Minutes:
It is three years since you elected me as your Leader. It has been humbling to have had the active and wholehearted support of a professional, dedicated, and hardworking team of Members and Officers. I thank you all; it has truly been the honour of my life.
It has been a very busy three years; it has been pretty much full-on 24/7 during which making a positive impact on our community has always been in the forefront of my mind. It has been a pleasure to serve. We are a great local authority. We aspire to be the best. We have achieved huge accolades. We are one of the most prosperous, least deprived, healthiest and one of the most desirable places to live. Our climate emergency action plan has been ranked 8th in the whole of the country. UNICEF has chosen us in a bid to be recognised as a UNICEF UK Child Friendly Community – we are only one of a handful in the country.
In the last three years, we have brought forward an unprecedented number of policies and strategies. We have reviewed and renewed almost every aspect of the Council and renewed its relationship with partners across sectors and central Government. We have continued to deliver substantial cost savings and service improvements. This has been despite Covid 19, which has dominated thoughts for the last two years.
I have tried to lead from the front. I have encouraged can-do innovation, conscious that initiatives may not work but believe they are always a source of feedback and learning. Our staff feel valued and supported to come up with new ideas and approaches; they understand the high level of aspiration and expectation. There has been a strong focus on promoting staff wellbeing led by senior officers.
The only reason that we are here is to serve the residents, for whom our mission is to make them happier, healthier, and more prosperous. The tragedy of life is often not in our failure, but rather in our complacency; not in our doing too much, but rather in our doing too little; not in our living above our ability, but rather in our living below our capacities.
I have sought to reinvigorate everything we do, and we have. The recent Peer Review team in their feedback to us found we delivered valued, well performing services that provide a high quality of life for residents. We achieve good outcomes for our residents, despite receiving no central government grant funding. Notwithstanding the recent pressures of Covid, we are financially stable.
This did not happen by accident but by the achievement of Officers and Members throughout the 20 years of Conservative administration. We have demonstrable resilience and financial probity.
Over the last three years despite Covid, we have made great strides in all key areas, for example:
· Clear vision for the Borough and recognised Corporate Plan that is delivering the key priorities .
· Meaningful partnership relationships, including Health, and the Voluntary Sector.
· Focus on data and insight to improve decision making.
· Commitment to enhance and improve the customer experience.
· Significant and genuinely marvellous improvement within the Adults and Children’s Services which are reflected in recent inspection visits results visits.
However, I am not complacent. We are the golden thread which runs through our community. We will continue to develop, deliver, and shape the future aspirations for the Borough. The scale of challenge has increased. I am confident that I can lead the way to overcome whatever is thrown our way without reducing our services and without reducing momentum on reform where needed. We recognise this as a journey of continuous improvement.
We are proud of our achievements throughout the Covid pandemic. We displayed organisational strength, resilience, and played a pivotal role in ensuring that the local community had the support it needed throughout. Working in partnership with the brilliant voluntary and community groups.
There has been a focus on deepening collective leadership between the Executive and Corporate Leadership Team; thisprovides a strong foundation to build on. Officers and Members have worked together to enhance our strategic capacity.
We now need to continue to deliver great outcomes for all our residents in a way that promotes fairness, equality, and diversity. We will
· Restate a clear narrative about our ambitions for our residents and the future vision for Wokingham.
· Recognise the role we play in community and place leadership, and sometimes that means taking tough decisions.
· Continue to embed Equality, Diversity and Inclusion for Members and Officers, and through the delivery of services.
· Ensure there is a commitment to a long-term vision for the Borough co-designed with partners.
As you know, we have worked over many years to attain the highest standards of financial management, including a strong track record of delivery of significant savings. The financial future looks both extremely challenging and uncertain. The degree of uncertainty is at a level seldom, if ever, previously experienced.
The financial impact of the Adult Social Care and NHS reform is potentially the greatest concern given its magnitude. Additional expenditure of between £20million to £30million are anticipated when the impact of the reform is fully felt. Whilst the ongoing grant funding of this is unclear, the current levelsof financial support suggested will fall well short of that needed by Wokingham and other authorities with a high proportion of self-funders.
