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Page 1 - Addressing the budget deficit : draft 2011-12 budget strategy, 2011-14 Medium
Term Financial Strategy and revised Corporate Plan aims and outcomes
Agenda Item:
Cabinet /
County Council
4
Date of Meeting
15 December 2010
Officers
Chief Executive and Chief Financial Officer
Subject of Report
Addressing the budget deficit : draft 2011-12 budget strategy,
2011-14 Medium Term Financial Strategy and revised Corporate
Plan aims and outcomes.
Executive Summary
In the context of a deteriorating national economic situation, the County
Council started work last year to address a forecast funding gap and
build upon previous savings exercises such as the Fit for the Future
Programme. The Meeting Future Challenges (MFC) programme of
work takes us some way towards addressing the estimated budget gap
faced by the County Council but still leaves a significant shortfall for
2011-12 in the region of £15M - £20M.
The full extent of the shortfall will not be known until the provisional
grant settlement for local government is published, hopefully prior to the
meeting on 15 December. Given that measures need to be in place
immediately to ensure the shortfall can be met from April 2011, for
planning purposes a figure of £17M has been used as the best estimate
at this stage.
The County Council must set a realistic balanced budget for 2011-12 at
its meeting on 17 February 2011. This means that a decision is needed
now to pursue the savings opportunities identified. This must not be
delayed until every detail of the grant settlement and spending
pressures is known, as it is already too late to achieve many of the
savings from the start of the financial year. There is little margin for
slippage.
If the settlement does not require a figure of this magnitude in 2011-12
(e.g. if the ‘front-loading’ is less than expected), it is proposed that a
savings target of £17M be pursued in any case given:
a)
The Comprehensive Spending Review requires savings in the
order of an additional £26M on top of MFC by 2013-14 and
proposals in this report will need to be pursued regardless of the
degree of the shortfall in 2011-12;
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Term Financial Strategy and revised Corporate Plan aims and outcomes
b)
c)
Many of the proposals will be very difficult to achieve in the
timeframes available anyway, and it is therefore advisable to aim to
exceed the savings targets to minimise any potential overspend;
Our communities and our staff deserve as much clarity as soon as
possible and this can best be achieved by a single major change
programme rather than having repeated changes year on year,
with the uncertainties that generates.
In facing these severe reductions in funding from central Government,
proposals have been considered by the Leader, the Deputy Leader and
the Cabinet portfolio holder for Corporate Resources meetings as the
Budget Working Group, advised by the Chief Executive and Chief
Financial Officer in late November. The proposals have sought where
possible to protect services to children and vulnerable people, whilst
maintaining basic standards in other essential areas, such as the road
network and support to the environment. Given the scale of the savings
required however, it has not been possible in all instances to protect
‘front-line’ services, but the intention has been to make savings in
central support functions and staff working ‘behind the scenes’ first.
Delivery of the savings levels outlined will require a ‘renegotiation’ of the
relationship between the County Council, as a commissioner and
provider of public services, and Dorset’s communities. In a number of
areas, there are proposals to transfer responsibilities for services to
Parish & Town Councils and community/ voluntary sector groups.
These will be subject to consultation with communities over the coming
weeks, and will require a shift in the traditional relationships between
citizens and the state, along the lines implicit in the Government’s deficit
reduction and ‘Big Society’ approaches.
Impact Assessment:
Equalities Impact Assessment: It has not been possible, in the time
available since the Comprehensive Spending Review, to develop
individual EqIAs for each of the scenarios developed for the Budget
Working Groups. With greater clarity from the 15 December meeting on
the potential savings portfolio to be pursued, a full EqIA will be
undertaken on the proposed 2011/12 budget for the whole authority,
through consultation with the Forum for Equality and Diversity (at a
meeting on 26 January).
Use of Evidence: The report draws on the information published by the
Coalition Government regarding its policies and spending plans. It also
uses information drawn from the work to date on the MFC project and
budget strategy.
Budget/ Risk Assessment:
In order to achieve a balanced budget for 2011-12, significantly more
savings are required beyond those identified already through the
Meeting Future Challenges project.
It is a legal requirement that the County Council sets a balanced
budget. Section 114 of the Local Government Finance Act 1988
requires the Financial Officer to make a report to the full Council if there
is likely to be unlawful expenditure or an unbalanced budget.
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Term Financial Strategy and revised Corporate Plan aims and outcomes
Consideration has already been given to risks arising from the Budget
Working Group proposals but, as implementation plans are developed,
further thought will be given to risks. These include the potential for
consequential costs that exceed savings made, legal challenges,
financial liabilities or impact on the Council’s reputation
Recommendation
The Cabinet is asked to:
(i) recommend to the County Council that the policy changes in
Appendix 1 be pursued;
(ii) subject to this approval that the Cabinet agree that consultation on
those proposals be undertaken as detailed in section 12.1 and that
the outcome of that consultation be reported back to the Cabinet
and the County Council in February for final decisions;
(iii) agree that the other proposals developed through the Budget
Working Group, summarised in Appendix 2, should be adopted and
progressed as quickly as possible;
(iv) confirm that planning should proceed on the basis of a freeze in
the rate of council tax, i.e. no change in the rate between 2010-11
and 2011-12;
(v) agree that the draft budget for 2011-12 should include funding of
£1.469M for the issues set out in paragraph 3.10 of the report,
together with an estimated sum of £1.7M for the cost of staff pay
increments in 2011 on an exceptional basis;
(vi) decide whether the provisional budget strategy should be revised
in the light of the information in this report;
(vii) authorise the Chief Financial Officer to issue draft budget control
totals for 2011-12 and provisional control totals for 2012-13 and
2013-14 to each service and directorate in line with the revised
strategy and the savings in the table in Appendix 2;
(viii) require Directors to prepare detailed budgets for 2011-12 in
accordance with draft control totals, for consideration by the
Cabinet on 2 February 2011 and to set out the main issues for
consideration by the Community Overview Committee on 20
January 2011.
Reason for
Recommendation
As set out in the Report to the 3 November Cabinet on the Medium
Financial Strategy, the County Council faces a shortfall in funds
available in 2011-12 of £15M - £20M beyond the savings planned
through the Meeting Future Challenges programme.
Appendices
Appendix 1: Table showing where savings proposals require a change
to existing policies to be approved by the County Council
Appendix 2: Table setting out allocations by budget line within each
Service, with corresponding proposals for revised outcomes for the new
Corporate Plan
Background Papers
Spending Review 2010 (HM Treasury – October 2010)
Report to the Cabinet 3 November 2010: Medium Term Financial
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Term Financial Strategy and revised Corporate Plan aims and outcomes
Strategy
Report Originator
Peter Illsley
Tel: 01305 224 940
Ali Henderson
Tel: 01305 224 715
Email: [email protected]
Email: [email protected]
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Term Financial Strategy and revised Corporate Plan aims and outcomes
1.
Background
1.1
For a number of years the County Council has been engaged in programmes to make
our ways of working as efficient as possible. From Best Value reviews of our services,
the Gershon Efficiency Agenda and the recent Fit for the Future Programme we have
been able to effectively reduce our revenue budgets whilst retaining service standards.
1.2
The Medium Term Financial Strategy sets out the key financial arrangements and
assumptions on which the County Council’s budget is based. It underpins delivery of
the Community Strategy and the County Council’s Corporate Plan : Our Role in
Dorset. The current strategy covers the period 2010-11 to 2012-13.
1.3
This is the third in the series of reports that will culminate in February 2011 with
finalisation of budget proposals for 2011-12 to be recommended to the County
Council. As part of the process, the Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) will be rolled
forward a further year, to maintain the three-year outlook and form the basis for setting
provisional budget control totals and council tax rates for the following two years. The
Corporate Plan will also be completely revised and will reflect realistic ambitions that
recognise the funding constraints on the County Council.
1.4
The Financial Strategy and Corporate Plan have to be developed in the context of the
unprecedented scale of reduction in Government expenditure over the years ahead.
The Coalition Government signalled its intentions with an immediate £6.2 billion
reduction from the previous Governments spending plans for the current year. The
Spending Review published in October confirmed the priority was to reduce the
national structural budget deficit at a faster rate than had previously been planned and
that, apart from protection for front-line spending on health and overseas aid and to a
lesser extent for schools, every part of the public sector would be expected to bear its
share of the pain. The Spending Review was discussed in greater detail in the report
to the 3 November meeting.
