Decisions

The Budget report details the County Council’s revenue budget, the level of council tax proposed for 2019/20, the nature of its expenditure, income and savings for a balanced budget.  It will also outline the County Council’s Capital Programme to cover the five year period 2019/20 to 2023/24, which will update the programme previously agreed by County Council.

Cabinet will be asked to endorse the Revenue Budget and Capital Programme for approval at County Council on 15 February 2019.

Following consideration of the report at its meeting on 29 January 2019, the Cabinet resolved to endorse the Medium Term Financial Strategy 2019/20 to 2022/23, Revenue Budget 2019/20, Capital Strategy 2019/20 to 2023/24 and Treasury Management Strategy Statement 2019/20, subject to the amendments outlined in Annex 6, for endorsement by County Council on 15 February 2019.

The call-in deadline is 7 February 2019.

The County Council is committed to providing at home planned respite services for carers across the County and a range of away from home respite services delivered within the District and Borough boundaries.

Key Decision AH03(18/19) approved the procurement of the recommissioning of the Carers Short Break Services. Accordingly experienced providers have been procured through a compliant, open and competitive procurement.

The Executive Director, Children’s, Adults’, Families, Health and Education has delegated powers to award the Contract to the bidders that provides the most advantageous tender. This report seeks the approval of the Executive Director, Children’s, Adults’, Families, Health and Education to make the contract award.

The Executive Director, Children, Adults, Families, Health and Education has approved that:

1)    the following contracts for a period of 3 years with the option to extend for a period, or periods, of up to 2 years, a maximum duration of 5 years, to commence on the 1 April 2019; be awarded

Lot 1 – Countywide Carer at Home Respite Services is awarded to Carers Trust East Midlands

Lot 2 – Carer Away from Home Respite Service to be award to the following providers: Adur – Independent Lives, Arun – Age UK West Sussex, Crawley – Age UK West Sussex, Horsham – Age UK Horsham, Mid Sussex – Age UK West Sussex, Worthing – Guild Care.

2)    as it has not be possible to award a contract for the Chichester area as a result of only one unsuitable tender being received, under Section 12 of Standing Orders, negotiations will be entered into with a single provider.

Since April 2018 the Community Initiative Fund (CIF) has been allocated by County Local Committees through a crowdfunding model called ‘the West Sussex Crowd’. This has enabled funding from other sources to be pledged to local projects and causes.  By early January 2019, over £190,000 had been pledged, £118,000 of which had come from external funding sources.  The ability to leverage such external funding, combined with the fact that the CIF budget is usually underspent each year, has led to the development of this proposal to reduce the CIF budget as part of the Council’s overall savings programme.

This report details the proposal to reduce the budget for the Council’s CIF from £280,000 per year to £140,000 per year.  This proposal will be included in the Governance Committee review of County Local Committees due to take place between May and September 2019, with implementation of savings to be delayed until the review has been completed.  Any in-year underspend in the CIF will not be rolled forward into the budget for 2019/20 but will be used to mitigate savings required for 2019/20 in front line service areas whilst alternative funding sources are explored.

The Cabinet Member for Safer, Stronger Communities has approved that;

(1)     the budget for the Council’s Community Initiative Fund (CIF) be reduced from £280,000 per year to £140,000 per year;

(2)     this proposal be included in the Governance Committee review of County Local Committees, with implementation of savings to be delayed until the review has been completed; and

(3)     any in-year underspend in the Community Initiative Fund will not be rolled forward into the budget for 2019/20 and will be used to mitigate savings required for 2019/20 in front line service areas whilst alternative funding sources are explored.

Update (15/08/19): Implementation of this saving was delayed to enable consideration by a member working group set up by the Council’s Governance Committee to carry out a review of County Local Committees (through which CIF is allocated).  The working group has now considered this matter and has concluded that whilst CIF is an important mechanism for the Council to support community-based projects and programmes, the proposed in-year reduction is appropriate. Therefore this in-year saving will now be implemented.

The Integrated Prevention and Earliest Help (IPEH) service was launched on 1 April 2017, following the alignment of a number of separate council services in order to deliver better outcomes for children, young people and families. The model was set up to meet the needs of those aged from 0-25 years with a preventative focus.

The service has now been in operation for approximately two years. The recent investment in children’s social care to better manage caseloads and recruitment and retention in response to rising demand, the development of place based models of service delivery and a place based focus for the Sustainability and Transformation Plan (STP), means that the time is right to undertake a review and redesign of IPEH to assess its effectiveness in meeting need, reducing demand for statutory services and demonstrating value for money.

