There was a change of membership for this meeting: Councillor Rodrigues replaced Councillor Nembhard.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Khan.  No apologies were received from Councillor Martins.

There were no disclosures of interest.

The minutes of the meeting held on 14 September 2022 to be submitted and signed.

The minutes of the meeting held on 14 September 2022 were submitted and signed.

The committee received a report of the Head of Finance which set out the financial position for the second quarter of 2022/23.

The Head of Finance introduced the report and provided a summary of its content.  She highlighted elements of the revenue and capital summaries.  The recent employee pay award for 2022/23 had been built into the budget forecast.  The forecast overspends set out within the report had been partially offset by forecast underspends from across the council.  The capital programme had been reviewed and any request for re-phasing would be presented to Cabinet later in the financial year.  The report also included the latest forecasts for the General Fund and Earmarked Reserves.

The Chair thanked the Head of Finance for her report.  He noted that uncertainty, due to risks in relation to the current economic situation, were detailed within the report.

The Chair invited the committee to ask questions or comment on the report.

The Head of Finance responded to members’ questions.  These included reference to the Public Works Loan Board, which was still considered to be the long term lender for councils; increased costs for the parking service; housing service costs and the impact of Covid-19 on demand; Capital Investment Programme and re-profiling.

The Portfolio Holder commented on the detailed explanations given by the Head of Finance on the current situation.  He considered there to be less uncertainty than there had been a few weeks ago.  He felt the position was slightly more stable.  He hoped that the following year would provide more certainty.

The Associate Director of Property and Asset Management explained about the drop in revenue related to Atria and intu falling into administration.

RESOLVED –

1.         that the Financial Monitoring Report 2022/23 – Quarter 3 has been considered and both the revenue and capital forecasts for 2022/23 are noted.

2.         that the scrutiny committee has no recommendations for Cabinet or Council.

The scrutiny committee received a presentation from Sean Brew, Managing Director of Lambert Smith Hampton Investment Management, which set out a brief summary of the council’s core portfolio and Croxley Park update. 

Due to the commercially sensitive information contained in the remainder of the presentation the Chair moved the ‘Exclusion of Press and Public’ recommendation as set out below.

The Chair to move: that, under Section 100A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public and press be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business as it is likely, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings, that if members of the public were present during consideration of the items there would be disclosure to them of exempt information as defined in Section 100(1) of the Act for the reasons stated below in terms of Schedule 12A.

Note: if approved, the Chair will ask members of the press and public to leave the meeting at this point.

RESOLVED –

that, under Section 100A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public and press be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business as it was likely, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings, that if members of the public were present during consideration of the items there would be disclosure to them of exempt information as defined in Section 100(1) of the Act for the reasons stated below in terms of Schedule 12A.

Update and presentation for this item is considered exempt (part B) in accordance with paragraph 3, schedule 12A, as it contains commercially sensitive information.

The presentation and discussion were exempt from publication in accordance with paragraph 3, Schedule 12A as they contained commercially sensitive information.

Sean Brew and the Associate Director of Property and Asset Management continued their presentation and responded to members’ questions. 

RESOLVED –

that the update be noted.

Update and presentation for this item is considered exempt (part B) in accordance with paragraph 3, schedule 12A, as it contains commercially sensitive information.

The presentation and discussion were exempt from publication in accordance with paragraph 3, Schedule 12A as they contained commercially sensitive information.

Sean Brew and the Associate Director of Property and Asset Management continued their presentation and responded to members’ questions.

RESOLVED –

that the update be noted.