LGC Awards 2012

Council of the YearAltogether better

Contents

Durham

Vision

2011: a year of exceptional delivery

Customer satisfaction

Durham in the North East

Altogether wealthier

Making savings...

Conclusion

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Durham

Durham is a large rural county in North East England. Stretching from the NorthPennines in the west to the East Durham Coast in the east, the county sits between theurban conurbations of Tyneside and Wearside to the north and Tees Valley to the south.

The county has a population of 510,800, with 12 main towns and over 300 smaller townsand villages, spread over an administrative area of 232,260 hectares or 862 squaremiles. It is a deprived county with over two fifths of its super output areas within the25 per cent most deprived in England.

Less than three years ago, local government in the county was reorganised on a unitarybasis. However, Durham has quickly moved on from focusing on reorganisation tobecome an ambitious, outward-looking council, working with partners to provideleadership for Durham, its communities and the wider North East. Above all, the councilhas ‘delivered’. In spite of the financial challenges faced by all, Durham has madesignificant service improvements alongside budget savings, as it strives to becomean ‘altogether better council’, working with partners to create an ‘altogether betterDurham’.

“2011 has been an exceptional year for Durham County Council. It is testament tothe hard work of our employees and our partners that we have achieved so muchfor the county and our residents.

We would be honoured to receive the accolade ‘Council of the Year’ in the 2012 LGCAwards.

Councillor Simon Henig, Leader of the Council

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Vision

An ‘altogether better Durham’ - ‘altogether better’ as a place and ‘altogether better’for people, is the central vision of our council plan and the sustainable communitystrategy for Durham, which we and our strategic partners are working towards.

Working with local communities, we focus on five priority themes to make Durham:

� ‘altogether wealthier’ - creating a vibrant economy and putting regenerationand economic development at the heart of all our plans;

� ‘altogether healthier’ - improving health and wellbeing;

� ‘altogether safer’ - creating a safer and more cohesive county;

� ‘altogether better for children and young people’ - enabling children and youngpeople to develop and achieve their aspirations, and to maximise their potentialin line with Every Child Matters; and

� ‘altogether greener’ - ensuring an attractive and ‘liveable’ local environment,and contributing to tackling global environmental challenges.

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2011: a year of exceptional delivery

2011 was a year of exceptional delivery for Durham.

The council’s achievements are all the more remarkable, given that less than threeyears earlier, it acquired completely new political leadership and senior managementas part of unitary reorganisation.

In line with the county vision, the authority committed itself to become an ‘altogetherbetter council’, capable of making the changes and improving the services to deliverthe overall vision.

In 2011, the council made significant progress on all fronts, in spiteof a very challenging environment.

Here is a flavour of our key achievements and outcomes in 2011.

� Established a new cultural partnership and staged Lumiere 2011,the fastest growing cultural festival in the UK

� Developed a new local development framework - the CountyDurham Plan, to drive economic growth and regeneration in thecounty

� Involved more than 5,000 people in local action and supportedover 900 projects through the area action partnerships (AAPs)

� Improved customer services with new town and village customeraccess points as part of our accommodation strategy which willsave £3.3m on office accommodation

� Achieved record GCSE results year on year - from six per centbelow the national average to 2.4 per cent above in 2011

� Received national recognition for a 71 per cent reduction in first timeentrants into the Youth Justice System due to the pre-reprimanddisposal system

� Working with the NHS, created a unique service, One Point, toprovide a ‘one stop shop’ for support, advice and activities forchildren, young people and families

� Reviewed and restructured residential and domiciliary care

� Secured employment for 800 people through the Future Jobs Fund,working with employers

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� Achieved award-winning recognition to community safety andsafeguarding of vunerable adults

� Achieved top quartile performance for personalisation

� Built 369 affordable homes in 2011, a significant improvementon the previous years

� Achieved £2.5m reduction in carbon costs and £6m investedin solar photovoltaic panels on over 40 council buildings

� Achieved Green Flag status for twenty one parks and openspaces - the highest in the region, including five cemeteries- the highest in the UK

� Maintained a schools investment programme which has fundednine BSF schemes, 10 Primary Capital/School Modernisationschemes and 13 further schemes to provide additional schoolplaces

� Invested in 118 Access projects to improve or adaptaccommodation for pupils with Physical Difficulties, 19 schemesto improve accommodation in our Children’s Homes, and 16 SureStart major capital projects

� Opened the new Aycliffe Secure Centre

� Harmonised inconsistent approaches to taxi licensing acrossthe county, improving the service to customers

� Achieved 4.7 per cent increase in recycling and 8.6 per centreduction in landfil

� Increased life expectancy in has consistently from 75.9 to76.9 years for men and from 79.9 to 80.7 for women in the2011 Health Profiles for County Durham

� Increased the percentage of physically active children from47.4 per cent to 56.7 per cent, 2010 to 2011

� Reduced in crime and anti-social behaviour in 2011 by 11 per cent

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Customer satisfaction

The new council’s first large scale survey of residents showed a significant increase insatisfaction with the council. Four in five respondents said they were satisfied with theway the council runs things - a 37 per cent increase on a 2009 survey and five per centhigher than the national benchmark group.

