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Issue 31 31 January 2012 Contents

1. Message from Rose Poulter 2. WMC Annual Conference 3. House of Commons Health Committee Report on Public Expenditure 4. Care in Crisis – Age UK Report 5. Public Health Outcomes Framework 2013 – 2016 6. New Department of Health Roles for the West Midlands 7. Walsall Works Calling on Local Business to Support Young People into Work 8. National Audit Office – The Introduction of the Work Programme 9. Essential Guide to Squeezed Britain 10. Climate Change Week 11. Mayoral Election Date Set 12. Proposed Changes to the Department’s Statistics Consultation – DCLG 13. Arts Council Creative People and Places Fund Opens for Applications 14. Seminars and Knowledge Shots

Message from Rose Poulter I’m pleased to report that we’ve had a lot of positive feedback from Councillors attending the Annual

Conference on 17 January. It was very well attended with some thought provoking contributions from

speakers plus excellent challenge and debate from the audience. There is no doubt that the changes to

health services, public health and social care are all intrinsically linked and very much top of Councils

agendas. The theme is continued in this edition of ‘Keeping In Touch’ with an article on the House of

Commons Health Select Committee Report, which highlights the tensions of reshaping health services at

the same time as securing efficiency savings. We also draw attention to the Public Health Outcomes

Framework 2013 – 2016 published at the end of last week.

Please have a look at the event, seminars and knowledge shots at the end of the newsletter. Unlike

other well known brands there is no charge to Councillors or officers for attending and all are held at

West Midlands Councils Partnership Centre in the centre of Birmingham – so cost and distance should

not be a barrier.

Rose Poulter - E: r.poulter@wmcouncils.gov.uk T: 0121 678 1055

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WMC Annual Conference What they were talking about……… Over 80 Councillors from across the West Midlands gathered in Birmingham on 17/1/12 to talk health. This was the first West Midlands Councils Annual Conference and, encouraged by the excellent speakers, Councillors had a lot to say about health and the new role that local government is taking on.

First up was the key note speaker Professor Steve Field, local GP, Chair of the NHS Future Forum and Chair of the National Inclusion Health Board. Steve’s starting point was the NHS constitution which is perhaps overlooked in the current debate but does provide a very useful pointer to what must remain central to the health reforms.

This Constitution establishes the principles and values of the NHS in England. It sets out rights to which patients, public and staff are entitled, and pledges which the NHS is committed to achieve, together with responsibilities which the public, patients and staff owe to one another to ensure that the NHS operates fairly and effectively.

One of Steve’s key messages was the need for integration of health and care services around the individual not the system. He argued that local government and the health service must develop a high level of trust and share the same vision. This was a message underlined by all speakers and is the challenge local government must be prepared to tackle.

Steve supported the strengthening of local democracy in commissioning of health and public health services and argued strongly for Health and Wellbeing Boards to be the drivers of service improvement. His feeling is that the quality of primary care across the West Midlands is mixed and needs to be better and urged for more clinical leadership in the design of healthcare services. Our key note speaker was followed by a series of short and snappy presentations by an eminent panel of speakers.

Councillor Ann Hartley, Deputy Leader of Shropshire stood up for the role of Councillors as the health reforms role out. She was firmly of the view that Councillors already take a big role in the health of their communities and argued strongly for local design of services. Ann gave a number of examples of good practice in Shropshire, reminding the audience that what might work well in an urban area could not always be replicated in a sparsely populated rural area.

Lord Philip Hunt of Kings Heath, chair of Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust also promoted the message of integrating health and care services and urged Councillors to have the courage to reconfigure services via Health and Wellbeing Boards if necessary. He reminded Councillors that the NHS makes a big contribution to local economies, his own NHS Foundation Trust employs 11,000 people has a thriving apprenticeship scheme and works in partnership with local Universities. Philip was firmly of the opinion that Directors of Public Health being based within Councils was a good thing for democracy and service provision and underlined that they must be free to give independent advice to decision makers.

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Dr Rashmi Shukla CBE, Regional Director of Public Health for the West Midlands, reminded us that 80% of deaths from non communicable disease such as heart disease can be prevented if people had a healthier lifestyle. Rashmi encouraged strong political leadership at the local level and to be bold, and argued that Councillors must be prepared to bring local knowledge and experience into the debate with health service planners.

