Agenda item
Medium Term Financial Strategy Update and Transformation to 2019 Savings Proposals
To consider a report of the Director of Corporate Resources – Corporate Services presenting the high level outcomes from the public consultation exercise on balancing the budget and to consider the overall financial strategy for dealing with the budget gap to 2019/20 in light of the various options available to the County Council.
Minutes:
Cabinet received a report of the Director of Corporate Resources regarding the medium term financial strategy and Transformation to 2019 (T19) savings proposals.
In introducing the item, the Chairman noted the scale of savings that had already been made and the work undertaken to achieve this. A further £140 million was now required from a combination of demographic and inflationary pressures and a reduction in government grant. Specific pressures in areas such as providing support for young adults with complex needs were highlighted. To achieve the savings required, the Chairman favoured careful planning, supporting people to help themselves and enabling community level action by Town and Parish Councils.
The Director of Corporate Resources set out the key sections of the report, noting that it included the outcomes of public consultation, recommendations from individual departments and equality impact assessments relating to the proposals. She detailed a number of areas and drew Cabinet’s attention in particular to section 3 of the report detailing the Council’s commercial activity and its focus on sustainable and low risk investment.
With the agreement of the Chairman, Councillor Dowden addressed Cabinet. He acknowledged that the financial pressure resulted from national austerity measures, but felt that it would cause hardship. He did not consider the consultation that was carried out to be valid and was opposed to the strategy of making equal reductions across the organisation. Councillor Dowden noted that pressure on social care was particularly high and expressed his concern that cuts to community transport would undermine progress by putting community organisations at risk of closure and leading to increased levels of social isolation. He called on Cabinet to seek additional funding from the Government specifically to alleviate pressures on social care provision.
The Chairman thanked Councillor Dowden for his input and confirmed that all of Cabinet were very concerned about the position, but noted that government could not simply keep spending and therefore savings were required. The approach of asking for an equal contribution from all departments and then seeking to provide additional support for vulnerable areas where required was supported.
In discussion of the issues raised, Members were supportive of the direction of travel and of the report. It was noted that the County Council did not have the option of sharply increasing Council Tax as had been done in the 1990s and therefore savings were needed. Furthermore there were statutory restrictions on the way in which some service provision could be changed, despite public support, such as charging for the use of Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs). Cabinet acknowledged that the number of consultation responses had been low and felt that this was reflective of a broad level of acceptance for the proposals. It was emphasised that the goal of improving social outcomes continued despite the financial pressure and confirmed that providing protection for vulnerable children would not change. It was also confirmed that approaches would be made to government regarding the charging restrictions on HWRCs and exploring the options for a pilot scheme.
With reference to the community benefits that could be driven by Town and Parish Councils and the impact of the proposals on communities in Hampshire, it was proposed and agreed that the recommendation at 14.11 be amended to increase the funding available to those Councils to £500,000. It was furthermore proposed and agreed that an additional recommendation be added at 14.12 that Cabinet:
“Requires that officers, as specific decision making processes move forward, continue to explore all viable options to revise or refine these proposals with particular regard to service continuity in areas such as community transport, school crossing patrols and waste and recycling centres, in consultation with partners and stakeholders as appropriate, while recognising that any modification to any proposal must be consistent with the financial and time imperatives of the overall programme.”
With the two amendments detailed above, the recommendations in the report, including the recommendations to the County Council were proposed and agreed. The decision record is attached.
