Agenda item

Medium Term Financial Plan and Budget 2015 to 2017

Report of the Chief Executive and Head of Corporate Finance and ICT

Minutes:

The Council considered the joint report of the Chief Executive and the Head ofCorporate Finance and ICT which:

· provided an update on the Council’s financial position for 2015/16 and 2016/17 following the Local Government Finance Provisional Settlement 2015/16

· set the financial position in the context of the Council’s priorities

· described the process undertaken to deliver a programme of savings options that reflected the need to produce a balanced budget alongside the objective of minimising the impact of the cuts on Sefton communities

· provided the Council with savings options that would contribute to the forecast budget gap for the next two years

· outlined the gap remaining and the timetable for producing a balanced two year budget plan.

The report indicated that since 2011, the Council had faced unprecedented reductions in its resources as a result of cuts in Government Funding. In the preceding 4 years, cuts of £114 million had been identified and implemented. The Council had now received confirmation of the level of Government funding it would receive in 2015/16 and this had confirmed that for the period 2015/16 to 2016/17, further savings of £55 million would need to be identified. This represented a real term reduction of 45% on the 2011 spending level.

Detailed on-going work had sought to identify budget reductions that would meet the two year savings requirement. This process had involved detailed risk assessments, relative prioritisation and the impact on our communities. The process was agreed by Cabinet in November 2014.

Reductions of this level had and would continue to have a significant impact on Council services and outcomes for Sefton communities. It was therefore important that the Council’s remaining resources were spent in areas of highest priority that minimised the negative impact on communities. However it was also important to stress that it would be impossible to deliver savings of this magnitude without reducing levels of service across the range of Council activities. This included those services commissioned with public, private, voluntary, community and faith partners to deliver support to our communities.

It was moved by Councillor P. Dowd, seconded by Councillor Maher:

“That the recommendations set out in the report be approved.”

Following the debate, the requisite number of Members having signified their wish that the voting on the Motion should be recorded in accordance with Rule 92 of Chapter 4 in the Council Constitution, the voting was duly recorded and the Members of the Council present at the time, voted as follows:

FOR THE MOTION:

Councillors Atkinson, Veronica Bennett, Bradshaw, Brennan, Burns, Byrom, Carr, Crabtree, Cummins, Dams, P. Dowd, Fairclough, Friel, Gatherer, Grace, John Kelly, John Joseph Kelly, Kermode, Kerrigan, Killen, Lappin, P. Maguire, Maher, Mahon, McGinnity, McKinley, Moncur, Murphy, O’Brien, Owens, Page, Roberts, Roche, Thompson,Tweed, Veidman, Webster and the Mayor (Councillor Cluskey).

AGAINST THE MOTION:

Councillors Ball, David Barton, Booth, Brodie-Browne, Cuthbertson, Dawson, Dodd, Dutton, Lord Fearn, Maureen Fearn, Hartill, Keith, Lewis, S. McGuire, Preece, Robertson and Welsh.

ABSTENTION;

Councillor Maria Bennett

The Mayor declared that the Motion was carriedby 38 votes to 17 with 1 abstention and it was

RESOLVED: That:

(1) the approach to identifying options including the Core Purpose as given in paragraph 2.2 and the Budget Principles as given in paragraph 4.2 of the report and endorsed by Cabinet on 27 November 2014 be noted;

(2) the update of the Local Government Finance Provisional Settlement 2015/16 and the updated Medium Term Financial Plan as outlined in paragraph 3 of the report be noted;

(3) the work programme timetable in Annex A of the report be noted;

(4) the budget process undertaken by officers to date as set out in paragraph 4 of the report and the process that officers would be undertaking to conclude the budget plan for the next two financial years, as agreed by Cabinet on 27 November 2014 be noted;

(5) it be noted that the following items approved by Cabinet on 27 November 2014 and identified in Annex C1 of the report as efficiencies within the existing policy and budget framework were being implemented immediately by officers:

