Improvement Plan
2014-2015
www.pembrokeshire.gov.uk
Index
1. Introduction ................................................................... 06 2. Our principles ................................................................ 10 3. Cross cutting themes ...................................................... 12 4. Developing our Improvement Objectives ...................... 14 5. Children .......................................................................... 18 6. Economy ........................................................................ 23 7. Environment .................................................................. 28 8. Health ............................................................................ 32 9. Safeguarding .................................................................. 36 10.Safety.............................................................................. 38 11.Our Medium Term Financial Plan .................................. 40 12.Reporting back................................................................ 43 Glossary .............................................................................. 44
3
improvement PLAN 2014/2015 Where to get more information and compliance statement
For a copy of this document in large print, Braille, audio tape or an alternative language please contact Jackie Meskimmon on 01437 776613.
A summary of this document is available on our website or via the contact details below.
This plan and its summary discharges our duty under section 15 of the Local Government (Wales) Measure 2009 to publish improvement information.
More detailed information is available in the Improvement Planning section of our website. You can also track our recent performance by looking at integrated performance management reports that go to both our Cabinet or the more detailed versions that go to our Overview and Scrutiny Committees on a quarterly basis.
We are always keen to hear your views. If you have any feedback on this review or would like to inform the development of future Improvement Objectives, please contact us using the details provided below:
Dan Shaw , Corporate Planning Manager Pembrokeshire County Council, County Hall, Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire SA61 1TP Tel: 01437 775857 policy@pembrokeshire.gov.uk www.pembrokeshire.gov.uk
4
foreword
I am pleased to introduce Pembrokeshire County Council’s Improvement Plan for 2014/15.
This Plan is our main forward looking document and sets out our objectives for the coming year. It provides us with an opportunity to spell out our understanding of the issues that are important to you and share how we propose to address them.
The past year has been an important one for the Council. In previous years, I have referred to the concerns raised about our safeguarding arrangements and education services. Over the course of the past year, we have begun to see real evidence that we are addressing these concerns successfully.
In November 2013, inspectors from Her Majesty's Inspectorate for Education and Training in Wales – Estyn – conducted a planned monitoring visit to the Authority. The inspection team looked in detail at the work we had done to improve our safeguarding arrangements, internal scrutiny and our approach to performance management. I was extremely pleased to receive the formal feedback from the inspectors, which confirmed we had made significant progress across all the areas examined.
Similarly, our recent progress has been acknowledged by the Wales Audit Office (WAO) – the body charged with carrying out corporate inspections of local authorities in Wales. Over the course of the last year, the WAO has sought to commend the Council’s approach to corporate planning and has acknowledged the progress we have made in supporting effective overview and scrutiny of the Council’s key services. We have yet to receive this year’s annual assessment of service performance from WAO, but I am confident that this too will acknowledge the majority of Council departments performed well last year.
The external acknowledgement of our improvement is very welcome and, I would contend, well deserved. Senior Officers, front line staff and Elected Members from across the political spectrum have worked hard to achieve this level of progress.
Of course, we know that the coming year will require similar levels of commitment. The Authority’s education services remain in Special Measures, and we need to provide further support and challenge to our schools to improve attainment amongst our children and young people.
No less difficult is the fact that the forthcoming year will be the most financially challenging in the Council’s history. Section 11 of this Plan explains the position in more detail. In summary, we will be seeking to reduce our spending by approximately £12.9 million over the course of the financial year 2014/15 (we are already planning to make a further saving of £7.1 million during 2015/16, and we anticipate that this figure could rise further when Welsh Government reviews the grant it provides to the Authority during the summer of 2014).
Clearly, delivering services and securing continuous improvement in these circumstances will be challenging. However, we have made an excellent start in identifying a budget for the forthcoming year which protects those services that are valued by people throughout the County, and in particular those which are relied on by vulnerable people in our communities. It will not be possible to deliver further savings without having some impact on our customers, but I am satisfied that the Council is well placed to reduce spending without resorting to ‘panic measures’ and in a way that minimises any potential negative effects. Cllr. Jamie Adams, Leader
5
1. Introduction
6
1.1. The purpose of this Plan is to describe what we will be doing to deliver on our duty to secure continuous improvement1. It sets out the areas of improvement we will be focussing on during the coming year and explains our rationale for doing so. 1.2. The Plan has been written with residents, businesses and visitors to the County in mind. All of these stakeholders use our services and have an interest in our approach to delivering continuous improvement. 1.3. The Plan is the public facing expression of our approach to performance management. Our performance management framework describes the annual cycle we follow in planning, monitoring and reviewing everything we do. 1.4. Broadly speaking, there are four steps in our framework. Between December and March each year we focus on identifying objectives for improvement. During March and April we finalise our objectives and set out our plans for delivery during the forthcoming year. We monitor performance throughout the whole year and seek to identify what impact our service delivery has had on the community. Finally, during September and October we begin to review our progress so that we are in a position to refine our objectives for the following year.
Section 2 of the Local Government (Wales) Measure 2009 places all local authorities in Wales under a general duty to “make arrangements to secure continuous improvement in the exercise of [their] functions”.
1
7
1.5. This year’s Plan, like last year’s, has been structured around the six key outcomes included in Pembrokeshire’s Single Integrated Plan. This is a partnership plan that reflects the aims for public service as a whole for Pembrokeshire. The six key outcomes identified in the Single Integrated Plan are: • Children and Families: Children, young people and families have the opportunity to fulfil their learning potential and to live healthy and happy lives • Economy: Pembrokeshire has a competitive, productive and sustainable economy • Environment: People in Pembrokeshire enjoy an attractive, sustainable and diverse environment • Health: People in Pembrokeshire are healthier • Safeguarding: Children and adults are safeguarded • Safety: Communities in Pembrokeshire feel safe 1.6
We intend to review the Single Integrated Plan during 2014/15. The chapters on Children and Health were derived from earlier partnership plans that were published in 2012. We intend to refresh these sections to reflect new opportunities to meet our collective aspirations for the County and its people.
1.7
In addition to identifying our contribution to the achievement of these key outcomes, this Plan describes: • • • • •
our principles as an organisation, our approach to sustainability, equalities, poverty and the Welsh language, our Improvement Objectives for 2014/15, a summary of our Medium Term Financial Plan, and how we will report on and review our progress in the future.
