REPORT TO CABINET 15 October 2013 15 October 2013

TITLE OF REPORT: Budget Consultation 2014-2016 TITLE OF REPORT: Budget Consultation 2014-2016 REPORT OF: Jane Robinson, Chief Executive

Darren Collins, Strategic Director, Finance and ICT REPORT OF: Jane Robinson, Chief Executive

Darren Collins, Strategic Director, Finance and ICT Purpose of the Report 1. To seek Cabinet approval to consult on the choices available to Gateshead

Council as part of the budget setting process for 2014/15 and budget planning for 2015/16.

Background 2. The Council is delivering its Council Plan 2012-2017 in exceptionally difficult

financial circumstances. 3. The Council continues to face unprecedented challenges, with significant

reductions in Government funding, combined with increasing demands, particularly in relation to social care. Since 2010, the Council has reduced spend by £75m and there are 1,275 fewer people working for the organisation.

4. The Council’s Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) was refreshed in May 2013 taking account of budgetary and demand-led pressures. Following recent government announcements, it has been necessary to review the funding gap, which is subject of a separate report on this agenda.

5. As a result of further reductions announced by Government in June 2013 as part of the Spending Review, and a subsequent consultation regarding a range of detailed and technical issues in relation to the 2014/15 and 2015/16 Local Government Finance Settlements, the Council anticipates having to bridge a further funding gap of approximately £45m over the next two years (2014-16).

6. In order to manage effectively in financially challenging times, the Council has an established two-year rolling programme for budget planning, to give greater flexibility and resilience. A key element of this approach is to engage with and consult residents, businesses, partners and employees.

Proposal 7. The Council has looked at the services it needs to provide to fulfil its duties;

these include enabling democratic leadership, keeping residents safe and setting a strategic direction for Gateshead. In addition, Adult Social Care, Children’s Social Care and Economic Growth have been identified as being important to the Council in terms of supporting the Council Plan priorities and the future resilience of the Council.

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8. The document attached as appendix 3 to this report sets out the context and choices available to the council in order to bridge the funding gap of £45m over the next two years, but in particular for the financial year 2014/15.

9. The Council welcomes views on these choices. The consultation will run from 15 October 2013 through to 17 December 2013.

10. Comprehensive Impact Assessments (CIA) have been undertaken on the

choices which will be available on the council’s website. The CIAs will be updated throughout the budget process taking into account the outcome of the consultation and any other factors.

Recommendations 11. It is recommended that Cabinet:

(i) Approves the consultation document (appendix 3) as the basis for consultation to enable a budget report to be presented to Cabinet on 25 February 2014.

(ii) Notes that the choices are supported by a Comprehensive Impact Assessment.

For the following reasons:

(i) To continue the delivery of Vision 2030, Council Plan and the Fit for the Future Programme.

(ii) To meet the needs of residents, businesses and partners in a principled and planned way.

(iii) To manage its financial, property and human resources effectively in exceptionally challenging financial circumstances.

(iv) To shape the future direction of the Council. CONTACT: Sheila Johnston extension: 2063

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APPENDIX 1 Policy Context 1. The Council is operating in a challenging national policy context which has

been compounded by the recent Spending Review that reduces the resources available to local government.

2. The Council has approached the budget consultation for 2014-16 based on the Fit for the Future principles adopted in September 2011 (minute reference C71 2011/12) and further reinforced in the Council Plan for 2012-2017 to: • Meet the needs of Gateshead based on a Strategic Needs Assessment • Sustain Vision 2030 and uphold the Council’s values • Reach decisions and manage change in a principled way.

3. The approach has been designed to help the Council meet the minimum service levels and add value to the 6 strategic interventions as set out in the Council Plan as well as contributing to Vision 2030 and the Big Ideas.

Background 4. As a result of further reductions announced by Government in June 2013 as

part of the Spending Review, and a recent consultation regarding a range of detailed and technical issues in relation to the 2014/15 and 2015/16 Local Government Finance Settlements, the Council anticipates having to bridge a further funding gap of £45m over the next two years (2014-16).

5. In order to manage effectively in financially challenging times, the Council has developed a two-year rolling programme for budget planning, to give greater flexibility and resilience. A key element of this approach is to engage with and consult residents, businesses, partners and employees.

Consultation

6. Councillors have been consulted on the choices through Corporate Vitality Fit

for the Future Advisory Groups, portfolio meetings and briefing sessions. Further engagement sessions are planned. The trade unions have also been consulted on the report.

Alternative Options 7. The Council is statutorily required to agree a lawful budget each year. To not

identify savings in order to bridge the funding gap, would be to jeopardise this requirement.

Implications of Recommended Option 8. Resources:

a) Financial Implications – The Strategic Director, Finance and ICT, confirms that the choices for consultation in the report are consistent with

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b) Human Resources Implications – Please refer to Appendix 2 to this

report.

c) Property Implications - The Council will continue to implement the Asset Management Strategy and seek to reduce the costs associated with buildings and property.

9. Risk Management Implication - The risk management implications of each

choice will be assessed as part of future reports. 10. Equality and Diversity Implications - The Comprehensive Impact

Assessment will be used to evaluate and take action, if necessary, to mitigate the effects of any equality and diversity implications.

11. Crime and Disorder Implications – The choices put forward do not have any

direct crime and disorder implications.

12. Health Implications – The choices put forward could impact on health activities.

13. Sustainability Implications - The choices put forward could impact on sustainability activities.

14. Human Rights Implications – The implications of the Human Rights Act must

be considered in any decision that involves a change of policy or function, or a service change that arises from the choices. These will be identified, where necessary, in the CIAs

15. Area and Ward Implications - The recommendations apply to all Areas and

Wards.

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Appendix 2 Human Resources Implications

1. The choices put forward in this report for consideration in the budget consultation include details of the implications for employees where they arise in 2014/15, expressed as FTEs (full-time equivalents). This means posts totalling this FTE figure would have to be deleted permanently from the Council’s employee establishment in order to make the identified saving from staffing budgets.

2. In total, 394 FTEs are identified on this basis in the choices in 2014/15,

although the total number of employees affected if all choices were to be implemented would be higher due to some being employed on a part-time basis.

3. As it is believed highly likely the Council will need to resort to a significant

number of compulsory redundancies if it is to make sufficient savings to bridge the funding gap identified for 2014/15, the publication of this report, which identifies choices for consultation, has triggered the commencement of the necessary statutory redundancy process under section 188, Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992.

4. This provision requires consultation with the appropriate trade union

representatives of any employees who may be affected by any of the choices. As it is estimated more than 100 employees may need to be made redundant, a minimum consultation period of 45 days applies. However, the proposed timetable allows for a consultation period of 100 days on this occasion, to enable full and constructive consideration to be given to: how redundancies might be avoided; how the number of redundancies might be reduced; and mitigating the consequences of any redundancies.

5. In order to minimise the number of compulsory redundancies, it is proposed

employees be encouraged to consider applying for voluntary redundancy: the Council continues to offer an enhanced Redundancy Payment Scheme available on application to employees at risk of redundancy, or whose post might provide an employment opportunity for an employee otherwise at risk themselves (i.e. a ‘bumped redundancy’) or an efficiency saving.

6. In addition, employees will be encouraged to consider whether a reduction in

hours might be appropriate for them, thereby enabling savings to be made from staffing budgets which are not dependent on redundancies. Similarly, the benefits to employees who are able to access their local government pension by taking flexible retirement will also be promoted, as this also involves a saving from a reduction in hours, with a reduction in pay which is at least partially off-set by the employee drawing their pension.

7. While voluntary redundancy, reduced hours arrangements, and flexible

retirement might not be available to all employees due to the particular needs of the service, managers will be asked to consider constructively such applications from employees.

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8. Where compulsory redundancies are implemented, employees affected will be placed on the redeployment register and all reasonable efforts will be made to secure their continued employment in the Council (either on a permanent or temporary basis).

9. A range of support measures are also in place to offer employees at risk or on notice of redundancy guidance and advice on matters such as: where to seek external job opportunities; preparing job applications and for interviews; how to become self-employed or start a new business; where to access other support and how to manage finances.

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APPENDIX 3

Gateshead Council

Budget Consultation 2014/16

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1. INTRODUCTION The Council continues to face a major financial challenge. We have identified £75 million of savings since 2010 and now employ 1,275 fewer people (this equates to 1,618 posts, which includes vacant posts deleted). The Government will provide the Council with notification of its Local Government Financial Settlement in December 2013 so, until then, we are working on the basis that there is at least a further £45 million to find, which is at the moment the best estimate, in order to close the current gap in our budget over the next two years. To help us make these decisions we are consulting residents, businesses, employees and partners. We want to know their views so that councillors can make fair, principled, informed choices. The views we receive will help shape the direction the Council will be going in over the next two years. The budget will then be agreed by the 66 members of the Council, who are democratically elected to represent Gateshead and its residents. This document provides more information about those choices, and the context in which the decisions need to be made. It identifies the challenges that the Council faces and how it will approach them. The consultation period will run until 17 December 2013. The full budget timetable and details of how to get involved are set out on page 47. 2. CONTEXT There are some key duties, that as a minimum, the Council must deliver. These include: enabling democratic leadership, keeping residents safe and setting strategic direction for Gateshead.