Ref	Service Area	Efficiency	Proposed Budget Net Reduction £000
1	Registration Service	Increased income as result of increased service activity	54
2	Community Equipment	Improved efficiency	72
3	Burials and Cremations Service	Increased income as result of increased service activity	390
4	Catering Services	Increased income as result of increased service activity	66
5	Commercial Waste Skips Services	Increased income as result of increased service activity	45
6	Coroners	Shared service agreed cost reduction due to completion of mortuary	24
7	Commissioning	Decrease in non-staffing expenditure	36
8	Sefton Care Line and Sefton Securities	Increased income as result of increased service activity	238
9	Home Improvements DFG	Re-profiling the allocation of costs and increasing the level of recharges	10
10	SEN 0-4 Inclusion Funding	Improved efficiency	12
11	Procurement	Reduction in non-staffing expenditure	16
12	Members Allowances	Reduce the budget provision for Members Allowances –as agreed by the Council on 5 July 2012	35
13	Learning Support - LAC	Reduction in the LA budget	10
14	Complementary Education	Removal of vacant posts from the establishment	51
15	Education Psychology	Spend to be directed to DSG High Needs Funding	25
16	SEN Assessments & Monitoring	Spend to be directed to DSG High Needs Funding	36
17	DCATCH	The scheme has already closed to new pupils, saving reflects cohorts of pupils completing the programme	30
18	LEA playing fields maintenance	Improved efficiency in maintenance scheme	52
19	Finance	Reduced debt management charges	390
20	Health Protection and Infection Control	Efficiency following re-procurement of service	52
21	Civic Services	Civic Services (Attendants) – Voluntary Redundancy	20
22	Tourism	Revised estimate following policy decision	27
23	Trading Standards	Deletion of vacant post and reduction in supplies / services	114
24	Democratic Services	Voluntary reduction in support staff hours	14
25	General inflation provision	Remove general inflation provision set in MTFP at 2%. This will require all services to deliver general efficiency in the delivery of all services	4,360
26	Additional public health grant	Utilise increase in the public health grant to support the ongoing delivery of the Council’s Health and Well Being strategy priorities	544
27	Levies	Merseyside Waste and Recycling Authority and the Integrated Mersey Transport Authority have been requested to support the Council by finding 10% efficiency savings in setting their budgets for 2015/16/17	3,700
28	Review of previous budget assumptions and implications of previous budget decision	The estimates of the financial implications of all budget decisions have been reviewed in the light of implementation of options and subsequent changes in service demand. The original Medium Term Financial Plan can be revised to take account of this updated information.	1,841
28b	Reduced accommodation costs	Lease on Hoghton Street	76
29	Adult Social Care	Social care services will be required to contain net demographic growth within existing budgets for the duration of the plan. The figure has been adjusted to reflect Cabinet’s previous decision relating to the underachievement of the services 2014/15 budget savings requirement. This assumption will need to be kept under close scrutiny to ensure deliverability	3,000
		Total Efficiency Savings	15.340

(6) it be noted that the Equality Impact Assessment information provided, latest recorded position with respect to consultation, the identified risks and mitigating actions and information, and the impact on the community service users, partners and the Council for each individual proposal in Annex C2 of the report had been taken into account and officers be authorised to take necessary steps to progress the proposals;

(7) the following proposals contained in Annex C2 of the report be approved:

Most Vulnerable

Ref	Service Area	Change Proposal	2014/15 Budget £000	Proposed Budget Reduction £000
30	Children With Disability Service	Continue with the development of, and implement, new eligibility criteria	3,500	315
31	Domiciliary Care	Further explore the use of adaptations, equipment and Assistive Technology Reduce the number of hours, number of calls, or number of carers utilised, where this is appropriate Work in partnership with the voluntary/community sector to facilitate the development and utilisation of low-level alternative/preventative community services Explore more outcome-focused commissioning	5,322	1,560
Total				1,875

Core

Ref	Service Area	Change Proposal	2014/15 Budget £000	Proposed Budget Reduction £000
32	Street Cleansing	Further expand the use of electric vehicles and reduce the number of cleansing operatives delivering a manual service	3,670	360
33	Highways Infrastructure	To continue for a further 2 years the reduction of £800k which was introduced as an annual saving in previous years	6,672	800
33	Highways Infrastructure	Reduction in Highways Maintenance programmes to focus on preventative, critical and high risk works	6,672	160
34	Street Lighting Energy	Invest to save in lighting columns and bulbs to allow reduced hours of lighting	1,180	530
35	Libraries	Review of operation and management of libraries including bookfund and opening times	1,901	270
Total				2,120

Community Resilience

Ref	Service Area	Change Proposal	2014/15 Budget £000	Proposed Budget Reduction £000
36	Aiming High	Continue with the development of, and implement, new eligibility criteria Review and potential cessation of funding for some activities	1,360	400
37	Housing Standards	Reduction in housing enforcement services including cessation of corporate illegal traveller sites co-ordination	450	60
38	Supported Living	Alternative and more efficient ways of meeting assessed care needs	18,435	1,800
39	Neighbourhoods	Reduction and re-prioritisation of activity	778	150
Total				2,410

Economy & Environment

Ref	Service Area	Change Proposal	2014/15 Budget £000	Proposed Budget Reduction £000
40	Planning	Realign and reduce revenue budgets – including consultancy budgets	958	72
41	Planning	Increase in income across parts of the service Development Management, Building Control, and Technical Support [land charges] in light of economic forecast	958	130
42	Trading Standards	General reduction in enforcement activity. Limit resident service request response	480	55
43	EEMS (Energy and Environment)	Reduction in Carbon reduction service and community energy service	384	84
44	Parks Maintenance	Botanic Gardens shop Closure	2,903 (Parks Maintenance Budget)	45
45		Increase allotment fees by an average of £10 per full size plot in 2016/17 and again in 2017/18. Rates per full size plot will increase to £96 by 2017/18		20
46		The recharging of the cost of statutory checks to sports pavilions and repairs and maintenance of sports pavilions and associated hard infrastructure to sports users		15
47		Further Changes in Style and Standards of Parks Management		144
48		Reduction in GM Contracts		60
49	Coast	Reduction to visitor and site management activities. Extension to the length of the life guard contract on reduced terms. Car-parking income charges	878	150
Total				775

