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Tameside Council (TMBC) and NHS Tameside and Glossop Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) have come together to form the Tameside and Glossop Strategic Commission. We are responsible for a range of services from bin collections through care for the elderly to the provision of GP surgeries.
The total amount of money spent by both organisations combined is approximately £935 million a year. Although a significant sum of money, that amount has reduced considerably over recent years due to cuts in funding from central Government, particularly for the Council. We have had to save £160 million in the last six years to balance the books. We also have to save a further £33 million over this year and next year in order to balance the budget. As such, both organisations have to find new and innovative ways to provide the services local people want.
Both Tameside Council and NHS Tameside and Glossop Clinical Commissioning Group have to set a balanced budget for 2020/21. To prepare a balanced budget a number of considerations have to be taken into account. These include legal and statutory requirements placed on us by Government, an understanding of the need for different services based on an analysis of existing service use, identifying new ideas and opportunities for innovation including exploring what other areas are doing, as well as the need to make savings whilst continuing to deliver for our community. In addition, the views of local people are important in helping us understand your priorities and informing the budget setting.
A set of information slides were made available with a breakdown of the Strategic Commission’s spending – where does the money come from, how it is spent and some of the challenges we face as an organisation. This can be found here.
Please also note Tameside & Glossop Strategic Commission provide health services for Tameside & Glossop and council services for Tameside only. Council services in Glossop are the responsibility of Derbyshire County Council and High Peak Borough Council and are not part of this budget conversation.
To gather the views of residents in Tameside & Glossop we launched a Budget Conversation between 6 December 2019 and 15 January 2020. This encouraged residents to see themselves as citizens and not just as consumers of services.
  
In order to understand the public’s views, residents were asked what they think our spending priorities should be and where they think we would be able to save money.
We received over 850 responses from people as part of the Budget Conversation process which included:
- 536 contacts from dedicated drop-in sessions, held in libraries and the Wellbeing Corner in Ashton Market Hall, and engagement sessions with groups including Tameside Youth Council, Tameside College, Ashton Sixth Form, and visitors to the Grafton Centre
- 282 online survey responses, as promoted on social media and in the local media
- 23 social media responses
- 17 email responses
- 1 letter in The Reporter
The top suggested spending priorities for the Tameside & Glossop Strategic Commission in 2020/21 were: 
- Education and Schools
- Older People Social Care
- Healthcare Services in General
- Maintenance of Roads and Highways
- Children’s Social Care
- Street Cleanliness/Fly-tipping
- Emergency Services: Police And Fire
- Mental Health Services
- Primary Care Specifically: GPs, Dentists, Pharmacies, Opticians
- Waste/Recycling
- Investment in Town Centres
- Public Transport
- Youth Clubs and Leisure Facilities
The most popular ideas or suggestions for how we can deliver services more efficiently, save money, or raise revenue were:
- More efficient working practices and culture
 Closer partnership working with other councils, public sector organisations and the voluntary sector - Preventative early help investment to handle issues before they escalate
- Encouraging volunteering and community action
- Increase fees, charges or fines
- Work with or support local businesses
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