A three-year funding settlement was expected for the financial year 2022/23 and beyond, but unfortunately only a one-year settlement was announced. This leaves considerable uncertainty over our funding after 2022/23. A major review of local government funding in the context of a ‘levelling up’ agenda is expected to be announced for 2023/24.
Wokingham will need to continue to make its case for a fair deal for its residents in the formulation of a new national funding system; currently we receive the lowest level of support per head of population in the country. The New Homes Bonus is substantial reflecting the scale of development in the Borough. We are concerned that it may disappear.
Inflationary pressures on both Revenue and Capital expenditure have become both severe and unpredictable. Inflation in this budget has been carefully considered but we live in extraordinary times, and it may be understated. The government is consulting on changes to what local authorities must charge their general fund for capital borrowings. Wokingham has embarked on a responsible but ambitious Capital Programme over its recent past to enable the strategic delivery of housing, the regeneration of Wokingham Town and the development of much neededaffordable housing. There is a risk of adverse consequences, and we will have to review our approach to Housing Delivery, Regeneration, the provision of affordable housing and holding assets for the purpose of income generation.
The Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) budget area is highly regulated which means the opportunity to address the growing demand led statutory pressures relating to SEND is limited. The deficit on DSG is likely to increase significantly in future years and is estimated to be in the region of £13m by 31st March 2023. Options to mitigate the deficit are currently being developed and some may require additional capital investment to deliver them.
The budget proposals put forward for 2022-25 are responsible and affordable, leaving a safe level of General Fund Balances. However, this MTFP is being put forward in an unprecedented landscape of uncertainty and risk. Our financial position will require continual review and there may be a need to undertake some form of mid-year budget review.
This administration has demonstrated its capacity to navigate through the extraordinarily difficult waters of the pandemic and still come in at budgeted levels for 2021/2022. It is vital to do the basics right to provide the capacity and financial flexibility to continue to invest in our community and to build social homes in response to the increase in homelessness. We must be strong and financially resilient, providing high levels of services for resident. In these perilous waters we must always maintain robust control over our finances, andprudently forecast given the uncertainty over future government funding.
We are not in crisis unlike many. The CIPFA Financial Resilience Indicator showed Wokingham to be amongst the top 20 out of 300 councils in the country. We went into this pandemic with excellent cash reserves due to years of excellent Conservative cash management. We will reluctantly have to reduce these reserves, but they will still be maintained at a sustainable level.
Reserves are to support the residents in time of need and hardship. If any Member feels this this is not one of those times, I suggest you look at the havoc wreaked by this pandemic not just in Wokingham or even the UK but worldwide and the personal misery. Think about those who have died before their time and the families facing uncertain times. So yes, we have spent money to ease the suffering and uncertainty of our residents delivering the services they rely on. Would I do the same again? Yes, 100% yes!
Wokingham Borough is a great place to live. More and more people want to live in the Borough. I regret the loss of every field, tree, and hedgerow. While landowners promote their land and developers know they can sell every house they build, it makes it difficult for us to balance the need for new homes with the needs of existing residents. I have managed to materially reduce the number of homes, but I still believe the quantity is still too high. Nevertheless, having a plan is the best of the choices available to us, creates upfront funding of SDLS for high quality infrastructure and has enabled us to oppose speculative development.
Rising prices and rents makes it increasingly difficult for those on low incomes and next generation to acquire or rent homes in the borough. We have a responsibility to help residents. More social homes are required.
We have started the medium-term financial plan on a firm footing and the budget is sound, but we must recognise the unfavourable winds around us. Mr Mayor, I am recommending this budget to the Council. A budget that contains substantial investment in vital services for the community and contains no cuts. It is safe and prudent and will ensure we continue to deliver the high quality services the residents have come to expect and rely on. As my friend and colleague, the Executive Member for Finance and Housing has said on many occasions “a council which is broke is no good to anyone.”