• Enabling democratic leadership: By law, we have to run elections and arrange meetings of the Council, its committees, its Cabinet executive and a scrutiny function. We must allow public access to meetings and information, providing an opportunity for local people to influence local services and issues. The Council must agree a budget and numerous policies to support its decision making.

• Keeping our residents safe: We have certain legal duties that we have to

carry out to keep our residents safe, including care and safeguarding of children and vulnerable adults, anti-social behaviour, environmental health, licensing and planning.

• Setting strategic direction for Gateshead: We have to set out the long-term plans for the borough, both now and in the future, including communicating with residents and managing the way our services perform.

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Councils provide a range of services for their residents. Many of these are ‘universal services’ that are used by everyone, such as street lighting, road safety and traffic management. Bins are emptied, streets are kept clean and we do all we can to make sure that standards are kept high and safe around services that we buy. We also provide services that are only used by certain sectors of our community, such as adult and children’s social care. These services can be very costly to provide, but they are essential to making sure some of the most vulnerable members of our community are cared for and feel safe. It is vital to build a foundation for the future based on economic growth - investment brings jobs, financial security for our residents and additional income for the Council to safeguard vital services. By having long-term ambitions, but also focusing on what needs to be delivered now, we are concentrating on meeting the needs of our residents both today and in the future. The Council along with its partners is committed to the delivery of Gateshead’s Sustainable Community Strategy, Vision 2030. We also have our Council Plan 2012-2017 which focuses on achieving an overall ambition of sustainable economic growth and wellbeing, along with the key themes of:

• Giving children the best start in life • Improving health and wellbeing • Culture, creativity and high impact events • Green Gateshead • Creating capacity through volunteering • Creating the conditions for economic growth

3. CHALLENGES It is clear that the coming years will see change on a huge scale for the Council, our employees and the services on which many people may rely. The Council is facing unprecedented challenges in continuing to meet the changing needs of local people and businesses in the current economic climate. Some of these challenges stem from national issues and are being faced by councils and communities across the country. Funding for local government has been reducing in real terms by over 35% since 2010. This means that local councils have less money to spend on local services. At the same time costs have increased. This is due to a number of reasons, for instance the increasing demand for social care, an increase in complex care packages for some very vulnerable people and of course rising supplier costs such as energy, fuel and materials. Changing Policy Context Aside from the economic challenges, national policy decisions are impacting locally, including:

• the Welfare Reform Agenda which aims to move people from benefits into employment and to reduce the amount paid out in benefits. Welfare reforms are being introduced incrementally with the first major changes having come into force in April 2013, meaning the impact is not fully known.

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• anticipated legislative changes to the provision of adult social care which will set out the minimum levels of care that local authorities will need to provide – along with how these are to be paid for.

• local authorities leading the way in becoming more environmentally sustainable by helping to reduce energy use, carbon emissions and waste as well as increase the amount we recycle.

• the transfer of public health services to local authorities. The change represents a shift in how public health is organised and local authorities must step up to the challenge in order to improve people’s health.

• other issues are also being developed including changes to national funding for schools and the pupil premium, further decisions on public health responsibilities and the development of a Combined Authority providing strategic leadership across the wider area to guide investment in transport, skills and economic growth.

These national and sub-regional changes will impact locally and the Council needs to understand these and consider them when making budget choices. 4. THE COUNCIL’S APPROACH TO THE CHALLENGES The approach the Council takes in developing and making decisions about the budget is crucial, and is done so in a planned and principled way, which ultimately informs how decisions on the budget will be taken by councillors. All decisions about services are made based on a robust evidence of need. The Council produces needs assessments for different service areas. Some of these are required by the Government, others are judged to be best practice. The Council has drawn these together into a single Strategic Needs Assessment (Cabinet report reference C48 12/13). This overall assessment sets out the main social, economic and environmental issues for Gateshead along with supporting evidence. Medium Term Financial Strategy Our approach focuses on four areas – managing demand, stimulating economic growth, vibrant communities and efficiency, by:

• focusing on managing demand (particularly in social care) with a targeted approach, emphasising early intervention and prevention.

• doing all we can to support economic growth and revenue generation – given reductions in central government funding, success in this area will enable us to redirect resource to activities which protect the most vulnerable.

• enabling local communities to engage with the design and delivery of a range of services e.g. through volunteering.

• continuing to drive efficiencies through changes to the way the Council works, for example, through use of new technology, consolidation of buildings and services, reducing complex processes.

The next sections better explain what we mean by the four areas, what the Council is already doing, and some of the issues. a) Managing Demand

The Council is facing growing demand pressures across a number of service areas, but in particular, with adult and children’s social care. There has been a 10% increase in adult social care demand in Gateshead compared to 4%

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nationally with more complex need and demand for respite. There has also been a significant rise of 32% in recent years in the levels of children being cared for by the Council. Responsibility for public health services has recently transferred to the Council, with the prospect of reduced funding from 2015/16 onwards. The Government’s changes to welfare reform including Universal Credit are expected to have an impact in relation to unpaid council tax and housing rents. The recent Sheffield Hallam Report quoted an estimated figure of £70m loss to Gateshead as a borough in 2014/15. In addition there could be wider financial implications for service delivery due to increased demand

What we are doing • Implementing an Adult Social Care Financial Strategy (Cabinet report C7 13/14)

that focuses on prevention to enable people to live independently and maintain quality of life reducing the need for crisis support; meeting critical and substantial need and safeguarding vulnerable adults; achieve best value from resources and services both in-house, independent and voluntary/ community sector; improving how we commission services for customers;

• Implementing a Children’s Social Care Financial Strategy that focuses on achieving best value; early intervention and prevention; safeguarding vulnerable children; improving quality of care planning;

• Implementing a Health and Wellbeing Strategy (Cabinet report C250 12/13) to secure joined-up, person centred services across health and social care; shifting more investment from expensive hospital care towards prevention, early intervention and community provision tackling causes of ill health; strengthening engagement and building capacity within communities, especially those with the poorest health; and making the most of opportunities to promote active and healthy lifestyles.

• Working with partners, to support families and residents affected by welfare reform, including targeted activities within communities to raise awareness to those affected including Council tenants, promoting financial education, providing advice on debt and credit issues and helping people overcome barriers to returning to work, as well as providing support where possible to those in crisis because of welfare changes.

• Making best use of technology so that residents can easily access our services and advice online.

b) Stimulating Economic Growth

A key strand of the Council Plan 2012-2017 is to create the conditions for economic growth in order to support our wider ambition of sustainable economic growth and wellbeing for Gateshead. In May 2013, the Council’s Medium Term Financial Strategy adopted a new principle of aiming to promote and stimulate strong and sustainable economic growth, supported by a planned approach to strategic investment. A number of existing reserves have been reallocated to create a new Economic Growth reserve to help support the delivery of this objective.

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What we are doing • Implementing an Economic Growth Acceleration Plan to drive growth and job

creation across Gateshead. • Completing the first phase of regeneration of Gateshead Town Centre and

working on other regeneration projects across the borough, including Blaydon, Felling and Birtley town centres.

• Progressing activity through the City Deal to regenerate Gateshead Quays and potentially releasing £1 billion investment in the North East.

• Working with North East Local Enterprise Partnership and neighbouring Councils to create an environment that allows businesses to flourish and create jobs.

• Implementing a Rural Economic Strategy, working more effectively with partners to meet the needs of the people and businesses in rural communities across Gateshead.

• Improving skills and removing the barriers to employment which exist in a number of areas to ensure that all local residents can share in future success and reduce demand for our services.

• Implementing a Housing Strategy for the next 5 years which has the overall aim of helping people to access and sustain good quality affordable homes.

• Simulating development through investment in next-generation infrastructure, including superfast broadband.

• Implementing measures to promote walking, cycling and public transport use, as well as continuing to improve road safety.

c) Vibrant Communities

Now, more than ever, the Council wants to enable a thriving voluntary, community and social enterprise sector in Gateshead so that communities can become more sustainable and, where appropriate, are able to run local services such as libraries and community centres. What we are doing • Along with Gateshead Voluntary Organisations Council, we have developed

The Gateshead Offer – a single support package of information that community and voluntary groups should find useful, including governance and constitution, business and financial planning. There is also information in relation to The Gateshead Fund – a council fund aimed at supporting organisations to build their capacity and sustainability as well as small grassroots community groups to help the Council achieve the priorities identified within the Council Plan 2012-2017.

• We have in place a Volunteers Plan with the aim of increasing formal and informal volunteering opportunities.

• We continue to support existing and new social enterprises to develop and grow.

• We now have 5 community libraries run by volunteers and through asset transfer have enabled 12 community centres to be managed by local people.

• We are involved in the government’s Troubled Families initiative, which was launched in March 2012 with the aim of providing more coordinated interventions to families who are in need of support in relation to crime, education and worklessness. Our programme is called FamiliesGateshead and by March 2015, we intend to be working with 595 families.

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d) Efficiency The Council is fully committed to ensuring value for money which is why efficiency continues to be a key theme within the Council’s Medium Term Financial Strategy. What we are doing • Working across every council service to ensure our services are needs based,

efficient and effective. • Entered into a 25 year waste management partnership with Sunderland and

South Tyneside Councils to improve waste and recycling collection, disposal and facilities such as Campground Waste and Recycling Centre.

• Through new approaches to recycling such as kerbside recycling, Gateshead residents and businesses have helped us to increase our collection rates for recycling of waste to nearly 40%.

