Executive Meeting 12 August 2014

MEDIUM TERM FINANCIAL PLAN (MTFP) 2015/16-2016/17 INVESTING IN STOCKPORT EXECUTIVE PROPOSALS

Report of the Leader of the Council and the Deputy Leader (Executive Councillor for

Corporate, Customer and Community Services)

1. INTRODUCTION AND PURPOSE OF REPORT

1.1. At its meeting in July the Executive accepted a Medium Term Financial Forecast that indicated a budget reduction requirement of 22.453m for 2015/16. Subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that were outlined to the Executive, that report also forecast a cumulative reduction requirement of 39.419m in 2016/17, rising to 64.5m by 2018/19.

1.2. In response to those forecasts, and in line with its previous deliberations and

statements of intent, the Executive agreed the strategic framework for Investing in Stockport (IIS), a single programme of sustainable growth and public service reform in the Borough over the medium term.

1.3. As indicated in the July report, and drawing on a range of work across the Council

and public service partners, the Executive can now bring forward a set of proposals for consideration, scrutiny and consultation. These proposals are in line with our strategic framework, and are grouped in the following way:

Contributes to Outcomes Ensuring

Investing in Stockport workstreams

Communitie

s in

Stockport a

re safe

and re

silie

nt

People th

at

need support

get it

People in

Stockport a

re

independent

Investing in prevention at a population level

Targeted prevention, Early Help and the Provision of Specialist Services

Stockport is

a

place people

want to

live

Stockport h

as a

thriv

ing economy

Alternative Service Delivery Models

Locality Operating Model

Accelerated Growth

All Cross-cutting

1.4. This report sets out the reforms proposed as part of the Investing in Stockport programme, and their potential for impact. Business cases for each proposal are available as background papers to this report, with each in turn being supported by an activity and impact schedule; a consultation plan and a draft Equalities Impact Assessment.

2. A SINGLE PROGRAMME OF GROWTH AND REFORM

2.1. The IIS strategic approach is markedly different to one that asks how best to reduce

spend within existing operating structures. Given the radical challenges we face, we are clear that the Council must plan to invest the considerable resources it will retain in future years in ways that deliver the best outcomes for the Borough. However, we must not lose sight of the fact that the scale of the resource reduction will have a significant impact on the level of public services within the Borough. We will seek to work with a wide range of organisations in the Borough in order to make best use of the resources available. In doing this, our aspiration is to create:

An outcome-focused Council

We will start and end with outcomes for citizens and communities and use them to define what the Council must do. The approach is focused on the Borough rather than only the Council.

A preventative Council

We will invest in services that prevent need from occurring or escalating, and track how these reduce demand for more costly reactive services.

A digital Council If a service can be delivered online we will design it in a way that people choose to access it online, and other channels will be strictly targeted.

A local Council

We will engage our staff, partners, residents and businesses in finding solutions to the issues they care about locally, and to the challenges we face, and we will encourage them to build on the Boroughs assets.

A council that makes targeted investments in the future

We will plan how to best invest and align the resources we will continue to have in support of key outcomes, but we will be able to explain the impact our plans will have.

We will consider all options for how the Council might fulfil its role in the future, and allow Councillors to take informed choices based on an objective assessment of the risks and rewards of each and of what the real need, rather than demand for action is.

2.2 In line with this approach, the business cases that support this report set out the

range of activity the Council having reformed its operations in the coming years will continue to undertake to help our borough become more economically active, our communities more resilient and individuals more independent. This is in no way intended to divert attention from what we must do to achieve these reforms, or from the impact they will have on current services; significant detail is included on both these issues within the business cases. It is instead an acknowledgement that, in most cases, the scale of the changes required are such that it is more transparent to describe the future delivery model than to solely relate future practice to current ways of working.

3. INDICATIVE BUDGET ALLOCATIONS 2015/16 2016/17

3.1 The Executive is keen to develop a two year budget plan which reflects the scale of the challenge we face and the need to implement some very radical modifications to service delivery models. The phasing of such changes and the associated levels of investment do not necessarily accord with the profile of the budget reduction

requirements contained in the MTFP forecasts. With this in mind the propositions and their business cases focus on establishing spending plans and levels within the overall budget for 2016/17, while at the same time seeking to maximise opportunities to reduce spend in 2015/16 and respond to that years very challenging forecast.

