Budget and Finance Scrutiny Committee

Terms of Reference:

Membership and Composition

10 county councillors, excluding Cabinet members. In addition, no member may be involved in scrutinising a proposal or decision in which they have been directly involved.

The quorum of the Committee shall be three.

Role of the Committee*

Provide further support to the overall budget monitoring process.

Consider and formulate recommendations on Cabinet budget revenue, capital and policy framework proposals.

Monitor progress of agreed budget savings and associated resource requirements.

Frequency of Meetings

Meetings to be held quarterly or in accordance with business needs, including the ability to hold extraordinary meetings from time to time.

Functions

Budget Proposals

  1. To review and scrutinise Cabinet's budget and policy framework proposals and decisions.
  2. To require any Cabinet Member, an Executive Director or a senior officer nominated by them to attend any meeting of the Committee to answer questions and discuss issues, where possible, a minimum of 5 clear working days notice shall be given for attendance requests.
  3. To make recommendations in respect of those budget and policy framework proposals or recommend that proposals or decisions are reconsidered, with those recommendations being reported to the next meeting of Cabinet.
  4. To arrange for Cabinet proposals or decisions to be considered by a meeting of full Council where the Committee concludes that a proposal or decision has been made outside the budget or policy framework.
  5. To receive regular budget and policy framework updates/monitoring reports as appropriate.

Budget Monitoring

  1. To engage with the relevant Portfolio Holder and officers on any financial issues arising from updates / monitoring reports.
  2. To make any recommendations arising from discussions with the relevant Portfolio Holder and officers in respect of any financial issues.
  3. To refer to the relevant scrutiny committee any issues arising for further consideration.
  4. To receive and consider responses from Cabinet in relation to recommendations.

Budget Savings

  1. To receive updates on the progress of agreed budget savings.
  2. To engage with the relevant Portfolio Holder and officers on issues arising from reviews of agreed budget savings.

*In exercising this function, the committee contributes to a robust finance scrutiny process and supports effective monitoring of the county council's budget. It is not to lead on the management of the budget or to set a budget, but to provide support as a 'critical friend'.