EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The combined communities of Blaenau Gwent and Torfaen are home to around 160,000 people (just over 5% of the population of Wales, and 28% of the population of Gwent).
Geographically the area runs from the Heads of the Valleys in the north to the M4 corridor in the south and includes an enterprise zone, a world heritage site and one of Wales’ most thriving shopping centres. It also comprises some of the poorest communities in Wales.
A new geography, with the advantages of bringing the north and south of the area together, provides an opportunity for the collective communities of the two county boroughs to envisage themselves in a new way; reframing an identity based on economic disadvantage and low aspiration to a more optimistic picture based on innovation, skills and technology. We know that our two communities are full of people brimming with untapped potential, redefining the place in which they live allows them to reimagine what their future might be.
The two current councils have many operational similarities:
they are amongst the smallest in Wales, with all the challenges of financial sustainability that that brings;
neither of them directly provide housing, leisure or residential care services;
they are already involved in a number of collaborative ventures on major service areas including social care and waste management.
they have both experienced difficulties with their education services, which they are striving hard to overcome, and both commission school improvement services from the EAS;
Both organisations face a challenging financial future given the projected continuing reduction in local government funding, and it is very likely that we would have contemplated an administrative merger at some point regardless of Welsh Government’s plans for reform of local government. In some ways the pace of change proposed by Welsh Government is not quick enough for us; unless we do something well before 2018 maintaining both effective front line services and a viable corporate centre almost becomes an impossibility.
However, our vision is not about bolting together two organisations to drive out transactional efficiencies and cost, it is about seizing a rare opportunity to bring about transformational change creating from scratch a new local authority with the
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY potential to provide the best public services in Wales for some of its most disadvantaged people.
In pioneering a new model of local government in Wales, we believe that we can provide Welsh Government with a prototype of what a modern, outcome focussed council could and should look like, that is scalable to include additional councils joining later, or to cover a wider geographical footprint in our own and other regions of Wales, and can have a wider public sector leadership role.
By acting as a pathfinder for Wales in this respect we can road test the model, cover the hard yards and provide lessons learned for those coming to the party later in the day. We know that it will not be easy, but we believe that it is achievable and that it will be an energising force for us at a time when our organisations are weary and dispirited in managing contraction and decline due to dwindling resources. The fact that some services across the two councils are not performing as well as they should is an added incentive, we have little to lose in those areas and the potential to make significant and rapid gains by breaking the mould and reimagining new ways of planning and delivering public services.
Combined Authority
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1. VISION FOR THE NEW AUTHORITY
Provide a brief summary of your vision for the new Authority. This should include:
Your ambitions for the area and your services and how you will demonstrate commitment to achieving them;
Our ambition is to create a new and vibrant organisation providing transformed community leadership and services across the two existing geographical areas of Torfaen and Blaenau Gwent for and with communities that underpin them.
The organisation will serve a population of 160,000 people and have a net budget in the region of £300m. It will knit together strong industrial heritage with the employment and regeneration opportunities afforded by the digital economy and associated knowledge industries.
The new organisation will not be created by simply merging together the two existing Councils and continuing to deliver services using traditional methods and approaches. To do so would neither be practical nor financially sustainable. The local government landscape is changing and the creation of the new organisation provides the ideal platform from which to break fresh ground and be at the forefront of a new approach to public service delivery in Wales.
To achieve this, the new organisation will need to be underpinned by a very different operating model to those historically employed in Local Government in Wales. At this early, exploratory stage though, selecting one particular model over another would potentially limit the ambition of the new organisation. Our aim is to provide a template for the future of public service delivery in Wales; something so important needs to be well thought through from the outset.
The approaches employed by Councils that have previously faced extended periods of diminishing resources provide evidence that the journey to a future state and new operating model is likely to involve a number of relatively predictable phases.
The New Local Government Network (NLGN), in its study entitled “Future Councils: Life after the spending Cuts” suggested the phases were as follows:
Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3
Outcome based services Focus on a short, sharp period Review of service delivered by mix of public, of cutting costs – change driven offering and emergence of community and 3rd sector by incremental efficiencies alternative service providers service providers
The NLGN reports that the majority of Councils go at least some way down the route to becoming an outcome focused organisation, with innovation focusing on service
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1. VISION FOR THE NEW AUTHORITY redesign and co-production. The notion of a mixed economy of public, third sector and community providers, delivering services in the locality as a collective, offers the mechanism by which service provision across the local government landscape can be best sustained in terms of quality and breadth.
While some services will continue to be directly provided by the new organisation, the future thrust will be ensuring the services needed by the new communities are delivered to the highest standard and lowest cost, mindful of the importance of public service as a key employer for our two communities. This is likely to be by a network of public, third sector and community providers with accountability for service quality and outcomes being retained democratically by elected members supported and advised by a highly functional, strategic core.
The new organisation will see the Council’s primary role focus on community leadership, building community capacity, cross-public sector collaboration and championing growth in the area.
The diagram below sets out how that model might look, and is based upon work already done in Blaenau Gwent, which could be progressed fairly rapidly by a merged authority from an established base.
A more commercial approach is likely as the organisation will have less access to, and reliance upon grants, and will need to be more business like, integrating charging and trading in some areas with payment by results and outcomes in others.
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1. VISION FOR THE NEW AUTHORITY
Both authorities already have well established Local Service Boards and are familiar with the benefits of working in partnership across public services. The new organisation that we aim to build will be co-created within these wider partnership networks, calling on the strengths and knowledge of all those involved to develop creative solutions to local issues.
The relationship between the new organisation and its communities will fundamentally change from that which currently exists. The themes associated with this emerging relationship might be categorised as the Council becoming a ‘trusted advocate’ that is focused on helping the community to help itself (whenever and wherever that is practical) but helping the community directly when it is unable to help itself.
The shift toward outcome focused service delivery through a network of providers is by no means new to either organisation. Both Blaenau Gwent and Torfaen Councils have plenty of examples and experiences of services having been delivered through others. Housing services are delivered by a range of registered social landlords, education improvement services are delivered by the Education Achievement Service (EAS) and Leisure and Cultural services are to varying degrees provided by not for profit Trusts.
What differs in respect of this proposal, however, is the scale of the change, the ambition to create a new organisation from two currently disparate bodies that is greater than the sum of its parts: using outcome measures and a mix of provision radically to redesign services; delivering shared and sustainable front and back office services; creating a strong, resilient and intelligent corporate centre - all with the aim of achieving a tangible improvement in the quality of life of our residents.
Your approach to community leadership: how you will engage effectively with people and communities and actively consider those views in its decision making, including feedback and on-going engagement;
The new organisation, as with all local Councils, will hold an over-arching representative role in the area that no other body can provide. It will maintain a democratic legitimacy and accountability as the primary locally elected body with a mandate to act on behalf of the whole community through bringing partners together, joining up local services, influencing the development of a shared local agenda and engaging with citizens to create a vision for their localities.
Through this community leadership role, which will reach across multiple organisations and many disciplines, the new authority will articulate the views, needs and priorities of its communities and be expected to balance those against the tough decisions that operating within limited resources inevitably imposes.
It will deliver this through a range of inclusive networks with a full understanding of the rapidly changing technological landscape and the many different opportunities for engagement that it offers, whilst not forgetting the needs of older or more vulnerable members of society who continue to prefer traditional methods of communication. A ‘community infrastructure’ will be developed through which citizens can engage directly and more readily in decision-making processes of the new organisation, as
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1. VISION FOR THE NEW AUTHORITY well as playing a meaningful part in the creation of new policy. This ongoing dialogue with elected representatives and officers will enable the Council to develop social capital by enabling people to have a voice and own a stake in the improvement of the local area; this in turn will provide a way to empower and skill up disadvantaged communities.
The new organisation will mix more tried and tested l approaches, such as the establishment of an extensive and highly engaged citizens panel, with higher levels of co-option and diversity across its scrutiny environments. A ‘public voice’ section will be introduced into all key decision making and scrutiny reports that will provide a litmus test of public opinion for those discussing the issues at hand. Weekly all Member policy seminars that deal with future decisions and are open to the press and public will be established and webcast to the public. Opportunities for Executive and non Executive Members to engage, share views and opinions in non-formal settings will also be introduced. Decision-making processes will be demystified and made more accessible to the public.
Over time, we believe that a new relationship between people and public services will develop. The council, often seen as a provider of services to which residents are ‘entitled’, will begin to be recognised as a key partner in a network of provision that includes the community itself. Community control, participatory democracy, recognising shared responsibilities and establishing more preventative public services focused on outcomes and need will be the priority of every partner operating within our communities.
How you will ensure openness, transparency and accountability of the democratic process;
The organisation will operate the Executive model of decision-making with a Cabinet holding a range of service portfolios and a series of supporting scrutiny committees holding the Cabinet to account. All Council, Cabinet, Scrutiny and Regulatory meetings will be webcast live and available to view via archive.
The scrutiny of the new organisation will be professional and independent and will provide an appropriate balance between shaping new and emerging policy, challenging performance and holding the Executive to account for its decisions. There will be a greater emphasis on co-option from the community as a mechanism of bolstering challenge and driving greater innovation. The focus will be on making scrutiny sharp, effective and timely; so that it genuinely does influence executive decision making.
The emphasis of the organisation will be on participatory democracy, with residents being engaged actively and directly in the decision-making and scrutiny processes through a broad range of channels (to include the use of Information Technology as well as more traditional options).
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1. VISION FOR THE NEW AUTHORITY
The organisation will develop a model constitution designed specifically to provide greater clarity and accessibility to the decision-making processes of the council, standardising our approach locally, regionally and nationally.
How you will support Elected Members, and foster diversity amongst elected representatives;
The new organisation will ensure that its decision-making processes and public meetings are as accessible and inclusive as possible to its Elected Members and potential future candidates.
The role of the Elected Member and the associated officer support will be professionalised. This approach mirrors the aspirations of the Independent Remuneration Panel for Wales and will help ensure that the role of an Elected Member can be a viable ‘career choice’ for any prospective public official.
The approach will include, but not be limited to:
Member support and development; Use of technology to promote engagement, meeting accessibility and the ability to operate from any base (webcasting, remote attendance, wireless access and social media); The adoption, publication and use of role descriptions for all Executive and Non Executive positions; Continuous engagement with Councillors to set appropriate meeting times, venues etc; Wider promotion of the availability of a ‘care allowance’ to support Members with meeting attendance; Promoting the role of Members through the full range of channels and the publication of annual reports.
The new organisation will also work directly with political parties and the Welsh Government to introduce shadowing/mentoring and development schemes for potential candidates, encouraging youth involvement through co-option and supporting the growth of the network of member champions.
Aside from the support set out above being available to Members once the new organisation has been established, arrangements will also be developed to ensure effective political involvement and decision-making throughout the creation of the new organisation i.e. through phase 1 (Planning) and phase 2 (Transition and Transformation).
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1. VISION FOR THE NEW AUTHORITY
A strong cultural tone will be set within the new council from both political and executive leadership emphasising core values, including fairness and equality, which will mean that a diverse range of people feel included and supported within the organisation.
How you will drive service improvement, innovation and improved well-being and how you will measure this; and
The Local Service Board, which will comprise partner organisations and gain statutory powers through the Well Being of Future Generations (Wales) Bill, will retain responsibility for identifying (through strategic analysis and community engagement) the overarching needs of the community and for setting the priorities and associated outcome measures against those needs.
The progress against those outcomes will remain the responsibility of the partner organisations within the context of a strategic commissioning partnership. A population level performance management framework will be established that enables each partner to demonstrate the progress it, and any commissioned bodies, are making toward the outcomes for which they remain accountable.
Within the new organisation itself the community wide outcomes identified and prioritised by the Local Service Board, will form the umbrella under which organisational priorities can be set, activities implemented and progress monitored.
The approach will be based on understanding exactly how service users benefit (their outcomes) from the service they are engaged with. Service user outcomes once identified will be used as the basis for understanding current performance and as the focus of driving future improvement. This can be measured by selecting performance measures based on how much we are doing; how well we are doing it and, is anyone better off?
Self Evaluation will feature prominently within the new organisation’s governance arrangements and will provide a key tool in understanding progress, assessing need, identifying risk, specifying resources and adjusting (where necessary) the mix of commissioned service providers and their service offerings. The recent experience of both authorities with Estyn and their respective recovery boards has provided us both with a strong basis of understanding of how self evaluation can be most effectively undertaken.
The self evaluation process will be subject to robust challenge across relevant partners and with the service user community, with a view to making sure that service delivery meets needs and delivers the greatest positive impact at the lowest possible cost.