3.2 Based on the forecasts provided by the Corporate Director, Corporate and Support

Services we have sought to illustrate how a reduced cash limit could be invested across the IIS programme workstreams, thereby contributing to outcomes and helping us become the type of Council we need to be. The analysis summarised below and detailed in Appendix A begins with an allocation of the forecast baseline position for the 2015/16 cash limit (178m) and then indicates the investment levels required to support the proposed service models and arrangements contained in the business cases. A key element of the budget plan is the proposal to significantly extend the pooled budget arrangements with the NHS Stockport Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), using that mechanism to mitigate the impact of reducing the cash limit allocated to Health and Social Care related services. Further comment and details relating to the pooled budget are contained in paragraphs 3.8 to 3.12 below and in the relevant business cases.

IIS Workstream 2015/16 Base

Budget m

2015/16 Indicative Budget

m

2016/17 Indicative Budget

m

2015/16 Reduction

m

2016/17 Reduction

m

Pooled Budget Contribution

Investing in prevention at population level

17.00

15.80

14.60

1.20

2.40

Targeted prevention, early help and specialist services

68.50

60.20

50.90

8.30

17.60

Total Pooled Budget Contribution

85.50

76.00

65.50

9.50

20.00

Council Cash Limit

Investing in prevention at population level

25.00

23.00

20.00

2.00

5.00

Targeted prevention, early help and specialist services

6.00

5.50

5.00

0.50

1.00

Alternative service delivery models

21.00

19.52

17.94

1.48

3.06

Locality operating model

12.00

11.50

7.90

0.50

4.10

Accelerated growth 2.50 2.00 1.40 0.50 1.10

Cross cutting 26.00 25.00 22.50 1.00 3.50

Total Council cash Limit

92.50

86.52

74.74

5.98

17.76

Grand Total

178.00

162.52

140.24

15.48

37.76

3.3 At this stage of the exercise it can be seen that the indicative allocations exceed the

forecast cash limit resources by just under 1.7m in 2016/17, which represents significant progress towards meeting the two year budget target. However, the investment levels suggested for 2015/16 are some 7m higher than the forecast level of resources, reflecting the phasing challenge indicated in paragraph 3.1 above. Considerations and options in relation to this potential shortfall are discussed below.

3.4 Executive Councillors and senior officers are reviewing the profiling of the proposed

budget plans to identify where it may be possible to accelerate the delivery of reduced spending levels, i.e. by bringing forward some of the changes from 2016/17 to 2015/16. This may include re-phasing the implementation of projects aimed at achieving reductions in 2016/17 to earlier in 2015/16. Furthermore, options are being explored for making further one-off savings within the cash limit budgets of services prior to their reconfiguration in 2016/17. The results of these exercises will be made known by no later than the next Executive meeting.

3.5 In addition to the above the Executive is considering the use of one-off resources

from reserves and balances to support cash limits in 2015/16. In this regard the Executive is mindful of the 2014/15 first quarter budget position reported elsewhere on the agenda. This includes a forecast non-cash limit surplus of around 3m which, all other things being equal would flow into general balances. As this would bring the level of general balances up to just over 12m it is thought to be appropriate to consider making a contribution from general balances of up to 3m to support the MTFP in 2015/16.

3.6 The Executive and senior managers are also reviewing the various earmarked

reserves that have been established in previous years. While all the resources in reserves have been set aside for specific purposes there may be opportunities to reconsider the amounts required. Also, some of the expenditure to be financed from reserves is unlikely to be incurred during 2015/16 or 2016/17. It may be possible, therefore, to borrow funds from reserves for use in 2015/16 and then repay those amounts in 2016/17 and future years as required. Of course this would mean that additional one-off savings would have to be identified in those years, over and above the ongoing reductions identified in the MTFP forecasts. Again, the results of the Executives deliberations regarding the potential use of reserves and balances will be reported to members by no later than the next Executive meeting.

3.7 In the meantime, the Executive is asked to agree the indicative cash limit budget

allocations set out in paragraph 3.2 above and Appendix A.

Health and Social Care Pooled Budget

3.8 The Council has successfully operated a pooled budget with the NHS in Stockport for

a number of years (initially with the Primary Care trust (PCT), then with the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG). For 2014/15 the pooled budget stands at around 41m with the major items being learning disabilities (25.3m), non-acute services for older people (6m) and additionally from 1 April 2014, the NHS funding transfer received under S256 anticipated at 4.8m together with 1.1m BCF transfer. The commissioning and performance of integrated services using resources within the pool is overseen by the Health and Wellbeing Integrated Commissioning Board comprising three executive councillors and three representatives from the CCG Board.

3.9 The Investing in Stockport programme and indicative budget proposals include a

recommendation to increase significantly the size and scope of the pooled budget, and to use the development of a new model of integrated health and social care with the NHS to maximise the outcomes that can be achieved at a reduced level of investment. While agreement has been reached in principle the precise details of the pooled budget proposals are still being discussed and negotiated with the CCG.

