Executive Meeting 12 August 2014

MEDIUM TERM FINANCIAL PLAN (MTFP) 2015/16-2016/17

INVESTING IN STOCKPORT EXECUTIVE PROPOSALS

Report of the Leader of the Council and the Deputy Leader (Executive Councillor for
Corporate, Customer and Community Services)

1. INTRODUCTION AND PURPOSE OF REPORT

1.1. At its meeting in July the Executive accepted a Medium Term Financial Forecast that
indicated a budget reduction requirement of 22.453m for 2015/16. Subject to a
number of risks and uncertainties that were outlined to the Executive, that report also
forecast a cumulative reduction requirement of 39.419m in 2016/17, rising to
64.5m by 2018/19.

1.2. In response to those forecasts, and in line with its previous deliberations and
statements of intent, the Executive agreed the strategic framework for Investing in
Stockport (IIS), a single programme of sustainable growth and public service reform
in the Borough over the medium term.

1.3. As indicated in the July report, and drawing on a range of work across the Council
and public service partners, the Executive can now bring forward a set of proposals
for consideration, scrutiny and consultation. These proposals are in line with our
strategic framework, and are grouped in the following way:

Contributes to
Outcomes Ensuring
Investing in Stockport workstreams
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Targeted prevention, Early Help and the
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Alternative Service Delivery Models
Locality Operating Model
Accelerated Growth
All Cross-cutting

1.4. This report sets out the reforms proposed as part of the Investing in Stockport
programme, and their potential for impact. Business cases for each proposal are
available as background papers to this report, with each in turn being supported by
an activity and impact schedule; a consultation plan and a draft Equalities Impact
Assessment.




2. A SINGLE PROGRAMME OF GROWTH AND REFORM

2.1. The IIS strategic approach is markedly different to one that asks how best to reduce
spend within existing operating structures. Given the radical challenges we face, we
are clear that the Council must plan to invest the considerable resources it will retain
in future years in ways that deliver the best outcomes for the Borough. However, we
must not lose sight of the fact that the scale of the resource reduction will have a
significant impact on the level of public services within the Borough. We will seek to
work with a wide range of organisations in the Borough in order to make best use of
the resources available. In doing this, our aspiration is to create:

An outcome-
focused Council
We will start and end with outcomes for citizens and
communities and use them to define what the Council
must do. The approach is focused on the Borough rather
than only the Council.
A preventative
Council
We will invest in services that prevent need from occurring
or escalating, and track how these reduce demand for
more costly reactive services.
A digital Council
If a service can be delivered online we will design it in a
way that people choose to access it online, and other
channels will be strictly targeted.
A local Council
We will engage our staff, partners, residents and
businesses in finding solutions to the issues they care
about locally, and to the challenges we face, and we will
encourage them to build on the Boroughs assets.
A council that
makes targeted
investments in
the future
We will plan how to best invest and align the resources we
will continue to have in support of key outcomes, but we
will be able to explain the impact our plans will have.
We will consider all options for how the Council might fulfil
its role in the future, and allow Councillors to take
informed choices based on an objective assessment of
the risks and rewards of each and of what the real need,
rather than demand for action is.

2.2 In line with this approach, the business cases that support this report set out the
range of activity the Council having reformed its operations in the coming years
will continue to undertake to help our borough become more economically active, our
communities more resilient and individuals more independent. This is in no way
intended to divert attention from what we must do to achieve these reforms, or from
the impact they will have on current services; significant detail is included on both
these issues within the business cases. It is instead an acknowledgement that, in
most cases, the scale of the changes required are such that it is more transparent to
describe the future delivery model than to solely relate future practice to current ways
of working.

3. INDICATIVE BUDGET ALLOCATIONS 2015/16 2016/17
3.1 The Executive is keen to develop a two year budget plan which reflects the scale of
the challenge we face and the need to implement some very radical modifications to
service delivery models. The phasing of such changes and the associated levels of
investment do not necessarily accord with the profile of the budget reduction


requirements contained in the MTFP forecasts. With this in mind the propositions and
their business cases focus on establishing spending plans and levels within the
overall budget for 2016/17, while at the same time seeking to maximise opportunities
to reduce spend in 2015/16 and respond to that years very challenging forecast.

3.2 Based on the forecasts provided by the Corporate Director, Corporate and Support
Services we have sought to illustrate how a reduced cash limit could be invested
across the IIS programme workstreams, thereby contributing to outcomes and
helping us become the type of Council we need to be. The analysis summarised
below and detailed in Appendix A begins with an allocation of the forecast baseline
position for the 2015/16 cash limit (178m) and then indicates the investment levels
required to support the proposed service models and arrangements contained in the
business cases. A key element of the budget plan is the proposal to significantly
extend the pooled budget arrangements with the NHS Stockport Clinical
Commissioning Group (CCG), using that mechanism to mitigate the impact of
reducing the cash limit allocated to Health and Social Care related services. Further
comment and details relating to the pooled budget are contained in paragraphs 3.8 to
3.12 below and in the relevant business cases.

