Agenda and minutes

Councillor Sue Cooper sent her apologies for absence. 

To adopt and sign as a correct record the minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on 28 September 2023. 

RESOLVED: to approve the minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on 28 September 2023 as a correct record and agree that the Chair signs them as such. 

To receive declarations of disclosable pecuniary interests, other registrable interests and non-registrable interests or any conflicts of interest in respect of items on the agenda for this meeting. 

None

To receive notification of any matters which the chair determines should be considered as urgent business and the special circumstances which have made the matters urgent, and to receive any announcements from the chair. 

None

To receive any questions or statements from members of the public that have registered to speak. 

Mr John Salmons asked a question to Councillor Andrea Powell regarding item SD7 in the Climate Action Plan Performance Report.  This related to the planning application for a parks’ nursery at Great Western Park, Didcot.  He asked what steps had been taken and what steps would be taken to properly address residents’ concerns over the proposal. 

Councillor Powell undertook to provide Mr Salmons with a written reply after the meeting. 

To consider any recommendations to Cabinet from other committees. 

Cabinet received updates from the Joint Audit and Governance Committee and the Scrutiny Committee.  These were published on the council’s website.  No recommendations were made to Cabinet. 

In terms of the detailed comments made by Scrutiny Committee, the chair asked the relevant Cabinet members to discuss these with their head of service so that a combined letter of reply could be sent by Cabinet to the Scrutiny Committee. 

To consider the head of policy and programmes’ report. 

Cabinet considered the Corporate Performance Report and the Climate Action Plan Performance Report for the first quarter of 2023/24. 

The Cabinet member for corporate services, policy and programmes welcomed the reports, which illustrated the complexity of the work carried out by the council.  Progress had been made on the corporate objectives and work had started on a review of the Corporate Plan for 2024.  Cabinet welcomed this. 

In answer to a question by a member, it was noted that work was taking place to reduce the complexity of data gathering and reporting for the performance reports, with the aim of reducing their length and reducing their production time. 

RESOLVED: to note the Corporate Performance Report and the Climate Action Plan Performance Report from quarter 1, 2023/24. 

To consider the head of finance’s report. 

Cabinet considered the head of finance’s report on the treasury management outturn for 2022/23.  This set out the treasury activity and performance during the last financial year. 

Members noted that the Joint Audit and Governance Committee had considered the report on 3 October 2023 and was satisfied that the treasury activities had been carried out in accordance with the treasury management strategy and policy. 

Cabinet concurred.  Despite a turbulent operating environment, the council continued to make investments during 2022/23 that maintained security and liquidity and took advantage of the increases in interest rates in line with the parameters of the treasury management strategy. 

To comply with treasury management professional guidance, the council’s investments prioritised security, liquidity and yield, in that order.  Looking ahead, the Cabinet member for finance welcomed officers exploring the introduction of environmental, social and governance factors as a fourth consideration in the investment decision-making process, having first complied with the priorities outlined in the guidance.  The Cabinet member reported that the council had no direct investments during the financial year with companies engaged in environmentally harmful activities. 

RESOLVED:

(a)    to note the treasury management outturn report 2022/23;

(b)    that Cabinet is satisfied that the treasury activities have been carried out in accordance with the treasury management strategy and policy;

RECOMMENDED to Council to:

(c)    to approve the treasury management outturn report 2022/23 to Cabinet on 9 November 2023; and

(d)    approve the actual 2022/23 prudential indicators within the report.

To consider the head of finance’s report. 

Cabinet considered the head of finance’s budget monitoring report for the period April to June 2023, the first quarter of 2023/24. 

After carry-forward items had been removed, this showed a projected revenue overspend of £0.6 million at the year end.  The profiling of the capital programme was being reviewed.  Members noted that budget monitoring reports for later quarters in the financial year would give a better picture of likely outturn at the year end. 

In terms of the spend on agency staff, members noted that recruitment of staff was often a time-consuming process, and the use of agency staff during such periods could be an effective use of resources to improve efficiency. 

RESOLVED: to note the budget monitoring report for the period April to June 2023.