The meeting on the 27th of November covered the committee’s proposed work programme for the rest of the year, a quarterly update on the council’s finances and the adoption of the committee’s terms of reference.

Financial Monitoring 2024/25

The committee were provided with a report on the council’s financial position for the first six months of the financial year 2024/25. This update was provided to fulfil the council’s statutory duty to set a balanced budget.

This report included the following observation:

Nationally, Councils continue to face extreme challenges with unprecedented pressures driven by high costs and high demand for services – particularly Adult Social Care, Children’s Safeguarding and School Travel Assistance.

The report summarised that the council is currently projecting an overspend of £4.498m that will have to be met from contingencies set aside in the budget. The main projected overspends are in Adult Social Care and Children’s Safeguarding. This is offset by underspends in other departments and additional income from the West Midlands Combined Authority, which is projected to pay a higher than expected dividend to its constituent members. The report notes that the forecast for Adult Social Care overspend has increased since it was last reported to the committee in July.

The overspend in Adult Social Care was reported as being driven by increased demand for services, as well as the rising cost of providing care.

The revision re-bases the model to take account of final demand and rates information for 2023/24. It builds on this new base with expected changes in demand and rates for 2024/25. The pressure arises because the model was produced at a point in time in the Autumn/Winter of 2023 but growth in activity has continued at unprecedented levels, and market rates are likely to continue to increase and this is impacting projected expenditure and income in 2024/25.

Housing Investment Programme - Annual Update (Nuplace)

The committee were scheduled to receive an update on the council’s wholly owned housing company, Nuplace. This annual report covered the company’s performance and progress in delivering new homes in the borough. The report included the history of the programme:

The Housing Investment Programme was established in 2015…The objectives of the programme had remained the same since its creation, which included raising the standards of rental provision in the Borough.

The report described the challenges facing the programme:

The construction industry presented an increase in construction costs with an increase in labour and materials as well as price fluctuations which would lead to uncertainty. Recent legislative changes presented opportunities and challenges. This included an end to no fault evictions, a decent home standards and increased fire safety.

The report included a summary of the financial performance of the programme.

The programme had delivered a capital growth on the £66.8 million invested to 31 March 2023 with a capital value of £86.7 million.

Business and Finance Scrutiny Committee Work Programme

The committee was asked to review and confirm its proposed Work Programme for 2024/25. The most significant items on the agenda were:

• An update on the Telford Land Deal.
• A review of the council’s contract with Impower.¹
• A review of the impact of the council’s Pride in Your High Street scheme.
• A site visit to the Nuplace development in Donnington.
• Consideration of the council’s Medium Term Financial Strategy, and the setting of the budget for 2025/26.

Business and Finance Scrutiny Committee - Terms of Reference 2024/25

The committee was asked to review and agree to its terms of reference. The document included a list of all of the areas that the committee is responsible for scrutinising, including:

• Service & Financial Planning
• Commercial Projects
• Economic Development Projects
• Skills and Employability
• West Midlands Combined Authority
• Local Enterprise Partnership²
• Visitor Economy
• Pride Programme
• Workforce Issues
• HCA³ Land Deal
• Local Plan