8
How our plans fit together 1.8
This Improvement Plan fits within a hierarchy of plans, all of which play a significant role in our service delivery arrangements. It is good practice to be able to draw a ‘golden thread’ between the plans and identify how individual members of staff, teams, service departments and whole agencies will work towards the key outcomes set out in the Single Integrated Plan.
Si n g le I n teg r a ted P la n I m provem en t P la n Service Improvement Plans Tea m P la n s Per formance appraisals 1.9
During 2014/15 we will continue to develop our performance framework. We have recently revised our performance appraisal system to improve the alignment between the tasks for which individual officers’ are accountable and the overall priorities of the Council. We will evaluate the effectiveness of these new arrangements later in the year.
9
2. Our principles 2.1. Since the inception of Pembrokeshire County Council in 1996, we have worked to three cross cutting principles.
C U STOM E R F OC U S VA LU E F OR M ONE Y ONE TE A M 2.2. Treating customers courteously and fairly is a principle that has served us well. We take note of and monitor the basics; issues such as how quickly phone calls and letters are responded to, as well as how complaints are handled and what lessons might be learned. 2.3. We aim to administer simple and straightforward opportunities for customers to access our services. As information technology has developed, we have been able to broaden the channels through which customers are able to contact us. For example, we oer a range of opportunities for customers to access services and information via the internet. We have recently re-launched our website and made it easier to use, especially for those people who access it via mobile devices.
10
2.4. We were one of the first local authorities in Wales to have a dedicated customer contact centre, and though the vast majority of our customers continue to use this channel in preference to face-to-face contact, we have maintained a range of facilities that enable customers to access services over the counter. During the coming year we will broaden those services that can be accessed in our face-to-face facilities – e.g. by providing tourist information in our libraries. 2.5. Achieving good value for money has always been important to us. For many years we have set the lowest Council Tax of any local authority in Wales. Our Band ‘D’ Council Tax charge for 2014/15 will be £766.55, which is more than £250 below the average for Wales. 2.6. The financial pressure that we will face over the next two years is unprecedented in the history of the Council. Section 11 explains how the priorities identified in this Plan have informed our budget decisions. We will need to save in the region of £20 million over the course of the next two years. 2.7. Achieving value does not always mean limiting our expenditure. There are occasions when investing in services will help us to deliver savings in the longer term. For example, over the next 10 years we plan to invest around £150 million in our school buildings. This will result in the construction of more efficient facilities and will help us to improve outcomes for learners. By analysing the longer term impacts of our spending, we are able to improve the sustainability of the services we provide. 2.8. Our final principle is that of working as one team for the benefit of all people in Pembrokeshire. Local authorities are large and complicated organisations, but we have always tried to minimise internal divisions for the benefit of our customers. 2.9. For example, the governance of our services is organised in such a way that it cuts across departmental boundaries. This enables Elected Councillors to look beyond parochial issues and retain a broad strategic perspective. 2.10. As well as our principles, our work reflects the importance of a number of cross cutting themes. Section 3 describes how we build the principles of sustainable development, equality and diversity, mechanisms to tackle poverty and support the Welsh language, into our work.
11
3. Cross cutting themes 3.1. Sustainable development, the equalities agenda, our work to tackle poverty and the promotion of the Welsh language cut across all the work we do. 3.2. We seek to promote sustainable development, wherever possible, by supporting projects that address social, economic and environmental issues. This helps to ensure that the decisions we take today do not have an unfair impact on future generations. Like other councils across Wales, we have a good track record of improving our practice in this area. Many of the Objectives described in this plan demonstrate our commitment to sustainability. 3.3
During 2014/15, Welsh Government is likely to publish the Future Generations Bill. The Bill will establish a requirement for public bodies to formalise how they build longer-term considerations into their strategic plans.
3.4
Over the course of the coming year, we will reduce the amount of energy we use by a further three percent (we have been reducing our energy usage consistently over a number of years). We will achieve this by adopting more energy eďŹƒcient technologies and by managing our building stock more eectively.
3.5
We have witnessed a marked increase in proposals for renewable energy developments during the past two years. During 2014/15, we will produce Supplementary Planning Guidance for wind turbines and photovoltaic renewable energy schemes. This will provide developers and communities with more certainty on the sorts of proposals that will acceptable in planning terms. We also anticipate progress on a larger scale project for a combined heat and power scheme at South Hook. This proposal has the potential to reduce the carbon footprint of the County as a whole.
3.6
We are committed to improving our approach to the equalities agenda. During the forthcoming year, we intend to revise our integrated impact assessment tool, which we use to screen decisions about policy and service changes. We have recently signed up to the UN Convention on the
12
Rights of the Child; this will broaden the range of issues we will need to consider when making changes. We will also need to consider how the new Welsh language standards proposed by the Welsh Language Commissioner are built into the tool. 3.7
Like all public bodies, we are committed to ensuring our customers do not experience discrimination. Our Strategic Equality Plan sets out our plans for ensuring our customers have equal access to the services they require.
3.8
We will continue to make progress with a range of initiatives to foster good relations between different communities; one of the three duties we have under the Equality Act. For example, we will work with a new third party reporting service provided by Victim Support in order to reduce hate crime.
3.9
Our action to tackle poverty cuts across the whole organisation and is driven by our Single Integrated Plan. We have appointed anti-poverty Champions within both the Cabinet and the Corporate Management Team to lead this work.
3.10 During 2014/15, we will develop an anti-poverty action plan. The plan will aim to create prosperous, learning and healthier communities, help people into work and mitigate the impact of poverty. In line with national priorities, the two areas upon which we will focus particular attention will be reducing the number of young people not in education, training or employment and reducing the incidence of low birth weight. 3.11 We will also be developing a new approach to how we promote the Welsh language during the forthcoming year. We are committed to working with the Welsh Language Commissioner and Welsh Government on proposals for new standards of conduct relating to the Welsh language. The Standards will gradually replace the existing system of Welsh language schemes. 3.12 Towards the end of this year, we will discover which of the proposed Welsh Language Standards will be made applicable to the Council. At this point, we will develop a new action plan to help us manage the implementation of the Standards. A Welsh Language Standards Development Group, made up of representatives from across the Council, will oversee this work. 3.13 Some of the proposed Standards, if approved, will present challenges for the Council. Their implementation will, in some cases, require additional investment to be made. Our action plan will need to address some of these practical difficulties. 3.14 During the first part of 2014/15, we will respond to the Welsh Language Standards Investigation, letting the Welsh Language Commissioner know which of the proposed Standards we consider to be reasonable and proportionate. We will consider demographics, demand and cost as part of this assessment.