Juliet Michaelson, Senior Researcher at the centre for well-being at the New Economics Foundation, gave us some valuable insight into her recent work which explored the views of senior local government figures about the wellbeing agenda - a concept which was felt to have the power to fundamentally re-define the role of local councils. Her research highlights many examples of good practice across local government, please follow link. Central to Juliet’s message was the need for clear communication across Councils, with communities and with the NHS.

Nick Bell, Chief Executive, Staffordshire County Council, reinforced the message that the changes needed to bring about integration of health and care services must be part of a whole Council approach. The opportunity to combine local knowledge with a strong evidence base as a basis for commissioning services must be seized. Nick warned that the NHS view of what changes will be required will prevail unless local government can get its act together. He confirmed the importance of local Health Watch as the voice of patients and service users and that it must play a strong part in local arrangements. He also confirmed that effective scrutiny by Councils will be crucial.

With plenty of time built in for a Q&A panel discussion the questioning and comments from Councillors were not surprisingly robust. Upper most in the mind of Councillors was whether the NHS was willing and able to change the way it works and change culturally. The view of the Panel was that the NHS has no choice, it must change, with Professor Steve Field and Lord Hunt clear that the Health and Wellbeing Boards must help drive that change. Nick Bell identified the problem as being two systems divided by a common language!

Another strong line of questioning concerned a lack of consultation on the part of the NHS to fundamental change in services; the downgrading of maternity services at Solihull Hospital was one such example. There was an acknowledgement that this was not handled well but that lessons had been learnt and the Hospital Trust now had regular meetings with Solihull’s Portfolio Holder and Chief Executive to embed real consultation and joint decision making as the norm.

So a very lively morning was had by all, followed by an equally upbeat Sir Merrick Cockell chair of the Local Government Association, with his first address to West Midlands Councils. Sir Merrick set out some of the key issues which form the focus of LGAs current work programme, notably Community Budgets, Troubled Families, Economic Growth and Relocalisation of Business Rates. He invited all member Councils to provide comments on the draft LGA Business Plan for 2012-13, which we have subsequently circulated to Leaders and Chief Executives. Sir Merrick concluded with a challenge to all Councils and one which the LGA is pondering on – how can we encourage a younger generation to be the Councillors of the future? All papers from the conference can be found at http://www.wmcouncils.gov.uk/meetingpapers

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House of Commons Health Committee Report on Public Expenditure Integrating health and social care is the only way to prevent “system collapse” As if timed to follow West Midlands Councils Annual Conference which focused on public health, the House of Commons Health Select Committee has just published a major report.

Don’t be fooled by the dull title, chaired by Stephen Dorrell Secretary of State for Health in John Major’s Government and featuring Walsall South’s Valerie Vaz, the Report investigating the relationships and tensions between NHS restructuring, making £20bn of efficiency savings by 2014-15 at the same time as integrating health and social care makes for interesting reading.

In a previous Report the Committee found that the Spending Review “has left the health service needing to make unprecedented levels of efficiency savings if it is to maintain levels of care and improve the services it provides. Some have argued that this process will be complicated or even thwarted by the planned restructuring of the NHS”. The current Report confirms much of their concerns.

The Committee is clear that the necessary efficiency savings cannot be made by “salami-slicing” but only through “making fundamental changes to the way care is delivered”. Unfortunately, short term budgetary pressures are proving a distraction and hampering the integrated service design giving both better services and sustainable and recurring efficiencies.

Indeed, the Committee note that “the first year of this process ought to see changes being made that will facilitate future redesign and yield further savings .. instead .. we have the impression that NHS organisations are making do and squeezing savings from existing services simply to get through the first year of the programme .. We are convinced that the required level of efficiency gain will not be achieved without significant change to the care model”

Critically, this means overcoming the artificial and institutional divide between health and social care which is “now a major cause of inefficiency and service breakdown”.

Needless to say, belt tightening in Councils has not helped matters. While the NHS now has significant sums to spend on helping Councils to integrate health and social care the reality is that this is being used to prop-up current care arrangements rather than create a more integrated model.