1.5
When the Cabinet considered the provisional budget strategy at its meeting on
3 November, it resolved that preparation of the MTFP should proceed on the basis of
the following assumptions:
•
•
•
•
•
•
reductions in Formula Grant in line with the national totals published in the
October Spending Review, including an above-average cut in 2011-12;
15% per annum reduction in Area Based Grant;
no increase in council tax in 2011-12, with the 2.5% increase planned being
covered by a new Government grant, and increases by 2.5% in each of the
following two years;
provision for general inflation at 2.0% in 2011-12 and 2.5% in later years, with
some additional targeted inflation allocations;
provision for demographic and volume growth through the Resource Allocation
Model;
savings opportunities identified by the Meeting Future Challenges project would
be pursued.
It also noted that a significant shortfall in funding remained and agreed that Directors
would be required to develop further proposals for savings in order to balance the
2011-12 budget.
1.6
In recommending the budget strategy and the revised Corporate Plan for 2011-12
onwards, the Cabinet will need to take account of the following:
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Term Financial Strategy and revised Corporate Plan aims and outcomes
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
the resources available to the County Council, including the grant settlement for
2011-12 and the prospects for Government support in the future;
the projected outturn for 2010-11
the Prudential Code for Borrowing and the Council's borrowing policy;
the potential impact of the strategy on service provision and the Council's
ranking in terms of performance;
performance in key service areas and how this will influence the Council’s
priorities for investment;
the work undertaken by the member reference groups and considered by the
Community Overview Committee;
the feedback from public consultation;
the risks associated with changes to services but also of not addressing budget
pressures;
the position regarding reserves and balances; and
the potential for capping of council tax increases
2.
The provisional grant settlement for 2011-12
2.1
The Government’s October Spending Review indicated that general grant funding to
local government would reduce by about 28% in real terms over the four-year review
period. However, the reduction was heavily front-loaded (i.e. above-average
reductions in the first two years). After allowing for this, the top-slice required to fund
the council tax freeze and some mitigation promised for police and fire authorities, an
average cut in Formula Grant of 13-15% was expected in 2011-12. Along with more
severe cuts in some specific grants, this led to projected funding reductions for some
authorities that were well above Government expectations.
2.2
This may have led to a delay in announcing the provisional grant settlement for local
government, which is normally released around the end of November or beginning of
December. No firm date has yet been given for this year’s publication, although
current indications are that it will be available on or around 13 December. An update
on the position will be provided at the meeting.
2.3
Availability of the grant settlement should not change the Council’s approach to
achieving spending reductions. Our relatively low dependence on grant means that
most of the current funding shortfall arises from factors other than potential cuts in
grant. The need to allow for slippage in some aspects of the savings programme and
the requirement for further savings in subsequent years mean that all opportunities
identified should be pursued as vigorously as possible, whatever the outcome of the
2011-12 grant settlement.
3.
Current issues
Capital programme and borrowing
3.1
The capital programme is the subject of a separate report on this agenda. The
Cabinet is aware that, at the meeting on 20 October, decisions made achieved less
than half of the £15M reduction sought in the programme to 2013-14. The reduction in
the capital programme is required to deliver the £1.5M reduction in borrowing costs
proposed as part of the Meeting Future Challenges (MFC) savings.
3.2
The Audit and Scrutiny Committee has raised concerns about the level of unsupported
borrowing incurred by the County Council. The use of internal balances to defer
borrowing is reducing capital financing costs. The saving in borrowing under the MFC
Page 7 - Addressing the budget deficit : draft 2011-12 budget strategy, 2011-14 Medium
Term Financial Strategy and revised Corporate Plan aims and outcomes
proposal will be partly offset by the increase in borrowing under the arrangement to
undertake £11M of Highway Maintenance work through transferring £1M of the
revenue maintenance budget to fund borrowing for capital works. The net result of
these factors is shown in the table below.
Estimated borrowing costs
Estimate in current MTFS
£M
2011-12
2012-13
2013-14
20.5
23.2
26.0 (trend)
Current estimate
£M
18.8
22.6
25.2
Reserves and balances
3.3
General fund balances not held for schools or capital purposes at the end of 2009-10
amounted to £12.1M. Of this, £2.9M was earmarked for specific purposes (agreed at
the 21 July meeting), leaving £9.2M. This is just below the middle of the agreed
operating range. There is therefore little scope for applying balances to provide short
term funding until savings plans are realised, particularly as the forecast cumulative
deficit of over £9M in service budgets has still to be dealt with.
3.4
A proposal relating to the funding held in contingency for Campus Reprovisioning is to
be considered by the Performance Overview Committee when it receives the next
financial monitoring report. This will assist with the overspend this year in Adult and
Community Services. There will also be a significant underspend on the capital
financing budget in the current year, because of the delay in taking out loans, which
will improve the overall position further. Nevertheless, this only means that the general
balances should not reduce to an unacceptably low level, not that there will be funds
released to support next year’s spending.
3.5
Earmarked reserves at last year end were £24.6M. Of these the two largest were:
•
•
3.6
£7.5M in the Insurance Reserve, held under the County Council’s self-insurance
arrangements, which helps to avoid unnecessary spending on insurance
premiums;
£5.3M in Private Finance Initiative (PFI) reserves, largely money to which the
PFI providers are entitled but which it is more efficient for the Council to hold.
The need for reserves is reviewed regularly. Before the budget is finalised, further
consideration will be given to all reserves currently held to identify whether any can
now be fully or partially released.
Emerging pressures
3.7
A number of issues and emerging pressures were flagged up in the report to the
meeting on 3 November. Further issues may be flagged through the consultation
process, particularly with Member Reference Groups and the Community Overview
Committee.
3.8
The issues raised on 3 November are summarised in the table below.
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Term Financial Strategy and revised Corporate Plan aims and outcomes
Issue
Cost of placements for children with a learning disability
DES software licences and support costs, and maintenance
costs arising from the capital programme
Dorset Public Sector Network (DPSN)
Weymouth Transport Package – balance of cost in a full year
Carbon Reduction Energy Efficiency scheme (assuming that the
cost relating to schools is borne by the Schools Budget)
Concessionary Fares scheme
Meeting Future Challenges project team
Learning and Development for staff affected by change
Dorchester Library and Adult Learning Centre (from 2012-13)
Road Casualty Reduction
3.9
Estimated cost (£M)
0.450
up to 0.365
not yet quantifiable
0.225
0.228
not yet quantifiable
0.580
0.240
0.196
no specific sum
The 3 November meeting also considered a report on the Olympic Route Network,
which indicated that traffic management costs to be borne by the County Council could
reach £0.5M.
3.10 It is recommended that, at this stage, allocations totalling £1.469M be confirmed to the
Weymouth Transport Package, the Carbon Reduction Energy Efficiency scheme,
Meeting Future Challenges project implementation, Learning and Development and
(from 2012-13) the Dorchester Library and Adult Learning Centre. In addition, an
exceptional allocation estimated at £1.7M is proposed for the cost of incremental
progression in 2011. This is necessary so that Directors do not have to hold back
potential savings during the budget review process in order to meet the cost of
increments.
3.11 Consideration will need to be given to the other issues, alongside any further concerns
highlighted by the consultation, in the light of the overall position when final budget
recommendations are made on 2 February.
4.
Savings proposals and policy implications
4.1
The above indicates that the County Council needs to save between £15M-£20M next
financial year in addition to the £10M identified within the Meeting Future Challenges
(MFC) programme of work (approved by the County Council on 3 November) for
2011/12. The previous Fit for the Future programme and, to a large extent, the MFC
programme were focused on efficiency and transformational changes, without major
impact on service delivery. To achieve the level of saving now required it is inevitable
that there will be significant impacts on services to individuals and communities. The
Council will try to adopt the “Big Society” approach and enable others to take over
services rather than cut them altogether, but has had little success so far with similar
initiatives.
4.2
Budget Working Group meetings with Directorates throughout November have
scrutinised the potential for additional savings. The full details of the proposed revised
budgets are provided in Appendix 2, and are summarised in the table below:
Page 9 - Addressing the budget deficit : draft 2011-12 budget strategy, 2011-14 Medium
Term Financial Strategy and revised Corporate Plan aims and outcomes
11/12
Budget
base
before
savings (i)
Children’s Services (excl. schools)
Adult & Community Services
Environment (4)
Corporate Resources
Chief Exec's Office & Central budgets
Total (3)
£M
45.8
120.2
63.8
16.6
3.5
249.9
MFC
Savings
£M
1.0
2.5
1.2
1.0
0.3
6.0
Saving
Draft
Budget
after
Savings
£M
3.5
5.9
5.2
0.9
0.7
16.2
£M
41.3
111.8
57.4
14.7
2.5
227.7
BWG
%
Saving
on base
budget
%
9.8
7.0
10.0
11.4
28.6
8.9
Notes
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
Budget base for 2011-12 includes Resource Allocation Model (RAM) allocations.