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1. VISION FOR THE NEW AUTHORITY
How you will develop and foster effective relationships with other public service partners, the third sector and business.
Effective relationships with partners emerge over time as a result of open, honest collaborative working and the gradual building of trust. Conversations have already begun with the array of potential partners that will work with the new organisation and we would wish them to be actively involved and contributing to the planning, transition and future stages of the new Council.
The early discussions have involved partners who are members of the Councils’ existing Local Service Boards. This is just the beginning and we intend that this engagement will be strengthened and extended over time, in keeping with our current approach to partnership working.
Beyond these leadership level discussions, it will also be important to establish discussions across the wider staff base, particularly as this is the interface where the operational relationships between partners will be most keenly felt as the merger progresses. These discussions will focus specifically on what is working well in terms of existing relationships and what could be done better, with a view to fostering a collective responsibility, shared provision and joint commissions. Staff engagement will be a thread that runs through everything that we do in establishing the new organisation, recognising that frontline staff most accurately understand the issues of service delivery on the ground, but need a strong empowerment message from the top of the organisation to make change a reality.
The SMEs and larger employers across both geographies naturally have a key role to play in the development and success of the new council and the regeneration of the area. In order to establish an effective and expansive relationship, we will mobilise the existing business communities with a view to understanding what the community needs, what the community can provide and identifying the most appropriate mechanism by which the two communities can engage. We will also foster links between schools and businesses, so that young people have a stronger chance of gaining local employment and businesses have a ready supply of the skills that they require.
Both organisations already have an active and well established network of partners and the new authority will be well placed to build on, and further enhance, these existing strong foundations.
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2. CAPACITY AND CAPABILITY
Have you identified issues in respect of breadth and depth of capacity which a merger could seek to address (eg. availability of specialist expertise, senior managers being drawn into operational planning) in particular services or generally?
In response to previous budget reductions, Councils in Wales have been downsizing for sometime with management being ‘de-layered’ and remaining roles and functions becoming much broader in nature. This is already proving challenging in terms of senior capacity and is particularly evident in terms of the time available to deliver change, the expectations of our regulators, the prioritisation of key projects, meeting financial savings and driving service transformation.
As resources decrease, the danger is that we will more and more use our limited corporate capacity in focusing on getting through the immediate future; with no-one looking at the horizon to shape the organisation for the future, it is inevitable that the organisation will quickly become unfit for purpose. Our new organisation will have the capacity to keep an intelligent core, which neither of us can currently sustain going forward, using business intelligence, customer insight and outcome based performance data to advise and inform those leading the council.
Control of the organisational ‘establishment’, in particular the need to make use of temporary and fixed term contracts to assist with the delivery of substantial financial savings, has presented difficulties in filling permanently a range of specialist and support roles and in being an attractive career proposition to existing as well as new staff with appropriate skills.
Across both organisations there are issues in respect of managerial and core service capacity - these functions typically fall under the following headings:
Financial Services Human Resource Management and Employee Services Legal Services Asset Management Performance Management Democratic and Members Services Communications Strategic Procurement Information and Communication Technology (ICT)
Demand for many of these services is now in excess of capacity in both Councils, with external and temporary expertise and resources being brought in to bolster specific areas and programmes of work. In essence, the ability for central functions to support wide scale change as well as deliver core service has been depleted. Our
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2. CAPACITY AND CAPABILITY experience of the SRS shared IT service gives us a strong basis of experience and lessons learned in bringing together support services from different organisations.
Is there significant demand for specialist services which cannot be met and/or must be procured from elsewhere?
Both organisations do make use of agency and temporary staff as contingency for front line workers. It is inevitable that as resources reduce there will be a greater emphasis on generalists and decreasing affordability of specialists.
If demand for services and resources to meet it were pooled between the Local Authorities concerned, how far would this allow capacity issues to be addressed and duplication removed?
The pooling of resources and services through a merged Authority such as that proposed in this instance, would undoubtedly address some of the capacity issues currently facing the two Councils. In isolation, however, that would not deliver sufficient ‘efficiency’ gains to ensure the continuation of the broad array of services currently offered by local Councils. Neither would it resolve the budget challenges facing local government over the next few years. This is largely as a result of the fact that the service user populations that will be supported by the new authority will remain unchanged, that demand will increase, particularly in the area of social care and that customer expectations are likely to continue to rise.
In an optimised authority, costs will inevitably reduce in respect of senior management and central or support services. Further reductions in spend will be achieved in terms of the simplification, standardisation and sharing of key processes and practices, something that would also help remove duplication. The ICT arena will provide opportunities for further cost reduction with the new authority being able, over time, to replace with one system what is currently provided by two. It is inevitable, however, that cost reductions of this nature would lead to reductions in existing levels of employment within each Council, and it must also be understood that taking out costs of this nature is only putting a temporary patch onto a very serious problem to buy some more time; true, sustainability requires a radical remodelling of the way we plan and deliver all services.
Provide an initial outline of the challenges you believe would be involved in capitalising on merger to build breadth and depth of capacity in the new Authority.
The process of creating a new and vibrant organisation that unites the existing organisations (and the communities they serve), that is recognisable to Elected Members, staff and residents, but is also sufficiently different in its approach so as to
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2. CAPACITY AND CAPABILITY inspire, will be perhaps one of the most significant challenges and will require dedicated time and energy to achieve.
Absolutely key to everything that we hope to achieve is based upon setting a strong, clear culture that is effectively communicated within the Council and to its residents. This culture must be based on values around:
working in partnership with our communities and local agencies, openness, transparency and a strong ethical basis, valuing, respecting and motivating our workforce, a strong focus on outcomes for local people, an embracing of innovation and new ways of working.
The difficulty of embedding a new culture in long established organisations should not be underestimated, not should the relentless focus on communication that is necessary to bring it about.
On a practical level, Blaenau Gwent and Torfaen Councils have different policies, processes and procedures, different pay and grading structures and disparate terms and conditions of employment. All of these will need to be harmonised in support of the new approaches that will be delivered by the new authority and be acceptable to both the employer and the trade unions.
There are also differences in the range and levels of service provided to residents by the two organisations. This may result in some residents receiving better levels of services in some cases than they have previously and others receiving services to a lesser degree than previously. This alignment will need to be carefully managed and effectively communicated.
The way in which both organisations arrange and structure the services and functions they deliver are also evident with Blaenau Gwent having five Directorates while Torfaen is organised into seven service areas. Aligning the functions and teams into a small number of new directorates located across multiple geographies and bases will also provide a significant Leadership challenge.
While there are undoubtedly a number of ICT systems that are used by Torfaen and Blaenau Gwent Council currently that are provided by the same suppliers, the contracts that support them, versioning and support arrangements may all be very different. Migrating previously disparate ICT contracts into shared contracts will require a period of alignment, possibly retendering, and potentially investment. The process, however, is by no means insurmountable and should ultimately release resource. Where existing platforms are not offered by the same ICT providers, more complex issues may exist.
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2. CAPACITY AND CAPABILITY
There are also differences in the mix and make up of the Elected Membership as a whole along with the Cabinet, Scrutiny and Regulatory Committee structures that support decision-making. These will need to be aligned.
Provide an initial outline of the major benefits which could be released from the process and when they might be released.
For Wales as a whole, the greatest benefit to our proposal is the ability to build (with Welsh Government, our partners and our communities) a new model of a council that thinks and acts differently as a scalable prototype for the rest of Wales. The fact that this Council would be established in one of Wales’ greatest areas of social and economic deprivation would give a particularly strong message.
For us as local councils, the greatest benefit is that we can change two small, financially unsustainable councils into one transformed, fit for purpose council that provides better outcomes for local communities and a better place for our staff to work and thrive. We can move from managing decline in the context of an uncertain future to creating something new and exciting to be a part of.
For our communities, in addition to improved and more cost effective services, we can redefine a sense of place; letting go of the baggage of labels around industrial decline and social deprivation and creating a new brand that everyone can be proud to be a part of. There is a huge opportunity here for democratic community leadership to inspire the residents of our area with a new sense of place.
In terms of when change will occur, our timetable is much tighter than that proposed for voluntary mergers. We have both in the process of setting manageable budgets for 2015/16; beyond that the situation quickly gets more and more difficult. Assuming that we proceed successfully to and through submission of full business case, we will want to begin at once. By the time we are ready to set our 2016/17 budget we will be incorporating elements of the new authority into the budget setting process. Our aim will be to be merged administratively and operating on the new model well in advance of formal vesting day in 2018.
How will you ensure the benefits of workforce planning will be embedded in the new Authorities to ensure resilience in the workforce is maintained in the medium to longer term?
Workforce planning will be a key tool for the new authority in really understanding the match of skills and service need across the organisation to deliver the new operating model, and the wider local public service, to a much more sophisticated level than either of us have in place at present. We need to know not just a snapshot of where we are, but where the future needs and gaps will be so that we can put in place
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2. CAPACITY AND CAPABILITY targeted and timely training and development to have the right people in the right place at the right time. Understanding this better will enable us to minimise the costs of redundancy and recruitment and to give a clear career pathway to our most talented staff.
Torfaen’s ‘Profile’ system, piloted using Welsh Government grant, has been designed specifically to support the notion of long term workforce planning by assessing need, retraining staff and supporting resource mobility. It is anticipated that the new organisation will utilise either the Profile system, or the underlying concepts, to ensure appropriate alignment between staff, skills, opportunities and objectives.
We intend to work directly with the proposed Staff Commission for Wales to develop a workforce strategy that covers the planning and transition to the new Authority. The relationship will ensure that matters connected with recruitment, training and the terms and conditions of employment of officers will be managed appropriately.
The working relationships in place between the two constituent Councils and the Trade Unions are very strong currently. These relationships will be further developed so that a partnership exists with Trade Union representatives playing an integral part of the creation and introduction of the new organisation.
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3. LEADERSHIP, RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION
Do Authorities have difficulty recruiting and retaining staff at leadership level, those with the potential for leadership or staff in other key areas involving either in service specialism or other specialism such as finance, legal and project management?
The recent experiences of both Councils would suggest that retaining leadership level staff is less of an issue than attracting new. Over the last few years there have been few instances of very senior members of staff leaving the Leadership Team of either Council. Where this has happened, the establishment has often been reduced, with the duties of the outgoing officer typically absorbed across the wider Leadership Team. Whilst this has delivered short term savings, it is not without its difficulties and is by no means a sustainable approach over the long term. In both Councils this approach has also extended to Head of Service level.
Where the Councils have lost senior staff and been able to recruit replacements, there have been difficulties in attracting candidates of appropriate experience and capability. In Blaenau Gwent, the recent recruitment to the post of Corporate Director of Education resulted in the Council having to re-advertise and add a market supplement in order to attract candidates of the right calibre.
The uncertainties around the changing local government landscape, financial austerity and its specific impact on local government provide further difficulties in recruiting staff to either specialist or other areas across Councils.
In preparing existing staff to become future Leaders, both Councils remain committed but, with limited access to budget, have had to be creative. Torfaen has, until recently, made extensive use of the free ILM management and leadership qualifications provided by its training provider, Torfaen Training, and similar approaches have been undertaken in Blaenau Gwent. A Masters level Public Service Leadership Programme also exists within Gwent but, since the initial cohort, the course is no longer subsidised and now costs circa £5k per person.
There are also subtle differences in the pay and grading structures for senior managers. In Torfaen, senior managers have been through a job evaluation process, as have staff at all other grades. In Blaenau Gwent, job evaluation for senior managers is planned.
How would you use the opportunity presented by voluntary merger to provide attractive career paths for all staff, including those in specialist roles or with senior leadership potential? Are there services or functional areas where this is particularly difficult?
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3. LEADERSHIP, RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION
A new council, particularly one that is setting out in the vanguard of a different model of public service for Wales, will be an attractive place to be and to forge a career; very different from the mood of uncertainty that currently prevails in both our organisations. As two of the smaller councils in Wales, our imminent demise is inevitable, whether that be through economic circumstances or through reorganisation, and that does not give our staff a great deal of optimism.
Linking workforce planning with workforce development and the provision of targeted training and development opportunities is the key to providing staff with a clear path to personal ambition and aspiration, as well as equipping the organisation with an effective range of skills. If we forecast accurately where our skills requirements will be in the medium to long term, we have the time and space to develop specialists to meet our future needs.
