Agenda item

To consider a report of the Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources.

Within this report and appendix it provides a further update on the strategic approach in responding to the review of the medium-term financial plan. This follows on from the report presented at the Cabinet meeting on the 28^th September 2022 and scrutiny committees during October. In particular it includes updated proposals within the appendix for scrutiny comment ahead of budget council in February.

The report outlines the budget proposals being considered by the Cabinet to address financial and demand challenges, enable longer term transformation, and ensure the delivery of shared strategic partnership ambitions.

The Scrutiny Committee is recommended to comment on and note the report.

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

A representative of the Executive Director for People and Integration submitted a report (copies of which had been circulated) providing an update on the strategic approach in responding to the review of the medium-term financial plan. This followed on from the report presented at the Cabinet meeting on 28 September 2022 and Scrutiny Committees during October. In particular, it included updated proposals within the appendix for scrutiny comment ahead of the Budget Council Meeting in February.

The report outlined the budget proposals being considered by the Cabinet to address financial and demand challenges, enable longer term transformation, and ensure the delivery of shared strategic partnership ambitions.

The Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Children, Families & Education (Councillor Wendy Meikle) attended the meeting to respond to questions from the Scrutiny Committee.

The following comments were made/ issues raised:-

·         It was noted that the current forecasting showed an increase in the number of Looked After Children and queried why this was being predicted.

·         In response, it was stated that there was a number of complex reasons why the number of children entering into local authority care had increased, in part relating to pandemic, the cost of living crisis and the impact that it had on families. It was noted that there had been an increase in the complexity of need in children. Whilst there was a range of services to support parents and aimed to prevent children entering care, there was occasions where children required intervention. Although the rate of children entering care had decreased, the number of children leaving care and returning home had not. It was stated that plans to focus on moving children back into family placements where it was appropriate to do so, and less costly placements formed part of the business programme over the next year.

·         Members requested assurances that the council was confident that they were able to provide adequate resources in relation to the provisions for Looked After Children.

·         In response, it was noted that services were confident that resourcing was in place to meet demand and need, demonstrated over the last 12 months through the external inspection process, Ofsted inspections and internal quality assurance processes. Whilst there were challenges in the system, services worked hard to make sure that the challenges did not impact on the quality of the care that children receive.

·         Requested additional information around the introduction of new regulatory requirements for 16/17 year old providers.

·         In response, it was stated that the new regulatory requirements related to a change in legislation which required that 16/17 year old providers were regulated and work was ongoing with the commissioning team and across Greater Manchester to ensure the timeline for those changes were met. It was noted that no children in Stockport were placed in unregulated settings.

·         Concerns were raised in relation to the lack of detail surrounding the early help proposals and the impact of the potential removal of 20 posts.

·         In response, Members were informed around the timeline that the proposals were due to be considered at Cabinet on 23 February 2023 and, if agreed, the service would produce a more detailed business case including a consultation with those affected. Colleagues and services across Stockport Family were aware of the current plans and a future report would be provided to Scrutiny in due course with further details. It was acknowledged that there were challenges around the savings proposals and budgets, however the services were focussed on ensuring that savings were delivered in a way that did not impact on the quality or delivery of services to families. 

·         It was queried whether if an increase in Council Tax was agreed, would this avoid the need to implement the early help proposals.

·         In response, it was stated that the budget proposals were created from the position of a 0% Council Tax increase and in response to the £0.9m saving that was required.

·         It was queried if the 0% budget based exercise had applied to the whole of Stockport Family or limited to the early help proposals.

·         In response, it was stated that the 0% budget based exercise had been applied to the whole of Stockport Family, however it had primarily been focused on early help as whilst there was a continuing commitment to savings and efficiencies within all services, there was a duty to deliver statutory services.

·         It was queried what was the totality of staff in terms of the scope of the area which savings were to be made and the consequence of the reduction of 20 posts.

·         In response, it was agreed that further detail around staffing levels would be provided following the meeting. However, some of that reduction and impact on staff could be mitigated through the removal of vacant posts.

·         It was requested that any subsequent reports detailing the implementation of the proposals contain a baseline in the number of children and families using the current service to project the potential impact and measure outcomes.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.