Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Clayton and Spear.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 12 September 2024 (circulated previously) be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

There were no items brought forward which in the opinion of the Chair should be considered by the meeting as a matter of urgency.

Please telephone the Corporate and Community Services team to prepare a form for your signature before the meeting. Interests must be re-declared when the item is called. A declaration of interest under the Code of Conduct will be a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest, an Other Registrable Interest or a Non-Registrable Interest.  If the item directly relates to your interest you must declare the interest and leave the room for the item, save in the case of Other Registrable Interests or Non-Registrable Interests where you may first speak on the item as a member of the public if provision has been made for the public to speak.  If the matter does not directly relate to your interest but still affects it then you must consider whether you are affected to a greater extent than most people and whether a reasonable person would consider your judgement to be clouded, if you are then you must leave the room for the item (although you may speak as a member of the public if provision has been made for the public to speak) or, if you are not, then you can declare the interest but still take part).

There were no declarations of interest received.

Report by the Director of Resources and Deputy Chief Executive to Strategy and Resources on 4th November 2024 (attached).

(a)      Minute Extract of Strategy and Resources on 4th November 2024 (to follow).

The Committee considered a report by the Director of Resources and Deputy Chief Executive (circulated previously) regarding the Performance and Financial Management Quarter 2 of 2024/25 together with the minute extract of the Strategy and Resources Committee held on 4 November 2024 (circulated previously).

The Finance Manager highlighted the following:

·       The revenue budget for 2024/25 was approved at Council on 21February 2024 at £16,432,690.

·       As at30 September2024, thelatest forecastnet budget was £16,438,690, whichproduces abudget deficitof £6,000.Details were shown in “Appendix A – Variations in the Revenue Budget” of the agenda.

·       As part of the previous year’s outturn we contributed an additional £250,000 into the insurance reserve to mitigate against higher costs in 2024/25 and it was planned to use £243,000 from this reserve to offset the additional costs in this financial year.

·       The originalbudget for2024/25 includesa forecastto achieve £250,000 worth of salary vacancy savings.The current position forecasts we willachieve £256,000based onknown vacanciesto date.

·       There was still pressure on the Temporary Accommodation budget and we are fundingthe anticipated additional costof £186,000 from in year Temporary Accommodation grant.

·       The additional costs of £199,000 for Works units transport and SFS lease costs have been mostly offset set in year by £170,000 from the SFS vehicle reserve.The variances were due to the increased costs of borrowingwithin thefinance leasepayments combinedwith anincrease in vehicle purchase prices that SFS have experienced.

·       Pay and Display income has continued to follow the 2023/24 trend of slightly lower volumes, combined with the effect of the capital works being undertaken at Queen Street car park.  We were now forecasting a £200,000reduction.

·       We are now estimating income growth from Business Rates to be an additional £200,000.

·       As at 1April 2024 the Collection Fund reserve balance held was £1,790,180.This earmarked reserve was created todeal with the timing impacts of the Collection Fund (Business Rates), which ensured the revenuebudget wasnot undulyaffected in theyear thetaxes werecollected.  Collection Fund deficits/surpluses were reversed out to bring the revenue account back to the budgeted figure for the year; the deficits/surpluses were recovered/distributed in the following financial years.  This reserve included a£1,246,078 balancethat wouldbe utilisedin 2024/25£1,012,856 and 2025/26 £233,222 to mitigate timing differences of business rate reliefs awarded in 2023/24 that from an accounting perspective impact over the next two financial years; thus leaving the fundreserve witha residuebalance of£544,099 protection againstfuture volatility.

·       At the 30 September 2024 total external borrowing, excluding finance leases, was £6,000,000.The timing of any future borrowing was dependent on how the authority managed its treasury activity.

·       Due to project spend slippages in the Capital programme and using the cashflow balancesfor internalborrowing, we areestimating areduction in borrowing costs and a potential underspend of £125,000 on the interest payable revenue budget.