Currently the age profile of our workforce is old and getting older as we juggle people around the organisation trying to keep them in a job. This, together with freezing vacancies, means that we rarely recruit externally. We have very few employees under 25. Not only is this bad for young people seeking work in our communities, it is also a catastrophe waiting to happen to public services in the future. Creating a fit for purpose, sustainable council with an understanding of its needs, will enable us to start recruiting again and give an opportunity for those reaching the end of their career to pass on their wisdom and experience to the next generation.
In terms of leadership, it is to be hoped that Welsh Government’s reform of local government will go hand in hand with a national discussion on the skills required of the Welsh public service leaders of the future. By piloting what a new council will look like, we would hope to be instrumental in shaping those discussions.
What will the recruitment and retention and talent management strategies for the new Authority consider in particular? What will be the balance between supporting and developing in-house talent and broadening the base of skills and experience through external recruitment?
As described above, creating a sustainable organisation, that is not entirely focused on cost cutting measures but can also have an eye to the future, will provide opportunities to think about where skills need to be and when much more effectively. Also we seem to have lost sight of the fact in all public services in Wales that we are major employers; we need to bear in mind that we are relied upon for employment not only by those that we currently employ but also those who are seeking local employment and to tailor our offering appropriately.
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4. EFFICIENCY
How would you build on the opportunities the merger process presents to design in medium and long term planning for sustainability in your new Authority?
In answering this question, we would refer back to the model outlined on page 4, which encapsulates how a focused and efficient service delivery system would operate. As stated above, this is taken from a piece of work already undertaken by Blaenau Gwent Council, with the support of PWC – much of the groundwork, therefore, has already been completed.
The essence of achieving optimum efficiency is to start from scratch in looking at how services are designed and delivered. The opportunity to do this with a new organisation only comes around rarely. The key is to create an intelligent core to the organisation that can understand and use some fundamental information to provide a commissioning hub, this can be summarised as:
What are the needs (as opposed to wants) of the population for services provided by the council and its partners, how will those needs change over time? What is required to meet those needs, when is it needed, who should provide it and how much will it cost to provide? Does the council have the right skilled people and other non employee assets needed to meet those needs in the right place and at the right time – if not what needs to be in place and by when? What financial resources are available to meet those needs, if they are insufficient what means are available to find those resources? What is customer insight telling us about meeting those needs? What is business intelligence telling us about meeting those needs? What is horizon scanning telling us about meeting those needs? How far can the community be involved in reducing or meeting those needs from its own resources? How well are we performing in meeting those needs, what must we do to improve? How is meeting those needs changing outcomes for our communities over time?
What is currently happening in our organisations is that there is an imperative to protect front line services at the expense of all other parts of the councils, so that the capacity to ask and answer those questions is being rapidly diminished. The result of this as time goes on is that the services on the ground have no option other than to carry on doing what they are already doing meaning that they become increasingly less efficient and less in touch with what the public need from them. This is a vicious cycle that will only be broken by creating the core capacity needed in a new council.
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4. EFFICIENCY
How could the corporate and democratic functions of the new Local Authority be established in such a way as to maximise the potential for releasing savings whilst still serving the Authority and Elected Members effectively?
The model for redesigning a corporate centre is described above. Clearly the corporate centre is one area where savings can be made by bringing two organisations together; but to reduce it beyond the capacity to ask and answer the questions above would be a false economy, because the big transformational changes that will deliver a much more efficient and cost effective council have to take place in the big spending service areas.
Corporate and democratic functions are not separate in this sense. The decision makers in the new council, as in the existing ones, are the democratically elected members. They are best supported in making those decisions by having the answers to those questions clearly spelt out. We know that public service has a long way to go before we are out of the current financial restrictions, if that time ever comes; as long as that situation pertains members will be in a situation of having to make tough choices between what people want and what they need, to do this they have to have access to the best possible intelligence and advice.
What is the scope of transforming services and service delivery on the new authority to capitalise on approached such as demand management?
Both authorities are focused on transformation and have partnered with an external consultant to identify opportunities for financial savings, alternative service delivery and demand management. Internal skill has been developed to support large change programmes – however further capacity will be required to exploit this resource as part of a programme of merging two authorities.
Demand management has been succinctly described as: stopping people coming to the door, stopping those at the door from coming in and getting those inside back out of the door. Part of this is about understanding when and how need arises and freeing up resources to invest in preventative service to reduce acute need over time. However, another large part of the issue is about the relationship between the council and its communities, and the willingness of the public to take more responsibility for individual and community welfare – a new council provides the opportunity to create a new dynamic in this respect and to make a fresh start with communities who are cynical and mistrusting of organisations that seem to them only to be reducing services whilst putting up charges and taxes.
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4. EFFICIENCY
What is the potential for rationalising the estate, contracts and other fixed assets of the new Authority?
The potential for rationalising the estate, contracts and other fixed assets of the new Authority are significant. This is something that can be explored if this expression of interest progresses to a full business case.
What is your initial estimate of the scope to economies of scale in either overheads or unit costs, and to rationalise estates and assets, and in which areas?
There is potential to rationalise as both councils’ estates currently consist of office buildings, Social Services establishments, schools, plant & equipment and other fixed assets to include heritage assets. Some of these are owned by the Councils and some are rented / leased. [Assets table later] The 2013/2014 BG balance sheet states that the above are valued at £303.4m. TCBC balance sheet identifies £326.2m. By making flexible working, supported by technology, a clear aspiration of the new organisation from the start, we can continue to build upon the rationalisation of space for staff desks and take out further cost. Estate rationalisation will arise not just in office buildings, but potentially indirectly for example, in the consideration of catchment areas for schools, realising capital receipts. In Torfaen, a transport review is currently being undertaken with a view to removing considerable cost in the way that we utilise vehicles, it would not be difficult to extend this to cover Blaenau Gwent’s fleet also. There are clear opportunities to rationalise the ICT systems and associated contracts across both organisations.
What would be the challenges of realising these benefits, including any potential up – front costs (staff. Property, information technology, corporate consultation and communication)?
Anyone who has managed change in an organisation knows that the most vociferous complaints come from situations where people’s physical territory is being threatened in some way; buildings become the focus of a great deal of anxiety and protest for both staff and the public – taking away a tangible asset is much easier to understand than remodelling of service provision, even when the latter benefits the end user more. This is bound to be the case in what we want to achieve in the new council, but we have much experience to call on in handing such situations and know that the key is setting cultural expectations upfront and communicating constantly.
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4. EFFICIENCY
The difficulties often encountered with regard to property are that organisations are frequently bound into long term legal obligations, such as leases, that are expensive to buy out of before they reach an end.
The challenge to realise financial and non-financial benefits from asset rationalisation will be to dedicate enough staff capacity to project manage a range of differing and potentially conflicting timelines, whilst working “on the day job”. This will particularly fall upon the type of “back office” staff who will feel most vulnerable in terms of a merger of support services.
What is your initial estimate of a timeframe for incurring up-front costs and releasing benefits?
It is not possible to fully estimate the scope of economies of scale, at this stage. These will be explored in full within the business case. However, categories of savings would materialise in the following areas; senior and middle management, back office services – both staff and IT related, front line services, fixed assets, democratic costs. The business case will identify full transitional and up-front costs required to facilitate the merger, required to enable short and medium term benefits to be realised.
The range of transitional and up- front costs will include; council tax equalisation, employee termination/ redundancy costs, contract and leasing cessation costs, IT adaptation / replacement costs, asset disposal costs, additional staff capacity to support planning, transition and transformation and the delivery of the new authority.
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5. ACCOUNTABILITY AND ENGAGEMENT
What is your overall vision for how systems for accountability and engagement will be integrated and work with each other to drive service improvement in the new Authority? As part of this you should consider:
What role will scrutiny play in the new Authority both in respect of driving service improvement and promoting well-being and holding the Executive to account? What is your vision for effective scrutiny and what role will it play in ensuring the voices of people and communities are heard, considered and acted upon? How will the new Authority engage effectively with people and communities including showing how this engagement has impacted upon decision making? What role will Local Elected Members play in representing the views and voices of their communities in the new Authority? How will these views be harnessed and assessed to improve services? How will the new Authority engage with and work with public service partners?
A framework of governance will be developed for the new organisation that provides a clear balance between accountability and engagement, and enables the public to play its part in both policy decision-making and performance challenge. The residents of the new area have a right to expect high quality services that meet their needs and to play a part in assessing the performance of the organisations that deliver them.
A system of this nature is very different to the traditional models of governance that have developed in Wales and the new approach will need to reverse a climate of general apathy and cynicism amongst the public toward local government decision- making processes and policy development, as well as remove the perceived difficulties of influencing change within a locality. This process will begin with the new organisation raising awareness among its communities of the opportunities that exist to engage and creating demand to participate in the policy and decision-making processes. This task should not be underestimated; whilst the council will change, the public will not, and it will take time and concentrated, focused effort to change mindsets.
The new authority will engage with its communities in the creation of the overall vision for the area, for the Council and for the wider public services, shared and shaped through ongoing discussion. The vision will be underpinned by a clearly defined set of priorities and outcomes for the area that are based on need and underpinned by a new operating model that is outcome focused and sees services delivered both directly by the Council and through a mix of public, third sector and community based organisations.
The outcomes selected for the new community will be framed by the new authority and its communities and will form the basis upon which service performance, service quality and progress will be measured. The outcomes will be engaging, challenging,
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5. ACCOUNTABILITY AND ENGAGEMENT aspirational and accessible to the community and will be communicated widely through a series of wide ranging and on-going local campaigns. A vibrant and independent scrutiny function will help the public ensure that performance against all outcomes is appropriate and decisions are taken appropriately by the Executive and with outcomes in mind.
As policies and services are shaped and developed and decisions required by the new organisation, a four phase engagement framework will be applied:
Planned service and policy changes, and all associated decisions, will be published and promoted widely across the community with interest groups targeted specifically
The views of the wider public, special interest groups and other key stakeholders will be sought on the options and impact of any planned policy development or service change
Public views and opinion will form an integral part of the new organisations decision-making processes with decision makers having to take account of public perception when making choices
The decisions taken, policies enacted, service changes and implications, together with the underlying explanations will all be communicated widely to ensure public understanding.
Engagement Framework
Publish Stakeholder planned Views of key views feed Decisions decisions stakeholders into decision- made and Policy sought making Changes processes
Decisions, implications and planned changes fed back
The new organisation will adopt an ‘open’ approach to democracy, encouraging direct public involvement in its decision making and scrutiny processes, using all forms of media, in the following ways:
Members of the public can attend all Council Meetings or view them either live or via a webcast archive
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5. ACCOUNTABILITY AND ENGAGEMENT
Members of the public can share their views and opinions on reports and decisions in advance, during and after the live debate Members of the public can view Council documents in advance of meetings taking place Members of the public can speak at some Council meetings Members of the public can view Forward Work Programmes Members of the public can ask questions at Council
The new organisation will operate a model constitution that sets out the mechanisms by which the Council is governed. The model constitution will be accessible to all groups and will be designed to develop a wider understanding of how the Council operates as well as remove barriers to access in respect of the decision-making process.
The new organisation’s executive decision makers will oversee portfolios that are outcome, rather than service or department, focused and be accountable for the delivery of these outcomes to the community. While this may involve overseeing direct service delivery in some cases, it is likely that a range of public, third sector and community based organisations will all be delivering services within outcome based portfolios. This will require a whole place or population level performance framework to be developed that enables contributions to outcomes to be monitored and driven and a continuous focus on performance and provider management.
A new approach to Overview and Scrutiny will also be required, placing the work of Scrutiny at the core of the Council’s decision making process. Scrutiny will be independent, well resourced and hold a clear remit to drive improvement. The non Executive Members holding scrutiny roles will balance their representative roles with the need to shape whole place policy, ensure performance improvement and hold the Executive to account.
The Overview and Scrutiny Committees will hold outcome based portfolios that are aligned to those held by the Executive. Scrutiny members, along with co-opted experts from the community, must provide decision-making assurance to the Executive on behalf of the public as well as acting as impartial sounding boards and championing the views that emerge through more effective engagement practices.
The new organisation will need to focus heavily on its performance and the performance of commissioned or partner organisations against the agreed outcomes for the new area. A population level performance framework will be developed that enables provider contributions to be measured in the round.
In terms of the new organisation’s ongoing performance, a number of aspects will be developed that build on stated best practice in this arena and enable performance against stated outcomes and priorities to be explicitly assessed, publicised and challenged.
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6. DEMOGRAPHIC, FINANCIAL AND DEMAND PRESSURES
Principal challenges facing the Authorities to enable the voluntary merger process to be designed to effectively address them. Use evidence which informs existing policies and strategies such as Single Needs Assessment underpinning the Single Integrated Plan and Medium Term Financial Plan.
