The Overview and Scrutiny Committee of Haringey Council met on Tuesday 09 January 2024 to scrutinise the council's draft budget and medium-term financial strategy for 2024/25 to 2028/29. The committee also reviewed the work programme for the coming year.

Scrutiny of the 2024/25 Draft Budget and 5 Year Medium Term Financial Strategy

The committee undertook a detailed examination of the council's draft budget and its Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) for the period 2024/25 to 2028/29. This scrutiny covered revenue and capital proposals across various council services, including Culture, Strategy & Engagement, and Environment & Resident Experience.

Key discussions and concerns raised during the scrutiny of the budget and MTFS included:

• Overspend and Financial Pressures: The committee noted a forecasted overspend of £3.6 million for the current financial year, primarily attributed to inflation and current interest rates. Clarification was sought regarding whether fixed interest rates at the time of borrowing were factored into these figures, with officers explaining that the increase was due to refinancing and new borrowings.
• Agency Staffing: The ongoing issue of agency staffing was discussed, with acknowledgement that reducing reliance on agency staff had been challenging due to recruitment difficulties in certain areas. Directors have been tasked with providing data on agency staff numbers and potential end dates for their engagement, with quarterly meetings held to monitor progress. The committee noted that these meetings had led to a substantial reduction in agency staff numbers.
• Service-Specific Underspends and Overspends:
  • Community Safety: An underspend of approximately £29,000 in the salaries budget for vacancies was noted, with a further £76,000 underspend in the ASB Enforcement team related to held vacancies.
  • Waste Management: A significant underspend of £430,000 was reported, primarily due to a rebate from Veolia concerning pension contributions.
  • Digital Services: Pressures within Digital Services were identified, largely stemming from IT contracts priced in other currencies, leading to high exchange rate costs. General inflation and organisational changes also contributed. The service is aiming for cost-effectiveness through insourcing licences and additional hardware, and by reusing products. The purchase of Microsoft E5 was highlighted as a measure to enhance cyber security and terminate contracts for standalone products.
  • Chestnut Park Flooding Scheme: Funding for flood alleviation at Chestnut Park, provided by the GLA, was discussed. Despite planning permission being granted, concerns were raised about a petition of over 1,000 individuals opposing the scheme. All options are being reviewed, with a further meeting planned with the GLA to explore alternatives, though there is a risk of losing the funding if it is not spent within the current financial year.
  • Waste Management Service: Management actions were being taken to reduce expenditure and manage pressures. For green waste, collection capacity was dependent on truck availability, requiring reconfiguration of collection rounds. For bulky waste, the current charge of £20 for four items was discussed in relation to the annual target of £400,000, with current capacity only generating £12,000 annually. Reassurance was given that the baseline structure would be revised to ensure targets are achievable.
  • Leisure Service Provision: A revenue growth of approximately £1 million was noted for the new leisure service provision and other minor changes, related to additional resources for insourcing the service, including IT. The committee sought a breakdown of staff costs within this growth, with officers unable to provide accurate figures at this stage.
  • Environment & Resident Experience: A £35,000 overspend predicted for 2025/26 was noted, with details requested.
• MTFS Savings Tracker:
  • Events Income Increases: The RAG status for Events Income Increases was green for 2022/23 but amber for future years due to uncertainty about income sources.
  • Single Person Discount: The council is using an advanced IT system to identify households claiming the Single Person Discount incorrectly. A softer approach is being adopted to allow residents time to update their details.
  • Fleet Management: Discussions are underway to bring fleet management into a single directorate, with a £50,000 saving identified for this financial year not yet achieved, leading to a red RAG status.
  • Match Day Cleansing: Negotiations with Tottenham Hotspur regarding LAMP contributions for match day cleansing are progressing.
  • Digital Together Savings: Over 90% of savings for 2023/24 had not yet been achieved, requiring cross-departmental adoption of efficient systems.
• New Revenue Growth Proposals: Acronyms on the table were clarified (L&G for Legal & Governance, CORP for Corporate, ERE for Environment & Resident Experience, SCE for Culture, Strategy & Engagement). The additional Principal Scrutiny Officer role was explained as a part-funded position that became full-time due to service growth. Growth predictions were noted as the best forecast based on the council's current position. The Big Switch off (phasing out of BT's ISDN and PSTN) was identified as an ongoing issue with additional costs for the council, raising concerns about emergency arrangements.
• New Revenue Savings Proposals: The committee noted that fixed penalty notices would generate additional income. Regarding fly-tipping, data showed approximately 1,600 fines issued and 7-10 court cases per month. A proposal to engage a private company for additional enforcement on a commission basis (65% to the council, 35% to the company) was discussed, anticipating an extra £100,000 income. The committee requested a comparison of costs for insourcing versus outsourcing this project.
• Draft Capital Programme:
  • Corporate Laptop Refresh Scheme: Costs included an additional assessment for funding renewals due to running out of supply. The council is testing smaller laptops for cost-effectiveness, acknowledging this is a rolling programme.
  • New River: Further explanation of the self-financing of this scheme was requested.
  • Tottenham Hale Green Space: Details on the proportion of Haringey Council funding and S106 funding for improvements were requested.
  • Future High Street Project: Details on the proportion of Haringey Council funding and developer/S106 funding for infrastructure improvements were requested.
  • Corporate Laptop Refresh: Further details on the reasons for significantly increased costs were requested.

Decisions Made:

The committee noted and agreed several recommendations:

• Recommendation 1: Details to be provided on the underspend relating to curtailing uncommitted maintenance and improvement works.
• Recommendation 2: Noted budget pressures relating to Digital and IT services, recommending that all knock-on costs associated with insourcing should be budgeted for over the longer term.
• Recommendation 3: Requested a breakdown of costs relating to Digital and IT services, including exchange rates and general inflation.
• Recommendation 4: Requested details on the reason for a £35k overspend predicted under Environment & Resident Experience for 2025/26.
• Recommendation 5: Recommended that the council continues to urgently pursue negotiations with Tottenham Hotspur Football Club for full cost recovery of matchday cleansing services, including retrospective recovery.
• Recommendation 6: Recommended that the Cabinet explain how each service department will engage with the Digital Together savings proposal to achieve savings over the MTFS period.
• Recommendation 7: Requested further details on how Event Income Increases savings will be achieved and clarification on the variation in savings targets.
• Recommendation 8: Requested a breakdown of the expected extra costs for the £946k growth for the Leisure Management Service in-house.
• Recommendation 9: Requested details on the estimated cost of hiring more permanent staff versus partnering with a private contractor for environmental crime enforcement.
• Recommendation 10: Requested further explanation of the self-financing of the New River scheme.
• Recommendation 11: Requested details on the proportion of Haringey Council funding and S106 funding for the Tottenham Hale Green Space improvements.
• Recommendation 12: Requested details on the proportion of Haringey Council funding and developer/S106 funding for the Future High Street Project infrastructure improvements.
• Recommendation 13: Further details to be provided on the reasons for significantly increased costs for the Corporate Laptop Refresh scheme.

Work Programme Update

The committee noted the report on its work programme, indicating that additions or amendments to the current work programme would be considered. The next meeting was scheduled for 18 January 2024.

Future Meeting Dates

The committee noted the dates for its future meetings: 18 January 2024, 1 February 2024, and 11 March 2024.