Even then the extent the system can be propped up is questionable - the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS) found that 82% of councils are now “only providing care to those whose needs are assessed as significant or higher (ie critical)”. While there are variations between places, this will tend to mean that those falling into the “low” and “moderate” needs thresholds will be unlikely to be catered for.

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Needless to say this is something of a concern, the Department of Health believing that the current funding level was intended to “hold the position steady” until a new funding system for social care was developed. As the Committee say “the tightening of the eligibility criteria demonstrates that the settlement is not sufficient to achieve this”.

There is no dispute that Council social care funding has been reduced. The Department of Health maintains its 1.5% down on 2010-11, although CLG consider it to be less than 1% and CIPFA suggest 2.6%.

However, evidence given by the LGA suggested that on average 40% of social care spending is resourced from council tax and in some cases a much as “80% of the total”. Perhaps this is why a survey by the ADASS suggests adult social care spending has fallen by 6.8% and Age UK that spending on older people has declined by 8.4%.

Indeed, the LGA estimate that local government faces a funding gap of around £6.5bn in 2011-12 between what is needed to “maintain frontline services in their current form and the income they will be able to raise”.

This has led Councils to restrict eligibility to their services but that is not to say Councils have not being trying to protect social care. The Report notes Councils are “forcing down the price it pays contractors” and its own survey found that Councils are cutting back less on social care (3.8% in 2010-11) than they are across the whole organisation (4.2%).

That said, the LGA commented that it is “difficult to predict whether councils will be in a position to continue to protect adult social care”. This worryingly, on top of their assessment that the “the social care system is close to collapse” and that “it is reacting as a crisis service in many respects”.

While recognising that having distinct health and social care budgets hinders integration and the importance of Health and Well Being Boards, the Committee call on “Government and local authorities to set out how they intend to translate the aspiration for greater service integration into the reality of patient experience”.

Easier said than done.

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201012/cmselect/cmhealth/1499/1499.pdf

Care in Crisis 2012 – Age UK Report

Care system on last legs and in need of urgent care Chiming with much of the Health Committee’s report on integrating health and social care, Age UK paints a picture of a creaking, underfunded care system buckling under the strain of increased demand. To simply maintain the care system at 2010 levels, Age UK reckons there’s a £500 million shortfall this year - even taking account for all the efficiency gains and top ups from the NHS.

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There seems little chance that the additional £2.1 billion Age UK estimate will be needed to maintain 2010 care levels by 2015 will be turning up any time soon. Not surprisingly, the Health Committee argued strongly that the only solution is a total system overhaul that fully integrates health and social care and embeds year on year savings. Age UK “strongly supports” the work councils have done “to reduce the numbers living in care homes by providing better support in people’s own homes” and the “growing emphasis” on developing personalised services. However, they note that councils have “had little choice but to cut back on their service provision” and that “unfortunate” timing has meant the “funding crisis has come at a time when councils are making genuine attempts to transform how they deliver services”. Understandably, focusing more tightly on the older people end of the care spectrum, Age UK note how spending on this group has “stagnated and then decreased between 2005-06 and 2011-12; this at a time when the number of people over 85 has increased by some 250,000. A major concern of theirs is the effect all this is having on restricting people’s access to care. This seems to be a particular issue in the West Midlands where Age UK found uniquely that all 14 social care authorities will only meet those whose needs are assessed as being “significant” or “critical” - leaving those with “moderate” or “low” care needs without support. However, this only denotes a geographical concentration, because they are not alone in this, a total of 124 councils take this approach, while only three councils provide services to all needs categories and only 25 or 18% of councils provide services to those with moderate. By way of comparison in 2005-06 40% of councils catered for moderate needs. There are now also five councils, three of which are in the South East that only cater for those with critical needs. Pressures on care budgets mean pressures on providers and Age UK worry that this may lead to the collapse of another operator a la Southern Cross last year. Moreover, they also note the number of legal challenges councils have faced from operators over fee decisions especially where councils “had not…taken full account of legitimate costs required to provide .. the reasonable standard that the council has a duty to provide or make available”. So what do Age UK see as the solution? Well, they say using councils’ reserves could only ever be a short term fix at best and that efficiency savings can only go part of the way. Like others they see a “radical overhaul of the way the care system is funded” and the proper integration of health and social care as the way forward - “shuffling the costs between different parts of the system”, they note “is not the answer”. Key planks of this, in their eyes would be implementing the Dilnot Commission’s recommendations on care funding and the Law Commission’s Review of social care legislation which would provide “a clear blueprint for reform which Age UK fully supports”. Increasing the means tested threshold to £100,000, limiting the contribution an individual has to make on care payments to £35,000, and having a single social care statute being the stand out recommendations from those Reviews.

