Agenda item

D Skinner introduced the report to the committee and said there had been a £613,000 overspend in Q1. In the same quarter last year, there was a larger overspend and the year finished with a surplus so is confident that the same will happen this year. The areas that are responsible for the overspend are: employees, waste services, supplies and services. The overspend in relation to employees is mainly centred on staffing issues in Building Control. Challenges in staff recruitment are being addressed to ensure the correct levels of staffing are in place.

A lot of work has been done regarding the capital programme with rephasing. Page 7 shows the projected rephasing for future years which includes: the play area refurbishment programme, waste and recycling improvements, fleet replacement programme, town centre access improvements and improvements to Gadebridge Park.

Councillor C Wyatt-Lowe referred to the historical position last year and she said was concerned with the significant reduction in budgets. Why are you confident that the council can manage possible overspends?

D Skinner said there is a continuous programme to examine budgets. There will be a decrease in budgets every year for the next four years. Some activities undertaken by the Council are one off pressures and the Council will look at the possibility of bringing forward some activities that are planned into the next year’s budget. 

Councillor C Wyatt-Lowe said that many councils are experiencing huge financial pressures but Dacorum are not.

D Skinner said that the budgets are carefully scrutinised and examined by officers and members at the Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committees. The Council is in a good position financially, has got a good track record of delivery and is confident they will achieve the savings required.

Councillor C Wyatt-Lowe said she had huge admiration in the management and to keep up the good work.

Councillor Howard arrived at 7.40pm

Councillor Hicks questioned the loss in commercial waste – do they do more recycling than local authorities?

D Austin said that larger companies have a competitive advantage if they can offer larger schemes.

Councillor Anderson asked how much money would be lost from the budget if Dacorum lost all commercial waste collections.

D Austin said there would be a loss in income but also a loss in operational costs. Loss in net terms is not an issue. Local authorities deal with small companies which the larger commercial waste companies don’t tend to deal with.

Councillor Birnie questioned the £75,000 slippage on line 148 and why the recycling for flats has been delayed?

D Austin said that providing recycling for flats is more complex and not one size fits all. A Task and Finish group has been set up to look in depth at this problem so that is why the project has been delayed.

Councillor Birnie asked if this £75,000 would be from efficiency savings.

D Austin said this was an indicative sum to provide extra bins.

Councillor Riddick asked about the roads being difficult to access and why are they not sufficient for service vehicles?

D Austin said the issue was with access and service vehicles not being able to pass through; new properties to service and missed bins. A specialist will be coming in to improve the service model which will hopefully allow for more streamlined waste service.

Councillor Riddick asked if this was exacerbated by staff shortages.

D Austin said that less sickness and less agency staff allows for a better service with less complaints and better productivity.

Councillor Riddick said that the staffing issue in building control is not going away and has been a problem for some time.

J Doe said this was an ongoing issue and there is an action plan to address the staffing issues. Building control is a service that must be provided. The main issue is the cost of professional staff; in house staff have been lost due as the pay is not competitive.

Councillor Riddick asked if there could be a compromise between agency and permanent staff.

J Doe said this was being looked at. The problem has only arisen this year. There has been a nil response to job advertisements and Dacorum does not offer market force supplements.

Councillor Riddick referred to line 152 in the report and asked how many vehicles there were, their life expectancy and their cost.

D Austin said the split back vehicles cost around £145,000-150,000 and they are budgeted for a five year working life. However, their life span is lengthened because Dacorum do not take them to landfill sites. The vehicles maintenance is monitored closely to ensure the cost is proportionate and not throwing good money after bad.

Councillor Riddick asked why there no transport manager.

D Austin said the staff member had to have a CPC and operator’s licence. At the moment, G Pattinson currently holds these licences and has overall control of the vehicles repair shop. We are currently in discussions with other Local Authorities on the management of fleets to ensure they are more resilient. The interviews for transport manager are currently taking place.

Councillor Hicks said that with sickness so common in this area, can other staff members cover another round?

D Austin said staffing is constantly looked at. Staff have about 25 days annual leave and with the Council’s average of 8 sick days a year, there are peaks and troughs in staffing levels. Staff are limited to how many people can be off at any one time.

Outcome

That the Strategic Planning and Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee noted the report.