Agenda item

Revenue Budget 2013 - 2016

Minutes:

A report by the Interim Director of Finance provided the proposed Budget for 2013/14 and the projections for 2014/15 and 2015/16.  The Council had agreed the Council Tax Base for 2013/14 at its meeting on 28 January 2013 (Minute No. 98 refers). 

 

The Budget Council meeting was scheduled for 5 March 2013.  The Cabinet noted that the Council had to agree a Budget and set the level of Council Tax for 2013/14 by 10 March 2013.

 

Appended to the Interim Director’s report were four Appendices as follows:

 

  • Appendix 1 – The Council’s Budget Projections for 2013/16
  • Appendix 2 – An Under Budgeting Report
  • Appendix 3 – Growth Submissions 2013/15
  • Appendix 4 – Savings Proposed by the Chief Executive still to be Approved by the Cabinet/Council

 

Councillor P Davies introduced the Interim Director’s report and moved the Cabinet’s Budget proposals informing that the Cabinet’s Budget recommendations were the most challenging ever for the Authority.  It was being set against a background of unprecedented cuts in funding from the coalition Government, and required the Council to find savings of £109 million by 2016. This amounted to one-third of the Council’s total net budget.  The savings recommended total was around £42 million for the next year (2013/14).

 

Councillor P Davies reported as follows:

 

“While a small proportion of the budget challenge we face has been caused by financial mismanagement of the past, it is the disgraceful settlement Wirral has received from the coalition Government that has made cuts to services unavoidable. I did not come into politics to make cuts to vital local services, however, I have a duty as Council Leader to both set a legal budget and to protect, as far as possible, those who I was elected to serve.

 

I have been very clear that those with the broadest shoulders must bear the greatest burden which is why this budget begins with reducing the costs of running the Council.  We have cut senior management, procurement, marketing, IT and the costs of our buildings.  We have also worked closely with the Trade Unions to reduce the cost of some of our Terms and Conditions while remaining a Living Wage employer. Councillors must also make difficult choices and I firmly believe that it is right to save £275,000 by holding elections once every four years and reviewing the number of meetings and committees held.

 

My key priority for this budget for 2013/14 has been to protect front-line services and the most vulnerable members of society in Wirral as far as we are able. I have today announced that:-

 

No Children’s Centre, Library or One Stop Shop will close

 

Pensioners will continue to receive a discount on their Council Tax bills and £100,000 will be invested in enhanced advice services to mitigate the impact of benefit cuts

 

Additional funding of £5m will be invested in vulnerable families and we will ensure support for victims of domestic violence continues

 

£1m of capital funding will be invested in a new state-of-the art Youth Zone and £300,000 will be invested in an innovative project to tackle poverty led by Frank Field MP

 

We have also put a modest sum in the budget - £50,000 – to enhance road safety around schools.

 

We have used the ‘What Really Matters’ consultation to inform our decisions. We have listened to what people said and we will not be stopping the ‘POPIN’ advice service for older people and we will also delay the saving from the closure of Birkenhead dog kennels to allow the Friends of Birkenhead Kennels to submit an alternative proposal for consideration.

 

We have rejected the budget option which would have removed the maintenance of some parks and bowling greens.  Feedback from parks groups, bowling teams and residents have made it clear that while they would accept a reduction in maintenance frequencies, the removal of maintenance across many of our parks and open spaces would bring too great an impact.

 

We have had to make some difficult decisions, notably reducing costs by targeting resources more effectively, rationalising provision for people with learning disabilities and young people, providing less generous standards in some of our Streetscene services and increasing charges for a number of services.

 

We will also not be renewing the Council’s sponsorship of Tranmere Rovers Football Club.  However, we will continue to support the excellent work the Club does in both local schools and the wider community across Wirral.

 

Given the Council’s perilous financial situation, it is both responsible and proper to raise the Wirral Council element of the Council Tax by 1.6%. This is the first rise in 3 years but will help to protect some of the services residents’ value.

 

Some of the savings we have proposed will be unpopular and the decisions we have made have been difficult.  We will continue to fight for a fairer deal for Wirral from the coalition Government and I call upon the Leaders of the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats to do the same.

 

I believe this budget fulfils our promise to do as much as we can to protect front-line services and jobs, ensuring that the most vulnerable are protected and maintaining investment in creating new jobs in the Wirral economy.”

 

Councillor P Davies invited Joe Taylor, Unison Branch Secretary to address the Cabinet on its Budget proposals. 