Overarching savings under MFC programme have been apportioned to Directorate budgets
MFC Savings shown are ‘net’ of the impact of the pay freeze in 2010-11 and 2011-12 (subject to
ongoing negotiations nationally).
Environment BWG savings currently subject to review re Dorset Passenger Transport .
4.3
The areas for potential budget reductions set out in this paper, combined with savings
from the MFC programme, could result in staffing reductions of around 500 fte posts
across the Authority in 2011-12. The external recruitment freeze will have contributed
to keeping the cost of these reductions down to some extent, but there will still need to
be substantial expenditure for redundancy compensation payments. This has yet to
be calculated.
4.4
If the settlement does not require a figure of this magnitude in 2011-12 (e.g. if the
‘front-loading’ is less than feared), it is proposed that a savings target of £17M be
pursued in any case given:
4.5
a)
The Comprehensive Spending Review requires savings in the order of an
additional £26M on top of MFC by 2013-14, so proposals in this report will need
to be pursued regardless of whether the shortfall is worse in 2011-12 or not;
b)
Many of the proposals will be very difficult to achieve in the time-frames available
anyway, so it is advisable to aim to exceed the savings targets than face a large
over-spend;
c)
Our communities and our staff deserve as much clarity as soon as possible and
this can best be achieved by a single major change programme rather than
having repeated changes year on year, with the uncertainties that generates.
Sections 5 – 9 below set out the proposals for where savings might fall from within
each Directorate. Appendix 2 provides the detailed financial breakdown against
specific budgets, alongside the first draft of what these budgets will allow the County
Council to continue to provide in terms of Corporate Plan aims and outcomes. If the
County Council approves the savings proposals, a revised Corporate Plan based on
the reduced levels of expenditure will be prepared along the lines set out in this table,
for consideration by the County Council in mid-February.
Page 10 - Addressing the budget deficit : draft 2011-12 budget strategy, 2011-14 Medium
Term Financial Strategy and revised Corporate Plan aims and outcomes
4.6
Some of the proposals set out below involve policy decisions about the way we deliver
services to our local communities. The changes will require the approval of the full
County Council and/or public consultation. This is indicated in the text in parentheses
(e.g. BWG-xxx). Appendix 1 provides an overview of each of the areas requiring the
County Council approval or further consultation.
5.
Children’s Services
5.1
There are a number of statutory requirements to provide services in education, youth
and childcare as well as specialist services within social care and inclusion services.
Given this legislative environment, the service needs to continue to prioritise:
•
•
•
•
•
Effective safeguarding of vulnerable children
Improving the educational attainment of vulnerable groups (inclusion)
Improving the life chances of children and young people in care or leaving care
Increasing the proportion of young people in education or training post age 16
Effective prevention strategies for children likely to be at risk
5.2
With these priorities in mind, the following profile of savings has been identified,
totalling £3.5M (Appendix 1 provides the breakdown of this figure as it applies to
individual service areas together with already identified MFC opportunities):
(i)
Children and Families
To protect a priority focus on child protection, children in care and children on the edge
of care (with the associated statutory processes) savings have been identified through:
•
reducing the service to adopted adults seeking contact with birth relatives, and
requests for assessment for step-parent adoption; (BWG-1)
•
continuing the policy of reduced levels of loyalty payments for foster carers;
(BWG-2)
•
reducing the range of support services provided to families with children
experiencing difficulties and making efficiencies in the management structure
that supports this service; (BWG-3)
•
reducing administration and coordination of meetings that support the
Safeguarding Children Board and Family Group Conferences
(ii)
Integrated Services
Teams of Youth Service, Education Social Work and Attendance Service, Early Years
and Childcare (including Children’s Centres) and Extended Schools / Services staff
based in 6 localities, working together on early intervention and prevention. Frontline,
universal provision (e.g. youth centres/children’s centres) can be protected through a
focus on savings in:
•
middle and senior manager posts in individual services
•
reducing support and advice to students on access to Further Education
•
reducing expenditure on the coordination of after-school, holiday, homework and
breakfast clubs (schools will continue to have earmarked funds to run these
services, but the new coalition government has encouraged Local Authorities to
cease any involvement in this)
(iii)
Inclusion Services
Three statutory services (Special Educational Needs; Educational Psychology Service;
Youth Offending Team) and a range of other services (statutory and non-statutory)
working to improve the attainment and inclusion of vulnerable groups of children
through the provision of specialist support and advice. In addition to savings identified
within the MFC programme, further savings can be found by re-focusing staff on legal
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Term Financial Strategy and revised Corporate Plan aims and outcomes
responsibilities with respect to safeguarding and disabilities, and transferring other
roles to the Dedicated Schools Grant (in line with funding for other specialist inclusion
support to schools).
(iv)
Learning & Schools Improvement
Outdoor Education, the Music Service and Dorset Centre for Educational Technology
are already required to become self financing as part of MFC. Given statutory
requirements for capital teams and admissions services, additional savings in this area
can only be found from the school improvement service. There is the potential to
increase earned income in this area as funding for school improvement is moved to
schools for them to buy services. Exploratory discussions with potential partners are
in hand to enhance the provision and share the risk but a substantial traded service is
not likely to emerge until 2012-13. Thus, for 2011/12 savings opportunities are limited
to:
•
Reducing support to curriculum coordination.
•
Reducing the amount of money available to pay for Consultants to help improve
the standards of schools;
•
Cutting the budget that has paid for premature retirement costs of teachers,
which will in future need to be found from the Dedicated Schools Grant
(v)
Strategic Planning, Commissioning and Performance
These teams establish the need for children’s services, appropriate planning to
address those needs, procurement of services to meet the plans and, thereafter,
thorough and appropriate monitoring to ensure outcomes are achieved. Recognising
the expected changes in central government data and performance requirements the
service has already been reduced in this area. Further savings for 2011/12 are
possible through:
•
reducing support to voluntary sector groups
•
reshaping the provision of careers advice and support to 16-19 years to find
employment or training (subject to continuing Connexions grant from central
government). (BWG-4)
6.
Adult & Community Services
6.1
There is a range of management actions being taken to restrict the impact on the
budget of growing demand across learning disability services and residential care for
older people. Actions include:
•
•
•
Revising all contract agreements with service providers
Additional scrutiny of all care packages
Challenging all liabilities for new service users
6.2
By far the largest area of spend in this Directorate is to provide services and support
for older people. It is difficult to make significant additional savings in this area to those
already identified in MFC within 2011/12 budgets given that reconfiguration of the
major spend in this area (on residential and day care) will take time to put in place. It is
not yet clear how much, and on what basis, the additional £1billion earmarked for
preventative activity will be available for Dorset, which will require a substantial
negotiation with the PCT and Acute Trusts but may make some impact on savings in
the area of older people. Savings proposals therefore focus on other areas within the
Directorate, to a total of £5.93M:
(i)
Strategic Commissioning and Service Development
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Term Financial Strategy and revised Corporate Plan aims and outcomes
The budget for community and voluntary sector groups that provide services to adults
with learning difficulties and disabilities. This can be broadly protected apart from some
reductions in grants to some of these community groups (e.g. Learning Disability
Development Fund, Mental Capacity Act Fund), and some support to Carers through
the reduction of one Caseworker post.
(ii)
Supporting People
This budget finances home/night care and supported housing for vulnerable adults.
Most expenditure is done in partnership with the Probation Service, District & Borough
Councils and other partners. The extent to which additional savings can be found
within commissioned contracts will depend on a negotiation with those other partners,
so there is little scope to find savings in this area for next financial year. But some
reductions are proposed in the administration that supports the Partnership Board
(iii)
Service Support
The cost centre provides a range of support services to managers and service users
with staffing being the area where savings can be effected in the short term. It is likely
that about 20 posts will have to be deleted and there will be some redundancies as a
result. As a consequence there will be less support provided and work will be turned
around less quickly for example, financial assessments and benefits for service users.
The training budget will also be cut.