The review will be informed by the outcomes of a peer challenge and support event by the Local Government Association (LGA) in December 2018, benchmarking, financial data and best practice from other local authorities rated good and outstanding by Ofsted. The aim of the review is to design and plan to implement a targeted early help offer that delivers improved outcomes, reduces demand for children’s social care and directs the financial resources available within the Directorate appropriately.

Initial work will produce a set of principles and aims for the design and propose a plan and timetable for its delivery by March to enable member engagement before a decision is taken on the design of the new service and any changes it would need. That should enable any agreed proposals to start implementation from April 2019 with the implementation elements being phased to make sure that measures that are easier to achieve quickly are implemented and the opportunity for ongoing engagement and consultation facilitated to deliver the reinvestment opportunity in years 2019/20 and 2020/2021.

The Cabinet Member for Children and Young People has approved:-

(1)     The commencement of a review to propose a redesign of the services provided as IPEH into a targeted, focused early help offer as detailed in this report and using the principles outlined in section 2 of the report,

(2)     That the proposed design and the plans for its implementation be prepared for approval by the Cabinet Member in March 2019  to enable the start of implementation from 1st April 2019.

(3)     That arrangements be made for engagement with partners and stakeholders and for scrutiny of the proposals which emerge to meet this timetable.

The current financial situation for all local authorities requires an ambitious and imaginative approach to service planning and the use of public assets to avoid arbitrary service reductions.

The County Council’s aim is to support strong self-reliant communities. The West Sussex Plan recognises that to make real change happen we must empower people to help themselves. We complement this ambition with a commitment to make our services more effective. Many of our buildings and the services we provide in them do not match aspirations for our community, are not fit for the future and inhibit services being delivered holistically with customers in mind.

This report describes a proposal to develop a programme to create a number of community hubs where multi-purpose, community led services can be delivered - with our partners - to improve access to services, outcomes and overall wellbeing of our communities. Hubs can bring people together from various community groups and help them build relationships and support networks. They are also a good use of local public assets and an efficient and effective use of resources.

The Community Hub Strategy aims to combine services ‘under one community roof’ for the benefit of our communities, whilst making the best use of our assets to provide existing (and new) services in fewer, cost effective buildings. This report explains the framework of principles and design aims to achieve this ambition.

To test the model it is proposed to make the first hub in Worthing Library and to pilot a range of the ideas at this site to inform future phases. Community engagement in Worthing has been undertaken and a positive response received from local people.

The report seeks to confirm the delivery of the Worthing scheme and the steps needed to achieve it, to define the scope and aims of the Community Hub Strategy and the role of a Member Group that will oversee the programme.

The Cabinet Member for Safer, Stronger Communities approves :

1)     the strategic principles underpinning the Council’s approach to   developing community hubs and set out in paragraphs 4.2-4.3.

2)  the implementation of the first community hub scheme to remodel Worthing Library.

3)  the relocation of services and temporary closure of Worthing Library for a period required to enable the timely delivery of the scheme

4)  the relocation of the registration service from Worthing Town Hall and the Children and Family Centre and Find It Out Centre to the newly remodelled community hub

5) the terms of reference of a member project board to support the development and implementation of the community hubs strategy (Appendix 1)

As part of its capital programme management, in line with the County Council’s West Sussex Asset Management Policy and Strategy, the Council continually reviews its property estate.  This includes consideration of assets which are likely to become surplus to operational requirements, i.e. no longer needed.    In addition, the Council acquires or develops assets to meet statutory and service requirements as well as the Council’s wider purposes, including investment or to promote social and economic development opportunities.  From time to time these activities give rise to decisions to purchase, dispose of or to develop an asset. 

That the Cabinet Member makes a decision that the County Council declares the land at High Titten, Amberley, set out in Appendix A, surplus to service operational requirements.

As part of its capital programme management, in line with the County Council’s West Sussex Asset Management Policy and Strategy, the Council continually reviews its property estate.  This includes consideration of assets which are likely to become surplus to operational requirements, i.e. no longer needed.    In addition, the Council acquires or develops assets to meet statutory and service requirements as well as the Council’s wider purposes, including investment or to promote social and economic development opportunities.  From time to time these activities give rise to decisions to purchase, dispose of or to develop an asset. 

This report advises on the outcome of the marketing of vacant land known as The Wallis Centre, De La Warr Road, East Grinstead, West Sussex, RH19 3BS and seeks the approval of the Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources to dispose of the County Council’s freehold interest.