Agenda item

In pursuance of paragraph 3 of Schedule 12 to the Local Government Act 1972, Councillors J Dixon, D Greenhalgh, J Bryan, C Dale and R George have signed a requisition to the Chairman of the County Council to call an Extraordinary Meeting as follows:

“We, the undersigned members of Derbyshire County Council being five by number, hereby requisition an extraordinary meeting of the said council in accordance with the provisions of Schedule 12 Local Government Act 1972.

This is in light of the recent report to Cabinet (21 September 2023) Agenda Item 5. Performance Monitoring and Budget Monitoring/Forecast Outturn 2023-24 as at Quarter 1 that identified a potential £46 million overspend in this year’s budget and the urgent need to make urgent savings as a consequence. Given that there is less than 6 months in which to make these in year savings in order to mitigate this shortfall, and the unforeseen nature of this  predicted overspend, it is right that as a matter of urgency all elected members are informed in person of the Council’s finances, together with the implications for services of those in year savings, and have the opportunity to address this issue at a meeting of the Council.

The business proposed to be transacted at the extraordinary meeting shall be:

a)   For Council to receive a written report from the section 151 officer on the current budgetary position of the authority including the need for the authority to make £46 million of in-year savings and the measures planned to achieve those savings,

b)   To allow members to ask technical questions of the section 151 officers regarding the council’s finances arising out of his report to Council,

c)    For Council to receive an oral update from the Leader of the Council on the current budgetary position of the authority, including the need for the authority to make £46m of in-year savings together with details of the measures he plans to achieve those savings, and the likely impact of those measures on services,

d)   To allow members to ask questions of the Leader regarding the Council’s finances or arising out of his or the section 151 officer’s report to Council, and

e)   To allow Council to have the opportunity to make recommendations to the Cabinet to inform any decisions it may make to achieve the £46m in savings.

The Chairman reported that in pursuance of paragraph 3 of Schedule 12 to the Local Government Act 1972 Councillors J Dixon, D Greenhalgh, J Bryan, C Dale and R George had signed a requisition to the Chairman of the County Council to call an Extraordinary Meeting as follows:

“We, the undersigned members of Derbyshire County Council being five by number, hereby requisition an extraordinary meeting of the said Council in accordance with the provisions of Schedule 12 to the Local Government Act 1972.

This is in light of the recent report to Cabinet (21 September 2023) Agenda Item 5, Performance Monitoring and Budget Monitoring/Forecast Outturn 2023-24 as at Quarter 1 that identified a potential £46m overspend in this year’s budget and the urgent need to make urgent savings as a consequence. 

Given that there is less than 6 months in which to make these in-year savings in order to mitigate this shortfall, and the unforeseen nature of this predicted overspend, it is right that as a matter of urgency all elected members are informed in person of the Council’s finances, together with the implications for services of those in-year savings, and have the opportunity to address this issue at a meeting of the Council.”

The Chairman then advised that the order of business would be as follows:

1)  For Council to receive a written report from the section 151 officer on the current budgetary position of the Authority, including the need for the Authority to make £46m of in-year savings and the measures planned to achieve those savings;

2)  To allow members to ask technical questions of the section 151 officers regarding the Council’s finances arising out of his report to Council;

3)  For Council to receive an oral update from the Leader of the Council on the current budgetary position of the Authority, including the need for the Authority to make £46m of in-year savings, together with details of the measures he plans to achieve those savings and the likely impact of those measures on services;

4)  To allow members to ask questions of the Leader regarding the Council’s finances or arising out of his or the section 151 officer’s report to Council, and 

5)  To allow Council to have the opportunity to make recommendations to the Cabinet to inform any decisions it may make to achieve the £46m in savings.

The Director of Finance and ICT (Section 151 Officer) introduced a report, which had been circulated in advance of the meeting, that detailed the current budgetary position of the Council for the financial year 2023/24 and which responded to the request for an extraordinary meeting of the Council.

After debate, Councillor Dixon proposed a motion, duly seconded in the following terms:

That Council notes the information reported to it today by the Leader and by the section 151 officer.

Council instructs the section 151 officer to bring similar update reports to every future full Council meeting until he is able to report to this Council that he is satisfied that it is no longer necessary to do so.

Council also asks Cabinet and the Head of Democratic Services to include an agenda item on every full Council meeting allowing members to receive a report from the section 151 officer and the Leader and for them to answer questions from members on those reports until such time as the section 151 officer has reported to Council that he is satisfied it should no longer be necessary to do so.

That Cabinet members should brief the relevant Improvement and Scrutiny Committees on the budget progress as a standing item.

Council adjourned between 11.52 am and 12 noon.

Following advice from the Director of Legal and Democratic Services, and with the agreement of Councillor Gillott as seconder, Councillor Dixon amended the wording of her motion to remove the following text:

“Council instructs the section 151 officer to bring similar update reports to every future full Council meeting”

And replace it with:

“Council recommends to Cabinet that the section 151 officer be requested to bring similar update reports to every future full Council meeting”

A vote took place on the motion and it was declared LOST.