3.10 The Executive is proposing that the entirety of the Adult Care Services and Health

and Wellbeing cash limit budgets is contributed to the pooled budget. As can be seen in the table in paragraph 3.2 above this contribution would be reduced from a base of 85.5m to 76m in 2015/16 (a reduction of 9.5m) and 65.5m in 2016/17 (a cumulative reduction of 20m). While still subject to further discussion and agreement it is anticipated that the CCG contributions in 2015/16 and 2016/17, including the Better Care Fund, could amount to around 56m, resulting in a potential total pooled budget of 132m in 2015/16 and 121m in 2016/17.

3.11 As indicated in Appendix A and the relevant business cases (summarised in section

4 below) it is initially proposed to reduce the level of spending within the pool by 3.4m in 2015/16 and 7.4m in 2016/17 in the following specific areas:

Prevention commissioning

Learning disability

Older people care management

Integration economies of scale / efficiency 3.12 A new model of integrated care, supported by investment from the Better Care Fund

will be implemented with aims which include the reduction of non-elective hospital admissions, with plans to deliver significant financial savings should the activity deflection targets be achieved and supported by the hospital sector. A proportion of these savings would need to be made available to balance the pooled budget. To the extent that does not prove possible, further reductions in spending would have to be made on services provided from within the pool (both Council and NHS). While there are risks and uncertainties associated with this approach, the Executive believes it represents the best way of investing the Councils health and social care resources in future years. A detailed report on the recommended pooled budget provisions for 2015/16 and 2016/17, including proposals for governance, risk sharing and integrated commissioning arrangements, will be submitted to the next Executive meeting. This will also incorporate details of how the Better Care Fund is to be utilised.

Risk and Investment

3.13 It has been evident for some time that the scale of the financial challenge we face

and the radical nature of the response required will heighten the risks associated with the MTFP and annual budget process. The Executive has made sure that the base budget is as robust as possible and that we have levels of reserves and balances which are able to both support the base budget and provide resources to help implement the programme of change necessary to re-base council spending at a significantly lower level. As the indicative budget plan is progressed it will be risk assessed, with the proposed budget for 2015/16 being subject to a formal risk assessment by the Corporate Director who will recommend the minimum level of balances he considers appropriate.

3.14 In particular, we have established an Investing in Stockport reserve, currently at

6.3m which will provide support to the Investing in Stockport programme alongside the more specific reserves held by portfolios. In addition to meeting the cost of redundancies, the IIS reserve will be available to invest in, for example, additional resources and technology to help drive forward the digital by design agenda and programme. In addition, there will be instances where specific proposals and projects require extra resources in relation to workforce development. There may also be times when there is a need to incur costs associated with the double running of current and new delivery models. As individual projects are taken forward any requests for support from the IIS reserve will be considered and approved by the Leader and Deputy Leader.

3.15 We will also be keen to take advantage of the resources and funding streams being

made available by government to invest in and support public service reform and transformation.

4. EXECUTIVE PROPOSALS

4.1. The Executive has sought to respond to the challenge of having greatly reduced resources and, therefore, significant future budget pressures, by developing a programme of investment propositions, the current position of which is set out in this report. A business case has been prepared in order to inform consultation on, and the further development of, each Executive proposal. This information is available in full as background papers to this report, and a copy is being provided to each Political Group Office for member scrutiny

4.2. The proposals have been formulated in accordance with the Investment in Stockport

framework agreed at the July Executive meeting as set out in paragraph 1.3 above. In this way the investment propositions and indicative budget allocations can be aligned to particular outcomes. Summaries of the proposals are included below as follows: Investing in prevention at a population level

Prevention Commissioning (pooled budget) (para 4.4)

Integrated prevention and safeguarding family services (para 4.7) Targeted prevention, Early Help and the Provision of Specialist Services

Learning disability review (pooled budget) (para 4.5)

Integrated health and social care (pooled budget) (para 4.6)

0-25 SEND reform (para 4.8)

Alternative Service Delivery Models

Leisure facilities (para 4.9)

Markets, museums and cultural activities (para 4.10)

SSK operating model (para 4.11)

Highways and engineering services (para 4.12)

New model for regulation (para 4.13)

Locality Operating Model (para 4.14) Accelerated Growth (para 4.15)

Cross Cutting

Information, advice and guidance (para 4.16)

Corporate and support services (para 4.17) 4.3 The level of detail in the business cases does vary according to the specific nature of

the proposals and the timing of the planned changes. Where the majority of the budget reductions are planned for 2016/17 the business cases may represent a direction of travel that will involve extensive engagement in preparation for the design and implementation of new models of delivery in 2016/17. Other areas have more pressing requirements for new arrangements in 2015/16; as appropriate these business cases will include details of proposed changes to staffing structures and third party contracts, and will include an assessment of the likely impact on customers, partners and other stakeholders.

