Agenda item

Councillor Ruth Malloy addressed the Panel, a summary of her statement is set out below.

‘Having only recently formally joined the B&NES Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education (SACRE), I’m not really in a position to comment about the work of SACRE during the period from September 2024 to August 2025, which this SACRE Annual Report covers. However, it's a very thorough and well-written report, compiled by our Adviser Rebekah Guy, and I commend it to you!

When invited to join the SACRE, I was initially unsure about it, as I'm not aligned to any particular religion. However, I then decided this could be something positive: to be curious and seek that which all faiths have in common. I’ve now also joined the Bath Inter-Faith Group, which I think complements the activities of the SACRE very well, by raising awareness locally about different faith communities.

I look forward to working with Cllr. Eleanor Jackson, Kevin Burnett and the other members of the SACRE in the coming year, especially on developing the Agreed Syllabus, which is currently undergoing a review. The Government's recent decision to include Religious Education in the National Curriculum will also be an interesting development to follow and contribute to.’

Becky Somerset, Director,3SG addressed the Panel, a summary of her statement is set out below.

‘I am speaking today on behalf of the Third Sector in B&NES, representing 3SG’s membership network of 260 charities.

I wanted to make members aware of the most recent Council Budget for 26/27, which has referred to £250,000 worth of savings to be made from Contract Management - Delivering Greater Value.

It is expected that a list of the Council’s largest contracts will be drawn up to see how these savings could be made. We hope this list would primarily focus on multi-million pound contracts via Waste and Highways, but I must flag that there are larger contracts that go to the Third Sector, the further down the list you go.

Whilst I have been separately assured by both the new Chief Executive of the Council and the Director of Resources that charity contracts will not be touched, I want to keep the risk associated with cuts of any kind at the forefront of members’ minds. Many of our contracts have historically been run with zero or very little uplift, with services running at a loss to the charities delivering them. This is completely unsustainable.

The NHS 10 year plan and the ICB’s focus on preventative care in communities mean that investment needs to be made in these services. Cost cutting exercises, no matter how small, could mean closure for some services that are really struggling to deliver with dwindling resources and eventual increased costs to the Council in order to meet statutory responsibilities.

For too long, the Third Sector has been expected to find a way. Our options are dwindling - there is less funding available and competition is greater than ever before. This downward spiral cannot and must not continue because our residents will suffer if services close.

I have asked to be kept informed as this list develops, because I fear that if larger contract renegotiations fail, the Third Sector will be an easy target. I would call for more open, transparent budget setting in future, with the Sector consulted on any changes that might affect them. 

Contracts that could be affected are services for our most vulnerable residents, including domestic abuse survivors, children with autism, early years, teenagers who need support, advice services to residents in significant debt and services that help support older people to live in their own homes. Many individuals may rely on several of these services.

In Wiltshire, a framework has been developed following an LGA peer review, which sets out clear expectations around how the Council and Third Sector should be working together. I hope that this can be created in B&NES, too. 

Our ask is that scrutiny panel members continue to champion the sector in all conversations that you might have. We need investment and good working relationships, not the gradual erosion of contracts and services that leaves organisations with uncertain futures.’

Councillor Bharat Pankhania commented that he would support putting a system in place that allows for pre-budget decision discussions to be held with Third Sector representatives / organisations.

Councillor Joanna Wright said she would welcome the Council to take part in a similar peer review process to establish ways in which it could work more effectively with the Third Sector.

Becky Somerset said that there were good relationships in place with the BSW ICB with regard to co-production / design. She added that she believed that the new BANES Chief Executive was open to exploring similar arrangements.

Lucy Baker, BSW ICB Place Director commented that the ICB is committed to working alongside local partners and developing a blueprint to make more decisions at place.

The Executive Director for People said that the leadership team within the Council were open to working differently in the future and stated that the budget for individual agencies has not changed, with the savings identified through the management of contracts.

Councillor Eleanor Jackson said she would welcome further assurances regarding this area of the budget.

The Executive Director for People said that the proposed £250,000 saving was to be sought through contract management and that existing contracts would not be affected. He added that tough questions and decisions are always raised through the budget setting process. He acknowledged that there is now a shift in resources towards early intervention that is aligned with other bodies.

Kate Morton, CEO, Bath Mind said that she welcomed the offers to work closely together in the future. She added that it was important for all to understand what services are provided as statutory, those that come under the Care Act and those that are preventative which will likely lead to less costs to the Council in the future.

Councillor Wright commented that she remained slightly confused as such small details are shared within the budget reports and said that as much information as possible should be shared with all Councillors ahead of the budget being set in the coming years.

Councillor Paul May, Cabinet Member for Children’s Services stated that he recognises the work of 3SG through his roles within the Cabinet and the Health & Wellbeing Board and supports them as they bring much added value.

Mark Baldwin addressed the Panel, a summary of his statement is set out below.

‘I have worked as a volunteer for the Connecting Families Team for the past ten years.

As a long-standing volunteer for the Connecting Families Team in Bath and North East Somerset, I was shocked and dismayed to discover that this service is being deleted, in the wake of a national change to Children’s Services. The government’s policy change does not require this action, but the authority has chosen to destroy an award-winning service that has been phenomenally successful in turning around the lives of children and their families in local communities.

Families severely disadvantaged by mental ill health, unemployment, and poverty, have had their lives transformed by the family-centred and collaborative approach of the team.  This is what I have observed but, from the feedback that the team always seeks from people using the service, this is also what they almost invariably tell them.

Children’s Services managers seem to want to say goodbye to providing a service that will prevent some families’ difficulties getting worse to concentrate far more on intervening when families fall apart.  This seems stupid and wasteful to me. We all know that prevention and early help works.

I find it hard to believe that the collective talents of this team are being ignored by the most senior management with team members either being made redundant or pushed into jobs where their skills will be sidelined.

I also understand that these changes were made without elected representatives being informed. Deleting a successful service, much valued by local people, without discussing the implications with councillors elected by those people to represent their interests seems strange and somewhat devious to me.

My hope is that the Council will be able to change its mind about these changes and reinstate the Connecting Families Team.’

Councillor Wright said that she was alarmed to hear about this decision and asked if he could explain why little more about his volunteer role.

Mark Baldwin replied that he took part in events that provide support for children and their families. He added that a lot of his work involved craft and nature and encouraging young people to be creative. He said that his role provided an opportunity to learn more about the young people and their families.

Councillor Jackson commented that when Ward Councillors are contacted initially it can be hard to recognise what support is required and gave an example of how putting a resident in contact with the Connecting Families team had helped them immensely following an incident of domestic violence.

Mark Baldwin replied that this was very typical of their work and that they were able to provide information on a range of local bodies that can provide support.

The Chair, on behalf of the Panel, thanked all the speakers for their statements.