Agenda item

To consider key themes and priorities for the Children, Young People and Learning Department as outlined in the Council’s Draft Budget Proposals for 2010/11.

The Panel received extracts from the proposed 2010/11 Revenue Budget and Capital Programme reports relating to Children, Young People and Learning which were presented to the Executive on 15 December 2009.

The Acting Director of Children, Young People and Learning (CYPL) introduced the budget proposals which included detailed information on service pressures and developments, key decisions, fees and charges, risk areas and contingency.

The Council had faced significant pressure in delivering services within budget in the current financial year due to the impact of the recession. Loss of interest and reduced income from Council investments such as Easthampstead Park Conference Centre and revenue generated from car parking charges meant in year savings had been identified to reduce potential overspend. In year savings identified by the CYPL Department amounted to £397,000.

The Department was facing service pressures of £100,000 from a Council total of £1,524,000. Service economies from the CYPL Department would account for £516,000 from a total savings of £3,243,000. Risk areas identified by the Council amounted to £1.7 million.

The Panel noted that the schools budget was separate from the Children, Young People and Learning Department’s budget and was not included in the proposed 2010/11 Revenue Budget and Capital Programme.

A pressure of £100,000 was anticipated from new requirements resulting from the Lord Laming Report  in respect of the protection of children in England for all referrals from professionals to have an initial assessment.

Proposed savings for the Department included recharging some costs to the Schools Budget which were appropriate and had been initially agreed by the schools. The increased charges in the Schools Budget would not impact on individual schools in the borough.

A small number of staff currently funded from revenue budgets would be funded from external grants. The student finance function was moving from the local authority to the Student Loans Company. As a result the Council would be reducing its support in this area which meant redeployment of a member of staff to avoid a redundancy. In total the proposed budget savings for the CYPL Department would be £745,000.

Arising from Members’ comments and questions the following points were noted:

• The provision made for the Pay Award did not include Teachers Pay Award which would come from the Schools Budget.
• The Extended Schools funding would end in March 2011, however it was anticipated that the drive and support for the provision would move to the schools.

The Acting Director of CYPL introduced the proposed fees and charges for the Department in 2010/11. Individual fees and charges had been examined with any increased limited by inflation. In the majority of cases there had been no significant increase, however the Education Centre’s charges had increased as it was judged that this would not reduce the Centre’s use. 

The Panel considered the proposed Capital Programme 2010/11 – 2012/13. The total request for Council funding was £8,069,000, with CYPL requesting £1,065,000 of Council funding.

External funding - Primary Capital Strategy for Change amounted to £7,396,000 which included funding for Jennets Park Primary School development and Extended Schools, Children’s Centres & Early Years. Other external funding items amounted to £18,326,000 which meant a total Capital Programme for the CYPL Department of £26,787,000 in 2010/11.

Arising from the subsequent discussion the following points were noted:

• External funding for the Playbuilder Project was £590,000. The Panel requested an update on the Playbuilder project to monitor progress.
• The Department was committed to the Capita One upgrade. Further details of the Committed Capita One (EMS) upgrade were requested by the Panel, particularly increased costs associated with software migration, the increase in implementation costs and annual maintenance charges.
• The external funding shown in the proposed Capital programme were amounts which the Department expected to receive having been successful in grant application.
• Concern was expressed regarding the development of new youth facilities in South Bracknell. The Panel requested further details on the provision of the youth facilities, to include details on when and where the money was to be spent and the expected date that facilities would be available for use.
• There were no proposed redundancies and no proposed increases in staffing levels in the CYPL Department.
• The Acting Director of Children, Young People and Learning was confident that enough savings had been made in the proposed budget to allow services to continue at a high standard without overspend.

The Panel thanked the Acting Director and noted that any further queries could be sent electronically for a response.