefited from CCTV and therefore could be requested to make a financial contribution.
With regard to Street Scene Vehicle Replacement Programme, there was some concern that it included the green waste collections which would be a chargeable service from 2009/10. Therefore, it was believed that these should be separated as the new annual charge should cover the future cost of the service.
There was some confusion in relation to percentage of funds that were required for green waste, residual and recycling and it was requested that this be clarified. In relation to information on the chargeable green waste service next year, the Board was informed that the Head of Street Scene and Community had called a meeting for the following day to ensure all households in the District received the ... view the full minutes text for item 4