(iv)
Adults
Support to adults with physical, mental and learning disabilities. This is the area where
there is the greatest scope for significant savings on top of MFC for 11/12 budgets,
recognising that this will have an impact on front-line services. The following savings
proposals have been put forward, albeit with the aim to scope the possibility of extra
contributions from the PCT to minimise the potential impact:
•
Reducing the level of provision for simple aids for daily living to support people in
their homes. (BWG-7)
•
Rationalising the management structure that supports the Learning Disability
Day Services, and withdrawing the subsidy for transport and hot meals to the
centres. (BWG-8)
•
Physical Disabilities – there will be a re-organisation of provided services to
reflect the impact of personal budgets and external contract reviews.
•
Mental Health: subject to PCT agreement, rationalisation of services with a
single provider, reducing management and overheads.
•
Addictions saving: subject to PCT agreement, rationalisation of services with a
single provider reducing management and overheads.
(v)
Older People
A budget that has struggled to address rising demand, and already subject to a
commitment within the MFC programme to improve the efficiency and reduce the cost
of in-house Day Centre provision. The introduction of personal budgets provides the
opportunity to move to a more mixed-market for the provision of Day Centres, but this
is unlikely to release savings for 11/12 budgets. Given a clear local political steer not to
amend the FACS (Fair Access to Care Services) criteria that governs eligibility to the
service, the areas for potential savings are:
•
Withdrawing the subsidy for transport for those attending day centres for older
people. (BWG-9)
•
Reducing the number of day centres (including all service user groups). (BWG10)
Page 13 - Addressing the budget deficit : draft 2011-12 budget strategy, 2011-14 Medium
Term Financial Strategy and revised Corporate Plan aims and outcomes
(vi) Cultural Services
Incorporating all expenditure on Museums, Arts, Sports, Libraries, Archives (which is
subject to a Joint Agreement with the Borough of Poole and Bournemouth Borough
Council) and Adult Learning. Plans are already underway to ensure the Adult Learning
and School Libraries services will be at least cost-neutral, if not income generating.
Additional savings proposals include:
•
Reducing the number of staff supporting Museums, Arts and Sports grants, and
in the Dorset History Centre.
•
Reducing grants to Museums.
•
Reducing the opening hours of the Dorset History Centre
•
Given that maintenance of a branch network of 34 libraries is no longer
affordable, there is a proposal to retain a core Council-run service based on
accessibility criteria while maintaining a good geographical spread. Whilst we
can explore the possibility of transferring up to half of the current libraries stock
to communities to run, experience to date has indicated that this will be very
difficult to achieve in any realistic timescale. Unlikely to be a full-year saving as
proposal requires more detailed work (BWG-11)
(vii) Regulatory Services
Expenditure on the Registration service, Trading Standards, Emergency Planning,
Drug Action and Community Safety. The management of this area has already been
reduced through MFC. Additional savings proposals:
•
Reducing activity with partners to support Drug Action & Community Safety
initiatives
•
Reducing slightly the level of staff support to Emergency Planning activity, whilst
providing service required in advance of the Olympics. Savings proposals
assume continued levels of funding from District & Borough Councils for shared
resilience.
•
Closing two of the twelve Registrars Offices. Looking at opportunities to replace
the current Weymouth ceremony room when it closes in April 2011. BWG-12
•
Reducing the number of Trading Standards officers, with a potential impact on:
time taken to undertake food and product safety testing, investigations into
criminal matters and work to tackle rogue traders.
7.
Environment
7.1
The budgets for Highways, Dorset Passenger Transport and Waste are those that are
the most significant, with the majority of money spent on contracts and works and a
small percentage spent on staff. The Highways & Transportation service is already
subject to an MFC savings target of just over £1M, to be found through transforming
service delivery (Highways client, Dorset Works Organisation, and the Dorset
Engineering Consultancy). There is a strong argument to protect the Waste budget in
order not to jeopardise the Dorset Waste Partnership that will deliver a better and more
efficient service in future years.
7.2
The Budget Working Group considered proposals for a significant level of savings to
be found within Dorset Passenger Transport (approximately £1.65M) based on
assumptions by Environment Directorate about reducing the levels of transport
provided to Childrens Services. Discussions with Children’s Services would suggest
that this level of savings will be difficult to achieve as many of the services are already
operating at the statutory minimum. Therefore, whilst the savings targets for
Environment Directorate remain at the same levels agreed by the Budget Working
Group, significant additional work has been requested to identify realistic proposals for
where these might be found.
Page 14 - Addressing the budget deficit : draft 2011-12 budget strategy, 2011-14 Medium
Term Financial Strategy and revised Corporate Plan aims and outcomes
(i)
Highways & Transportation
Maintaining the roads in order to support sustainable travel and provide reliable
journey times will be a challenge at reduced budgets. At this point it is considered that
externalising parts or all of the service would be costly and unlikely to deliver the short
term savings required. Savings proposals therefore focus on working with communities
to provide some services, which might have the twin benefits of cost savings for the
authority and a more responsive more local service. Proposed savings:
•
Transferring responsibility for amenity planting and grass cutting to
District/Borough Councils as in other 2 tier authorities (subject to legal advice)
•
Reducing routine maintenance on parts of the road network that are least used
(e.g. cul de sacs, back lanes and duplicate routes); (BWG-13)
•
Moving to part-night street light burning in urban and rural residential areas (may
prove difficult to make saving within 2011/12). (BWG-17)
•
Transferring responsibility for School Crossing Patrols in areas of low risk to
community/school volunteers in line with practice elsewhere. (BWG-18)
•
Road safety - focusing expenditure on the 'No Excuse' campaign and reducing
Dorset Road Safe Partnership funding in line with government cuts of 28%
•
Ceasing advertisements of temporary traffic regulation orders in the paper
•
Reducing the number of staff working on operations, strategy, business support,
communications and dealing with enquiries and complaints
(ii)
Waste Management
No additional savings proposals to those already identified by the Dorset Waste
Partnership project to be pursued. The base budget ought, however, to be adjusted to
better reflect actual spend (ie reducing by the predicted £250,000 underspend) rather
than the sums reflected in the waste partnership business plan.
(iii)
Planning
Incorporating economic development; environment; Olympics; research and
information (including GIS); statutory planning and transport planning. Uncertainties
around the role of county councils in the new planning system, and whether a Local
Enterprise Partnership will be agreed suggest further savings to those set out may be
possible, depending on the conclusions on these issues. Exploration of options for
joint working with Bournemouth, Poole and/or Hampshire County Council might also
yield savings in outer years. But for 2011/12 budgets therefore the proposed savings
limited to:
•
Ending staff support to tourism (albeit with the continued contractual obligation to
the Destination Dorset website); (BWG-14)
•
Restructure and reduce the planning and transport groups
•
Reducing capacity to support and match-fund economic development projects;
•
Discontinuing membership of the Assembly of European Regions;
•
Reducing grants provided to support delivery of the World Heritage Site and
Area of Outstanding National Beauty management plans;
•
Reducing capacity to influence some national research streams and publish
Research & Information data and advice
•
Stopping support to District & Borough Councils on affordable housing issues
(iv)
Property Management
Supports the delivery of the capital programme, manages and delivers the repair and
maintenance programme, and provides advice on property assets to the whole
authority. The Division is leading much of the MFC work to reduce the property
portfolio in order to address the maintenance backlog (£41 M) and the shortfall in
repairs and maintenance funding (£2 M per annum). If the capital programme is
Page 15 - Addressing the budget deficit : draft 2011-12 budget strategy, 2011-14 Medium
Term Financial Strategy and revised Corporate Plan aims and outcomes
reduced as anticipated through the MFC programme, this ought to lead to reduced
workloads for this division in time. Savings proposals therefore include:
•
Reducing the number of staff, at both management and maintenance levels (to
be managed predominantly through existing vacancies/future planned
retirements)
•
Losing expertise for Rating, to use external consultants when required (mainly
needed on a 5 yearly cycle)
•
Reducing the capacity to respond as quickly to corporate property prioritise,
including potentially the MFC Assets & Workstyle package;
•
Increasing the potential for earned income, including income from County Farms.
(v)
Countryside & Business Development
A programme to maximise countryside assets is underway that will help to generate
income in 2011/12 and beyond. A review of the nature and extent of future County
Council support to countryside development will be undertaken. For 2011/12 budgets,
additional savings opportunities proposed are:
•
Generating further income from the Countryside service asset.
•
Making greater use of volunteers for maintaining rights of way.
•
Reducing support services.
•
Reducing the maintenance budget for improvements carried out by external
contractors.