 

Mr Taylor speaking for members of both Unison and Unite informed the Cabinet that the Trade Unions did not believe that the findings of the Council’s consultation process were representative of the people of Wirral or the Council’s workforce.  He agreed that the settlement the Council had received from the Government had been one of the worst in the country.  He considered that it represented a brutal and savage attack on the Council’s Services.  This meant that there would be overwhelming cuts to the Council’s Services which would have the effect of devastating local communities.

 

Mr Taylor informed that the public was united in their view that there should be no major cuts and that front line Services should be saved.  The Cabinet’s proposals would affect the most vulnerable people in Wirral and the proposed cuts in Day Care were an example of this.  He referred to the Petition the Council had received which had been signed by approximately 1,500 people which was double the response the Council had received to its public consultation exercise.  Mr Taylor equated Service losses to job losses.

 

Mr Taylor then turned his attention to the Cabinet’s proposal to amend the terms and conditions of service of its staff.  He informed that there was no agreement with the Trade Unions over this proposal.  The Trade Unions would continue to discuss the issues with Members and were very concerned about the effect the proposals would have on some of their members.  Mr Taylor informed that the Trade Unions were happy to enter discussions on how to improve Services and create a centre of excellence in Wirral but if Members were intent on cutting contractual pay and conditions they would not have the workforce behind them.

 

Mr Taylor sought reassurance that the Cabinet was committed to exploring all of the options because the impact of its proposals on the workforce was awful.  He told the Cabinet that Trade Union members would not roll over and he could not rule out industrial action.

 

Mr Taylor asked the Cabinet to remove the threat of compulsory redundancies and the at risk notices from staff.

 

Councillor P Davies thanked Mr Taylor for his address and confirmed that the Cabinet was committed to continue to talk to the Trade Unions.  It would look at alternative savings and ways to generate money.  It would consider what it could do to mitigate cuts.

 

Councillor P Davies moved the following motion which was seconded by Councillor A McLachlan and agreed unanimously:

 

BUDGET RESOLUTION - EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

 

“Unprecedented cuts to Council funding from central government, combined with unfunded increased demand for social care in particular, mean that we have no choice but to cut around a third of our net budget over the next three years.

 

This budget involves some difficult choices: standards in some of our services will have to be less generous and charges for some services will have to increase, however, this Labour Administration is determined to put the Council’s finances on a sustainable footing and ensure that Wirral Council continues to deliver good quality services for our residents. Over the next three years, we will also deliver a transformational change programme which puts in place new models for providing some services which will enable us to achieve further economies.

 

Our budget proposals for 2013/14 are set out in detail in this resolution. Key elements include the following:

 

·  We will protect front-line services: no Children’s Centres, Libraries or One Stop Shops will close.

·  We will retain pensioner discounts for Council Tax.

·  We will make appropriate provision for increased demand for our services for vulnerable families and adults, despite lack of increased funding from Central Government in this vital area.

·  We will invest £1m of capital in a new state-of-the-art Youth Zone.

·  We will invest £300,000 in funding for an innovative project to address child poverty led by Frank Field MP.

·  We will give a high priority to assisting the delivery of the Wirral Waters scheme and will work with our partners to ensure we maximise the opportunities to attract new investment in the offshore wind sector and the return of the British Open to Hoylake in 2014.

·  We will develop the skills of our young people to prepare them for work through our apprenticeship programme, ensuring the next generation benefit from the economic opportunities we create. 

·  We will maintain our commitment to be a Living Wage employer – one of only 10-15 Councils to apply this nationally.

·  We will maintain an enhanced severance scheme for Council staff.

·  We will remove unnecessary layers of management.

·  We will establish powerful new Constituency Committees and devolve £200,000 to be focussed on reducing inequalities.

·  We will mitigate the impact of benefit cuts by investing £100,000 in enhanced advice services.

·  We will ensure that funding for tackling domestic abuse will continue by utilising the Community Fund and working closely with the Police and Crime Commissioner to ensure this vital priority is funded appropriately in the future.

·  We will invest £50,000 in enhancing road safety around our schools.

·  We will explore a range of opportunities to deliver savings and improve our services through new partnerships with other Councils across the northwest. The first, a shared internal audit service with Liverpool City Council, will be delivered this year.

1.  INTRODUCTION

 

1.1.  This budget is the most important – and challenging - in recent history. Cuts, unprecedented since 1945, combined with changing demographics and residents who both demand and have a right to expect value for money and high quality services, present challenges this Administration is determined to address.