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Singling out one key “ask” from Age UK, they call for the introduction of a national eligibility threshold to ensures everyone with moderate needs or above gets the support they need, which would be supported by one of the Law Commissions recommendations for an entitlement to an assessment that fully considers individual needs, so that “no one is refused care without full consideration of their needs based on a proper assessment”. To read the full report and Age UK’s priorities for reform, Care in Crisis 2012 can be downloaded from: http://www.ageuk.org.uk/Documents/ENGB/Campaigns/care_in_crisis_2012_report.pdf?dtrk=true Their briefing on eligibility thresholds can be downloaded from: http://www.ageuk.org.uk/documents/en-gb/for-professionals/research/eligibility%20thresholds%20briefing%20revised%20170112.pdf?dtrk=true

Public Health Outcomes Framework 2013 - 2016 An apple a day keeps the doctor away and may get you a nice little health bonus An age old adage maybe, but the principle of prevention is better than cure is at the centre of public health - spend a few quid on some apples and save yourself considerably more on fewer hospitals and GPs down the line.

To encourage Councils to pursue their new public health duties with suitable vigour, Andrew Lansley launched the new Public Health Outcomes Framework last week. Setting out a range of indicators under the “domains” of Improving the Determinants of Health; Health Improvement; Health Protection; and Healthcare Public Health and Preventing Premature Mortality, Councils will get a “Health Premium” payment for improving their patches public health record.

If those domains are a bit on the opaque side, then in plainer English and spelling out just why public health is likely to be a whole council issue there are indicators around air pollution, domestic violence, homelessness, truancy and young people in the criminal justice system as well as more obviously ones around breast feeding and tooth decay.

Aside from the Health Premium the majority of a Council’s funds will come from a ring-fenced share of the sector’s £2.2bn health budget, a figure matched by £2.2bn going to the NHS Commissioning Board for national activities such as breast cancer screening and the like.

All in all the Framework focuses on two high level outcomes - increasing life expectancy and reducing the differences in life expectancy and healthy life between communities. Work by the West Midlands Public Health Observatory has shown that this will be a major issue having shown that life expectancy between communities in the West Midlands can vary by up to nine years.

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Of course entrenched conditions will take years maybe decades to change and some Councils have shown concern that the Health Premium should take into account that in some areas it will be easier to make improvements than others, where problems are well and truly entrenched.

In launching the Framework, Andrew Lansley illustrated the scale of the public health challenge, highlighting that over a quarter (26.1%) of all adults are now obese. Indeed, this was an issue highlighted in the Government’s obesity strategy published towards the back end of last year (see Issue 25). It received something of a somewhat lukewarm response for its reliance on “responsibility deals” with food manufacturers. As part of the deal, manufacturers would provide more information so that people can make informed choices and thereby nudge people into healthier lifestyles. It’s fair to say that there has been some scepticism as to whether such nudging would outweigh the body-check of ubiquitous high street presence and powerful marketing.

Like most places, West Midlands has an obesity problem (see Newsletter 25). The National Child Measurement Programme found the West Midlands had the second highest proportion of obese reception aged children in the country. While Sport England’s also finds the West Midlands in second worst for the number of people taking part in regular “moderate intensity sport”.

http://www.dh.gov.uk/prod_consum_dh/groups/dh_digitalassets/@dh/@en/documents/digitalasset/dh_132363.pdf

New Department of Health Roles for the West Midlands

Alongside the new health reforms the Department of Health continues to reshape itself. Of particular interest to those in local government will be the People, Communities and Local Government Division who, from April 2012, will be responsible for local government policy and developing and maintaining “excellent relationships” with local government.

