Issue - meetings

This report presents the Council Operation Plan to the Panel for consideration and feedback as part of the Council’s operational planning and budget development process.

The Chair explained that both the Cabinet Member for Finance and Efficiency, Councillor Charles Gerrish and the Cabinet Member for Transformation and Customer Service Councillor Karen Warrington were present to answer questions from Panel members. The Chair also stressed the importance of the Panel focusing on items within their remit (pages 33-35).

The Strategic Director for Resources, Andrew Pate introduced the item and explained that other PDS Panels had scrutinized the items in their remits.

Councillor Warrington – Cabinet Member for Transformation and Customer Services introduced the key change proposals in her area (page 53)

Panel members made the following points and asked the following questions:

Councillor Furse asked about the consolidation of marketing and communications. The Cabinet Member explained that this is about rationalisation as sometimes there are slightly different ways of working.

Councillor Rayment asked about the consolidation of performance and intelligence functions and whether this will work considering the need for specialist knowledge in some areas. The Divisional Director for Strategy and Performance reassured the Panel that there will be the right balance of skills and generic approach.

Councillor Gerrish, Cabinet Member for Finance and Efficiency introduced the key change proposals in his area (page 59) with comments on the following:

·  Corporate Travel Plan – a pragmatic approach needed to improve the way staff to move around.

·  School Support – most schools are now academies

·  Traded Services – schools have been given notice that the Council will no longer provide school catering. There will be a saving for parents.

·  Commercial Estate Income – continue to generate income by seeking acquisitions along with diversification of the estate.

·  Corporate Estate & office accommodation – with the downsize in staffing, floors in Lewis House will be rented out.

·  Management Arrangements and staffing – some changes take effect from April.

·  Shared Services – moving further towards this, some services are already shared, for example with North Somerset for internal audit. There may be further opportunities in the future regarding Youth Offending Service and IT Services to Schools.

·  Digital by Choice – it is recognised that people must still be able to use traditional methods of communication if they wish to.

·  Property Company – (Councillor Gerrish stated that he is Chair of the property company ADL). He reported that the Council will continue to use ADL as a property company.

Panel members made the following points and asked the following questions:

Councillor Anketell Jones asked if there should be a target set in terms of retail holdings as there are market changes in this area and this could affect the Commercial Estate income. The Cabinet Member explained that rigid criteria has not been set but disposals will be made where appropriate.

Councillor Rayment asked about staffing which he noted is delegated to the Head of Paid Service. He stated that 300 FTE staff are going and the report states that front line services will be protected – he asked if this was the end of the democratic process on this saving. The Cabinet  ...  view the full minutes text for item 54

This report presents the Council’s Operational Plan to the Panel for consideration and feedback as part of the Council’s operational planning and budget development process.

Councillor Liz Hardman commented that while understanding the pressure on budgets, there doesn’t appear to be any evidence of additional funding to deliver particular services.  For example, in respect of the Virtual School it says it will have increased responsibilities due to the Children and Social Care Act. Similarly, there is a proposal to set up a B&NES School Standards Board yet the Operational Plan does not indicate that additional resources will be available to support these areas. She asked how growth pressures in the Children and Young People budget are to be met.

The Divisional Director for Safeguarding & Social Care replied that two specific budget areas were due to receive an increase, namely the Looked After Children placement budget and SEND. He added that these were welcome and very positive moves to put the needs of vulnerable children first.

Councillor Paul May commented that although there will be political decisions ahead to be made he felt that the reductions planned would not cause the service significant harm.

The Head of Education Transformation said that the Virtual Head role had increased from its original role of three to four days a week and that there was scope assigned for an additional day due to increased responsibilities of the Children and Social Care Act. She added that some Local Authorities have used Pupil Premium Plus to support this function, B&NES has not as it believes these funds should be used entirely to improve provision and outcomes for looked after children.

Kevin Burnett asked if the Government were aware of the resources required of the Act and had the Council given them a response.

Councillor Charles Gerrish, Cabinet Member for Finance & Efficiency replied that they are aware and that the Council has written to the Government. He added that a reply from Government had not been received.