1.2.  This Council faces a £109 million budget deficit over the next three years – we have to reduce our net revenue budget by a third. Over the next three years it is estimated that we will receive a 57% reduction in grants or £62 million less from central government to spend on our services.  We are also facing increased demand of approximately £47million over the next three years.  This includes costs associated with increasing numbers of older people in our communities who are living longer and requiring more support from the Council.  These factors result in the £109 million savings that we must make by 2016.

1.3.  In 2013/14 we face a £39 million budget shortfall due to a combination of cuts by government to our grant, together with unfunded demographic growth. We also have to address exceptional items totalling £38.4 million. This includes an inherited overspend from the previous Administration of £17 million. These figures have been confirmed by external experts.

1.4.  This Administration is determined to get the Council’s finances in order and be open and transparent in all its decision making processes. We have appointed a new Chief Executive and senior management team with an excellent track record. The formation of new cross-cutting Directorates will enable us to modernise services through a programme of transformation and improvement, ensuring that we deliver the best possible outcomes for our residents. In partnership with the Local Government Association we are at the forefront of developing a new approach to sector-led improvement. We have established an Improvement Board which has agreed a robust Improvement Plan with the aim of moving Wirral forward to become a high-performing Council. We are committed to working with our partners and across parties to meet our challenges.

1.5.  External validation of our plans to address areas of weakness has been provided by a Corporate Peer Challenge of the Council which took place between 29th October and 1st November 2012. The Team concluded that:

  ‘The Council has a good grasp of the scale and urgency of the challenges it is facing. You recognise the significant financial challenges will continue to increase as time elapses and that immediate and decisive measures to address them are required. We think the overall strategy you are working to, including the plans for organisational improvement and budget reduction, is appropriate given the challenges you face. Put simply we think you have a good awareness of the issues and an appropriate plan of action.’

 

1.6.  This budget will help to deliver financial stability for this Council, dealing with the challenges we face head on. We have a duty to make tough decisions and to get our own house in order. We will ensure that public money is safeguarded, properly accounted for and used efficiently and effectively. A detailed report on the Council’s financial position is being prepared by Eugene Sullivan, former Chief Executive of the National Audit Commission. We will publish this report and are determined to learn the lessons from the key findings.

1.7.  This budget is being set against the background of a system of local government funding which, in our view, is grossly unfair. It cannot be right that authorities like Wirral, which have areas of high deprivation, have had their funding cut by £151 per head of population since 2010, whereas Councils in relatively affluent areas such as North Dorset are being required to find a cut of only £2 per head of population. The coalition government has cut Wirral Council’s funding by a total of £64 million since 2010. This includes a key specific grant – the Area Cost Adjustment, worth £37 million, which provided funding to help address deprivation. The impact of removing specific grants from Councils in the most deprived areas is clearly spelt out by the Audit Commission in their report, ‘Tough Times 2012’ (see paragraph 31).

1.8.  The scale of government cuts to Wirral Council’s budget is also evident in an analysis of changes in revenue spending power 2013-14 which showed that of the 47 local authorities which are members of the Special Interest Group of Metropolitan Authorities outside London (SIGOMA), Wirral has had the biggest cut (2.62%) compared to the average cut (1.76%).

1.9 This Administration has made a number of representations to government regarding the Council’s budget. The Leader of the Council has written to the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government and, together with the other Party Leaders, the Leader has met with a minister from DCLG. Some flexibility has been agreed with regard to capitalisation to fund our severance scheme. Wirral has contributed to lobbying activity led by SIGOMA. We have also supported the ‘Come Together’ Campaign organised by Council Leaders from the Core Cities and Faith Leaders who have launched an e-petition which calls on the government to apply the cuts more fairly across the country, protecting those most in need, and making sure those in wealthy parts of the country pay their fair share. We will continue to lobby government to give Wirral a fair deal.”

 

2.  NEW CORPORATE PLAN

 

2.1We have developed a new three-year Corporate Plan which we have recommended for adoption by Council. This sets out a vision for Wirral and contains the key principles and priorities which will underpin the Plan. Our budget proposals will flow from three policy priorities and three guiding principles set out in the Corporate Plan:

 

Policy Priorities

·  Protecting the most vulnerable in our Borough

·  Driving growth in our economy

·  Tackling health inequalities

 

Guiding Principles

·  We will spend less on the cost of running the Council

·  Those with the broadest shoulders must bear the greatest burden

·  Every effort will be made to mitigate the impact of savings on front-line services

 

  1.  CONSULTATION

3.1Our priorities and budget proposals have been informed by the ‘What Really Matters’ consultation, the largest such consultation ever undertaken by Wirral Council, both in terms of reach and scope. This involved a two-stage consultation process: engaging the community firstly in debating the principles the Council should explore to develop the budget options and then further debate around those options. This is the first time that the Council has published all budget options and sought the views of residents well in advance of finalising the budget.

