INTEGRATED PLAN PART A OVERVIEW - Hertfordshire · 1 Introduction – Strategic Context and Key Decisions 1.1 The Integrated Plan (IP) sets out the Council’s plans for service delivery

INTEGRATED PLAN

PART A – OVERVIEW

Contents Page

Part A: Overview

Section 1: Strategic Context and Key Decisions 3 - 11

Section 2: Revenue Budget Funding 11 - 15

Section 3: Risk Management, Uncertainties, Contingency and Sensitivity Analysis

15 - 20

Section 4: Capital Programme 20 - 22

Appendix A: Summary Budget Movements & Funding Statement 23 - 24

Appendix B: Local Government Act 2003 - S25 Report of the Director of Finance

25 - 30

Part B: Strategic Direction and Financial Consequences

1. Adult Care & Health portfolio 31 - 56

2. Children, Young People & Families portfolio 57 - 81

3. Community Safety & Waste Management portfolio 82 - 108

4. Education, Libraries & Localism portfolio 109 - 131

5. Growth, Infrastructure, Planning & the Economy portfolio 132 - 151

6. Highways & Environment portfolio 152 - 178

7. Public Health & Prevention portfolio 179 - 190

8. Resources & Performance (including Central Items) portfolio 191 - 221

9. Education, Libraries & Localism portfolio – Schools 222 - 232

Part C: Capital Strategy 233 - 279

Part D: Treasury Management Strategy 280 - 312

Part E: Insurance and Risk Strategy 313 - 326

Part F: Equalities Impact Assessment 327 - 334

Part G: Supporting Technical Information & Summary Tables 335 - 359

IP Part A: Overview 1

Guide to using the Integrated Plan pack

The Integrated Plan is a multi–part pack and each section forms a standalone document. Each part includes summary and detailed tables and commentary to explain them. It includes:

Parts A and B (supported by the detailed schedules at Part G), set out the overall revenue and capital budget position and a detailed narrative for each Portfolio’s budget proposals.

• Part A provides an overview of the proposed revenue budget and capital programme, including a review of the budget estimates and adequacy of reserves. It also includes the legal declaration of the Director of Resources/s151 officer on the robustness of the estimates provided.

• Part B sets out, for each Cabinet Portfolio, the Strategic Direction and Financial Consequences. These set out the future service direction and priorities, including details of revenue budget movements (pressures and savings) and capital programme proposals. They also include benchmarking comparisons and an assessment of key risks in delivering services within the IP.

Parts C to E provide the detailed strategies that support the Council’s financial processes. Part F summarises the equalities impact assessment. Part G provides supporting detailed schedules.

• the Capital Strategy (part C), including changes arising from updated guidance, and detailing how the Council will invest in its property and infrastructure assets and use its resources to deliver financial returns and service efficiencies;

• the Treasury Management Strategy (Part D), a statutory requirement setting out the Council’s approach to borrowing and financial investments, including changes arising from new guidance;

• the Insurance and Risk Strategy (Part E), sets out the Council’s approach to risk management and insurance;

• the Equalities Impact Assessment is also included (Part F), which considers the cumulative equality impact of IP proposals; and

• Detailed supporting schedules provide other technical information and financial summaries, and these are included in Part G.


1 Introduction – Strategic Context and Key Decisions

1.1 The Integrated Plan (IP) sets out the Council’s plans for service delivery within available funding. It brings together services’ key priorities and plans for delivering these, alongside the strategies that shape how the Council manages its resources.

1.2 These plans have been set in the context of the difficult operational challenges that the Council faces, including:

• Increasing demand for services from our growing and ageing population • Increasing complexity of needs of existing service users, for example within

social care related services; • Significant savings already delivered by the Council since 2010.

1.3 Additionally, the process to prepare the IP for 2020 has been marked by an unusually high level of uncertainty. At the time of the last IP, councils were expecting in the year ahead:

• A new spending round outlining public spending plans for the coming years • key changes to local government funding including Business Rates Retention

and the Fair Funding review

Given the national political situation, only a one year spending round was announced, increasing the uncertainty for Councils.

Investing in Hertfordshire

Despite these challenges, the Council remains determined that Hertfordshire continues to be a county where people have the opportunity to live healthy, fulfilling lives in thriving, prosperous communities.

Prudent financial management has helped the Council tackle some of the challenges outlined above. This, coupled with an increase in funding for the first time in many years, means that it is possible to consider investing in key services. This Integrated Plan includes investing in the following:

• £12.6m into Hertfordshire’s care workforce. The proposals reflect the council’s commitment to social care and the thousands of people making a real difference in our communities each and every day. We want to recognise the highly skilled role that our 30,000 care workers play in supporting older and disabled people by investing in our care workforce where we feel it will have the greatest impact, directly into pay. These new plans will help us to build a system which financially rewards those working in social care but also offers real opportunities for career development and progression. Ultimately it will help stabilise the care market and ensure we can continue to support vulnerable adults

• The cost of supporting some of the most vulnerable children who are in our care is increasing, as their needs increase and the cost of specialist support and care increases. This budget includes additional funding to ensure we can


continue to support them, and continues the transformation programme to develop more specialist care capacity within the county

• To help meet the challenges of a growing county, through continuing the annual £8m additional investment in Hertfordshire’s local road network. This now reaches £37m over a 5 year period, and is improving the standards in this road network

• In July 2019, the Council agreed the declaration of a climate emergency. Alongside some of the existing initiatives, including the air quality strategy and the energy strategy, this budget includes:

o £10m of capital investment to support the Intalink partnership and invest in public transport and bus priority measures

o Initial funding (of £300k per year) to provide the capacity and expertise necessary to help support taking forward the emerging Sustainable Hertfordshire Strategy and Action Plan

There are other more detailed proposals contained throughout the IP document, including within the individual Portfolio strategic Direction statements (Part B).

Future Financial Position

1.4 The summary IP position shows a balanced position for 2020/21, but with significant and rising budget gaps in later years (£13.6m rising to £36.2m). This is essentially because the demand and cost of services is increasing faster than our funding levels. At the same time, after 10 years of identifying and delivering savings, it is proving harder and harder to identify new efficiencies.