Preventative Commissioning (Pooled Budget)

4.4 This project forms part of a strategic review of preventative commissioning in

Stockport and seeks to achieve a whole-system change in the way that preventative services are commissioned and provided. It will include the re- commissioning of some preventative services that are provided by a range of partners including the not for profit sector, voluntary and community organisations and NHS providers.

The Council will lead the development of a single, evidence based, integrated prevention strategy for people who are vulnerable or at risk. At its core this strategy will incorporate a number of the Councils statutory duties in respect of public health, adult social care, supported living and support to vulnerable children and their families. The strategy will focus on building community capacity, increasing personal and community resilience and supporting action to improve health and wellbeing across the community and for the individual. Over time, commissioning will need to move from its current, service specific approach to one that is outcomes led. In order to achieve this shift the Council will actively re-appraise the impact on outcomes of all preventive activity and will lead to a realignment of Public Health services and those currently managed in Adults and Childrens Social Care Services.

Learning Disability Review (Pooled Budget)

4.5 The vision is to ensure people with a learning disability are not excluded and

marginalised with regards to their health and social care needs. The aim is for the Council and its health and independent sector partners to work with people with learning disabilities and other key stakeholders, to ensure that people can be enabled to have equal access to the community, health services and local services tailored to meet often complex needs.

The promotion of person centred planning and support has made a significant contribution to the way people are supported, primarily as a result of individuals themselves saying what they want, how they want it and when they want it. The ambition is for services such as childrens social care, education, adult social care and providers, to streamline the system with the purpose of ensuring a more joined up approach to supporting people to maintain and maximise opportunities for independence.

Integrated Health and Social Care (Pooled Budget)

4.6 The vision is for an integrated and joined up service health and care service with one pathway into services wrapped around the individual. Building on the lessons from Stockport One the aim will be to have one assessment, one care record, one key worker and one integrated team of professionals from all backgrounds.

The model is predicated on integrated teams based around four General Practice locality hubs. These will form the focus for all general community health and social care services. The programme is currently developing the customer journey, pathways and locations for the services that form part of the hub as well as those linked and aligned to the hub. The ambition is that locality hubs will offer a broad range of services, including; community health and social care services, pro-active identification and management of people who are at high risk of readmission to hospital, rapid response, co-ordinated management of people with complex needs, information and advice, peer support, outpatient services, tests and investigations. The intention is to offer a comprehensive approach to the whole of the local population including the community and voluntary sector and access to universal services. As such self-care will be a fundamental principle.

Integrated Prevention and Safeguarding Family Services

4.7 The aim of the project is to establish an Integrated Prevention and Safeguarding

Children and Family Service that provides the highest quality support to Stockports most vulnerable children and families. The ambition is to redesign and align the current Childrens Social Care system with the Integrated Childrens Service. This will start with a pilot project in 2014/15 to transform the way we support and meet the needs of Stockports most vulnerable children and families.

The Council has been on a journey over the past 3 years to transform the way it works with children and families via the development of the Supporting Families Pathway/Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub and the development of the Integrated Childrens Service which has established joint service delivery with Stockport NHS Foundation Trust. This has changed the way Stockport identifies need and strengthened integrated working by making sure that everyone supporting children and families, work together effectively to put the child and the family at the centre, to meet their needs and improve their lives. This work underpins the next stage of our transformation programme.

The vision is that by 2017 the initiative will lead to a 20% reduction in the numbers of Looked After Children and those subject to child protection plans at level 4 (see levels of need diagram in the business case) as well as significant and sustained reduction in people needing repeat support leading to a reduction in the wider childrens workforce.It is vital the approach is underpinned with early identification and prevention to stop children and families need escalating in the first place and requires joint service delivery with wider partners in the public, private and voluntary sector.

0-25 SEND Review: 4.8 This project contains four savings proposals relating to Children and Young Peoples

SEND services:

1 Disability Partnership: The aim of this project is to reconfigure short breaks and respite provision for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities in Stockport as part of the reform programme. The service will provide a range of short breaks for children, young people and their families, encompassing centrally commissioned individual packages of one to one support and overnight provision and direct payments to families which could be managed by the family, by brokerage services or a combination of management arrangements. The proposal is to target respite and short break support to those young people who are eligible for social care intervention. Within aiming high and social care, where young people are continuing care eligible due to their health needs, the packages are joint-funded with the CCG. 2. SEN Transport: A review of SEN Transport will take place leading up to April 2015 and the service will be redesigned in the light of this review. 3. Educational Psychology: Define the teams professional identity as providers of educational psychology within various multi-agency contexts. Focus the work of the Educational Psychologists to ensure the needs of the most vulnerable are met. 4. Early Years: The EYFS Improvement Team project will put in place a change to the current service delivery and a reduction in its workforce whilst ensuring that the Local Authority meets its legal duty in relation to Early Education and continues to raise the educational attainment of all children. This will be achieved through a reduction in the level of support to settings and schools which are graded Good or better and the focus of the reduced staff team with those settings and schools whom require improvement and are in decline and at risk of failing. We will continue to develop the use of digital technologies to increase the working capacity of the remaining team wherever possible.