Supporting documents:
- MTFS Cabinet Report, item 26. PDF 435 KB
- Appendix 1 Children’s Services Financial Resilience, item 26. PDF 71 KB
- Appendix 2 Treasury Management Mid-Year Monitoring Report, item 26. PDF 120 KB
- Appendix 3 Proposed Savings Options, item 26. PDF 182 KB
- Appendix 4.1 T19 AHC EIA Health Social Care Integration, item 26. PDF 178 KB
- Appendix 4.2 T19 AHC EIA Living Independently, item 26. PDF 176 KB
- Appendix 4.3 T19 AHC EIA Adults Learning Disability Mental Health, item 26. PDF 176 KB
- Appendix 4.4 T19 AHC EIA Working Differently, item 26. PDF 179 KB
- Appendix 5.1 T19 CS EIA Social Care Transformation Users, item 26. PDF 176 KB
- Appendix 5.2 T19 CS EIA 0-19 Grants, item 26. PDF 177 KB
- Appendix 5.3 T19 CS EIA Social Care Transformation Staff, item 26. PDF 176 KB
- Appendix 5.4 T19 CS EIA Children with Disabilities – User, item 26. PDF 175 KB
- Appendix 5.5 T19 CS EIA Children with Disabilities – Staff, item 26. PDF 174 KB
- Appendix 5.6 T19 CS EIA School Improvement Services, item 26. PDF 172 KB
- Appendix 5.7 T19 CS EIA Educating High Needs - Users, item 26. PDF 178 KB
- Appendix 5.8 T19 CS EIA Educating High Needs - Staff, item 26. PDF 173 KB
- Appendix 5.9 T19 CS EIA Home to School Transport (HtST), item 26. PDF 175 KB
- Appendix 5.10 T19 CS EIA Support Services, item 26. PDF 172 KB
- Appendix 5.11 T19 CS EIA Maximising Efficiencies~Enabling Productivity, item 26. PDF 173 KB
- Appendix 6a.1 T19 ETE EIA Operating Model, item 26. PDF 173 KB
- Appendix 6a.2 T19 ETE EIA Transport and Environment Charging, item 26. PDF 173 KB
- Appendix 6a.3 T19 ETE EIA Transport and Environment Trading, item 26. PDF 172 KB
- Appendix 6a.4 T19 ETE EIA Hampshire Highways Services Contract, item 26. PDF 172 KB
- Appendix 6a.5 T19 ETE EIA Highways Winter Maintenance, item 26. PDF 174 KB
- Appendix 6a.6 T19 ETE EIA Street Lighting, item 26. PDF 173 KB
- Appendix 6a.7 T19 ETE EIA School Crossing Patrols, item 26. PDF 175 KB
- Appendix 6a.8 T19 ETE EIA On Street Parking and Parking Agreements, item 26. PDF 172 KB
- Appendix 6a.9 T19 ETE EIA Transport and Traffic Agency Arrangements, item 26. PDF 172 KB
- Appendix 6a.10 T19 ETE EIA Works Charging Review, item 26. PDF 172 KB
- Appendix 6a.11 T19 ETE EIA Concessionary Fares, item 26. PDF 172 KB
- Appendix 6a.12 T19 ETE EIA Bus Subsidies and Community Transport, item 26. PDF 176 KB
- Appendix 6a.13 T19 ETE EIA Waste Disposal Contract, item 26. PDF 172 KB
- Appendix 6a.14 T19 ETE EIA Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs), item 26. PDF 175 KB
- Appendix 6b T19 EIA Economic Development, item 26. PDF 175 KB
- Appendix 7.1 T19 EMPR EIA IBC Shared Services, item 26. PDF 262 KB
- Appendix 7.2 T19 EMPR EIA Review of Finance Service, item 26. PDF 178 KB
- Appendix 7.3 T19 EMPR EIA HR Transformation Programme, item 26. PDF 175 KB
- Appendix 7.4 T19 EMPR EIA IT Services, item 26. PDF 181 KB
- Appendix 7.5 T19 EMPR EIA Internal Audit - Corporate Assurance Mapping, item 26. PDF 250 KB
- Appendix 7.6 T19 EMPR EIA LG Operational Improvements, item 26. PDF 172 KB
- Appendix 7.7 T19 EMPR EIA LG Demand and Income, item 26. PDF 175 KB
- Appendix 7.8 T19 EMPR EIA TP Income Generation, item 26. PDF 173 KB
- Appendix 7.9 T19 EMPR EIA CES Operating Model Redesign, item 26. PDF 278 KB
- Appendix 7.10 T19 EMPR EIA CES Channel Shift, item 26. PDF 175 KB
- Appendix 7.11 T19 EMPR EIA CCBS Registration Fees, item 26. PDF 198 KB
- Appendix 7.12 T19 EMPR EIA CCBS Trading Standards Transformation Programme, item 26. PDF 213 KB
- Appendix 7.13 T19 EMPR EIA CCBS Hampshire Scientific Services, item 26. PDF 194 KB
- Appendix 7.14 T19 EMPR EIA CCBS Asbestos Management Services, item 26. PDF 197 KB
- Appendix 7.15 T19 EMPR EIA CCBS Country Park ANPR, item 26. PDF 202 KB
- Appendix 7.16 T19 EMPR EIA CCBS Library Service Transformation, item 26. PDF 175 KB
- Appendix 7.17 T19 EMPR EIA CCBS Property Services, item 26. PDF 198 KB
- Appendix 7.18 T19 EMPR EIA CCBS Office Accommodation Strategy, item 26. PDF 203 KB
- Appendix 7.19 T19 EMPR EIA CCBS Hampshire Record Office Archives and Local Studies, item 26. PDF 203 KB
- Appendix 7.20 T19 EMPR EIA CCBS Calshot ANPR, item 26. PDF 198 KB
- Appendix 7.21 T19 EMPR EIA CCBS Camping Pods at Calshot, item 26. PDF 200 KB
- Appendix 7.22 T19 EMPR EIA CCBS Developments at Sir Harold Hillier Gardens, item 26. PDF 199 KB
- Appendix 8 Reserves Strategy, item 26. PDF 102 KB
- Decision Record, item 26. PDF 64 KB