IIS Workstream 2015/16
Base
Budget
m
2015/16
Indicative
Budget
m
2016/17
Indicative
Budget
m
2015/16
Reduction

m
2016/17
Reduction

m
Pooled Budget
Contribution

Investing in
prevention at
population level

17.00

15.80

14.60

1.20

2.40
Targeted prevention,
early help and
specialist services


68.50


60.20


50.90


8.30


17.60
Total Pooled Budget
Contribution

85.50

76.00

65.50

9.50

20.00
Council Cash Limit
Investing in
prevention at
population level

25.00

23.00

20.00

2.00

5.00
Targeted prevention,
early help and
specialist services


6.00


5.50


5.00


0.50


1.00
Alternative service
delivery models

21.00

19.52

17.94

1.48

3.06
Locality operating
model

12.00


11.50


7.90

0.50

4.10
Accelerated growth 2.50 2.00 1.40 0.50 1.10
Cross cutting 26.00 25.00 22.50 1.00 3.50
Total Council cash
Limit

92.50

86.52

74.74

5.98

17.76

Grand Total

178.00

162.52

140.24

15.48

37.76



3.3 At this stage of the exercise it can be seen that the indicative allocations exceed the
forecast cash limit resources by just under 1.7m in 2016/17, which represents
significant progress towards meeting the two year budget target. However, the
investment levels suggested for 2015/16 are some 7m higher than the forecast level
of resources, reflecting the phasing challenge indicated in paragraph 3.1 above.
Considerations and options in relation to this potential shortfall are discussed below.

3.4 Executive Councillors and senior officers are reviewing the profiling of the proposed
budget plans to identify where it may be possible to accelerate the delivery of
reduced spending levels, i.e. by bringing forward some of the changes from 2016/17
to 2015/16. This may include re-phasing the implementation of projects aimed at
achieving reductions in 2016/17 to earlier in 2015/16. Furthermore, options are being
explored for making further one-off savings within the cash limit budgets of services
prior to their reconfiguration in 2016/17. The results of these exercises will be made
known by no later than the next Executive meeting.

3.5 In addition to the above the Executive is considering the use of one-off resources
from reserves and balances to support cash limits in 2015/16. In this regard the
Executive is mindful of the 2014/15 first quarter budget position reported elsewhere
on the agenda. This includes a forecast non-cash limit surplus of around 3m which,
all other things being equal would flow into general balances. As this would bring the
level of general balances up to just over 12m it is thought to be appropriate to
consider making a contribution from general balances of up to 3m to support the
MTFP in 2015/16.

3.6 The Executive and senior managers are also reviewing the various earmarked
reserves that have been established in previous years. While all the resources in
reserves have been set aside for specific purposes there may be opportunities to
reconsider the amounts required. Also, some of the expenditure to be financed from
reserves is unlikely to be incurred during 2015/16 or 2016/17. It may be possible,
therefore, to borrow funds from reserves for use in 2015/16 and then repay those
amounts in 2016/17 and future years as required. Of course this would mean that
additional one-off savings would have to be identified in those years, over and above
the ongoing reductions identified in the MTFP forecasts. Again, the results of the
Executives deliberations regarding the potential use of reserves and balances will be
reported to members by no later than the next Executive meeting.

3.7 In the meantime, the Executive is asked to agree the indicative cash limit budget
allocations set out in paragraph 3.2 above and Appendix A.

Health and Social Care Pooled Budget

3.8 The Council has successfully operated a pooled budget with the NHS in Stockport for
a number of years (initially with the Primary Care trust (PCT), then with the Clinical
Commissioning Group (CCG). For 2014/15 the pooled budget stands at around 41m
with the major items being learning disabilities (25.3m), non-acute services for older
people (6m) and additionally from 1 April 2014, the NHS funding transfer received
under S256 anticipated at 4.8m together with 1.1m BCF transfer. The
commissioning and performance of integrated services using resources within the
pool is overseen by the Health and Wellbeing Integrated Commissioning Board
comprising three executive councillors and three representatives from the CCG
Board.



3.9 The Investing in Stockport programme and indicative budget proposals include a
recommendation to increase significantly the size and scope of the pooled budget,
and to use the development of a new model of integrated health and social care with
the NHS to maximise the outcomes that can be achieved at a reduced level of
investment. While agreement has been reached in principle the precise details of the
pooled budget proposals are still being discussed and negotiated with the CCG.