• Developing a district heating scheme to provide low-carbon heat and power to buildings and homes in the town centre, with the aim of being operational by 2015. We have also joined the regional ‘Warm up North’ project, which will provide a single, council-backed private contractor to undertake all Green Deal and grant funded energy conservation works to homes.

• Exploring the use of new technologies to support more efficient working, for example using new technology in council refuse collection vehicles to improve route planning.

• Established the Gateshead Trading Company to allow us to generate income in order to help support services.

• Since 2009, the Council has embarked on a transformation programme called Fit for the Future, with the aim of ensuring council services are as efficient as possible. Through this programme, the Council has been able to save monies which have contributed towards the overall budgetary savings required by the Government.

5. FUTURE CHOICES Over the past few years there has been wholesale change in the way the Council works and this change will continue in order to meet the challenges faced. The substantial funding gap in the Council’s budget means that we will need to identify new and more cost effective ways of delivering services. The Council will need to make choices about the services it offers, including how they are provided. Potential future options could mean that we:

• stop doing things (where some services or activities will cease) • do less (reduce service levels or standards) • do it differently (find new ways to achieve the best outcomes; provide at

alternative times) • local people paying more (Council Tax increase; increase in fees and charges

for some services) • work with partners and communities in new ways to support local services

(“friends of” groups/communities, volunteering activities) It is crucial that Gateshead Council adopts a balanced approach to meeting these challenges. This means understanding when an issue needs longer term action that will reap rewards over a number of years, rather than making a decision that will

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achieve a quick solution. For example the Council may provide funding for a service to help unemployed local people into training opportunities that will help them get a job. This could help them to increase their income through employment and reduce how much they may depend on welfare. It will not be easy and the Council is being forced to make some difficult choices. In the following pages, we have categorised the choices we would like views on, into two main themes: Universal Services – those which are provided to all or can be used by all and Targeted Services – those which are provided to people who need our help or relate to a certain group of people or circumstance.

• Universal Services covers the Environment, Local Economy, Culture, Leisure and Communities, Information and Advice and Income.

• Targeted Services covers Children and Young People’s Services, Adult Services and Health.

In addition, Efficiency, Effectiveness and Savings is a theme that cuts across all areas of the Council’s work and identifies the work we are doing through our Fit for the Future programme and the Policy, Service Planning and Performance Management Framework.

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THEMES UNIVERSAL SERVICES Universal services are services which are provided to all or can be used by all

TARGETED SERVICES Targeted services are services for people who need our help or relate to a certain group of people or circumstance.

Environment • Waste Collection • Litter picking, grass cutting,

parks and open spaces • Maintenance of roads, footpaths

and drains • Street Lighting

Children and Young People services • Social care • Education • Young people • Early Years • School crossing patrols

Local Economy • Housing growth • Transport • Supporting growth in the local

economy (businesses and jobs) • Tourism /Events

Adult Services • Social care

Communities, Culture and Leisure • Libraries • Leisure • Arts • Sport and Physical activity • Community centres • Community funding • Support to private landlords

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Information and advice • Access points for customers and

information for residents Income

• Council Tax – including collection, discounts and benefits

• Fees and Charges

Health • Protecting residents • Improving health

Efficiency, Effectiveness and Savings

Internal

• Organisational structure • Funding and Financing • Working practices • Strategic investment and delivery of the capital programme

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Universal Services

Universal services are services which are provided to all or can be used by all

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Environment

Our role and services The Council undertakes a range of activities which underpin the wider social and economic life of Gateshead, as well a range of specific Council objectives. This includes a large number of activities which we are legally obliged to provide. These include transport, the built environment, maintenance of and investment in critical community assets and also the generation of income to support Council services. More specifically to the environment theme, the following services are provided: 1. Services that help keep the environment in a clean, safe and attractive condition

including waste collection and recycling, street cleansing, weed control, graffiti removal, pest control, aboricultural services, cemeteries and crematoria, Saltwell Park, allotments and fixed play.

2. Winter maintenance (snow ploughs, gritting, etc.) to help protect residents and visitors.

3. Ensuring an active and healthy and sustainable Gateshead, through open space provision and supporting community involvement through the Neighbourhood Pride Scheme, ‘Friends of’ and voluntary groups.

4. Special collections e.g bulky waste 5. Services that deliver a programme of improvements to Council owned buildings,

roads and the wider environment . 6. Ensuring that carriageways, footways, street furniture, street lighting and structures

are safe and attractive, surface water drains away freely, street lights, bollards and signs are lit, materials, supplies and services are provided in a timely and cost effective way. Public buildings and schools are safe, attractive, fit for purpose and adapted to meet user needs.

7. Supporting economic growth by providing and maintaining the transport links which enable people to travel between home and work and access leisure and cultural activities.

8. Reducing carbon emissions and ensuring road safety. 9. Ensuring a better quality environment. 10. Supports in disaster management activity Our choices for 2014-16 We know we are facing a high level of demand and public expectation of our services. Many of our services are essential to maintain our residents’ normal daily life. Waste and recycling collections are being reviewed, and opportunities for working with a range of partners are being explored. These activities are key priorities, as is improving methods of front line service delivery including technology for better use of vehicles and agile working, and increasing community and voluntary support. Self management models (by individuals or groups) are also being explored for allotments, bowls, and playing fields. The main choices to make savings are:- To change the way we provide services - by sharing service provision with neighbouring councils and also enlisting greater support from the community e.g. Waste collection and treatment. The Council is currently undertaking a street light replacement scheme which will enable the Council to control individual street lights and potentially switch off lights in some locations.

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To reduce the level of service we currently provide – reduction in the number of sites and premises e.g. providing one Household Waste Recycling Centre, reductions in frequency of services e.g. mechanical sweeping of streets and footpaths. Fewer flower beds and less frequent weed treatments. Less support to bowling greens, non-operational cemeteries, parks, open spaces and sports pitches. To increase the income our services generate – introducing new charges and also further developing the trading of our current services e.g. Charging for green waste collection. Camera enforcement of bus lanes. For consideration 2014/2015 (Year 1) 1. Stop the programme of planned upgrades and improvement works to back lanes

across the borough The Council currently undertakes a small programme of upgrading and improving back lanes by carrying out larger repair schemes. This programme would stop. However, minor works, such as pot hole repairs would continue to ensure back lanes are safe for use. If this option were to be implemented it would realise £44,000 in savings which would be 100% of the budget. There would be no workforce implications. 2. Do less mechanical sweeping of roads and footpaths across the borough Currently a fleet of 8 mechanical sweepers assist in the street cleaning operations across the borough. Smaller vehicles are used to sweep town centres, back lanes, paths and precincts whilst the larger type vehicles are used to sweep estates, main roads and highways. Mechanical sweepers are also used to support clearances after floods, accidents and spillages. It is proposed to reduce the number of vehicles in operation. That would impact on the number of areas that currently receive a mechanical sweeping service and the frequency that areas are mechanically swept. If this option were to be implemented it could realise £100,000 in savings which is 26% of the £380,000 budget. There could be workforce implications affecting 4 FTEs. 3. Increase/Implement new car parking charges – This proposal is to investigate the

potential of increasing the current car parking charges at town centre and local centre sites. It also includes the introduction of charges at specific countryside car parks.

This will assist with the turnover of cars at car park locations where demand exceeds supply and will provide an income stream to assist in maintaining a good standard of amenity. If this option were to be implemented it could potentially raise £130,000. There would be no workforce implications. 4. Reduce support to Bowling Greens and Sports Pitches and reduce the

maintenance in closed cemeteries, parks and open spaces Reduced support to bowling greens could mean carrying out less work to the surrounding areas of bowling greens such as board and sand replacement whilst maintaining the bowling green playing area. It could also include reducing the current

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number of greens in use and the investigation of self management models. Reduced support to football pitches could mean investigation of self management models. Maintenance of closed cemeteries could be reduced by cutting the grass less frequently however open cemeteries would not be affected. Reduced maintenance in parks could mean reducing the standard and frequency of grass cutting. If this option were to be implemented it could realise £100,000 in savings which is 52% of the £193,000 budget. There could be workforce implications affecting 4 FTEs. 5. Remove all flowerbeds from public areas with the exception of parks but to also

build on current arrangements to work with local communities. If this option were to be implemented it could realise £20,000 in savings which is 33% of the £60,000 budget. There would be no workforce implications. For consideration 2015/16 (Year 2 and beyond) 6. Installation of bus lane cameras This proposal is to identify specific locations where it would be appropriate to install cameras that would monitor vehicle usage in bus lanes. The purpose is to discourage general traffic from entering and using bus lanes allowing better traffic management and quicker public transport journey times. Abuse of bus lanes is widespread across the borough and this initiative would identify transgressors who would receive penalty charge notices. 7. Introduce a charge for the collection of green garden waste Garden waste is collected on a fortnightly basis from March to November inclusive and is done from 61,000 properties which have suitable sized gardens. All other properties do not have access to the scheme due to the lack of reasonably sized gardens. The scheme currently collects about 10,000 tonnes of garden waste and contributes around 10% to our overall recycling rate of 37.9%. Garden waste charges have already been introduced successfully by a number of councils within the region. Statistics show that where garden waste charges have been introduced there is a reduction in households wishing to use the service. It is estimated that 25% of households will agree to pay and continue using the service. If there were a reduction in service users this could also reduce the number of vehicles and staff in the service required. 8. Closure of one Household Waste Recycling Centre The Council are only required to make provision for access to one Household Waste Recycling Centre whilst Gateshead Council currently makes provision for two. 9. Reduce Energy Costs The Council are currently undertaking a boroughwide street light lantern replacement

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scheme. This scheme is due to be completed in 2015. Once new lanterns have been fitted it is possible to control each individual street light. This proposal is to identify specific locations and specific times (late night and early morning – low traffic) where switching lights off completely will have a low impact within local communities.