With four Deputy Directors, it is understood their areas will geographically align with the four emerging NHS Commissioning Board and Public Health England sectors - North, Middle and East, London, and South. Rachel Holynska will be responsible for the Middle East, sorry Middle and East, while overall responsibility for the Communities, People & Local Government Division will be with Glen Mason.

Of course, this doesn’t mean the other divisions of Social Care Policy & Older People; Children, Families & Health Inequalities; and Mental Health, Disability & Equality aren’t also of interest to Councils.

The Deputy Directors will be charged with working with local government, its partners, the NHS Commissioning Board, Public Health England at regional and council level to support the “Directorate’s objectives”.

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As such they will be promoting “whole system reform” including the development of Health and Wellbeing Boards and local Health Watch; working with the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS) to reform the social care system; maintain a “Ministerial line of sight” in gathering intelligence to support ministerial accountability and policy development; and will engage in a two way dialogue with the sector including sector led improvement.

Walsall Works Calling on Local Business to Support Young People into Work

Walsall Works is a multi-million pound financial investment from Walsall Council which will commence delivery on 1st April 2012. The programme has been designed in consultation with key partner agencies and customers to develop sustainable employment growth within the Walsall based businesses. It aims to raise the ambition and aspiration of young residents and reduce the number of young people who are not in education, training or employment. Walsall Works will unlock new jobs within micro, small and medium sized enterprises with a focus within the growth sectors of:

Niche and high value Manufacturing & Engineering

Environmental Technologies

Financial, Professional and Business Services

Creative and Digital Services

Health and Social Care

Logistics Walsall Works will:

Subsidise apprenticeships by offering an incentive payment of up to £3000 to recruit a young apprentice. In return, employers will commit to employing the apprentice for a duration of 1 to 4 years and commit to supporting their personal development by providing good quality work experience, supervision and access to training in relevant settings.

Offer 550 young people the opportunity to access an apprenticeship leading to a nationally recognised qualification.

Offer 190 young people, who do not meet the entry requirements of a full apprenticeship, access to an incentive based pre-apprenticeship course.

For more information please contact the team on 01922 653151. Email: walsallworks@walsall.gov.uk Website: www.walsall.gov.uk/walsall_works

National Audit Office – The Introduction of the Work Programme

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The Audit Office likes numbers, starting its report on the Work Programme with a few choice ones to set the scene: It’s worth £3-5bn over five years; it’s placed 40 contracts using 15 prime contractors of which 13 are private sector; 3.3 million people “might” pass through the programme over five years; the Government expects to save £1.95 for every £1 spent; it’s expected to get 36% of its participants into work, an improvement on the 25% achieved by previous schemes.

However, and not boding well for the introduction of the Universal Credit system which will also rely on complex IT, there will have been 16 months “between the Programme starting and the earliest date the supporting IT will be fully functioning”.

Accepting the first participants last June, the Audit Office (AO) say that it’s too early to be definitive but their experience is that the “quality of decisions made at the early stage of major programmes are often highly predictive of future success, or otherwise”. The report therefore focuses on the decisions, leaving the numbers and actual performance for later reports.

So, how’s it getting on? For one, the Audit Office suggests that the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) assumptions don’t match with their analysis. While the DWP assume the success rate for the biggest and easiest to place group of participants will be 40%, the AO reckon this is more likely to be 26%.

As well as being vital for those seeking work, it is also of great importance to the viability of the contractors. Setting payments from anticipated high success rates means small margins per person putting the contractor’s viability at risk if they undershoot. On the other hand, basing them on low success rates risks could mean contractors are paid for adding little value.

Surprisingly, or maybe not, DWP did not share its calculations and assumptions about the number of people who would get into work regardless of the Work Programme, the so called non-intervention rate. The upshot of this is that they were not externally tested and are now difficult to tailor locally.

This approach is symptomatic of the speed at which the Work Programme was introduced; the AO noting that this has brought a number of risks as well as benefits. While previous programmes had taken around four years to get going, the Work Programme was up and running in 12 months, a considerable achievement. However, this means that many risk reduction measures have not been put in place.