Kevin Burnett asked what the additional SEND budget would be used for.

The Divisional Director for Safeguarding & Social Care replied that the numbers of pupils with SEND were increasing and this money would improve resources within schools and look to lessen the number of young people that receive provision outside of B&NES. He added that the decision will support an increase of 107 new school and college places for pupils with SEND.

Councillor Paul May added that the decision will also hopefully reduce the impact on young people and their families as well as the costs involved for provision outside of B&NES. He acknowledged that the Council has three good local providers and that at some point a business plan would be brought forward to increase this further.

Kevin Burnett stated that he felt that supportive services are not in place to prevent escalations and that cuts to Educational Psychologists and school support staff will result in a lack of cohesion.

Councillor Lisa O’Brien commented that she was aware of the excellent work of Three Ways Academy. She asked if the three current SEND Academies within B&NES were eligible to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 58

This report presents the Council’s Operational Plan to the Select Committee for consideration and feedback as part of the Council’s operational planning and budget development process.

The Director for Integrated Health & Care Commissioning introduced this item to the Select Committee. She spoke of the fast-changing social and economic landscape that we are seeing means increased demand for services and growing expectations of the Council at a time when there’s less money and fewer resources to help. She added that all Councils in the country are facing similar pressures, particularly if they deliver social care.

She stated that the Council has invested in and improved the efficiency and effectiveness of social care services for adults and young people and that in the future we will continue to prioritise caring for our most vulnerable residents.

She stated however, it was important to understand the impact of rising costs and growing demand in this area. She informed them that social care services already account for almost 75 pence out of every pound we spend and that by next year (2018/19) we forecast that this will rise to 80 pence in every pound (net). She added that prioritising these services means that all of our other services need to be funded from what’s left - requiring some really tough decisions on where our money is best spent.

She set out some of the reasons for the rising costs of care.

·  More people are living longer with complex conditions

·  More children and young people are living with complex care and educational needs – an individual care package can cost up to £250,000

·  Recent care home closures have pushed up local costs

·  The national living wage is rising faster than inflation, which has a big impact on highly staffed services such as social care

·  We have more responsibility for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). The number of SEND statements rose from 692 to 1062 between 2014-2017

She said that the increasing demand for services – particularly social care, but also in other areas – is placing unprecedented pressure on the Council. She explained that there are areas where individuals and communities can help to manage demand in the future and make our money go further.

·  Working Together - Increased collaboration between the Council and local communities, parish councils, partners and voluntary organisations will become increasingly important.

·  Staying well - Looking after your health by exercising and eating well increases your chances of staying well for longer – reducing the pressure on care services in the future. Together with our health partners we are delivering a lot of programmes to help.

She addressed the key changes that the Council is proposing, explaining

the plan doesn’t intend to capture every activity that the Council carries out, but focuses on the key changes over the coming years and highlights key projects that will help achieve our vision for the future.

The Chair asked how many beds had been lost due to the recent care home closures.

The Director for Integrated Health & Care Commissioning replied that over the past 12 – 18 months approximately 110 beds have been lost. She added that there  ...  view the full minutes text for item 69

This report presents the Council’s Operational Plan to the Panel for consideration and feedback as part of the Council’s operational planning and budget development process.

The Chair explained the aspects of the plan that were within the remit of the Panel. He explained that the Strategic Director for Place, Louise Fradd and Divisional Director for Environmental Services, Martin Shields were present to answer questions.

Panel members asked the following questions and made the following points:

Regarding ‘Transport Planning’ (page 99, Appendix 1) Councillor Bull asked that if reliance on consultants is reduced, is there capacity within existing staff to carry out the work. The Divisional Director explained that, following a restructuring across the Highways Team, there are now staff who can do the work that had been done by consultants.

Councillor Butters asked (regarding ‘Parking and Transport’) if customers would be able to pay directly by card under the new proposal or will they have to download an App. The Divisional Director explained that the plan was to reduce payment by card (and the additional transaction fee). The Strategic Director explained that other areas use this model and there will be a phased approach. The Divisional Director explained that with the App customers can adjust their stay period.

