Part 1 (Open to the Public)
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REPORT OF THE HEAD OF FINANCE
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TO BUDGET SCRUTINY COMMITTEE
ON WEDNESDAY, 6 TH DECEMBER, 2006
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TITLE: SPENDING REVIEW – PROGRESS REPORT
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RECOMMENDATIONS: Members are invited to comment on the contents of the report .
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: This report updates the Committee on the progress of the spending review.
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BACKGROUND DOCUMENTS: None
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ASSESSMENT OF RISK: Medium – efficiencies need to be continually identified to enable the Council to maximise the redirection of resources into priority services and to demonstrate value for money from service provision.
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SOURCE OF FUNDING: Revenue budget
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LEGAL IMPLICATIONS: None at this stage
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FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS: Failure to deliver efficiencies will frustrate the ability to redirect resources
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VALUE FOR MONEY IMPLICATIONS: The areas for review will identify whether value for money is being delivered and the scope for further improvements.
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HUMAN RESOURCES: None at this stage, although it is likely that there will be HR implications from the outcome of the reviews.
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CONTACT OFFICER: John Spink Tel : 793 3230
E-mail : john.spink@salford.gov.uk
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WARD(S) TO WHICH REPORT RELATES: Potentially all
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KEY COUNCIL POLICIES: Medium Term Financial Strategy
2007/08 Budget Strategy
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DETAILS
PROGRESS
This report informs members of the continued progress with the spending review, following on from previous reports in June, October and November.
Review meetings of the Budget and Efficiency Group with individual lead members and directors have continued during the month, with first review meetings for all directorates having been completed and second review meetings with Chief Executive and Customer and Support Services have been held. These have identified a range of issues for each directorate to consider and report back on to Budget and Efficiency Group during the first week of November.
Second review meetings with Children’s Services, Community Health and Social Care,
Environmental Services and Housing and Planning are to be held in December for those directorates to report back on issues identified at the first review meetings.
EMERGING ISSUES
Cross-Cutting Themes
The Group has identified a number of cross-cutting themes which it wishes the Director of
Change to take the overall lead on and has agreed the proposed terms of reference for these themes, which were reported to this Committee last month. The themes cover :-
 Administrative processes
 Employee practices
 Procurement and shared services
 Accommodation.
Directorate-specific Issues
(a) Where Second Round Meetings Concluded
 Chief Executive
Potential efficiency targets have been identified of :-
 £100k from improvements in recruitment advertising ;
 £50k from efficiencies in co-ordinating marketing and publicity expenditure and activity across the Council. r:\rpt\rgw\989
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Areas for further investigation include :-

the scope to generate income from the Marketing and Communications function ;

the scope to strengthen external fund raising ;

ensuring value for money is obtained from relationships with external partners ;

a review of the key outcomes expected from Economic Development ;

funding measures to combat worklessness and improve employability ;

priorities for investment in Community Safety ;

assessment of provision for 16
– 19 year olds ;

funding of strategic policy and planning.
 Customer and Support Services
Potential efficiency targets have been identified of :-
 £1m across all divisions of the directorate ;
 £500k from corporate procurement.
Areas for further investigation include :-

scope for further efficiencies from rolling-out document imaging to other directorates

value for money from the Community Telematics service ;

maximising value for money from the Organisation and Development function ;

reviewing benchmarking of HR staff ratio with selected comparators ;

review of Democratic Services ;

review of the Out-of-Hours service.
(b) Where First Round Meetings Concluded
 Children’s Services
Areas for further investigation include :-

measures to contain overspending this year and projected requirement for next year, and outcomes from AGMA joint procurement review, for Children’s Care Outside
Placements ;

review of accommodation issues for the directorate ;

review of asset management role ;

future funding and savings opportunities for MAPAS and Lledr Hall ;

longer-term use of Youth Service facilities ;

scope for closer links between the 14 – 19 service and Economic Development ;

efficiencies in back office administration across various services ;

implications of the planned closure of RMCH in 2009 ;
 review of Children’s and Family Placement resources.
 Community Health and Social Care
Areas for further investigation include :-

potential costs and savings associated with LIFT centres and Broughton Hub ;

the pros and cons of establishing a Museums trust ; r:\rpt\rgw\989
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
potential efficiencies from the SCL contract ;

strategy and opportunities for investment in Leisure Centres ;

efficiencies in back office administration across various services ;

invest to save opportunities around Intermediate Care and Residential Care ;

impact of staffing vacancies in Older Peoples Day Care ;

potential efficiencies from the relocation and amalgamation of Physical and Sensory
Services with Community Occupational Therapy ;

value for money from the Learning Difficulties service ;

potential efficiencies from a review of Transport ;

community use of buildings.
 Environmental Services
Areas for further investigation include :-

energy efficiencies in Bereavement Services ;

value for money from the Pest Control service ;

income potential from the private sector to deal with Contaminated Land ;

outcome of the Licensing review ;

potential income from fixed penalty notices and proceeds of crime through Trading
Standards activity ;

income generation opportunities to fund improvements in Parks ;

potential efficiencies in waste management ;

strategy for the use of DSO reserves ;

outcome of a review of VMS.

Housing and Planning
Potential efficiency targets have been identified of :-

a oneoff saving of £800k from tripping claims.
Areas for further investigation include :-

scope for further income generation from Car Parks ;

a review of the Highways investment strategy ;

the long-term strategy for Asset usage and disposal ;

capacity of the Planning service, including environmental impact assessments ;

potential efficiencies from the corporate GIS system ;

value for mo ney from Urban Vision’s business services unit ;

costs of restructure following Housing stock transfer ;

potential efficiencies from Homeless Hostels ;

potential efficiencies from merging Housing and Planning business support.
RECOMMENDATION
Members are invited to comment on the contents of the report .
JOHN SPINK
Head of Finance r:\rpt\rgw\989
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