13
4. Developing our Improvement Objectives
4.1. The Local Government (Wales) Measure 2009 requires us to publish a list of Improvement Objectives each year. Welsh Government has produced statutory guidance to help us achieve this. We have used this framework to identify Improvement Objectives that are ambitious, but also achievable. 4.2. The guidance describes how Improvement Objectives should be worked up in greater detail. For example, it makes reference to the need to balance national and local priorities, to take note of the results of inspection reports, to build in the need for efficiencies and to exploit opportunities arising from the development of new technologies. 4.3
We changed our approach to identifying Improvement Objectives in 2013/14 to give them a narrower scope and focus our improvement effort more effectively. The five objectives we set for 2013/14 reflected longer term priorities for the Council. Consequently, we have opted to retain four of the five Objectives we set last year. The scope of our fifth Objective has been broadened somewhat, but a clear link can still be drawn to last year’s framework.
14
How we consulted on our Improvement Objectives 4.4
We took advantage of a variety of opportunities to generate interest and comment on our draft Improvement Objectives. These included encouraging press coverage and using mailing lists. We undertook direct consultation with liaison groups, voluntary organisations and town and community councils. We also consulted with our Citizens’ Panel. The most popular method of engagement with our customers was via our website.
4.5
We canvassed views on ten proposed Improvement Objectives. The list of proposed Objectives covered areas such as: • Improving adult social care • Tackling poverty • Improving school attainment • School inclusion/vulnerable children • Improving how we plan school places • Waste and recycling • Town centres • Embedding changes to safeguarding • Crime and Community Safety • Saving money by using new technologies to deliver services
4.6
The feedback we received during our consultation helped us to narrow down this list. The questions we used with the Citizens’ Panel were also used in our web based public consultation. We combined the results of these exercises and analysed the results2. The six areas ranked as most important by respondents to the consultation were: • Town centres • Crime and community safety • Improving school attainment • Waste and recycling • Improving adult social care • School inclusion/vulnerable children
4.7
Broadly speaking, these results reflected our own views about appropriate priorities for the Council. Consequently, we have identified the following set of Improvement Objectives for 2014/15.
Detailed results from our consultation are available on our website www.pembrokeshire.gov.uk/haveyoursay
2
15
IO1: School Improvement
• We will challenge and support our schools to improve learning outcomes and help children and young people reach their potential.
IO2: Vulnerable Children
• We will build the capacity of schools and services to enable vulnerable children and young people to be safe at home and in school and reach their potential.
IO3: Town Centre Improvement
• We will enable, facilitate and deliver schemes to improve the viability and vitality of our town centres.
IO4: Waste Management
• We will continue to increase the proportion of waste that is recycled in order to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill.
IO5: Reconfiguring Adult Social Care Services
• We will reconfigure the provision of our adult social care services to improve efficiency and sustainability. 4.8
A more detailed explanation of why we chose these Objectives is included within the relevant sections elsewhere in this document. However, there are two issues that warrant further consideration here.
4.9
First, respondents to our consultation identified crime and community safety as being issues that concern them. This is not a new phenomenon, and is regularly highlighted during public consultations in Pembrokeshire. However, the data indicates that Pembrokeshire has relatively low levels of crime compared with other areas and, as a result, we chose not to focus on community safety as a priority this year.
16
4.10 Second, in identifying our Improvement Objectives, we always try to reflect the advice we are given by our inspectors and regulators. On the basis of the most recent feedback we received from Estyn, acknowledging particular progress in relation to our safeguarding arrangements, we decided to broaden our efforts in this area to all services for vulnerable children. 4.11 In identifying our Improvement Objectives, it is important that we are able to draw strong links with Pembrokeshire’s Single Integrated Plan. With two exceptions, and for the reasons already described, we have identified an Objective to contribute to each of the key outcomes described in the Single Integrated Plan. The relationship between the Objectives and these key outcomes is depicted below: Key outcome
Children: Children, young
people and families have the opportunity to fulfil their learning potential and to live healthy and happy lives.
Economy:
Pembrokeshire has a competitive, productive and sustainable economy.
Environment: People
in Pembrokeshire enjoy an attractive, sustainable and diverse environment.
Health: People in
Pembrokeshire are healthier.
Improvement Objective
School Improvement: We will challenge and support our schools to improve learning outcomes and help children and young people reach their potential.
Vulnerable Children: We will build the capacity of schools and services to enable vulnerable children and young people to be safe at home and in school and reach their potential. Town centre improvement: We will enable, facilitate and deliver schemes to improve the viability and vitality of our town centres. Waste management: We will continue to increase the proportion of waste that is recycled in order to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill. Reconfiguring Adult Social Care Services: We will reconfigure the provision of our adult social care services to improve efficiency and sustainability.
Safeguarding: Children
No Improvement Objective
Safety: Communities in
No Improvement Objective
and adults are safeguarded. Pembrokeshire feel safe.
4.12 The remainder of this document describes each Improvement Objective in greater detail and explains what else we will be doing to contribute to the key outcomes identified in the Single Integrated Plan.
17
5. Children IMPROVEMENT OBJECTIVE 1
School Improvement
We will challenge and support our schools to improve learning outcomes and help children and young people reach their potential.
IMPROVEMENT OBJECTIVE 2
Vulnerable Children
We will build the capacity of schools and services to enable vulnerable children and young people to be safe at home and in school and reach their potential.
5.1
Our services for children, families and schools account for approximately half of our total spend each year. Although we provide many services ourselves, we do a considerable amount of work in partnership with other agencies. Attainment and attendance are critical issues for the County as a whole, but these challenges are even more acute for children and families on low incomes. We have chosen two Objectives this year because we want all children and young people in Pembrokeshire to achieve the very best results they can.
5.2
Our Education Service is currently in Special Measures; we are determined to improve the performance of the service and to support sustained improvement in our schools. The last monitoring letter we received from Estyn commended the Authority for acting “quickly and decisively” and noted that this has resulted in “change and improvement happening at a rapid pace”. However, we are acutely aware that some outcomes for children must also improve.
18
5.3
The consultation we undertook indicates strong support for our school improvement and vulnerable children Objectives.
