Adult Social Care and the council tax
Published on Friday, 27th November 2015
The spending review contains some belated recognition that pressures in council-funded Adult Social Care can give rise to greater costs in the NHS and end up costing the state more overall. They also result in an inferior service since no-one wants to stay in hospital.
The Spending Review talks of moving money from district councils to counties to help address this (this has no implications for Portsmouth with its single-tier council). The government will also allow local authorities with care responsibilities to increase the council tax by 4% to cope with the additional costs. Worryingly no funds are being made available to cope with the National Living Wage, which from April will result in an increased hourly rate for people over 25 of £7.20 per hour from £6.50. This means Portsmouth could have a £1.5m black hole in the budget for agency domilicary care workers and for private sector care home staff.
Until the final numbers are released on December 17th it is not going to be possible to say for sure whether the council can cope with this pressure or whether there will have to be a mini-budget and further savings. The alternative is to raise an extra £1.2m by increasing the council tax by 4%. None of the options is attractive.
Tags: Budget, Adult Social Care
Generating income by investing
Published on Friday, 27th November 2015
A little bit of good news: the City Council has completed a deal to buy an investment property in Gloucestershire. The warehouse unit located near the M50 has an existing tenant and will generate a return in excess of borrowing costs. All told the council hopes to make at least the £480,000 allowed for in the budget in annual profit from investment properties of this kind. Deals like this work because the council can borrow for 4.2% and yet there are solid investment properties out there that return around the 6% mark. In the short-run it is even more profitable than that as the council can lend out the City Deal money in advance of needing to spend it.
The council may borrow as much as £50m this year for these investments. The LibDems are unfortunately trying to claim that somehow the council could instead just borrow money and spend it and that this proves there is no financial squeeze. That is self-evident nonsense. £50m of spending would result in about £2.1m in interest payments and the principal would also have to be repaid over 25 years, meaning annual repayment costs of £4.1m and nothing to repay it with. That’s the problem with loans. They have to be paid back. You can’t borrow your way out of poverty or of debt.
Tags: Budget
Tennis club reveals Canoe Lake plans
Published Sunday, 15th November 2015
The Canoe Lake tennis club is seeking planning permission for a new pavilion and club house. If approved, the building will cover a larger footprint than the existing one by extending a little further to the south. Inside there would be a multi-purpose space downstairs that could be used for running classes and for catering. The upstairs would consist of a viewing area and a small members’ club room.
The proposed design is unapologetically modern. The club originally wanted a quite different building that would have included an unnaturally low pitched roof that just didn’t look right. It’s good to see that they have taken on board criticism from the planning department and reworked their drawings. Architecture is a matter of personal taste and personally I like what they are now putting forward.
The only other two-storey building on the seafront (or Canoe Lake) is the rowing club up by the hovercraft terminal and setting new precedents is always a concern. On the other side of the coin the club has brought new life to Canoe Lake and they need a base to make their operation viable. I’m quite sympathetic to the plans, but both the council and I would like to hear from you.
The application reference is 15/01679/FUL and comments can be submitted to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Tags: Seafront, Tennis Club, Canoe Lake, Planning
Fire authority consults on changes to service
Published on Sunday, 15th November 2015
Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority are asking for feedback on draft proposals on changes to fire cover. A brief summary of the proposals are here and a full consultation is available here. The deadline for representations is December 4th.
Tags: Fire Authority
Growing demand for school places
Published on Sunday, 15th November 2015
The supply of school places is set to get even tighter despite substantial investment by the council. As the table above shows, the number of surplus spaces in year R is set to drop from 50 this year to 20 in 2019/20, in year 3 from 104 to 45 and in year 7 from 263 to a deficit of 29. This is despite millions being spent on creating new primary places - including at Craneswater Junior. The council has also done a deal with King Richard’s school, Paulsgrove, which will see it put in over £1m to boost the capacity of the school when it is rebuilt by the government from 900 to 1000; the new building has a smaller footprint and some land will be returned to the council as a quit pro quo.
It’s too early to say whether any money will be available to create further new spaces next year, but things are going to be tight for a while. The latest figures show a small drop in the birth rate over the last two years, so there is some light at the end of the tunnel.
Tags: Schools
Afternoon free parking to be introduced to three car parks
Published on Sunday, 15th November 2015
The council is to introduce some free parking to car parks at Ashby Placein Southsea,Stubbington Avenue in North End and to Cosham. The free period will start at 3pm and end at a time as yet to be determined but likely to be around 6pm. The aim is to boost district centres.
The council will have to go through a formal consultation first, so this won’t come in immediately, but it should be operational in time for Christmas. Financial constraints mean the arrangement will be reviewed in a year to see if it is still affordable.
Tags: Parking, Transport
Council budget to save £16.1m
Published on Sunday, 15th November 2015
Later this week the council’s draft budget will be published. I’m not going to break the news embargo and reveal what’s in it, but it is fair to say that there will be very little in the way of new spending as the council tightens its belt.
£11m has to be saved from the main council budget this coming year and a further £5.1m will have to be found to address overspends in social care. Social care services are demand driven and statutory – that is if someone eligible presents themselves as in need, the council has to provide a service, whether it has the money or not. Councils across the country are having similar problems holding down adult care and fostering bills.
The council’s main revenue budget amounts to about £125m. After allowing for some sources of new income and savings from outside the main budget, the council will have to reduce what it spends by about a tenth. The good news is that the council is doing quite well at generating new income and this has offset some of the savings that would otherwise have had to be made.
Tags: Budget
Budget consultation - still time to take part
Published on Friday, 12th October 2015
Time is running out to make your views known on the council's budget for 2016/7. The online consultation closes on Monday 19th October and with a lot of work still to do before a draft budget is published some three weeks after that it is a deadline cannot be extended. Last year some 2500 people took part and half a dozen changes were made as a result. You can add your voice by clicking here.
The council has to shrink by £11m next year. The Spinnaker Tower deal takes that figure down to £10.4m (plus a further £100k that was allowed for last year), but on the flipside there are overspends in Adult Social Care and Children's Services that have to be addressed.
The net General Fund budget is £125m, so this is a large reduction and while there are some pain-free efficiencies to be had, there are not enough to close the gap.
No money is being put aside for new spending. It is expected that a savings programme will be agreed in December with the Capital Programme and Council Tax being decided in February.
Tags : Budget
Distribution warehouse deal at Dunsbury Hill Farm
Published on Friday, 12th October 2015
A major retailer is to take a 120,000 ft2 warehouse at Dunsbury Hill Farm - the council-owned business park being developed off the A3(M) by Leigh Park. Fat Face is taking the site with a view to opening in 2017.
The City Council has been talking about building a business park at that location for years, but now we're actually doing it. The profit will help support offset some of the loss of government funding and while the development is in Havant many of the people employed there will be from Portsmouth.
Tags : Dunsbury, Commercialisation
Adult Social Care vision
Published on Friday, 12th October 2015
It's surprising how little public debate there is about the social services the council provides for older people and for those with learning disabilities, yet they account for a third of the total budget and are critical for those that use them.
I have had responsibility for this part of the council since May. In that time work has started on making better use of buildings and on redesigning services to try to make people well again so they no longer depend on services. We're also working towards improving the 10 weeks or more it takes to get a care needs assessment and on integrating services with the NHS.
This is a long term programme that will take a couple of years to bear fruit. However ultimately it should be possible to continue to care for people even as budgets reduce. I'll say more about the details of this as it works its way through.
Tags : Adult Social Care