Living in Rutland Guide To Council Services 2015-2016 INSIDE: Your 15/16 Council Tax Bill | Council Update *’Living in Rutland’ is funded 100% by the featured advertisers. Contents & Contacts Page 5 The Financial Challenge 16 Recycling and Waste 7 Finance Overview 21 School Term Dates 9 2015/16 Budget 25 Rutland Food Festival 11 Sources of Funding 29 Rutland Library Service 13 Oakham Castle 30 Rutland County Museum 14 Digital Rutland 39 Rutland Adult Learning & Skills Service 2014 was another busy year for the Council, as we moved There is more to come as 2015 will see changes in the way we forward with a number of important projects and initiatives. provide care and support to those most in need. The Better Care Over the past 12 months we have: Fund is £2.2 million of existing health funding that is being targeted through a programme of joint health and social care interventions. • Completed a review of the services provided by our People It will see a mix of sustained and new services working to reduce Directorate, which accounts for 47% of our expenditure and hospital admissions, avoid delayed discharges and support older impacts on individuals, families and the community. (The People people to live independently and age well - ensuring residents First review is now being implemented and during 2015/16 receive the right care, in the right place, at the right time. further, more detailed consultation will take place on some of the proposed changes) 2015 will also see us continuing the work with Leicester hospitals • Developed a transport Interchange in Oakham, while extending and our GPs to support health and social care integration through the cycle and footpath network across Rutland the Better Care Together project, which covers Leicester, • Developed Oakham Enterprise Park (OEP) to the point where Leicestershire and Rutland. 90% of business units are now occupied. Considerable challenges lie ahead in 2015 as we face increased • Relocated Rutland Adult Learning and Skills Service to brand demand for some services against a backdrop of reduced funding. new, state-of-the-art facilities at OEP However, we have worked hard to ensure we are in a strong financial position that will allow us to balance our budget over the • Begun work on a brand new community sports facility medium term and implement the necessary changes in a • Gained approval for our Local Plan through to 2026 measured way. • Continued the roll out of Superfast broadband through our Councillors therefore voted in February to freeze council tax for Digital Rutland project a fifth consecutive year, so the Rutland County Council element of We have also worked closely with local ‘blue light’ services. In your bill remains unchanged for the next 12 months. January 2015, the police front counter service in Oakham We hope you find this booklet useful. If you have any comments completed a move to our Catmose offices, meaning residents can or suggestions about topics for inclusion next year, please email now access police and local authority services in one shared [email protected] location. We have also made provisions within our budget to support Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service - offering £75,000 funding in each of the next two financial years to preserve frontline services in Rutland. This decision was made following Contact us careful consideration and - should they accept our offer - will give the Fire Authority time to look at alternative cost-saving measures. Rutland County Council Customer Service Team Phone: (01572) 722 577 Fax: (01572) 758 307 Onl ine: www.rutland.gov.uk Email: [email protected] Post: Rutland County Council, Catmose, Oakham, Rutland, LE15 6HP Twitter: @rutlandcouncil Council Offices Opening Hours: Mon 08:30 - 16:45 Tue 09:00 - 16:45 Wed 08:30 - 16:45 Thur 08:30 - 16:45 Fri 08:30 - 16:15 Telephone Enquiries Mon 08:30 - 17:00 Tue 09:00 - 17:00 Wed 08:30 - 17:00 Thur 08:30 - 17:00 Fri 08:30 - 16:30 Our Customer Care Standards are available by using the above contact details We also publish information and updates via Twitter - find us by searching for @rutlandcouncil This has been produced on environmentally friendly paper from a sustainable source using vegetable based inks. 3 The Financial Challenge Facing the Council Like all local authorities, Rutland County Council continues to face significant financial challenges. However, we are better-placed than most to be able to deal with these pressures, which include: • Meeting the anticipated costs of implementing the government’s Care Act and the move to care in the home and independent living • Continually reducing central government funding; Only five Unitary Councils