Agenda item

The Panel will be looking at the proposed savings and income proposals within its remit. The full Draft Budget Proposals 2024/2025 will be considered by the Corporate PDS Panel on 23rd January.

Councillor Paul May, Cabinet Member for Children’s Services introduced this report to the Panel. He said that he had listened carefully to the statements that had been made and that the Council does value the work carried out by the 3^rd sector.

He explained that the timing of any changes would be key and that the public consultation on these proposals closes today prior to further discussion at meetings of the Cabinet (8^th February) and Council (20^th February).

He stated that B&NES had, in his view, been given a poor local government settlement and that the Council is still required to provide a balanced budget.

He said that significant growth was planned across the services; £5.6m within Children’s Services and £2.3m within Adult Social Care.

He added that there is a proposal to use £200,000 from the ring-fenced Public Health Grant across other services providing Public Health activities.

He stated that £9.4m of Capital Schemes are being proposed across both Children and Adult Services with £4m outlined for a SEND Residential School and £5m service supported borrowing for further Supported Living for Adults.

Councillor Alison Born, Cabinet Member for Adult Services addressed the Panel. She said that she believed that the Council has a good track record for enabling savings to be made.

She stated that demand for services across the Council has increased substantially, particularly within Home to School Transport.

She explained that they had not yet had confirmation of the Public Health Grant, but that in previous years this had been around £10m.

She said that the proposed reduction in non-statutory spend was likely to impact our local 3rd sector partners and the area of housing support the most. She added that the Council values the work of the 3^rd sector immensely and that it will listen and engage with those that are likely to be affected.

The Director of Children & Education addressed the Panel. She echoed the comments made by the Cabinet Members about a significant increase in demand for their services.

She explained that there has been a 30% increase in children and young people that have SEND and this has required a proposal for additional staff at a cost of £90,000.

She stated that continued pressure is being seen in the area of Home to School Transport and that due to increased demand in routes, inflation costs and a lack of suppliers they are seeking a further £1.76m within the budget.

She said that contractual inflation from our residential and specialist providers has resulted in a proposal for a further £941,000 in this regard.

She said that an increase in demand across Children in Care, Child Protection, Looked After Children, Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children and other service users has led to a proposal for an additional £2.786m.

She stated that the overall total growth within Children’s Services was expected to be £6.879m.

The Director of Adult Services addressed the Panel. She explained that the savings required across the service were £2.1m, which includes the £802,000 for Community Support Services. She stated that they value the work of the 3^rd sector greatly and continue to support housing grants unlike many other Local Authorities.

She explained that it has been a hard-fought budget to develop this year considering that the services provided by HCRG are coming back in house in April 2024.

She said that the savings were anticipated to be achieved by the way services are commissioned through changes to our commissioning structure, how packages of care are allocated and the funding of the Community Resource Centres.

The Director of Public Health & Prevention addressed the Panel. She explained that the Public Health Grant has normally increased slightly each year and that as previously mentioned it was anticipated to be around £10m for this coming year.

She stated that the grant would be used to facilitate a number of work areas, including Sexual Health Services, Health Visiting, School Nursing, Drug & Alcohol awareness, Stop Smoking Services, Healthy Weight Services and NHS Health Checks.

She said that as with other departments there was a growing demand for services and they will seek to continue the good work they have in place with the local providers.

She explained that the detail of the proposed movement of £200,000 from the grant by reducing health improvement project work and preventative measures had yet to be agreed.

She concluded by informing the Panel that a proposal reprocure leisure services at Royal Victoria Park has been submitted, which if successful could benefit the Council by £10,000.

Councillor Robin Moss commented that this was not an easy budget to discuss in the context of the possibility of 1 in 5 councils now at risk of going bankrupt. He said that he disagreed with the comment that the Council has a good track record of delivering its budget as he was aware of big overspends that were currently in place.

He criticised the report for its lack of detail on the proposed savings and said that squeezing these budgets would only lead to further problems down the road.

He questioned whether capital could be used to spend to save over the next 4 - 5 years to assess potential impact.

He suggested that rather than a 21% cut being made, this was an opportunity to rebase the budgets and increase investment to the 3^rd sector.

He questioned whether it was appropriate to propose moving £200,000 from the ring-fenced Public Health Grant and asked would this jeopardise the Council receiving the grant.

The Director of Public Health & Prevention replied that she was confident that this proposal would be acceptable and said that consultation on the decision was still ongoing.

The Director of Children & Education said that in year savings have been achieved in the past two years by completing successful transformation programmes within Children’s Services. She added that detailed Equalities Impact Assessments have been carried in connection with the proposed £1.26m savings.

She added that a saving of £500,000 was being proposed through a commissioning review and their packages of support.

She explained that they were looking to increase the provision of in-house Foster Carers and Supported Lodgings Providers locally to reduce the need for residential placements.

She said that the £300,000 saving with regard to non-statutory services was only a proposal at this stage and that the detail would need to be worked through with our 3^rd sector providers.

Councillor Moss asked that any additional information on the budget proposals be shared with Councillors ahead of the Corporate Scrutiny Panel on 23^rd January.

Kevin Burnett said that all were aware of how difficult a time this is for councils currently, but suggested that prevention work should be retained as much as possible as he believed this would save more in the long term.

He asked if any of the proposed cuts were new or a continuation of a plan already in place.

He asked if the involvement of the ICB has been fully explored in terms of the proposals that have been made in the budget.

He asked what more could be done to alleviate the rising costs associated with Home to School Transport.

The Director of Adult Services replied that they have worked closely with the ICB on these savings plans and how they might be implemented if approved. She added that the proposed savings regarding Community Resource Centres were new and that the detail and the outcomes of the consultation will be shared with the Panel and Cabinet next month.

