Service Funding in Scotland - A Guide to Sustainability

Transcription

1 APPENDIX 1 FINANCIAL PLANNING CORPORATE DEVELOPMENT PLAN/STATUTORY REQUIREMENTS Item Description 2004/ / /07 Educational Services 1. Support for Learning School Estate Development People s Network SQA Environmental Services 5. Roads Maintenance & Transportation Lands and Parks Flood Prevention Environmental Health/Food Safety Development Plan Headstone Stabilisation Programme Community Services 11. Developmental Playgroups Corporate Services 12. ICT Corporate - Asset Management 1,000 2,000 2, Local Government Act TOTAL 7,320 7,910 6,760

2 Service: EDUCATIONAL SERVICES Item Description 2004/ / /07 1. Support for Learning School Estate Development People s Network Arising from the investment in the People s Network over the past three years, there is a need to find the ongoing related revenue costs when NOF funding ceases. 4. Scottish Qualifications Authority TOTAL 1,263 1,263 1,263 NOTES: 1. Support for Learning Nationally all Education Authorities are facing increased budgetary pressures relating to SfL. This is reflected in the fact that the Audit Commission and Audit Scotland are currently reviewing growing needs and Local Authority responses to meeting SEN. A number of factors are leading to this pressure and include: Improved postnatal care and medical care - Children with severe needs surviving beyond infancy. Improved earlier diagnosis of children with SEN. Improved identification of SEN - Educational Services staff now better at identifying and putting a specification around how these needs might be met. Heightened parental expectancy once diagnosis has taken place. The number of pupils with SEN now moving through primary into secondary. The staying on rate of pupils with SEN increasing - pupils staying on beyond 16. Increased expectation by Scottish Executive to develop inclusive approaches to SEN.

3 The reduction in the use of out of area placements. This has resulted in: Increased numbers of pupils with a formal medical diagnosis. The number of young people being diagnosed as being on the Autistic Spectrum in 1996 was 20. In 2002 this number is now 80, a fourfold increase. These include pupils in SEN bases and in mainstream classes. Increased numbers of pupils having a Record of Need opened - a formal process, which specifies how the Local Authority should meet the needs of pupils with SEN. The number of Record of Needs opened in 1996 was 241. In 2002 this number had increased to 364, an increase of 66%. Increased parental advocacy - illustrated by the increased use by parents of external consultants to diagnose medical conditions such as Dyslexia. Resource drift towards pupils with SEN away from pupils with less severe problems. In contrast, the only increase in staffing has been in the number of auxiliaries employed at individual school level. Total teacher staffing is in fact 3 fte lower now (115.4) than it was in 1996 (118.5). Recent Moray analysis indicates that the following increases to the SfL budget needs to be made to allow Educational Services to meet its statutory requirement regarding SfL. Factor Staffing Need Cost '000 Increased RoN/Cases of Autism 12 fte teachers 400 (mainstream) 1 fte LSEY team fte auxiliaries 162 Pre-school developments 7 auxiliaries 56 Staying on post 16 (21 pupils) 2 fte teachers 67 Unsupported Level 5 pupils in Primary (11) 2.2 fte teachers 73 Increased number of Hearing Impaired Pupils 1 fte 33 Additional Annual Operating Costs of new facilities at: Lossiemouth 63 Forres 14 TOTAL 901K

4 In addition to the foregoing it is intended to develop alternative methods of managing the SfL budget on an annual basis to reflect changes in need through "Needs based Budgeting". This will develop an accurate, updated profile of pupil need using existing data and will allow Educational Services to feed information into the budget setting process in a more programmed, systematic way. This development is in its early stages. 2. School Estate Development A report was provided to the Council Meeting on 17th September 2003, regarding a potential PPP (Public Private Partnership) Scheme for investment in the Moray School estate. Since that time, further work has been ongoing to evaluate the financial implications for the Council. At present, it is considered that PPP may provide a mechanism to draw additional funding to the Council to assist in addressing the modernisation of the school estate. At this stage, an allowance of 300,000 per annum has been included in the event that this mechanism is used. If the Council chooses not to utilise the PPP option, then it is reasonable to assume that significant 3. People s Network Arrising from the investment in the People s Network, in Libraries throughout Moray, over the past three years, there is a need to allow for the ongoing revenue costs when the New Opportunities Fund contribution ceases. 4. Scottish Qualifications Authority The SQA recently announced that, now their difficulties of recent times seem to be over, they need to consider how they achieve financial stability and sustainability without the substantial financial support received from the Scottish Executive. They have indicated that they will be increasing their fees next year by 5%. Our current costs are 280,580 with a budget allocation of 270,625. Consequently an immediate increase of 22,984 is required. Beyond this, SQA have also indicated that they "will wish to impose greater increases to charges in the coming years". While the outcome of this is not yet clear we need to be aware of the potential for this to impact on Authority budgets.