8.
Corporate Resources
8.1
The Directorate was the focus for savings under the Fit for the Future programme, and
HR & ICT functions were configured in terms of the minimum resource viable once DES
was implemented. Within the MFC programme a further 15% of the budget has been
earmarked for further savings. Making any additional savings has proven difficult. The
aim must be to retain sufficient capacity to meet the demand from front line professional
workers for support services and expert advice required for basic financial, HR, legal,
ICT and procurement standards. In-house expertise has been market tested in terms of
unit costs, and there are diseconomies for the County Council if the use of external
capacity tips from addressing occasional peaks in workloads to a regular practice.
8.2
The proposed additional savings have therefore focused on reducing the whole authority
communications and customer service resource (which represents 13% of the
directorate budget), in the recognition of a Meeting Future Challenges additional target of
saving £100,000 per annum from communications capacity and budgets in services
other than Corporate Resources. Overall, the savings would require:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Restructuring of the Communications & Customer Service Unit with reductions of
8 posts
Further restructuring within Financial Services and reducing the level of work
commissioned from the South West Audit Partnership by 10%
Reducing consultancy expenditure allocated to support delivery of the Meeting
Future Challenges programme
Restructuring Legal Services to create three specialist teams, thereby releasing
a locum contract and increasing the potential for income generation
Seeking to increase income generated by our Contact Centre, Dorset Direct (the
first point of customer contact for many services in the County Council), and
reducing the opening hours to 8.30am to 5.30pm
Further reducing staff and purchasing budgets in ICT and HR (to a minimum
core) in addition to reductions already proposed through MFC
Page 16 - Addressing the budget deficit : draft 2011-12 budget strategy, 2011-14 Medium
Term Financial Strategy and revised Corporate Plan aims and outcomes
9.
Chief Executive’s Office and associated budgets
9.1
A number of coalition government policy announcements have changed the nature of
the work undertaken within the Chief Executive’s Office:
•
•
•
9.2
(i)
(ii)
the burden of inspection has been lifted with the abolition of the Comprehensive
Area Assessment and Audit Commission;
the Local Area Assessment reporting framework has been abolished, and
requirements to report to the National Indicator set are to be scaled back.
prescription of Local Strategic Partnership and Community Planning structures is
unlikely to be a feature of future legislation.
The Chief Executive’s Office budget includes provision for: salaries, consultation and
communications, consultancies, the community and voluntary sector and Parish and
Town Councils. Given the political changes outlined above, it is proposed that savings
be found through:
reducing the number of staff that work to support community planning, policy and
performance management; (BWG-16)
reducing expenditure on the Staff Survey, Your Dorset and Citizens Panels and
consultancies.
This should allow the Office to protect the financial support provided by the County
Council to build the capacity of the community and voluntary sector and Parish and
Town Councils at similar levels to previous years (£600,000 p/a), which would be
provided under a new and more transparent ‘Communities Fund’ arrangement
10.
Overarching issues
10.1 Within the gross savings of £10.2M in 2011-12 arising from the MFC programme,
around £6.1M is due to savings across all Directorates. These include:
•
The impact of a pay freeze in 2010-11 and 2011-12 (£3.6M).
•
Changes to pay, terms and conditions of staff with effect from 2012-13.
•
Reduction in the multiplier applied to actual pay due on redundancy from 2.5 to
1.75 from 1 April 2011 with potential further reductions being explored.
•
Savings from the Assets and Workstyle Project including those arising from a
25% reduction in the size of the Council’s property estate and savings in capital
financing charges from a £15M reduction in the Capital Programme.
10.2 Insofar as these overarching savings affect the 2011-12 budget, the savings have
been apportioned across services. Savings in 2012-13 and beyond have been
incorporated in the provisional budgets for 2012-13 and 2013-14.
10.3 Consideration has already been given to risks arising from the Budget Working Group
proposals but, as implementation plans are developed, further thought will be given to
risks. These include the potential for consequential costs that exceed savings made,
legal challenges, financial liabilities or impact on the Council’s reputation.
10.4 Some additional temporary resource in HR may be needed to facilitate staff
restructuring. It is intended to meet this cost from central contingency.
10.5 Application will be made for central government support towards the capitalisation of
redundancy costs.
Page 17 - Addressing the budget deficit : draft 2011-12 budget strategy, 2011-14 Medium
Term Financial Strategy and revised Corporate Plan aims and outcomes
11.
Council Tax
11.1 The MTFS included a notional increase in resources from a 2.5% increase in Council
Tax in 2011-12. In the Spending Review, the government signalled its intention to
make available a special Council Tax Freeze grant of up to 2.5% of the relevant tax
base in order to enable any prospective increases in Council Tax up to that level in
2011-12 to be set at zero. For those authorities that choose not to take up this grant
normal capping rules will apply in 2011-12. Subject to enactment of the Localism Bill
there is likely to be provision which in future years will require councils to hold a
referendum where increases in Council Tax are deemed to be excessive. Criteria for
determining excessive Council Tax levels would appear in future grant settlement.
11.2 The Council is asked to confirm that planning for the 2011-12 budget should proceed
on the basis of a freeze in the rate of Council Tax with a planned increase of 2.5% in
each of the following two years.
12.
Next steps
12.1 Businesses and communities are to be consulted on the proposals in this report and
the Meeting Future Challenges programme throughout December:
•
•
•
•
Business consultation on the budget and implications for supporting the local
infrastructure (Statutory Duty, 1- 15 December 2010);
Consultation with Dorset Community Action on local infrastructure and the
delivery of services (1- 15 December 2010);
The Citizens’ Panel and Town and Parish Councils to be consulted on priority
proposals, with the theme of community involvement in delivery of local services
(responsibility under Town and Parish Charter, 15 December- 1 January 2011);
Citizens’ Panel 23 will focus on some specific proposals and the revised
Corporate Plan (10 January 2011- end February 2011);
12.2 The consultation questions will follow the theme of community involvement but will also
address key savings proposals. They will not aim to measure the popularity of
proposals, given the reality of the budget pressures and the need to make cuts, but
they will instead focus on information needed to ensure implementation is successful.
The emphasis is to inform those decisions which: impact on the wider local community
(as well as specific service users); and which require input or a steer from local people
as to how to implement and manage the proposals. Community Overview Committee
members will be given sight of the questionnaire as far in advance of its circulation as
is possible, and it will be discussed in parallel with this paper at the 15 December
meeting.
12.3 In addition to these surveys an Equality Impact Assessment on the whole budget will
be prepared with relevant stakeholders through a meeting of the Forum for Equality &
Diversity in late January. Results from this, and the surveys, will be made available to
inform Cabinet discussion of the proposed revisions to the priorities and outcomes in
the final Corporate Plan and finalised budget headings for the 2011/12 budgets on 2
February 2011.
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Term Financial Strategy and revised Corporate Plan aims and outcomes
12.4 In order to maximise the savings in 2011-12, the Cabinet are asked to agree that, for
those areas of saving not requiring a change of policy steps be taken to progress
these immediately with a view to implementation from the beginning of the financial
year.
David Jenkins
Chief Executive
December 2010
Paul Kent
Chief Financial Officer
APPENDIX 1
POLICY CHANGES ARISING FROM BUDGET WORKING GROUP & MFC SAVINGS PROPOSALS REQUIRING FULL COUNCIL APPROVAL
The following table sets out where officers believe the policy changes required by the savings proposals need Full Council approval.
It covers both Budget Working Group decisions (those with references BWG-xxx) and MFC proposals (those with references CS-xxx, AS-xxx,
EN-xxx, CR-xxx and OV-xxx)
The columns show the estimated savings in 2011-12 and the saving in a full year.