The detailed information relating to demographic, financial and demand pressures are captured in appendix 1. Our focus here is on the key challenges that these issues highlight, and how the new Council will address them.
The Executive summary and the suggested future operating model covered in the ‘Vision’ section emphasise that the response will require transformational change.
This means a fundamental re-thinking and re-positioning of the ‘Council’ as the community leader, empowering, challenging and supporting its communities to thrive. Features will include:
Effective community engagement. Support and advice to enable communities to take greater ownership of service delivery, coming up with their own solutions and providing direct alternatives to ‘closure’ or ‘shrinking’ of services. Provision of good information, to enable individuals and communities to help themselves rather than being ‘dependent’ on historic / traditional services Early intervention and prevention, where appropriate Excellent delivery or commissioning of services Maximising new technology and opportunities for self-service Maximising efficiency, ensuring and demonstrating the Council is ‘fit for purpose’,
What are the likely changes in the composition of the area’s population in the medium to longer term?
Population – Overall
The ONS Mid-2013 population estimates and Census 2011 show the levels of population in Torfaen, Blaenau Gwent and Gwent as follows:
Indicator Torfaen Blaenau Torfaen + Gwent Gwent Blaenau Gwent Population total 1 91,407 69,789 161,196 579,101 Population males 1 44,515 34,318 78,833 283,780 Population females 1 46,892 35,471 82,363 295,321 Population aged 5-11 1 7,276 5,249 12,525 47,058 Population aged 12-18 1 7,716 5,501 13,217 49,154 Population aged 16-24 1 10,437 7,933 18,370 65,694 Population aged 65+ 1 17,817 13,313 31,130 110,377
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6. DEMOGRAPHIC, FINANCIAL AND DEMAND PRESSURES
Population aged 75+ 1 8,082 5,674 13,756 48,932 Population aged 85+ 1 2,315 1,475 3,790 13,537 % with long term illness 2 24.1% 27.2% 25.5% 23.4% % working age with long term 11.6% 13.9% 12.6% 11.4% illness (aged 16-64) 2 % who provide unpaid care 2 13.1% 12.5% 12.9% 12.4% % with no qualifications (aged 28.9% 36.1% 32.0% 28.7% 16+) 2 % qualified to degree level + 20.3% 15.2% 18.0% 22.0% (aged 16+) 2 % economically active 66.3% 62.1% 64.4% 66.0% (aged 16-74) 2 % economically inactive (aged 33.7% 38.0% 35.6% 34.0% 16-74) 2 % permanently sick/disabled 6.7% 9.6% 8.0% 6.9% (age 16-74) 2
Source: 1 ONS Mid-2013 population estimates / 2 Census 2011
Over the medium to long term (defined in this case as the next 10 to 15 years), Torfaen is expected to see a rise in its overall population over the next 10 years from 91,600 to 93,000. .
Blaenau Gwent’s population is expected to fall consistently from 69,500 in 2014 to approximately 67,300 by 2029.
Should Torfaen and Blaenau Gwent merge, the associated population is expected to rise marginally for the next 7 years from 161,100 in 2014 to 161,600, then start to decline.
The overall population of Gwent (581,700 in 2014), by comparison, is projected to rise at a faster rate than Torfaen, Blaenau Gwent or a combination of the two local authorities.
This is shown within the graphs below:
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6. DEMOGRAPHIC, FINANCIAL AND DEMAND PRESSURES
Source: ONS mid-2013 population estimates
Source: 2011-based population projections, Welsh Government
Are there other known or predictable significant changes in the nature of the area and/or its population during this period?
Appendix 2 shows a series of graphs and commentary on the specific and predictable changes to the population of the area over the long term which is defined in this case as 15 years. A summary of the anticipated changes between now and 2029 for a combined Authority of Torfaen and Blaenau Gwent are set out below in headlines terms:
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6. DEMOGRAPHIC, FINANCIAL AND DEMAND PRESSURES
The overall population of the combined authority will fall by 0.5% between 2014 and 2029 The number of males within the population will decrease by 0.9% The number of females within the population will increase by 0.2% The number of children aged 5-11 will increase by around 1000 by 2022 to 13,500 before falling by around 800 by 2029 The number of children aged 12-18 will reduce by around 1200 by 2019 to 12,000 before then rising by 1400 by 2029 In the post compulsory education age group of 16-24, a decline in the population of 4,200 is anticipated by 2025 before a rise of 1,100 by 2029 The number of individuals at or above retirement age (of 65) is projected to increase from 31,100 in 2014 to 38,800 by 2029. This equates to 24.2% of the overall population. In the 75 and over age grouping, increases are expected of 6,300 taking the total number to 20,100 by 2029 The number of individuals in the aged 85 and over group will increase from 3,800 to 6,300 by 2029 41,000 residents would currently be classified as long-term ill and this is projected to remain relatively consistent over time The combined authority would have a population of 12,700 individuals classified as working age long term illness (aged 16-64) in 2014 which will fall to 11,700 by 2029 There would be 20,800 unpaid carers within the combined authority with numbers remaining level over the long term The number of individuals aged 16 or over with no qualifications is currently 42,200 with no significant changes anticipated over the medium to long term The number of individuals qualified to degree level or higher (aged 16 or over) would be 23,700 (18% of the population) in a combined authority with levels remaining consistent over the medium to long term. Over the long term, the number of individuals who are economically active will fall from 76,100 (64.4%) to 72,000 Similarly, the number of economically inactive residents will also fall over the long term by 2,300 to 39,800 The combined local authority has 9,500 permanently sick or disabled residents (aged 16-74) with numbers expected to fall to 8,900 in the medium to long term
What is the likely impact of this on demand for each affected service?
Whilst the overall population of a newly merged authority would start to decline after 2021, the percentage of the population who will be over 65 and living into very old will increase markedly. This means that the number of people living longer with complex needs and dependencies will continue to exert mounting pressure on social
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6. DEMOGRAPHIC, FINANCIAL AND DEMAND PRESSURES care services. Remodelling services to support early intervention and prevention can help to keep people independent for longer, but this means freeing up pump priming money that cannot be taken out of acute services until the effects of prevention begin to feed through over time.
A recent report from WPS2025, written jointly the Institute for Fiscal Studies and the Wales Audit Office, predicts that the drain on public resources from health services (as a result of the combination of increased demand, the cost of medical advances and service pressures within the NHS ) will result in a gap of between £2.6bn and £4.6bn in Welsh public sector finances by 2025. This means that even when austerity comes to an end, demand will have overtaken the available resources; there is no real light at the end of the tunnel for public services.
If public services try to protect priority areas such as health, social care and schools by increasing spending to meet demand pressures, there is a „crowding out‟ with reducing funding left for other areas like refuse collection, housing, street lighting and roads maintenance. By 2024-25, spending on health alone could rise from 42% of the Welsh Government’s revenue budget to 57% and 67% in the worst case scenario. Such a scenario would inevitably leave local government facing major cuts to its spending. Meanwhile projections of demand show a rise of 71% in the number of older people requiring residential care by 2030. The projections also show a 61% rise in the number requiring some form of community based services by 2030. If costs rose in Wales in line with England, the real terms cost of services for older people could double from £510 million in 2010-11 to over £1 billion by 2030.
Were public bodies to increase spending on health, social care and education in line with the demand pressures outlined so far, there is a crowding out, with less money left for any other services. With a good economic wind, the amount of funding for “other” services could fall from just over £5 billion in 2010-11 to under £3 billion in 2025. With poor economic growth, fully funding projected rises in health, social care and education could result in very little left for any other service by 2024-25
Far from being easy areas to squeeze, many of those “other” services themselves face major demand and cost pressures, for example:
Over the past five years spending on waste services has risen by 18 per cent in real terms as councils try to increase recycling rates to meet stringent EU targets. Alongside pressures to support public transport networks and increase walking and cycling, projections show that use of roads is set to increase significantly between now and 2025, putting pressure on the £350 million budget for roads maintenance. There is an ever growing need for economic and social development. Wales is one of the most deprived areas of the UK (and Blaenau Gwent and Torfaen
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6. DEMOGRAPHIC, FINANCIAL AND DEMAND PRESSURES
two of the most deprived areas within Wales) and around £1 billion could be taken out of the Welsh economy as a result of welfare reform. Welfare reform also potentially places pressure on housing services in Wales, especially as a result of changes to housing benefits payments.
It is against this national backdrop that the context of a newly merged authority needs to be understood.
What is the medium to longer-term financial outlook for the Local Authorities concerned?
Revenue Budgets
The 2014/15 Revenue Budgets for both Councils are described below, with the major areas of spend highlighted:
Portfolio Torfaen BGC Education (inc Schools) £66.6m £55.4m Social Services £41.8m £37.3m Other Services * £60.4m £48m Total £168.8m £140.7m
* The range of services that form ‘Other Services’ in the table include Highways, Planning & Public Protection, Regeneration, Governance, Community Services, ICT, Finance / Governance
The 2015/16 budgets for both Councils require over £21.3m of savings to be generated to meet service pressures and manage significant reductions in the Welsh Governments Revenue Support Grant (RSG). Despite this significant challenge, both Councils 2015/16 budget proposals are progressing towards a balancing position.
Beyond 2015/16, Welsh Government have indicated that Councils should plan for further annual reductions on their RSG of up to 4.5% through the medium term. The impacts of reductions at this level of magnitude are set out below:
Medium Term Financial 2016/17 2017/18 (at 4½% (at 4½% Planning Assumptions reduction) reduction)
Projected Shortfall Torfaen* £13.597m £11,264m Projected Shortfall Blaenau Gwent ** £8.606m £8,669m Projected Shortfall Joint £22.203m £19.933m
* based on known pressures, Council Tax rates of 3.5% and RSG reductions of 4.5%
** based on known pressures, Council Tax rates of 4.6% and RSG reductions of 4.5%
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6. DEMOGRAPHIC, FINANCIAL AND DEMAND PRESSURES
Capital Programme Outlook
The following sets out the respective Councils Capital Programme outlook.
Torfaen (up to Blaenau Gwent Capital Programme 2018/19) (up to 2019/20)
21st Century Schools Programme £49.3m £11.1m Social Services – equipment & health and - £2.2m safety Housing – Disabled Facilities grants £4.4m £4.5m Environment & Regeneration projects £2.6m £2.2m Other portfolios £3.8m £8.8m Other Education projects £0.5m £0.9m Totals £60.6m £29.7m
Reserves Position
The following sets out the Reserves position for both organisations as at 31st March 2014.
Reserves Position Torfaen Blaenau Gwent
Council Fund balance £5.5m £5.8m School Balances £2.39m £1.45m Useable Earmarked Revenue Reserves £11m £8.35m Useable Capital Reserves £11.7m £11.6m Current Provisions £1.6m £11.5m Totals £32.19m £38.7m
Council Tax Base
The following sets out the relative Council Tax base position for both organisations.
Council Tax Base Torfaen Blaenau Gwent
Band ‘D’ Base 31,884 19,643 Average Band ‘D’ Cost per annum £1047.69 £1,370.66 Assumed Collection Rate (2014/15) 98% 93.5%
Should budget reductions of the size and scale set out above become a reality over the medium term, it is likely that both organisations will become financially unviable
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6. DEMOGRAPHIC, FINANCIAL AND DEMAND PRESSURES before 2018 with significant levels of service cessation necessary in all areas beyond Social Care and Schools.
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7. WELSH GOVERNMENT SUPPORT FOR MERGER
Please indicate here what, if any, support may be required and how tailored support could be deployed as part of delivering your vision for your new Authority and realising the benefits of your merger proposal as quickly as possible.
Suggestions for support could be of the kind set out in the Invitation to Principal Local Authorities to submit proposals for Voluntary Merger but the Welsh Government is prepared to work with Authorities to tailor a package of support which might include other options or ideas.
It is important to us that we are involved in something transformational that will be of real benefit to Welsh Government in thinking through how local government will look in the future. We want to work in partnership with Welsh Government, talking through and testing ideas each step of the way. It would be very helpful to us therefore, to have a fairly senior member of the Welsh civil service working alongside us on our journey and acting as part of our team.
