Issue - meetings

To consider a report of the Deputy Chief Executive.

The proposals contained in this report form part of the Growth and Reform Programme and have been subject to the consultation and engagement after agreement from the Cabinet in in July 2017. This business case proposes a course of action to realise £200K savings from the Information Advice and Guidance budget. The changes proposed involve a partial restructure of the service and a targeted offer of voluntary redundancy. 

The Scrutiny Committee is invited to comment on this iteration of the proposals prior to their consideration by the Cabinet.

Officer contact: Alison Blount, 0161-474-5107, alison.blount@stockport.gov.uk

The Cabinet Member for Reform & Governance submitted a report (copies of which had been circulated) providing the Scrutiny Committee with an updated Business Case for the reconfiguration of Information, Advice and Guidance services following a consultation with stakeholders.

The Cabinet Member highlighted the following:

•   Successful relocation of the advice services into Reddish Library, and it was proposed to move ahead with similar mergers elsewhere in the borough to provide greater flexibility in the deployment of staff resources.

•   The existing Citizen’s Advice Bureau contract had been extended by 1 year to allow for consideration of Greater Manchester opportunities.

•   The proposals continued to provide a commitment to the Contact Centre for vulnerable residents.

•   The public consultation had elicited a largely supportive response.

The Scrutiny Committee made the following comments/raised the following issues:-

•     A number of councillors welcomed the commitment given to maintaining telephone contact provision and home visits for those vulnerable residents, as well as continuing to provide face-to-face contact through libraries.

•     Support for residents to ensure they were able to claim those benefits they were entitled to was an invaluable service to some of the most vulnerable, and helped prevent more costly interventions while ensuring resources were available to spend in the local economy. The roll-out of Universal Credit was likely to put more demand on advice services.

It was reported that the increased use of ‘Better off Stockport’ website had reduced demand on services in relation to benefits advice, which had meant that the waiting times for support had reduced from 10 to 2 weeks. Councillors welcomed this improvement.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.