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Local Economy

Our role and services The Council’s role is to create a strong and resilient local economy and deliver the jobs, housing and growth that will give local people the best chance of realising their full potential and enjoying a prosperous and healthy life. By supporting the growth of existing businesses and attracting new investment, the Council benefits directly from new revenue which helps to protect front-line services. The regeneration of Gateshead Town Centre and local centres at Blaydon, Birtley and Felling is expected to deliver £3.2m of additional income each year through increased business rates. Other developments are forecast to increase annual business rate income by another £2m by 2016. By continuing to secure new investment and economic development the Council can help to bridge funding gaps and help to secure vital services into the future. By helping local people access the jobs created by these new and growing businesses, we increase their household income and help them lead successful and independent lives. This reduces the demand on Council services generally and the risk of non-payment of rent or Council Tax specifically. This new employment also boosts local spending. For example, the Council has supported 265 people into employment within the new Trinity Square development; it is estimated that this has injected £6 million in wages into the local economy in addition to the other benefits outlined above. By holding events that have a local, national and international profile Gateshead continues to promote itself as an attractive place for people to live work study and invest in as well as demonstrating a strong track record of delivery The services the Council provides are: 1. Representing Gateshead’s interests at a regional and national level, for example

influencing the development of the North East Strategic Economic Plan which will direct investment decisions in the region

2. Providing specialist advice and support to a range of businesses, including social enterprises. We support start-ups and growing businesses and help companies looking to invest in Gateshead.

3. Supporting the growth of key business sectors, including rural enterprises and creative businesses

4. Manage four business centres that give new and young businesses and inward investors the opportunity to trade in a low risk, supported environment.

5. Ensuring there is sufficient accommodation to meet business needs 6. Working with employers to identify and meet current and future skills needs 7. Intensive support for employers to help them meet their recruitment needs and

maximise employment and training opportunities for local workless people 8. Providing advice and support to unemployed and unwaged residents to help them

access local jobs or start a business, including the matching of residents to live vacancies with employers

9. Helping local people affected by Welfare Reform and ensure people have appropriate financial products, services and advice in order to manage their money effectively.

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10. Ensuring the choice of housing meets local need through the provision of new housing.

11. Managing the delivery of key infrastructure projects such as transport improvements, energy schemes, flood-risk alleviation and the roll-out of high-speed broadband

12. Protecting and enhancing the natural and historic environment 13. Securing public and private sector investment in order to deliver regeneration 14. Developing partnerships and managing the delivery of major regeneration projects 15. Delivering, supporting and managing sporting, cultural and horticultural events

which can provide a significant boost to the local economy. 16. Providing tourism related information to local residents and visitors to

NewcastleGateshead, promoting local attractions, businesses and events Our choices for 2014-16 We act to regenerate the local economy and create the conditions where businesses can thrive and create jobs for local people. There is a also need to increase the number of homes in Gateshead and ensure local neighbourhoods offer a good choice of housing. Growth will also help to maximise income generation to the Council and reduce demand on the services we provide. The main choices to make savings are:- To stop providing services. For example, stopping delivery of employment support for unemployed and unwaged residents and recruitment support for Gateshead employers. Stopping delivery of the service that helps stimulate self employment and the growth of social enterprises. We could stop supporting delivery of the Financial Inclusion Strategy. To reduce the level of service we currently provide. Alternatively we could look at opportunities to reduce rather than stop these services. We could also reduce the specialist support we have for securing external funding to deliver programmes and projects that deliver jobs and investment in Gateshead. To reduce the level of service we currently provide The Council currently hosts major cultural, sporting and athletics events as well as supporting a range of community events. We could reduce the level of funding which would reduce Gateshead’s events calendar. To increase the income our services generate. For example membership services such as the Digital Union could be asked to cover the full cost of the services they receive. We could introduce charges for some local events which are currently free of charge. To review Tourist Information arrangements. The council currently works with Newcastle City Council and NGI to develop tourist information networks across the 2 local authorities including a physical presence at Market Street in Newcastle. The Council could withdraw its staffing resource from the Market Street Tourist Information Centre and cease to have a tourist information facility presence. To review the financial support to external organisations – Newcastle Gateshead Initiative (NGI). The Council currently funds the Newcastle Gateshead Initiative to promote NewcastleGateshead as a tourist destination, to attract conferences and to attract new inward investment enquiries. The Council could reduce the level of funding to the organisation.

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For consideration 2014/2015 (Year 1) 1. Employment Support Grant – the Council provides a small grant to unemployed or

unwaged residents to help them meet essential costs that will improve their chance of gaining local employment. These are commonly known as Back to Work Grants. 475 residents who were matched with jobs received this support last year.

If this option were to be implemented it would realise £31,000 in savings which is 50% of the £62,000 budget. There would be no workforce implications. 2. Employment Support – the Council works intensively with unemployed or unwaged

residents of Gateshead to help them benefit from jobs that are created in the Borough. The service doesn’t just prepare residents for work; it puts them into work by matching them with local job opportunities.

A critical part of this service is therefore working with local employers to help them find local labour. This ranges from delivering customised recruitment programmes (e.g. for major employers such as Tesco) to finding employees for single vacancies. It also involves working with employers to help them identify where they need additional staff. Support is currently provided for any resident who is not eligible for support through national or regional initiatives such as the Work Programme and FamilyWise. Over 500 residents are helped into jobs each year through this intensive work, reducing demand for Council services and boosting spending in the local economy. There is potential to reduce this service by moving from a universal service to one targeted at areas with high unemployment. The saving from this proposal could be £35,000 which is 22% of the £160,000 budget. There could be workforce implications affecting 1 FTE post . 3. Events - The Council supports a programme of major sporting, cultural,

horticultural and community events as well as providing support to community organisations staging their own events. These events include Great North City Games and Junior Great North Run.

The major events such as the European Athletics Team event this year provide a significant boost to the local economy. The Council could reduce the expenditure on the events programme and staffing which would lead to a much reduced programme and reduced capacity to support community organisations. The Council spends £711,000 on events, including those in conjunction with NGI, this covers staffing and the event programme. The Council could reduce or cease funding events. There could be workforce implications affecting up to 4.6 FTEs. 4. Tourism Information Centre - The Council spends £67,000 contributing to a joint

Tourism Information in Newcastle. The Council could cease funding saving £67,000 and have no Tourism Information Centre presence, instead relying on printed / digital media for tourist information. There could be workforce implications affecting 2.75 FTEs

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5. Review the financial support to external organisations – Newcastle Gateshead Initiative (NGI).

The Council currently funds the Newcastle Gateshead Initiative to promote NewcastleGateshead as a tourist destination, to attract conferences and to attract new inward investment enquiries. The Council currently contribute £673,500 of funding to NGI. The Council could reduce the funding by up to 30% over 2 years. If this option were to be taken forward it could realise savings of £101,000 in 2014/15. There would be no direct Council workforce implications. For consideration 2015/16 (Year 2 and beyond) 1. Employment Support - the Council could review the extent of these services and

potentially further reduce the level of support provided. This could include further reductions in the availability of employment support grant.

2. Enterprise Support and Financial Inclusion – the Council provides a number of services to help stimulate enterprise and support those who are unable to access financial products, services and advice.

Self-employment support helps Gateshead residents who are interested in starting and running a new business. Support is provided to any resident who is not eligible for support through national or regional initiatives such as the New Enterprise Allowance. Support is also provided to social enterprises (or community businesses). This includes helping new enterprises to start up as well as supporting existing ones to grow and become more sustainable e.g. by helping them with accessing funding. The social enterprises supported provide a wide range of services including health and social care, childcare, recycling, food co-ops and counselling.

Dedicated support is also provided to coordinate the work on financial inclusion. This is help for people who are unable to access financial products, services and advice. This work involves looking at debt and credit solutions, benefit advice and financial access.

The Council could review the extent of these services and potentially reduce the level of support provided. 3. Digital Union – this is the largest digital and commercial creative network in the

North East of England, comprising over 400 businesses. The network provides benefits and services designed to encourage business growth and nurture emerging talent. The Council provides dedicated support to the network to ensure Gateshead benefits from the growth of these businesses and the jobs they will create. The Council could review the level of support provided to the network and potentially reduce this or seek to charge members to cover all or part of the costs. 4. Programme and Project Support including external funding – the Council delivers a

range of programmes and projects which aim to regenerate neighbourhoods and improve the lives of local people.

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This service has expertise in bidding for and securing external funding from a range of sources to complement Council funding. For example funding has been secured from central government initiatives, from the national lottery and from European funding programmes to deliver projects in regeneration and economic growth.

Specialist support is provided to help ensure these programmes and projects deliver on time and on budget and realise the desired benefits for the community.

The Council could review the extent of this support and potentially reduce this.

