Minutes:
Councillor Rishi Shori, the Leader of the Council and Chief Executive Mike Owen attended the meeting to consult with those present on the budget options for the coming three years.
It was explained that the main objectives were to lead, shape and maintain a prosperous Bury that was fit for the future.
Councillor Shori reported that Bury was a popular place to live and the town centre was the third most popular in Greater Manchester after the Trafford Centre and Manchester City Centre.
Bury Council was the biggest employer and provider of services in the town with a £448 million turnover.
Mike Owen set out where the Council’s money came from and explained that there had been a reduction of £65 million in Government funding since 2010 with a further £32 million to be cut up to 2020.
It was explained that if Bury had been funded per head to the same level nationally it would have an extra £9 million and if it had been funded per head to the same level as Greater Manchester it would have £18 million extra.
How the Council spent its money was set out:-
• Adult Social Care £46.8 million
• Looked after Children £10.6 million
• Waste Disposal £12.5 million
• Highways £6.4 million
• Refuse Collection £4.0 million
• Libraries £2.4 million
• Parks & Open Spaces £2.2 million
• Sports & Leisure £1.2 million
It was also explained that there were other demands such as the population living longer but needing added support in later life.
There were unknown variables to consider such as inflation, rises in energy prices and other levies.
The Council were constantly looking for efficiency savings and were planning to transform services across the three Council Departments:-
Resource and Regulation – Proposed cut of £7m
Children, Young People and Culture – Proposed cut of £7.7m
Communities and Wellbeing – Proposed cut of £17.7m
It was explained that for Resource and Regulation there would be more collaborative working with other organisations and providers, further income generation, investment in the highways network to improve the network and reduce the repair bill, joint enforcement, further treasury management in relation to property investment and back office service reconfiguration
For Children and Young People there will be optimisation of external funding, development of the Early Years Provision, and development of the fostering and looked after children service, service reviews, a management restructure and changes to school funding regime.
Communities and Wellbeing were focussing on bringing together health and social care services with joint commissioning, review of operational services, review of leisure and wellbeing services, review of the organisational structure and transport arrangements.
It was explained that the Council will still have to deliver statutory services but would also want to have aspirations to tackle inequalities and support life chances.
It was also explained that the Council could not raise the Council Tax by more than 2% and the Social Care Precept by more than 3%.
Those present were given the opportunity to ask questions and make comments and the following points were raised:-
· Mr Waddell referred to the dividend from Manchester Airport and asked where this was factored in.
It was explained that this was included in the investment income.
· Ian Henderson referred to the Early Years reconfiguration and the £1million saving stated and asked whether chief officer salaries had been reviewed and options in changing final salary pensions.
It was reported that there had been a lot of work done in relation to the management structure over the past 5 years. The council had reduced the number of directors as well as chief officers and managers. It was also explained that the pension scheme was a national scheme that the Council could not review by itself.
· A member of the public asked whether the Council could use its reserves to help balance the budget.
It was explained that Council reserves were there to help out in extreme situations and once they were used they were gone. The Council could use its reserves but wouldn’t want to.
· Dr Binns referred to changes in services and how this affected local communities and asked that consultation be carried out locally with regards to changes and reduction in services provided.
It was explained that one of the ways that the Council was changing how it worked was by joining with other organisations and providers to work in Neighbourhood Management Teams. They would be working locally with residents and other groups to provide services and to support community working.
· Phillippa McIntyre asked whether support would be available to communities that were willing to take some responsibility for their own areas such as leaf collecting, litter picking and grass cutting.
It was explained that the neighbourhood teams would help with this and would support communities as much as possible whether it was removing collected waste or providing equipment.
· Ian Henderson referred to high costs in relation to managing individual drug and alcohol cases and whether this work could be carried out more effectively.
It was explained that this was one area where partnership working was being used as well as prevention initiatives to reduce these types of cases.
It was reported that comments and suggestions could be submitted in the following ways:-
• Submitting feedback online at www.bury.gov.uk/Budget201720
• Emailing at Budget201720@bury.gov.uk
• Writing to: Budget201720, Bury Council, Knowsley Street, Bury, BL9 OSW
• Telephoning: 0161 253 5696
• Completing a Township Forum Exit Survey
It was agreed:
That Councillor Shori and Mike Owen be thanked for their presentation.