2020/21£'000

2021/22£'000

2022/23£'000

2023/24£'000

IP 2020 gap (assuming new funding is continued)

- 13,599 28,888 36,219

Continuation of Government funding assumed

- 30,603 30,603 30,603

IP 2020 gap (if new funding is not continued)

- 44,202 59,491 66,822

1.5 The table also shows that if government funding is not continued, the gap increases to £66.822m.

1.6 Securing a balanced financial plan for 2020/21 proved more challenging than was originally expected. This is due to significant pressures being recognised in a range of operational areas (especially in social care services) and also to the national political position noted above, which has impacted on the expected level of resources and the timing and content of key announcements (such as SR19).

1.7 The need to prepare a multi-year spending round in 2020 and also to progress the proposed changes to councils’ funding will mean that there will continue to be a huge level of uncertainty over funding across the next 12 months, and this will impact on the planning for the budget for 2021/22.


1.8 This position necessarily responds to unforeseen service pressures that that manifested during the current year (2019/20), as reported in the quarterly monitors to members. These pressures have been most noticeable in children’s social care, and the current IP has been prepared to reflect the estimated future impact of those current pressures.

1.9 The chart below shows illustrates the financial outlook, setting out both the level of savings required overall, and the level of savings already found and yet to be identified. The extent of the savings required as presented in the table above for later years gives cause for concern, and ongoing work will need to be undertaken to ensure that a balanced and sustainable budget can be prepared in forthcoming years.

It is clear that increased demand for services and costs of provision remain a major factor for HCC. The budget position over the IP period can be summarised as follows:

– The cost of providing services is forecast to increase by £175m over next 4

years

– Resources are expected to increase by £77m

– Hence the starting point is a budget gap of £98m

– There are £46m of savings plans in IP

– There is a £16m target for cross-cutting transformation savings (Next gen,

office accommodation and future workforce)

– Hence a gap of £36m remains

-

20.0

40.0

60.0

80.0

100.0

120.0

2020/21 2021/22 2022/23 2023/24

£m

Year

IP 2020/21 Savings

To be identified

Transformation proposed savings

Savings identified


Securing a balanced budget

1.10 The table below sets out how the budget gap identified for 2020/21 and reported to Council in February 2019 has moved to a balanced position by January 2020.

2020/21£m

2021/22£m

2022/23£m

2023/24£m

Budget Gap at February 2019 19.9 29.9 44.3 58.3Inflation - pay 1.5 1.5 1.4 1.4Inflation - non-pay (4.4) (4.6) (3.9) (2.3)Demography 1.3 1.1 1.6 2.8Capital Financing (0.4) 0.2 4.7 10.8Other Pressures & Investments 37.6 48.7 49.4 49.5Changes in grant funding (30.8) (30.6) (30.6) (30.6)Business Rates Retention Scheme & Collection Fund

(7.0) (5.0) (5.0) (5.0)

Council Tax & Collection Fund (12.3) (12.7) (13.1) (13.5)Additional Savings (5.4) (14.9) (19.8) (35.2)Gap at January 2020 - 13.6 28.9 36.2

1.11 It can be seen from the table above that substantial operational pressures and investments were presented over and above those already included in IP 2019 (including through capital bids and other pressures and investments). These responded to pressures identified through financial monitoring in the current year, as well as information estimating the future impact of current trends along with proposals for investment.

1.12 The table above also sets out the impact of the new resources (totalling £30.8m) announced as part of the Spending Review (SR19). These include continuation into 2020/21 of previous grants announced for one year only in 2019/20, as well as additional new funding as follows:

£mNew Social Care Funding (part of £1bn national funding) 14.6Social Care Support Grant 7.0Winter Pressure 2.0iBCF 4.5Fire Pensions 2.2Teachers Pensions 0.2Additional New Homes Bonus (one year only) 0.2Total 30.8

Whilst the £1bn for social care was confirmed in the Conservative manifesto, and hence looks likely to continue beyond next year, there remains uncertainty about the other grants.

1.13 The estimated costs and benefits of key transformation projects are in the budget

gaps identified in the table in para 1.10 above, including the Next generation project, Office accommodation strategy and Future Workforce. In some latter cases these are high level estimates at this stage.


1.14 The Council continues to invest to deliver services more efficiently and with better outcomes for users. We will continue to prioritise frontline services – all new savings proposed are from efficiencies rather than policy changes impacting service delivery.

Planning assumptions

1.15 As in the previous IP, revenue and capital plans have been set for a four year period which is now extended out to 2023/24. However, while core government funding for 2020/21 is covered by the SR19 announcements, revenue funding beyond this is uncertain (as discussed earlier).

1.16 For the IP period, in line with recent trends, services will continue to face demand pressures from population changes, not only from the growing elderly population but more significantly from learning disability and children looked after and special education needs transport. This higher demand has impacted the market for social care, increasing prices for specialist care.

1.17 Revenue budgets (the net running costs of the Council’s services) are based on the current year budget, which is then adjusted for inflation, for any unavoidable changes (for example population increases), any new legal and statutory responsibilities. Any avoidable changes are challenged, and the resulting costs are compared to forecast overall funding, with the difference – the budget gap – to be met by making savings.

1.18 The Council has also considered where investment will help significantly improve services, or to drive forward the corporate plan and priorities.

1.19 In response, services seek new ways of working to deliver improved services and efficiencies. There is a continued focus on the need to develop preventative strategies to reduce demand and deliver better outcomes for Hertfordshire residents and businesses, such as the review and redesign of adult social care services over the IP period.

1.20 The Council has further developed its Capital and Investment strategies to make best use of these resources, recognising the impact of capital spend on the revenue budget, and the opportunities to add value and generate income streams from this investment. The first investment from the Councils commercial property fund is delivering income that is included in this IP. The proposed Capital Programme also invests in the infrastructure that will be needed for a rising population and to support economic growth.