5.4
We have set ourselves five actions under the School Improvement Objective. • Working with schools to deliver targeted interventions that will increase attendance rates. • Improving the use of data and performance management to enable timely, evidenced based support and challenge to schools. • Improve outcomes for children by increasing the capacity that schools have to improve themselves. • Making progress with our plans to improve learning environments as part of the 21st Century Schools Programme. • Develop a programme of school re-organisation to improve outcomes for learners.
5.5
The impact of achieving this Objective will be that outcomes for children and young people from Pembrokeshire will be improved and that they will be better prepared to make a positive contribution to society.
5.6
We will measure the impact of our progress under this Objective by monitoring a number of performance indicators. One of our key measures of success will be the percentage of students achieving the level 2 threshold, including English/Welsh and Maths at Key Stage 4. This indicator is frequently used to compare levels of attainment at a national level. Performance in this area has been inconsistent for some time, with performance dropping below the Welsh average in 2013. We will be working closely with our schools, particularly schools where attainment dropped last year, to address this. We want to establish sustained improvement against this indicator by supporting and challenging our schools.
19
KS4 Level 2 incl English/Welsh & Maths 65%
60%
55%
50%
45%
40% June 2008
June 2009
June 2010
June 2011 Pembrokeshire
June 2012
June 2013
June 2014
Wales
Success measures
Foundation phase indicators, which analyse the outcomes of pupils at Years 1 and 2 LLC=Language Literacy & Communication MD=Mathematical Development FPI=Foundation Phase Indicator Key stage 2 core subject indicators, which analyse the outcomes of pupils in Year 6
Key stage 3 core subject indicators, which analyse the outcomes of pupils in Year 9 Key Stage 4 level 1 monitoring how many year 11 pupils achieve 5 GCSEs Key Stage 4 level 2 including English/Welsh and Maths
Monitor attendance rates in Primary and Secondary Schools
Percentage of students who attend less than 80% of the time
Percentage of 16 year olds not in education or employment (NEET)
20
Target 2014/15 LLC = 91% MD = 91% FPI = 90% 88%
83% 99%
63 %
Primary = 96% Secondary = 95% 4%
2.8%
5.7
Our second improvement Objective under this theme will ensure that improved outcomes are achieved by all children and young people, including vulnerable children. We have set ourselves six actions under this Improvement Objective. • Working with schools to build capacity to meet vulnerable pupils’ needs through effective challenge and support. • Monitoring the progress of vulnerable pupils effectively, ensuring interventions are cost effective and are evidence based. • Integrating services for children with a disability across Education and Children’s Services effectively. • Monitoring the effectiveness of integrated safeguarding advice and support to schools and ensuring effective oversight of the management of allegations against professionals. • Developing a multi-disciplinary service to meet the needs of our most vulnerable looked after children. • Embedding our team around the family model of early intervention.
5.8
21
The impact that we hope that this will have will be that children in Pembrokeshire will be safer and vulnerable children will be better prepared to live healthy, happy and productive lives.
5.9
We will measure the impact of our progress under this Objective by monitoring a number of key indicators. Further details are provided below.
Success measures
Target 2014/15
Percentage of children looked after on 31 March who have had three or more placements during the year
10%
Annual Local Authority Designated Officer report on allegations against professionals
Report published
Percentage of relevant children involved in investigation(s) against professionals where a strategy meeting has been held who were: (a) offered advocacy (b) offered and took up the offer of advocacy
100% 30%
Percentage of outcome letters issued within prescribed time (to individuals that have had an allegation made against them) after the final strategy meeting has taken place
100%
Percentage of final statements of special education need issued within 26 weeks, including exceptions
Percentage of final statements of special education need issued within 26 weeks, excluding exceptions Percentage gap between attainment for students eligible for free school meals and those who are not at Key Stages 2,3 and 4
80% 80% Foundation Phase - 12% KS2 - 14% KS3 - 27% KS4 - 27%
5.10 There are a range of other actions that we will take during 2014/15 which, though not directly relevant to these two Improvement Objectives, will contribute towards the related outcome in the Single Integrated Plan: children, young people and their families have the opportunity to fulfil their learning potential and to live healthy and happy lives. 5.11 We will deliver a summer learning programme to children in Communities First areas in order to help reduce the gap in attainment between children in deprived areas and the rest of Pembrokeshire. The programme will draw upon the skills of people who work for our Education Department as well as those based in libraries.
22
5.12 We will continue to develop and expand the coverage of the Flying Start Programme by creating new provision for services in Milford Haven. We will also complete the preliminary work necessary to provide further services in Merlin’s Bridge in 2015/16. To help inform how these new services will work, we will commission research to evaluate the impact of the current Flying Start Programme, which is based in Pembroke Dock. 5.13 We will reconďŹ gure our community learning service in order to take account of reduced funding levels. We will continue to provide engagement and skills training. We will improve how we engage with customers in order to maintain standards and achieve the best possible outcomes. 5.14 We will build capacity in our mainstream schools to ensure sta have access to specialist support through the roll out of an Additional Learning Needs training programme. A newly established Team Around the Pupil Parent and Schools (TAPPAS) will facilitate drop in surgeries for schools and parents. 5.15 We will establish a quality assurance programme across all schools in the County to ensure that children and young people achieve the best possible outcomes.
23
6. Economy IMPROVEMENT OBJECTIVE 3
Town Centre Improvement
We will enable, facilitate and deliver schemes to improve the viability and vitality of our town centres
6.1. Pembrokeshire’s economy reflects its peripheral geography; wages and skill levels tend to be lower than elsewhere. Developments in the energy sector have helped Pembrokeshire’s economy over the past decade. There are still uncertainties over the prospects for Pembrokeshire’s economy, as there are for the economy of the UK as a whole. However, several factors, such as a slight fall in unemployment and a slight rise in wages, point to a more positive picture than in previous years. 6.2. We chose this Objective last year because Pembrokeshire is a rural county in which town centres play a critical role as service hubs and visitor destinations. We have embarked on a programme of work to improve the six main town centres in Pembrokeshire. The progress of our over-arching action plan is being monitored by our Economy and Overview Scrutiny Committee. We always envisaged that this would be a medium to long term programme of work and consequently we have decided to maintain this as an Objective for 2014/15.