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Communities, Culture and Leisure

Our role and services The Council’s role is to support local residents, community groups and the voluntary sector in accessing and engaging with Council services. Provide and promote sport, cultural and creative opportunities to residents, students and visitors to Gateshead, providing interventions to reduce health inequalities and support leisure and library facilities. The services the Council provides are: 1. Developing strong, integrated and confident communities through capacity

building with community and voluntary groups 2. Supporting a strategic network of community centres across Gateshead and a

range of community activities through community hubs 3. Providing funding to community groups and the voluntary sector 4. Supporting the Council, sport clubs, the community and voluntary sector to

access funding and income generation 5. Developing and increasing volunteering across Gateshead 6. Reducing inequalities within and between key communities by supporting and

delivering a range of activities (including creative approaches) that improve health and wellbeing, tackle prejudice, enhance neighbourliness and promote togetherness

7. Facilitating, supporting and advising with regard to cultural and local community events

8. Delivering commissioned services to support self management of long term conditions, obesity and weight management, health and sports based engagement, healthy lifestyle and nutritional advice and specifically targeted health programmes for men and women (including maternal lifestyles)

9. Supporting, engaging and developing volunteering and sport related clubs and community groups

10. Providing sport opportunities in local communities to increase participation 11. Managing the Council’s library and leisure facilities 12. Providing and promoting sport, leisure and health related opportunities and

services 13. Providing and promoting library related opportunities and services including

supported access to ICT, lifelong learning, reading and information 14. Providing local history and heritage related learning opportunities 15. Delivery a high quality programme of arts, culture and heritage experiences 16. Providing an arts development service at a local level in and with communities

and schools across all arts forms 17. Providing a museum and art gallery 18. Providing support and advocacy for the voluntary arts sector 19. Making best use of existing housing stock, including bringing empty homes

back into use. 20. Working in partnership with landlords to improve the management and

condition of private rented housing, including licensing private landlords in areas suffering from anti-social behaviour or low demand.

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Our choices for 2014-16 We are looking at a series of options to enable us to make savings. Our main choices for savings are:- To reduce the level of service we currently provide. • The Council’s Sport Physical Activity and Health Team is responsible for the

development of sport across Gateshead and delivers a service aimed at reducing health inequalities. The Council could reduce the support provided through this service.

• The Arts Development service in Gateshead works at a local level with communities and schools to promote an arts led programme. The Council could reduce the provision of this service.

To stop providing services. The Council could reduce funding to some or all of our community centres, inviting and supporting local people and community groups to run community centres. The Council could close some or all of our leisure facilities asking local people to travel further to access activities. To consider different delivery methods. The Council currently has 10 Leisure Facilities, we could look at an alternative way of delivering the Leisure facilities via another organisation, such as a Leisure Trust or joint venture. To reduce funding to heritage, museum and arts organisations. The Council could reduce the level of funding to BALTIC, Sage Gateshead and Shipley Gallery. To reduce funding the community and voluntary sector. The Council currently provides funding to the community and voluntary sector through the Gateshead Fund. The Council could reduce the amount of funding it provides. To carry out a further library review. The Council reviewed its library network in 2012/13 resulting in the creation of 12 core and 5 non core with the 5 non core libraries run by volunteers. The Council could carry out a further review of its core network of 12 libraries. To stop providing services. For example, we could stop the selective licensing of landlords. We could also stop our specialist work to bring empty property back into use. To reduce the level of service we currently provide. Alternatively we could look at opportunities to reduce rather than stop these services To increase the income our services generate. For example, membership services such as the Gateshead Private Landlords Association could be asked to cover the full cost of the services they receive or increase charges for leisure facilities. For consideration 2014/2015 (Year 1) 1. Leisure Facilities - The Council spends £8.6m on providing 10 leisure facilities.

These facilities attract 2 million visits per year with over 50,000 people regularly using the services. These earn £5.5m in income making the net cost £3.1m. These facilities are strategically positioned across the Borough providing good access for all residents and have benefited from £36m capital investment in recent years.

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The Council could reduce the number of leisure facilities, consider reducing or mothballing some of the range of services available within leisure centres, in addition increase charges above inflationary increases with the potential to raise approximately £200,000, or consider delivering these services differently through for example, a Leisure Trust or joint venture. This could save up to £2.7 million. There could be workforce implications affecting up to 188 FTEs 2. Cultural Organisation Support – Sage Gateshead, BALTIC and the Shipley Gallery

(via Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums Service) provide cultural and creative experiences for local residents as well as the wider community. These organisations also help to support the local economy. E.g. Sage Gateshead contributed £150m in its first five years of operation to the regional economy.

Out of a total of £1.184m in Council funding to these organisations, the Council could reduce its support by up to £355,000 over two years. 3. Community Centres - Currently the Council supports the operation of a Community

Centre network and this is subject to an ongoing review process. The Council could progress the reviews of Centres to deliver further budget reductions incrementally up to a point where there is no financial support to Community Centres. A review of Community Centre provision could save £97,000 which is 33% of the £290,000 budget. There could be workforce implications affecting up to 10 FTEs. 4. The Gateshead Fund comprises the Local Community Fund and the Capacity

Building Fund. The Local Community Fund supports councillors in meeting locally determined priorities. This fund is currently £220,000 (£10,000 per ward). The Capacity Building Fund is £620,000 and enables the Council to support capacity building initiatives in the community and the voluntary sector. The Council could consider partial or total reductions to either or both funds. Should the Council reduce this funding there would be a corresponding reduction in workforce administrating the Fund which could affect up to 2 FTEs. 5. Sport, Physical Activity and Health team is responsible for the development of

sport across Gateshead and it provides extensive support to voluntary sports clubs. The team deliver a service which aims to reduce health inequalities, by providing a full range of healthy lifestyle services in communities across Gateshead. It provides support to groups and individuals to make lifestyle changes, by promoting and motivating people to take up sport, physical activity and health related opportunities, including volunteering.

The Council could consider reducing the provision of this service. This proposal could realise savings up to the budget of £559,000. The workforce implications could affect up to 14 FTEs. 6. The Arts Development Service in Gateshead works at a local level in and with

communities and schools to provide an arts led programme across Gateshead across all art forms, providing workshops, exhibitions, performances and public arts commissions, delivering events and support for community and local festivals. This small team of people also provide advice, support and advocacy for the voluntary arts sector and working with groups and individuals, enable creative and

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alternative approaches to community issues and challenges faced by young people.

The Council could consider reducing this service. If the total budget of £148,000 was removed the workforce implications could affect 5 FTEs. For consideration 2015/2016 (Year 2 and beyond ) 1. Libraries and Heritage - The Council’s Library Service consists of 12 core network

libraries (reduced from 17 in 2012/13). There is a statutory requirement to provide ‘a comprehensive and efficient Library Service’.

The Council could undertake a further review of the Library network to consider what constitutes a ‘comprehensive and efficient service’. It is proposed that the Council’s Heritage provision including St Mary’s Visitor Centre is included in this review. 2. Community Centres – the Council could continue to review community centre

provision incrementally, building on the review process in 2014/15.

3. Private Landlord and Tenant Services – the private rented sector is growing significantly and increasingly is a longer-term housing option for young people and families.

The Council works in partnership with private landlords to drive up the standard of property and management in the sector for the benefit of tenants and neighbours. Dedicated support is provided to the 736 landlords who are members of the Gateshead Private Landlords Association (GPLA); services include tenant vetting and the voluntary Accreditation Scheme. The Accreditation Scheme is also available to non-members.

Support and advice is also provided to private tenants to help them access rented private property and to remain in their homes where the property is owned or managed by a GPLA member. The Council could review the level of support provided to the GPLA and the extent of services provided to private landlords and tenants. Both of these could potentially be reduced and/or members of the GPLA could pay more for the service they receive. 4. Selective Landlord Licensing – the Council has the power to licence private

landlords in areas suffering from low housing demand or significant and persistent problems of anti-social behaviour.

The Council has used this power to designate three areas for selective licensing - in Chopwell, Saltwell and Swalwell. They are licensed for a period of five years ending in 2015, 2017 and 2018 respectively.

The Council could review whether we continue with the licensing of areas. Potentially no further areas will benefit and existing areas will lapse at the end of the five-year period. 5. Empty Property – long-term empty properties are a wasted resource that can blight

neighbourhoods. The Council works proactively with private owners to bring long-term empty property back into use through advice, negotiation, property matching and financial assistance (with funding from the Homes & Communities Agency).

The Council could review the extent of these services and potentially reduce the level of service provided.

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Information and Advice

Our role and services Access points for customers and information for residents Customer Contact Strategy The key aims of the Council’s customer contact strategy are ;

• Offering services in the most appropriate ways to meet the needs of customers • Taking the most cost effective approach to customer contact • Supporting and delivering accessible services through a range of contact

methods to reflect the individual needs of customers There is a need to continually review the way customers make contact with the Council (face to face contact at receptions, by telephone and the Council’s website) to ensure that the most cost effective methods are used, including self service, to reduce costs whilst improving customer satisfaction. Council News The key aims of Council News are to inform the public about Council services that we provide and how we provide them. It provides the Council with a cost effective platform to inform, market and promote key priorities and services of benefit to local people. Our choices 2014/ 2016 Customer Services - The objective of the customer services strategy is to move, as far as possible, customer transactions to a lower cost method, whilst still offering some form of customer choice. Moving face to face contact to the civic centre, whilst developing more automated transactions via the website or automated telephony, helps achieve this. In addition the consolidation of reception areas within the civic centre allows better management and control of customer contacts. Council News - Review how we produce Council News e.g. size and number of editions as well as exploring parallel ways of communicating information e.g. e newsletter and email alerts and SMS texts. For consideration 2014/2015 (Year 1) 1. The Council could consolidate further its approach to a more efficient customer

service strategy by withdrawing reception services and investing in self service options at outlying council offices, so that a greater number of services can be delivered more effectively from the Civic Centre.

