Agenda and minutes

The Chairman welcomed members to the meeting and noted apologies.

There were no declarations of interest.

Cllr Richard Kemp CBE, Deputy-Chair of the LGA Community Wellbeing Board, introduced the item. He discussed the forthcoming Green Paper on the reform of social care, and updated members on the discussion on the future of health and care at the most recent Community Wellbeing Board.

By 2020, £2.3 billion would be needed to fund social care. An increasing number of people needed care. The care for an individual now costed up to £1 million a year.

CWB Lead Members would shortly be attending a meeting with 3 MPs (Liz Kendall, Norman Lamb and Sarah Wollaston) to discuss the issue and a potential solution.

In the discussion which followed, members made the following points:

·         It was suggested that members consult with the Minister (Caroline Dinenage) about the Social Green Paper before it was published.

·         Members emphasised that the Government needed to be commit to the long-term funding of social care.

·         There was a discussion around the social care precept in two-tier areas and recognition of the prevention element that district councils fulfilled.

Decision:

1.    Members noted the update report.

Action:

1.    Officers to proceed with work as directed by members.

Sarah Pickup, Deputy Chief Executive, introduced the item. She discussed the work of the officer led steering group and the fair funding sub-group. She advised members that there was a technical paper which set out changes to business rates available on the website. She suggested that there should be independent verification of any proposed business rates formula.  

She advised members that a series of regional workshops had been held to assist council in informing their own responses to the consultation. The Business Rates Task and Finish Group were reviewing a proposed set of evaluation criteria, which would be brought back to Leadership Board. Officers were also considering council tax income. She highlighted Appendix A and reiterated the pressures caused by the funding gap.

In the discussion which followed, members made the following points:

·         There should be more background to the density argument, and how it affected costs. For example, traffic or the student population could cause problems.

·         It was felt that some funding methods were unfair, particularly without factoring in additional revenue (such as car-parking revenue). This could cause disparity.

·         It would be a challenge to come up with a response which kept the local government family together.

·         Many residents did not understand the funding formula issue. Councils needed to convey the issues in accessible terms.

·         Members suggested it was important to obtain feedback from pilot areas. At the moment, there was no meaningful feedback on why some pilot areas had been accepted whilst others had been rejected.

·         Negative RSG was still an issue.

·         There was a lack of vision to address the lack of funding beyond 2020. There needed to be more communications around this. 

·         District councils needed to play a part in adult social care provision, helping, for example, to keep people healthier for longer.

·         Members raised concerns that national politicians did not fully understand the complexities of local government finance problems.

Decision:

1.    Members noted the report and provided comments on the LGA’s response to the Government’s consultation on the Fair Funding Review.

2.    Members agreed the final signoff procedure as set out in paragraph 8.

Action:

1.    Further discussions to take place with group leaders on this issue.

Cllr Kevin Bentley, introduced the item, updating members on recent LGA work on Brexit. He discussed the current EU funding programme, and the impact its withdrawal would have on local authorities. There were currently no details on a replacement for the EU shared prosperity fund. He highlighted that EU law would be transferred into the UK statue book. There would also be a formal consultation with the Committee of the Regions into legislation. He emphasised that there needed to be a formal negotiation process with Government on amending the EU bill.

In the discussion which followed, members made the following points:

·         Councils were feeding back positively on the work the LGA was undertaking in this area.

·         It was highlighted that many councils used EU structural funding as a balancing fund to lottery funding. This would need to be taken into consideration.

Decision:

1.    Members noted the update.

Action:

1.    Officers to proceed with work in line with the above steer.

Decision:

1.    Members noted the minutes of the last LGA Leadership Board.

Decision:

1.    Members agreed the notes of the last LGA Executive as an accurate summary of the discussion.

Jonathan Gratte, Strategic Finance Manager, introduced the item. He advised members that table 1 on P44 set out the budget for 2018/2019, illustrating that there would continue to be investment. From 2020/2021 onwards, reserves would be restored. The paper set out key moves going forward, whereas risks and opportunities were set out in Appendix C.

The meeting was brought to a close.

A point was made of thanking Cllr Claire Kober for her work with the LGA, as this was the last LGA Executive meeting before she stood down as a councillor.