Leisure facilities

4.9 This project will take forward proposals for the provision of existing facilities and interventions to residents at significantly reduced cost to enable:

Those Stockport residents who are currently physically active to remain physically active

Those Stockport residents who are not currently physically active to become physically active.

It comprises two elements which will maintain the existing leisure offer to residents at lower cost to the Council by potentially transferring dual-use facilities to schools and single-use facilities to Life Leisure on long-term leases

As negotiations and financial modelling progresses, it will be possible to develop more detailed business cases for each of the two elements. It is anticipated that these will be finalised, as follows: Dual Use Sites October 2014 Leisure Centres Stage 1(Financial Appraisal) January 2015 Leisure Centres Stage 2 (Detailed Business Case) April 2015 No Council employees would be affected by the transfer of dual use facilities proposal but it is possible that TUPE may apply.

Markets, Museum and cultural attractions

4.10 The overall vision for this project is to safeguard Stockports cultural and heritage assets with significantly reduced revenue budget. The development of these assets through external funding sources (primarily Heritage Lottery Fund) has been a significant component of regeneration strategy over the past 15 years. We see Stockports heritage assets as playing an integral role in defining the identity of the town and attracting visitors and boosting local tourism.

This project will establish a new delivery model for museums and cultural attractions at arms-length from the Council based on a reduced cost-base, increased income generation, and greater volunteering/community involvement. The model will be required to safeguard the Councils cultural assets, protect existing income streams, and avoid the risk of financial penalties from external funders.

The project will also re-target a revised Stockport Market budget to support current Town Centre regeneration priorities.

Solutions SK Operating Model

4.11 This proposal includes the Council and SSK jointly commissioning a review that appraises the strategic future of the Company in the light of both the financial pressures facing the Council and the Companys own position and aspirations. The review will include a consideration of the charging regime that underpins SSKs delivery of contracted public realm services on behalf of the Council. These services comprise:

Highways maintenance

Street cleaning

Grounds maintenance

Parks

Refuse collection services

It is suggested that the consequences of the review should include the ability to reduce the costs of current service provision by at least the equivalent of the profit element that is a feature of the current cost plus arrangement (c0.8m) from 2016/17 onwards. For 2015/16 the desired impact on the client budget can be achieved by freeing up a proportion of the earmarked reserve established to support the delivery of the SSK recovery plan.

Highways and Engineering

4.12 This proposal covers the potential to create a shared service for local highway services by a number of local authorities within GM. This work is currently being developed by Local Authorities and Transport for Greater Manchester. The project will be developed based on the following principles:

Maintain local accountability for highways services

Improve resilience in these services across the conurbation

Generate significant efficiencies and greater improvements in the delivery of highway services across Greater Manchester

Prioritise investment to facilitate growth, jobs and access to services (Delivery of the Greater Manchester Strategy)

Increase reliability and consistency of service delivery to all road users

Improve overall service provision through greater collaborative working

Development of a stronger skill base and organisational capability

New model for regulation

4.13 The current configuration of regulatory and enforcement services is made up of several distinct professional specialisms which operate within their own distinct policy frameworks. This project will review regulatory and enforcement standards and redesign the existing configuration of services accordingly while still enabling a quality, responsive service.

It will involve the development of:

an agreed set of parameters for intervention, and

a new set of standards giving consistency in the approach to regulation. The project will be informed by a clear assessment of the minimum standard of service provision that the Council can legally provide.

The teams included in the scope of this project are as follows:

Environmental Protection

Trading Standards

Licensing

Commercial

Community

Hygiene Action / Pest Control

Building Control

Public Realm Enforcement

Conservation

Planning Enforcement

The project will roll-out over two phases from 2015/16 to 2016/17. Reconfigure and reduce current enforcement staffing resource and potentially charge for services that have previously been offered free of charge in year 1, and developing a model across the entire range of services which is integrated with Locality Working in year 2.

