Stronger TogetherTuesday 7 July 2015

Dr Wendy Thomson, CBE

Managing Director

Norfolk County Council

Norfolk’s changing picture

There were 618,000 people in Norfolk and most of them:

• Left school at 16

• Worked in distribution, manufacturing or agriculture

• Earned £16 a week

• Lived with or near extended family (Two married parents)

• Had telephone, TV and radio

• Started to run own car

• Had a life expectancy of 72 years - 16% were 65 or older

40 years ago…

Norfolk’s changing picture

There are 870,000 people in Norfolk and most of them:

• Stay in some form of education or training until 18

• Work for 10 major employers or small businesses

• Earn £438 a week

• Live in different groups (single parents, step parents, single older people)

• Are connected to the world by technology

• Have one car or more

• Live beyond 80 (but varies across areas) – 23% are 65 or older

Today…

Financial contextSince 2010, the Government’s direction of travel has been “self-sufficiency” for local government.

Over the last five years, we have met the triple challenge of:

• Funding cuts from government• Unavoidable spending increases,

particularly on people services• No increase to council tax to protect the

tax payers’ purse

Impact of reductions

•Between 2011 and 2016, the Council will have made savings of £245m

•Many have been through efficiencies•The Council has got smaller – a reduction of one third staff between 2010 and 2014

•Services have been cut – and the third sector has borne a share of those cuts

• We expect our grant from Government to reduce even more

• Cuts are continuing, having to deliver more with less

• Cannot continually trim the edges any further (salami slicing)

• We have to be radical and do things differently

• There is a small window in which to make a big change

Looking ahead to 2019

Financial prospects

  £m

2016-17 42.028

2017-18 43.651

2018-19 24.914

Savings to be identified

110.593

   

Previously agreed savings

33.875

Total savings to deliver 144.468

• We expect our funding from central Government to reduce further, so we are planning on the basis of a shortfall of £144m, in next 3 years

• Already agreed over £33m of savings for future years, but even with these savings, the shortfall we have to plan for is significant:

Re-imagining Norfolk

The council’s strategy for change

1. Norfolk’s ambitions and priorities – placing people at the forefront of our plans, making sure everything we do improves their opportunities and wellbeing.

2. A ‘Norfolk public service’ – working with other partners to provide seamless, targeted services designed around people’s lives, achieving better outcomes at less cost

3. Improving the Council’s internal organisation – more strategic, smaller, able to change swiftly while saving money

System leadershipDevolution

Business rates poolingStrategic master

planningCollective leadership

“Getting in Shape” – Children’s Services

Working in localitiesEnabling

communities

“Promoting independence

” in adults

“Customer Services”

channel shift

“Business Strategy”

Where should we trade in

the market?

Whole system strategy for

waste

Re-imagining NorfolkC

om

mu

nic

atio

ns E

ng

agem

ent

Norfolk’s Ambitions

A Norfolk “public service”

Being the organisation we need to be

This part of Re-Imagining Norfolk is about our outward facing role for Norfolk as a place. We need a clear vision for Norfolk as a place to live work and to do business. We need to use our influence and system leadership role to achieve that vision

Not about structures or about jurisdictions. But making “virtual” Norfolk public service. Re-designing to give people greater independence, shifting the balance towards early help and intervention

The council will need to be a very different organisation to lead and deliver these changes. More strategic with the right attitudes and skills, able to change at pace while shedding cost

Single public estateDNA / ICT

Reshaping the

organisation & its capacity

Aligning change levers

(HR, procurement, finance, ICT, L&D, BI, IM)

Raising revenueBid Team

Fees and charges

Reducing 25% of spend

Systematic & differentiated

approach‘The grid’

Strong governance and

performance management

Making the caseBringing business and investment to Norfolk

Strong communications

campaignActive stakeholder

relations

Ambition and priorities Raising aspirations

Population outcomes for jobs, education, infrastructure and vulnerable groups

(4 CMT-led workshops)

Slide 2

Six strategic approaches

• Cutting costs through efficiencies • Getting better value for money on

what we spend • Enabling communities and working

locally.• Helping people earlier• More online services – serving

people better through technology• Raising more revenue then trading

and successful bids

The need for change

• We’ve been spending more and more on residential social care, which is increasingly at odds with what people want.

• The services of the future need to promote independence, building on people’s strengths, and supporting them to live in their home.

Key issues

Higher proportion of older people in residential and nursing care (65 years +) compared to England average

Higher proportion of adults in residential and nursing care (18-64 years) compared to England average

More Looked After Children than other similar areas

More municipal waste sent to landfill, higher than England average

13

One ‘virtual’ Norfolk public service

Working in localitiesEnabling communities

Questions

•What more could be achieved for Norfolk, through collaboration between third sector and NCC?

•Future, smarter ways of working?

•How can we support our communities to be more resilient?