24
6.3. Improving Town Centres was the most popular choice for an Improvement Objective in the consultation we undertook. We received a relatively large number of detailed comments concerning this area. These comments covered a lot of ground and included suggestions such as widening the choice of the retail offer, improving parking and reducing the number of charity shops. Some people noted the scale of the challenge that we face in seeking to improve our town centres, reflecting on competition from other centres and from on-line retailing. 6.4
We have set ourselves ten actions under this Objective:
• Support the delivery of the six ‘town team’ action plans with a focus on marketing, environmental and economic projects. • Support the development of action plans for tier 2 towns. This action will be delivered with PLANED, a local social enterprise. • Commence delivery of the Townscape Heritage Initiative programme in Haverfordwest. • Secure external funding to deliver a range of projects and programmes to regenerate the six main towns. • Complete EU funded physical regeneration projects in Pembroke and Pembroke Dock. • Appoint preferred developers for Fishguard School site. • Implement the Welsh Government’s new Rate Reduction Scheme for retail premises. • Support the Stage 2 application for the Arts Council of Wales/National Lottery ‘Ideas: People: Places’ programme for Haverfordwest. • Work with developers to bring forward retail and leisure led schemes in Milford Haven and Haverfordwest. • Support the development of town centre markets.
6.5
The impact of achieving this Improvement Objective will be more retail spend being retained within the local economy, more employment opportunities being generated and town centres becoming more vibrant.
6.6
We will measure our progress in relation to this Objective by monitoring a number of performance indicators. Foremost of these will be the rate of shop vacancies in our town centres3.
We included information on town centre vacancies during 2012 in last year’s Improvement Plan. The data included in this year’s Plan is not comparable. It has been calculated on the area defined as a town centre in the 2013 Local Development Plan. Data for 2012 and prior was calculated on the area defined as a town centre in the 2006 Joint Unitary Development Plan. In general, the areas now defined as town centres are smaller. 3
25
2013 vacancy rates 30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0% Fishguard
Haverfordwest
Milford Haven
Narberth
Pembroke
Pembroke Dock
Success measures
Target 2014/15
Monitoring shop vacancies in town centres
Number of tier 2 town development plans completed (with PLANED) Percentage of Townscape Heritage Initiative grant spent in Haverfordwest during 2014/15 (year 1 of programme)
Regeneration funding secured
Vacancy rate remains static or improves 4
8% £1 million Monitor take up4
Take up of retail business rate relief
6.7
Tenby
In addition to the success measures described above, we will also continue to refine our approach to benchmarking town centre performance. Our Economy Overview and Scrutiny Committee has built up a body of expertise on town centre improvement. The Committee has committed itself to producing an annual monitoring report for town centre performance, which will be discussed in the first quarter of 2014/15. To support this we will arrange a town centre conference and workshops (with guest speakers and retail experts) to facilitate benchmarking and innovation. 2014/15 is the first year of the retail business rate relief scheme. Rather than set a target, we will monitor take up to establish the baseline from which we will be able to identify targets for future years.
4
26
6.8
There are a range of other actions we will take during 2013/14 which, though not directly relevant to this Improvement Objective, will contribute towards the related key outcome identified in the Single Integrated Plan: Pembrokeshire has a competitive, productive and sustainable economy.
6.9
We will support the roll out of community benefit clauses. We will do this by: formalising the use of such clauses, developing a mechanism to identify suitable projects and by increasing the number of contracts where community benefits clauses have been used.
6.10 We will support and facilitate the development of the Haven Centre of Excellence as a dedicated training facility for the energy sector. This is a business led concept being promoted via the Haven Waterway Enterprise Zone Board. We anticipate that the facility will initially be sited in the Bridge Innovation Centre. 6.11 We will continue to promote, market and dispose of key development sites in order to facilitate economic development in the County. Examples of vacant buildings which we own include Fishguard Junior School, Narberth School, South Quay Pembroke and the Records Office at Haverfordwest Castle.
27
7. Environment IMPROVEMENT OBJECTIVE 4
Waste management
We will continue to increase the proportion of waste that is recycled in order to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill
7.1. Like all areas, Pembrokeshire’s environment faces significant challenges. One of the most critical of these is the risk that our climate is becoming less predictable and more extreme. While many of the factors that are likely to contribute to climate change are beyond our direct control, some risk factors can be tackled locally; especially those relating to how we manage the waste we produce. 7.2. Welsh Government has set challenging targets for waste reduction that must be met in order to avoid significant fines. Although the percentage of waste we re-use or recycle has risen considerably – we now recycle or re-use over 60% of household waste, an increase of over 75% over the past six years – the targets we need to achieve in future years remain challenging.
28
7.3. We chose this Objective because land filling waste is not permissible over the long term. Land filled waste emits harmful greenhouse gasses. The targets set by Welsh Government are becoming more challenging; we need to retain a focus on this area to ensure the targets are met. 7.4. Respondents to our consultation made a number of comments in relation to this Objective, the majority of which concerned the recent introduction of fortnightly collection for black bags. An equal number of people cited support for this policy as opposed it. Some people commented that we should consider alternative solutions for storing refuse. Others said that we should expand the type of materials that we recycle, as well as improve the information we provide about what can be recycled. 7.5. Respondents to our consultation did not highlight broader environmental issues such as sustainable development or climate change. Though these issues are covered at length in Pembrokeshire’s Single Integrated Plan. 7.6. We have set ourselves four actions under this Objective: • Monitoring the impact of fortnightly collection of black bags to identify priorities for focussing efforts to encourage customers to recycle a greater proportion of their waste. • Targeting the actions of recycling advisors following the introduction of fortnightly collections of black bags to encourage behavioural change in those who are currently poor recyclers. • Monitor the impact of introducing recycling for additional material streams to complement the introduction of fortnightly collection. • Develop a procurement framework for the alternative disposal of residual wastes, accessible to other Welsh local authorities.
29
7.7
The impact of achieving this Improvement Objective will be that the amount of waste sent to landfill will be reduced, thereby reducing negative effects on the environment and making a contribution to reduce costs.
7.8
We will measure our progress in relation to this Objective by monitoring a number of key indicators. One of these is of particular importance; the total amount of biodegradable waste sent to landfill. This is the measure which would be used to calculate the fines we would be charged should we fail to achieve our targets.