Locality Operating Model

4.14 We are looking to develop a new way of delivering services at a locality level which will aim to get people more involved in service delivery, and ensure that local needs and priorities can be clearly discussed and agreed. This is becoming a common approach across local authorities and councils. Tameside, Lambeth, Oldham, Manchester and Sunderland are among those areas whose experience we hope to draw on.

The project will also take into account spend on public services in localities from partners agencies and will be an opportunity to align and integrate service delivery by local partners, including Stockport Homes and the deployment of the Housing Revenue Account. A wide range of place based services will be in scope of the project, and investment proposals and consequent budget allocations will result from a detailed and informed dialogue with local communities in time for the 2016/17 financial year. Accelerated Growth

4.15 This proposal focusses on maintaining sustainable economic and demographic growth and accelerating the pace of that growth. The government has provided new tools for local authorities to benefit from the proceeds of growth and we need to capture the twin benefits of increased revenue and sustainable regeneration. This means new homes, new offices, new development delivered in the right way in the right locations and taking into account key social and economic factors, as well as simple financial considerations.

If we can accelerate the pace of sustainable development we can increase locally retained business rates, New Homes Bonus, and Council tax all of which support the delivery of local public services.

To accelerate the pace of regeneration we need to do three things:

We need to review whether our relevant policies are fit for purpose and if any changes are required

We need to continue to work closely with partners and agencies and with the private sector to remove barriers to delivery and to create delivery partnerships where required

We need to re-shape our own services to ensure a more co-ordinated and proactive approach to growth is pursued

Information, Advice and Guidance

4.16 This project will aim to deliver access to high quality sources of information, advice and guidance. It will assess and implement optimal service delivery models and consolidate provision, providing citizens with a proportionate service based on their needs.

Primary Services within the scope of the project are:

Contact Centre (Fred Perry House);

Welfare Rights Service;

Health and Social Care Welfare Rights Team;

Debt Team;

Stockport Direct Centre (Reception at Fred Perry House); and

Stockport Direct Local Centres (various sites).

Technology will be used to enhance signposting, provide self-service, assessment and referral options and be a more responsive and personalised service. Consequently, this project will be closely aligned to the Digital by Design and Locality Operating Model projects. There will also be robust links to People-related projects and programmes, for example work around Targeted Prevention, Preventative Commissioning Strategy and Integrated Care.

Corporate and Support Services (CSS)

4.17 The Executive has stated that members expect to see Investing in Stockport

propositions which facilitate an even more integrated and cross cutting approach to be taken and which enable CSS managers to further streamline and prioritise their activities following the substantial savings already made in this area. For 2016/17 in particular the Executive will be looking for a reduction in CSS costs consequential and proportionate to the reductions being delivered across all other service areas.

For 2015/16 the emphasis will be on the delivery of reductions in the Single Property Budget (SPB) required of the SPA. The SPA has been considering a number of business cases put forward by Carillion/CBRE which outline how savings could be made against the single property budget. These include the following:

Office rationalisation

Investment portfolio

Estates operational review

Business rates review

Energy and Low Carbon, Investment Grade Audit

Community assets

Depots, plant and equipment Together with a more efficient and effective management and delivery of property related services it is anticipated that these reviews and the actions that follow will lead to savings of around 1m during 2015/16. It is evident that during 2015/16 in particular the Investing in Stockport programme and the projects therein will require additional CSS staffing resources to be made available on a temporary basis; in addition the core CSS model will require time to bed in before any further reductions can be considered. The indicative budget for 2016/17 is predicated on reductions in demand for CSS services resulting from the reconfiguration of council services and the introduction of new delivery models providing opportunities for the further streamlining of CSS activities and a consequent fall in cost. Without a significant reduction in demand the proposed reduction of CSS resources will increase the levels of risk borne by and across the Council.

Digital by Design

4.18 As stated in the July report we will pursue a Digital Stockport approach to enable our citizens to interact with the Council in the easiest and most effective way. The Council needs to maximise and facilitate where it can online opportunities for residents and communities to interact with public services and with each other. This

will require a significant culture change in how we currently operate. We will need to review our ICT capability and architecture and we will need to engage with communities to ensure they are on board. We will need to think digital and embed this approach in all our work to re-design services, not just add on to or manipulate existing models of service delivery to fit with this new approach.