We are in the fortunate position that Blaenau Gwent have been working for some time with external consultants to reshape their organisation, many of the ideas set out above have been informed by that work to date. To extend that piece of work across Torfaen, where work by the same consultants is already being undertaken on demand management, would be a quick win in terms of establishing a baseline from which to move forward. Making use of this facility would answer some of questions we need to address as to where within our organisations we are to find the capacity to do this work. Assistance from Welsh Government with the cost of commissioning this work would be of considerable assistance as it will need to be incurred in the current financial year for submission of a business case in June 2015 and we do not have any current budget provision for it.
Additional resources and staffing capacity would also be required within the authorities for the early stages of the merger. This would include as a minimum some dedicated programme management resource.
The following issues are also significant
Council Tax Equalisation - one of the biggest single cost issues. Council Tax in Blaenau Gwent is much higher than in Torfaen; support will be needed to avoid cross subsidisation
Redundancy Costs – Financial support during phase 1 and phase 2. In phase 3 the new organisation will start realising benefits.
Dual Running Costs or help in the interim: there will undoubtedly be a period of overlap - especially if there is an early move to a joint committee
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7. WELSH GOVERNMENT SUPPORT FOR MERGER
System Integration/changes and transformation for example maximising the opportunities presented by new digital approaches
Business process re-engineering / efficiencies
Support for innovative engagement approaches, building on work undertaken in each Council, but focussing on the new merged Authority
Proportionate and targeted regulation and inspection, assisting work to resolve potential barriers and hurdles to merger
For the organisation to fulfil its role of creating, promoting and delivering a vision for the people in the locality, there would be a clear benefit in it having greater autonomy over the budgets available for the area. The removal of hypothecation or ring fenced budgets and greater control over resource allocation at a local level would enable Councils, and partners, to better fund local priorities. If we are to be given a real opportunity to shape something truly new and different for local government, it is important for us that Welsh Government remains open to conversations of this nature.
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8. THE PROCESS OF CHANGE AND TRANSITION
As part of developing your merger proposals you should consider designing your process to ensure the benefits of the merger can be realised at the earliest opportunity and how you will organise and manage the process of transition from separate organisations to a single body. In light of this for each of the following areas:
Political and scrutiny structures and practices; Staff structures, including in particular senior management structures, and operational structures in priority areas; Financial and budget structures and processes and setting Council Tax; Working relationships and practices with the public and pubic service partners; Internal systems and processes, including ICT systems; Assets, contracts and estates; and Service delivery policies and practices, including accessibility, eligibility and charging policies. please consider:
i. How similar (or different) are each Authority’s arrangements now? ii. What would be the extent and complexity of change, especially in priority areas? iii. What would be the timescales for making such change? iv. What would be the likely one-off and recurrent savings, and how soon could savings be realised? v. Are there any significant known obstacles to these processes? How might they be addressed? vi. How far would it be possible to build on existing collaboration or pooling arrangements? vii. How far would it be possible to rationalise structures, systems, processes and access channels, and/or adopt best practice?
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8. THE PROCESS OF CHANGE AND TRANSITION
The practical changes that will need to be introduced to support the transition to the new organisation will be delivered through the following five stages:
Stage 1) Assess – compile an accurate and comparable baseline comprising financial, customer, performance and resource data. 1 2 Articulate3 the future vision4 and define a high level business model capable of realising this vision and articulate a target operating model for the new Authority. Create a case for change (strategic, financial and operational) that will form the basis of the merger proposal
Stage 2) Design – Define each element of the operating model in more detail, including customer interaction, service offering, business capabilities, technology and people requirements. Establish a more detailed cost and benefit profile from which to take a final decision on merging.
Stage 3) Prepare / – Having made a final decision to commit to a merger, new Test processes, organisational structures and technology requirements can be developed. Some investment will be required to establish the Shadow Authority and prepare for Vesting Day, whilst others will be more long term (such as ICT integration)
Stage 4) Implement – Key implementations points are likely to be: Following legislative approval prior to vesting day Vesting Day (Day 1) After first 100 days (end of transition period) Over following 1-2 years as target operating model is fully implemented
Stage 5) Operate & – The new council is operating in a business as usual state, Embed changes are embedded and benefits from performance are monitored.
The creation of a new organisation provides a unique opportunity to transform as well as merge and it is in service transformation that the greatest benefits and cost savings exist.
The new organisation will enact service transformation by:
Developing a new strategic vision that is linked intrinsically to the new place that the organisation will serve and underpinned by a target operating model. This can be established during the creation of the merger proposals during 2015.
Progressing design and build activity as set out above during 2016 and prior to the establishment of a shadow authority.
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8. THE PROCESS OF CHANGE AND TRANSITION
Phasing implementation over a number of go-live milestones – merged management team, joint committee, shadow authority set up, vesting day, first 100 days of operation and full target operating model implementation.
Using a programme management approach throughout to direct and coordinate activity most efficiently and effectively.
When the voluntary merger timetable and the key transformation steps are set together it is clear that the anticipated benefit realisation period begins late in 2017 beyond the target operating model being embedded.
New Authority Established Expressions Merger Orders for Shadow Vesting Elections to of Interest Proposals voluntary Authority day new LA mergers established Voluntary expected to Merger become law Timetable
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 Key Step 1: Step 2: Step 3: Transformation Step 4: Implement Steps Assess Design Prepare
Step 5: Implement
Benefits Realisation Period
Source: PWC Creating Strong Councils
With a well planned transformation programme in place it will be possible to start realising benefits during the Shadow Authority period. It will be important to us that we do not wait for full merger to be completed before we start to put in place parts of the new structure, this is particularly so because we have major financial pressures coming to bear upon us from 2015/2016 onwards and we do not want to deplete the existing councils to such an extent that we have lost the platform upon which to build.
It is likely therefore, that we will see a considerable amount of bringing together of services on a practical basis, including a joint executive leadership team, well in advance of the establishment of shadow authorities.
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9. ENGAGEMENT
We are not expecting you to have conducted extensive engagement at this Stage but we will be looking for some evidence of initial engagement and the reactions to your proposals.
Therefore you should include an outline of the engagement you have undertaken so far with public, communities (including town and community councils), the workforce, Elected Members, other local public service partners, business and any other potentially affected stakeholders. As part of this you should provide evidence of their views and opinions, for example any petitions, letters, Council or other debates.
Please also provide your Consultation and Engagement Plan for further consultation and engagement to enable you to submit your Merger Proposal in June 2015.
The timescale within which this expression of interest has been required has prevented any detailed consultation with stakeholders..
However, despite this, both councils have taken simultaneous reports to Cabinet and Council, which have been in the public domain and have given the opportunity for all member, cross party debate.
Torfaen’s Cabinet discussion was webcast live to the public and viewed by over 300 people. The link to the discussion can be found via the link below: http://www.torfaen.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast_interactive/151496
The announcement of the plans to enter into voluntary merger discussions was communicated publicly via a press release (see Appendix 1) which was covered widely in the local media as well as through an announcement on Council social media feeds. The responses, particularly through social media, have been largely balanced and supportive.
The Chief Executives of Torfaen and Blaenau Gwent both issued separate but linked announcements to staff explaining the intention to open discussions on a voluntary merger (see Appendix 1 for e-mails).
In addition, the Chief Executive of Torfaen attended the Blaenau Gwent Local Service Board meeting of the 27th October 2014 to discuss the proposals with partners – the Agenda and Minutes of that meeting are attached in Appendix 1. The partner organisations who attended that meeting were supportive of the intention to submit an expression of interest to voluntarily merge.
Torfaen, without a scheduled LSB meeting during the period of producing this expression of interest, have issued letters to key partners seeking their views on the
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9. ENGAGEMENT intention to voluntarily merge. Torfaen’s letter, together with the supporting responses, is attached at Appendix 1.
Finally, both Councils will debate the expression of interest document and the supporting report, in full, at simultaneously scheduled Council meetings at 11.30am on the 25th November. The meetings have been publicised widely and the debate will be webcast live as well as made available in the Councils webcast archives via the links below:
Torfaen: http://www.torfaen.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcasts
Blaenau Gwent: http://www.blaenau-gwent.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcasts
Consultation and Engagement Plan
The consultation and engagement plan sets out stakeholder groups in order that the councils’ develop an understanding of people’s needs, create opportunities for two- way communication and interaction and ensure the public are listened to. The consultation will reflect the needs and aspirations of the community and understand people’s concerns and opinions.
Both councils have an extensive range of online and offline communication channels, engagement tools and established consultation processes which have established extensive networks in the community. Key stakeholder groups to be consulted include:
Public
Regular features will be included in community newsletters already delivered to every home in the region. The council websites have significant visitor numbers and dedicated webpages and web banners on the front page of sites will direct the public to merger information and consultation. Frequent posts will be made encouraging discussion and signposts from all council social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. The Gov.delivery platform will email bulletins in the form of an E-newsletter to all public registering an interest in the merger.
Established People’s Panels have over 1300 members and public roadshows will be undertaken in key towns and at key public events.
Communities First newsletters and outreach workers will target hard to reach groups and communities.
Specific groups including older and younger people will be consulted through the network of Older Person’s Forums and Youth Forums. Young people will also be reached via youth clubs, school councils, play and youth service outreach, the Urdd, Gypsy/ Traveller forum, young tenants forums, young carers forum, dedicated social media groups and using the young person’s online consultation tool FLEX.
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9. ENGAGEMENT
Milestones in the merger process will be sent to key local press titles and regional/national media. Local journalists and editors will be engaged to ensure balanced coverage and accurate information on proposals.
The online public will also be engaged through hyper-local social media, websites and local bloggers.
LSB and Partners
Proposals will be discussed with Local Service Boards. Beneath the LSB, strategic engagement groups will identify shared opportunities for public engagement with partners and increase reach into the community.
Other partners including Regeneration Partnerships, Town Teams, the Blaenavon World Heritage Partnership, Environmental partnerships and Biodiversity networks including Gwent Wildlife Trust, Friends of the Earth plus Rural Development Local Action Groups will be engaged. Reach will also extend to customers of the Leisure Trusts and tenants of our registered social landlords and private Landlords Network.
Elected Members
Elected Member seminars to discuss the merger will be open to the public, webcast live and archived for future viewing by all members. Scrutiny sessions on merger discussions and progress will also be open to the public. All councillors will receive regular merger briefings via email.
Proposals will be discussed and letters will be sent to all 10 community councils in and regular updates provided for community council meetings and for the Partnership council for Wales.
Staff
Staff will be engaged through a series of joint and local service or team events with chief officers and members of leadership teams. Merger pages will be created on staff intranets, features in staff newsletters, all staff bulletins sent by email and yammer group set up for discussion and through service area staff forum and bulletins.
Voluntary Sector
Information will be sent to the Torfaen Voluntary Alliance (TVA) and Gwent Association of Voluntary Organisations (GAVO) for dissemination to their network of voluntary and third sector organisations working at the heart of the community.
Business
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9. ENGAGEMENT
The local business network and town business forums will be written to and the business network e-newsletter will be emailed to all businesses listed in Business directories. Signposts will be posted in specific economic development social media accounts and sent to business club members for discussion in business events.
Education and Training
School governors, training providers, employment service and careers service will be written to and emailed merger updates.
Faith and BME Groups
The area has a number of small but established BME groups including a Ghurkha/Nepalese association, Polish community and Tongan community.
The over arching approach will be to invite the Valleys Regional Equality Council to comment and gather views from across different contact groups with the equality characteristics.
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10. EXCEPTIONAL CASES
If you are making an exceptional case for merger, i.e. a proposal for merging two or more Authorities which may straddle the boundary of more than one Local Health Board and/or police force, or a case to merge Authorities into larger configurations within the Welsh Government’s preferred configuration (Option 1 referred to above), please also provide the following:
A detailed rationale and explanation for how this proposal will still be able to generate the benefits of reducing complexity, strengthening strategic and operational collaboration, and improving integration of front-line services which the Commission on Public Service Governance and Delivery identifies in its Report are achievable through the alignment of public service administrative boundaries; and
Statements of support of the affected public service partners for this proposal, including other Local Authorities, LHBs, police and crime commissioners and police forces.
If your proposal includes not conforming to existing EU Convergence area boundaries you will need to provide evidence you have considered and accepted the potential risks this involves.
This proposal does not cross Health or EU Convergence boundaries. The Williams Commission preferred option promotes the merger of Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly and Torfaen Councils. We understand that Welsh Government has not yet concluded upon a final view as to whether it wishes to follow the Williams Commission map in whole or in part.
This expression of interest focuses on a voluntary merger between Blaenau Gwent and Torfaen Council. Caerphilly Council has determined that it does not support the idea of a merged authority covering Caerphilly, Blaenau Gwent and Torfaen.