5 Service: ROADS MAINTENANCE & TRANSPORTATION Item Description 2004/0 2005/ / Roads Maintenance & Transportation 4,240 3,805 2,705 TOTAL 4,240 3,805 2,705 NOTES: 1. Roads Maintenance & Transportation The level of Roads Maintenance carried out is currently below substainable levels, leading to a deteriorating asset. There is a backlog of 17m of identified work. These additional funding identified would support appropriate maintenance levels. More detailed information is provided with the infrastructure report. 2. Improved Subsided Public Transport Network Increase in subsided service budget to fill gaps in rural bus services provided. This may be necessary to bid for matched funding on future Scottish Executive Bus Route Development Grant Scheme. 3. Transportation and Planning The Best Value Review identified raps in service delivery area. Recent increases in budgets, if sustained, would allow additional posts to be funded - partly from fees but partly from the Administration and Management budget. The principal areas requiring additional offers are:- - Processing statutory consultations on - Planning Applications - Transport assessment checks and negotiations - Street Works Gazetteer and GIS Development - Insurance Claims and Inspections Engineer Posts and 1 Engineering Technician Post would support the workload identified.

6 Service: ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES Item Description 2004/ / /07 1. Development Plan TOTAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN REPLACEMENT The Development Plan requires to be replaced by 2005 and work has to start this year on consultations, obtaining professional advice and printing of a Draft Plan. Extra Admin Support is needed (estimated ½ post, but professional time will be redeployed from Development Plan implementation work, particularly projects. The current environmental project budget (Revenue) ( 72k) will cease at the end of 2003/2004 and staff currently working on projects related to that budget will be temporarily redeployed to carry out the Review of the Development Plan. Additional Software will be required to assist in the coordination of the plan preparation, the logging of data and production of monitoring information finance is required to carry out consultations, specialist advise and printing of a Draft Plan 2004/05, and for a Public Inquiry, Reporter and reprint of the Plan in 2005/06. This will support the Corporate Development Plan objective to review the Development Plan.

7 Service: ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION LAND AND PARKS Item Description Service Plan Ref 2004/ / /07 1. Tree Survey There have been two recent fatalities involving fallen trees and our insurers have raised concerns regarding tree safety. This level of funding would allow an initial tree survey; tagging of park, verge and open space trees and ongoing monitoring by an independent tree specialist. The Council does not have such expertise in-house. If these works are not undertaken and trees continually monitored there are potentially major Health and Safety implications. Lands and Parks TOTAL 8 8 8

8 Service: FLOOD PREVENTION Item Description 2004/ / /07 1. The Council has statutory duties under Flood Prevention Acts to maintain watercourses. Demand has increased significantly over the years since the 1997 Act and current provision ( 116k) has remained since then. Currently meeting 50% inspection plan A significant number of householder enquiries for investigations/improvements cannot be met from current staff resources. Part of the additional funding would be used for one additional member of staff. TOTAL

9 Service: ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH Item Description 2004/ / /07 1. Drinking Water Food Safety Code of Practice TOTAL Notes:- 1. Drinking Water Drinking Water in Public Buildings Regulations and Private Water Supply Regulations are likely to become operative. There will be additional samples required and probably risk assessments of supplies. Current staffing could not absorb the work. Charges may offset some costs. The detailed impact at this time is unknown but the legislation is likely to have financial implications in terms of additional staff resources, (technical and admin), and on charging for sampling and analysis. It is estimated that 1 technical officer and 1 part-time admin post may be required. The Technical Officer would be located within the Environmental Health Service, the part-time admin post would be located in the Development Services Admin/System Support section. 2. Food Safety Code of Practice The draft Food Safety Code of Practice indicates that the inspection rating system for food standards and E.C. approved premises is to change resulting in an increase in the frequency of inspections. This is certain to impact on the existing staff. The statutory requirements of the new legislation will mean inspection of additional premises, or more frequent inspections. This will be in addition to existing workloads for staff. Whilst it is not possible to quantify this in detail, it is possible that additional staff requirements may be 0.5 FTE.

10 Service: ENRIVONMENTAL PROTECTION Item Description 2004/ / /07 1. Headstone Stabilisation Programme A follow-up risk assessment of the condition of burial headstones/memorials has identified that conditions are worsening and that the current revenue budget of 10,000 per annum is making little inroads into resolving the problems The programme needs to be substantially accelerated to address the safety implications for users and staff. TOTAL