3.2The main route for resident involvement was via a questionnaire which was available on-line and also in hard copy. In addition, the engagement team attended around 250 community events where residents gave their views on the budget. Stage one received almost 7000 responses. Stage two achieved 6522 responses. In addition, an extensive programme of staff consultation was delivered and since November 2012, over 20 meetings have taken place with the Trade Unions. In addition, a number of petitions, emails and letters have been received regarding budget options. Cabinet is grateful to all those who took part in the consultation.

  1. TRANSFORMATIONAL CHANGE

4.1Given the scale of reductions in funding by central government, we will put in place over the next three years a radical programme of transformational change to replace the traditional model where Councils deliver most services directly. This will require us to build on the excellent work we have done in recent years with key partners such as the NHS, the police service, the fire authority and the voluntary, community and faith sectors. We are looking closely at the experience of Community Budget pilots and have a programme of visits to other authorities which operate trusts, mutuals, social enterprises and co-operatives. We are the lead authority in Merseyside for developing a plan for sharing services with other Councils and will continue our positive discussions with Cheshire West and Chester Council with the aim of realising further savings over the coming months.

4.2As part of our savings for 2013/14 we have entered into an agreement with Liverpool City Council to share our internal audit service and we are talking to other authorities about sharing other services. We have developed an exciting plan to involve local Friends Groups, The Reader Organisation and other similar organisations in a number of libraries and we are looking at opportunities for developing social enterprises from the work done by people with learning disabilities.

4.3We will continue to provide the resources necessary to provide training opportunities to ensure Members have all the skills necessary to lead this new way of working and to fulfil the role of ‘community champions’ in our new neighbourhood working arrangements.

  1. LABOUR’S PLEDGE TO OUR STAFF

5.1Our employees are the Council’s most valuable assets and we want to protect frontline and low paid workers as far as possible.  We are one of only a small number of Councils nationally to introduce the Living Wage as a minimum pay level for our staff. 

5.2Last year, one of the opposition aims was to reduce the amount of money the Council spent on Trade Unions.  We believe that a business case can be made for good industrial relations: the Trade Unions play an important role in representing staff and helping the Council to achieve efficiencies. We will continue to support this work however, in conjunction with the Trade Unions, during the course of the next financial year we intend to review the funding for full time Trade Union Officials to ensure we are achieving the best value for money.

5.3We have adopted a severance multiplier of 1.8, a reduction from the current multiplier of 2.2 but it is far above the basic, statutory entitlement. It is important to us as Councillors, to try and secure something above the statutory level for those employees leaving the authority. Although times are tough we have taken time to consider the best way to try and soften the blow of redundancy for employees as much as possible.

5.4Although we are having to make significant changes to the way we do our business, our employees are key to the success of providing good quality services for local communities and we will continue to try to mitigate the impact of the cuts being forced upon us.

5.5We will continue to work with Voluntary Community Action Wirral (VCAW) to support the creation of social enterprises.  We will also provide our staff with the necessary skills and training to take over the running of Council services through the creation of mutuals.

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BUDGET PROPOSALS

 

 

6.  TRANSFORMATION AND RESOURCES

 

6.1  Our proposals in this area are designed to ensure that the Council is able to achieve the significant financial savings required while still providing the structures, mechanisms and resilience we need to ensure we improve the way we do business. 

6.2  This budget will bring about major savings in our buildings, marketing, information technology and what we spend on our senior management. We will also improve the value for money we achieve for goods and services through major changes to our procurement systems.

6.3  We believe that it is important to reduce the cost of democracy, while still ensuring that elected members have support in place to fulfil their essential role in our local communities. We therefore propose to save £275,000 by holding elections once every four years, and reviewing the number of meetings and committees held to both reduce administration costs and to enable Members to focus on what really matters to local people. 

6.4  We are also taking steps to eliminate waste across the Council, ensuring that every penny of Council resources is targeted at improving our residents’ quality of life. We will save around £20,000 by ceasing production of a glossy brochure and newsletter which previous Administrations opted to mail to every resident, at great expense. We believe this is an unnecessary extravagance and that it is not a responsible use of scarce Council resources.

