Contact: Jon Pittam, (01962) 847400; [email protected]

1 Summary

1.1 That the following decisions are sought:

(a) That £120,000 of the £150,000 identified in the approved budget be allocated from the contingency to County Treasurer's in 2008/09, on a recurring basis, to enable the service provision outlined in this report.

(b) That the actions outlined in the report to improve the take up of financial systems training need to be underpinned by the principle that access to corporate systems should be conditional on undertaking appropriate training.

(c) That progress in improving the take up of financial systems training be reviewed after twelve months, including giving consideration to extending the departmental levy to replace the corporate support proposed in Recommendation a, if the proposed approach has not been successful.

(d) That the balance of £30,000 remain in the contingency to be allocated by the Executive Member for Policy and Resources.

2 Reason

2.1 This pressure was identified in the 2008/09 Budget Report to Cabinet on 8 February 2008, and a working group was set up to review the position and risk assess the necessary training, with up to £150,000 identified that may be required from the £626,000 set aside for the Leader to release.

3 Other options considered and rejected

3.1 Other options considered and rejected were:

· to downsize the training team and not provide the required training, but which would result in risks of ineffective and inefficient use of systems and staff time

· to continue subsidising departments' training needs within the County Treasurer's budget, but which is not possible within existing cash limits.

4 Conflicts of interest declared by the decision maker or other Executive member consulted - None

5 Dispensation granted by the Standards Committee - None

6 Reason(s) for the matter being dealt with if urgent - None

Approved by: Date: 16 May 2008

Councillor T K Thornber CBE

Executive Member for Policy and Resources