Health & Wellbeing

Ref	Service Area	Change Proposal	2014/15 Budget £000	Proposed Budget Reduction £000
50	Environmental Health	Reduction in front line environmental health regulatory services. Reduction in pest control services but retain full rat control service	1,812	370
51	School Health	Re-specify/recommission the Healthy Child programme for the whole 0-19 age range	1,388	260
52	Yet to be determined			0
53	Sports Leisure	Review and Restructure Management/Administration/ Operations including deletion of Service Manager post Re-tender direct debit collection Reduce agency payments Energy efficiency	1,044	470
Total				1,100

Running the Council

Ref	Service Area	Change Proposal	2014/15 Budget £000	Proposed Budget Reduction £000 £000 Budget Reduction £0
54	Adult Assessments	An end to end review of assessment and review policies, procedures and processes within Adult Social Care	7,580	300
55	Client Contribution	Restructuring and integrating the above service with the specialist Substance Misuse Housing and Welfare Rights Team	586	54
56	Commissioning	Reduction of the Commissioning Service staffing	Budget within Most Vulnerable	144
57	Attendance Welfare Service	Improved administration of legal procedures. Reduced eligibility for service interventions. Increase income	473	192
58	Youth Offending Team	Merge services and potential to reduce management capacity	661	120
59	Outreach Respite Recovery	Restructure the delivery team	635	96
60	Locality Assessment	Redesign of Common Assessment Framework team Implement a stronger Lead Practitioner model Implementation of electronic –common assessment framework (E-CAF)	299	132
61	School Standards and Effectiveness	Reduction in the Local Authority support provided to schools which are not in receipt of statutory intervention, requiring improvement or are assessed at risk of being less than good	530	60
62	Schools Regulatory Services	An end to end review of activity, policies, procedures and processes	449	60
63	14-19 Services	Changes to commissioning arrangements for Information, Advice & Guidance	938	120
64	Children's administrative support	Service redesign	167	63
65	Highway management, development, design and safety.	Changes to charges Service reorganisations	1,135	300
66	Parking	Review of service and charging regimes	-1,524	547
67	Property Management	Closure and disposal of operational properties	1,052	60
68	FCERM (Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management)	Reduction in service Reduced response times Reduction in works delivery	362	82
69	Regulatory Services Support	Reduction in administrative support due to changes in working practices and increase to online services	219	24
70	Public Conveniences	Closure of all public conveniences	74	74
71	Bulky Items	Increasing collection charge from £7.50 to £10 per collection	48	48
72	Arts	Review management and opening times at the Atkinson	1,417	240
73	Sports Leisure- Active Sports	Increase in income due to increased charges and new programmes	0	84
74	Sports Leisure Aquatics	Maximise pool time at Meadows offering more swimming lessons to meet demand	-234	36
75	Public Health	Internal restructure to reflect the need to strengthen the influencing role of the team and reduced need for commissioning capacity	822	416
76	Corporate Communications Team	Deletion of vacant posts and Team restructure	400	204
77	Transformation	Reduction of Transformation resource	204	75
78	Legal Services	Restructure of the legal management department Removal of the Monitoring Officer's budget	914	134
79	Finance & ICT Services	Restructuring Finance and ICT services after implementation of new financial system in 2015 Reduce ICT, printing and telephone costs in line with general Council reductions	2,812 552	500 190
80	Learning & Development	Reduction in activity associated with learning and development	623	188
81	Personnel	Reduction in Personnel resource and efficiency savings	1,600	100
86	Business Intelligence & Performance	Restructure	1,077	360
87	Public Health	Reduction in funding for commissioned intelligence work		50
88	Catering	To increase the charge for each meal by 10p in September 2015 (start of the school term) and by a further 10p from September 2016		450
89	Building Cleaning	To increase fees and charges to schools		70
90	Commercial Waste	To increase fees and charges		10
91	Tourism	Additional income from events		13
Total				5,596

Community Resilience

Ref

Service Area

Change Proposal

2014/15 Budget

£000

Proposed Budget Reduction

£000

Housing Related Support

Further decommissioning and re-commissioning of funded services in accordance with the approved Commissioning Intentions and Priorities

2,169

900

Total

900

Health & Wellbeing

Ref	Service Area	Change Proposal	2014/15 Budget £000	Proposed Budget Reduction £000
83	Integrated Wellness	Integration of Lifestyle services	5,349	3,049
84	Substance Misuse	Reduction in Substance Misuse spend	6,031	740
85	Affordable Warmth	Cessation of SEARCH scheme and Easier Breathing Project	54	54
Total				3,843
TOTAL				18, 619

(8) it be noted that officers would comply with Human Resource policies and procedures and this will include regular HR monitoring reports to the Cabinet Member – Corporate Services and Performance;

(9) it be noted that figures in the annex of the report were working assumptions of proposals to be considered and the figures should not be seen as predetermining any decisions; and

(10) it be noted that further options were being developed and assessed and a further report would be presented to Cabinet for consideration in February 2015 and the Council in March 2015.

Supporting documents:

Council report January 2015 - Budget Report 2015 2016 (final)j, item 69. PDF 898 KB