Councillor Bull asked (regarding ‘Transport and Parking Services Review’) if the £707k saving had been made as a result of the parking review. The Strategic Director explained that this had already been agreed as part of the previous budget process but at this time the parking review was still under consideration. However there had already been additional income from parking charges, particularly around the Christmas period and it was felt that the income target was realistic and may even be exceeded.

Councillor Bull asked (regarding ‘Transport – moving people from A to B) if the proposals result in changes to eligibility for transport and asked if future service users will be disadvantaged by the proposal. The Strategic Director explained that the review has been ongoing and savings are now coming. She added that personalised budgets have had a positive impact on costs and discussions are ongoing with local dial a ride groups. In addition she added that the programme of safe routes to school would further reduce the need for transport to be provided and that the Council was looking at how it could use its vehicles to move patients to and from hospital more cost efficiently.

Regarding ‘Waste and Parks’ Councillor Turner asked if Parks Groups are aware of the service review. The Divisional Director explained that the service will be looking to work with friends of groups and any other partners who can contribute and that the service will become more commercial in the way it does business with fee paying customers.

Councillor Bull asked (regarding ‘Refuse Collection’) if it is anticipated that there will be resistance to reducing garden waste collections in winter months as people pay for this service. The Strategic Director explained that the reduction in collections during winter months (when there is less garden waste) was preferable to increasing the fees.

Regarding ‘Modern Libraries and Customer Services Review’ Councillor Bull asked  ...  view the full minutes text for item 67

This report presents the Council’s Operational Plan to the Panel for consideration and feedback as part of the Council’s operational planning and budget development process.

The Strategic Director for Place introduced this item to the Panel. She explained that the plan has a 2 year focus, aligned with the budget planning process, although it does reference the Council’s longer term (years 3 – 5) direction of travel.

She said that the plan was structured by Cabinet Portfolios in line with the budget structure and identifies the key changes in service delivery over 2018-19 and 2019-20 where appropriate. She added that it also outlines the individual budget proposals.

She stated that the plan contains a greater level of detail for the coming year and that the detail for the following years will continue to develop as Council policy evolves and the plan will be updated annually.

She informed them that this edition of the plan would be considered by all Policy Development and Scrutiny Panels in January 2018, having been developed on behalf of the Cabinet, and will inform the 2018/19 budget setting process.

She said that in 2015 the Council started a rigorous review of spending aimed at cutting waste and increasing efficiency. We’ve also been growing our income opportunities by investing in property, housing and the economy and capitalising on Bath’s heritage and tourism assets - activities that will become even more important in the coming years.

She stated that since 2016 we have saved £27 million primarily through re-designing services, social care efficiencies, reducing our estate, and improving our technology and capital financing arrangements. She added that this work has had minimal impact on front line services, and we continue to be regarded as a good authority by independent inspectors. In addition to the £27 million already saved to 2018, we have committed further savings of £15 million to 2020.

She spoke of the Council’s good track record of winning bids for Government grants that attract investment into the area and raise money which help to fund projects that people care about. She added that the decision to support an elected regional Mayor for the West of England and become part of the West of England Combined Authority (WECA) with South Gloucestershire and Bristol Council means that we are benefiting from a share of £1 billion investment in adult skills development and transport infrastructure, including major roads and rail networks, as well as cycling and walking routes.

She addressed the key changes that the Council is proposing, explaining

the plan doesn’t intend to capture every activity that the Council carries out, but focuses on the key changes over the coming years and highlights key projects that will help achieve our vision for the future.

Councillor Barry Macrae advised a note of caution relating to Digital by Choice and the members of the public that do not regularly use IT.

Councillor Lisa O’Brien asked if the Council’s work regarding further education and employment dovetailed with that of WECA.

The Strategic Director for Place replied that the Council was working with WECA regarding the skills agenda.

Councillor Rob Appleyard asked if the pension deficit in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 43