Social Value Ideas for Comhairle nan Eilean Siar

Suspension of standing orders

The council considered suspending standing orders to enable debate on the fixed-link amendment but the motion did not pass; the decision to suspend stood at 19-7 against suspension, effectively ending…

“the motion to suspend standing orders falls by a vote of 19 to 7”

Declarations of interest

A member asked whether any declarations of interest were to be made; none were declared.

“I see no Declarations of interest”

MOOGs for SHIP

Commitment to circulate SHIP drafts to a wider membership and hold more MOOGs (Member Officer and other participants) for feedback before final submission.

“we'll hold two MOOGs between now and the end of October... circulate the draft to members”

Governance Code Update

Approval of the annual governance statement for 2020-2021 and continuation of the 2021-22 action plan, retaining themes of self-assessment, service redesign, and business continuity.

“This is the annual statutory declaration... the annual governance statement for 2020-2021 and the action plan for 2021-22 retains the themes of self-a…”

GDPR/objection data policy

Committee discussed whether personal details of letters of objection could be released. Legal advice under GDPR stated it would not be lawful to publish personal details; a COLA report would be needed…

“the information that was predicted was the legal advice and the only thing that we could add to that was it was in terms of gdpr that advice came to u…”

Budget Approved

Budget motion carried following roll-call vote; confirms budget decisions and amendments.

“The motion is carried.”

Budget 2021-22 deficit

The budget report recommends a deficit of 86,000 for 2021-22, with acknowledgment of ongoing risks from COVID-19 and the need to monitor challenges through the year while utilising government grants a…

“the draft budget ... is a deficit of just 86 000. now notwithstanding that there are significant risks ... we’re on a reasonable footing going into th…”

Budget & Tax Approved

Committee approved Item 1A budget and council tax for 2021/22, signifying formal consent to the proposed spending framework.

“approval of item one a budget and council tax as we indicated at the start happy to approve”

Overall budget overspend

Quarter 1 forecast shows an overall overspend of £788k, driven by health and social care (£938k) with some offset from other budget variances; pay award and NI levy uncertainties add further risk.

“"projected overspend of 788,000 pounds" and "overspend of 938,000 for health and social care" and "pay award... not yet agreed" and "the 1.25% increas…”

Winter maintenance overspend

Budget pressure identified with an estimated overspend for winter maintenance of £450,000–£500,000.

“we're currently looking at an over to estimate about 450 to 500 000”

School transport contract cost increase

Award of the school transport contract has increased annual costs by about £70k, adding pressure to the municipal services budget and potentially affecting service spend planning.

“the contract has been awarded for for your school transport and this has resulted in a cost increase of about 70k per annum”

LUF transport bid

Levelling Up Fund transport bid up to £50m with a requirement for match funding; if unsuccessful, the council may need to fund via the capital programme or prudential borrowing. The bid depends on ext…

“"a bid of up to 50 million that future funding round would require much funding of up to 5 million which realistically can only come from external sou…”