6.5  We have also instructed Officers to rapidly explore innovative models of delivering back office services with our neighbouring Councils, with internal audit, procurement and information technology services likely to be the first to realise savings. We have worked hard with the Trade Unions to achieve savings in staff Terms and Conditions minimising the affect on contractual conditions and over the next year we are committed to working with them to identify further efficiencies.

6.6  We will continue to provide advice and support to event organisers in the borough, but will no longer provide funding to events. We will not renew the Tranmere Rovers Football Club sponsorship agreement but we will continue to support the excellent work the Club does in both local Schools and the wider Community across Wirral.

6.7  We recognise the vital work which is done by our partners in the voluntary, community and faith sectors and, while we will no longer provide funding through our Area Forum programme, we will reinvest £200,000 of this to kick-start work on our innovative proposal for a new model of Neighbourhood Working.

6.8  Welfare Reform will have far reaching consequences. We propose to delete vacant posts that are no longer required in the Revenues and Benefits team as the new Universal Credit is implemented.  However, we will also mitigate against the impact of benefit cuts by investing £100,000 in information and advice services for Wirral residents, which will help signpost them to the support available in their local area and ensure that agencies are alerted to families at risk of financial crisis. Central Government have also transferred £237, 000 of Housing Benefit Administration costs to us that we have had no choice but to make provision for.We have also had to deal with a cut of 10% or £3.2million in the funding we previously received from central government for administering council tax benefit.

6.9  In order to protect our libraries from closure we will deliver the service more efficiently by further integrating One Stop Shop services into libraries. We will bring our libraries in line with other Council services by closing them during those times when they are rarely used, during Christmas and New Year. Crucially, we have instructed Officers to accelerate discussions with the Reader Organisation and Friends Groups to explore opportunities for alternative delivery of this valuable service in the future.

6.10 Consultation is ongoing with the Trade Unions. Cabinet recommend the following changes to Terms and Conditions to achieve £3.8 million of savings be agreed and recommended to Budget Council on the 5th March 2013.

·  All employees to take 5 days unpaid leave. This will be reviewed after three years. 

·  All voluntary overtime, additional hours and casual work to be paid at plain time.

·  Review and revise criteria for car allowance scheme, reduce essential user lump sum and move to HMRC mileage rate for all.

·  Implementation of an increment freeze for all employees for one year.

·  Removal of disturbance, relocation and telephone allowance.

6.11  In addition we will work together with the Trade Unions to review current working arrangements to maximise the efficiency and cost effectiveness of services including annualised hours during this financial year which could mitigate the need for ongoing savings.

 

TRANSFORMATION AND RESOURCES

2013/14
£000s

2014-16
£000s

TOTAL
£000s

Reducing Council Management

5000

0

5000

Reducing the numbers of Agency workers

500

0

500

Service Restructures

905

642

1547

Trade Union funding

 - 270

0

-270

Reducing the Cost of Democracy

100

175

275

The Mayor of Wirral

50

0

50

Procurement

320

9000

9320

Treasury Management

1700

0

1700

Information Technology Service

210

90

300

Better Use of Buildings

100

458

558

Transforming Business Support

500

2000

2500

Revenues and Benefits

550

0

550

Marketing and Public Relations

167

0

167

Tranmere Rovers Sponsorship

135

0

135

Power Supplies - Contract Saving

11

0

11

Reduction in External Audit Fees

140

0

140

Workforce Conditions of Service

3800

0

3800

Area Forum Funding

391

0

391

Libraries and One Stop Shops

391

583

974

Shared Services Development

0

1400

1400

Council Tax Increase

2600

0

2600

Council Tax: Discounts and Exemptions

2284

0

2284

Council Tax: Court Costs

2429

0

2429

Council Tax: Discretionary Relief

0

320

320

 

 

 

 

Transformation and Resources Total

22013

14668

36681

 

7  FAMILIES AND WELLBEING

7.1  Increasing demand for our services adds to the unprecedented financial challenge we face. Our recommendations address this, while ensuring we are able to focus on our duty to serve and protect the most vulnerable in our communities.  We will “think family”, while working towards our goal of delivering services in ways which are easy to access, focus on the front line, eliminate duplication and reduce back office costs.