Fifty nine per cent said they were satisfied that the council offered value for money,which was in line with the national benchmark and 12 per cent higher than the 2009survey.

And overall, 88 per cent were satisfied with their local area as a place to live -12 per cent up on 2009 and five per cent higher than the national benchmark group.

The survey was used to develop detailed satisfaction profiles of different parts of thecounty, which are being used to inform and shape service delivery plans.

Given the council’s commitment to make Durham an altogether better place, the surveydemonstrates that significant progress is being made.

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Durham in the North East

With its new outward focus, Durham is making a productive contribution to theNorth East.

As vice-chair of the North Eastern Local Enterprise Partnership and the Association ofNorth East Councils, the Leader of the council is helping to shape the regional agendaand ensuring the needs of the region are heard nationally on important policy debatessuch as the impact of public spending reductions and the Local Government ResourceReview.

The chief executive of the council chairs the Regional Chief Executives’ Group andleads on the development of bespoke local economic partnership arrangements thatmeet the needs of region and the aspirations of partners who have a long history ofpartnership working in this most distinctive of English regions.

Working in partnership

We have completely revamped the County Durham Partnership, our key partnership.It is made up of key public, private and voluntary sector organisations, that worktogether to improve the quality of life for the people within County Durham.

Partners have developed the Sustainable Community Strategy (SCS) to identifythe changes that we think should be made to improve the economic, social andenvironmental well-being of the area. The Partnership shares the vision for ‘analtogether better Durham.’

The partnership structure created to deliver the vision has developed very quicklyand we now have strong and resilient partnerships committed to the ‘altogether’ethos of working together to better the quality of life in Durham.

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A key achievement has been the performance of the area actionpartnerships (AAPs). Developed to support local engagement andaction as part of unitary reorganisation, the 14 partnerships havedeveloped quickly and are now established and valued features ofthe strategic and local governance landscape across the county.

A review of the AAPs in 2011 concluded that they were highlyeffective in ensuring that local services meet local needs and thatthe voice of local communities is heard within the strategic planningand service development process.

One of the AAPs’ key strengths has been the partnerships’ abilityto make a difference. In the first two years of operation, they havesupported over 900 projects determined by local communities andthe area and neighbourhood budgets linked to the partnershipshave invested £8.5m in local areas, attracting £14.2m in matchfunding in 2011.

A key finding of the review was the AAPs remarkable performancein involving local people during 2011. Over 5,000 residents acrossthe county are AAP forum members and local surveys highlightthat significantly more people feel that they can influence localdecision-making since the partnerships were established.

Local choice, local voice

The role played by area action partnerships in leading and innovating local approachesto problem solving has been increased by the introduction of participatory budgeting.

In 2011 significant resources were set aside for two pilots in contrasting parts of thecounty to inspire local people and show them how they can be at the heart of instigatingreal local change.

The pilots attracted funding applications for over 90 locally-developed project proposals.Over 6,000 votes were cast by 1,300 people who took in the decision-making process.

Thirty projects were successful, attracting further in-kind contributions and match fundingto add to the council’s investment.

The level of participation in the pilots far exceeded initial expectations and post eventevaluation in the areas concerned indicated a 200 per cent increase in the number ofpeople who feel they can influence decisions.

The approach to working with local people to develop bespoke approaches toparticipatory budgeting and the level of participation achieved prompted Vince Howeof the National PB unit to comment: “Over the past 12 months the work in Durham isprobably the best I’ve seen in England.”

The pilots have stimulated further thinking and practice and further projects are plannedthis year in different parts of the county and involving more public sector partners.

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Altogether wealthier

Economic growth and creating an ‘altogether wealthier Durham’ is the top priority forthe county.

The County Durham Plan, the local development framework for County Durham aimsto create a vibrant economy, stimulate economic growth and provide the regenerationthe county needs.

Private sector investment is pivotal and the council has consulted and worked withprivate sector partners on how economic regeneration can be achieved and funded.

During 2011, we have developed plans to realise the county’s potential as the idealsetting for a wide range of industries and business investments, which will lead todiverse and lasting job opportunities and quality housing.

Growth will be focused around the county’s principal towns by stimulating thedevelopment of good quality housing, employment opportunities and town centrerenewal and investment.

Durham City is a prime economic asset in the North East and has been prioritisedfor development as a key sustainable location for growth with 5,000 new houses, newroads linking the city centre to the A1(M), retail and creation of high quality landscapedemployment sites, in keeping with the city’s unique and historic environment.