currently receive less government funding than Rutland, with Leicester City receiving around 2.5 times more per household • Increased demand from a growing older population requiring new ways of delivering services, plus withdrawal of government funding Our budget for 2015/16 results in a deficit but prudent financial management in previous years means that we can draw upon our reserves and plan for a controlled reduction in expenditure. We do not need to implement hasty cuts and can avoid the kind of emergency measures put forward by other local authorities, although it must be stressed that the need for savings cannot be deferred indefinitely . For 2015/16, the Council’s financial position is strong but challenging: • The budget includes the full Better Care Fund allocation of £2.2m although some of this money will be spent by Health partners • The People First review aims to save £1.5m - £2m starting in 2015/16 while investing in some new services to meet changing needs • In total, we have identified £786k of savings for the coming year • An increase in council tax is not required in 2015/16 • From 2016/17 onwards, the financial position is more uncertain 5 Finance Overview Within the next few pages of this booklet, you can find out more about the council budget for 2015/2016, along with our plans for future years (as far as 2019/20). For a number of years, we have published our Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) which outlines the current budget situation and how decisions we take now will impact on future years. We have a predicted year end General Fund reserve of £8.2 million, which is likely to be used to support our current spending plans over the coming years in light of what we expect to be a continued reduction in national government funding. These reserves allow us to properly consider how we focus our reducing income upon key services required by the community. If our predictions hold true, in 2018/2019, we will have reserves of just under £5.1m but we will be spending c£1.5m more than the resources we have available. This position cannot be sustained but we will use this period to rebalance that situation. Work on this has already started. Want to know more? You can view a lot of financial information, including every transaction that the council makes, on our website: www.rutland.gov.uk/opendata Information available here includes: • Annual Governance Report • Scheme for Financing Schools • Audit & Inspection Letters • Section 52 (Schools) Statement • Budget Summary • Statement of Accounts • Medium Term Financial Plan • Data files of all transactions the council makes If you still can’t find the information you are looking for then please contact us and our Finance team will do their best to assist you. 7 Summary of Rutland’s Budget 2015/16 Councillors agreed (Monday 23 February 2015) a £35.41 million budget to deliver council services across Rutland during 2015/16. Members also approved our Medium Term Financial Plan. This is an important planning document which shows a five year plan which estimates that reserves will be £1.66m by 2019/20. This is important for any council as it covers any unexpected costs such as flooding, dealing with an emergency, or an unexpected expensive social care case. A Summary of the Medium Term Financial Plan is included below: Portfolio 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20 £m £m £m £m £m People 15.65 16.04 16.46 16.80 17.18 Places 12.37 12.48 12.62 12.84 13.11 Resources 5.71 5.67 5.71 5.82 5.92 Fire Authority Support 0.08 0.08 - Inflation Contingency - 0.26 0.54 0.83 1.12 People First Savings (0.30) (0.60) (0.83) (1.10) (1.10) Net Cost of Services 33.51 33.93 34.50 35.19 36.23 Capital Financing 2.02 1.99 1.97 1.94 1.91 Interest Receivable (0.12) (0.16) (0.20) (0.28) (0.28) Total Net Spend 35.41 35.76 36.27 36.85 37.86 Please turn to the following page 11 for the sources of funding over the same period. 9 Sources of Funding Rutland County Council receives three main sources of funding to make up the net budget: Council Tax, Central Government funding and the 50% of Business Rates that we are allowed to retain. The table below shows the expected level of Central Government Funding, Council Tax and Retained Business Rates over the next few years as detailed in the Medium Term Financial Plan. You will see that we plan to reduce our current levels of reserves during 2015/16. The levels of reserves over the following four years will be used, in addition to finding further savings, to offset the reduction in core funding and grants. Based on current projections, by the end of the 2019/20 financial year the council will hold £1.66 million reserves.