Key decisions in IP 2019

1.21 Key decisions in this Integrated Plan include

• To raise council tax by 1.99% in 2020/21; • To include a social care precept at 2% in 2020/21; i.e. a total council tax

increase of 3.99%


• Planned efficiency savings to be delivered in all years; • Provision for specific inflation on spending budgets where there are

contractual or statutory increases, but otherwise requiring services to absorb non pay inflation within existing budgets (part G refers);

• Continuing to review pay levels for our care staff and those of our key providers;

• Proposed levels of capital investment, and the planned funding to achieve this;

• The new capital investment schemes proposed, and also the changes to investment required by previously agreed schemes;

• The associated revenue costs of changed and new capital schemes; • The requirement to provide forward funding for schools expansion schemes

where developer contributions are only expected to be received at a late stage in the construction process;

• Use of planned capital receipts based on specific properties and opportunities to support the capital programme and reduce borrowing costs, whilst also earmarking surplus sites for operational use, or for development to generate enhanced future receipts and/or income streams; and

• Setting out principles for the disposal of specific assets to fund new capital projects, where there is a reliable business case.

Chief Finance Officer Assurances

1.22 It is a requirement of every Council budget that the designated s151 officer (Chief Finance Officer) provides assurances through a ‘Section 25’ Statement on:

• The robustness of the estimates presented to Council, and • The adequacy of the reserves available to the Council, given the risks and

uncertainties it faces.

The formal statement is provided as Appendix B at the end of Part A.

Budget 2020/21

1.23 The proposed 2020/21 revenue budget is £850.6m. Table 1 in Appendix A at the end of Part A summarises the movements from the 2019/20 original budget over the Integrated Plan period 2020/21 to 2023/24; the budget by service is shown in Table 4 in Part G (Other Technical Information).

1.24 Key movements from the previous IP are set out in the table overleaf. This table shows how the budget for 2019/20 was in balance (1 – net revenue budget 2019/20), and moves to a balanced position for 2020/21 (4- net revenue budget 2020/21).


Analysis of the overall Budget Movement between 2019/20 and 2020/21 £m £m £mExpenditure Income Net

1) Net Revenue Budget 2019/20 818.743 (818.743) -Pressures on budget:

Inflation – pay 6.273 6.273Inflation – non pay 6.510 6.510Pressures – demography 11.757 11.757Pressures and investments – other:

Adult Care Services 19.718 19.718Children's Services 10.957 10.957Other 15.307 15.307

Business Rates Retention Scheme 1.368 1.368Grant Reductions:

New Homes Bonus 0.263 0.263School Improvement Grant 0.600 0.600

Collection Fund balances 1.100 1.100

2) Increase in pressures 70.522 3.331 73.853

Met by: Reversal of one-off items from 2019/20)

Other (5.343) (5.343)Technical Adjustments: Expenditure (Misc) (16.213) (16.213)Technical Adjustments: Income (iBCF) 12.909 12.909

Existing savings / policy choices (9.408) (9.408)New efficiency savings (7.729) (7.729)New policy choice savings - -

Technical Adjustments and Savings (38.693) 12.909 (25.784)

Additional Grants:

Social Care Support Grant - additional (14.643) (14.643)Fire Pension Grant (0.314) (0.314)Teachers Pensions Grant (0.200) (0.200)Public Health (0.787) (0.787)Other (0.281) (0.281)

Council tax increase (including tax-base growth) (19.025) (19.025)ASC Precept increase (including tax-base growth) (12.820) (12.820)

Funding - (48.069) (48.069)

3) Mitigation of pressures (38.693) (35.160) (73.853)

4) Net Revenue Budget 2020/21 850.572 (850.572) -

1.25 The movement from 2019/20 to 2020/21 shows increased pressures on the budget, with an overall increase in pressures of £73.853m, made up of £70.522m of proposed increases to spending and £3.331m of decreases in income items (2 – increase in pressures).

1.26 These pressures were mitigated through a combination of technical adjustments that reverse previous one-off expenditure items and increases in savings, totalling £25.784m, and increased income items of £48.069m (chiefly planned increase in council tax and Adult Social Care Precept, along with additional Social Care Support Grant that had not been anticipated).


1.27 Key movements from the previous IP, set out in the table above, are described in more detail below.

• Inflation: As noted above, pay inflation is modelled at 2.75% for 2020/21 (2% for 2021/22 onwards). These give a total cost of £6.3m for 2020/21 (£4.8m pa thereafter). Standard non-pay expenditure inflation has been frozen again for 2020/21 (a contingency of £5m pa is held from 2021/22), with only exceptional service specific inflation applied where, for example, contracts stipulated a requirement to uplift prices by inflation.

• Pressures and investments: Demographic change in the elderly and child populations, together with growth in Learning Disability and other social care client groups, continues to generate the greatest pressures. These forecasts have been subject to detailed review and challenge.

In addition, investments in services include the National Living Wage (NLW), where provision has been made to meet NLW and maintain a differential for pay levels immediately above this, and Pay Rates for Care Workers, to increase the attractiveness in careers in care in order to improve the retention and recruitment in this area.

• Grant Reductions: A small number of minor grants have reduced or ceased, resulting in a slight pressure. These were anticipated, although additional funding was announced as part of SR19 (see below).

• Collection Fund: The collection fund reflects the year-to-year differences between estimated and actual collection of Council Tax and Business Rates, due to changes in collection rate and levels of base-growth. 2020/21 estimates the collection fund balances to be significantly lower than that experienced during 2019/20 (£1.1m).

• Reversal of One-Off items & Technical adjustments: This figure represents the reversal of items included in the budget for 2019/20 as one-off values (which therefore need to be removed from the 2020/21 base budget). These are primarily contained within Central Items budgets, and comprise of the reversal of one-off transfers to reserves of funding for Invest to Transform (£2.03m), Corporate Transformation (£1m), and Business Rates (£1.3m). In addition, there is a technical presentation change for iBCF (£12.1m) in both Income and Expenditure, netting to nil, to account for the transfer of this funding into Pooled Budgets following revised Government guidance.

