Wednesday – Cabinet meeting I am not on the Cabinet, but I did attend the meeting. As always, there was a huge agenda, though not as much reading as normal (only 200 pages this time). The meeting started with a question which asked what DCC was doing to mitigate the effects of Welfare Reform. It got a very long answer, which I will post separately, I think, if I get a chance. One interesting detail which did come out, however, is that if you try to go onto a loan company’s website from a DCC-owned computer (e.g. in a library) it will not let you, but will put you through instead to the DCC website for advice. The first two items on the agenda proper involved the Stock Transfer of council houses to a Registered Provider. The tenants have voted more than 4:1 in favour, and now DCC has to settle the land issues, fund the set-up of the RP, and organise the TUPE transfer of staff. This issue is not really relevant to Aycliffe – Sedgefield Borough Council transferred their housing to Livin years ago – but it was pointed out that this transfer, which will be completed in March 2015, marks the end of ‘Council Housing’ in County Durham. Three items on the agenda concerned the budget, and the huge cuts which have been made to Council funding by this coalition government. The spending cuts already approved by the government will take public spending (as a %age of GDP) down to its lowest level since 1938 – i.e. we’re back before the Second World War … pre-Beveridge Report. The frightening thing is that, despite £128million of swingeing cuts already since 2010, DCC is only 57% of the way there – there are £96million more cuts still to be found. Avoiding financial crisis, therefore, is a major issue, and the way to do this to keep a very tight watch on the budget. Thus – although we are only reporting on Quarter One – we are already looking forward to the year end outcome. So far this year, the Council has achieved 60% of the cuts which will keep it on target, collection of Council Tax is on track, and the Council is in a secure position. Having said that, the Council has found from somewhere an extra £13million capital investment in NetPark, Sedgefield – a very welcome expansion to our local economy. One of the problems with ever-ongoing cuts is that the ability of the Council to ‘hide’ the cuts from the public (e.g. by cutting ‘backroom’ staff) will eventually end, and – unless there is a change of government – we will soon be facing significant cuts to frontline services. In February, therefore, the Leader of the Council launched an ‘ASK’ for organisations to come forward to take over and run community assets. This has already been done for some Leisure Centres, and is underway for community centres. Today the Cabinet heard that the February appeal generated a number of enquiries, but the way has been left open for further expressions of interest. There were two general reports on the state of affairs in the County: The *Durham Partnership Update* reviewed the work of the thematic partnerships and the AAPs. It is worth a read to see the huge range of things the AAPs are doing. GAMP got a few mentions in the report – the new Welfare Champions scheme, the Detached Youth Work project, the Work for Health project (to help individuals with a health condition or disability return to the labour market) and the Healthy Starts project (Welfare Reform support targeted at toddler families). Next, the Council’s *Performance Management Report* highlighted the significant challenges facing the County – youth unemployment remains high and the standard of living continues to fall as increases in incomes fall behind rising prices. Worryingly, crime and fly tipping (both indicative of a society in austerity) are both on a rising trend. However, there are also many positives – a small reduction in NEETS, a reduction in the amount of rubbish going to landfill, improvements in mental health provision, new homes and affordable housing et al. Cabinet members praised the morale and motivation of the staff who are delivering these improvements, despite a pay freeze/cap, huge changes to working practices, massive cuts in staffing, and the threat of redundancy. A final item was the submission of the Flooding Review. I was on this working group and have already told you about it. The recommendations were approved by the Cabinet, and the Environment Scrutiny Committee will monitor flooding plans and readiness. If you want to look into any of the above in more detail, you can read the full reports here: democracy.durham.gov.uk/documents/g7381/Public%20reports%20pack%20Wednesday%2010-Sep-2014%2010.00%20Cabinet.pdf?T=10
Posted on: Wed, 10 Sep 2014 14:43:53 +0000
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