7.2  We are committed to providing and commissioning the best and most appropriate levels of care and support possible, involving our partners throughout the voluntary, community and faith sector and we will further integrate our work with that of the NHS to improve residents’ experience of support services.These recommendations are in line with our policy of delivering more personalised services, to enable residents to stay independent for as long as they can. We believe it is right to review the support we provide to Carers to ensure we secure effective services for them whilst enabling short breaks and other services to be part of the cared for person’s budget rather than the carer.

7.3  We have had to think radically about the options for savings given the scale of the budget cuts and the options therefore include some proposals to reduce the universal services provided in our Children’s Centres.  This Administration will ensure that our Children’s Services are focused on those children most in need, and we will therefore protect core Sure Start services within our most deprived areas to support our most vulnerable and disadvantaged families. We will maintain all of our Children’s Centres and Satellite Centres attached to Schools will be taken over by the Schools.

7.4  The work of our staff to safeguard Wirral’s most vulnerable children is vital. We have therefore made a provision that will be targeted at hard to recruit and retain front line child protection social workers.

7.5  Previous Administrations have not ensured that the growth in demand for services for vulnerable children and families is met with appropriate levels of funding. We are therefore investing in the following critical areas:

Funding increased demand

(Children and Young People)

2013/14

£000

Independent Reviewing Officers

90

Additional Social Worker capacity in Wallasey District

315

Social Workers in Schools

75

Family Justice Review

100

Staying Put Policy

100

Increase in Foster care demand

500

Youth Justice Board

50

 

Total

1230

 

This growth is included in the £39million target 

 

In addition, we will ensure that appropriate funding is provided to help meet the costs of demographic growth in the numbers of vulnerable adults that is not being met by central government.

 

Funding increased demand

(Adult Social Care)

2013/14

£000

Young Adults with Learning Disabilities

944

Older People

1773

Fees for Residential and Nursing Care

1000

 

Total

3717

 

This growth is included in the £39million target.

 

7.6  We will continue to provide support to the Birkenhead Foundation Trust Springboard project, which is currently receiving national recognition for its work to establish new ways of working to tackle intergenerational poverty involving communities and volunteers.  The project will engage with young women in the earliest stage of pregnancy to provide support focussed on raising aspirations for them and their children.  A further £100,000 will be commissioned based on priorities identified by Wirral’s Child Poverty Working Group.

7.7  We are proud of our excellent schools and will work with them to ensure that children continue to benefit from the best possible start in life. We do believe however that it is right to target resources where they are most needed and for schools to make an appropriate contribution for the services they receive from the Council.

7.8   We will consolidate our youth service to operate out of the four main hubs across the borough, and retain four Satellite youth Clubs and outreach provision until the new Youth Zone opens working hard to ensure that these services are targeted at those young people who are most in need.  Funding for the excellent Wirral Youth Theatre will continue.

7.9  We believe it is vital to ensure increasingly limited resources are invested wisely. Our recommendation to charge more for non-residential services brings Wirral in line with other local authorities and we propose to re-tender contracts for extra care housing to ensure we are getting value for money while ensuring quality is maintained. 

7.10 We will reduce the costs of transporting children and adults to school, day centres and other facilities by focussing provision on those in the greatest need. We are reviewing the pilot of a Community Card in St Helens, which has reduced the cost of transport significantly and enhanced personal choice. Business plans have been developed to ensure that Oaklands Outdoor Education Centre and the Schools Music Service will be self financing in the future.

 

7.11 The quality of some of our physical provision is simply not good enough. We propose to rationalise both our respite and day care services but will do so in close consultation with service users and their families, putting their interests at the heart of all we do. At the same time we will offer people more choice to use their personal budgets in the way that they choose.

 

7.12 We will focus specialist Child and Adolescent Mental Health services on those who require it most. We are determined to ensure that no young person who needs this service should be forced to do without it. We also believe that this service could be rationalised, and improved, through targeting its efforts at those most in need.