3.10 The Executive is proposing that the entirety of the Adult Care Services and Health
and Wellbeing cash limit budgets is contributed to the pooled budget. As can be seen
in the table in paragraph 3.2 above this contribution would be reduced from a base of
85.5m to 76m in 2015/16 (a reduction of 9.5m) and 65.5m in 2016/17 (a
cumulative reduction of 20m). While still subject to further discussion and
agreement it is anticipated that the CCG contributions in 2015/16 and 2016/17,
including the Better Care Fund, could amount to around 56m, resulting in a potential
total pooled budget of 132m in 2015/16 and 121m in 2016/17.

3.11 As indicated in Appendix A and the relevant business cases (summarised in section
4 below) it is initially proposed to reduce the level of spending within the pool by
3.4m in 2015/16 and 7.4m in 2016/17 in the following specific areas:

Prevention commissioning
Learning disability
Older people care management
Integration economies of scale / efficiency

3.12 A new model of integrated care, supported by investment from the Better Care Fund
will be implemented with aims which include the reduction of non-elective hospital
admissions, with plans to deliver significant financial savings should the activity
deflection targets be achieved and supported by the hospital sector. A proportion of
these savings would need to be made available to balance the pooled budget. To the
extent that does not prove possible, further reductions in spending would have to be
made on services provided from within the pool (both Council and NHS). While there
are risks and uncertainties associated with this approach, the Executive believes it
represents the best way of investing the Councils health and social care resources in
future years. A detailed report on the recommended pooled budget provisions for
2015/16 and 2016/17, including proposals for governance, risk sharing and
integrated commissioning arrangements, will be submitted to the next Executive
meeting. This will also incorporate details of how the Better Care Fund is to be
utilised.

Risk and Investment

3.13 It has been evident for some time that the scale of the financial challenge we face
and the radical nature of the response required will heighten the risks associated with
the MTFP and annual budget process. The Executive has made sure that the base
budget is as robust as possible and that we have levels of reserves and balances
which are able to both support the base budget and provide resources to help
implement the programme of change necessary to re-base council spending at a
significantly lower level. As the indicative budget plan is progressed it will be risk
assessed, with the proposed budget for 2015/16 being subject to a formal risk
assessment by the Corporate Director who will recommend the minimum level of
balances he considers appropriate.



3.14 In particular, we have established an Investing in Stockport reserve, currently at
6.3m which will provide support to the Investing in Stockport programme alongside
the more specific reserves held by portfolios. In addition to meeting the cost of
redundancies, the IIS reserve will be available to invest in, for example, additional
resources and technology to help drive forward the digital by design agenda and
programme. In addition, there will be instances where specific proposals and projects
require extra resources in relation to workforce development. There may also be
times when there is a need to incur costs associated with the double running of
current and new delivery models. As individual projects are taken forward any
requests for support from the IIS reserve will be considered and approved by the
Leader and Deputy Leader.

3.15 We will also be keen to take advantage of the resources and funding streams being
made available by government to invest in and support public service reform and
transformation.


4. EXECUTIVE PROPOSALS

4.1. The Executive has sought to respond to the challenge of having greatly reduced
resources and, therefore, significant future budget pressures, by developing a
programme of investment propositions, the current position of which is set out in this
report. A business case has been prepared in order to inform consultation on, and
the further development of, each Executive proposal. This information is available in
full as background papers to this report, and a copy is being provided to each
Political Group Office for member scrutiny

4.2. The proposals have been formulated in accordance with the Investment in Stockport
framework agreed at the July Executive meeting as set out in paragraph 1.3 above.
In this way the investment propositions and indicative budget allocations can be
aligned to particular outcomes. Summaries of the proposals are included below as
follows:

Investing in prevention at a population level
Prevention Commissioning (pooled budget) (para 4.4)
Integrated prevention and safeguarding family services (para 4.7)

Targeted prevention, Early Help and the Provision of Specialist Services
Learning disability review (pooled budget) (para 4.5)
Integrated health and social care (pooled budget) (para 4.6)
0-25 SEND reform (para 4.8)

Alternative Service Delivery Models
Leisure facilities (para 4.9)
Markets, museums and cultural activities (para 4.10)
SSK operating model (para 4.11)
Highways and engineering services (para 4.12)
New model for regulation (para 4.13)

Locality Operating Model (para 4.14)

Accelerated Growth (para 4.15)



Cross Cutting
Information, advice and guidance (para 4.16)
Corporate and support services (para 4.17)

4.3 The level of detail in the business cases does vary according to the specific nature of
the proposals and the timing of the planned changes. Where the majority of the
budget reductions are planned for 2016/17 the business cases may represent a
direction of travel that will involve extensive engagement in preparation for the design
and implementation of new models of delivery in 2016/17. Other areas have more
pressing requirements for new arrangements in 2015/16; as appropriate these
business cases will include details of proposed changes to staffing structures and
third party contracts, and will include an assessment of the likely impact on
customers, partners and other stakeholders.

