Annual Report

Transcription

1 Annual Report I have highlighted some of the major issues from a vast array of activities undertaken by Gloucestershire County Council, an organisation with over 17,000 employees (including teachers) and a gross spend of nearly 800m. The year has seen extremes of weather, some highs and lows (in all senses) but in the continuing face of budget challenges, declining young population, increasing older population, decaying road system we continue to strive to get the balance right between service delivery and minimising the financial burden on you. As funding becomes more stressed, the focus of our activity inevitably narrows down to the most vulnerable people in our communities. I would like to thank you all for your continuing support, and I will endeavour to continue to do my best for you all. Councillor Stephen McMillan Council Tax In 2008 Council Tax continues to be raised at the lowest rate for many years, keeping our election promise of low tax rate rises. This year the base rise is 3.8% with an additional 1.1% to fund flood resilience work across the county. This helps fund a base budget of 333.5m plus 2.3m for flood resilience work. It is proposed that around 1.1 m is spent on some 300 communities across the county that suffered serious localised flooding, and the other 1.2m used to fund capital works to deal with some of the key defensive areas. For the first time ever we carried out a wide ranging consultation with three options available. 56% of those consulted (nearly 3,000 people) agreed that some additional funds over a base rise was warranted for flood defence measures. By the end of 2007/08 GCC will have realised over 40m in savings since 2005/06, and we are working to over 12m more savings in 2008/09. A summary of the 2008/09 budget is appended to this report. (nb The money raised from Council Tax is 225m, Government contribution is 108m. There is an additional 25m from the government as an area based grant.) Council Performance The Council has recently been fully audited by the Audit Office for Comprehensive Performance Review and had a Joint Area Assessment carried out on its Children s Services functions. It has been awarded 4 stars, the highest score possible. Achieving this reflects great credit on the staff who are working hard in difficult budgetary circumstances. Stephen McMillan Page 1 03/06/2008

2 The Youth Offending Service has achieved a level 4 rating, of 5, and is now one of the best performing in the South West. The county Youth Service has also been highly rated in a recent OFSTED report. Flooding July 2007 and January 2008 saw major emergency flooding events at both a county and local level. The headlines are that there are still 1,000 people not yet back in their homes in the county, in excess of 25m of damage has been done to county roads network, claims for 17.5m have been submitted to Government, and 15m has been promised but we have to spend it first before we get it back. We also have to spend at least 1.2m of our own money before getting anything. An additional 10m of costs has been estimated to have been accrued through other issues related to the emergency. The recent announcement of 110m for the UK from the EU Solidarity Fund is welcome but as yet there is no sign of how this is to be split across the country and administered. Presently some 48 authorities have indicated they intend to put in a claim. Locally events have caused us all to realise that in the event of a major emergency in the county, when all normal resources are in use, parishes have to have some local capability to deal with our community based issues. An example of this is the setting up of the Longhope Flood Task Group under the parish council. Also the local stockpiling of sand and sandbags will make dealing with local spot flooding issues more responsive, rather than relying on someone at, or going to, Cannop Depot. The creation of Watercourse Wardens as a local focal point of contact and knowledge, similar in concept to Snow Wardens, is an idea being trialled in Stroud that we could consider here. Highways The new partnership with Atkins that forms Gloucestershire Highways is working well. Over 2m a month is spent on Gloucestershire s road network. This has been reprioritised after the flood damage. An additional 4m is to be redirected in 2008/09 to drain clearing activity. Locally we have a very responsive team led by Neil Maxfield, who has helped solve some of the issues brought to his attention by me such as children walking to school in Oakle Street which resulted in some new signs, addressing drainage issues in Tibberton, a dangerous bridge parapet in Longhope, signage in Longhope, car parking at Hopebrook School. Unfortunately not all things can be fixed but the help received to try and address the car sales site in Newnham on Severn was welcome, and Walmore Hill school safety was worked on and new wig wag signs agreed, but no obvious solution to car parking and drop off / pick up issues was able to be reached. I am sure there are many other instances where Neil and his team have worked directly with Parishes. A major piece of work on the A40 Highnam to Over is planned for start 12 th May through to mid September This will see the replacement of the dual carriageway complete with the inclusion Stephen McMillan Page 2 03/06/2008

