Local communities will be put at the heart of creating and delivering services, according to Cambridgeshire County Council, which is facing its toughest budget challenges ever.
The Government has announce what grant funding local authorities will get and the Council will have to save £160.6 million in the next five years – and will see up to 450 people going from the authority in the coming year, with that figure likely to rise in the next two to three years.
The savings are needed to meet the reductions the Coalition Government requires the Council to make to help deal with the national deficit. It is also needed to help pay for the rising costs and demands on essential services resulting from the county's population growth and people living longer. The Council says it will prioritise services to help the most vulnerable in society as well as improving safety and supporting initiatives to help older people avoid needing more expensive forms of care.
In order to do this the Council is looking at making every penny of every pound work in the most effective way possible. To help Councillors prioritise services, residents are being asked to help shape the budget through a survey which puts the public in the position of a councillor. The survey gives residents choices about how much they would save from a selection of service, which builds up a picture of residents' priorities. It contains the same sorts of choices on prioritising services Councillors will be taking.
Some 250 people across the county will be interviewed face-to-face, and the survey will also be available online via the County Council's website. Putting local communities at the heart of decision making and designing services will be key to transforming how and what the council will do in the future.
The County Council is known nationally as an authority that manages its funds well and in the last five years has saved £60 million – some £18 million in the last year alone. Transforming services will be a major challenge as the council is already a lean organisation compared to many of its neighbours.
Councillors are clear that the priority will be services for the most vulnerable and those who need the most support. This will mean moving away from some universal services and targeting particular groups of people, for example in the support given to children and younger people.
The Council will also look to devolve decision making, commissioning and running some services to local level, where people are best placed to decide what services they need. For example, this could mean subsidising fewer bus services and instead developing a more integrated community-based approach to public transport.
Preventing people needing high levels of care and support and intervening early when people do need it will also be part of the approach. The Council will also work more closely with individuals and carers on personalising care so that people take decisions which are right for them, giving them more choice and control over their care needs.
This is the toughest budget we have ever faced. The Council will either not be delivering some of the services it does now, or they will be delivered in a very different way. However, at the heart of the budget we set will be the needs of the communities we serve and the desire to make every penny in every pound work in the most effective way.
Our priority will be to protect the most vulnerable in our community and provide early intervention to prevent people getting to a point where they need more costly services. Together with partners and by working with communities we will transform services. I have no doubt there are going to be some very hard choices. Cambridgeshire is already a lean authority which makes finding savings a tough challenge.
The savings are needed to help pay back the national deficit as well as making sure we have enough funds to cope with the increased demand for our services as the population grows and people live longer. We hope residents will take part in the consultation and tell us what they want prioritised.
The Council's final budget proposals will be put to the Cabinet in January and debated by Full Council before being agreed in February.
Contributed by John Reynolds
John Reynolds is the County Councillor for Bar Hill – he can be contacted at:
Hollytrees
4 Bar Hill
Cambridge
CB23 8SF
T 01954 200571
E john.reynolds@cambridgeshire.gov.uk