Staffordshire County Council

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Staffordshire County Council
Making Staffordshire a great place to live, work,
visit and invest.
The council is responsible for providing many
public services across the county.

• The council
• serves more than 800,000 people.
• provides a host of public services ranging from
  the local education service and 400 schools to
  libraries, social services, fostering and
  adoption, trading standards, highways, country
  parks and many more.
• employs a diverse team of experts ranging from
  scientists and planners to teachers, economists,
  business specialists and cleaners.
• is steered by 62 councillors who are elected
  every four years.

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Staffordshire County CouncilBudget Consultation

Cllr John Taylor, Leader of the Council Cllr
Eddie Boden, Cabinet Member, Organisation and
Performance Helen Riley, Deputy Corporate
Director Andrew Burns, Director of Finance
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Programme of events
09.50 Welcome and Introductions 10.00
Presentations 10.30 Budget Model Exercise
1 11.30 Refreshment break 11.45 Continuation of
Budget Model Exercise 1 12.15 Lunch and Your
Staffordshire 13.15 Budget Model Exercise
2 14.15 Refreshment break 14.30 Feedback 14.45 Con
clusions and Questionnaire 2 15.00 Close
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Welcome
Cllr John Taylor, Leader of the Council
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Staffordshire County Council
Andrew Burns, Director of Finance
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Staffordshire County Council

• 8th largest local authority in England
• 32,000 employees serving 800,000 people in the
  county
• 3 Service Directorates and Strategic Core of
  Chief Executives Office, Finance, ICT, Legal
• With a vision of making Staffordshire a great
  place to live, work, visit and invest.

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County Council Services

• Purpose is to make Staffordshire a great place
  to live, work, visit and invest.
• Our services contribute to four themed areas of
  work
• Children and Young People
• Healthier Communities and Older People
• Safer and Stronger Communities
• Economic Development Enterprise Sustainable
  Development

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County Council Priorities

• Services for vulnerable people
• Clear shift to prevention
• Local delivery of services
• Customer centred organisation
• Move to the frontline
• Getting the basics right
• Service improvement
• Climate change

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Pressures and challenges

• Increasing number of older people
• Shift from manufacturing to financial industries
• Increase in single person households
• Total number of journeys to increase
• Climate change
• Health inequalities
• Efficiency savings

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The current budget (2008/09)
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Where the money comes from
Total 1.2 billion
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What do you get for your money?

• 400 Schools 6000 Teachers
• 149 Nursery Classes / Schools
• 660 Looked after Children
• 19 Day Care Centres for older people
• 9 day service centres specifically for people
  with learning disabilities
• 41,000 hours of home care per week
• 240 Social Workers

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What do you get for your money?

• 3,100 miles of roads 100,000 lights maintained
• 45 Static 12 Mobile Libraries
• 600,000 tonnes of municipal waste recycled,
  composted or disposed of
• 18,000 consumer enquiries handled annually by
  Trading Standards
• 6,000 acres of country parks, open spaces and
  greenways maintained

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A good and balanced budget

• Balanced budget means
• Income equals expenditure
• Savings targets and investment proposals are
  credible and achievable

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A good and balanced budget

• A good budget means
• Medium term focus, supporting strategic plan
• Resources invested in priority areas
• Not driven by short term fixes
• Demonstrates how we have listened to consultation
• Transparent and well scrutinised
• Maintains financial stability

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Calculating the budget

• Government funding
• Estimate other sources of income
• Calculate the budget needed to deliver services
  (significant spending pressures to stand still)
• Set the efficiency saving targets
• Identify service priorities and highlight
  services to spend less on
• Risk Government capping if Council Tax rises more
  than 5

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Results of last years budget consultation What
you said

• Last year participants told us that the county
  council priorities should be
• improving services for older people
• making Staffordshire safer and
• supporting vulnerable adults

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What we did

• The revenue budget for Social Care and Health in
  2008/09 represented a net investment of 18.8m
• Council investing in Extra Care projects
  specialist housing provision with round the clock
  care and support on-site. The aim is to have at
  least one development in each District area.
• An extra 800,000 is being spent in the current
  year on adaptations and minor works to help
  people remain independent in their own homes and
  to improve their quality of life.
• Staffordshire has entered into a joint venture
  between Staffordshire police and the county
  council to fund 38 new police community support
  officers (PCSOs) and sixteen new 'detached' youth
  workers.

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Your decisions

• Simply to continue to provide existing services
  at their current level our Council Tax will need
  to rise by 4.4 if we do not make service
  reductions.
• This would mean an annual increase of around
  43.36 or 0.83p a week for a Band D household.
• Reducing Council Tax to only a 3.5 increase
  means reducing service spending by nearly
  2.4million

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Your decisions

• What is the relative importance of services for
  you?
• Are there services you believe we should spend
  more on?
• Which services do you believe we should spend
  less on?

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Any Questions?
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Budget Model Exercise
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Feedback
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Council Tax Increases

• Group 1 - Age 18-39
• 3.7 Council Tax Rise
• Group 2 Age 40-59
• 3.4 Council Tax Rise
• Group 3 Age 60
• 3.5 Council Tax Rise

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Conclusions
Andrew Burns, Director of Finance
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Conclusions

• Difficult to achieve a Council Tax rise of less
  than 3.5.
• Any form of major investment required a lot of
  saving options to be chosen
• Difficult decisions that have a significant
  effect on Staffordshire residents.
• A need to balance the needs of residents and
  service users with balancing the budget.

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Where we go from here

• Your opinions and decisions are presented to the
  Cabinet of the Council as part of the process in
  forming the budget.
• Late 2008 other sources of Council income are
  confirmed.
• Early 2009 budgets are allocated to Council
  services.
• From April 2009 Council services use budgets for
  the services and changes you have discussed.

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Want to get more involved?

• To get more involved in the budget consultation
  process please visit our online questionnaire at
• www.staffordshire.gov.uk/budgetconsult08

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Thank you
Cllr John Taylor, Leader of the Council Cllr
Eddie Boden, Cabinet Member, Organisation and
Performance Helen Riley, Deputy Corporate
Director Andrew Burns, Director of Finance