• Savings: Existing savings options have been reviewed to confirm they are deliverable, and new efficiency savings have been identified. Officers will continue to monitor delivery of savings during 2020/21, and report on any issues in the quarterly Finance monitor.

• Additional grants: Growth in grant funding, arising primarily from anticipated receipts for social care (£14.6m) and other smaller movements.

• Council tax / ASC Precept: Anticipated increases as a result of the 1.99% increase in the rate of Council Tax (along with growth in the tax-base), and 2.00% increase in the ASC Precept (2020/21 only).


2 Revenue Budget – Funding

Provisional Finance Settlement

2.1 The provisional local government finance settlement was released on 20th

December 2019, through a written ministerial statement. The levels of Government Grants announced were in line with the Spending Round 2019 in October.

2.2 The Government also calculates authorities’ Spending Power, which includes income from locally raised Council Tax and Adult Social Care Precept. The Council’s Spending Power for 2020/21 is £819.6m, of which £178.3m is funded by central government grants and business rates.

2.3 No changes to New Homes Bonus are expected beyond the small changes already notified (although this is possible).

2.4 The Business Rates Retention, and the implementation of a Fair Funding Review that will re-assess funding need across all authorities, are expected to be introduced in 2021/22 at the earliest now. Whilst there may be some transitional protection, these changes may give some significant funding movements.

2.5 The funding position at Table 2 (see Appendix A) shows the latest estimates of available Central Government funding based on the provisional financial settlement, together with projections of other income sources including Council Tax and Business Rates Collection Fund balances.

2.6 The provisional settlement outlined the provision for the social care precept to 2020/21, allowing social care authorities to raise the precept of up to 2% in that year. Additionally, it confirmed referendum threshold for General Council tax increases to be used for 2020/21 as 1.99%.

2.7 The provisional settlement further confirmed the SR19 announcements, where the Chancellor announced a repeat of the Winter Pressures Grant for 2020/21 and also a repeat of the funding for adults and children’s social care. Additionally, a £1bn amount of further funding for social care was announced. This is to be divided into an amount to ensure that authorities with low council tax bases are not at detriment (i.e. more properties in the lower council tax bands). This will create a fund of £150m. However, the Council does not meet the criteria and so will not receive an allocation from this fund. The balance of £850m is expected to be distributed on the relative needs formula (RNF) basis; the provisional settlement has indicated the Council will receive £14.6m. Other benefits outside this amount include confirmation of Better Care Fund (BCF) funding, the social care support grant being repeated, winter pressures funding, Public Health grant inflationary growth, funding for firefighter pensions costs, as well as a range of smaller grant amounts being confirmed. Whilst the £1bn for social care was confirmed in the Conservative manifesto, and hence looks likely to continue beyond next year, there remains uncertainty about the other grants.

2.8 Overall, the benefit of these grant announcements is £30.6m in 2020/21 (along with an additional £0.2m for New Homes Bonus), with the social care precept providing an additional £12.3m on top of this.


2.9 The graph below shows a breakdown of how the authority’s resources are funded.

2.10 The gap between forecast expenditure and resource funding is widening over the period of this Integrated Plan, as shown in the table below.

Business Rates

2.11 Business Rates income is received as a proportion of income collected by local District/Borough councils, increased by “top up” from, or reduced by “tariff” to, central government to an assessed baseline level of need. Income increases each year by the nationally set rate (based on September CPI).

2.12 Estimates of business rates income in Hertfordshire will be confirmed at the end of January by district councils, who act as billing authority.

0.0

200.0

400.0

600.0

800.0

1000.0

£m Changing Resources

Other Grant Income

Council Tax & CollectionFund Balance

Business Rates Retentionscheme & Coll FundBalance

700.0

750.0

800.0

850.0

900.0

950.0

£m Funding Gap

Total Funding

Expenditure forecast


2.13 In September 2018, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) invited authorities to apply for pilot 75% Business Rates Retention schemes, which would allow retention of 75% growth in business rates, and Hertfordshire (the County Council and the ten Districts) submitted a bid.

2.14 Hertfordshire was one of 15 successful bids, out of 35 applications. This gave the opportunity to work with the 10 districts and boroughs to better understand the new rates retention arrangements ahead of the national rollout of these arrangements.

2.15 Government has determined that the business rates retention pilots at 75% will not continue into 2020/21. However, bids to form business rates pools in 2020/21 were invited. It has been confirmed that Hertfordshire will form a pool in 2020/21, similar to that formed in 2018/19, and comprising the County Council and 5 of the districts and boroughs. (It is not advantageous to include more of the districts otherwise the overall return to Hertfordshire reduces.)

Grants

2.16 Table 2 shows the grants provisionally announced for 2020/21. Non-ringfenced grants are available to support all Council services, although where these relate to specific services (for example School Improvement, Independent Living Fund) the relevant service budget is normally increased to reflect the funding.

2.17 Ringfenced grant is received for Public Health responsibilities.

2.18 There are still a number of outstanding Government grant announcements, including capital pothole funding and some smaller non-ringfenced grants.

Council Tax and Social Care Precept

2.19 The 2019/20 IP assumed a general council tax increase of 1.99% in 2020/21 and in the years thereafter.

2.20 In the Provisional Settlement, the Secretary of Stated allowed social care authorities to raise the precept of up to 2% in that year. This is worth £12.3m to the Council. Additionally, the referendum threshold for General Council tax increases to be used for 2020/21 as 1.99% has been confirmed.

2.21 In this year’s IP engagement process a variety of techniques have been used to engage with the public. This has included an online survey for residents on budget priorities (which ran between 28 October - 15 December 2019), directly contacting residents in selected supported homes across the county and two focus groups with young people as part of YC Hertfordshire’s (Youth Connexions) Takeover Day on 29th November 2019.

2.22 The number of online survey responses totalled 4,166. The number of postal responses received totalled 1,721. The combined number of survey responses is therefore 5,887. This is a significant increase in the number of responses received last year (2,021) and higher than the average response rate experienced during the


4 previous years the Council has run a version of this survey (1,453). This is the highest level of response since the survey began in 2014.

