Agenda item

Ref

No.

Report Page No.

Area / Service

Efficiency or invest-ment

£

Overview and Scrutiny Committee

comments

1 &

2

8

Adult Social Care - Reduced Contributions from NHS

695

383

The Committee expressed concerns that the most vulnerable residents would take the impact.

The committee acknowledged the demographic pressures on budgets but asked that an estimate be made of the budget pressures resulting form PCT budget changes over the next three years.

3

&

4

8

Adult Social Care  –

Demographic Pressures – Mental Health & Older People

556

455

The Committee asked for documented background information on why investment was proposed for 2011/12 only.

6

8

Adult Social Care - Transition

1,847

The Committee asked for more information on the “assumed £1.4 million” including where the funding was coming from.

8

9

Children & Young People (CYPS) - Demographic pressures

4,000

9

9

CYPS – increased legal cost budgets

500

The Committee requested further information on the increase in legal costs and why these were not planned to reduce in 2012/13 and 2013/14 in line with the reductions in the previous item. 

Reference was also made to a question asked  at an earlier OSC meeting about the rise in legal costs of taking children into care and a commentary on the measures taken to curb this spending was requested.

10

9

CYPS

1,000

The Committee expressed concern that this service was already stretched and asked for documented background information on why investment was proposed for 2011/12 only.

11

(& 9)

9

CYPS

301

The Committee asked for documented background information on why investment was proposed for 2011/12 only.

At its meeting on 1^st November 2010 the Committee requested more information on Child Protection Legal Fees including the number of legal proceedings in child protection cases which were not within the Council’s control (action 98.1).  The Committee asked that this information be provided.

12

(& 9)

9

CYPS

521

The Committee asked for documented background information on why investment was proposed for 2011/12 only.

Ref

No.

Report Page No.

Area / Service

Efficiency or investment

£

Overview and Scrutiny Committee

comments

1

11

Inflation

6,500

The Committee asked for breakdown of what this covered especially given staff numbers were predicted to substantially fall.

3

11

NLWA – Increase in Landfill Tax

1,500

The Committee asked whether this meant that the Council was not budgeting for a higher take-up of recycling.

4

11

Concessionary Fares

2,500

The Committee requested more details including who charged local authorities for concessionary fares and whether inflation and new income from parking charges were taken into account.

7

11

Increase in employers pension contributions

500

The Committee requested information on why this was scheduled to increase when the number of staff was being reduced..

8

11

Council Tax Benefits Subsidy

4,000

total

In response to questions the Committee noted that currently people in particular needs were granted 100% discount on Council Tax and this proposal was to reduce this subsidy by 10%.

9

11

Risks to future government funding and changes in the Welfare Benefits system

5,100

Total

The Committee requested more information.

11

11

Debt Financing Costs

(348)

The Committee requested information on what this was.

11

General

There was a general feeling that more commentary was required including detailed numbers and how the figures were arrived at on the changes and variations proposed in Appendix 3.2

Ref

No.

Report Page No.

Area / Service

Efficiency or investment

£

Overview and Scrutiny Committee

comments

General

Staffing

A Committee Member asked for information on whether reductions in wages had been discussed with staff as opposed to redundancies thus enabling more services to be provided.

3

12

Human Resources

(Apprenticeships)

165

The Committee expressed concerns about cuts to the Apprenticeships schemes, some of which were specifically aimed at children coming out of care.

13

12

Corporate  Property -reduction in building maintenance

150

The Committee asked for information on what service operations were planned to cease and any buildings that were scheduled for disposal.

14

12

Corporate Property (Reduction in Soft Facilities management)

150

The Committee requested more information on how the reduction would be handled, what leases the Council was committed to and whether Council owned buildings would be offered to other organisations for rental. It was specifically asked if any surplus space could be rented to the third sector organisations.

15

13

Corporate Property (Reduction in Office Accommodation)

1,200

total

The Committee requested further details on the figures and on what buildings were being considered.

20

13

IT (Implementing Value for Money)

300

The Committee requested information on how IT would contribute to the overall savings.