 

FAMILIES AND WELLBEING

2013/14
£000s

2014-16
£000s

TOTAL
£000s

Education Psychology Service

80

0

80

Schools Budget

250

2500

2750

School Improvement and Income from Schools

160

0

160

Careers, Education and Advice

700

300

1000

Housing Benefits - Maximisation of Grant

2000

0

2000

Community Meals

169

31

200

Charging for Non Residential Services

880

0

880

Targeted Support through NHS Contracts

1828

2383

4211

Extra Care Housing

300

300

600

Residential and Respite Care

160

160

320

Day Care and Day Services Transformation

750

1250

2000

Review of Support for Carers

250

0

250

Assistive Technology

150

150

300

Transport Policies

250

1082

1332

Area Teams for Family Support

200

0

200

Schools Music Service

21

0

21

Oaklands Outdoor Education Centre

23

0

23

Foundation Learning

121

12

133

Commissioning of Parenting Services

700

200

900

Review of VCF Sector Grants

705

115

820

Review of Residential Care for Learning Disabilities

300

0

300

Review of Equipment Service

100

0

100

Review of Emergency Duty

0

100

100

Youth and Play Services

687

300

987

Youth Challenge

200

200

400

Children's Centres and Sure Start

1576

596

2172

Short Breaks for Children with Disabilities

150

150

300

Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service

250

0

250

Families and Wellbeing Total

12960

9829

22789

 

8  REGENERATION AND ENVIRONMENT

8.1  Wirral has enormous potential for economic regeneration – opportunities such as Wirral Waters, the International Trade Centre and the launch of a world class golf resort are of international significance.  The size of our budget pressures are such that we will need to review our business support and reduce available business grants, however we are entirely confident that we will continue to create more jobs and attract investment through increasingly targeted activity.

8.2  We will continue to ensure that Wirral accesses external funding opportunities, including the new European Regional Development Fund Business Support programme and continues to work with UK Trade and Investment to attract investment locally from overseas companies. 

8.3  We recognise the importance of developing the skills of our young people to prepare them for work.  We will therefore continue to invest in our apprenticeship programme through funding the cost of apprenticeship training through the Liverpool City Region model.  This funding will be matched with contributions from the National Apprenticeship Service.

8.4  Decent housing is crucial to residents’ quality of life. We will continue to work with Registered Social landlords and Private Sector landlords to maximise the number and range of quality homes for rent. We will continue our programmes to restructure the Housing Market and work with House Builders to increase the number of new homes built in Wirral. We will prioritise the remaining Housing Market Renewal funding to provide priority affordable housing in our most deprived areas.

8.5  In accordance with our guiding principle of focussing resources on those who are most in need, we propose to target the handy person scheme to support those who have recently been discharged from hospital. The Home Insulation scheme will be reduced and future work will be targeted at tackling fuel poverty and energy efficiency projects such as the Green Deal.

8.6  We know that the quality of the local environment matters to local people, however we simply cannot afford to deliver certain services in the same universal way. We will better target street cleansing in the future and increase the charge for the optional ERIC service and introduce an ‘opt in’ service for garden waste. In addition we propose to charge for pre-planning advice to developers in the future.

8.7  We believe it is important that all residents pay their share and that it is unfair to charge different rates for car parking across Wirral. We therefore propose to standardise charges in car parks at the current rate for Birkenhead car parks, reducing the all day charge for on-street long stay bays in Birkenhead to £2.50 and to introduce competitive annual and season permits rates. We will also reduce office, maintenance and operational expenditure across the service.

8.8  We have no choice in the future but to target investment at where it is most needed. We therefore propose to rationalise street lighting maintenance and reduce street lighting where to do so does not present a risk.  In addition we will reduce pro-active highway maintenance work – again ensuring that our primary focus is on the safety of our residents.

8.9  We will invest in enhancing road safety around our schools and will put in place road safety improvements, including for the following schools within the Council’s four constituency areas; Egremont Primary, in Wallasey, Ladymount Primary and Pensby Primary in Wirral West, Oxton St Saviours Primary in Birkenhead and Raeburn Primary in Wirral South.

8.10  We have also listened to our many residents who place huge value on our parks and open spaces. Two separate options were proposed in this area; to reduce the maintenance frequency across some open spaces, and to remove the maintenance on some parks and bowling greens. Feedback from parks groups, bowling teams and residents have made it clear that while they would accept a reduction in maintenance frequencies, the removal of maintenance across many of our parks and open spaces would bring too great an impact at this time. We agree with this view, and therefore recommend that while the reduction in parks maintenance should be accepted, the removal of maintenance should not.

8.11 We believe that the budget option proposed for the Council Kennels/Dog Warden Service that the service should join the Merseyside Consortium should not be progressed at this time.  The Friends of Birkenhead Kennels have submitted to the Council an alternative budget savings proposal and therefore we recommend that the decision to accept this budget option is delayed and the Friends of Birkenhead Kennels be requested to submit more detailed proposals for consideration.