Preventative Commissioning (Pooled Budget)

4.4 This project forms part of a strategic review of preventative commissioning in
Stockport and seeks to achieve a whole-system change in the way that preventative
services are commissioned and provided. It will include the re- commissioning of
some preventative services that are provided by a range of partners including the not
for profit sector, voluntary and community organisations and NHS providers.

The Council will lead the development of a single, evidence based, integrated
prevention strategy for people who are vulnerable or at risk. At its core this strategy
will incorporate a number of the Councils statutory duties in respect of public health,
adult social care, supported living and support to vulnerable children and their
families. The strategy will focus on building community capacity, increasing personal
and community resilience and supporting action to improve health and wellbeing
across the community and for the individual. Over time, commissioning will need to
move from its current, service specific approach to one that is outcomes led. In order
to achieve this shift the Council will actively re-appraise the impact on outcomes of all
preventive activity and will lead to a realignment of Public Health services and those
currently managed in Adults and Childrens Social Care Services.

Learning Disability Review (Pooled Budget)

4.5 The vision is to ensure people with a learning disability are not excluded and
marginalised with regards to their health and social care needs. The aim is for the
Council and its health and independent sector partners to work with people with
learning disabilities and other key stakeholders, to ensure that people can be
enabled to have equal access to the community, health services and local services
tailored to meet often complex needs.

The promotion of person centred planning and support has made a significant
contribution to the way people are supported, primarily as a result of individuals
themselves saying what they want, how they want it and when they want it. The
ambition is for services such as childrens social care, education, adult social care
and providers, to streamline the system with the purpose of ensuring a more joined
up approach to supporting people to maintain and maximise opportunities for
independence.




Integrated Health and Social Care (Pooled Budget)

4.6 The vision is for an integrated and joined up service health and care service with one
pathway into services wrapped around the individual. Building on the lessons from
Stockport One the aim will be to have one assessment, one care record, one key
worker and one integrated team of professionals from all backgrounds.

The model is predicated on integrated teams based around four General Practice
locality hubs. These will form the focus for all general community health and social
care services. The programme is currently developing the customer journey,
pathways and locations for the services that form part of the hub as well as those
linked and aligned to the hub.

The ambition is that locality hubs will offer a broad range of services, including;
community health and social care services, pro-active identification and management
of people who are at high risk of readmission to hospital, rapid response, co-
ordinated management of people with complex needs, information and advice, peer
support, outpatient services, tests and investigations. The intention is to offer a
comprehensive approach to the whole of the local population including the
community and voluntary sector and access to universal services. As such self-care
will be a fundamental principle.

Integrated Prevention and Safeguarding Family Services

4.7 The aim of the project is to establish an Integrated Prevention and Safeguarding
Children and Family Service that provides the highest quality support to Stockports
most vulnerable children and families. The ambition is to redesign and align the
current Childrens Social Care system with the Integrated Childrens Service. This will
start with a pilot project in 2014/15 to transform the way we support and meet the
needs of Stockports most vulnerable children and families.

The Council has been on a journey over the past 3 years to transform the way it
works with children and families via the development of the Supporting Families
Pathway/Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub and the development of the Integrated
Childrens Service which has established joint service delivery with Stockport NHS
Foundation Trust. This has changed the way Stockport identifies need and
strengthened integrated working by making sure that everyone supporting children
and families, work together effectively to put the child and the family at the centre, to
meet their needs and improve their lives. This work underpins the next stage of our
transformation programme.

The vision is that by 2017 the initiative will lead to a 20% reduction in the numbers of
Looked After Children and those subject to child protection plans at level 4 (see
levels of need diagram in the business case) as well as significant and sustained
reduction in people needing repeat support leading to a reduction in the wider
childrens workforce.It is vital the approach is underpinned with early identification
and prevention to stop children and families need escalating in the first place and
requires joint service delivery with wider partners in the public, private and voluntary
sector.






0-25 SEND Review:

4.8 This project contains four savings proposals relating to Children and Young Peoples
SEND services:

1 Disability Partnership:
The aim of this project is to reconfigure short breaks and respite provision for children
and young people with special educational needs and disabilities in Stockport as part
of the reform programme. The service will provide a range of short breaks for
children, young people and their families, encompassing centrally commissioned
individual packages of one to one support and overnight provision and direct
payments to families which could be managed by the family, by brokerage services
or a combination of management arrangements. The proposal is to target respite and
short break support to those young people who are eligible for social care
intervention.

Within aiming high and social care, where young people are continuing care eligible
due to their health needs, the packages are joint-funded with the CCG.

2. SEN Transport:
A review of SEN Transport will take place leading up to April 2015 and the service
will be redesigned in the light of this review.