To guide decisions about whether proposals require approval of Full Council, officers have referred to Article 4 of the Constitution, the relevant
extract of which is reproduced here:
4.1.1 Policy Framework. The Policy Framework means the following Plans and Strategies:4.1.1.1 those required by the Local Authorities (Functions and Responsibilities) (England) Regulations 2000 to be adopted by the Council
• Children and Young People’s Plan;
• Community Strategy;
• Crime and Disorder Reduction Strategy;
• Local Transport Plan;
• Plans and strategies which together comprise the Development Plan (i.e. the Structure Plan, the Waste Local Plan, the Minerals Local Plan);
• Youth Justice Plan
4.1.1.2 those other plans and strategies which government guidance recommends should be adopted by the County Council as part of the policy
framework and others which the County Council has decided to include:• arrangements for admission to maintained schools of which the authority are the admission authority;
• Economic Development Plan;
• Lifelong Learning Development Plan (Adult Learning Plan);
• The Dorset Waste Strategy;
• Food Law Enforcement Service Plan;
• Local Cultural Strategy;
• Capital Programme;
• Treasury Management Policy Statement
(Amended July 2003 and September 2005)
19
Reference
Savings proposal
2011-12
£000
Full
Year
£000
17
17
35
35
100
100
650
650
64.3
193
40
40
N/A
250
145
145
483
483
73
73
Children’s
BWG-1
Reducing the service to adopted adults seeking contact with birth relatives, support and requests for
assessment for step-parent adoption
BWG-2
Continuing the policy of reduced levels of loyalty payments for foster carers
BWG-3
BWG-4
Reducing the range of support services provided to families with children experiencing difficulties, and
making efficiencies in the management structure that supports this service
Reducing provision of careers advice and support to 16-19 years to find employment or training (current
provision c. £2.8M met by Connexions grant)
CS-004
Restructure of Dorset Music Service – reduce/eliminate net operating costs/increase income
CS-006
Youth Offending Team - Review of funding and services
CS-025
Youth Service - Redesign Youth Provision
Adult and Community
BWG-7
Reducing the level of provision for simple aids for daily living to support people in their homes
BWG-8
Withdrawing the subsidy for transport and hot meals to Learning and Disability Day Centres
BWG-9
Withdrawing the subsidy for transport for Day Centres for Older People
20
BWG-10/
AS-002
BWG-11/
AS-006
Reducing the number of day centres (including all service user groups)
Stopping expenditure on a number of libraries whilst maintaining a good geographical spread.
BWG-12
Closing two of the twelve Registrars Offices
AS-004
Reduction in public library service books and materials
AS-019
AS-020
AS-021
Transforming service and service procurement to achieve greater value for money in contracts and service
purchasing by improving purchasing power and market development, meeting the demands of personal
budgets.
Joining management structures and service delivery buildings with Health to provide connected health and
social care services.
Re-ablement service covering whole of Dorset.
861.6
861.6
417.3
578.3
24
24
143
143
1,547
4,200
N/A
411
N/A
1,600
770
770
40
40
50
150
80
200
Environment
BWG-13
Reducing routine maintenance on the 5 to 7% of the road network that is least used (e.g. rural cul de sacs,
back lanes and duplicate routes)
BWG-14 /
EN-019
Ending tourism operation (albeit with the continued contractual obligation to the Destination Dorset website)
BWG-17
Moving to part night street light burning in urban and rural residential areas
BWG-18
School Crossing Patrols. Transferring responsibility to community/school volunteers
Corporate Resources
OV-013
Revise redundancy policy to give flexibility and savings. Note this is an enabler that will reduce by 50% the
cost of redundancy payments. Saving depends on the number of redundancies. (Approved by Staffing
Committee)
21
OV-032
Suspend salary increments for a fixed period commencing 2012-13. (Approved by Staffing Committee)
OV-045
Review working time arrangements and policy relating to leave and enhancements. Note savings available
will only be clear when firm proposals are developed (negotiations will need to follow with Trade unions).
OV-051
Close the subsidised Lease Car Scheme to all employees.
0
1,800
TBA
TBA
5.6
600
190
190
Chief Executive’s Office and associated budgets
BWG-16
Changing the way the County Council supports community planning
22
APPENDIX 2
ALIGNING THE CORPORATE PLAN AND BUDGET BOOKS
The Spending Review published in October 2010 indicated that the level of Central Government support to Dorset County Council will reduce
by about 28% over the next four years. A revised Corporate Plan is therefore being prepared that will set out how we will manage this reduction
plus other costs pressures as a result of changes such as the growth in ageing population, and a programme of capital investments.
A significant amount of this savings requirement (£27m) is ‘frontloaded’, i.e. needs to be achieved by the middle of 2011. The new Corporate
Plan needs to recognise this factor, as well as setting out the agenda for the County Council to achieve across the three years of the Authority’s
Medium Term Financial Strategy
In order to meet this challenging financial climate, the new Corporate Plan needs to demonstrate a significant break with the past. The era of
the Council providing services alone and ‘to’ the public is over. A new culture and creative way of working is essential – with significantly-less
resource – that trusts, empowers and enables local communities to take control of their own futures.
The Corporate Plan will therefore focus on how the Authority will:
ƒ
make savings
ƒ
protect the vulnerable
ƒ
invest in priority services
ƒ
help communities to help themselves.
In order to be as transparent as possible, the aim is to align all expenditure within the budget to a set of outcomes that will be used to hold the
Council to account. These outcomes will be regularly reported against to Committees and the public through the Council’s website. This will be
the first time that the County Council has sought to encompass in a single document its business planning and budgetary processes.
Set out below is the first attempt at drafting outcomes against all expenditure. It is a draft that will be used as the basis for consultation. In due
course, it is proposed that beneath the level of ‘outcomes’ a series of ‘Actions’ will be proposed, that will provide even greater potential for
transparency and accountability.
These outcomes and actions will be published in a new Corporate Plan for 2011-14, to be published alongside the Budget Strategy and
Medium-Term Financial Strategy in March 2011, and will set out a comprehensive plan for all that the County Council will continue to provide in
these times of austerity.
23
Draft Combined Corporate and Budget Plan
Corporate Plan 2011/12
Medium Term Financial Plan 2011/12
Service
Outcome
Original
budget for
2011/12 (£k)
(before
savings)
Savings agreed
Meeting
Future
challenges
saving (£k)
Budget
Working
Group
savings (£k)
Draft budget
for 2011/12
(£k) (after
savings)
Aim 1 - Protect and enrich the health and well-being of Dorset's most vulnerable adults (Adult & Community Services)
1
Provide housing related support to fewer people at a lower cost, reducing carers' support and grants within
learning disability and mental health services.
Adult Services Strategic Commissioning
and Service Development
2
Provide essential administrative, business, planning and performance support to Adult and Community
Services managers and service users (e.g. financial assessments and benefits advice) at a reduced cost.
A&CS Service Support
3
Provide community care services to the most vulnerable adults in Dorset, whilst reducing spending on
management, transport, catering, contracts and day centres.
Community Care - Adults
4
Transform older people's social care services in Dorset to promote independence, reablement and
intermediate care at home and avoid acute and emergency services wherever possible, reducing spending on Community Care - Older People
management, transport, catering, equipment and day centres.
5
Provide a reduced cost County Archives service.
6
7
13,329.1
(2.5)
(972.9)
12,353.7
7,404.5
(64.5)
(848.0)
6,492.0
41,307.4
(913.3)
(2,608.9)
37,785.2
53,938.3
(1,278.5)
(573.0)
52,086.8
Cultural Services - Archives
390.8
(5.3)
(79.0)
306.5
Support museums in Dorset at less cost.
Cultural Services - Museums
280.3
(29.3)
(32.3)
218.7
Raise basic skills levels of adults in Dorset and provide learning opportunities through a self-financing adult
learning service.
Dorset Adult Learning
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
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1
Draft Combined Corporate and Budget Plan
Corporate Plan 2011/12
Medium Term Financial Plan 2011/12
Service
Outcome
8
Support creative arts projects in Dorset's communities, whilst spending less overall.
Arts
9
Provide a lower cost library service, with fewer library facilities (approximately half) located in all main centres
Libraries
of population and in some towns.
10 Maintain existing levels of school library provision.
School Libraries
11 Support and encourage people to participate in sport at a reduced cost.
Sports
Original
budget for
2011/12 (£k)
(before
savings)
Savings agreed
Meeting
Future
challenges
saving (£k)
Budget
Working
Group
savings (£k)
Draft budget
for 2011/12
(£k) (after
savings)
267.8
(8.2)
(33.7)
225.9
5,437.4
(195.2)
(417.3)
4,824.9
(16.8)
0.0
0.0
(16.8)
99.0
(4.7)
(12.3)
82.0
12
Support individuals and communities to reduce crime and the fear of crime and work with partners to provide
effective drug and alcohol treatment.
Drug Action & Community Safety Team
808.7
(13.7)
(103.2)
691.8
13
Be prepared to respond quickly and effectively to major incidents and civil emergencies that affect Dorset at
less cost.
Emergency Planning
306.6
(2.0)
(39.9)
264.7
14
Register births, deaths, marriages and civil partnerships, generating more income from celebratory services to
Registrars Service
reduce overall costs.