Both Torfaen and Blaenau Gwent Councils, through entering into this merger, would not want to rule out the opportunity of exploring the potential for further Councils to voluntarily merge should that eventuality arise.
If the merger of Blaenau Gwent and Torfaen proceeds we will still both be involved in a number of Gwent wide collaborations, overseen by the “G7” group of Leaders, Chairs, Chief Constable and Chief Executives, that will remain in place in any event.
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11. INITIAL CONSIDERATION OF THE NEW AUTHORITYS NAME / STATUS
For all the reasons articulated above, the identity and brand of the new council will be a fundamental part of reframing the sense of place of the newly combined communities of Blaenau Gwent and Torfaen. We believe that the name of the organisation is crucial to this, and that we are at much too early a stage in submitting an expression of interest to come to any views about what that name should be.
The merger is bound to be one of the most hotly debated topics and one upon which we would want to take soundings from members, from the public, from staff and, perhaps most importantly, from schoolchildren as this will be the place in which they will grow, become adults and, we hope and believe, thrive and fulfil their potential.
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12. STATEMENT FORM LOCAL AUTHORITIES
The Executive of Blaenau Gwent Council and the Cabinet of Torfaen Council both separately agreed on the 20th of October to explore the potential for the submission of an expression of interest for voluntary merger.
Both Councils subsequently discussed the submission of the Expression of Interest when they met on the 25th of November 2014 and [INSERT OUTCOME].
Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council Torfaen County Borough Council
Leader of the Council Leader of the Council
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Appendix – Engagement
Letters from Partners
Message to Staff from Chief Executive Torfaen Council
MESSAGE FROM THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE TO ALL MEMBERS OF STAFF
TORFAEN COUNTY BOROUGH COUNCIL
Would line managers please arrange for this message to be distributed to those members of staff not on e-mail
Dear Colleagues
I promised that I would keep you updated as and when there was any news on the Williams Commission recommendation concerning Local Government reorganisation.
As you will know; the map that Williams has suggested is that Torfaen, Blaenau Gwent and Caerphilly should merge to form one authority. In responding to the Williams Commission our Cabinet have stated their position as being that a merger between Torfaen, Blaenau Gwent and Monmouthshire would be their preferred option. Caerphilly’s Cabinet have now decided that their preferred option is to stand alone, and Newport has done similarly. Monmouthshire has not made any statement at present.
In the recent Welsh Government cabinet reshuffle Leighton Andrews was appointed as Minister for Public Services. He has brought a new style of approach to the issue of reorganisation, and it is clear that he intends to push the pace. Consultation on a White Paper “Devolution, Democracy and Delivery” has just closed on the 1October; that document sets out a complex timetable for a number of events to happen to bring about reorganisation, but the key message is that for those authorities merging voluntarily the new authority will come into being in 2018 and for those who wait to be required to do so by legislation it will come into being in 2020. Welsh Government have now also published a Voluntary Mergers Prospectus; in that document authorities wishing to express an interest in voluntary merger must do so by the 28 November 2014, with a full business case by 30 June 2015. Voluntary merger is not without cost, and the prospectus states that financial support separate and distinct from mainstream funding will be available to early adopters.
So where does all this leave us?
Whether we go the way of the Williams Commission map or on the lines of our Cabinet’s preferred option, it is clear that we are very likely to be merging with Blaenau Gwent at some point in the future, and it seems sensible that we start
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APPENDIX 1 – EVIDENCE OF ENGAGEMENT talking about that now. Politics aside, from my point of view as Chief Executive we have some serious budget cuts ahead over the next few years that call into question whether our organisation is sustainable if it stands alone, so we would need to be thinking about joining up with our neighbours in any event regardless of Williams. When you look at it in that light, even 2018 seems an awfully long way off.
These are clearly big political decisions, and our job as officers is to advise and support that process. To that end a special Cabinet meeting will be arranged for the 20 of October for our Cabinet members to decide formally whether they wish to enter into detailed discussions with Blaenau Gwent on preparing an expression of interest in a voluntary merger. The Leader agreed at the last Council meeting, in answering a question from Cllr Jeff Rees, that no proposal for voluntary merger would be submitted without a debate in the Council chamber; so, assuming Cabinet wishes to proceed, we will also need a special Council meeting prior to the deadline of 28 November.
I know that this is a very uncertain and worrying time for everyone, and I hope that this e mail provides a little more certainty in terms of likely future direction. I suspect that we may see quite a few developments over the next few weeks, and I will do my best to keep you up to speed.
Kind regards
Alison
Alison Ward, CBE CHIEF EXECUTIVE/PRIF WEITHREDWR TORFAEN COUNTY BOROUGH COUNCIL/CYNGOR BWRDEISTREF SIROL TORFAEN Phone/Ffon: 01495 742609 Fax/Ffacs: 01495 750797 Email/Ebost: [email protected]
Torfaen Mayor’s Charities 2014-15/Elusennau Maer Torfaen 2014-15
Message to Blaenau Gwent Staff from Chief Executive Blaenau Gwent
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6 October 2014
Special Message from the
Chief Executive
Please take some time to read this message, and print a copy for colleagues without email access.
If there is a topic you would like me to cover in the future, or have any comments/feedback you’d like to give me on this message, please email [email protected] or [email protected] or call 01495 353337.
Reforming Local Government – Voluntary Merger Discussions
Welsh Government’s Commission on Public Service Governance – the ‘Williams Commission’ published a series of recommendations about the future make up of local authorities back in early 2014. The report recommended a merger of Caerphilly, Torfaen and Blaenau Gwent to form a new local authority as its preferred option. Recently, Welsh Government in its White Paper – Reforming Local Government set out the timescales for mergers based on the Williams Commission findings and asked stakeholders for views on the proposals.
Caerphilly Council recently announced its position and that it does not intend to enter into voluntary merger discussions with Blaenau Gwent or Torfaen and wants to maintain its independence.
Blaenau Gwent’s position on any merger is that it must be in the best interests of the people of Blaenau Gwent and our hard working members of staff. I would like to let you all know that the Council is considering the recent Welsh Government prospectus outlining the support available for voluntary mergers and intend to begin exploratory discussions with Torfaen County Borough Council about a voluntary merger.
A Special Executive Committee will be held by Blaenau Gwent on Monday 20 October and
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Torfaen’s Cabinet will meet at the same time to consider the scope of the exploratory discussions and how we propose to take these forward.
I understand that this scale of change can be unsettling for staff. However, these discussions are at a very early stage and Blaenau Gwent, like Torfaen will continue to seek clarity from Welsh Government on timescales, transitional arrangement, the impact on staff and the cost of any merger and how this is to be funded. I will ensure that staff are kept up to date with developments at regular intervals via this message.
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Press Release 6th October 2014 News. Newyddion.
Torfaen County Borough Council
Communications Team, Civic Centre, Pontypool, Torfaen, NP4 6YB
PR 5104
06 October 2014
Special Cabinet announced to consider merger talks
For Immediate Release
The leader of Torfaen Council, Cllr Bob Wellington and the leader of Blaenau Gwent Council, Cllr Hedley McCarthy have announced special cabinet meetings to be held simultaneously on Monday 20 October. This announcement follows Torfaen’s previous response to the Williams Commission which outlined that should reorganisation be necessary, a preferred position would see Torfaen merge with Blaenau Gwent and Monmouthshire.
Cllr Bob Wellington, said: "The special cabinet will seek approval for a discussion in full council to open exploratory talks with colleagues in Blaenau Gwent.
"Local government is evolving and the pragmatic view is that the status quo is no longer an option. An uncontrolled drift towards a forced merger will become a massive distraction and will not deliver the speed or savings required to avoid services being cut to a point of no return.
"We are also still open to wider discussions which could deliver a merger solution in line with our original preference. This was considered the least problematic solution for south east Wales and made sense geographically with Newport remaining as a city local authority.
"In the meantime, both Blaenau Gwent and Torfaen will continue to seek clarity from the Welsh Government on the proposals with regard to timescales, transitional arrangements, service and workforce implications and above all cost. Any change must be firmly based
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APPENDIX 1 – EVIDENCE OF ENGAGEMENT on a robust cost benefit analysis and precise identification of the up front resources required to pay for such large scale change.
"Before making any final decisions in June 2015, we will hold a full debate in Council and speak with our staff, Trade Unions and local residents." Cllr McCarthy said: "We have now reached a tipping point. With finances expected to decline for several years we can only expect fundamental changes to local public services. We have a duty to explore options for a voluntary merger which could alleviate current financial pressures and could also benefit from support and financial benefits from the Welsh Government. "We must not seek solutions in isolation and believe opening discussions with Torfaen presents the best option for our communities and the best way to preserve valued services that local people rely on."
For further information please contact: Gareth Phillips on 01495 742152
Telephone: 01495 766417 / 01495 742152 Fax: 01495 766059 www.torfaen.gov.uk
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Blaenau Gwent LSB Agenda (Torfaen CX in attendance)
BLAENAU GWENT
LOCAL SERVICE BOARD
AGENDA
To be held : 2pm Monday 27 October 2014 Venue: Committee Room 3/4, Civic Centre, Ebbw Vale
Indicative Timings 1. Welcome and Apologies
2. Minutes of meeting held 18 August & matters arising (Chair) 5 mins
3 Corporate & Partnership Business
a) LSB Development Session – 5th December (outline proposal attached)
b) Commission on Public Service Governance and Delivery – voluntary mergers (Council Executive Report link attached) (Presentation by Stephen Gillingham)
http://democracy.blaenaugwent.gov.uk/aksblaenau_gwent/users/p 50 mins ublic/admin/kab14.pl? operation=SUBMIT&meet=36&cmte=CAB&grpid=public&arc=71
c) GAVO – Positioning for the new realities (verbal update Martin Featherstone)
d) Early Adopters Status – The Wellbeing of Future Generations (Wales) Bill (verbal update)
e) Draft Corporate Improvement Plan Stage 2: Review of Progress for 2013/14 (link attached)
(http://democracy.blaenau- gwent.gov.uk/aksblaenau_gwent/users/public/admin/kab14.pl?o peration=SUBMIT&meet=34&cmte=COU&grpid=public&arc=71)
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f) ‘Let’s Talk’ Public Engagement Events (Verbal update on Phase 2 and summary of findings from Phase 1 - precis attached)
g) Universal Support delivered locally (information to be tabled at meeting)
4. Single Integrated Plan:
a) Action Plans and Progress reports (attached/link) 25 mins
i. Fair and Safe Theme: ASB (Matthew Williams) ii. Healthy Theme: Mental Health (Sam Crane) (5 mins iii. Thriving: Employment (Job Creation) per iv. Vibrant Theme: Housing (copy to follow) report) v. Estyn Self Evaluation Report (Lynn Phillips) (attached for information) 5 ESF LSB Project Updates 10 mins a) Developing Vulnerability Intelligence (report attached– more information to follow further to Project Board meeting on 23rd (5 mins Oct, 2014) per b) Hedfan (report to follow) report)
7. Incoming Items for direction/decisions/action to LSB etc
a) Key communication messages from today’s meeting b) Partnership support – audit of posts/capacity (information attached, actioned via LSBON) 15 mins Items for reconsideration for LSB direction/decisions/action
a) Business representative on LSB b) CREW Deep Study of Tredegar Recommendations (Link to report: http://regenwales.org/upload/pdf/042814110151CREW%20 Deep%20Place%20Study%20April%202014.pdf ) (Executive Summary of Recommendations, information attached)
Items for Information
a) LSBON notes (copy to follow) b) GAVO Poverty is Expensive – Llanhilleth Institute, Abertillery 12th November c) LSB Development Session – General Offices, 5th December 5 mins
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d) Enabling Wales Project (Welsh Government email attached) e) PCC Victims’ Services Proposal – Victim Hub (info attached) f) Research looking at the impact on Children of having mothers serve custodial sentences (Welsh Government email attached being actioned by LSBON) g) Smoke-free Playground Poster (info attached)
8. Any other business 5 mins
LSB 5th December, General Offices) LSB 26th January, (General Offices) LSB 27th April (General Offices)
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Blaenau Gwent LSB – Extract of Draft Minutes of 27th October
Notes from LSB Meeting held on 27 October 2014, Executive Room
1. Welcome, Introductions and apologies
The Chair welcomed everybody to the meeting.