3 of a bus lane, with other changes to the road layout. The scale of the works is magnified because three major jobs are being rolled into one road and drainage replacement, lighting replacement and the inclusion of a bus lane. It is an important piece of repair work needed before the County can adopt the A40 west of the M5 as part of the Highways Agency de-trunking plan. This will cause major disruption whatever mitigating action is taken, as over 40,000 car movements a day take place here. It is expected that over an hour will be added to the travel time during the morning and evening rush. Disruption to getting to work, children getting to school is going to happen. Emergency services have been catered for. Rest assured that I and other Councillors are pushing for all that is possible to be done. Waste The waste that is left after we have recycled or composted as much as possible is called residual waste. At the moment we send this to landfill. The environmental impact, new European legislation, UK Government targets and the fact that we are rapidly running out of space means we cannot continue to send our residual waste to landfill. Plus of course the financial cost last year the waste disposal budget for the County's waste was nearly 20 million and the total cost for the waste management service for Gloucestershire (meaning both waste collection and disposal for the County Council and the six Districts) was about 30 million. This is increasing by more than 1.5 million per year in landfill tax alone. Rising landfill taxes and penalties could more than double this cost by We are developing Gloucestershire's Residual Waste Procurement Plan which will detail how we will go out to procurement for a long term residual waste solution for Gloucestershire. Our aim is to find a solution that is acceptable, feasible, flexible, environmentally sustainable and value for money. We hope to begin procurement for a residual waste facility in summer The approach we are considering taking is not to specify a particular technology, but to set out the outcomes we wish to achieve and invite the market to present us with options which we can fully evaluate to ensure we arrive at the best solution for Gloucestershire. Schools One of the most pressing issues facing the county is the falling population of young people. The Government expects funding to be equitable across schools, and puts pressure on the authority to close schools where there are more than 25% spare places. We are encouraging schools in defined localities to work together, with heads, governors and parents being encouraged to work out the most economical way of working to maintain school places. Another major issue is home to school transport. Of the 65m of money we have control over for spending on children and young people, some 12m (i.e. 18% of funds) is spent on the statutory need to get children to school. This money funds 9,000 children to get to school out of 130,000 (i.e. Stephen McMillan Page 3 03/06/2008

4 7%) school age population. Costs are increasing all the time and we are looking at how we can get best value from this spend. Some change to the way of working has to be found. I have continued to serve as Chairman of Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee. Health Issues I have continued to assist where I can with the on going development of a new way of working in the Forest of Dean District, with a Social Enterprise Trust model to encompass hospital services using the Dilke and Lydney Hospitals. Unfortunately the closure of Elderly Mental Health facilities at Cinderford was not able to be stopped. As a member of Gloucestershire Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee, I worked hard to make sure the arguments were put and heard, and supported the submission of the decision to the Secretary of State. Post Offices There are no closures planned in parishes in Mid Dean Division, but this current round may not be the last. I would urge all who have them to use local Post Offices as much as you can to keep them as viable as possible. Do not be complacent. Those that are up for closure in the District are in Sling, Ruspidge, Lydney (Tutnalls and Primrose Hill), Viney Hill, Bromsberrow and Awre. Awards Gloucestershire County Council has won an Innovation Award for designing a tool to aid procurement of high cost placements in Social Care, which has national application. This is saving a lot of money. The GCC website is one of only 4 Council websites to receive an excellent rating of 467 sites surveyed, and is also one of only 40 sites to win an Internet Crystal mark for use of clear English. The Village Agents scheme has beaten 142 bids to be awarded several thousand pound prize as an innovative solution to meet 21 st Century social care difficulties. Stephen McMillan Page 4 03/06/2008

5 Medium Term Financial Strategy 2008/9 Budget Overall Summary Directorate 2007/8 Base Inflation Costs Efficiency and Other Savings Increased Spending Total (excl grants into RSG) Cash Increase / Decrease from Base Percentage Increase / Decrease Specific grant moved into RSG Total (including grant adjustment) Children & Young People (Education and Children s Social Services) 61,463 1,433-2,826 2,250 62, % 1,621 63,941 Community and Adult Care 115,504 2,632-5,518 6, ,278 3, % 6, ,198 Environment (includes Waste Disposal and Highways) 47,623 1,055-1,648 5, , % ,929 Community Safety (Includes Fire Service) 21, , % ,832 Police Officers , % 0 1,531 Business Management 19, , , % 8 19,438 Chief Executives Support Unit 3, , % 0 3,008 Technical and Corporate 40, ,525 44, % ,623 Total 310,931 6,560-12,160 18, , % 9, ,500 To see the full budget details go to: Stephen McMillan Page 5 03/06/2008