3. Educational Psychology:
Define the teams professional identity as providers of educational psychology within
various multi-agency contexts. Focus the work of the Educational Psychologists to
ensure the needs of the most vulnerable are met.

4. Early Years:
The EYFS Improvement Team project will put in place a change to the current
service delivery and a reduction in its workforce whilst ensuring that the Local
Authority meets its legal duty in relation to Early Education and continues to raise the
educational attainment of all children. This will be achieved through a reduction in the
level of support to settings and schools which are graded Good or better and the
focus of the reduced staff team with those settings and schools whom require
improvement and are in decline and at risk of failing. We will continue to develop the
use of digital technologies to increase the working capacity of the remaining team
wherever possible.

Leisure facilities

4.9 This project will take forward proposals for the provision of existing facilities and
interventions to residents at significantly reduced cost to enable:

Those Stockport residents who are currently physically active to remain
physically active
Those Stockport residents who are not currently physically active to become
physically active.

It comprises two elements which will maintain the existing leisure offer to residents at
lower cost to the Council by potentially transferring dual-use facilities to schools and
single-use facilities to Life Leisure on long-term leases



As negotiations and financial modelling progresses, it will be possible to develop
more detailed business cases for each of the two elements. It is anticipated that
these will be finalised, as follows:

Dual Use Sites October 2014
Leisure Centres Stage 1(Financial Appraisal) January 2015
Leisure Centres Stage 2 (Detailed Business Case) April 2015

No Council employees would be affected by the transfer of dual use facilities
proposal but it is possible that TUPE may apply.

Markets, Museum and cultural attractions

4.10 The overall vision for this project is to safeguard Stockports cultural and heritage
assets with significantly reduced revenue budget. The development of these assets
through external funding sources (primarily Heritage Lottery Fund) has been a
significant component of regeneration strategy over the past 15 years. We see
Stockports heritage assets as playing an integral role in defining the identity of the
town and attracting visitors and boosting local tourism.

This project will establish a new delivery model for museums and cultural attractions
at arms-length from the Council based on a reduced cost-base, increased income
generation, and greater volunteering/community involvement. The model will be
required to safeguard the Councils cultural assets, protect existing income streams,
and avoid the risk of financial penalties from external funders.

The project will also re-target a revised Stockport Market budget to support current
Town Centre regeneration priorities.

Solutions SK Operating Model

4.11 This proposal includes the Council and SSK jointly commissioning a review that
appraises the strategic future of the Company in the light of both the financial
pressures facing the Council and the Companys own position and aspirations. The
review will include a consideration of the charging regime that underpins SSKs
delivery of contracted public realm services on behalf of the Council. These services
comprise:

Highways maintenance
Street cleaning
Grounds maintenance
Parks
Refuse collection services

It is suggested that the consequences of the review should include the ability to
reduce the costs of current service provision by at least the equivalent of the profit
element that is a feature of the current cost plus arrangement (c0.8m) from
2016/17 onwards. For 2015/16 the desired impact on the client budget can be
achieved by freeing up a proportion of the earmarked reserve established to support
the delivery of the SSK recovery plan.





Highways and Engineering

4.12 This proposal covers the potential to create a shared service for local highway
services by a number of local authorities within GM. This work is currently being
developed by Local Authorities and Transport for Greater Manchester. The project
will be developed based on the following principles:

Maintain local accountability for highways services
Improve resilience in these services across the conurbation
Generate significant efficiencies and greater improvements in the delivery of
highway services across Greater Manchester
Prioritise investment to facilitate growth, jobs and access to services (Delivery
of the Greater Manchester Strategy)
Increase reliability and consistency of service delivery to all road users
Improve overall service provision through greater collaborative working
Development of a stronger skill base and organisational capability

New model for regulation

4.13 The current configuration of regulatory and enforcement services is made up of
several distinct professional specialisms which operate within their own distinct policy
frameworks. This project will review regulatory and enforcement standards and
redesign the existing configuration of services accordingly while still enabling a
quality, responsive service.

It will involve the development of:
an agreed set of parameters for intervention, and
a new set of standards giving consistency in the approach to regulation.

The project will be informed by a clear assessment of the minimum standard of
service provision that the Council can legally provide.

The teams included in the scope of this project are as follows:

Environmental Protection
Trading Standards
Licensing
Commercial
Community
Hygiene Action / Pest Control
Building Control
Public Realm Enforcement
Conservation
Planning Enforcement

The project will roll-out over two phases from 2015/16 to 2016/17. Reconfigure and
reduce current enforcement staffing resource and potentially charge for services that
have previously been offered free of charge in year 1, and developing a model
across the entire range of services which is integrated with Locality Working in year
2.




