To receive apologies for absence, including notifications of any changes to the membership of the Board.

It was reported that, in accordance with the wishes of the Conservative Group, the membership of the Board had been amended to include Councillors Hill and Thomas (D) in place of Councillors Barnby and Tyerman.

An apology for absence had also been received from the Mayor who was represented by the Deputy Mayor.  The Chairman advised that he would be writing to the Mayor asking him to prioritise attendance at future meetings of the Board.

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meetings of the Board held on 12 July and 9 August 2017.

The minutes of the meetings of the Board held on 12 July and 9 August 2017 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

The Board considered the item in Minute 21, and not included on the agenda, the Chairman being of the opinion that it was urgent by reason of special circumstances i.e. the matter having arisen since the agenda was prepared and it was unreasonable to delay a decision until the next meeting.

The Head of Finance to present the Quarter 1 Capital Plan monitoring report.

The Mayor and the Executive Leads to answer Board’s questions.

The Board to consider making any comments, conclusions and/or recommendations to the Mayor and/or the Council.

The Board considered the report on current position in relation to the Council’s Capital Plan as at the end of Quarter 1 of the 2017/2018 financial year.  The report included a number of recommendations to the Council for a the allocation of capital grants and questions were raised about the proposed allocation of the funds for Disabled Facilities Grants within the context of the Better Care Fund.

Resolved:  that Councillors Bent and Barnby meet with the lead officer for Disabled Facilities Grants ahead of the meeting of the Council when the capital allocations would be agreed.

The Head of Finance to present the Quarter 1 Revenue Budget monitoring report.

The Mayor and the Executive Leads (in particular the Executive Lead for Children’s and Adults Services) to answer Board’s questions.

The Board to consider making any comments, conclusions and/or recommendations to the Mayor and/or the Council.

The Board considered the revenue budget monitoring report for Quarter 1 of 2017/2018 which highlighted that it was predicted that the budget would be overspent by £1.4 million at the end of the year.  This was primarily as a result of expenditure pressures in children’s social care.  It was noted that the level of overspend could impact on the revenue budget for 2018/2019.

The Children’s Services Medium Term Financial Strategy was in place and was providing focus on the two main areas of expenditure – placements and staffing.  A reduction has been delivered on the staffing budget and spend on placements was currently projected to be lower compared with last year.  However, the reduction in spend in these areas was not as deep or as quick as envisaged in the Strategy, resulting in the projected overspend.

The Board had before it an update on the delivery of the Children’s Services Medium Term Financial Strategy as a separate agenda item (see Minute 23).

The Executive Lead for Children’s Services to provide an update on the progress against the Children’s Services Medium Tern Financial Strategy and Children’s Services Improvement Plan.

The Mayor and Executive Lead for Children’s Services to answer the Board’s questions.

The Board to consider making any comments and/or recommendations.

The Director of Children’s Services and the Executive Lead for Children’s Services presented the current position in relation to the Children’s Services Medium Term Financial Strategy and the Improvement Plan.  The latest monitoring letter from Ofsted was also before the Board.

A number of questions were raised around the actions being taken to stabilise the financial position in Children’s Services over the coming months.

In terms of the monitoring letter from Ofsted, the Board was disappointed with the findings especially in relation to the Council’s role as a corporate parent.  The Chief Executive explained to the Board that work was in progress to ensure that the Council’s collective responsibility was reflected across the organisation and within its policies.

The Executive Head – Business Services and Director of Economic Strategy & Performance (TDA) to provide an update on the progress of the Torbay Town Centres Regeneration Programme.

The Executive Lead for Business to answer Board’s questions.

The Board to consider making any comments, conclusions and/or recommendations to the Council.

This item was removed from the agenda.