Tonnage of bio-degradable waste sent to landfill 40000
35000
30000
25000
20000
15000
10000
5000
0 2006/07
2007/08
2008/09
Target
2009/10
2010/11
2011/12
2012/13
2013/14
2014/15
2015/16
Actual (estimate for 2013/14) tonnes of Biodegradable Municipal Waste
Success measures
Tonnage of bio-degradable waste sent to landfill
Percentage municipal waste collected which is re-used, recycled or composted Percentage of municipal waste set to landfill Recycling participation rate
Percentage of customers reporting satisfaction with the Council’s recycling services
30
Target 2014/15 17,837 60% 40% 72% 70%
7.9
There are a range of other actions we will take during 2014/15 which, though not directly relevant to this Improvement Objective, will contribute towards the related key outcome in the Single Integrated Plan: people in Pembrokeshire enjoy an attractive, sustainable and diverse environment.
7.10 In order to address problems posed by the spread of invasive weeds such as Japanese Knotweed, we will improve the information provided on our website concerning how we deal with these weeds, along with providing further channels for customers to report the presence of Knotweed. 7.11 The January storms of 2014 caused flooding and damaged coastal defences across Pembrokeshire. During 2014/15, we will adopt and apply a strategy for local flood risk management in support of Welsh Government’s review of the winter’s coastal storm events. We have already collated a wealth of relevant information to inform this work (historic flooding records and data from the sewerage and pumping stations we operate). The strategy will help us plan for future flooding. 7.12 We will continue to develop and construct paths for walking and cycling. These will help us meet our duty to provide a network of routes for active travel under Welsh Government’s Active Travel Bill. This work has the potential to reduce car use and the emission of transport related greenhouse gasses, as well as to improve people’s health.
31
8. Health IMPROVEMENT OBJECTIVE 5
Reconfiguring Adult Social Care Services
We will reconfigure the provision of our adult social care services to improve efficiency and sustainability.
8.1
Life expectancy in Pembrokeshire is improving and is close to the Welsh average. However, there is a difference in life expectancy between the deprived and non-deprived areas of Pembrokeshire (particularly the number of years that someone can expect to live in good health). The increase in life expectancy is resulting in an increase in demand for social care services.
8.2
The Improvement Objective we have identified for this area focuses on how we will ensure the cost of providing high quality adult social care services remains affordable. The Objective is a continuation of the work we embarked upon last year. We choose this Objective because high quality adult social care services are vital to the quality of life of our customers. The number of older people living in Pembrokeshire is increasing rapidly. Current models of service delivery will need to adapt in order to meet this increase in demand. We are making progress; we do not anticipate that we will overspend our adult care budget in 2013/14
32
8.3
Around three quarters of respondents to our consultation agreed that adult social care should be an Improvement Objective. Around half of the comments we received suggested that we should either enhance the services we provide or ensure they are provided to a greater proportion of people. Around a third of respondents expressed a view that the level of service provided was about right. Some of the more general comments we received related to the health service, including comments on the future provision of health services in Pembrokeshire.
8.4
We have set ourselves seven actions under this Objective: • Embed the new management structure in the adult care operational service ensuring it is person centred and makes best the use of staff skills whilst achieving financial efficiencies. • Develop the joint commissioning hub which will reflect our priorities and deliver quality and value for money. • Review all of our current contracts with the independent, community and voluntary sectors to ensure they are strategically relevant. • Undertake a review of day care opportunities to ensure we have the right models of support in place. • Retender domiciliary care contracts to include the in-house reablement service. • Develop proposals on our Fairer Charging Policy. • Develop proposals on our in-house residential provision.
8.5
The impact of achieving this Improvement Objective will be a greater proportion of those customers in receipt of support living in settings that are appropriate to the level of care they require, thereby improving their quality of life. More people will be supported within their communities and will be able to help themselves. The overall cost of providing adult social care services will become more sustainable.
8.6
We will measure our progress in relation to this Objective by monitoring a number of performance indicators. One of the most significant of these measures is the amount of money we spend on adult social care. The graph below indicates the savings we have predicted if the actions we take are successful.
33
Adult Social Care Spend (£ thousand) £55,000 £50,000 £45,000 £40,000 £35,000
£30,000 £25,000 £20,000
actual or anticipated spend
Predicted additional spending if 2009/10 to 2013/14 trend had continued
Success measures
Target 2014/15
Deliver savings and remain within budget
The percentage reduction in planned domiciliary care hours of customers who have completed a period of reablement
The percentage of adult clients who are supported in the community during the year
The rate of older people aged 65 or over whom the authority supports in care homes
The rate of delayed transfers of care for social care reasons per 1,000 population aged 75 or over (partnership working with NHS)
Those surveyed who agree that overall their quality of life has improved because the service they have received has made things better for them 8.7
No overspend on 2014/15 budget 45% 90% 16 per 1000 0.5 per 1000 94%
There are a range of other actions we will take during 2014/15 which, though not directly relevant to the Improvement Objective, will contribute towards the related key outcome identified in the Single Integrated Plan: people in Pembrokeshire are healthier.
34
8.8
We will work more collaboratively and in partnership with other agencies including health, the voluntary and independent sectors, service users and carers. We will pursue this opportunity in order to make effective use of Welsh Government funding for Intermediate Care. This fund will help us to develop our rehabilitation and enablement services, build on good practice, ensure value for money and reflect evidenced based initiatives to maximise people’s independence.
8.9
In order to encourage people to be more active, we will refurbish Tenby Leisure Centre and extend the front of the building in order to provide an expanded gym facility and a new community room. The project is due to be completed by March 2015. We will also complete the redevelopment of the Neyland Pool site to provide changing facilities for the adjacent sports pitches.
8.10 We will develop a healthy hub at Pembroke Dock Library by bringing together a collection of books and other materials on health and well-being. This service will be in addition to our existing books on prescription scheme, which is provided in partnership with a number of doctor’s surgeries. 8.11 Quality housing is a key contributor to good health outcomes. During 2014/15, we will make preparations for the introduction of the Housing Bill. We will also make better use of our homeless hostel, which is currently under-occupied. In addition, we will carry out further work to improve the speed with which we re-let vacant properties. 8.12 Some of the actions that we are taking to address poverty (many of which are identified in Section 3 of this Plan) will be implemented by our Housing and Revenues and Benefits Services. We will develop a protocol on evictions from our properties. We will also implement a new Council Tax Benefit scheme during the year, with a planned introduction date of 1st April 2015.