Locality Operating Model

4.14 We are looking to develop a new way of delivering services at a locality level which
will aim to get people more involved in service delivery, and ensure that local needs
and priorities can be clearly discussed and agreed. This is becoming a common
approach across local authorities and councils. Tameside, Lambeth, Oldham,
Manchester and Sunderland are among those areas whose experience we hope to
draw on.

The project will also take into account spend on public services in localities from
partners agencies and will be an opportunity to align and integrate service delivery by
local partners, including Stockport Homes and the deployment of the Housing
Revenue Account. A wide range of place based services will be in scope of the
project, and investment proposals and consequent budget allocations will result from
a detailed and informed dialogue with local communities in time for the 2016/17
financial year.

Accelerated Growth

4.15 This proposal focusses on maintaining sustainable economic and demographic
growth and accelerating the pace of that growth. The government has provided new
tools for local authorities to benefit from the proceeds of growth and we need to
capture the twin benefits of increased revenue and sustainable regeneration. This
means new homes, new offices, new development delivered in the right way in the
right locations and taking into account key social and economic factors, as well as
simple financial considerations.

If we can accelerate the pace of sustainable development we can increase locally
retained business rates, New Homes Bonus, and Council tax all of which support the
delivery of local public services.

To accelerate the pace of regeneration we need to do three things:

We need to review whether our relevant policies are fit for purpose and if any
changes are required
We need to continue to work closely with partners and agencies and with the
private sector to remove barriers to delivery and to create delivery partnerships
where required
We need to re-shape our own services to ensure a more co-ordinated and
proactive approach to growth is pursued

Information, Advice and Guidance

4.16 This project will aim to deliver access to high quality sources of information, advice
and guidance. It will assess and implement optimal service delivery models and
consolidate provision, providing citizens with a proportionate service based on their
needs.

Primary Services within the scope of the project are:

Contact Centre (Fred Perry House);
Welfare Rights Service;
Health and Social Care Welfare Rights Team;


Debt Team;
Stockport Direct Centre (Reception at Fred Perry House); and
Stockport Direct Local Centres (various sites).

Technology will be used to enhance signposting, provide self-service, assessment
and referral options and be a more responsive and personalised service.
Consequently, this project will be closely aligned to the Digital by Design and Locality
Operating Model projects. There will also be robust links to People-related projects
and programmes, for example work around Targeted Prevention, Preventative
Commissioning Strategy and Integrated Care.

Corporate and Support Services (CSS)

4.17 The Executive has stated that members expect to see Investing in Stockport
propositions which facilitate an even more integrated and cross cutting approach to
be taken and which enable CSS managers to further streamline and prioritise their
activities following the substantial savings already made in this area. For 2016/17 in
particular the Executive will be looking for a reduction in CSS costs consequential
and proportionate to the reductions being delivered across all other service areas.

For 2015/16 the emphasis will be on the delivery of reductions in the Single Property
Budget (SPB) required of the SPA. The SPA has been considering a number of
business cases put forward by Carillion/CBRE which outline how savings could be
made against the single property budget. These include the following:

Office rationalisation
Investment portfolio
Estates operational review
Business rates review
Energy and Low Carbon, Investment Grade Audit
Community assets
Depots, plant and equipment

Together with a more efficient and effective management and delivery of property
related services it is anticipated that these reviews and the actions that follow will
lead to savings of around 1m during 2015/16.

It is evident that during 2015/16 in particular the Investing in Stockport programme
and the projects therein will require additional CSS staffing resources to be made
available on a temporary basis; in addition the core CSS model will require time to
bed in before any further reductions can be considered. The indicative budget for
2016/17 is predicated on reductions in demand for CSS services resulting from the
reconfiguration of council services and the introduction of new delivery models
providing opportunities for the further streamlining of CSS activities and a consequent
fall in cost. Without a significant reduction in demand the proposed reduction of CSS
resources will increase the levels of risk borne by and across the Council.

Digital by Design

4.18 As stated in the July report we will pursue a Digital Stockport approach to enable our
citizens to interact with the Council in the easiest and most effective way. The
Council needs to maximise and facilitate where it can online opportunities for
residents and communities to interact with public services and with each other. This


will require a significant culture change in how we currently operate. We will need to
review our ICT capability and architecture and we will need to engage with
communities to ensure they are on board. We will need to think digital and embed
this approach in all our work to re-design services, not just add on to or manipulate
existing models of service delivery to fit with this new approach.

