Budget Conversation 2019/20 Outcome

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 over £900 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. Council funding from central Government has been reduced by half in real terms since 2010. Over the next 5 years the Strategic Commission is tasked with finding £70 million of savings if we are to balance the budget.

Both Tameside Council and NHS Tameside and Glossop Clinical Commissioning Group needed to agree a balanced budget for 2019/20. To prepare a balanced budget a number of considerations have to be considered, such as legal and statutory requirements placed on us by Government, an understanding of the need for different services based on the analysis of existing service use, and new ideas and opportunities for innovation while saving money. In addition the views of local people are important in helping us understand our priorities and informing the budget setting.

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.

In order to gather the views of residents in Tameside & Glossop we launched a Budget Conversation between 5 December 2018 and 29 January 2019to understand the public’s views on what our spending priorities should be, and for any ideas on ways in which we can deliver savings.
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.

We received over 730 engagements as part of the Budget Conversation process which included:

• 501 survey responses
• 211 contacts at dedicated engagement, drop-in sessions and other meetings
• 17 e mails

The top ten suggested spending priorities for the Tameside & Glossop Strategic Commission in 2019/20 and future years were:

• Older people social care
• Education and schools
• Healthcare in general
• Children’s social care
• Maintenance of roads and highways i.e. potholes
• Emergency Services: Police and Fire
• Mental Health services
• Transport infrastructure
• Littering or rubbish on the streets/Street Cleanliness
• Waste/recycling

The most popular ideas or suggestions for how we might deliver services more efficiently, save money or raise revenue were:

• Working practices and culture should be more efficient
• Increase fees or charges or fines
• Preventative early help investment to save money on service costs at later day,
• Encourage volunteering and community action
• Work with and support local businesses
• Utilise existing owned buildings better

 

Below is a breakdown of the key findings of the conversation