This proposal could achieve a £75,000 (2.5%) saving out of the current budget of £3.112 million. The workforce implications could affect up to 4 FTEs. 2. The Council spends approximately £85,000 on producing and delivering the

Council News publication which is seen as an effective way of keeping residents informed and engaged with Council priorities and services.

The Council could explore a reduction in the number of editions throughout the year, and the size (number of pages) which could realise a saving of approximately £21,000. Other formats could also be explored, e.g. if the Council only produced an e- magazine which could save a further £45,000 (53%) out of the current budget of £85,000.

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Income Our role and services Council tax and Business Rates

• The Council is responsible for managing and administering the billing, collection and recovery of Council Tax and Business Rates from residents and local businesses, including the administration of relevant discounts and exemptions.

Fees and Charges

• Fees and charges help to ensure deliverability of services and contributes towards the Council’s policy objectives in Vision 2030 and the Council Plan

• The Council will ensure that fees and charges are set at an appropriate level in line with the delivery of Vision 2030 and take into account comparative levels of charge and ability to pay.

• The Council will consider ways in which it can implement new charges to enable it to continue to deliver service that people need.

Our choices 2014/ 2016 • Following the Council Tax reforms introduced in 2013/14, further choices relate

to reviewing exemptions and discounts (see below) in relation to empty properties.

• Increased income from Council Tax and Business rates court costs. • We are reviewing all fees and charges with a view to increase these in line with

the Retail Price Index (RPI) and where appropriate, increase charges above RPI across a variety of services following detailed reviews of usage and comparisons with other providers of services. Areas of review include Waste, Cemeteries and Crematoria, Leisure Services, and Car Parking.

• The government is offering local authorities a Council Tax freeze grant equivalent to a 1% increase which would be applied across the next two years. The Council will need to consider whether to accept the freeze grant which would limit the financial support to Council services or increase Council Tax (potentially up to 2%) in order to lessen the financial impact on Council services.

For consideration 2014/2015 (Year 1) 1. Council Tax: (i) Discounts and Exemptions:

• the Council could consider introducing a charge for empty properties that have been empty for 2 years. This option could generate income to the Council of up to £300,000.

• the Council could consider removing exemptions for empty properties which could generate income of up to £200,000.

(ii) Income – the Council could increase its charges in relation to court costs and the recovery of Council Tax and Business Rates monies. This option could generate income of up to £100,000.

(iii) Increase or accept Council Tax freeze grant – the government is offering local authorities a grant to freeze the current level of Council Tax equivalent to a 1% increase. This would mean a grant of £0.857m in 2014/15. Alternatively, a 2% increase in Council Tax could generate £1.349m equivalent to 37p per week for a band A property. In addition, an increase above 2% is an option but this would be subject to a local referendum.

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2. Fees and Charges All fees and charges are under review in accordance with the Council’s fees and charges policy. Options include an inflationary or above inflationary increase to discretionary charges where appropriate. An inflationary charge based on RPI at August 2013 at 3.3% could generate approximately £300,000 income.

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TARGETED SERVICES

Targeted services are services for people who need our help or relate to a certain group of people or

circumstance.

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Adult Services Our role and services The Council’s role is to support all adults and their carers, keeping people healthy, safe, equal and feeling good about living in Gateshead, this includes our most vulnerable adults. The services the Council provides are: 1. Providing advice and support to the public, including vulnerable people, via our

first point of contact system – Adult Social Care Direct 2. Carrying out assessments, care planning and reviewing of peoples needs with

adherence to eligibility criteria 3. Helping people to live at home through social work or care services 4. Assisting people in discharge from hospital 5. Offering specialist services such as rehabilitation services for the visually

impaired and services for people who are deaf or hard of hearing 6. Provision of high quality social care for vulnerable people 7. Telecare and telehealth services including the Care Call alarm system 8. Partnership working with users, carers, the voluntary and independent sector

and particularly with the health service to ensure that services are joined up across organisations

9. Implementation of key national strategies at a local level, e.g. Autism Strategy, Dementia Strategy, Older Peoples Strategy, Carers Strategy

10. Advice on housing options available 11. Advice and assistance for people facing homelessness 12. Commission adult social care services to the independent and voluntary sector 13. Partnership working to ensure that Gateshead is a safe place to live 14. Ensuring appropriate support for the prevention and protection of adult abuse to

vulnerable adults 15. Providing resilience arrangements to respond in the event of an emergency and

to continue to provide services 16. Specific statutory duties relating to the Mental Health Act 1983, deprivation of

liberty and assessment of mental capacity Our choices for 2014-16 We are looking at a series of options to enable us to make savings. Our main choices are:- • To reduce the number of people of people eligible for help. The Council

currently supports adults with care needs and disabilities (including older people) who have substantial needs and those that have critical needs as defined by the government’s Fair Access to Care criteria. The council could reduce the number of people eligible for help by meeting critical need only.

• To reduce the amount of services commissioned for preventative purposes. The Council invests £4.7m in a range of early intervention/prevention/statutory services to manage demand and to slow or prevent individuals requiring more costly, significant care packages. The Council could review the extent of this provision and potentially reduce the scale of these services accepting the accompanying risk of people moving into longer term care sooner.

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For consideration 2014/2015 (Year 1) 1. Adult Social Care – Eligibility Criteria. The current budget is £60.96 million.

The Government’s Fair Access to Care has four levels of eligibility for access to Adult Social Care support:

i. Critical ii. Substantial iii. Moderate iv. Low

Currently Gateshead Council provides support based on assessed need at Critical and Substantial levels. The Council supports 5,700 adults with disabilities including older people. Of these 2,500 have Substantial needs and 3,200 Critical needs. The support we give helps vulnerable people be safe and lead fulfilling lives. The Council could meet Critical needs only or continue as now to meet Critical and Substantial needs. The Council currently spends £5m meeting Substantial needs and the vast majority of social care provision is at the Critical level. The Council could consider meeting needs at Critical level only potentially saving £5m (8%). The Government’s Care Bill is proposing a system that will place a greater focus on prevention and proposes National Eligibility Criteria effectively set at Critical and Substantial which would require all Council’s to meet need at that level.

2. Preventative Services The Council invests £4.7m in a range of early intervention/prevention/statutory services to manage demand and to slow or prevent individuals requiring more costly, significant care packages. The Council could review the extent of this provision and potentially reduce the scale of these services accepting the accompanying risk of people moving more quickly into longer term care. This proposal could consider a review of up to 10% of the cost of these services which is £470,000. For consideration 2015/2016 (Year 2 and beyond ) 1. We will review the Council’s in-house adult social care provider services to make

sure that we deliver best value for money.

2. We will review the Council’s adult social care assessment service so that we carry out our legal duties as efficiently as we can.

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Children and Young People’s Services Our role and services The Council’s role is to support children and young people in Gateshead to be safe from neglect and harm, receive the best possible education, be healthy and to be able to be as independent as possible when they become adults. The services the Council provides are: 1. Providing specialist social work support to looked after children and young people,

care leavers, children subject to child protection procedures, and other children in need.

2. Recruiting and supporting foster carers and adopters to provide homes for looked after children

3. Running two children’s homes and a short break unit for children with disabilities 4. Supporting families to be able to cope and be effective parents 5. Preventing young people from becoming offenders, and preventing them re-

offending when they do 6. Making sure there is enough childcare of good quality to meet the needs of parents 7. Directly providing help for young children and their families through our network of

children’s centres 8. Providing activities for young people, and specific support for young people who

need additional help 9. Assessing the special educational needs and disabilities of children and putting in

place services to support them to live fulfilling lives 10. Planning school places and school admissions including where pupils change

schools during the year 11. Making sure we listen to the voice of young people and families to inform how we

deliver services 12. Providing advice, support and challenge to schools to improve educational

standards 13. Offering a range of support services to schools such as around behaviour and

attendance and child protection 14. Ensuring all children have access to education

Our choices for 2014-16 We know we are facing a high level of demand around child protection, and this continues to be our main priority, and our main area of spend. We are looking at a series of options to enable us to make savings elsewhere. Our main choices are:-

1. To reduce some of the current entitlements we have in place. For example, the Council currently provides free travel for children on faith grounds between home and their nearest faith school, and we do not charge for providing transport for students with learning difficulties attending post 16 education. These changes would reduce spend, and increase income which we could use elsewhere.

2. To reduce the level of service we currently provide. For example, around early years and childcare, we could scale back what we do around information and guidance for parents, and the support we offer to those providing childcare. We could reduce the role of the play service which works with children with additional needs.

3. To stop providing services. We could look to close some of our children’s

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centres for example, and ask families to travel further to access facilities. 4. To increase the income our services generate. We could ask services to be

more commercial, for example selling more services to schools or to other local authorities

5. To reduce the costs of some more expensive social care services by intervening earlier. We are looking at ways in which we can stop children coming into care, for example, where we can provide more home based support to parents, or where other members of the family could help out informally or formally.

