My FIRST report to the Council.

Posted By: Greg Couzens
Date Posted: 13/02/2008

Thank you Mr Mayor for the opportunity to report to the Council the latest developments on various matters relating to the Finance Portfolio.

This is my first report to Council as the Cabinet Member for Finance.

It is a steep learning curve and I would like to thank Margaret and the finance team for their patience and guidance.

Eight months ago I was just a local business man, a man on the street. The first observation I made was a distinct lack of communication with the opposition members, on this all I can say is that the door is now open. We have already met and I hope this relationship can continue.

My main attention has been on developing the Council’s medium term budget following the Government Settlement in December.  I think it is fair to say that the settlement was much better than we had anticipated.  The Government has finally recognised the relative need of the Borough over more affluent areas.  The settlement will enable us to review the financial position for the next three years and depending on the Council’s budget decisions will provide stability and ability to invest more in key priority services whilst setting the lowest Council Tax for over a decade.  I am also extremely pleased about the Cabinet proposals for the capital programme.  This will provided extra investment in leisure, housing, schools, Townships and our Town Centres.  I will not provide any further details on the budget proposals as Budget Fixing Council on 27th February will give us the opportunity to debate the budget and approve the budget, capital programme and Council Tax.

Historically politicians do not seem to take the long term view regarding finance, for the last ten years I have witnessed a decline in the Rochdale borough, a lack of vision, creativity, and most important of all investment.
We now have to take advantage of our strong financial position and adopt a long term view. It is so important that we achieve value for money while maintaining quality of service.  
 
The current years budget continues to be monitored closely by portfolio holders and Service heads.  The latest position reported to Cabinet still shows the major area of spending risk as Adult Care.  However the position for this service has improved significantly (£400K) since the previous report and reflects the hard work being done by members and officers.  At this stage the overall budget position is showing a deficit but I am pressing all services to bring spending in line with their budgets.

The Audit Commission has recently inspected the way the Council uses its resources.  This is done every year.  I am pleased that the Council has retained its 3 star status and its “performing well” status.  I can also report that for the first time the Council has received the maximum 4 star rating for the way we manage our business risk.  The Audit Commission remains keen the Council embedding our approach to value for money and they want to see some significant improvements in our asset management.

On the Highways element of my portfolio; The Street Lighting PFI scheme remains on track and will provide significant and much needed investment.  The project is being jointly developed with Oldham Council and is due to start in March/April 2009.

With regards to the amount of roadwork’s and disruptions caused to the general public I must apologise for the inconvenience and clearly state that it will be worth it in the long run.

Finally, we are achieving investments not seen for decades, each and every person in this room has a responsibility to make it happen, and to be part of it.
We need to work together to achieve long term prosperity for the good of the borough.  

Councillor Greg Couzens