2.23 A full report on the consultation is provided separately on the January 2020 Cabinet agenda. But in summary:

• 60% support an increase in Council Tax by 2% to maintain local services • 61% support a further 2% increase in Council Tax (through the Social Care

Precept) to support adult care services

2.24 As such the total proposed increase in council tax is 3.99%.

2.25 The Band D Council Tax for Hertfordshire County Council in 2019/20 was £1,359.94 which compares with a county council with fire responsibilities average of £1,304.10, ranging from £1,236.10 (Northamptonshire) to £1,468.83 (Oxfordshire). See graph below.

Comparative Data, 2019/20 Band D Council Tax

2.26 The final council tax base and collection fund balance estimates for both Council Tax and Business Rates will be provided by districts in late January. These reflect changes in the tax bases for Council Tax and Business Rates, together with the collectability of income, impact of reliefs and business rates appeals (which may have a significant backdated element). The IP presented to January Cabinet assumes a surplus of £4m in all years.

2.27 For the Business Rates Collection Fund, a deficit of £1.5m is estimated, in recognition of the continued risk from appeals, where there is considerable uncertainty following the April 2017 revaluation and changes to the appeals process.

1,100.00

1,200.00

1,300.00

1,400.00

1,500.00

£

Authority (County Councils with Fire Responsibilities

2019/20 Band D Council Tax


3 Risk Management, Uncertainties, Contingency and Sensitivity Analysis

Risk Management

3.1. Service departments have reviewed the risks attached to delivering the 2019/20 budget and reflected any significant risks in the Corporate Risk Register. The Corporate Risk Register is reported regularly to the Resources and Performance Cabinet Panel as part of the Quarterly Performance monitor.

3.2. The Audit Committee advises the Executive on relevant audit matters including the risk management system and risk related issues. This function has been exercised through regular reports concerning the operation and effectiveness of the Corporate Risk Process and updates on other risk management activity. To strengthen the Committee’s effectiveness in this oversight role, the Committee also considers, at each meeting, a report that focuses on a risk or risks from the Corporate Risk Register based on a particular theme.

Identified Risks and Uncertainties

3.3. A number of risks and uncertainties exist over the medium term which could potentially increase or decrease costs, including:

• Risk that social care costs escalate above the increases already included within the IP:

- Social care costs typically involves packages of care being arranged dependent on an individual’s needs. Budgets for social care are set based on estimated future levels of activity and average costs for different types of care package. In the event that either costs are greater than anticipated, or demand levels exceed those estimated, overspending can arise.

- This type of risk is especially related to : adult disability services, services for older people, independent placements for children with complex needs and

provision of services for unaccompanied asylum seeking children, and

home to school transport (which is provided for children with complex needs).

- Mitigations are in place to manage these risks, however the volumes of activity, values of budgets involved (more than 50% of net revenue budgets), and level of financial constraints being experienced can mean that a relatively small level of change can lead to significant variations emerging.

- It may be that it is not possible to reduce the cost pressures in a specific area without severe impact. As such the Council often looks across its entire budget to find offsetting savings

• Risk of provider failure (including social care provider failure) - This risk is particularly acute in the social care market, and there is a risk to

the Council that a contractor may withdraw from the market with little prior notice, or that a provider may be deeded ‘inadequate’ and so be forced to


hand back its contracts. The need to make alternative arrangement may lead to increases in costs.

• Risk of not realising savings as planned, examples include: - time taken to implement new social care strategies, for example where

these require now accommodation to be found - the fragility of the independent care market

• Impact of unfunded cost pressures arising from waste disposal arrangements, including for example recycling costs and the decision by the Secretary of State to refuse planning permission for the Energy Recovery Facility (ERF)

• Tender pricing; the Council is exposed to the risk that wider economic factors may lead to the tenders received for future procurements being significantly higher than anticipated, leading to unexpected budget pressures. This is exacerbated by companies that have got themselves into financial difficulties on public sector contracts e.g. Carillion This is more likely in construction contracts, but may also affect contracts for services

• Risks and uncertainties associated with Brexit. There are a number of risks that have been identified that may arise, with different consequences. Significant uncertainty remains over these risks and the way they may be transpire for the Council. Identified risks will be monitored during the coming months. Key risks include

- workforce availability for the safe delivery of services; - the impact of inflation rate or interest rate volatility on the Council’s

suppliers; the impact of the same changes on the Council’s investments and borrowing costs;

- the impact of relative economic buoyancy or sluggishness on the local population and businesses and the consequent impact upon business rates receipts and wider local prosperity;

- the possibility that any impact from Brexit may also be different between the short and medium term impact

• Risk of commercial bus operators ‘handing back’ contracts for services where these struggle to secure value for money

• Risk to contributions from Clinical Commissioning Groups for protection of adult social care and funding of children’s services

• Highways maintenance: risk of road repairs due to severe winter weather and potential exceptional maintenance, including special requirements for coal tar disposal

• Potential income from business rates growth; impact of business rate appeals following revaluation and changes to the appeals system

• The Collection Fund balance and council tax base for future years, as well as council tax support schemes and wider council tax reforms

• Outstanding grant announcements, especially for future years

• Inflation: non-pay inflation including exceptional inflation, an example being the potential for higher than expected increases in energy and transport costs; possible impacts on Council suppliers of input price changes arising from Brexit arrangements


• Volatility in interest rates, impacting on borrowing costs and investment income (e.g. from Brexit decisions, but also from other economic factors)

• Ability to sell assets and secure capital receipts

• Agreement with the schools forum on interaction between care costs and the schools grant

Contingency

3.4. The figures included in this report provide for a general contingency of £6m in 2020/21 and beyond, based on an assessment of risks and uncertainties, as detailed above. There is also separate provision of £3m as cover against non-achievement of savings, given the delivery gets increasingly challenging. This level of contingency has been taken into account when assessing the robustness of estimates and adequacy of reserves.