11 Service: DEVELOPMENTAL PLAYGROUPS Item Description 2004/ / /07 1. Developmental Playgroups Notes: TOTAL There are currently 6 developmental playgroups in Moray, run by voluntary organisations and providing services to 0-5 year olds, with physical disabilities together with support to their carers. Most funding for these groups has historically been raised by the groups themselves. The Council provides 12K per annum as a grant to the Developmental Playgroup Forum. The Forum agrees the distribution of this grant among their members. NHS Grampian also provides 9,000 per annum to meet transport costs. The introduction of registration and inspection regime through the Care Commission has placed significant additional pressures, both cost pressures and service standard pressures on these groups. Some groups are currently considering their future by ability in light of these additional pressures. Additional one off support has been provided to 2 groups during this year to help ensure they are able to continue, pending the outcome of a comprehensive review. An external evaluation and review was commissioned by the Council last year and has produced a series of recommendations most of which have significant cost implications. It should be noted that the circumstances of the groups varies considerably, with some groups having sufficient resources while others are in danger of closing due to financial pressures. A small inter-agency group (Health, Social Work, Education and Playgroup) is currently preparing a proposal that will address the long-term sustainability of developmental playgroups, taking account of the proposals from the external review. This proposal is likely to involve a more formal partnership between the playgroups and the Council whereby service standards and service levels are made explicit and higher levels of funding are made available. At this stage, it is not possible to determine the level of additional funding that will be required, but a provisional sum of 50,000 revenue may be sufficient. It is anticipated that the working group will be able to report to the Education and Community Services Committee in February 2004.

12 Service: ICT Item Description 2004/ / /07 Actuals 1. Microsoft Licensing - Enterprise Agreement Government Secure Extranent Content Management System Estimates 4. Document Management Storage Management System Asset Management System Fleet & Fuel Management System Planning, Building Control, Environmental Health & Trading Standards Contaminated Land System Community Services - Homecare System Notes TOTAL Microsoft Licensing - Enterprise Agreement Microsoft have changed their policy on software licensing and upgrades to products require a full license to be purchased. The Enterprise Agreement (EA) is a discounted scheme which runs for a period of three years and allows the Council access to any Microsoft products that are developed during the term of the agreement.

13 The Council is currently working mainly on Windows 98 for the operating system and Office 97 for word processing and spreadsheets. Whilst these systems are adequate in the short term, they are beginning to cause difficulty as new systems are developed to operate most effectively with the latest version of Windows. In some instances the new systems won t run at all with older version of Windows. Furthermore the older versions do not support the latest standards required to exchange information with other parties. The Council needs to move to a position of keeping the Microsft software up to date. By entering into the EA, this will ensure that we keep pace with changes without incurring very large catch up costs periodically. 2. Government Secure Extranet The Government Secure Extranet (GSX) is the means of securely exhanging information between local authority and government departments. This is required for the Criminal Justice System which needs to pass information between the Council, the Courts, the Police and other public sector organisations in a secure manner. 3. Content Management System The implementation of a Content Management System will allow the service departments to create and publish their own information on the Council s Internet and Intranet sites. The Content Management System has a built in approval process to make sure all informatin on the website has been reviewed at an appropriate level. It also has a facility to enter publication, expiry and review dates to ensure that the information is always kept up to date automatically. 4. Document Management System A small number of sections in the Council currently scan paper documents and store them electronically. However, the retrieval systems have not always been well developed. The implementatin of a corporate Document Management System will allow wider and easier access to scanned documents throughout the Council.. This will not only save time in terms of searching for documents but will also save space if paper documents are stored electronically. 5. Storage Management System Most of the departments/sections have their own to store their word processing documents and spreadsheets. A number of these servers are quite old and in need of replacement. A Store Management System provides a centralised area for all departments to store information. This will cut down on the number of servers and will simplify the support and maintenance arrangments for ICT.

14 6. ICT Asset Management System Inventories of ICT Assets are currently held in different systems and spreadsheets. The implementation of an ICT Asset Management System will streamline the current disparate inventories and will help in the planning process for tasks such as the PC Replacement Programme. It will also allow ICT to monitor the software in use throughout the organisation to ensure that only legitimate software applications are installed.

15 Service: CORPORATE Item Description Service Plan Ref 2004/ / /07 1. Local Government Act TOTAL A report in the implicatons of the new Act was provided to the Council Meeting on 12th November Further work will be required to quantify the implications arising from the new Act before finalising the additional expenditure to cover additional work arising.

16 Service: CORPORATE Item Description Service Plan Ref 2004/ / /07 1. Asset Management 1,000 2,000 2,000 The assessments carried out to date indicate that the following additional annual maintenance costs of 4.5 million per annum are not allowed for in existing base budget allocations or elsewhere in the draft financial plan: 000 Educational Services Schools 2,730 Town Halls 13 Libraries 13 Swimming Pools 44 Community Centres 25 Environmental Services Waste Management & Cleansing 180 Lands & Parks, Burial Grounds, Countryside Amenities & Access 330 Roads & Bridges * (See Note 1 below) 805 Harbours 10 Depots 100 Coastal Protection 140 Coastal Footpaths 10 Play Area Surfacing 8 Maintenance Coastal Defences 100 1,683 Corporate Services Industrial Estates 22 Shared Accommodation 54 TOTAL 4,584 NOTE 1 - The Financial Plan includes an additional allocation of 4.2m for Roads and Transportation in 2004/05 decreasing to 2.7m by 2006/07. The budget submission for Roads and Transportation identified a requirement for an additional 4.7m rising to 5m by 2006/07. Further work is required on these assessments to ensure that consistent information is provided for all of the Council s assets. A prioritised work plan can then be established to ensure that the limited funds available are targeted to areas of greatest need and also to support the priorities in the Corporate Development Plan.