Next year's budget and looking ahead to cabinet

Hello,

A big update this week reflecting the volume and diversity of work that’s being delivered.

Yesterday started with our regular meeting with cabinet members and a look back at another busy week. You can see the highlights presentation here.

Cabinet members were particularly interested and impressed with staff that volunteered to take part in a litter pick around Trowbridge – in their lunch break – as part of the Clean Up Wilts campaign. The idea was generated through EPIC and a huge well done to everyone who got involved and helped collect 13 bags of rubbish in just an hour. Future litter picks are being scheduled in Chippenham and Salisbury and the members have asked if they can also participate and do their bit to clean up hot spots and improve the county.

Last week we spent time focusing on next year’s budget (2018/19) and we met with directors and heads of service to discuss plans and ideas for potential savings and ways of generating more income too. We then met with cabinet to share the outcome of these meetings and the position is now a lot clearer – as it stands we need to find around £30m of savings next year – and, so far we have identified just over £25m - with around £4.4m still to find. We’ll know more following the funding announcement from Government next week (expected on 11 December) and the amount of savings that still need to be found. We will present our final position on the savings and income by 8 January to be discussed and considered by Full Council in February.

It’s not just about next year’s budget – we are also analysing what we need to do to ensure we come in on budget this year – which is critical so that we don’t have to find even more savings next year. We know that if we take no management action, we are projecting a potential overspend of £6m, and Directors continue to work together and with their services on actions to address this and balance the budget.

With the onset of winter and a definite chill in the air at the moment it’s important we consider help for rough sleepers. We always provide emergency provisions for anyone sleeping rough during severe weather and overnight accommodation for those who need it. We are fortunate that the number of rough sleepers in Wiltshire is low, but it is still an issue for us and we will continue to work with partners to do what we can and look at whether we are doing enough.

Another project which you will be hearing a lot about over the next four years is the boundary review, which is now underway, at some pace. The review will consider the total number of elected members on the council, and then review the numbers and boundaries of electoral divisions within the authority boundary. There is a huge amount to do in a tight timeline with lots of information required in the preliminary stage, including housing development numbers and forecasts on the future size of the electorate. Once we have gathered the required information, the council will put forward its view on the future size of the council from 2021 onwards.

Later this week there will be an information session for staff interested in taking part in the new Leadership and Management programme which we announced at the staff engagement forums. Using the apprenticeship levy we are now able to offer qualifications to staff, supporting us with succession planning and ensuring we have a resilient workforce with all the skills needed for the challenges the public sector faces in the future. The 20% off-the-job training requirement of apprenticeships is the biggest barrier for employers nationally, however we are ensuring that the training providers we procure can offer this in a way that works for us as an organisation. To find out more about the programme, please visit grow.

Looking ahead, cabinet meets next Tuesday and it’s a busy meeting with some big items being discussed, including the council’s overall performance, the council tax base, schools funding for next year, our strategy for school places up to 2022, our carers’ strategy, an update on health and social care integration, a report on leisure provision, and an update on the community campus programme.

Finally, we’re sorry to announce that Alison Elliott will be leaving us. Alison has had a huge impact spearheading the transformation of adult social care and taking on a wider brief as an interim corporate director over the last few months and we will announce shortly the arrangements following her departure. Alison is sadly leaving due to personal circumstances and our thoughts are with her and her family at this difficult time.

Alistair, Carlton and Terence