4.19 A number of the business cases indicate where digital developments and initiatives

will underpin the success of new delivery models. There are significant Digital by Design themes running throughout several of the projects which will impact upon the nature and shape of the digital by design programme; these include the following:

Multi-agency working and locality based working will have implications for network connectivity, access to systems, provision of equipment, data sharing and security

Digital service delivery / self-service will have implications for website, mobile and online services, back office integration, online content management

Community engagement will have implications for communications and behaviour change

Better use of data and information will have implications for access to data, data format and aggregation from multiple sources and systems, open data, data ownership and governance, data transfer

Better use of technology mobile and remote working options for employees, technology to assist citizens to look after themselves and to enhance the assessment of needs

Digital inclusion will have implications for supporting public access to digital, i.e. public access Wi-Fi, training and education, incentivising digital take-up

4.20 Our approach to digital will have to acknowledge and complement (and perhaps

challenge if required) the ongoing work by partner organisations. In particular the Health and Social Care work on integrating systems and records will be important to the success of the new integrated care model. There is also work going on at the GM level in support of the Public Service Reform agenda to facilitate multi-agency working across the sub-region.

4.21 We are currently formulating a comprehensive digital programme and will say a lot

more about this in the next report. We have identified a series of digital challenges to overcome, these include:

Creating consistency around channel shift

Full process digitisation from customer front-end to back office integration

Improve our online offering making the website easier to navigate

Embedding digital throughout the organisation

Addressing digital exclusion not isolating those not able to access digital services

Improving external communications making our digital offerings more well known

We will be undertaking a digital fitness assessment and using the results of that exercise to help develop potential digital solutions to support the business cases and enable efficiencies to be achieved across a range of business processes.

5. ASSESSING THE IMPACT AND IMPLICATIONS OF THE PROGRAMME

Engagement and Consultation 5.1. Engaging partners, residents and service users in the development of our new

approaches, and consulting them on proposed changes, will be key to ensuring we are able to exploit positive impacts and, as far as possible, mitigate the negative impact of the proposed reforms. A number of the business cases seek to break entirely new ground, and in such areas, as far as possible, we will work collaboratively with those affected, building on our experience of successful co-production, for example as part of the People Powered Health programme.

5.2. Full and extensive stakeholder mapping will be undertaken, and robust consultation and engagement methodologies will be used. Formal consultation on the proposals will include scrutiny committees, residents, service users, community and interest groups, partners, employees, trades unions and other stakeholders. Each of the business cases includes a section on consultation and engagement, identifying key stakeholders and outlining how and when consultation will be carried out. As stated earlier, the complete business case documentation is being made available to all members through the group offices, and each scrutiny committee will have referred to it the relevant proposals for consideration during the next round of meetings.

Partner Organisations 5.3. Many of the new models proposed in the accompanying business cases involve the

further integration of Council services with those provided by our public sector and voluntary and community partners. The Stockport Partnership, through its Business Management Group, has been involved in the development of the Investing in Stockport programme. Bilateral discussions at both senior and operational levels have also been held to inform specific business cases.

5.4 Our partners are also engaged in detailed discussions to develop a whole partnership outcome framework that will integrate strategic planning and align public resources over the medium term and provide a vision to which business and community leaders can aspire. The Public Service Reform (PSR) work undertaken here in Stockport and across Greater Manchester has demonstrated the value of taking a more integrated approach to budgeting and financial management across partner agencies.

5.5 The Executive is keen to explore further the potential benefits of establishing

community/pooled budgets with partners, particularly in relation to health and social care integration and working with families with complex dependencies and with vulnerable groups. The incidence of spending and savings arising from PSR interventions is not always proportionate between partners; therefore we should take a more collective view of public sector resources where appropriate. The proposals associated with the pooled health and social care budget are a good illustration of this; although we are proposing to reduce the relevant cash limit budgets by 20m over the two years, the aim is to manage this through a combination of reducing spending and, in effect, supplementing the cash limit with resources freed up in the heath economy.

Impact on the Workforce

5.6 It is acknowledged that the fundamental redesign of council services by 2016/17, as indicated in the business cases, will have a significant impact on the current workforce. Council employees will have to learn new ways of working, potentially within new teams and in redesigned services. Potential job reductions are not known with certainty at this stage, and will only be determined as the options for new delivery models are considered and agreed. It should also be noted, however, that in certain service areas where significant budget reductions have to be made, such as adult social care and childrens services, the majority of current expenditure does not relate to council employees but to external provision. Wherever possible the Council will look at opportunities to minimise the impact on our core, permanent workforce. However the following Business Cases do contain specific staffing implications which will have an impact by April 2015:

Integrated Prevention and Safeguarding Children and Family Service reduction of 5 FTE posts

SEND Reform reduction of 3 FTE posts

New Model for Regulation reduction of up to 7 FTE posts

Facilitating Accelerated Growth reduction of up to 10 FTE posts 5.7 At this stage, the estimated overall impact on staffing by April 2015 is therefore a

reduction of up to 25 FTE posts. Subject to the approval of Executive to progress these reviews, affected employees will move quickly into a period of consultation. The business cases will be developed further for the purpose of consultation with employees, trade unions and other key stakeholders. We anticipate that the level of detail required for this consultation will be available not later than 1 October 2014. As a minimum this document will contain:

The reasons for the change;

The details of all posts directly affected by the change;

The financial implications of the change, including budget information where relevant;

The proposed timescales for the change, including the timescales for any related activity and for milestones within the overall service redesign;

Organisational structure charts of the service before and after the proposed change;

Job descriptions for any proposed new posts;

The arrangements and timescales for consulting with the appropriate employees, unions and public (if applicable);

Methods employed or proposed to reduce any adverse impact on employees including minimising redundancies; and

Details on the proposals for the method of selecting employees for redundancy, ring fencing arrangements, slotting into posts, recruiting to new/remaining posts.

5.8 There will then follow a Consultation Period of up to 45 days, during which time

affected employees and their Union representatives will be given the opportunity to comment upon and help shape the future of service delivery in the identified areas. A final Business Case will be published following this consultation period. The indicative milestones for this consultation period are contained within the individual business cases. In general staff within scope of the reviews detailed above will be placed At Risk at the point where their formal consultation period starts. This will trigger a period when affected employees will have priority access to internal

vacancies. Our approach to Voluntary Redundancy outlined in paragraph 5.10 below will also apply to those employees directly affected by proposals in 2015/16.

5.9 In the longer term it is inevitable that the required reductions in budgets will have an

impact on staffing levels. The exact size and nature of those implications have yet to be determined and will be offset by our ability to achieve the outcomes summarised in Section 2 of this report and our determination to maximise the use of council resources. We remain committed to the principle of co-design and consultation with employees both within the Council and those employed by our partners. As the workforce implications of individual propositions and projects become clear the appropriate process will be applied, as set out in paragraph 5.6 above.

5.10 The Council remains committed to managing the potential impact on employees by

voluntary means wherever possible. At this stage the current Voluntary Redundancy offer of 150% of the statutory redundancy payment (calculated using actual pay) will remain in place. However future VR opportunities will be linked only to specific service reviews and in the first instance will be limited to the specific proposals outlined in paragraph 5.5 (where staffing reductions are anticipated by April 2015). In general the Notice Period for any staff within scope of these initial reviews who choose to take Voluntary Redundancy will be linked to statutory Notice Periods. At this stage the opportunity to volunteer for redundancy within these specific areas will be linked to the consultation period outlined in Section 5.7. At this stage there will be no Council-wide opportunities to volunteer for redundancy as has been the practice in the past.

Impact on Associated Bodies

5.11 Each of our associated bodies will be affected in different ways by the proposed

reforms we are setting out. We will ensure that we engage directly on issues of potential significance, including:

Our proposed approach to Locality Working, which will:

include taking steps to increase, in 2015/16 the role that the Housing Service plays in the delivery of some Council services.

significantly reform how we deliver some public realm services. These reforms will need to be considered in the joint review of Solutions SK that we have recently agreed with the Board and Managing Director.

Our proposed reforms to supporting outcomes through leisure provision, which are of particular significance to Life Leisure.

Equalities Impact

5.12 An initial draft Equalities Impact Assessment is appended to each of the business

cases that have been prepared. This Assessment will be made available at each stage of the process to inform consultation, and will be further developed and published in full at the point of any decision making by the Executive.

6. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 6.1 In line with the strategic framework established by the Executive this report takes

forward the Investing in Stockport programme of reform by outlining the specific propositions that have been developed so far. Accompanying these are indicative budget allocations for 2015/16 and 2016/17 which go some way to meeting the forecast MTFP reduction requirements. Further proposals to address the remaining shortfalls will be brought to future Executive meetings.

6.2 The scale and complexity of our task means that, although our route to achieving a

balanced budget has been explained, we are still a little short of meeting the full savings goal required. There is some indication in this report of how some of that gap may be bridged and there will be further reports as this work progresses.

6.3 The Executive is recommended to:

agree the indicative budget allocations and investment propositions set out in the report and the associated business cases;

ask the Corporate Leadership team and senior managers, in consultation with the relevant Executive Councillors, to undertake the appropriate consultation exercises and to develop implementation plans, including impact and risk assessments, to facilitate the delivery of the proposals set out in the report

agree that, as appropriate, proposals be resubmitted for the Executives approval as consultation exercises are completed and/or more detailed plans are prepared

continue with the steps necessary to agree a final balanced budget proposal for 2015/16 and an updated Medium Term Financial Plan to 2016/17 for presentation to the Council budget meeting in February 2015

report to all scrutiny committees in the next cycle outlining the proposals relating to each committees remit