4.19 A number of the business cases indicate where digital developments and initiatives
will underpin the success of new delivery models. There are significant Digital by
Design themes running throughout several of the projects which will impact upon the
nature and shape of the digital by design programme; these include the following:

Multi-agency working and locality based working will have implications for
network connectivity, access to systems, provision of equipment, data sharing
and security
Digital service delivery / self-service will have implications for website, mobile
and online services, back office integration, online content management
Community engagement will have implications for communications and
behaviour change
Better use of data and information will have implications for access to data,
data format and aggregation from multiple sources and systems, open data,
data ownership and governance, data transfer
Better use of technology mobile and remote working options for employees,
technology to assist citizens to look after themselves and to enhance the
assessment of needs
Digital inclusion will have implications for supporting public access to digital,
i.e. public access Wi-Fi, training and education, incentivising digital take-up

4.20 Our approach to digital will have to acknowledge and complement (and perhaps
challenge if required) the ongoing work by partner organisations. In particular the
Health and Social Care work on integrating systems and records will be important to
the success of the new integrated care model. There is also work going on at the GM
level in support of the Public Service Reform agenda to facilitate multi-agency
working across the sub-region.

4.21 We are currently formulating a comprehensive digital programme and will say a lot
more about this in the next report. We have identified a series of digital challenges to
overcome, these include:

Creating consistency around channel shift
Full process digitisation from customer front-end to back office integration
Improve our online offering making the website easier to navigate
Embedding digital throughout the organisation
Addressing digital exclusion not isolating those not able to access digital
services
Improving external communications making our digital offerings more well
known

We will be undertaking a digital fitness assessment and using the results of that
exercise to help develop potential digital solutions to support the business cases and
enable efficiencies to be achieved across a range of business processes.





5. ASSESSING THE IMPACT AND IMPLICATIONS OF THE PROGRAMME

Engagement and Consultation

5.1. Engaging partners, residents and service users in the development of our new
approaches, and consulting them on proposed changes, will be key to ensuring we
are able to exploit positive impacts and, as far as possible, mitigate the negative
impact of the proposed reforms. A number of the business cases seek to break
entirely new ground, and in such areas, as far as possible, we will work
collaboratively with those affected, building on our experience of successful co-
production, for example as part of the People Powered Health programme.

5.2. Full and extensive stakeholder mapping will be undertaken, and robust consultation
and engagement methodologies will be used. Formal consultation on the proposals
will include scrutiny committees, residents, service users, community and interest
groups, partners, employees, trades unions and other stakeholders. Each of the
business cases includes a section on consultation and engagement, identifying key
stakeholders and outlining how and when consultation will be carried out. As stated
earlier, the complete business case documentation is being made available to all
members through the group offices, and each scrutiny committee will have referred to
it the relevant proposals for consideration during the next round of meetings.

Partner Organisations

5.3. Many of the new models proposed in the accompanying business cases involve the
further integration of Council services with those provided by our public sector and
voluntary and community partners. The Stockport Partnership, through its Business
Management Group, has been involved in the development of the Investing in
Stockport programme. Bilateral discussions at both senior and operational levels
have also been held to inform specific business cases.

5.4 Our partners are also engaged in detailed discussions to develop a whole
partnership outcome framework that will integrate strategic planning and align public
resources over the medium term and provide a vision to which business and
community leaders can aspire. The Public Service Reform (PSR) work undertaken
here in Stockport and across Greater Manchester has demonstrated the value of
taking a more integrated approach to budgeting and financial management across
partner agencies.

5.5 The Executive is keen to explore further the potential benefits of establishing
community/pooled budgets with partners, particularly in relation to health and social
care integration and working with families with complex dependencies and with
vulnerable groups. The incidence of spending and savings arising from PSR
interventions is not always proportionate between partners; therefore we should take
a more collective view of public sector resources where appropriate. The proposals
associated with the pooled health and social care budget are a good illustration of
this; although we are proposing to reduce the relevant cash limit budgets by 20m
over the two years, the aim is to manage this through a combination of reducing
spending and, in effect, supplementing the cash limit with resources freed up in the
heath economy.

Impact on the Workforce



5.6 It is acknowledged that the fundamental redesign of council services by 2016/17, as
indicated in the business cases, will have a significant impact on the current
workforce. Council employees will have to learn new ways of working, potentially
within new teams and in redesigned services. Potential job reductions are not known
with certainty at this stage, and will only be determined as the options for new
delivery models are considered and agreed. It should also be noted, however, that in
certain service areas where significant budget reductions have to be made, such as
adult social care and childrens services, the majority of current expenditure does not
relate to council employees but to external provision. Wherever possible the Council
will look at opportunities to minimise the impact on our core, permanent workforce.
However the following Business Cases do contain specific staffing implications which
will have an impact by April 2015:

Integrated Prevention and Safeguarding Children and Family Service
reduction of 5 FTE posts
SEND Reform reduction of 3 FTE posts
New Model for Regulation reduction of up to 7 FTE posts
Facilitating Accelerated Growth reduction of up to 10 FTE posts

5.7 At this stage, the estimated overall impact on staffing by April 2015 is therefore a
reduction of up to 25 FTE posts. Subject to the approval of Executive to progress
these reviews, affected employees will move quickly into a period of consultation.
The business cases will be developed further for the purpose of consultation with
employees, trade unions and other key stakeholders. We anticipate that the level of
detail required for this consultation will be available not later than 1 October 2014. As
a minimum this document will contain:

The reasons for the change;
The details of all posts directly affected by the change;
The financial implications of the change, including budget information where
relevant;
The proposed timescales for the change, including the timescales for any
related activity and for milestones within the overall service redesign;
Organisational structure charts of the service before and after the proposed
change;
Job descriptions for any proposed new posts;
The arrangements and timescales for consulting with the appropriate
employees, unions and public (if applicable);
Methods employed or proposed to reduce any adverse impact on employees
including minimising redundancies; and
Details on the proposals for the method of selecting employees for
redundancy, ring fencing arrangements, slotting into posts, recruiting to
new/remaining posts.

5.8 There will then follow a Consultation Period of up to 45 days, during which time
affected employees and their Union representatives will be given the opportunity to
comment upon and help shape the future of service delivery in the identified areas. A
final Business Case will be published following this consultation period. The
indicative milestones for this consultation period are contained within the individual
business cases. In general staff within scope of the reviews detailed above will be
placed At Risk at the point where their formal consultation period starts. This will
trigger a period when affected employees will have priority access to internal


vacancies. Our approach to Voluntary Redundancy outlined in paragraph 5.10 below
will also apply to those employees directly affected by proposals in 2015/16.

5.9 In the longer term it is inevitable that the required reductions in budgets will have an
impact on staffing levels. The exact size and nature of those implications have yet to
be determined and will be offset by our ability to achieve the outcomes summarised
in Section 2 of this report and our determination to maximise the use of council
resources. We remain committed to the principle of co-design and consultation with
employees both within the Council and those employed by our partners. As the
workforce implications of individual propositions and projects become clear the
appropriate process will be applied, as set out in paragraph 5.6 above.

5.10 The Council remains committed to managing the potential impact on employees by
voluntary means wherever possible. At this stage the current Voluntary Redundancy
offer of 150% of the statutory redundancy payment (calculated using actual pay) will
remain in place. However future VR opportunities will be linked only to specific
service reviews and in the first instance will be limited to the specific proposals
outlined in paragraph 5.5 (where staffing reductions are anticipated by April 2015). In
general the Notice Period for any staff within scope of these initial reviews who
choose to take Voluntary Redundancy will be linked to statutory Notice Periods. At
this stage the opportunity to volunteer for redundancy within these specific areas will
be linked to the consultation period outlined in Section 5.7. At this stage there will be
no Council-wide opportunities to volunteer for redundancy as has been the practice
in the past.

Impact on Associated Bodies

5.11 Each of our associated bodies will be affected in different ways by the proposed
reforms we are setting out. We will ensure that we engage directly on issues of
potential significance, including:

Our proposed approach to Locality Working, which will:

include taking steps to increase, in 2015/16 the role that the Housing Service
plays in the delivery of some Council services.
significantly reform how we deliver some public realm services. These reforms
will need to be considered in the joint review of Solutions SK that we have
recently agreed with the Board and Managing Director.

Our proposed reforms to supporting outcomes through leisure provision, which are of
particular significance to Life Leisure.

Equalities Impact

5.12 An initial draft Equalities Impact Assessment is appended to each of the business
cases that have been prepared. This Assessment will be made available at each
stage of the process to inform consultation, and will be further developed and
published in full at the point of any decision making by the Executive.







6. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

6.1 In line with the strategic framework established by the Executive this report takes
forward the Investing in Stockport programme of reform by outlining the specific
propositions that have been developed so far. Accompanying these are indicative
budget allocations for 2015/16 and 2016/17 which go some way to meeting the
forecast MTFP reduction requirements. Further proposals to address the remaining
shortfalls will be brought to future Executive meetings.

6.2 The scale and complexity of our task means that, although our route to achieving a
balanced budget has been explained, we are still a little short of meeting the full
savings goal required. There is some indication in this report of how some of that gap
may be bridged and there will be further reports as this work progresses.

6.3 The Executive is recommended to:

agree the indicative budget allocations and investment propositions set out in
the report and the associated business cases;

ask the Corporate Leadership team and senior managers, in consultation with
the relevant Executive Councillors, to undertake the appropriate consultation
exercises and to develop implementation plans, including impact and risk
assessments, to facilitate the delivery of the proposals set out in the report

agree that, as appropriate, proposals be resubmitted for the Executives
approval as consultation exercises are completed and/or more detailed plans
are prepared

continue with the steps necessary to agree a final balanced budget proposal for
2015/16 and an updated Medium Term Financial Plan to 2016/17 for
presentation to the Council budget meeting in February 2015

report to all scrutiny committees in the next cycle outlining the proposals
relating to each committees remit