Issue - meetings

Report of the Chief Executive to follow

Further to Minute No. 36 of the meeting held on 16 August 2012, the Cabinet considered the report of the Head of Finance and ICT and the Head of Transformation which provided details of a package of potential savings options which could be progressed in order to move towards the achievement of a balanced budget in 2013/14 and 2014/15. At this stage the report sought approval to consult communities, partners, key stakeholders and employees, as appropriate, on the options prior to any consideration by Council.

The extent of the options identified in the report reflected the significant

challenge of identifying a further £43.7 million of savings equivalent to an 18.5% reduction of the total net budget.

The report contained the following annexes:

The Chief Executive presented the report and indicated that the challenge of achieving £43.7 million of savings would present significant capacity issues and risks; that the options contained in the report would have implications for local communities; but that the Council would strive to mitigate such risks as far as possible. It would not be possible to mitigate all the risks. The Chief Executive concluded by stressing that at this stage of the process, approval was being sought to consult on the options and once the consultation was deemed to be complete that recommendations thereon would be submitted to future Cabinet meetings and meetings of the Council including the Council meeting on 22 November 2012.

Councillor Dowd mentioned the fact that all of the options contained in the report were not sufficient to meet the budget gap and that further options would need to be identified.

Members of the Cabinet raised questions on the following issues referred to in the report and Officers responded to the issues as referred to below: