Agenda item

To receive an update on the Council’s key achievements and performance, to include a LGR update.

Paul Medd and Council Chris Boden attended the meeting with a presentation having been circulated prior to the meeting.

Members made comments, asked questions, and received responses as follows.

·       Councillor Woollard stated that in the report it says that the budget was originally balanced but now it is currently being suggested a possible deficit of £1.4 million if interventions are not met, and also following that projected deficits of £2.2 million for 2026 and rising in subsequent years and he would like some reassurance that Fenland District Council (FDC) are continuing to be a prudent Council and that FDC will expect to be budgeting wherever possible with no losses and no deficits. Councillor Boden responded that steps have been put in place through the Budget Equalisation Reserve which has not needed to be relied on which is testimony to the fact that the Finance Team and officers work really hard to ensure that FDC works as efficiently and effectively as possible when spending public money, however, officers face an unusual situation coming up regarding the budget for 2026/27 where legally FDC do not actually know for sure that Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) is going ahead, and that means being prudent FDC cannot assume that the Council will cease to exist on 31^st March 2028. He continued the Council do believe that is likely to be the case, and believe it is the Governments current intention to carry this out, but it may not happen, and if it does not the Council cannot find itself in a position where it has made financial decisions on the assumption that LGR will take place and then it does not. Councillor Boden added with this in mind the 2026/27 budget will be much more difficult than the 2027/28 budget even though the projected deficit is smaller in 2026/27 because the Council must not make the assumption that LGR will go ahead and the Council will cease to exist on 31^st March 2028. He stated that there have been a goo number of meetings to identify opportunities which exist so the Council can ensure that prudence continues to be shown by FDC either until the 31^st March 2028 or into the indefinite future depending on what happens with LGR.

·       Councillor Woollard stated that March Country Park project mentions that there is confirmation of the land transfer agreement only, what does this mean, is this going ahead and has the land been agreed? Councillor Boden responded that the project was split into two phases because of the potential impact of LGR on phase one and phase two with Phase one identifying land ownership and then agreeing to the terms of the land transfer to FDC, and Phase two will see the detailed design and delivery of the project, He stated that the work has been done by officers and by lead members to confirm ownership and discussions have been undertaken with the owners, but as of yet no agreement has been reached on terms which are acceptable to both parties. Councillor Boden continued that work continues with officers who are currently preparing an update project briefing paper for the lead members which is expected imminently.

·       Councillor Barber stated that in regard of the Fenland Inspire Projects and LGR, have any of these projects been started and if not is this because of LGR? Councillor Boden responded that this project was reviewed in June, and eleven projects were separated out which would progress currently with the remaining projects awaiting clarity of the attention of Central Government. He stated that if the Council were to progress all of the projects which are in the very lengthy Fenland inspire list, then the Council would not be being prudent and the eleven chosen are either because they were already underway or because their cost was such that it was definitely able to be achieved regardless of the LGR. Councillor Boden added that there was also the problem of limited officer resource as to why some of the projects could not proceed immediately and the Council needed to prioritise. The good news is that the eleven are continuing to move forward and will not be affected by LGR but having said that FDC does continue to have a fluid and flexible approach when opportunities arise. Councillor Barber suggested that a press release would be a good way of informing the public about some of the projects taking place as she finds she is getting asked all the time Councillor Boden stated that he was reluctant to be over exuberant about what the Council has achieved and is going to be achieving but having said that he did agree with Councillor Barber about giving out a public progress report and a success to date report and will be taking this away from the meeting to discuss with the Chief Executive.

·       Councillor Foice-Beard stated that with regard to the Fenland Future Limited projects at Nene Waterfront, Wisbech and the Elms, Chatteris, can further details and dates for delivery be provided? Councillor Boden stated that a separate company has been set up called Fenland Future Ltd (FFL), which is dealing with the development of these two sites, legally that means that a lot of the decisions being made are not being made by FDC, officers or members of the Council, the decisions have to be made by the directors of the company with means that the Council does not direct the directors or FFL to do things, but occasionally conversations and observations do happen, and the FFL have faced challenges along the way but the final decisions are made by the directors. He continued things have slightly changed due to LGR and a business plan needs to be in place and published from FFL by 31^st January 2026, between now and then the Council will be giving consideration to the effects of LGR on the two sites involved with FFL and the Council will be looking for recommendations to be made based on the evidence when the Council starts looking at the numbers in conjunction with LGR to work out what is best for FDC and the people of Fenland.

·       Councillor Mrs Davis asked how realistic are the commercial projections given the national economic uncertainty? Councillor Boden responded that the commercial projections income is holding up very well and at this time there is no need for mitigation to be made and as far as the Council are aware there is not going to be the prospect of any mitigation.

·       Councillor Mrs Davis asked what is the risk of partial delivery with the Fenland Inspire projects if external funding, such as Football Foundation does not materialise? Councillor Boden stated that he worked on the assumption when originally putting forward the concept of Fenland Inspire that the Council would not receive any external funding to support projects, so if there were no external funding the proposal would still go ahead, however if there is a chance of external funding this can assist in bringing projects forward in terms of the delivery timetable which works in the Councils favour and allows the Council to be prudent in making decisions and bring the spend forward.

·       Councillor Mrs Davis asked beyond financial savings, what evidence shows the transformation programme has improved customer satisfaction and service quality? Councillor Boden stated that the evidence lies within the performance indicators and also with the customer satisfaction levels which are shown and have held well which is credit to the officer service. Paul Medd added that the Council have been bold and ambitious around transformation, and this has clearly under pinned the high level of customer service satisfaction that FDC have managed to retain but the Council has also been pragmatic and sensible in the transformation programme that the Council has sought to pursue.

·       Councillor Mrs Davis asked are the savings from TA1 and TA2 sustainable or one-off efficiencies that will erode over time? Councillor Boden responded that the transformation agenda is not just about saving money, but largely about greater efficiency and greater cost effectiveness, with some of the changes in TA1 and TA2 being one-off changes and other changes were more fundamental which has reduced the amount of spend the Council had for that particular aspect of the Council’s work, which was then fed into the base budgets for future years. He added that those ones that are sustainable, and the one-off ones are by definition a one-off and he was hoping to introduce a TA3 but due to the LGR there will be no long-term saving benefits as the Council will cease to exist from 31^st March 2028 which will affect that long term payback period that the Council would have and the residents would benefit from if changes were made. Paul Medd gave the example of the success and savings made by the My Fenland team with the help of the Transformation team.

·       Councillor Mrs Davis asked on infrastructure projects, how can FDC leverage its consulting role to get tangible community benefits, e.g. jobs, environment, and skills? Councillor Boden stated that it has always been difficult for the Council to use its consulting role to achieve those objectives as there is a limited amount of effect the Council can have when it comes to the private sector investment which takes place within Fenland, however within the consulting role Government money is being channelled via the Combined Authority to the Fenland area and it is there where the consulting role and the interaction from FDC officers and other officers within Cambridge and Peterborough Combined Authority ensure Fenland gets its fair share of money made available by Central Government for a whole host of different areas. Paul Medd added that a lot of growth is organic and there is room for FDC to enhance that growth and the Council continue to be very active directly in connection with the Combined Authority.

·       Councillor Hicks asked if FDC are in a position where staff are leaving because there will be no new jobs in two years’ time, and has LGR affected recruitment? Councillor Boden responded this issue was highlighted when the Government made its announcement last December regarding LGR, but he has been pleasantly surprised that there does not seem to be any signs at this time of a leakage of staff as far as Fenland is concerned Paul Medd added this is a real issue and it has been ever since LGR was announced and he is sure it will continue to be a concern until the ongoing uncertainties associated with LGR are finally resolved one way or another. He added that staff are being fully updated on a regular basis to help alleviate stress and worry and in terms of recruitment thankfully there is a stable workforce, and recruitment has not been a big issue, and he feels the reputation FDC holds puts the Council in good stead. Councillor Hicks stated that he can see a situation as the end date becomes closer that there will be hardly any staff left Councillor Boden stated that the Council was not going to be in that position as the functions of Council will still be happening on the 1 April 2028, bins will still need to be emptied and that applies to all other functions across the Council, LGR will inherit different function run by the Council and this will stay in place until the new functions are rolled out which could take a long time. Paul Medd added that there has always been a turnover of staff within the Council but there is no significant evidence this has anything to do with LGR.

Members noted the Information provided.