Sensitivity Analysis

3.5. The Council’s budget is constructed using best estimates for both the levels and timing of spending, cashable savings and resources. Table 3 below gives an indication of the sensitivity of the overall budget to movements in the assumptions underpinning our budgets.

Table 3: Impact of changes in our assumptions

Variable Change

Cash Impact

Impact on

council tax

£’000 %*

1% change in number of SEN pupils requiring transport 108 0.02

1% change in numbers of Children Looked After (10) per year 521 0.08

10% increase in Unaccompanied Asylum Seekers (10 per year) 104 0.02

1% change in older people client numbers (21) in residential/nursing care per year

417 0.07

1% change in Adult Care Services home care hours (22,371) per year

487 0.08

1% change in Disability Services client numbers (10) in residential/nursing care per year

698 0.11

1% change in Disability Services client numbers (16) in supported living per year

515 0.08

1% increase in waste management spending 457 0.07

10 extra precautionary salting service outings for bad weather 360 0.06

10% change in emergency repairs needed on the highway (category 1)

847 0.14

1% increase in operational fire and rescue response activities 262 0.04

1% change in pay inflation 2,747 0.45

1% change in standard/income price inflation 5,515 0.90


Variable Change

Cash Impact

Impact on

council tax

£’000 %*

+1% change in interest rates on borrowing (additional cost) 928 0.15

+1% change in interest rates on investments (additional income) (406) (0.07)

-1% change in interest rates on borrowing (reduced cost) (610) (0.10)

-1% change in interest rates on investments (reduced income) 481 0.08

1% change in Business Rates Retention Scheme 1,260 0.20

1% change in other non-ringfenced grants 302 0.05

£1 million change in collection fund balance 1,000 0.16

1% change in Council Tax 6,152 1.00

* This is shown only to quantify the theoretical impact in the context of council tax. It does not presume that if there were any such movement that it would be passed on through increased council tax.

Review of Reserves

3.6. The Council retains several named reserves to respond to specific issues. These are projected to be £197.5m as at 31 March 2020 and £172.7m as at 31 March 2021. These reserves are described in Table 10 in Part G of the Integrated Plan, together with estimated opening and closing balances. A summary of this is shown below:

Reserves Summary Balance at 1 April 2019

Forecast Balance at31 March

2020

Forecast Balance at 31 March

2021 £000s £000s £000s

Schools (86,856) (55,245) (45,800)

Other reserves held for other parties (8,528) (6,038) (1,370)

Earmarked (96,294) (95,405) (84,853)

ITT* (21,560) (10,078) (7,768)

Balances - General Fund (31,298) (32,000) (32,000)

TOTAL (244,536) (198,766) (171,791)*see further commentary below on ITT

3.7. In reviewing reserves, the following should be noted:

• A number held on behalf other bodies and are not available for general Council use, including schools (£86.9m), the Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) (£6.9m);

• A further £96m are earmarked for specific purposes;

• Balances are held for emergency purposes, and once used are gone;


• In responding to the general uncertainty of future funding, and especially the short period between the December 2019 settlement and the start of the financial year, the Council established a transition reserve that currently stands at £15m;

• The Council also holds a contingency budget, which will be £6m for 2020/21 and later years.

Whilst the Invest to Transform reserve numbers initially look healthy, much of this reflects the timing of drawing down committed funds (i.e funds that have been approved, but not yet drawn down still show in the reserve balance. With the commitments made, there is only £2.1m left at the end of the 2019/20 Financial Year.

The budget plans enable this to be topped up by £4.3m next year, through a mix of repayments into the fund and a general top up (although this does assume the settlement, taxbase and collection funds are all as expected and there is no need to amend these plans in order to balance the budget).

That would make £6.4m in total. However there are emerging pipeline bids totalling £2m being discussed (including things like the fire HQ, asset management and Baldock/Brookfield). This would leave very little to drive the level of transformation that the IP requires (for example it is expected that the office accommodation review may require a substantial bid to progress). It is recommended that the ITT fund is kept under close review to ensure there is sufficient to support the most critical projects.

3.8. In assessing the adequacy of the Council’s reserves, the robustness of the estimates, the identified risks and uncertainties and the level of the general contingency all need to be considered.

3.9. It should also be noted that the following is the expected approach if risks or financial pressures emerge during the year:

• Departments will exhaust all options to find corresponding savings. If necessary, a council wide approach will be taken

• If this cannot deliver a balanced budget, then consideration will be given to use of contingency. This will be considered by Senior Management Board (SMB), and will only be considered during the second half of the financial year when other options have been exhausted and the financial picture is clearer

• Reserves will be only used as a last resort

This approach has proved successful and the Council has not had to make unplanned used of its reserves in recent years.

3.10. As such the level of reserves is currently considered to be adequate. This view depends on the following:

• Departments delivering savings plans outlined in the IP


• The Council developing plans to deliver balanced budgets over the medium term

4. Capital Programme, Funding and Financing Charges

4.1. The capital investment programme and the revenue cost of this is set out in the table below:

Capital Programme and associated revenue costs

2020/21£'000

2021/22£'000

2022/23£'000

2023/24 £'000

Capital Programme 411,591 396,837 339,750 200,778Borrowing Requirement 199,403 173,860 140,939 70,777Revenue Cost of Capital 24,533 30,054 37,866 44,052

As can be seen, the size of the capital programme and resultant borrowing results in a significant increase in borrowing costs for the council, from £24m to over £44m by year 4.

4.2. A breakdown by Portfolio of the proposed capital investment programme for IP 2019 set out in the tables below, along with the planned sources of funding.