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The other key elements of the plan are:

� Providing quality sites for businesses to grow

� Ensuring the sustainable development of the county’s main towns,meeting local communities’ needs

� Recognising the aspirations of smaller towns and villages andthe important role they play

� Protecting the countryside, limiting development pressures whilerealising tourism potential

As part of this strategic approach, the council has developed masterplans for Consett and Stanley. The regeneration of Bishop Aucklandis well under way and a vision for the development of Barnard Castleincludes the provision of super fast broadband for over 1,000 residentsin the wider dale.

The Heart of the City in Durham City has been delivered by DurhamCity Vision and jointly funded by the regional development agency,One NorthEast, Durham Villages Regeneration Company and thecouncil.

This investment of over £5.25m consisted of a major programmeof work to modernise streets and surfaces including importantdrainage throughout the city centre.

The completion of the revamp of the Market Place and vennelsin July 2011 culminated in the unveiling of a unique timelinetracking some of the historic landmarks in Durham’s historyaccompanied by a taster of the 2011 Brass Durham InternationalFestival. The Market Place was also host to the Streets of SummerFestivals and the magic of the 2011 Lumiere event.

A development brief is also in place for Milburngate, a majorwaterfront development site, which will boost the economicprospects of the city and improve infrastructure.

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The North East Technology Park (NETPark), owned by the counciland managed by our business arm County Durham DevelopmentCompany had a double celebration in the relocation of theCombustion Engineering Association from Cardiff and the graduationof its first incubator unit tenant to take up full time office andlaboratory space.

As one of the fastest growing science parks in the UK, NETParkfocuses on supporting companies that are developing technology andproducts in the physical sciences, particularly printable electronics,microelectronics, photonics and nanotechnology. Their applicationis in the fields of energy, astronomy, defence, and medical-relatedtechnologies. The reputation of NETPark is growing nationally andinternationally.

Amazon Park in south west Durham is the future home of HitachiRail UK’s massive 450,000 sq ft rail assembly plant for the nextgeneration of high speed passenger trains.

The company will build the rolling stock for the £4.5bn IntercityExpress Programme (IEP). The council was instrumental in attractingthe company to the site and working with regional partners to lobbyfor Government confirmation of the IEP.

Since the announcement, the council has worked with the companyto develop local supply chain and procurement opportunities for theproject which has been dubbed the North East’s ‘new Nissan’.

Over 600 companies participated in a suppliers’ open day and it isestimated that as well as creating over 500 direct jobs, Hitachi RailUK’s investment will create thousands more in the local economyand supply chains.

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Making savings...

Like all public services, the council has to plan for and cope with a shrinkingpublic purse.

We started planning immediately for reduced spending, engaging partners andconsulting local people on how we could manage with less.

Strategically, savings are being achieved across five categories - managementand support services, implementing efficiency measures, reviewing fees andincome and rationalising services as a last resort.

Over half of the savings are coming from the first four categories, so that frontlineservices prioritised by local people are protected as much as possible.

Our detailed plan to save at least £123.5m over four years includes over 130 differentspending proposals, proactively project and programme-managed with regular reviewsby corporate management team and Cabinet members. We have already securedall of the £66m to be saved in 2011/12.

The scale of the spending reductions required, demands bold decision-making andwe have been prepared to face up to some very difficult decisions including therestructuring of residential care, waste management and household refuse collection,home-to-school transport and indoor leisure provision.

Each issue has been sensitive and politically contentious and has required detailedconsultation and management, along with the political will to contemplate difficultdecisions and lead communities through change.

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...by working with communities

The council’s leisure facilities were reviewed in the light of thecouncil’s savings targets and our new leisure services strategy,which seeks to increase participation through greater use of theoutdoors over traditional indoor facilities.

The future of seven facilities was questioned and the council tookthe difficult decision to consult on possible closure.

Communities and stakeholders were engaged in dialogueabout the future of provision in the areas concerned and critically,in how the facilities could be retained for alternative communityuse. A dedicated project team worked with community groups andnot-for-profit organisations on asset transfer proposals.

As a result, five facilities have or are about to transfer to third sectorownership and the opening times in a sixth have been revised tobetter match local community demand.

Only one centre has closed and the anticipated £1.1m of efficiencysavings have been secured.

Conclusion

Durham County Council has quickly established itself as an outward-looking, ambitiouslocal authority which is delivering significant service improvements for its communities,in the most challenging of times.

2011 has seen major gains in service performance and financial savings as well as thedevelopment of partnership plans and policy proposals, which will enable the councilto continue to deliver in 2012 and beyond and work with partners towards our collectivegoal of creating an ‘altogether better Durham’.

Contact

Durham County CouncilCounty HallDurhamDH1 5UF

www.durham.gov.ukFollow us on Twitter @durhamcouncilLike us at facebook.com/durhamcouncil

14309COMMSLGCAwards2012Brochure