Attendance/Apologies In attendance were Stephen Thomas (Chair); David Waggett (BGCBC); Stephen Gillingham (BGCBC); David Bents (South Wales Fire); Martin Featherstone (GAVO); Lynn Phillips (BGCBC, as the lead for Learning Theme); Liz Majer (BGCBC); Jim Bennett (Coleg Gwent) Sam Crane (ABHB); Alison Ward (Torfaen CBC); Jen Barfoot (Tai Calon); Clare Hughes (DWP); Shelley Bosson (Police and Crime Commissioners office); Matthew Williams(Gwent Police) Bernadette Elias (BGCBC, LSB Support); Emma Bennett (BGCBC, LSB Support).
Apologies were received from Rhodri Asby (Welsh Government); Richard Crook (BGCBC); Jen Barfoot (Tai Calon); Bobbi Bolt (ABHB); Richard Yarwood (Penn Pharmaceuticals); Jeff Farrar (Gwent Police) Rhodri Asby (Welsh Government); Andrew Moseley (DWP); Julian Knight (Gwent Police); Emily Forbes (GAVO); Ian Johnston (Police Crime Commissioners office)
The chair introduced Alison Ward of Torfaen Council to the meeting.
…..
3. Corporate & Partnership Business
b) Commission on Public Service Governance and Delivery –voluntary
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mergers (Council Executive Report link attached) (Presentation by Stephen Gillingham)
The Chair referred to the report entitled ‘Invitation to Principal Local Authorities in Wales to submit proposals for Voluntary Merger’ The report was submitted to seek approval to enter into dialogue with Torfaen CBC and consider joint submission of and Expression of Interest relating to a voluntary merger. The Chair referred to pg. 5 of the report on the ‘Present Position’.
AW (Torfaen CBC) expressed that Torfaen’s organisation as it stands is not sustainable to reach 2018. By taking on the WG model approach it means we would be able to shape the destiny of our services. Formal letters have been sent out to Torfaen’s LSB Group which is required by Welsh Government.
The Chair pointed out that as BG Council is the largest employer in the County and if we are given the opportunity to find savings that offset these difficulties by merging then we need to take them to protect jobs.
BE expresses that both Torfaen and Blaenau Gwent Authority are both early adopters of the ‘Future Wellbeing’ Bill.
JB has been in discussion with Bron Afon Housing Association and how working together could potentially save money for both organisations.
LP suggested it may be an ample opportunity for both authorities to combine their services they commission, possibly opening to wider collaboration and even transfer to a trust.
MF asked the Chair what will happen to the LSB Group as we know it due to the imminent changes. SG proposed that we continue to deliver with business as usual as well as developing for the future.
The Chair added during this time of change we will need to look at what services each authority is delivering and who is the best to deliver a particular service.
EXTRACT ENDS
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Letter to Torfaen LSB Partners Inviting Views
LEADER OF THE COUNCIL
ARWEINYDD Y CYNGOR Councillor/Cynghorwr Robert G Wellington Leader’s Office Level 2 Civic Centre PONTYPOOL NP4 6YB
Tel.01495 742775 Fax.01495 742791
Email [email protected]
[Date] [Name] [Title] [Organisation] [Address 1] [Address 2] [Address 3] [Post Code]
Dear [Name]
Re: Views sought from LSB Partners to potential voluntary merger with Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council
I refer to the above. You would be aware that following the publication of the Williams Review earlier this year that among the reports numerous recommendations was one specific recommendation to reduce the number of existing local authorities in Wales within a defined footprint.
The Williams footprint recommends the County Boroughs of Torfaen, Blaenau Gwent and Caerphilly form a single authority; however, we know the published position of Caerphilly County Borough is to remain as a single unitary authority.
On the 18th September 2014 Welsh Government issued via the new Minister for Public Services Leighton Andrews AM an invitation to principal local authorities in Wales to submit proposals for voluntary merger and should authorities want to explore this avenue to put forward an expression of interest by 28th November 2014.
The Council’s Cabinet met on 20th October 2014 to consider a report submitted by myself with the main recommendation that the Cabinet agree that officers of the Council enter in to dialogue with officers at Blaenau Gwent County Borough to progress and complete a joint expression of interest to voluntary merger. Cabinet agreed the report and I understand colleague Cabinet members in Blaenau Gwent have undertaken a similar decision.
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-2-
[Date]
[Name]
I can confirm that prior to any submission that both Councils will be undertaking a Special Council on 25th November to discuss the proposal.
The publication from the Minister for Public Services makes it clear that as part of the process in submitting an expression of interest, the Council should engage and seek the views to possible merger with interested stakeholders.
To this end (and as we do not have another LSB meeting until 27th November 2014), I am writing as Leader of the Council to lead members of the Torfaen’s LSB to seek views to the potential of a proposed merger between the County Boroughs of Torfaen and Blaenau Gwent and that your views will form a part of our Stage 1 expression of interest submission to Welsh Government.
We are ourselves at a very early stage of exploration, and as Leader I want to seek your early views as a key partner to voluntary merger with Blaenau Gwent and I would be grateful for your written response by 21st. November 2014.
I appreciate the timescales are short and would be further grateful if you could give urgent consideration to this matter and respond within the timescale.
The invitation document I refer to in my 3rd paragraph can be found at the Welsh Government web site (hyperlink enclosed) and provides greater detail that may help you in your response. http://wales.gov.uk/docs/dsjlg/publications/localgov/140918-lg-proposals-voluntary-merger- en.pdf
I look forward to hearing from you shortly
Yours sincerely
Councillor Bob Wellington CBE
LEADER OF TORFAEN COUNTY BOROUGH COUNCIL
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LSB Partner Responses
E-Mail from Melin Homes (18/11/14)
Thank you for affording Melin Homes the opportunity to express its views with regards to the potential merger of Torfaen and Blaenau Gwent Councils.
My observations are as follows:
Melin Homes supports the Council’s decision to submit an expression of interest to the Minister to consider a merger with Blaenau Gwent CBC. Both Councils are showing positive leadership in trying to shape the future of public services, and there is real synergy in the commitment to the communities where both authorities operate. The initial public facing announcements have indicated a desire to create a new Council with a culture and approach of its own, together with a determination to embrace a fresh and vibrant approach to service delivery and that isn’t dominated by either of its founding members. This approach will be essential to delivering a successful outcome and to establish a new connection with its residents and communities, in that it needs to ‘feel’ different, not just look different. There is much good practice to share and many common areas of improvement. This means there are some early ‘wins’ that will fuel the desire for change. A commitment to involve key partners and stakeholders throughout the process would be welcome, as innovative solutions and new approaches can be identified, and a fresh look at how services might be delivered considered. Not involving partners throughout the process will lose a ‘once in a generation’ opportunity to consider how public services, not just local authority services, can be aligned and collaborative solutions introduced. This therefore presents an opportunity to offer a template that others can follow. A strong Council will enable and facilitate in addition to delivering services where appropriate. A plea for the strategic housing service – Melin has delivered over £100m of investment into Torfaen through its partnership with the strategic housing service, and as part of the consideration of merger, a full review should be undertaken as part of the due diligence process, to ensure that high value (but not always high profile) services are identified and sustainable futures secured under the new vision for the new Council. Melin Homes operates in both Torfaen and Blaenau Gwent and would welcome the opportunity to play its part in developing/ identifying new models of service delivery.
I hope that this note will be of assistance, and that e-mail format is acceptable due to the timescales involved.
Kind regards
Mark Gardner CX Melin Homes
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E-Mail from Bron Afon Community Housing (18/11/14)
I am very sorry but I cannot provide you with a response to the proposal within the timescale you have requested. The implications of a merger are very significant for Bron Afon and our Board meeting will need to discuss the matter and consider those implications before we can provide our response. I am afraid our Board is not meeting until 4th December so you will not have our response before you have to submit the proposals.
Duncan
Duncan Forbes
Chief Executive Bron Afon Community Housing Ty Bron Afon, William Brown Close, Llantarnam Industrial Park, Cwmbran NP44 3AB T 01633 620118 M 07771 573904 E [email protected] www.bronafon.org.uk Investing in People, Homes and Communities in Torfaen
E-Mail from Jeff Farrar, Chief Constable Gwent Police
Further to our telephone conversation I would have no objection to the initial proposal as this reflects the operational model we will be operating in Gwent Police.
Jeff Farrar QPM Chief Constable / Prif Gwnstabl Gwent Police Headquarters / Pencadlys Heddlu Gwent Croesyceiliog Cwmbran TORFAEN NP44 2XJ Internal: 710 3320 External: 01633 642263
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Wales Community Rehabilitation Company Mr Lyndon Puddy UTLI Gwent / Gwent LDU Head of Public Services Support Unit Swyddfa Casnewydd / Newport Office Public Service Support Unit Usk House Torfaen County Borough Lower Dock Street Glantorfaen Road Casnewydd/Newport NP20 2GD Pontypool
NP4 6YB Ffôn/T: 01633 247300
Eich cyf/Your ref: DB/HCP/171114 Date: 17th November 2014
Dear Mr Puddy
Re: Proposals for potential merger between Torfaen and Blaenau Gwent Councils
Thank you for your recent e-mail to me dated 14th November 2014. Wales CRC value working with partnership agencies and strive to work in conjunction with one another. CRC currently works across 5 local authority areas. We are fully aware of the recommendations in the Williams Review and would support the early volunteer merger of Torfaen and Blaenau Gwent Councils.
Yours sincerely
Diana Binding Assistant Chief Executive Wales CRC
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19 November 2014
Councillor Bob Wellington CBE Leader of Torfaen County Borough Council Leader’s Office Level 2 Civic Centre Pontypool NP4 6YB
Dear Bob
Potential Voluntary Merger with Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council
Further to your letter dated 14 November 2014, I can confirm that I would support a voluntary merger between Torfaen and Blaenau Gwent County Borough Councils.
Yours sincerely
Ian Johnston QPM Police and Crime Commissioner for Gwent
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E-mail from Peter Kennedy, Senior Executive Officer of the Torfaen Voluntary Alliance
From: Peter Kennedy (TVA) Sent: 20 November 2014 09:26 To: Puddy Lyndon Cc: [email protected] Subject: RE: Proposals for voluntary merger Torfaen and Blaenau Gwent Councils
Lyndon
Regarding the below. This has been discussed with Board members and Stephen Brooks has requested I respond on behalf of the Board.
TVA accepts in principle the proposed merger of Torfaen and Blaenau Gwent County Borough Councils and will lend its support in any way necessary.
Best regards
Peter
Peter M Kennedy Senior Executive Officer 01495 742453 [email protected] www.tvawales.org.uk
THINK BEFORE YOU PRINT - SAVE ENERGY AND PAPER
DISCLAIMER: The information contained in this e-mail is a) the property of Torfaen Voluntary Alliance; and b) confidential. It is intended only for the addressee. If you are not the addressee you must not disclose, copy or distribute this or take any action in reliance upon it. If you receive this e-mail in error, please notify us immediately by telephone on 01495 742420, and re-direct the e-mail and any attachments to us. WARNING: Please ensure that you have adequate virus protection in place before you open or detach any documents attached to this e-mail.
The registered office for Torfaen Voluntary Alliance is:- Portland Buildings, Commercial Street, Pontypool, Torfaen, NP4 6JS. Charity Registration No. 1097079. Company Limited by Guarantee. Registered in England and Wales. Company No. 4603713
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E-mail from David Bents, GM Operations, SWFS
From: Bents, David (GM - Operations) [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: 20 November 2014 09:15 To: Puddy Lyndon Subject: FW: feedback
Hi Lyndon,
In short, I would be supportive of a merger between Torfaen and Blaenau Gwent.
Regards
Dai
David Bents Group Manager Operations Fire Service Headquarters Forest View Business Park Llantrisant CF72 8LX e mail - [email protected]
Tel - Office - 01443 23 (2945) Tel - Mobile - 07789 921513
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APPENDIX 2 – DETAILED DEMOGRAPHIC BREAKDOWN
Population – Gender
Source: 2011-based population projections, Welsh Government
Torfaen has a marginally larger proportion of female residents (51.2%) to males which is expected to continue for the medium to long term. Blaenau Gwent also has a higher female population (50.8%) but is slightly more balanced than Torfaen, however, it is projected that the proportion of Blaenau Gwent’s female population is expected to increase over time. Gwent’s female population is greater than its male population (50.9%) and is expected to remain relatively consistent.
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Population – Primary school (aged 5-11)
Source: 2011-based population projections, Welsh Government
Torfaen currently has approximately 7,300 resident children of primary school age which are projected to increase to 8,200 in 2023, then fall to 7,800 by 2029. Blaenau Gwent currently has approximately 5,200 resident children of primary school age which are projected to increase to 5,500 by 2017, then fall to 4,900 by 2029. The combined local authorities currently have 12,500 children of this age cohort, projecting to increase to 13,500 by 2022 then fall to 12,700 by 2029. Gwent has 47,000 resident children of primary school age, projected to increase to 49,700 by 2022 then fall to 48,100 by 2029.