22

13

BLT (HB Overpayment recovery project)

274

The Committee expressed concern about how such funds could be recovered and asked for details on how confident officers were in achieving this and why it was expected to have “no impact”.Also what additional resource is proposed to increase the income and where is it in the paperwork.

23

13

Customer Contact

521

The Committee asked for information on how confident officers were in achieving this.

24

13

Reduction in use of mobile phones

150

The Committee asked why this did not include a reduction in the use of landlines and whether alternative methods of communication such as Skype had been considered.

25

13

ICT Efficiencies

150

total

The Committee asked for details of why this saving was not starting in 2011/12.

28

14

Customer Contact (shift to online transactions)

500

The Committee expressed concerns that the move towards online services would exclude certain members of the community, particularly the elderly.

The Committee expressed concern that the planned move away from face to face customer/council transactions could have the effect of marginalising and possibly excluding some residents, particularly those with restricted or no access to IT as well as older residents and those with poor English language skills. The Committee sought reassurances that the needs of these groups had been considered in any redesigned services.

29

14

Paybill Efficiencies – review contractual terms & conditions of employment

2,500

Total

In response to the Committee’s question it was explained that this was a proposal to review staff contractual terms and conditions. The Committee requested more information on these proposals.

The Committee recognised the difficult position that officers were in and that certain information could not be shared at this point and highlighted the challenge of scrutinising a budget with limited information available.

32

14

Spans of control & delayering

400

The Committee asked what “benchmark spans of control ratios” meant and was informed that this meant comparisons with other organisations on the number of management posts they had.

36

14

Recreation Services (Allotment fee increases)

22

The Committee asked what the current annual rental for an allotment was and how fees compared to other boroughs.  A Committee Member expressed concerns that some plots were in poor states and this did not encourage user take-up.  It was recognised that the supply of allotments was high in the east of the borough but there was more demand in the west.

38

15

Reduce Recreation Development Team

71

The Committee asked for more detail on how this efficiency would impact on residents and whether it was actually cost effective given the reduction of the ability to attract external funding.

39

15

Recreation Services

(Tottenham Green Leisure Centre – reduction of reception cover)

27

The Committee expressed concerns that the move to online services would exclude certain members of the community, particularly the elderly and young people with dyslexia.

40

15

Review of Parks Management

90

The Committee asked for details on what the minimum acceptable level of maintenance would be and what would happen to the gardens/plots that had been renovated under different budgets.

43

&

45

&

47

15

16

16

Close Woodside Day Centre

&

Close/reconfigure all drop in centres for older people

Close an older people’s care home

149

Total

181

The Committee requested a briefing note on the closures of day centres including

·         timescales,

·         a list of all care homes and day centres concerned and what services they offered,

·         other options considered and whether any other LAs had been through the same process,

·          whether all homes and centres would be closed or would some be handed over to other providers,

·         how the personalised care agenda would be met,

·         what transitional arrangements would be put in place,

·         what discussions had been held with third sector providers,

·         what the cost of running these centres was and the cost of buying into these services

·         details of forecasted additional costs  (as day centres have preventative functions) following closure

·         The information on day centres and care homes should be provided separately.  The briefing note should also include the briefing on the Haven Centre which had been sent to the Chair previously.

Committee members expressed concerns about the long term sustainability of such proposals, how transition would be managed and how the quality of service would be scrutinised if provided by the voluntary sector.

46

16

Cease Salary Contribution to Jackson’s lane luncheon club

10

More information on this saving was requested.  Concerns were raised about the welfare of older people who used this service.

48

16

Close in-house Home Care Service. Create Reablement Service

(100)

The Local Involvement Network (LINk) was concerned at the loss of such services and requested details on the arguments for this proposal and the impact on Haringey as a whole.

49

16

Introduction of reablement service

224

The Committee asked for an explanation of this proposal.

49

&

50

16

&

17

Introduction of reablement service

&

Reduce Older People’s Placement budget following introduction of Extra care

224

304

The Chair suggested a briefing noted on the Direct Payments system be provided to members including the percentage of people who used day care centres who would be eligible for Direct Payments funding.

The Committee also requested more details on where the Extra Care would be provided across the borough.

