Productivity Plan

Background

Arun District Council is a coastal authority based in West Sussex. It has a population of 165,200 residents (Nomis) and 80,000 households. Arun currently employs 407 staff (headcount), 362.00  FTE and 11 seasonal staff. Arun has 54 elected councillors and has been a no overall control council since 2023.

The council has a revenue budget of £27.6 million for 2024/25, which is reliant on the delivery of £1.5 million in savings. Nearly 50% of the revenue budget is funded from Council Tax and the council plans to use £3.5 million of usable revenue reserves to support it. The council carries a healthy level of usable but diminishing revenue reserves (approximately £20 million) and it has developed a financial strategy to address its structural budget deficit.

The council has its own housing stock, and its Housing Revenue Account currently sits at around £0.6 million.

The council has a capital programme with some £40 million of expenditure planned to be delivered in 2024/25, subject to slippage. The two biggest schemes (£17.5 million in 2024/25) relate to the Alexandra Theatre in Bognor Regis and the Littlehampton Seafront and are largely funded from the Levelling Up Fund. The council is also planning to invest £15.1 million in its own housing stock.

Transformation of services to make better use of resources

The council has been through a period of unprecedented challenge due to uncertain local government financing, the Covid-19 pandemic, global political uncertainty, a cost-of-living crisis and rapidly increased inflation. During this period the council developed its Council Vision 2022-2026 which sets out our strategic aims for the period. This was reviewed by the council and an updated version adopted in late 2023. Whilst the strategic aims remained largely the same, a number of specific targets were changed, some because they had been completed and some because of changing priorities. Outcomes are reported annually to councillors. 

Sitting beneath the Council Vision are 42 key performance indicators for service delivery which are reported quarterly, six monthly and annually to councillors. 

Services actively pursue opportunities to make better use of resources.  Examples of this are listed below and we are able to provide more information if requested.

  • The council has in recent years used its capital reserves to deliver a new leisure centre without taking on borrowing and also to deliver other improvements to assets such as public conveniences.  In respect of the former this allowed us to negotiate a favourable contract for a leisure services operator.  Currently the council has received Levelling Up Funds and Brownfield Land Release funds which are assisting us to deliver regeneration projects. 
  • During 2023/24 Arun took action on the prevention of council housing fraud cases, resulting in recovery of 25 properties, equivalent to savings of £2,325,000.
  • The Housing Maintenance contract has just been brought back in-house and productivity gains in terms of simpler processes are already evident.
  • Arun provided pan-county project resource to lead a review of disabled facility grant delivery.   This resulted in top-slicing of the Better Care Fund to provide county-wide contracts to deliver minor adaptations and deep cleans to quickly facilitate hospital discharge.
  • Introduction of electronic short-term pollution warning signs at bathing water sites to provide timely and local information remotely.
  • Our contact centre team have started to take our services out to the community to encourage use of our online services, and ‘teach’ use of digital technology where required e.g. local veteran groups, community hubs, supermarkets, libraries.  Started spring 2024 with reviews of effectiveness to be undertaken.
  • Other tools available to customers are an automated ‘callback’ option on our telephony platform without the need to leave a message, allowing customers to make appointments convenient for them, if they have to visit the offices for certain service areas and use of webchat, both through a chatbot and direct contact with an adviser.  These are reviewed regularly and feedback on the channels used, and the nature of contacts reported to services so that they can review their processes.   There was an increase of 52% in the use of webchat between 2021 and 2023.

Opportunities to take advantage of technology and make better use of data to improve decision making, service design and use of resources

The use of ICT has significantly changed the way we deliver services, and this is being continuously developed.  ICT is managed in-house, with external providers for significant systems.  Some examples of improved efficiency which also allow us to capture data are:

  • The council’s website has been redeveloped to be easier and quicker to use, and accessible to as many people as possible. Data analytics and online feedback are used to continually improve the user experience. The digital team also work closely with services and communications to provide information that is clear, relevant and user friendly.
  • Online portals for customers to self-serve operate across most services and this is a key element where new systems are being procured and developed, whilst also ensuring access for non-digital customers.
  • Over 100 interactive on-line forms to provide easier to use intelligent forms for customers to interact 24/7 and streamline back-office process. 
  • Mobile app technology to provide live updates and communication to residents on service updates related to waste and recycling services. This will allow targeted messaging and bespoke communications to postcodes impacted by service changes/disruption.
  • Sharing and merging spatial data across the organisation and between organisations to support modelling and help inform decision making.
  • Increased use of mobile working devices/software to enable off-site working, single data entry and retrieval across a number of services.
  • Use of iPads at polling stations during elections, improving efficiency, accuracy and the customer experience.
  • Adopting a cloud first strategy, providing improved resilience, disaster recovery and lowering energy costs.
  • Exploring partnership options for system support and development in order to reduce cost and effort to replace systems and will allow greater control over improvements.
  • Upskilling of technical staff on Geographic Information Systems (GIS), enabling much more accurate modelling and assessment of flood and coastal erosion, allowing our engineers to carry out feasibility work required for National Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management (FCERM) bids in-house and better support planning appeals. This has resulted in higher quality developments and a significant saving as this work would have had to be completed by consulting engineers.
  • Use of external company’s footfall data mapping services to demonstrate demand for facilities.
  • Widespread adoption of connected devices has enabled us to reach a wider audience when carrying out consultations. This has enabled us to make decisions that are more representative of our community.
  • Exploring GenerativeAI and developing a policy to provide a framework for the increasing interest in and use of this technology.