176.7
(3.1)
(24.0)
149.6
1,508.3
(10.7)
(181.5)
1,316.1
15 Provide a fair and safe trading environment for consumers and businesses, whilst spending less overall.
Trading Standards
Aim 2 - Support and Encourage Dorset's children and young people and protect the most vulnerable (Children's Services)
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2
Draft Combined Corporate and Budget Plan
Corporate Plan 2011/12
Medium Term Financial Plan 2011/12
Service
Outcome
Original
budget for
2011/12 (£k)
(before
savings)
Savings agreed
Meeting
Future
challenges
saving (£k)
Budget
Working
Group
savings (£k)
Draft budget
for 2011/12
(£k) (after
savings)
16
Adolescent Support Service
300.7
(0.3)
0.0
300.4
17
C & F Management
957.2
(23.9)
0.0
933.3
Children's Field Social Work
9,515.8
(190.0)
(17.0)
9,308.8
19
Horizon
1,019.7
(95.6)
(100.0)
824.1
20
Other C & F Services
1,207.3
(1.1)
(92.0)
1,114.2
21
Other Services For Children Who Are
Disabled
592.8
(0.1)
0.0
592.7
4,326.5
(40.7)
(48.0)
4,237.8
18
*Support and protect the most vulnerable children and young people, including those in care, care leavers,
those at risk of harm and those with complex needs.
22
Support children and adults through fostering and adoption processes to provide children in care with a
secure and positive home life
Fostering & Adoption
23
Provide lower cost early intervention and prevention services to improve the lives of vulnerable children and
young people and close the gap between them and their peers.
Preventive & Support Services
311.2
(0.1)
0.0
311.1
24
Learning & Development
354.2
(50.0)
0.0
304.2
25
CS/AS Shared Costs
1,657.1
0.0
0.0
1,657.1
26
Children's Reserve
109.2
0.0
0.0
109.2
Directorate Support
249.6
(4.5)
0.0
245.1
27
Provide essential financial, administrative and business support to Children's Services at a reduced cost.
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3
Draft Combined Corporate and Budget Plan
Corporate Plan 2011/12
Medium Term Financial Plan 2011/12
Service
Outcome
Original
budget for
2011/12 (£k)
(before
savings)
Savings agreed
Meeting
Future
challenges
saving (£k)
Budget
Working
Group
savings (£k)
Draft budget
for 2011/12
(£k) (after
savings)
28
Director's Office
213.9
(1.1)
(63.4)
149.4
29
HE/FE Residuals
132.0
0.0
0.0
132.0
31
Strategic & Schools Finance
111.0
0.0
0.0
111.0
32
Inclusion Management
121.4
(0.2)
0.0
121.2
33
Independent - Homes for Children with a
disability
1,264.4
0.0
0.0
1,264.4
34
In-house - Homes for Children with a
Disability
1,006.1
(4.4)
0.0
1,001.7
Independent - Community Homes for
Children
1,489.2
0.0
0.0
1,489.2
36
In-house - Community Homes for Children
1,263.4
(13.0)
0.0
1,250.4
37
Joint Commissioning Teams
582.2
(29.8)
(30.5)
521.9
38
Commissioned Services
585.4
(0.2)
0.0
585.2
39
Planning & Performance
421.0
(1.3)
0.0
419.7
40 Work with the NHS and other partners to jointly plan and pay for services to ensure value for money and
better outcomes for children and young people.
Children's Fund
309.3
0.0
(309.3)
0.0
Work in partnership with other sectors to provide and manage community homes for children in the County
35 Council's care.
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Draft Combined Corporate and Budget Plan
Corporate Plan 2011/12
Medium Term Financial Plan 2011/12
Service
Outcome
42
Bournemouth University Residuals
43
Schools PRC
44
Joint Provision
45 Support young people to find suitable education, employment or training in Dorset
Connexions
Original
budget for
2011/12 (£k)
(before
savings)
Savings agreed
Meeting
Future
challenges
saving (£k)
Budget
Working
Group
savings (£k)
Draft budget
for 2011/12
(£k) (after
savings)
1.9
0.0
0.0
1.9
1,806.7
0.0
(400.0)
1,406.7
436.8
0.0
0.0
436.8
2,642.0
(100.0)
(798.0)
1,744.0
46
Reduce levels of teenage pregnancies, focusing on the twelve wards across Dorset where rates are amongst
the highest 20% in England
Teenage Pregnancy
156.1
(0.3)
0.0
155.8
48
Reduce, maintain and provide new County Council's property assets to reduce costs and ensure our public
buildings provide value for money (cross-cutting outcome)
Premises
375.9
(1.4)
0.0
374.5
50
Community Services
29.9
(0.1)
0.0
29.8
51
Pupil Support
53.0
(0.2)
(52.8)
0.0
52
Hubs & Locality Coordinator Management
610.3
(24.0)
(31.6)
554.8
53
Student Support
286.1
(1.4)
(69.0)
215.7
SureStart
(88.0)
(46.2)
0.0
(134.2)
Provide lower cost early intervention and prevention services to improve the lives of vulnerable children and
young people.
54
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Draft Combined Corporate and Budget Plan
Corporate Plan 2011/12
Medium Term Financial Plan 2011/12
Service
Outcome
55
Education, Social Work & Attendance
57
Extended Schools ABG
58
Provide a reduced cost Youth Service that supports young people aged 12-21 in their transition from
childhood to responsible adulthood
Youth Service
Original
budget for
2011/12 (£k)
(before
savings)
Savings agreed
Meeting
Future
challenges
saving (£k)
Budget
Working
Group
savings (£k)
Draft budget
for 2011/12
(£k) (after
savings)
706.2
(1.7)
0.0
704.5
(1.1)
0.0
(80.3)
(81.4)
2,509.3
(67.6)
0.0
2,441.7
556.7
0.0
0.0
556.7
56.1
(18.2)
0.0
37.9
2,229.4
(3.1)
(775.3)
1,451.0
59
Advisory & Inspection Services
60
Centre For Education Technology
61
Ex Stds Fund LAA Grant
62
Governor Services
63.3
(5.0)
0.0
58.3
Redesign school improvement services in line with government policy, ensuring that the Council's support
products provide value for money and support high standards of educational attainment and work towards
63 closing the gap in educational attainment.
PSI Management
368.6
(26.9)
(63.6)
278.1
64
Pupil Support
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
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Draft Combined Corporate and Budget Plan
Corporate Plan 2011/12
Medium Term Financial Plan 2011/12
Service
Outcome
65
Raising Achievement Plan
66
Original
budget for
2011/12 (£k)
(before
savings)
Savings agreed
Meeting
Future
challenges
saving (£k)
Budget
Working
Group
savings (£k)
Draft budget
for 2011/12
(£k) (after
savings)
1,316.7
(26.0)
(150.0)
1,140.7
Standards Fund
501.6
0.0
(300.0)
201.6
Music Service
227.2
(64.3)
0.0
162.9
68
Outdoor Education Service
254.7
(72.3)
0.0
182.4
69
SEN team
767.4
(6.2)
(75.0)
686.2
56.5
(0.3)
0.0
56.2
1,102.3
(16.9)
0.0
1,085.4
Youth Offending Team
899.5
(44.9)
0.0
854.6
Capital & Performance
346.9
(1.0)
0.0
345.9
(133.6)
(1.4)
0.0
(135.0)
67
Create self-funding and sustainable music and outdoor education services that provide a wide range of extracurricular activities for children and young people.
*Provide statutory support to pupils aged 4-19 who have special educational needs to help them make the
most of their school life and maximise their achievements
70
72
SEN Parent Partnership
Provide an effective educational psychology service, working with families and schools to support the
development needs of children and young people
73 Work with partners to prevent young people offending and reduce rates of reoffending
Psychological Service
Aim 3 - Maintain and manage Dorset's natural and built environment (Environment)
74
75
Reduce, maintain and provide new County Council's property assets to reduce costs and ensure our public
Design
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Draft Combined Corporate and Budget Plan
Corporate Plan 2011/12
Medium Term Financial Plan 2011/12
Service
Outcome
Original
budget for
2011/12 (£k)
(before
savings)
Savings agreed
Meeting
Future
challenges
saving (£k)
Budget
Working
Group
savings (£k)
Draft budget
for 2011/12
(£k) (after
savings)
buildings provide value for money (cross-cutting outcome)
76
Programmes & Facilities
77
Valuation & Estates
79
80
Provide transport to children and adults with specific needs at the best price to enable them to access care
and education services and support public transport (cross-cutting outcome).