53

17

Remaining OP Residential Home

(100)

The Committee requested more detail on what the current cost of running these residential homes was, what would happen to the buildings used by these homes and the cost of these services being provided by the independent sector in the nearby area.  Concerns were expressed about the distance relatives would have to travel if services moved to Tottenham.

58

18

Increase Adult Services Fees and Charges

280

The Committee requested more information on the impact of this and whether this would exclude service users who did not remain in their own homes.

65

19

Connexions

1,436

More information on the cuts to this service was requested.

72

20

Teenage Pregnancy and Parenthood

119

The Committee asked for information on how a better service would be delivered under the proposal.

73

21

Early Years

186

The Committee requested information on how this would meet the needs of Traveller and Gypsy/ Roma children.

74

20

Behaviour Support and Inclusion Management

158

The Committee asked for more information on this proposal including what the long term benefits were.

77&

78

21

Noise Complaints

50

50

The Committee expressed concerns about the impact on residents and there was a general consensus that there should not be a reduction in the out-of-hours service.  More information was requested including whether consideration had been given to the possibility of sharing this service with a neighbouring borough and noise teams working demand led flexible hours.

77, 78, 80 & 83

21

Enforcement (various)

Various

The Committee had concerns that these proposals would negatively impact the quality of life for residents.  The Committee requested details on what the savings would mean in terms of number of cases which would not be dealt with.

83

21

Street Enforcement – ward sharing

85

The Committee requested more information about what this proposal mean and how it would impact on communities, particularly young people.

85

21

Strategic Housing Service – Cross Service Restructure

433

The Committee requested more information on how temporary accommodation would be managed under the proposals.

Post meeting request

ACCS –

Alexandra Road Crisis Unit

The Chair of the Overview & Scrutiny Committee asked for information on how the cuts (including in the voluntary sector) in front line services would impact upon the personalisation agenda and personalisation budgets and access to voluntary sector, social care services and what consultations had taken place, and whether there would be further cuts in mental health provision.

Ref

No.

Report Page No.

Area / Service

Efficiency or investment

£

Overview and Scrutiny Committee

comments

General

Capital Receipts

The Committee asked what level of capital receipts were expected over the next 3 years.

General

Assets Sold

The Committee would be sent the link to the Council’s website where the Statement of Accounts can be found, showing the current value of the Council’s assets.

6

22

Alexandra Park and Palace Charitable Trust

500

The Committee asked whether the Palace could generate more revenue to put towards the works.

7

22

Business Support & Development – BSF

1,500

Total

The Committee questioned this capital bid and noted that this was the previously agreed Council contribution to the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme through the sale of a building (capital receipt). The Committee asked for the name and location of the building scheduled for sale.

9

22

Corporate Resources – IT Capital Programme

750

The Committee questioned the justification for this capital bid when £300k efficiencies were proposed elsewhere in IT (item 20 – page 13) and asked for more information.

The Lead Finance Officer reminded members that item 20 related to staffing and this was capital expenditure.

19

23

Frontline Services – Redevelopment of Cranford Way site as reuse and recycling centre

900

The Committee asked for more detail on what the revenue implications of this proposal were, whether planning permission was required (and if it had been obtained) and if the running costs be the same as they currently were for the Cranford Way site.

20

23

Planning, Regeneration & Economy – Tottenham Gyratory

1,500

total

The Committee asked for the briefing note which was already in the public domain to be provided to Committee Members.

21

23

Strategic & Community Housing Services – Works in Default

50

The Committee asked why it was not possible to recover the £50,000

22

23

Strategic & Community Housing Services – Retained hostels

1000

The Committee asked who lived in these hostels and why they were being retained when care homes were being closed.

23

23

Strategic & Community Housing Services – affordable housing new schemes

850

The Committee requested justification for this capital bid and asked whether the funds could be recovered?

Ref

No.

Report Page No.

Area / Service

Efficiency or investment

£

Overview and Scrutiny Committee

comments

27

24

Property – Hornsey Town Hall

7,116

In response to questions the Committee was informed that the scheme included selling land at the rear of the Town Hall to fund refurbishment of the building.  The Town Hall would be run independently from the Council and offices would be leased to various organisations.