Plans to reduce wasteful spend in your organisation and systems

As part of the 2024/25 budget setting process, the new Group Head of Finance and S151 Officer reported to Members that the council needed to identify savings immediately if the organisation was to eradicate its structural budget deficit. A savings review was carried out across the council by the Interim Chief Executives in late 2023, supported by our new Group Head of Finance and S151 Officer and Members were consulted on all savings proposals. The savings were agreed as part of the detailed 2024/25 revenue budget by Policy & Finance Committee on the 8 February 2024 and Full Council on the 21 February 2024. This first phase of work resulted in revenue savings of £1.5 million.

Following his appointment, the Group Head of Finance and S151 Officer has embedded a financial reporting regime whereby regular monthly budget monitoring reports are produced for all budget holders and monthly corporate reports and presented to the Corporate Management Team. Furthermore, quarterly budget monitoring reports are presented to Members at all service committees, including the corporate report to Policy & Finance Committee. The key purpose is to enable effective corporate decision making which is based on accurate, timely and comprehensive financial information.   

In order to address the remaining structural budget deficit, the following initiatives have been implemented:

  • The council periodically reviews its future accommodation needs and has recently agreed to undertake a comprehensive review as part of our adopted financial strategy.  Currently, we have let surplus space within our main Civic Office to both the Probation Service and the NHS (on a temporary basis) and are working with the Citizens Advice Bureau to co-locate them into council buildings to gain more cost-effective accommodation and support more coordinated service delivery for the community.
  • In November 2023 the council agreed to carry out a local boundary review of the number of councillors and warding arrangements with a specific focus on savings through reducing the number of councillors. It is planned that changes be implemented for the local elections in 2027. 
  • The council contributes £125,000 to a county-wide Citizens Advice structure to support this vital infrastructure service, delivering advice and advocacy services on our behalf. Estimated cost to the Local Authority to deliver this in-house is circa £1m.
  • The council undertakes coordination and leadership of the Local Community Network – a partnership of infrastructure services within the district to work collaboratively on social determinants of health and avoid duplication - looking at Arun as the place.
  • Internal project teams are used to deliver projects (supported by external consultants) – this can be more cost effective and important for internal communication. Projects approved in phases to limit unnecessary consultant expenditure.
  • The council has reduced its reliance on agency staff, reducing from 57 (headcount) in 2022 to 22 in 2024, a reduction of 62%, which resulted in a 55% (£1.7m) decrease in agency spend between 2022/23 and 2023/24. This is being reviewed on a regular basis and further reductions are expected.
  • Alongside this we will continue to develop apprenticeships, particularly in technical areas.  We use career grades, supporting opportunities for progression and also the development of more generic officer roles to increase resilience within often smaller officer teams. This focus on skills development is particularly important in services that require staff with a high level of professional qualifications where local remuneration levels mean that we will not always be able to compete with the private sector or other councils.   
  • Mandatory training on Equality & Diversity is provided to ADC staff every 2-3 years. This is usually a 3-hour virtual training session that all staff are required to attend. There may be changes to the specific focus of such training if particular issues are identified.  The cost of this training for 2022/23 was £7,700 for 400 staff. New employees are required to undertake two webinars which is an additional cost.   We are currently reviewing our training priorities going forward, including future work on EDI.
  • The council has created training cost efficiencies by working with several other councils across East & West Sussex as members of the Sussex Training Consortium (STC). The council pays the STC an annual membership fee of £1,600. The STC then source and offer a wide range of courses to all employees across the partner councils, taking into account requests for particular courses.  This allows our employees to have access to a much greater training offering at a discounted rate.
  • The council continues to have a constructive relationship with Unison at a local level, with regular consultation and meetings as issues require. Recent public-sector trade union facility time data (22/23) shows that Arun spent 0.02% of the paybill on facility time.

Barriers preventing activity that the Government can help to reduce or remove

The most significant central barrier to local productivity is single-year finance settlements. Without a clear indication about funding for multiple years, councils cannot effectively plan and deploy their resources.

We would also strongly encourage closer working as fully and early as possible, between the Government and local councils when designing and deciding policy This has resulted in initiatives and funds that are more complicated than necessary and that are difficult and, in some cases costly, for councils to implement. 