Perhaps not setting the best example, the business plan for the Work Programme, for example, was put in place “after the main decisions had been made and before data about the performance of existing programmes was available. No alternatives were considered. The Department decided not to pilot the Work Programme because of the short timescales involved and there was nothing against which it could test its assumptions”.

The speed of introduction also means that the IT it needs will not be ready. “Until March 2012 the Department will not be able to carry out automatic checks to confirm whether people prime contractors claim to have placed in work, have stopped claiming benefit, and have reached the point where a payment is made to providers… The Department estimates that … payments to prime contractors of £60 million (excluding VAT) (have been made) based only on a simple check that the claim is reasonable”.

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Bringing in the Work Programme so quickly also meant there were costs in terminating existing welfare to work contracts; “The Department has, to date, reached settlements totaling £63 million (unaudited). The Department is currently negotiating a final settlement with two remaining providers. Ten of the 18 prime contractors for the Programme delivered (the previous welfare to work programme) Flexible New Deal”.

While the Report does say the Programme addresses some of the failures of previous attempts, it is hard to escape the conclusion the Audit Office make that some big assumptions have been made and decisions taken that “are not in accordance with good practice designed to reduce or mitigate risk”.

Among those risks are that a provider will go bust and that DWP’s demanding performance targets will encourage providers to cherry pick those easiest to get into work. Bearing in mind that the West Midlands has a single prime contractor, these are not minor concerns. http://www.nao.org.uk/publications/1012/dwp_work_programme.aspx

Essential Guide to Squeezed Britain

The Resolution Foundation reports on the lot of low to middle income households

With welfare reform coming in for sustained media scrutiny, it is perhaps timely then that the independent think tank the Resolution Foundation has published a report into “Squeezed Britain” - those low to middle income households who are not dependent on means tested benefits.

Averaging an income of £20,500, this is a group that includes childless couples with a joint income of between £12,000 and £29,000, and couples with two children earning between £17,000 and £41,000.

Broadly speaking, the squeezed middle lives in the Midlands and the North of England and Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland; with 34% of households in the West Midlands falling into this category compared to 38% in the North East and 22% in London.

Put in simple statistics it is easy to think of this group as unchanging, however, there is considerable movement in and out of the group as circumstances change. In a year it is expected that 24% of households would move up into the higher income group while 9% of them would move down into the more benefit-reliant group.

Stagnating wages are a big problem for low and middle incomes. As the Institute of Fiscal Studies (May 2011) note, allowing for regional differences in living costs, pay has risen more slowly in the West Midlands than anywhere else. Using a cruder measure of “living wage”, of those earning less than minimum wage (£7.20 an hour) and £8.30 an hour in London, 24% of West Midlands households don’t earn a “living wage”, which is in line with the East Midlands and the North. Despite the higher threshold, Londoners do better with only15% earning below the living wage.

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Low income is clearly a big issue for those towards the bottom end of earners. The Report highlights the extent to which the highest 10% of incomes have pulled away from the rest, to the extent that they now earn more than the whole of the lowest 50%. But this disparity could well get worse, the average income of low and middle income households is expected to bottom out at £20,100 between 2013 and 2016 - £400 less than the current recession hit level.

So what’s the shape of things to come? An optimistic reading based on the last period of strong growth for this income group (1997 - 2003) would only see their household income return to the 2007 high of £21,900 in 2020-21.

The squeamish should look away now. The pessimistic prognosis using relevant 2003 - 08 income growth rates would see low and middle income household income will hardly rise to only £20,200 by 2021; reportedly, only the same level as in 2002.

The Resolution Foundation reckon changes to the non-means tested universal benefits such as Child Benefit and the high cost of child care will continue to make unwelcome inroads into the low and middle income families budgets. They contend that Working and Child Tax Benefits have helped support households as wages stagnated. From April this year the threshold for Child Tax Credits will be lowered and the number of hours benefit claimants are allowed to work will change, meaning potential impacts on a number of vulnerable families.