·       The Budget  ...  view the full minutes text for item 42.

Report by the Director of Resources and Deputy Chief Executive to Strategy and Resources on 4^th November 2024 (attached).

(a)  Minute Extract of Strategy and Resources on 4^th November 2024

(to follow).

The Committee considered a report by the Head of Governance (circulated previously) regarding the Mid-Year Treasury Management Report 2024/25 together with the minute extract of the Strategy and Resources Committee held on 4 November 2024 (circulated previously).

The Head of Governance highlighted the following:

·       The Treasury Management Strategy Statement (TMSS) for 2024/25 was approved at full Council on 21 February 2024.

·       The revised Capital Financing Requirement (CFR) was around £37million.  It was projected that the CFR would be funded from £18million external borrowing, £5million financial leases, £14million internal borrowing from reserves.

·       The underlying TMSS approved previously required revision in the light of economic and operational movements during the year.The proposed changes were set out as follows:

·       The change to the upper limit for borrowing under 12 months would allow greater flexibility for short-term borrowing, given the current interest rate forecast.

·       The Council held £6.2million of investments as at 30 September 2024 (£1.8million at 31 March 2024) and the investment portfolio yield for the first six months of the year was 4.72% against the benchmark 7 day average SONIA rate of 5.12%.

In response to questions from the Committee, the Head of Governance advised the following:

·       The table on page 94 of the report detailed the Interest Rate Forecasts. It was anticipated that there would be further cuts in interest rates. The Council would therefore be looking for short term borrowing.

·       It was too soon to know the impact of the US election on the UK economy and our borrowing rates. PWLB rates are linked to UK government gilt yields so we would have to see how the market responds.

RESOLVED, that the decisions and recommendations of the Strategy and Resources Committee be endorsed.

Vice Chair of the Committee to recommend the establishment of a Member task and finish working group to review the Council’s Performance Indicators and make recommendations back to the Committee.

The Vice-Chair recommended the establishment of a Member task and finish working group to review the Council’s Performance Indicators and make recommendations back to the Committee. He advised that the working group would meet first and then meet with officers prior to reporting back to the Committee.

The Chief Executive suggested that the working group be provided with a copy of the Performance Management framework, Performance Indicators and the Corporate Plan in advance of their first meeting.  The Strategy and Resources Committee had reviewed the current Performance Indicators and he suggested that members of the Strategy and Resources Committee also be involved in the review process.

The Head of PMO and Environmental Health also suggested that the working group be provided with the operational level performance indicators in advance of their first meeting.

RESOLVED that a Member task and finish working group to review the Council’s Performance Indicators and make recommendations back to the Committee be established and that Councillors Bishop, Bushell, Jones and Patrinos be appointed to the group.

Committee to consider a request from Citizen’s Advice (CA) to attend a future meeting to expand on the local work of Citizen's Advice.

The Committee considered a request from the Citizens Advice for Torridge, North, Mid and West Devon to attend a future meeting of the Committee to expand on the local work of Citizens Advice.

RESOLVED that a representative of the Citizens Advice for Torridge, North, Mid and West Devon be invited to attend the next meeting of the Committee to expand on the local work of Citizens Advice.

To consider the impact of water quality within the North Devon area. Councillor Jones to report.

The Chair advised that as Councillor Jones was not present at the meeting that an update paper on the actions from the special meeting of the Committee held on 29 February 2024 would be circulated to the Committee for their information.

The Chief Executive highlighted the following:

·       Devon Housing Commission report had highlighted that infrastructure in terms of water supply and waste water was a blockage to the provision of more housing.