We would also benefit from much greater flexibility for our council to decide how to raise and spend money locally. Central prescription and ringfencing constrain our ability to allocate our resources effectively.

We incur unnecessary spending and waste valuable officer time complying with rules, requirements, restrictions and processes imposed by central government and regulators. These include:

  • The number of specific, formula-based revenue grants and their separate reporting requirements – it would be much simpler and more efficient to roll all specific grants into a single provision in the Local Government Finance Settlement.
  • The wide range of separate one-off revenue and capital grant pots with onerous, costly and counter-productive bidding processes.  This can lead to high upfront costs for a local authority already limited in resources and abortive work and cost where there are no genuine opportunities for grant funding, or if bids are unsuccessful. The bidding process is time-consuming and skewed in favour of larger authorities who have greater internal capacity to prepare bids.
  • Linked to this the constraints of external funding submissions and deadlines.  can prove unrealistic.  This can be counterproductive in setting expectations to the public. It can mean for example that construction projects are required to continue through peak tourist season to meet deadlines which impacts service provision and council income. Clarity is needed concerning how external funding will be administered and the requirements on the authority on award, at the pre-application stage to allow the authority to seek the correct approvals and plan appropriately. 
  • Lack of join-up between central government departments on issues including housing, homelessness prevention and asylum dispersal.
  • A lack of skilled workers can be an issue when complying with the strict criteria from central government, examples being the Home Upgrade Grant (HUG) and Local Authority Delivery scheme (LAD). Funding has been made available but there are limited suitable contractors to undertake this work. Paired with this is the lack of suitable courses/certification for workers who do not meet these requirements to become ‘suitable qualified’
  • Reduce the burden of Freedom of Information (FOI) requests. Guidance discourages charging and this often takes resources away from statutory work within services. The FOI process is often abused by commercial organisations using it to undertake ‘fishing’ trips in order to circumvent procurement frameworks with a direct approach to the council, which uses valuable officer time and financial resource with ultimately little to no gain to the general public.
  • Remove restriction and limits for charging fees and generating surpluses. Unless enabled in regulations, fees can usually only be charged for non-statutory work. This means the council cannot recover the costs of delivering most statutory work, including food inspections, health and safety inspections/investigations non-statutory work, and taking enforcement (serving notices) action. There is inconsistency between the various regulatory regimes that need to be addressed in this regard. It is noted that HSE are permitted to charge for their inspections, which are delivered under the same legislation as LAs, but we are not. Further, some regimes, such as Licensing Act, specify fees but these have not been increased since the regime was introduced. Other regimes such as determining Assets of Community Value do not enable local authorities to charge fees, but consume significant officer resource. 
  • Need for wider introduction of fixed penalty notices to support LAs to address non-compliances more effectively. This could also provide ring-fenced funding to support regulatory regimes, many of which have been significantly scaled back due to LA resourcing. Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs) are available in Scotland for nuisance offences but not in England, this is in consistent. This could mean that regulatory services are self-funded, and importantly ensure a level playing field, where the cost of non-compliance is greater than the cost of compliance.
  • Allow local authorities to issue penalty charge notices on the basis of Automatic Number Plate Recognition software.
  • Excessive amount of information that is required in annual accounts or has to be published under the transparency code. 
  • Statutory overrides such as the requirement to value assets for accounts every year.
  • Regulatory bodies seeking “to the letter” compliance with their statutory codes.
  • Allow local authorities to issue Assured Shorthold Tenancies.
  • Enable Better Care Funding to be applied to revenue as well as capital spend.
  • Reduce the burden of statutory reporting.  Could this all be combined into one return based on single KPIs for each? For Environmental health this includes Health & Safety LAE1, Food Safety LAEMs (twice per year), DWI Private Water Supplies, OEP Environmental Protection/Nuisance(new this year), Air Quality Annual Status Report, Permitting return, HMRC (food and taxis), Licensing Act, Animal Licenses, Taxis/Private Hire, Gambling Act. 
  • Additional support in resources to enable greater progress in dealing with climate change and reduction in CO2 emissions. It remains much more expensive to incorporate sustainability into projects especially the case for retrofitting buildings. Funding provided is limited, extremely competitive, filled with very strict and specific criteria with extremely long application forms.
  • Registered Social Landlords (RSL’s) are not bidding on affordable properties being brought forward by developers as part of the section 106 agreements. One of the reasons for this is that RSL’s are prioritising their own limited resources and grant available from Homes England on developing land led schemes in order to have more control over design, construction, costs and service charges. RSLS also are focused on investing in their existing homes and services. The results of this shift in focus from the RSL’s is that developers are delaying start on site whilst they and the LA attempt to find an acceptable compromise on the provision of the affordable units. It does mean that either no affordable rented housing is provided on development sites or less than would normally be required in a S106 agreement.