For consideration 2014/2015 (Year 1) 1. Children’s Social Care - a Children’s Social Care (CSC) Financial Strategy has

been agreed by the Council in October. This set out proposals to save £1.3 million in the Children’s Social Care Budget by March 2016, by refocusing and retargeting existing investment, identifying further efficiencies and developing opportunities for social investment. We will:

i. Intensify our preventative approaches to reduce the numbers of children, particularly older young people coming into care.

ii. Increase the numbers of children and young people able to return home after a short period in care

iii. Reduce further the numbers of children in residential placements outside of Gateshead

iv. Reduce further our use of Independent Foster Care providers by a continuing focus on payment for Skills, recruitment and retention of in house foster carers, and by exploring alternatives in partnership with other LAs and providers

v. Accelerate the numbers of children and young people leaving care through adoption and special guardianship.

There is £800,000 growth identified for Children’s Social Care services in 2014/15 to in the Council’s Medium Term Financial Strategy, and the CSC strategy will seek to deliver Children’s services without need for this growth, resulting in a £900,000 saving in 2014/15. The net budget for Children’s Services is £23.641 million 2. Home to School/ College travel - The Council currently spends £1.811m (net

budget £1.531m) on school/ college travel. There is an opportunity to consider a budget reduction in support to students with learning difficulties in attending post 16 education by charging for transport and in reducing the current entitlement for students where their school preference is based on religion or belief.

There is the potential to save £140,000 which is 9% of the £1.531 million net budget by reviewing and amending the travel policy. There would be no workforce implications. 3. Children and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) - The Council currently

contributes £190,000 funding towards the Emotional Health and Wellbeing team, who work with schools and other agencies to support children and young people with early signs of stress, anxiety and mental health. This service is being reviewed in 2013/14 by the Gateshead Clinical Commissioning Group.

There is potential to save some or all of this £190,000 of the 2014/15 budget (100% ) by reducing or withdrawing the Council’s funding contribution, with this service being funded entirely by the Gateshead Clinical Commissioning Group. There would be no workforce implications in the Council as a result of this proposal, but there could be

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implications for staff employed by the current provider. This proposal will be subject to a specific consultation exercise as part of the wider review of the service. 4. Early Years and Children’s Centres The Council runs a network of children’s centres, which provide services to children aged under 5 and their families.

We are looking at a range of options to reorganise services into a hub and satellite model. Parenting programmes, outreach and support services would take place from each of these bases. Hubs would be established as integrated multi agency centres for 0-19 year olds, working closely with other agencies such as NHS providers , employment support agencies and a programme of community development/voluntary activity would be developed to provide further support for families. The number and location of hubs would be based on need, use, reach and the presence of alternative delivery sites This would mean that Children’s Centres in the least deprived areas could close.

We are also looking at reducing our role in assisting families to find childcare, nursery and other early years services. We currently play a role in assessing quality and we ensure availability. Our role around quality will reduce in the future, and is likely to be carried out solely by Ofsted. We could also reduce the support we provide to families and direct them to online support instead.

There is the potential to initially save £1.518m through this approach, against a budget of £2.795m, which is a 54% reduction. There could be workforce implications which could affect up to 47 FTE posts. 5. Connexions - Connexions works with young people to improve their training and

employment opportunities. The service works with vulnerable young people, including those Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET), and those with Special Educational Needs (SEN) who are transferring to colleges and other training providers . All Gateshead secondary schools currently also employ Connexions to deliver their obligations around the provision of impartial advice and guidance.

We could further reduce this service by further targeting to focus only on NEETs and SEN. This would potentially involve the closure of the Interchange Centre in Gateshead centre. There is the potential to save £244,000 through this approach, which is a 27% saving against a budget of £901,000. There could be workforce implications which could affect up to 6 FTE posts. 6. Youth Services - The Youth Service works with young people to develop their

independence. It includes an open access offer, such as that provided through organised clubs and activities, and also targeted activity such as detached youth work focused on hot spots

There is the potential to reduce support for a number of specific projects. The service could also become much more targeted, meaning the withdrawal of youth work from community centres across the Borough, and an increasing focus on areas of need and deprivation.

There is a potential to save £851,000 through this approach which is a 56% saving against the current budget of £1.503m. There could be workforce implications which could affect up to 19FTE posts.

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7. Play - The Play Service provides a range of play opportunities for children and young people which help build confidence, skills and improve behaviour. The service is commissioned to deliver schemes, activities and 1-1 support, often for children with disabilities.

The proposal is to move the service into a fully traded model, with no core funding from the council. This reflects the growing trend to the use of personal budgets by families.

Children’s Centres could absorb some activities where there is capacity.

There is the potential to save £183,000 which is 100% of the net budget, through a move to a fully traded service business plan. The workforce implications could affect up to 9 FTE posts if the move to full trading cannot be achieved. 8. Teenage Pregnancy - The Council contributes a budget of £129,000 to specific

activities to teenage parents. We have an opportunity to revise our approach by jointly commissioning with public health as part of a wider review of sexual health services and taking into account the expansion of the Health Visitor programme in recent years.

There is the potential to save £129,000 which is 100% of the budget, this could have workforce implications which could affect up to 3 FTE posts. For consideration 2015/2016 (Year 2 and beyond ) 9. Continued successful delivery of the Children’s Social Care Financial Strategy will

result in savings. 10. Stop providing a school crossing patrol service or reduce the extent of provision

currently delivered. - Provision of school crossing patrols is not a statutory duty. The current provision is established in accordance with national advice and guidelines.

11. Cease or seek alternative funding for the Komatsu Youth Exchange Programme

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Public Health Our role and services With recent Health and Social Care Act changes, Gateshead Council has a new duty to “take such steps as it considers appropriate for improving the health of people in its area”, along with a responsibility for ensuring the provision of public health services. The new Council duty to protect and improve health came with accountability for a “ring-fenced” Public Health budget and the transfer of an extensive programme of commissioned services. The public health “ring fenced” grant, allocated from the Department of Health under the Health and Social Care Act, provides for services which must be provided as part of the grant requirements (mandated) and other public health functions which are expected to be prioritised according to the health needs of the local population. Most of the services in the current programme funded by the public health grant were commissioned by South of Tyne and Wear NHS and during 2013/14 are under review. Public Health functions, as set out in Department of Health’s conditions for the ring fenced grant, include: Things we have to do (mandated) • National Child Measurement Programme • NHS Health Check Programme • Public Health Advice to NHS commissioners (core offer) • Sexual Health Commissioning • Protect the health of their local populations (in particular to ensure there are plans

in place to protect the health of their populations from natural hazards, accidents, infectious diseases, terrorism and other health threats).

NB The responsibility for commissioning Health Visiting services is transferring from NHS England in 2015/16. This is likely to also be a mandated service. Other priority health improvement functions can include: • Tobacco control / smoking cessation services • Alcohol and drug misuse services • Public health services for children and young people aged 5 – 19 (including the

healthy child programme). In the longer term this will include all public health services for children and young people.

• Obesity and community nutrition initiatives • Increasing levels of physical activity in the local population • Public mental health services • Dental public health services • Accidental injury prevention • Population interventions to reduce and prevent birth defects • Behavioural and lifestyle campaigns to prevent cancer and long-term conditions • Local initiatives to reduce excess deaths as a result of seasonal mortality • Local initiatives on workplace health • Public health aspects of promotion of community safety, violence prevention and

response • Public health aspects of local initiatives to tackle social exclusion • Local initiatives that reduce public health impacts of environmental risks

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• Public health aspects of promotion of community safety, violence prevention and response

• Supporting, reviewing and challenging delivery of key public health funded and NHS delivered services such as immunisation and screening programmes.

Across the Council, a range of services and activities also contribute to achieving public health outcomes. These include children’s services, (safeguarding, focussed work with vulnerable families, school sport programmes, improving uptake of school meals), housing provision and support programmes (eg falls prevention, warm homes), leisure and cultural services, volunteer development, sustainable transport (inc walking and cycling) community capacity building for health, environment services. Our choices for 2014-16 We are looking at a range of options to enable us to make the best use of the public health grant, which will be allocated at a level of £15.8 m for 2014/15. The Health and Wellbeing Board has supported the move towards new joined-up service approach which will support people in tackling the lifestyle factors that contribute to our particularly poor health outcomes in Gateshead, and this is currently under development within the context of the review of public health services. Over and above the services that the government requires us to provide, the current programme delivered through the ring fenced grant can be re-profiled, allowing for services to be remodelled and some resources reinvested in alternative activities to help people improve their health and wellbeing and improve public health outcomes. Choices exist around the level of resources that can be allocated to the delivery of lifestyle support services, and/or whether or not to continue specific areas of delivery, such stop smoking services, childrens’ public health services, or drug and alcohol treatment services. However, reducing or stopping these services would have significant impacts on population health, community safety and wellbeing. There are also choices with regard to the areas to which funding released from remodelling services could be reallocated for other areas that would contribute to public health outcomes. Priority areas based on the Gateshead Health and Wellbeing Strategy and Joint Strategic Needs Assessment include:

• Developing health in early years settings and schools–Supporting the development of an early intervention “whole system” approach to delivering the healthy start in life for Gateshead Children 0-19. School food initiatives and sport and physical activity programmes could also be considered, which are appropriate for addressing Gateshead’s high child obesity rates.

• Community capacity building for health including volunteer development

and health and wellbeing fund – This would aim to build community capacity, resilience and wellbeing to enable health improving activity to flourish, alongside strengthening links between primary care and voluntary sector and other community support and self-help networks.