Like those dependent on benefits, low to middle income households lose more of their income on VAT and other forms of indirect taxation, 32% and 17% respectively, than the higher income group (11%). Unsurprisingly, they also spend more than those on higher incomes (40% compared to 26%) on the essentials of housing and fuel, food and drink, and transport - all of which have risen much faster than inflation; fuel for example increased by 110% in the 2000s outstripping the overall inflation rate of 31% for this period.

To pick out housing, while 65% of low and medium sized income households are home owners, those that aren’t face a daunting prospect. In 2021 it would take eight years for such a household to save up the deposit to buy a home. In 2012 it would take 22 years.

With few homes being built, expensive private sector rents and limited social housing this puts low and medium income households in something of an awkward place. The Shelter Private Rent Watch Report (Newsletter 25) showed that on average a privately rented two bedroom house in the West Midlands would eat up a whole third of a household’s income; this being calculated on the average income across the West Midlands, not just those on low to middle incomes.

In a time where no news is good news, less-bad news can serve as good news too. Respected economic analysts Markit coincidently published its new figures on the same day; the press release headline reading “slowest deterioration of household finances since December 2010” (thanks largely due to the fall in inflation). Even then Markit report “the lowest income category (less than £15,000 per year) still reported the tightest squeeze on their household finances”. Following the less-bad is good line, according to Markit, across the public and private sectors West Midlands workers have reported the lowest drop in perceived job security in comparison to other regions.

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http://www.resolutionfoundation.org/media/media/downloads/Squeezed_Britain.pdf

http://www.markiteconomics.com/MarkitFiles/Pages/ViewPressRelease.aspx?ID=9056

Climate Change Week 12 – 18 March

Have you done your bit? The aim of Climate Week, according to Chief Executive Kevin Steele “is to showcase the solutions that will enable us to combat climate change and inspire action by many thousands of people during the other 51 weeks of the year”. Climate Week is Britain’s biggest climate change event culminating in a week of activities; it showcases practical solutions from every sector of society. The first Climate Week in March 2011 saw half a million people attending 3,000 events. These were run by schools, businesses, charities, councils and many others, with finalists including a waterless washing machine and a community water turbine. So, with Six weeks to go until 2012 Climate Week, have you done your bit? If not, start planning an activity now. Your activity could be big or small, open to everyone or just for your organisation, a physical event or something online. Climate Week is all about showcasing real, practical actions. For ideas about what kind of activity to run, visit the Ideas Bank. Whatever you are planning, don’t forget to register at http://www.climateweek.com/run-an-event/register-an-event/ This year is expected to be even bigger - will your organisation be part of Britain’s biggest climate change campaign? For more information contact the Climate Week team on 0203 397 2601 or at info@climateweek.com

Mayoral Election Date Set

Birmingham and Coventry both already knew that their referendums on whether or not to have an elected major would be on 3rd May. They now also know that if the answer is yes, 15th November will be the day residents find out who their mayor will actually be.

Trailed as a move to greater local democratic autonomy it is still not entirely clear what powers the new mayors would have. It does seem, however, that these powers will not necessarily be devolved by dint of having a mayor, but rather the decision on what and when to devolve will be in the gift of the Government.

http://www.communities.gov.uk/news/newsroom/2073781

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Proposed Changes to the Department’s Statistics Consultation – Department of Communities and local Government

As reported in the professional press, DCLG intends to stop or “axe” publishing its information on a regional basis. Due to the multiple “alternative sub-national geographies” now in play the department no longer sees the point in presenting them regionally as well as locally. http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/corporate/statistics/consultchangesstats

Arts Council Creative People and Places Fund Opens for Applications

The Arts Council has launched a new £37 million fund to ensure more people living in places where levels of involvement are currently low, experience and are inspired by the arts.

Over three years the Creative people and places fund will invest in around 15 programmes of

activity that use radical new approaches to developing excellent, inspiring and sustainable arts

experiences for communities not currently engaging with the arts. The Creative people and

places programme is open to applications from any consortia that meet the eligibility criteria.

Excellence, both artistic and in engaging communities, will be at the heart of successful

applications, with the Arts Council investing in programmes that encourage long term

collaborations between local communities and arts organisations, museums, libraries and local

authorities. As well as increasing artistic participation in these areas, the Creative people and

places investment will help the Arts Council learn about the impact of different approaches to

increasing engagement.