Summary Proposed Capital Programme 2020/21 – 2023/24

2020/21 £’000

2021/22 £’000

2022/23 £’000

2023/24 £’000

Adult Care & Health 21,937 27,326 31,408 25,546

Children, Young People and Families 3,145 2,495 220 100

Community Safety & Waste Management 21,039 19,724 35,566 7,467

Education, Libraries & Localism 113,624 126,564 71,407 23,217Growth, Infrastructure, Planning & the Economy 44,275 45,225 46,225 46,225

Highways & Environment 114,466 82,089 79,950 74,997

Public Health, Prevention & Performance - - - -

Resources & Performance 56,172 58,919 49,547 23,226

Capital Investments 36,933 34,495 25,427 -

Total 411,591 396,837 339,750 200,778

Proposed Capital Financing 2020/21 – 2023/24

2020/21 £'000

2021/22 £'000

2022/23 £'000

2023/24 £'001

Borrowing 199,403 173,860 140,939 70,777

Capital receipts 21,356 46,668 35,248 8,104

Grant 138,814 141,677 122,299 110,889

Contribution 46,591 32,625 39,889 10,633

Reserves 5,428 2,007 1,375 375

Total 411,591 396,837 339,750 200,778

4.3. The Council continues to invest significantly in its infrastructure and assets. The proposed capital programme in 2020/21 is £411.591m, of which £199.4m is funded from borrowing (i.e. HCC funded). This includes commercial investments of


£36.933m and forward funding of new school developments and expansion schemes of £32.445m. Schemes within the capital programme include:

• funding for the provision for older people’s housing in Hertfordshire that meets identified need;

• further primary and secondary schools expansion and new school developments, largely externally funded;

• investment in transport infrastructure to support the delivery of the Harlow Gilston Garden Town;

• the construction of bridges over the Baldock rail crossing to enable to delivery of 2,800 homes;

• Delivery of infrastructure for the Brookfield Riverside and Garden Village Development;

• Construction of new household waste recycling centres and waste transfer station; and

• Construction of a Joint Emergency Services Academy for Hertfordshire Fire & Rescue Service and Police Constabulary.

4.4. In the early part of the last decade, the Council has used revenue contributions, one-off underspends, Capital Financing and Capital Receipts to sustain the capital programme while minimising the need for new borrowing, thus avoiding the costs of interest and of Minimum Revenue Provision (MRP – the amount the Council is required to set aside in its revenue budget for debt repayment). The latter part of the decade this has shifted to borrowing, and this trend continues to increase. This causes the significant increase in borrowing costs outlined in para 4.1 above.


APPENDIX A

Table 1: Summary Budget Movement Statement

Table 1: Summary Budget Movement Statement (2019/20 – 2023/24)

2019/20£m

2020/21 £m

2021/22 £m

2022/23 £m

2023/24£m

804.577 Original Budget 818.743 818.743 818.743 818.743(14.371) Technical Adjustments (16.213) (16.213) (16.213) (16.213)

10.673 Inflation 12.783 27.972 43.763 60.754800.879 Base Budget 815.313 830.502 846.293 863.284

Pressures for change:

- Reversal of time limited expenditure (5.343) (5.394) (5.379) (5.394)10.545 Demography 11.757 22.233 33.032 44.048

6.289 Legislative 5.597 7.871 11.227 14.9870.948 Capital Financing 3.156 8.657 16.492 22.679

24.902 Other 37.229 50.615 52.631 53.822

42.684 Total Pressures for Change 52.396 83.982 108.003 130.142

843.563 Subtotal 867.709 914.484 954.296 993.426Savings:

(9.562)Existing efficiencies - ongoing impact (8.629) (18.839) (22.277) (22.066)

(3.952)Existing Policy Choice - ongoing impact (0.779) (1.657) (1.561) (1.459)

(5.346) New efficiencies (7.729) (16.906) (22.340) (38.023)- Further savings required 0.000 (13.599) (28.888) (36.219)

(18.860) Total Savings (17.137) (51.001) (75.066) (97.767)

(5.960)Transfer to reserve - Transition Reserve - - - -

818.743 REVENUE BUDGET 850.572 863.483 879.230 895.659


Table 2: Funding Statement

Table 2: Funding Statement (2019/20 – 2023/24)

2019/20£m

2020/21 £m

2021/22£m

2022/23£m

2023/24£m

Business Rates and Collection Fund Balances:

124.737 Business Rates Pilot: Baseline - - - -

1.308 Business Rates Pilot: Gain - - - -

-Business Rates Retention Scheme: Settlement Funding Assessment

125.984 119.565 114.565 109.565

4.406Business Rates Retention Tax Loss Re-imbursement

4.972 4.406 4.406 4.406

1.873 Levy Account Surplus - - - -

(1.581)Collection Fund Balance - Business Rates

(1.500) (1.500) (1.500) (1.500)

130.743 129.456 122.471 117.471 112.471Council Tax and Collection Fund Balances:

565.138 Council Tax 584.163 604.056 624.603 645.823

42.823Council Tax relating to Social Care Precept

55.643 56.310 56.986 57.670

5.181 Collection Fund Balance - Council Tax 4.000 4.000 4.000 4.000

613.142 643.805 664.367 685.589 707.493

Non-ringfenced Grants:

7.063 Social Care Support Grant 7.063 7.063 7.063 7.063

-Social Care Support Grant - additional funding

14.643 14.643 14.643 14.643

3.033 New Homes Bonus 2.770 2.049 1.574 1.099

1.944 Independent Living Fund 1.944 1.944 1.944 1.944

1.882 Fire Pension Grant 2.197 2.197 2.197 2.197

0.600 School Improvement Grant - - - -

- Teacher’s Pension Grant 0.200 0.200 0.200 0.200

1.125 Other non-ringfenced grants 1.405 1.460 1.460 1.460

15.647 30.222 29.556 29.081 28.606

Ringfenced Grants:

46.302 Public Health Grant 47.089 47.089 47.089 47.089

12.909 iBCF - old - - - -

59.211 47.089 47.089 47.089 47.089

818.743 TOTAL 850.572 863.483 879.230 895.659


APPENDIX B

Local Government Act 2003: Section 25 Report of the Director of Finance

1. Introduction

1.1. The Local Government Act 2003 (Section 25) requires that when a local authority is agreeing its annual budget and Council Tax requirement, the Section 151 Officer must report to it on the following matters:

• the robustness of the estimates made for the purposes of the calculations, and;

• the adequacy of the proposed financial reserves.