35
9. Safeguarding
9.1
As previously indicated, we decided not to set an Improvement Objective for this area this year. We have made considerable progress in relation to our safeguarding arrangements over the course of the past year and have decided, therefore, to broaden our improvement eort to services for vulnerable children. That is not to say that safeguarding is not important; we will continue to embed the policies and practices we have established.
9.2
A relatively low proportion of respondents to our consultation supported the inclusion of safeguarding as an Improvement Objective. We did receive comments identifying particular areas of safeguarding which respondents thought we should address. These included oversight of the management of allegations against professionals as well as improving how we listen to young people.
36
9.3
Though we have not set an Improvement Objective for this area, there are a range of other actions we will take during 2014/15 that will contribute towards the key outcome identified in the Single Integrated Plan: children and adults are safeguarded.
9.4
In partnership with Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion and Powys, we will create an effective Regional Safeguarding Children Board. This will be in place from 1st May 2014. The creation of the Regional Board is one of the requirements of the Social Services Bill, which is currently being scrutinised by the National Assembly for Wales. However, like all other authorities in Wales, we have agreed to implement new arrangements prior to the legislation coming into force.
9.5
We will enhance our Quality Assurance and Performance Management systems within our Children’s Services Department, making this process more open and transparent.
9.6
One of the ways that we will create effective oversight of services is by implementing the Participation and Rights Strategy for Young People, which we adopted in February 2014. The implementation of the Strategy commits Pembrokeshire to observing the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC).
9.7
We will develop an All Wales Human Resources Safeguarding in Employment Good Practice Guide. This is one of the actions that we agreed to implement following Estyn’s last monitoring visit to the Council, in order to disseminate some of the good practice we have adopted to other local authorities in Wales.
9.8
We will address the issue of recruitment and retention of social workers which, historically, has led to an over-reliance on agency staff. We will continue to develop our approach to social worker training and implement a process to identify and register social workers to undertake the Care Council’s Experienced Practitioner and Senior Practitioner programmes. We will also improve the consistency of induction for the social care workforce.
37
10. Safety 10.1 Pembrokeshire is one of the safest places to live in the United Kingdom, with very low levels of crime and disorder compared to other areas. Despite the low levels of recorded crime, fear of crime is still a significant concern for some residents. 10.2 Activity to promote community safety is heavily dependent on partnership working. The majority of the relevant services are provided by the Police, as opposed to by ourselves. The way in which organisations work together to tackle community safety has been influenced by the creation of the Police and Crime Commissioner’s Office. 10.3 The results from our consultation confirmed that community safety is an important issue to local residents. Fewer people made specific comments about this as a potential Improvement Objective. We decided not to set an Improvement Objective for this area. This decision was based on our knowledge that Pembrokeshire has very low levels of recorded crime. 10.4 Though we have not set an Improvement Objective for this area, there are a range of other actions we will take during 2014/15 that will contribute towards the key outcome identified in the Single Integrated Plan: communities in Pembrokeshire feel safe.
38
10.5 For example, we will continue to tackle anti social behaviour at the earliest possible stage. We will provide prevention services for young people to help reduce the numbers entering the criminal justice system. We will bring our Youth Offending Team and our Youth Service closer together and target our resources on those most in need. Our existing emphasis on prevention will be strengthened by broadening the scope of our work on support for young people who are not in education, employment, or training. 10.6 Another initiative we will pursue to reduce offending will be the implementation of a triage system for first time entrants to the criminal justice system. A much broader range of interventions will be available to agencies, in addition to the option of pressing criminal charges. 10.7 In order to address the behaviour of people who regularly offend, we will work through a multi agency framework to ensure that interventions are co-ordinated. We will also pursue other ways of reducing re-offending rates, such as working with partners across the Police Force area on a regional restorative justice project. 10.8 We will work with neighbouring authorities to deliver more resilient substance misuse services. We will work with schools on delivering relevant education. We are the only Welsh local authority to be chosen as a local alcohol action area; recognition of our track record in working with the licensing industry and others to reduce the burden of health-related alcohol harm. We will receive additional support and expertise from the Home Office, the Department of Health, Welsh Government and Public Health Wales to develop our work in this area. 10.9 We will continue to support the road safety framework for Wales and implement safer routes schemes in order to reduce the risk of collisions on our roads. This will be achieved through continued delivery of education and training programmes, as well as by implementing specific road safety schemes.
39
11. Our Medium Term Financial Plan
11.1 This Plan identifies those areas of service where we will be focussing our improvement effort over the course of the coming year. We have always sought incremental improvement across all our services, but this commitment must be seen in the context of our declining overall budget. 11.2 Prior to the summer of 2013, we had anticipated having to make approximately £7 million savings over the period 1st April 2014 to 31st March 2016. However, in June last year Welsh Government announced that local authorities in Wales would receive reduced grant settlements in the future. As a result of this reduction, and the impact of pay, price and demographic pressures, we have revised our savings target to £20 million, to be delivered over the course of the next two years. In order to balance our budget and continue to deliver high quality local services, we will need to make savings or raise income in the order of £12.9 million during 2014/15. 11.3 It will not be possible to achieve these savings without having some impact on front line services. Our ambition is to deliver the majority of the required savings by focussing on more effective commissioning and procurement, by managing vacancies more effectively and by reducing operational costs. A high level breakdown of where we intend to reduce our spending in 2014/15 is shown below, along with our net expenditure budget for 2014/15.
40
Cost Reductions
£m
Direct Service Changes
Service & Operational Changes already implemented during 2013/14
Efficiency/Cost Reductions
1.5
Total Cost Reductions – 2014/15
Net Expenditure Budget 2014/15
14,049
3.5
11.4
Council Tax – Additional Income
88,426
2.3
1.0
Vacancy Management
2013/14 Adjusted Net Expenditure £000’s
4.6
SUMMARY Education Services
Social Care – Children
£12.9
2014/15 Adjusted Net Expenditure £000’s 88,641
14,100
43,613
Social Care – Adult Services
42,482
10,449
Highways & Transportation Services
8,814
3,116
Planning
1,697
8,540
13,199
Housing Services
Culture & Related Services
1,487
7,695
2,310
Environmental Services
12,016
2,8355
Other Central, Corporate & Democratic Services
4,337
-
Vacancy Management
6,990 179
193,093
Council Tax Reduction Scheme Court Services
7,536 198
(1,000)
TOTAL SERVICE BUDGETS
188,616
(792)
Net Investment Income
(400)
211,845
COUNCIL BUDGET REQUIREMENT
7,029
12,515
Levies
Capital Financing Costs
6,952
12,069
207,237
During 2013/14, this budget was reduced by a contribution of £1.8 million from the pay and grading earmarked reserve.