• Promoting physical activity – This could include promoting walking and

cycling, as part of every day activity, sport and physical activity and leisure service provision.

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For consideration 2014/2015 (Year 1) Provide all the services the government requires us to provide (with efficiencies where possible), along with up to 30% reduction in the budget for elements of the remodelled public health services programmes. The planning basis for this option includes budget reductions of 30% on budgets for weight management and drug and alcohol treatment programmes, and potential efficiencies of 10% reduction on stop smoking services. This will still enable the provision of the new lifestyle support service and maintains the provision of robust stop smoking services and remodelled drug and alcohol treatment services. This option includes some reshaping of public health core functions in the council.

In 2014/15 this is estimated to release up to £1.5million to be allocated to health priorities as indicated above.

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INTERNAL THEME

There are a number of services and activities across the Council which may not be recognised or seen by the public but which are integral

to it working efficiently and effectively. The following section for consultation is primarily aimed at internal Council audiences e.g.

Councillors, Trade Unions and Employees.

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Efficiencies, Effectiveness and Savings Our role and services There are a number of services and activities across the Council which may not be recognised or seen by the public but which are integral to it working efficiently and effectively. Examples of these services and activities include: • Ensuring the corporate governance and sustainability of the Council: for example,

supporting councillors by providing strategic advice and guidance (e.g. legal and financial) and running local and national elections;

• Providing professional support to frontline services: for example legal, financial, communications, ICT, property, and human resources advice;

• Providing transactional services, such as payroll, registration services, and the administration of Council tax and benefits; and

• Support costs: for example, buildings and accommodation, training, supplies, ICT systems.

Our approach so far Savings and efficiencies are continually and rigorously sought in these areas to help to close the funding gap and protect, as far as possible, frontline services. In the last three years, over £20M has been saved by: • consolidating functions, • prioritising activity, • reducing support costs, • increasing income, • rationalising our property assets, and • reducing senior management, including the following initiatives: Consolidation of Support Services In 2011/12 over £1.5M was saved by bringing together finance, ICT and human resources support staff from across the Council into single teams. Management Last year the Council undertook a major review of senior management within the Council, removing a whole management tier to enable a total saving of £1.8M when compared with 2010 (a reduction from 45 to 22 posts). Asset Management The efficient use of our land and buildings is at the heart of the Council’s Corporate Asset Management Strategy and Plan, which has enabled the Council to make significant savings from reducing the number of buildings it manages, and reducing the cost of managing those it retains. This has been achieved by taking a strategic view of asset management, including making sure opportunities are exploited to share facilities between services and other partner organisations. During 2012/13 and 2013/14 savings in excess of £1M will have been achieved from the rationalisation of the portfolio.

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Employment Costs Last year, the Council made savings of over £0.5M from a number of payments to employees in addition to their basic pay: reducing car user allowances and mileage rates; reducing the number of employees with essential car user status; removing a number of personal allowances; reducing the use of overtime; and introducing staff car parking charges. Our choices for 2014-16 The Council’s well established Policy, Planning and Performance Management Framework ensures that efficiency, effectiveness and value for money are at the heart of all decisions and activities within the Council. The continual identification of corporate savings and general efficiencies are a fundamental part of the business planning process within the Framework. In addition, the ‘Fit For the Future’ programme has been developed to deliver the transformation of the Council into a more efficient and effective organisation. The programme aims to guide future spending decisions and helps to modernise the way the Council works: through development of new business models; new ways of operating and communicating; maximising income generation, and maximising the benefits new technologies can offer. Further efficiencies are expected to be delivered from: • Reviewing staff structures across the Council – e.g. reduction of existing

establishments, continuing to challenge recruitment to vacant posts, exploiting opportunities of requests for reduced hours

• Reviewing how the Council funds and finances its services – ensuring the Council

explores all avenues of alternative income; increases income through trading existing services and develops new business markets

• Review the Council’s working practices to deliver the same for less – ensuring that

the Council continually improves the way in which services are delivered and supported

• Strategic investment and delivery of the capital programme • Implementation of the Council’s Commissioning Framework, which will ensure our

duty to achieve ‘best value’ in the delivery of all our services is rigorously and consistently applied.

For consideration 2014/15 (Year 1) There is the potential to achieve approximately £10.729 million savings relating to three key choices above which could affect up to 71 FTEs in 2014/2015. 1. Organisation structure There are a number of potential reductions of staffing structures across the Council which are not covered in the more public facing themes. Reductions in capacity will require challenging current workloads and refocusing and prioritising the allocation of workloads across the affected services. If these changes where taken forward this could realise £2.424 million savings and have workforce implications of 71 FTEs.

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2. Reviewing the Council’s funding and financing. The Council to explore all avenues of alternative income including the retention of business rates. The Council to increase income through trading: by the development of services to maximise our share of existing markets; by the development and penetration of new service markets; and by trading our services outside of the borough of Gateshead. Taking identified opportunities forward would realise £4.524 million for the Council (thereby reducing the funding gap). There would be no workforce implications. 3. Continually improving the way we do things - review of working practices

and supplies We recognise that there are always opportunities to make improvements to the way we do things. The Workforce & Organisational Change workstream in the Fit for the Future programme, and the Council’s performance management framework will be used to identify and deliver such efficiencies, which are integrated into our culture of continuous improvement. Therefore, work on employment costs will continue in 2014/15, focussing on minimising the use of overtime and other premium rates, as well as reviewing the level of premium rates themselves: this is with a view to ensuring the Council retains a flexible and adaptable workforce, and is able to deliver value for money services and compete effectively for trading opportunities. Based on the level of savings achieved in this area over the last year, there is the potential to save £600,000 in 2014/15 from further work on employment costs. Other examples include:

• Continually seeking improved value for money from all external expenditure; • Reduce the budgets for specialist supplies and services including:

• Reduce corporate contribution to the Public Service Academy (a sub-regional collaborative training initiative)

• Corporate hospitality, • Subscriptions, • Residents’ survey, • Fleet costs • International relations • Internal printing • Training

This could realise £3.781 million. Disposal of surplus properties, joint-working, the creation of service ‘hubs’, and transfer of community buildings to voluntary and community groups, will continue to be pursued throughout 2014/15 so that savings can be maximised. 4. Strategic Investment and delivery of the capital programme In 2014/15 the Council plans to invest over £80m in capital projects within Gateshead as part of a three-year £200m capital programme. This includes investment to generate additional economic and housing growth within Gateshead in addition to

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projects that seek to improve the Council’s schools, housing stock, transport infrastructure, buildings and technology systems to ensure that Council services can be delivered as effectively and efficiently as possible. As part of the Council’s capital programme, strategic investment provides an opportunity for the Council to generate additional revenue income and is often critical in changing the way that we can deliver our services and our ability to achieve revenue savings. The primary source of funding for this strategic investment is through the use of borrowing, which we must demonstrate is affordable and sustainable and can be supported by our available revenue resources. The revenue budget must therefore include sufficient resources to repay the annual principal and interest costs associated with any borrowing. The financial benefits to the Council of continuing to strategically invest in infrastructure projects are identified in the Local Economy theme. For consideration 2015/2016 (Year 2 and beyond ) Many of the choices identified in this section will continue to be developed and implemented in 2015/16. In particular, Fit for the Future is expected to continue to identify opportunities for savings and efficiencies throughout the life of the programme, as is the implementation throughout the year of the Economic Acceleration Plan, the Corporate Asset Management Strategy & Plan, and the Council’s Commissioning Framework. As regards the Council’s corporate support and administration functions referred to in this section - by their very nature, these functions must respond to the demands of the services they support, as well as changes in legislation and other external influences. Therefore, as all other services, they are under continual review to ensure their efficiency and effectiveness for the benefit of the Council and the borough.

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HOW YOU CAN GET INVOLVED The Council has always believed in asking people what they think about the issues and services that affect their lives. Consultation should be meaningful and it is important to us that views are used to inform and influence decisions that the Council makes. In order to ensure that decisions reached by the Council are fair, and do not have a negative impact on specific groups, or on the Council’s strategic aims, we have implemented a Comprehensive Impact Assessment (CIA) process which focuses on how policies and proposals will impact on;

• Equality (taking into account the protected characteristics identified in the Public Sector Equality Duty)

• Environment • Health and Wellbeing • Economy • Community Safety • Community Cohesion • Workforce and Assets

CIAs are used to help ensure that our services meet the needs of all our customers, and that no groups are excluded, overlooked, or discriminated against by how we provide them. They also ensure the decision making process is transparent and provide evidence of how the policy, proposal, or function will contribute to the delivery of the Council’s priorities.

They anticipate and identify the likely consequences of polices/functions on specific groups making sure that, as far as possible, any negative consequences are eliminated or minimised. The current drafts of the CIAs will be available from 15 October 2013 on the Council’s website Here. Your Views We would like to hear your views on the future choices we have identified in this document. Between 15 October 2013 and 17 December 2013 you can provide your comments via email at budgetconsultation@gateshead.gov.uk or by completing a short survey which you can access via the Council’s website Here or pick up a paper copy at the Civic Centre or other council buildings such as libraries, leisure centres and community centres. If you require the budget survey in an alternative format, please telephone 0191 4333000. The outcome of the consultation will then be used to inform proposals which will be taken before Cabinet on 25 February 2014, as part of the Council’s Budget Report for 2014/15.