Maintain and manage Dorset's countryside sites and trails, generating income from key projects and
increasing levels of voluntary support.
Dorset Passenger Transport
Countryside Service
1,020.4
(3.6)
0.0
1,016.8
658.4
(1.0)
0.0
657.4
19,761.1
(38.1)
(1,614.0)
18,109.0
624.8
(54.2)
(106.0)
464.6
0.6
(0.6)
0.0
0.0
1,024.5
(85.4)
(62.7)
876.4
81
Heathlands
82
Business Support Unit
83
Strategic Projects
213.6
(1.6)
0.0
212.0
Systems & Service Improvement
745.2
(45.1)
0.0
700.1
85
Management & Shared Costs
225.0
(6.7)
(38.1)
180.2
86
Sustainability
107.0
(0.3)
(1.3)
105.4
87
Business Support
868.9
(10.1)
(422.3)
436.5
88
Planning
1,642.2
(61.6)
(199.7)
1,380.9
89 Improve Dorset's transportation infrastructure and ensure new development is delivered sustainably.
Research & Information
338.0
(9.0)
(43.2)
285.8
90
Research & Information including GIS
319.1
(0.3)
(43.4)
275.4
84
Provide essential administrative, business, planning and policy support to Environment Services at a reduced
cost.
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Draft Combined Corporate and Budget Plan
Corporate Plan 2011/12
Medium Term Financial Plan 2011/12
Service
Outcome
Original
budget for
2011/12 (£k)
(before
savings)
Savings agreed
Meeting
Future
challenges
saving (£k)
Budget
Working
Group
savings (£k)
Draft budget
for 2011/12
(£k) (after
savings)
91 Work constructively with Gypsies and Travellers by managing authorise and unauthorised encampments.
Gypsy & Traveller Services
127.9
(5.6)
(24.0)
98.3
92 Protect and maintain Dorset’s rights of way network and increase community involvement.
Rights of Way
810.4
(4.3)
(95.0)
711.1
County Farms
(435.8)
(2.4)
(51.5)
(489.7)
11,802.0
(336.6)
(1,537.5)
9,927.9
3,203.5
(157.0)
(576.0)
2,470.5
(5.7)
(1.3)
0.0
(7.0)
93
Manage County Farms to protect Dorset's rural economy and heritage and to generate income to reinvest in
our public services.
94
Highways Management
95
Traffic Group
96
Sign Shop
Manage the road network to ensure that all prioritised repairs and maintenance work is achieved at the lowest
possible cost to facilitate the safe movement of traffic including pedestrians.
97
Highways Maintenance
(154.3)
(27.7)
0.0
(182.0)
98
Grounds Maintenance
(35.9)
(12.1)
0.0
(48.0)
99
DEC
(96.4)
(14.7)
0.0
(111.1)
100 To administer the concessionary fares scheme to provide free travel to eligible passengers.
Concessionary Fares - budget to be
confirmed.
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
3,614.9
0.0
(50.0)
3,564.9
101
Work in partnership with the private sector to upgrade street lighting in Dorset, to improve lighting quality and
reduce energy costs.
Street Lighting
102
Support the local economy by delivering the Bournemouth, Dorset and Poole Multi-Area Agreement and
making the most of the 2012 Games.
Economic Development etc
481.7
(130.5)
(36.8)
314.4
103 Protect and conserve the natural and built environment across the County.
Environment Policy
721.7
(9.0)
(99.3)
613.4
104
Closed Landfill Sites
91.9
0.0
0.0
91.9
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Draft Combined Corporate and Budget Plan
Corporate Plan 2011/12
Medium Term Financial Plan 2011/12
Service
Outcome
Original
budget for
2011/12 (£k)
(before
savings)
Savings agreed
Meeting
Future
challenges
saving (£k)
Budget
Working
Group
savings (£k)
Draft budget
for 2011/12
(£k) (after
savings)
105
Household Recycling Centres
3,180.5
0.0
0.0
3,180.5
106 Reduce the amount of waste that goes to landfill and work in partnership with others to reduce the overall
costs of waste management in the county.
Recycling
3,228.0
(95.9)
0.0
3,132.1
107
Transfer Stations
500.6
(0.2)
0.0
500.4
108
Other Waste Categories
9,517.6
(98.5)
(250.0)
9,169.1
109 Maintain the Council's fleet of vehicles, ensuring they are as economical and environmental as possible.
Vehicle Maintenance
(25.4)
(4.0)
0.0
(29.4)
(1,468.2)
(100.0)
0.0
(1,568.2)
(12.8)
(72.2)
0.0
(85.0)
1,212.8
(136.5)
(43.0)
1,033.3
783.2
(216.8)
(50.0)
516.4
Aim 4 - Develop value for money services that meet the challenges we face (Corporate Resources)
110
Reduce, maintain and provide new County Council's property assets to reduce costs and ensure our public
buildings provide value for money (cross-cutting outcome)
County Buildings
111 Keep essential printing and publication costs as low as possible.
Design & Print
112 Support elected County Councillors in their democratic role and provide advice on key legal matters.
Legal & Democratic Services
113
Transform the way we work and purchase goods and services as an organisation to save money and improve
Procurement & Business Efficiency
the quality of what we do.
114
Strategic & Corporate Support
530.3
(8.9)
(50.0)
471.4
115
Coroners
754.4
(0.2)
0.0
754.2
Records Management Unit
301.0
(21.4)
0.0
279.6
Corporate & Democratic Core
983.5
(19.7)
0.0
963.8
116
117
*Provide essential business and administrative support to the County Council at a reduced cost.
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Draft Combined Corporate and Budget Plan
Corporate Plan 2011/12
Medium Term Financial Plan 2011/12
Service
Outcome
Original
budget for
2011/12 (£k)
(before
savings)
Savings agreed
Meeting
Future
challenges
saving (£k)
Budget
Working
Group
savings (£k)
Draft budget
for 2011/12
(£k) (after
savings)
121
External Customers
(148.0)
(26.8)
0.0
(174.8)
122
Management
(325.4)
(2.0)
0.0
(327.4)
520.3
(8.1)
(176.0)
336.2
93.7
(0.4)
0.0
93.3
123
*Communicate with, involve and consult Dorset's communities on important local issues and projects, whilst
spending less overall
Communications & Consultation
124
Dorset For You
125 Provide our customers with a high quality of service.
Customer Service Unit
1,595.8
(70.5)
(124.0)
1,401.3
126 Rise to the financial challenges facing the Council and deliver a balanced budget.
Financial Services
3,013.4
(113.9)
(200.0)
2,699.5
127
IT General
1,082.7
(107.6)
(250.0)
725.1
128
BRM
1,916.1
(41.5)
0.0
1,874.6
129
S&C
680.5
(1.4)
0.0
679.1
1,212.8
(2.5)
0.0
1,210.3
4.5
(0.4)
0.0
4.1
130
Make the best use of ICT to achieve savings and ensure that Council services are delivered effectively.
Service Ops
131
IT Maintenance
132
Telecomms
101.6
0.0
0.0
101.6
133
Broadband
455.0
0.0
0.0
455.0
Shared Services
1,614.1
(46.3)
0.0
1,567.8
Specialist Services
1,726.7
(10.8)
(40.0)
1,675.9
134
Reduce the numbers of staff employed by the County Council, ensuring that remaining staff are effectively
supported to provide a high quality service to the public.
135
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Draft Combined Corporate and Budget Plan
Corporate Plan 2011/12
Medium Term Financial Plan 2011/12
Service
Outcome
Original
budget for
2011/12 (£k)
(before
savings)
Savings agreed
Meeting
Future
challenges
saving (£k)
Budget
Working
Group
savings (£k)
Draft budget
for 2011/12
(£k) (after
savings)
Aim 4 - Develop value for money services that meet the challenges we face (Chief Executive's Office)
136
Chief Executive
958.1
(56.5)
(239.3)
662.3
137 Develop policies that help improve Dorset County Council's performance.
Corporate Management
896.2
(33.8)
(248.2)
614.2
138
Other Admin
1,070.6
0.0
0.0
1,070.6
Civil Society
1,101.6
(161.9)
(235.0)
704.7
39.2
(4.7)
0.0
34.5
140
Build infrastructure of civil society in Dorset (non governmental organisations, community groups, parish
Councils etc)
141
Surplus Land/Property
NB Excluding capital related savings
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