Deputy Mayor and Executive Member for FINANCE and GOVERNANCE

REPORT TO COUNCIL – 7 JANUARY 2015

COUNCILLOR DAVID BUDD

DEPUTY MAYOR AND EXECUTIVE MEMBER FOR FINANCE AND GOVERNANCE

1. CORONER’S SERVICE UPDATE

The Coroner’s Service recently received a thoroughly merited Mayor’s Award. Significant progress has been made in modernising the Teesside Coroner’s Service and in dealing with the historic backlog of cases which at its worst stood at over 400.

There are now only 12 ‘backlog’ cases and the majority of these will be concluded before the end of December 2014.

An area the size of Teesside can reasonably expect to have between 60 – 80 open cases. The area currently has 81 open cases.

Between January and November 2014 over 650 inquests were concluded with approximately two-thirds of these being backlog cases. From January 2014 to date Clare Bailey has concluded over 385 inquests, Malcolm Donnelly, who was focused on clearing the backlog of enhanced inquests which are the more difficult cases has concluded over 210 inquests and Jo Wharton has concluded over 40 inquests. This is a tremendous achievement.

The average time to conclude inquests (excluding the backlog cases) is circa 12 weeks which is amongst the best nationally. However, nationally published statistics will include the backlog cases; the nationally reported statistic for 2014 will be circa 40 weeks which is an improvement on the 2013 figure of 52 weeks. Unfortunately the nationally reported figure will not reflect the significant improvement to the service and to the timeliness of new inquests because it will be skewed by the inclusion of over 400 backlog cases many of which were several years old.

The significant improvements were only been possible due to the commitment of the Coroner’s Service, Middlesbrough Council and Cleveland Police. All three organisations have worked effectively together to ensure that the public of Teesside receive the service they deserve.

The interim Coroner arrangements put in place for the Teesside Coroner’s area are fairly unique in that they rely on two salaried Coroners which has provided resilience and capacity. This has proved to be far more efficient and effective than the arrangements normally found elsewhere in the country and which previously operated in Teesside of one Senior Coroner supported by Assistant Coroners paid on an ad hoc basis.

The achievements of the Coroner’s Service were facilitated by the introduction of a new operational model which resulted in quicker and more streamlined processes. The new processes allowed for much of the investigation work needed to be undertaken in advance of the inquest opening resulting in more inquests being concluded on day that they are opened. This is of significant benefit to the families as they only have to attend the coroner’s court once rather than being required to attend on two or more occasions. The Coroner’s Service no longer routinely calls witnesses simply to read out their witness statements undertaking many inquests on a documentary evidence only basis. Cases are discontinued rather than taken to inquest when the initial the cause of death was uncertain but a post mortem concluded that the death occurred due to natural causes.

2. HR- ORGANISATION AND GOVERNANCE

HR Policies: Work continues on reviewing and reformatting HR policies in line with the Middlesbrough Manager Framework. As part of this work the Maternity and Adoption Leave Policy has been updated to include Shared Parental Leave. The Shared Parental Leave regulations came into force on 1 December 2014 and will apply to all requests from employees for Shared Parental Leave and pay for babies expected to be born/child placed for adoption on or after 5 th April 2015.

‘Work together, Get Involved’: These are challenging times for everyone working at the Council. We want to try and improve things for staff as much as we can and are looking at how we can make Middlesbrough Council a great place to work. Staff, managers, LMT and Works Council have all had the opportunity to feedback on the suggested employee engagement activities and an Employee Engagement Working Group with representatives from each Directorate is managing these activities. Recent events include a joint Staff Support Christmas Event with Public Health, this included Mocktails and Mince Pies to promote the Dry January campaign (raised £180 for Middlesbrough Fostering and Adoption Agency) and Christmas Jumper Friday (raised £504 for Save The Children Fund).

3. THE AUTUMN STATEMENT – OR BACK TO THE 1930’s

The bleak future for public services outlined in the statement became more obvious as it was analysed. The view from the Institute for Fiscal Studies was widely quoted by the BBC to the obvious irritation of the Chancellor. Their ‘on the day briefing’ concluded with ‘a budget that leaves us with as little sense as we had before of quite how the very large public spending cuts still in the pipeline will actually be delivered.’

The Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy points out that per capita spending on local government services, police etc., will have fallen by an astonishing 60% in a decade under the Chancellor’s plans. Expectations of a major new package of devolution did not materialise. The Chancellor’s recent conversion to matters of interest to the North did not stretch as far as devolving power beyond Manchester. KPMG commented that ‘Without a greater degree of control over local taxes all talk of devolution, investing in our city regions and rebalancing the UK economy is just hot air.’

4. OECD REPORT

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development published a report showing the clear evidence that trickle-down economics does not work. It finds that the UK economy would have grown by 20% more since the 1980’s had the gap between rich and poor not widened. The OECD, the west’s leading economic think tank, proposed higher taxes on the rich and policies aimed to improving the lot of the bottom 40% of the population. The corrosive effect of inequality has a direct impact on economic growth. They state ‘This compelling evidence proves that addressing high and growing inequality is critical to promote strong and sustained growth and needs to be at the centre of the policy debate. Countries that promote equal opportunity for all from an early age are those that will grow and prosper.’

5. PARLIAMENTARY REPORT – FEEDING BRITAIN

The all-party parliamentary group on hunger and food poverty published its report ‘Feeding Britain’. The report shows how much the cost of food, fuel and housing have risen whilst average wages have flat-lined and benefits have reduced. The use of benefit sanctions is a major cause for concern. Whilst the efforts of many individuals, faith based organisations and others are to be applauded, the growth of food banks in a country with the world’s sixth biggest economy is shameful.

6. REGIONAL MATTERS

The December meeting discussed a wide range of subjects, including the North East relationship with Scotland, Better Health at Work, LEP update and health issues. Agreement was reached to research the impact of Universal Credit and look into mental health issues of children and young people. The North East has also put in an expression of interest to host the Great Exhibition of the North announced in the Autumn Statement.

COUNCILLOR DAVID BUDD

DEPUTY MAYOR AND EXECUTIVE MEMBER FOR FINANCE AND GOVERNANCE