·       Following on from this report, it had been suggested that a Water Summit for Devon District Councils be held and that representatives from the Water Industry and Local Authorities be invited to attend to discuss this issue.  Representatives from the Environment Agency, South West Water, OfWat, University of Exeter and Government Agencies had been invited to attend. The event had been arranged by East Devon District Council and would be held on 12 December 2024 from 9 am until 12pm at the Exeter Science Park.  East Devon District Council had experienced particular problems with sewage discharge at Exmouth.  Each District Council could send four representatives and that further information had been sent to Councillors Clayton, Jones and Patrinos.

      i.         Farm visit – Tuesday 24^th September 2024: Councillor Bulled, Lead Member for agriculture to provide an update in relation to the Farm visit.

Councillor Bulled, Lead Member for Agriculture advised that she had not been able to arrange an Agricultural Working Group and that the farm visit that took place on 24 September 2024 had been very interesting. She invited the Chief Executive to provide an update.

The Chief Executive provided an update on the farm visit that took place on 24 September 2024.  He highlighted the following:

·       Following the tour, a roundtable meeting had been held whereby it was identified that planning was a major issue for farmers.  If farmers wanted to build a new slurry store, which could be a mandatory requirement, they could apply for funding from the Environment Agency. Planning consent would also be required, whereby the Environment Agency was a consultee and quite often responded differently to the consultation process.

·       It was anticipated that a meeting would be arranged in the new year with representatives from the Environment Agency and Natural England, along with the councils own planning team,to consider streamlining the process. 

·       The Council provided a pre-app planning advice service which was a chargeable service.  When farmers were submitting planning applications they were being requested to provide a variety of documents, which can cause a blockage, as they hadn’t been aware that the documents were required prior to submitting their planning application. Therefore, the Council would waive the pre-app fee for certain applications from the agriculture industry and notify the National Farmers Union accordingly. By going through the pre-app process, applicants would be made aware in advance of the information that was required to be provided alongside their planning application and given a steer on whether planning permission would be granted or not.  Existing guidance had been produced for farmers in relation to common applications.  This was being updated and would also be shared with the National Farmers Union.

·       North Devon+ were in daily contact with farmers in relation to the Future Farm Resilience programme and would also be instrumental in promoting the guidance to the agricultural industry.

Councillor Bulled, Lead Member for Agriculture advised that she had submitted a notice of motion for inclusion on the agenda for the next Council meeting on 20 November 2024 in relation to protecting British family farms and preserving rural communities following the Government’s budget.

To consider and discuss dental provision within the North Devon area. Councillor Patrinos to report.

Councillor Patrinos advised that Ian Roome MP had set up a Dental Task Group which he had been invited to attend.  He advised that he would attend meetings of this Task Group and report back any actions required to the Committee.  This item would now be removed from the Committee’s work programme.

Committee to note the contents of the scoping paper.

The Committee considered a draft scoping paper in relation to Health Inequalities and GP Surgeries (circulated previously).

Councillor Bushell advised that since the publication of this report, he had obtained information regarding the potential closure of pharmacies and requested that this also be included within the scoping paper.

The Chief Executive advised that One Northern Devon were already looking at health inequalities which was a bigger subject than just the closure of GP and pharmacies.  One Northern Devon worked with Devon County Council, North Devon District Hospital, statisticians, the Police and the DWP to gather data. He suggested that the Committee receive a presentation from One Northern Devon in the first instance to gain an understanding of the wider subject and the Committee could then consider which particular areas to focus on.

RESOLVED that a representative from One Northern Devon be invited to provide a presentation to the Committee at its meeting on 12 December 2024 to outline the work that they are carrying in relation to health inequalities. 

The Committee considered the work programme for 2024/25 (circulated previously).

RESOLVED that the work programme for 2024/25 be approved subject to the inclusion of the following:

(a)  12 December 2024 – Presentation by One Northern Devon on their work on Health Inequalities

(b)  12 December 2024 – Presentation by Citizens Advice, Torridge, North, Mid and West Devon on the local work of Citizen’s Advice

(c)  12 December 2024 – Update to be provided following the Water Summit meeting held on 12 December 2024