Agenda item

To consider a report of the Cabinet Member for Resources, Commissioning & Governance.

Earlier this year, in September, the Cabinet presented a series of proposals in response to the summer review of the Medium Term Financial Plan undertaken earlier this year. The review highlighted the continued uncertainty, complexity and volatility facing local government funding - presenting significant challenges for local citizens and their local public services. The Cabinet’s proposals were developed in line with the medium term strategy (fig.1) which was introduced in 2018[1] to frame the choices the Council will make about its budget, both next year and in future years.

Since this report there have been further developments nationally, such as the 2019 spending review which will inform the local government finance settlement expected to be announced in December

The Cabinet remain committed to engaging widely on proposals and this report includes an update on those draft proposals that fall within this Committee’s remit. Since they were originally presented to this Committee for discussion and comment, further development on proposals have been undertaken. The updated proposals presented as part of this report also now reflect further engagement, or where appropriate consultation, with partners, citizens and relevant groups. These proposals are being presented to Scrutiny for further comment before being considered by the Cabinet on 6th January 2020 for inclusion within the Budget.

The Cabinet are keen to seek views from Scrutiny on these plans ahead of decision making in January 2020.  In order to enable broad engagement on Cabinet’s plans, Scrutiny Committees are receiving this report and suite of appendices relevant to their remit.

The Scrutiny Committee is invited to comment on the proposals and consultation results presented within the report relevant to the remit of this committee.

Officer contact: Holly Rae on 0161 474 3014 or email: holly.rae@stockport.gov.uk

The Cabinet Member for Children, Family Services & Education (Councillor Colin Foster) attended the meeting and submitted a report (copies of which had been circulated) detailing a series of proposals in response to the summer review of the Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) undertaken earlier this year. The updated proposals reflected further engagement, or where appropriate consultation, with partners, citizens and relevant groups.

The following comments were made/ issues raised:-

Manage demand on Adult Social Care and Children and Young People Social Care

The following issues were raised in relation to the proposals:-

·       Clarification was sought on the impact on Looked After Children In relation to reducing demand and being able to access care. In response it was commented that to address the issues of demand Stockport Family had been working on early interventions and have been using the Multi-Agency Safeguarding and Support Hub (MASSH) with early referrals and the involvement from the schools. It was also commented that the number of children looked after in Stockport was the lowest in the North West and lower than the national average and it was mainly due to the approach that Stockport took to nurture and support children, which could not be replicated in public care. The reduction referred to a contingency that was specifically set aside to manage future demand growth.

·       It was commented that in relation to the increase in the number of Looked After Children at Stockport there was a trend year on year that affected the number that the Council had no control over and it seemed a risk to want to reduce the numbers without affecting the children themselves. In response it was commented that the local trend had been upwards in line with the national trend, however, a number of changes had been put in place the last five years relating to core practices at no cost to the Council, e.g. changes to the legislation and timescales for the court process.

·       Clarification was sought on the how the data was presented and the inclusion of special guardianship. In response it was commented that there had been an increase in the special guardianship numbers being increased but those figures had not been included in the figures in the report. It was also commented that with regard to those children who had been placed in their parents’ home, this was mainly due to court orders which were at no cost to the Council.

·       Clarification was sought on the reference groups relating to the “sufficiency and capacity” that had been suspended due to the need for data in the review of the dedicated schools grant. In response it was commented that it related to data scientists that had been employed by the Corporate & Support Services area, to look at further data, trends and forecasts over a 5-10 year plan for the general pupil population for the percentage of pupils that would require SEND needs and would provide information relating to capacity and to developing a more long term strategy.

·       Clarification was also sought in relation to the current pupil referral unit and what it meant in practical terms to “ensure that it complimented the new inclusion agenda”. In response it was commented that the pupils are taken from mainstream education and the provisions that meet the needs of the pupils whether it is in school or off-site. It was also commented that the references to the pupil referral unit and the dedicated schools grant (DSG) should imply that it is a genuine overall, detailed comprehensive review of all the spend of the DSG that looked at the impact and improvement of children’s outcomes and a refresh of the Inclusion Strategy for Stockport.

Getting More Out of Our Spending

The following issues were raised in relation to the proposals:-

·       Clarification was sought In relation to the saving of £0.175m which was identified through Council Tax discounts. In response it was commented that it related to money that had been moved into the support funds budget in 2018/19 as a result of the changes to the council tax discount scheme on empty properties and the additional council tax money that had been created, part of it had now been moved into the budget for this year.

Stockport Local Transport – SEND Transport consultation Report

The following issues were raised in relation to the proposals:-

·       Clarification was sought in relation to the four proposals identified on page 103 of the report and when it was considered and would be taken forward. In response, it was commented that the process started in August 2019 with a number of proposals, the proposals were now before scrutiny and the feedback would be considered by Cabinet in January 2020 and would be signed off and then submitted to the Council in February 2020 for final sign off.

RESOLVED – (1) That the report be noted.

(2) That an update report relating to the “No Wrong Door” programme be submitted to a future meeting of the Committee.