5
41
11.4 We have sought to prioritise spending on those services that will play a key role in delivering the Objectives described in this Plan. For example, we have sought to protect spending on our schools and within our Children and Schools Directorate. In percentage terms, the Directorate (including schools) accounts for 49.6% of the Council’s overall net spend. For the forthcoming year, the Directorate will provide services within a net budget which, allowing for an uplift for pay and prices, and after cost reduction, has been increased slightly in overall terms. This reflects the fact that we have identified two Improvement Objectives to be delivered by the Directorate: relating to school improvement and vulnerable children. 11.5 The second most significant area of our budget in terms of percentage spend is our Adult Social Care Directorate. The Directorate accounts for 20.5% of our overall spend. During 2014/15, allowing for an uplift for pay and prices and demographic pressures, and after cost reductions, a net saving of £1.1 million will be delivered, a reduction of 2.6%. Again, this reflects the Improvement Objective identified in this Plan to review our Adult Care services. In this instance, our Improvement Objective is designed to assist us in reducing spend, with a view to ensuring the services we provide are cost-effective and sustainable over the long term. 11.6 Our final two Improvement Objectives relate to waste management and town centre improvement. These areas have also been prioritised in our budget; we will not be seeking savings over and above those which will be delivered by the identified improvements during the forthcoming year. However, savings will need to be made elsewhere within our Transportation, Housing and Environment and Development Directorate budgets. 11.7 Transportation, Housing and Environment net expenditure accounts for 10.8% of the Council’s overall spend. Allowing for an uplift for pay and prices, and after cost reductions, we intend to deliver a net saving of £3.0 million in this area during 2014/15; a reduction of 11.9%. Planning, culture and related service expenditure accounts for 4.8% of our overall net spend. During 2014/15, allowing for an uplift for pay and prices, and after cost reductions, we intend to deliver a net saving of £1.7 million in this area; a reduction of 14.2%. 11.8 In addition to the savings described above, we are committed to saving £1.1 million from other sources over the course of the coming year. Further information about these savings, and a more detailed breakdown of the service specific savings mentioned above, is available on our website: www.pembrokeshire.gov.uk.
42
12. Reporting back 12.1 Improvement planning does not stop with the implementation of actions. As was indicated in the introduction to this Plan, it is a cyclical process during which we constantly revisit and revise our plans in light of the changing circumstances in which we work. 12.2 Later this year, we will publish our Improvement Review. This document will describe, in broad terms, whether or not we achieved the Objectives we set ourselves for 2014/15. It will include important evidence such as performance statistics and progress reports on the completion of projects. It is an opportunity for us to assess our own performance and to share that evaluation with our customers and regulators. This document will also report back on our equalities objectives for that year. 12.3 The Improvement Review also helps to plan our activity for future years. It helps us to establish whether or not we are tackling the right issues and whether we are going about this in the right way. 12.4 Finally, the review process will provide us with a further opportunity to reect on the comments we have received from individuals and community groups. We are always happy to receive comments about our objectives; we have included our contact details on page 1 of this plan. 12.5 We will not publish the Review relating to this Plan until November 2015. However, the actions and performance measures set out in this plan will be monitored on a quarterly basis by Senior OďŹƒcers and Councillors. For example, our Overview and Scrutiny Committees will review the areas that are relevant to them. Dates of meetings, agendas and all relevant papers are published on our website.
43
Glossary Biodegradable Waste Carbon footprint Community benefit clauses 21st Century Schools Programme Core subject indicator
Delayed transfers of care
Domiciliary care Enterprise Zone Estyn Flying Start Programme Local Authority Designated Officer
This is waste which breaks down and rots, such as food waste.
An estimate of the total amount of carbon dioxide produced by a person, organisation, event or product.
These are contractual clauses that build a range of economic, social or environmental conditions into the delivery of contracts. An example might be asking for employment and training opportunities to be provided as part of a contract.
A Welsh Government scheme to invest in school building stock.
The percentage achieving the expected level in English or Welsh (first language), Mathematics and Science at Key Stage 1-3 and at least GCSE Grade C at Key Stage 4.
This is sometimes called bed-blocking. This can happen when someone has been in hospital and no longer requires medical services, but requires additional services to be in place before they can go home. It is often our responsibility to ensure that these services are in place.
Care provided to people within their own homes, such as help with washing, dressing or other personal needs.
A Welsh Government economic development programme that encourages growth by providing incentives for businesses in a particular area. Her Majesty's Inspectorate for Education and Training in Wales. The purpose of Estyn is to inspect quality and standards in education and training in Wales.
Flying Start is a Welsh Government Early Years programme targeted at families with children under 4 years of age in some of the most deprived areas of Wales.
This person is the Council’s contact for allegations of abuse by professionals.
44
Local Government (Wales) Measure 2009
Looked after children
Municipal waste Professional abuse
Protected characteristics
Power to legislate for community planning and local improvement in Wales has been devolved to the National Assembly for Wales. A Measure is the term used to describe legislation drawn up by the National Assembly for Wales.
Children that the Council has taken into care. Looked after children are placed either with foster carers or adoptive parents. However, the Council retains a legal responsibility for their welfare (as their ‘corporate parents’).
Waste collected directly from households, through civic amenity sites, from litter bins or through street cleaning.
Incidents where someone employed by us or acting on our behalf takes advantage of their position to abuse or harm children or vulnerable adults.
The Equality Act 2010 gives protection to various groups. These are: Age, Race, Disability, Religion and Belief, Gender Reassignment, Sex, Marriage and Civil Partnership, Sexual Orientation, and Pregnancy and Maternity.
Reablement
A package of services for people who need support to live in their own homes. These services encourage and support people to do as much as they can for themselves, doing tasks with them rather than for them.
Triage system
A system used to select the people most likely to beneďŹ t from a programme or intervention.
United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child
The Convention says that every child has the right to a childhood, education, to be healthy, be treated fairly and the right to be heard.
45
www.pembrokeshire.gov.uk