8.12 The dog fouling team will be organised to align with the new Constituency Committees, with an enforcement Officer dedicated to each of the Constituencies. We also instruct the Council’s Marketing Team to bring forward a campaign to target irresponsible dog owners to effect behavioural change.

 

REGENERATION AND ENVIRONMENT

2013/14
£000s

2014-16
£000s

TOTAL
£000s

Pre-Planning Advice

10

0

10

Home Insulation

926

0

926

Pest Control

30

0

30

Invest Wirral

352

0

352

Car Parking

281

0

281

Garden Waste Collection

582

569

1151

Household Waste Collection

80

0

80

Apprentice Programme

420

0

420

Handyperson Scheme

209

0

209

Trading Standards

71

0

71

Highway Maintenance

588

0

588

Street Cleansing

1000

-250

750

Biffa Contract Break

0

600

600

School Waste

180

0

180

Street Lighting

265

0

265

Highway Drainage

106

0

106

Reduction in Parks Maintenance

450

0

450

Housing Support for BME Communities

111

0

111

Supporting People

0

2000

2000

Dog Fouling Enforcement

97

0

97

Regeneration General Running Costs

0

40

40

Modernisation of Leisure

429

0

429

 

 

 

 

Regeneration and Environment Total

6187

2959

9146

TOTAL SAVINGS

41160

27456

68616

 

8.13  The exceptional items, referenced at paragraph 1.3 at £38.4m of savings, that are additional to three year target of £109m, are to be funded by balances, released earmarked reserves, capital receipts and decisions taken at the November 2012 Cabinet in relation to the efficiency fund and the local council tax scheme. The Council will continue its freeze on all non essential spending.

8.14  The total savings proposed in this budget for 2013/14 amounts to £41.2 million with £27.5 million also proposed for the years 2014-2016. This means that we still have £40.3 million to find to achieve our overall target of £109 million by 2016.

8.15  We request officers to bring forward a report to Cabinet no later than May 2013 in order to outline an approach for identifying further budget savings.  This is as part of our commitment to be proactive in identifying the savings that we must make.

9.    COUNCIL TAX

 

9.1  This budget resolution makes provision for increased demand for services for vulnerable children and adults, the reduction in our Housing Administration Grant and contract uplifts, demand that should rightly be recognised in our settlement from Central Government. This equates to an unfunded increase of in excess of £5 million for the year 2013/14 that we have to meet ourselves.

9.2  The Government’s offer of a grant of £1.3 million to freeze the Council Tax in 2013/ is a one off derisory offer that does not meet this pressure and that would not be included in our base budget. This means that in 2015/16 when the grant ends we will have to find additional cuts to replace the grant.

9.3  Under the Government’s regulations the Council is allowed to increase Council Tax by 2%. Cabinet feels that increasing Council Tax by 2% in 2013/14 is the only responsible option before us. This would equate to a 1.6% increase in the Wirral Council element and is significantly below the Consumer Price Index which currently stands at 2.7% and the Retail Price Index which currently stands at 3.3%. This follows a two year freeze on Council Tax.

9.4  This Budget Resolution recommends an overall Council tax increase of £25.06 on a band D basis.

9.5  This represents an increase on Band D from £1,253.20 p to £1,278.64p.  This represents an increase of 48p per week. The majority of Wirral residents will pay less than this as most properties are below Band D.

9.6  Wirral Council’s element of this is 1.6% with increases in levies accounting for the rest of the difference. The increase in overall council tax is 2%.

9.7  Precepts relating to police and fire services are still to be announced.  The impact of any change to precepts will require adding to these figures.

 

10.  RECOMMENDATION TO COUNCIL

 

10.1  That the budget proposals as set out in this resolution be agreed and recommended for approval at Budget Council meeting on 5 March 2013, and that the Council notes this budget includes an allocation of £2 million to address any slippage that may occur in the delivery of identified savings.  This figure has reduced significantly from the original early estimate of £5 million to £2 million due to management action, including the deletion of vacant posts and more effective management of savings.

 

10.2  We will work together with the Trade Unions to review current working arrangements to maximise the efficiency and cost effectiveness of services including annualised hours during this financial year which could mitigate the need for ongoing savings.

 

10.3  That officers are requested to bring forward a report to Cabinet no later than May 2013 which will outline the approach for identifying budget savings that the Council must make in 2014/15 and 2015/16.

 

10.4  That Council continues to lobby government to review the way it allocates funding to local Councils with a view to ensuring that any cuts are distributed in a way which is fair and equitable.

 

A short adjournment ensued whilst members of the public left the meeting.

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