She added that the review of care packages was an ongoing piece of work and that the review of the commissioning structure was a new proposal being considered.

Councillor Paul May said that they are in discussion with the Cabinet Member for Resources and those organisations within the 3^rd sector so that a review of services can be effectively carried out.

Councillor Alison Born explained that discussions were also ongoing as to whether any savings targets could be achieved over a longer period of time. She added that they want to limit the suffering as much as possible and do understand the consequences of their proposals.

Councillor Joanna Wright said that she understands that the Council needs to produce a balanced budget, but there was not enough detail within the papers to allow the Panel to have a proper discussion.

She thanked the 3^rd sector organisations for highlighting the areas of concern and said that in future the Panel should be allowed to send the report back if they deemed it not adequate enough.

The Director of Adult Services replied that the same report had been issued to all three Policy Development & Scrutiny Panels and that they would take the comments made on board to see if there was a different way for the information to be supplied in future years.

Councillor Liz Hardman said that she agreed with the comments already made that this was a difficult report to analyse because of the small amount of detail within it. She stated that she was concerned about the proposal to remove £802,000 from the Community Support Contracts.

She asked if the proposed new SEND Free School would allow any savings to be made from children and young people not having to travel so far for their placements.

She said that she hoped the review of Home to School Transport would lead to some savings being achieved and suggested that the Cabinet Member and officers look at how this is carried out across WECA, the use of Dial-a-Ride vehicles and taxis.

The Director of Children & Education replied that she shares the cost concerns and said that a huge amount of work had been carried out on this matter over the past two years. She said that they have considered whether they have their own fleet of vehicles and how routes are organised in great detail.

She added that the main source of costs is linked to our children and young people with SEND who need to travel within B&NES and outside of it to access their daily provision. She said that they have been successful in gaining £4m in capital funding for a new residential provision which will hopefully be in place in 2 – 3 years’ time and at that point they would be looking for a reduction in this budget area.

The Director of Adult Services said that a strategic review of Community Services was due to take place next year and that they would work with the 3^rd sector to deliver the best service possible.

Kate Morton, CEO Bath Mind asked if the no inflation to 3^rd sector contracts for the past seven years had been taken into account as part of this process and called for an assurance that the organisations involved in this work would be a part of the discussions to attempt to provide appropriate solutions.

The Director of Adult Services replied that she was aware of that issue and that a strategic approach will be needed from all parties to form future plans.

The Head of Housing said that officers are aware of how much these potential decisions will affect the organisations involved and that when a decision has been made on the budget they will engage further as to how the savings can best be made.

Councillor Paul Crossley asked how confident they were in being able to keep the pay inflation estimate at 5% when it is currently tracking at an average of 6.4%.

The Director of Children & Education replied that it had been kept at 3% over the past year and so it was hoped that this increase would be achievable.

The Director of Adult Services added that in terms of Domiciliary Care the Council were seen as good payers and that 5% was a level that would doable.

Councillor Crossley referred to Annex 3 and the proposed £20m to be spent over the next five years on supported housing and temporary accommodation and asked how many homes could be expected from this initiative and what type of units would they be.

The Director of Adult Services replied that in terms of Adult Services this was an exciting proposal as they would be able to assist more working age adults with disabilities to be able to live in supported accommodation with 24-hour support. She added that two projects were nearing completion that would see 22 extra units becoming available.

She added that they would also be looking to provide accommodation to those young people who are coming out of care to be able to let them remain in the local area.

Councillor Alison Born added that this has been a priority of the service to reduce out of area placements, enable people to live in their known localities and to make savings into the future.

Councillor Robin Moss reiterated his point about receiving more detail in these reports and the fact that the Labour Group have not been able to support the last four Liberal Democrat budgets because of that lack of detail.

He said that he appreciated that officers were doing their upmost to protect the most vulnerable within B&NES.

He stated that a large number of Local Governments are in crisis and that Health and Social Care had been neglected by central Government for at least a decade.

Councillor Paul May said that he felt the Council worked well across all of its services and with its partners and will engage further with them as requested once a decision on the budget has been made. He stated that it has been a difficult budget to set.

Jack Bailey, Curo called for openness and transparency to be maintained through this process and said that the passion was evident from all organisations on the need to find workable solutions.

Kevin Burnett referred to the Safety Valve programme and asked if any leverage can be gained from the LGA or other bodies to support a longer-term view on the impact on these savings proposals just to provide a balanced budget.

Councillor May replied that there is an intention to provide the Panel with a future report giving more detail of the Safety Valve programme. He added that there was potential for up to £19m of incoming funding, but that this would need to be used within specific timescales.

Councillor Wright asked if investment in the capital programme was sufficient to enable the Council to deliver services in a better way in the future.

The Director of Children & Education replied that the funding associated with a potential new Special School could lead to a reduction in spend in future years.

Councillor Alison Born added that the proposals relating to the Community Resource Centres would see those facilities being used in the best way possible.

Councillor Dave Harding asked if there were plans to use Council reserves as part of this budget setting process.

Councillor Alison Born replied that there were ongoing discussions relating to the budget and any potential use of reserves. She added that there was a need to have the right levels in place to protect the Council into the future.

The Chair summarised the discussion and began by noting that all were concerned at the level of detail that had been provided and the potential consequences of the savings proposals.

She stated that there was a real concern that cuts to preventative services will cost the Council more in the longer-term.

She said that savings within these services was the wrong place for the burden to fall for Local Authorities and that it should be addressed appropriately at a national level.

The Panel RESOLVED to recommend to the Cabinet that these proposed savings are delayed, as far as possible, until a better understanding can be provided.