Budget to offer protection to services for most vulnerable

Ahead of setting its budget for the year ahead, the Leader of Hampshire County Council said he wants to ensure certain frontline services continue to be protected.

Cllr Ken Thornber said child protection, safeguarding services and social care for the most vulnerable, are at the top of his list as the Council looks to save £45 million for 2012/13, to meet the challenges set by the Government's reduction in public spending, inflation and growing demand for services. He has pledged that the eligibility criteria for adult social care will remain the same and an extra £11.5m is being provided to meet the needs of a growing older population and the increasing complexity of adult social care client’s needs. There will also be no cut backs in core roads maintenance.

The County Council will freeze council tax in 2012/13, which means it will have been at the same level for three years - at a time when household budgets are under pressure. Band D council tax will be £1,037.88, one of the lowest in the country, which means Hampshire continues to provide services at a lower cost per head than other county councils.

Ongoing cuts in public sector spending led to Hampshire losing 14.3 per cent of its Government grant last year and will see an additional cut of 10.4 per cent in 2012/13, with further cuts yet to be confirmed for the next two years.  In response, the County Council is in the middle of an ambitious £100m cost reduction and modernisation programme.  

This has focussed on cutting running costs, restructuring and modernising services and seeking opportunities to share services. The Council agreed plans last year to modernise learning disability services to improve choice and offer better value for money and has rolled out a streamlined mobile library service. Two departments have already merged, and along with other changes in services responsibilities, this has resulted in two chief officer posts being cut.  The Council is integrating its corporate professional and support services to cut costs even further.  It is also exploring other opportunities to share services with partners following the success of sharing forensic and IT services.

For 2012/13, the Council will retain its freeze on recruitment, which alongside the voluntary redundancy scheme and cuts in senior management has helped to significantly reduce the council’s paybill over the last year. It will also continue to renegotiate contracts to secure even better value for money and will be making more cuts in IT costs, communications and support services as part of its plans to save £45 million.  

The Council is using its capital and one-off reserves to ease pressure by meeting some of the initial one off costs and to fund initiatives that will help secure significant longer term savings.  Examples include Extra Care housing, helping an older population maintain independence and avoiding expensive care in residential homes; and Operation Resilience on Hampshire’s roads, which is improving their condition and avoiding more costly repairs in the future. Better use of technology is also playing a part, such as a new domiciliary care monitoring system, which will save £3 million alone by reducing administration.

All this has put Hampshire in a stronger position than most to tackle the challenges ahead. Services are again being asked to cut their 2012/13 budgets by 8 per cent - but overall, around half of next year's £45 million savings are already banked as a result of the full year impact of budget decisions made ahead of the current financial year.

Despite tough times, Hampshire County Council has achieved excellent and good ratings in independent watchdog assessments of its care services for vulnerable adults and services for children and families.

From 16 January, Cabinet members will consider their areas of budget responsibility and proposals for meeting their 8% target. The Cabinet will then debate the whole budget on 3 February and make recommendations to the County Council on 23 February when the budget will be set.

Councillor Thornber said, “Although we’re in a better position than many other councils, reducing our costs further will neither be easy, or painless. Since the beginning of 2011/12 we have had to lose around 1,400 staff, including one in four senior managers. This year we will see further staff reductions, but hopefully on a lesser scale with around 230 full time equivalents currently predicted. In addition, there will be further staff reductions as a result of integrating our corporate professional and support services.  I hope that we can continue to minimise the need for compulsory job losses through our voluntary redundancy scheme, recruitment freeze and redeployment process.

“We are grateful for the support our staff have given us through this difficult time. Our strong performance is a credit to each and every member of staff who continues to work hard to ensure quality services are delivered despite the unprecedented level of change that is underway.”