Please note that due to parent choice, this does not necessarily equate to children on role for those age groups in the particular areas as some children may choose to
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APPENDIX 2 – DETAILED DEMOGRAPHIC BREAKDOWN send their child(ren) to a school out of borough/area. However, after some analysis against the current school role numbers and projections produced by Torfaen’s Education service, the numbers are reasonably similar for the short term (5 years).
Population – Secondary school (aged 12-18)
Source: 2011-based population projections, Welsh Government
Torfaen currently has approximately 7,700 resident children of secondary school age which are projected to fall to 7,000 by 2017, then rise significantly to 8,100 by 2029. Blaenau Gwent currently has approximately 5,500 resident children of secondary school age which are projected to fall to 5,000 by 2019, then rise to 5,300 by 2029. The combined local authorities currently have 13,200 children of this age cohort, projecting to fall to 12,000 by 2019 then rise to 13,400 by 2029. Gwent has 49,200 resident children of secondary school age, projected to fall to 45,800 by 2018 then rise to 49,800 by 2029.
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Please note that due to parent choice, this does not necessarily equate to children on role for those age groups in the particular areas as some children may choose to send their child(ren) to a school out of borough/area. However, after some analysis against the current school role numbers and projections produced by Torfaen’s Education service, the numbers are reasonably similar for the short term (5 years) once an adjustment has been made for children who do not choose to enter 6th form.
Population – Post compulsory education (aged 16-24)
Source: 2011-based population projections, Welsh Government
Torfaen currently has 10,400 residents aged 16-24, projected to fall to 8,200 by 2024 then rise to 9,000 by 2029. Blaenau Gwent currently has 7,900 residents aged 16- 24, projected to fall to 6,000 by 2025 then rise to 6,300 by 2029. The combined local authorities currently has 18,400 residents in this age cohort, projected to fall to
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14,200 by 2025 then rise to 15,300 by 2029. Gwent currently has 65,700 residents aged 16-24, projected to fall to 55,300 by 2023 then rise to 58,400 by 2029.
Population – Aged 65 and over
Source: 2011-based population projections, Welsh Government
Torfaen currently has approximately 17,800 residents of retirement age in 2014 (aged 65+) being 19.4% of the resident population. This is projected to increase markedly over the next 15 years, as lifespan increases, to 22,900 by 2029 (24.6% of resident population). Blaenau Gwent currently has 13,300 residents of retirement age (19.2%) projected to increase to 15,900 (23.7%) by 2029. The combined local authorities have a retirement age population of 31,100 in 2014 (19.3%) projected to increase to 38,800 (24.2%) over the medium to long term. Gwent has 110,400 residents in this age cohort (19.0%) expected to rise to 141,900 by 2029 (23.6%).
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Torfaen currently has the highest growth rate of its population in this age cohort over the next 15 years with a projected 28.5% increase from 2014 to 2029.
Population – Aged 75 and over
Source: 2011-based population projections, Welsh Government
Torfaen currently has approximately 8,100 residents of aged 75 and over in 2014 being 8.8% of the resident population. This is projected to increase markedly over the next 15 years as lifespan increases to 12,100 by 2029 (13.0% of resident population). Blaenau Gwent currently has 5,700 residents of this age (8.2%) projected to increase to 8,000 (11.9%) by 2029. The combined local authorities have a population aged 75 and over of 13,800 in 2014 (8.5%) projected to increase to 20,100 (12.5%) over the medium to long term. Gwent has 48,900 residents in this age cohort (8.4%) expected to rise to 73,600 by 2029 (12.3%). Gwent currently has
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APPENDIX 2 – DETAILED DEMOGRAPHIC BREAKDOWN the highest growth rate of its population in this age cohort over the next 15 years with a projected 50.4% increase from 2014 to 2029.
Population – Aged 85 and over
Source: 2011-based population projections, Welsh Government
Torfaen currently has approximately 2,300 residents of aged 85 and over in 2014 being 2.5% of the resident population. This is projected to increase markedly over the next 15 years, as lifespan increases, to 3,800 by 2029 (4.1% of resident population). Blaenau Gwent currently has 1,500 residents of this age (2.1%) projected to increase to 2,400 (3.6%) by 2029. The combined local authorities have a population aged 85 and over of 3,800 in 2014 (2.4%) projected to increase to 6,300 (3.9%) over the medium to long term. Gwent has 13,500 residents in this age cohort (2.3%) expected to rise to 23,400 by 2029 (3.9%). Gwent currently has the
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APPENDIX 2 – DETAILED DEMOGRAPHIC BREAKDOWN highest growth rate of its population in this age cohort over the next 15 years with a projected 73.0% from 2014 to 2029.
Long-term illness (all population)
Source: Census 2011
Torfaen has approximately 22,100 residents (24.1% of all population) who have a long-term illness. This is projected to increase slightly to 22,400 in 2026 when it could start to decline gradually. Blaenau Gwent has a smaller number of its residents who are long-term ill (18,900) but a larger proportion of its population as a whole (27.2%), which are projected to decline gradually from 2014 (assuming a consistent proportion of long-term illness as report in the 2011 Census as a proportion of a declining population). The combined figures of Torfaen and Blaenau Gwent show that 41,000 residents are long-term ill (25.5%). This is projected to remain relatively level over time. Gwent has approximately 136,200 of its residents in this position, and is expected to increase constantly over the next 10-15 years to 140,500 in 2029.
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APPENDIX 2 – DETAILED DEMOGRAPHIC BREAKDOWN
Long-term illness (working population aged 16-64)
Source: Census 2011
As the working age populations of all areas is expected to decline over the medium to long term, a consistent proportion of working age long-term ill residents will also decline. Torfaen, Blaenau Gwent and a combination of the two local authorities will expect to see the same linear decline in the proportion of its long-term ill working age population over the medium to long term. Torfaen currently has an estimated 6,600 residents in this situation in 2014 declining to 6,100 over the next 15 years. Blaenau Gwent has 6,100 residents declining to 5,600 in 2029. The combination of the two local authorities has approximately 12,700 residents in 2014 falling to 11,700 in 2029. Gwent has an estimate of 41,300 residents of this nature in 2014 and is also expected to fall proportionately but at a slower rate to 39,800 in 2029.
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Unpaid carers
Source: Census 2011
Torfaen has an estimated 12,000 residents in 2014 who provide care without being paid. This is expected to rise marginally to 12,200 in 2026 then level out. Blaenau Gwent has an estimated 8,700 unpaid carers in 2014, but this is expected to decline to 8,400 by 2029 (due to the overall population declining). A combined local authority would, therefore, currently have 20,800 unpaid carers in 2014 which would remain level over time. Gwent currently has an estimate of 72,100 unpaid carers in 2014 which is projected to rise to 74,400 by 2029.
No qualifications (aged 16 and over)
Source: Census 2011
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Torfaen currently has an estimated 21,600 (28.9%) residents who do not have any qualifications (2014). This is projected to remain level until 2020 when it is expected to start to rise to 21,800 by 2029. Blaenau Gwent has 20,700 unqualified residents, but a significantly higher proportion of its population compared to Torfaen (36.1%). This is expected to fall in line with Blaenau Gwent’s declining population to 20,300 by 2029. A combined local authority would have 42,200 unqualified residents (32.0%) in 2014 and would expect to remain level over the medium to long term. The residents of Gwent, however, with currently 135,700 who are unqualified (28.7%), is expected to see a gradual rise in these numbers to 141,100 by 2029.
Qualified to degree level or higher (aged 16 and over)
Source: Census 2011
As with the unqualified residents shown above, the same projected shape of change over time applies for all areas. Torfaen currently has an estimated 15,100 residents who are qualified to degree level or higher (20.3%) rising to 15,300 by 2029. Blaenau Gwent has 8,700 residents in this category (15.2%) falling marginally to 8,600 by 2029. A combined local authority would have currently 23,700 residents in 2014 (18.0%) remaining level over the medium to long term. Gwent has a greater proportion of its residents aged 16 and over in this category (22.0%) being 104,000 in 2014 rising steadily to 108,100 in 2029.
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Economic activity (aged 16-74)
Source: Census 2011 All areas are projected to see a decline in the proportion of its residents who are economically active over the next 15 years, with Blaenau Gwent declining the fastest and Gwent the slowest. Torfaen currently has 44,100 economically active residents (66.3%) which is estimated to fall to 42,100 by 2029. Blaenau Gwent has 32,100 economically active residents (62.1%) which could fall to 30,000 over the next 15 years. A combined local authority would have approximately 76,100 residents who are economically active (64.4%) which could drop to 72,000 over the medium to long term. Gwent current has 279,700 residents in this category in 2014 (66.0%) which is estimated to fall to 275,800 by 2029.
Economic inactivity (aged 16-74)
Source: Census 2011
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The proportionate change over time of economically inactive residents for all areas is similar in shape to economic activity above. Torfaen currently has 22,400 residents who are economically inactive (33.7%) which is estimated to fall to 21,400 by 2029. Blaenau Gwent has 19,600 residents in this category but a higher proportion (38.0%) which could fall to 18,400 over the medium to long term. A combined local authority would have currently 42,100 residents who are economically inactive in 2014 (35.6%) which could fall to 39,800 by 2029. Gwent is expected to see a slower rate of decline with 144,100 residents in 2014 falling to 142,100 by 2029.
Permanently sick or disabled (aged 16-74)
Source: Census 2011
All areas are expected to see a fall in the numbers of its residents who are permanently sick or disabled (aged 16-74). Torfaen has an estimated 4,500 permanently sick or disabled residents in 2014 (6.7%) which could fall to 4,300 in 2029. Blaenau Gwent has a higher proportion of its residents in this category (9.6%) being 5,000 people, but is expected to fall to 4,600 by 2029. A combined local authority currently has 9,500 permanently sick or disabled residents (8.0%) which could fall to 8,900 over the medium to long term. Gwent currently has 29,200 residents affected (6.9%) which could fall to 28,800 by 2029.
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APPENDIX 3 – GOVERNANCE STRUCTURES
The following appendix sets out some of the governance arrangements in place across both Councils and provides a headline assessment of any similarities and differences that exist currently.
Council Political Composition
Torfaen Blaenau Gwent Labour Councillors 30 32 Independent Councillors 8 10 Conservative Councillors 4 - Plaid Cymru Councillors 2 - Number of Councillors 44 42
Executive Arrangements
Torfaen Blaenau Gwent Leader of the Council Leader of the Council Deputy Leader of the Council Deputy Leader of the Council / Executive Business Manager Executive Member for Communities Executive Member Corporate Services & Strategy Executive Member for Education Executive Member Economic Strategy and Development Executive Member Health Social Care & Executive Member Financial Wellbeing Management & Strategy Executive Member Housing, Planning & Executive Member Highways & Public Protection Transportation Executive Member Neighbourhoods Executive Member Skills and Work Preparation Executive Member for Resources & Executive Member Social Services - Corporate Governance Children & Active Living Executive Member – Social Services – Adult Services Executive Member Waste Management & the Environment Chair of Education Recovery Board Scrutiny Arrangements
Torfaen Blaenau Gwent Cleaner Communities Overview & Corporate Overview Scrutiny Committee Scrutiny Committee Healthier Communities Overview & Environment, Economy & Infrastructure Scrutiny Committee Scrutiny Committee Learning Overview & Scrutiny Education & Skills Scrutiny Committee Committee Resources & Corporate Governance Social Services & Active Living Scrutiny Overview & Scrutiny Committee Committee Safer Communities Overview & Scrutiny
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Service Areas / Directorates
Torfaen Blaenau Gwent Chief Executives Education Communities Social Services Education Environment Neighbourhood Services Resources Planning and Public Protection Corporate Services and Strategy Public Service Support Unit Resources Social Care & Housing Shared Resources Service
Senior Management Structure – Leadership Team
Torfaen Blaenau Gwent Chief Executive Chief Executive Assistant Chief Executive (Communities) Corporate Director Social Services; Assistant Chief Executive (Resources) Corporate Director Education; Chief Officer Education Corporate Director Regeneration, Chief Officer Neighbourhood Services Corporate Director Corporate Services Chief Officer Planning & Public and Strategy Protection Chief Finance Officer Chief Officer Social Care and Housing Chief Operating Officer SRS; Head of Strategic & Democratic Services Head of PSSU
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