Alan Davey, Chief Executive, Arts Council England said: 'We hope this programme will inspire

new partnerships. We'd like to hear from consortia that include organisations we know are

doing great work in developing audiences and, perhaps, others who may not have worked with

the Arts Council before, but who could be part of innovative programmes that have a real

impact in attracting new people to the arts’. 'Though at this stage we can only offer funding for

three years, we'd like to see applicants articulating a 10 year ambition for the communities

they're working with that will transform how local people experience and access the arts.'

Follow the link for more information on Creative people and places fund and The Creative

people and places programme.

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Seminars and ‘Knowledge Shots’:

Daphne III Application Workshop 8th February 2012, The Partnership Centre, Birmingham

This seminar will help West Midlands organisations apply for EU funding through the DAPHNE III programme for the protection of children, young people, men and women against violence and exploitation and to ensure health protection, human rights, gender equality, well being and social cohesion. Please register for the event where WMES will cover steps to success and what makes a good application and an explanation of the application process and evaluation criteria. Meet fellow applicants and have your questions answered. To book onto this workshop or to find out more information go to http://www.wmeuprojects.eu/events.php

Marie Curie IAPP Application Workshop

16th February 2012, Timing TBC, The Partnership Centre, Birmingham If you are intending to submit an application to the FP7 MARIE CURIE INDUSTRY-ACADEMIA PARTNERSHIP AND PATHWAYS (IAPP) funding scheme and are on your way to putting your project ideas and proposals together then please register for the event where WMES will cover steps to success and what makes a good application and an explanation of the application process and evaluation criteria. Meet fellow applicants and have your questions answered. To book onto this workshop or to find out more information go to http://www.wmeuprojects.eu/events.php

Commissioning Services for Vulnerable Groups 23rd February 2012, 9:30 -12:30, The Partnership Centre, Birmingham

This event will look at the Birmingham experience of the Commissioning of Services for Vulnerable Adults and Mental Health Service Users. The focus of the event is to share the experience of Birmingham City Council and to anticipate future changes, direction and innovation in relation to the delivery of services for Vulnerable Groups.

Rob Sykes – Chair of Adult Joint Commissioning Board, Birmingham and Jon Tomlinson – Director of Joint Commissioning, Birmingham City Council and Birmingham Primary Care Trusts will deliver the event.

The event is aimed at Directors of Adult Services and Portfolio Holders for Social Care / Adult Services.

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If you wish to get involved please contact: wmcevents@wmcouncils.gov.uk To see the full Programme of events, please click here.

Achieving Behaviour Change

15th March 2012, 9.45am- 3.30pm. Maple House, 150 Corporation Street, Birmingham, B4 6TB Improvement and Efficiency West Midlands (IEWM) and Birmingham City Council are pleased to invite Chief Executives, Elected Members and Senior Officers from Public Sector Bodies who have a responsibility for policy making, business transformation and customer insight to the above seminar that will be showcasing and exploring new models of public service delivery using incentives.

Introduction: Cllr Paul Tilsley, Deputy Leader of Birmingham City Council

Keynote speakers include: Dr David Halpern, Senior Fellow, leader of the Cabinet Office Behavioural Insights Team Will Shuckburgh, Business Development Director NECTAR

This major show case event will include presentations from ground-breaking and innovative incentive schemes from the public sector:

Birmingham City Council/Nectar scheme Green Rewards in conjunction with London Borough of Bexley Birmingham East and North Healthy Incentives Programme in conjunction with Young

Foundation Westminster City Council covering channel shift Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead who will talk about "Big Society -

Incentivising volunteering

For more information or to register please contact pmerrett@westmidlandsiep.gov.uk

Welfare Reform and its impacts on councils and their communities 29th March 2012, Timing TBC (2 hour forum), The Partnership Centre, Birmingham With the changes to the welfare system making their way through Parliament and into the headlines, there will be big impacts on councils and their communities.

Hearing from benefit experts this free event for Councillors and Chief Executives should provide the ideal opportunity to get up to speed and share thoughts on these important issues.