1.2. The Council is required to set a balanced budget and must have due regard to the advice of the Director of Resources (s151 officer). The following paragraphs therefore provide a commentary on the robustness of the budget and the reserves in place to support the Council.

2. National context

2.1. The high level of uncertainty in both political terms and public spending terms has been outlined in this document already.

2.2. Beyond 2020/21 there remains considerable uncertainty over public finances generally, and for Councils more specifically as follows:

• A new Spending Review is expected during 2020. This should outline overall levels of public expenditure from 2021/22 onwards. Also announcements at that stage are likely to be high level and the impact on local government may not be known at that point, being dependent on further decisions within Government later in the year.

• Apart from retention of the £1bn for social care, the Conservative Manifesto did not reference continuation of any other grants, or indeed additional funding.

• Government is currently consulting on two major aspects of how funds are allocated to Councils as follows:

• The fair funding review is proposing changes to how the total pot of government grant is allocated to councils

• The business rate review is looking at whether councils should retain a greater proportion of business rate income in their areas

2.3. In view of this there is a high level of uncertainty regarding the level of funding the Council can expect through government post April 2021. The position is only likely to be clear when the 2021/22 Settlement is announced in December 2020. Budget planning for this financial year will need to take into account the potential risk and uncertainty around only knowing the grant position around 3 months before the start of the financial year.


3. Local context

3.1. The Council has successfully delivered significant efficiency savings & service reductions where necessary since 2010. Hertfordshire County Council has delivered nearly £2bn of savings overall in this period, and the current budget is some £334m lower than it otherwise would have needed to have been if those savings had not been made.

3.2. The Council has a proactive approach to financial planning, and a good track record of delivery. This is underpinned through the following processes, including:

• A robust budget setting and medium term financial planning process, including risk analysis and challenge on assumptions and estimates.

• monthly reporting to Senior Management Board on budget monitoring forecasts including any remedial management action required and formal reporting on delivery of savings; with further quarterly reports being provided to Cabinet.

• the operation of a robust risk management approach;

• the Council’s internal control framework, including the financial regulations and the Scheme of Delegation for Financial Management which provides the framework for delegated budget management;

• the sustaining of good working relations with the external auditor (EY);

• the operation of the internal audit function and its role in assessing controls and processes to highlight any major weaknesses and advise on best practice.

• This practice has been demonstrated in the current year, where an initial forecast overspend of £6.9m (which would have wiped out the contingency and required a draw down on reserves) has reduced to £3.7m through management action across the Council (However even at £3.7m it is indicative of how tight budgets are getting)

3.3. The position for future years continues to be challenging. The Council faces significant financial pressures from increases in demand for services, in particular, but not exclusively, for social care. Indeed in future years this increased demand is a greater issue in terms of impact on the budget gap than grant reductions. Also it is apparent that further efficiencies become harder to achieve and realise, and will require more resource and investment to achieve.

3.4. The 2020/21 Budget has been through the process outlined above. Potential risks are outlined in Part A of the IP documentation, but overall the budget is considered robust and deliverable.

3.5. Over the medium term the Council faces further financial pressures, as outlined in para 3.3 above. This means that the Council still has the following budget gaps in future years

2020/21 2021/22 2022/23 2023/24 £m £m £m £m

Savings to be found - 13.6 28.9 36.2


3.6. It is also important to consider how this has moved in recent years. This is outlined in the following table that shows for the last 3 IP rounds, whilst for all of them the budget for the following year has been balanced, the financial position in future years has varied:

2018/19 2019/20 2020/21 2021/22 2022/23 2023/24

£m £m £m £m £m £m

2017/18 IP - Feb 2017 20.9 41.9 -

2018/19 IP - Feb 2018 - 6.3 22.1 27.9 -

2019/20 IP - Feb 2019 - 21.5 31.5 45.8 -

2020/21 IP – Feb 2020 - 13.6 28.9 36.2

The Council has continued to try and take the medium term view on the financial position. However whilst further pressures have continued to emerge (mainly around disability services and costs of children’s care and transport), it has not proved possible to bring forward further efficiency savings to fully offset these pressures. This is perhaps indicative of points made earlier that it is proving difficult to continually identify and deliver efficiency savings. The Council will need to consider how it tackles this medium term position to deliver financial sustainability.

3.7 Following the recent Spending Round announcement, the Council’s Strategic Management Board has agreed to shift its financial strategy away from an efficiency and cuts led approach to a transformation of services approach. A strategic transformation portfolio of change programmes has now been compiled with clear linkages being made into the Council’s Integrated Plan in terms of investment required and the saving that will then result. Many of the change programmes are complex to deliver, but are necessary to ensure the Council remains financially sustainable over the medium term.

4. Level of reserves and balances

4.1. The Council retains several named reserves to respond to specific issues. These are projected to be £197.483m as at 31 March 2020 and £172.7m as at 31 March 2021. These reserves are described in Table 10 in Part G of the Integrated Plan, together with estimated opening and closing balances. A summary of this is shown below:

Reserves Summary Balance at

1 April 2019

Forecast Balance at

31 March 2020

Forecast Balance at

31 March 2021

£000s £000s £000s

Schools (86,856) (55,245) (45,800)

Other reserves held for other parties (8,528) (6,038) (1,370)

Earmarked (96,294) (95,405) (84,853)

ITT* (21,560) (10,078) (7,768)

Balances - General Fund (31,298) (32,000) (32,000)

TOTAL (244,536) (198,766) (171,791)*see further commentary below on ITT


4.2. In reviewing reserves, the following should be noted:

• A number held on behalf other bodies and are not available for general Council use, including schools (£86.9m), the LEP (£6.9m);

• A further £96m are earmarked for specific purposes;

• The invest to transform fund is used to support transformation. Given the scale of the financial challenge outlined above, the Council is likely to require significant investment to drive transformation in the future;

• Balances are held for emergency purposes, and once used are gone;

• In responding to the general uncertainty of future funding, and especially the short period between the December 2019 settlement and the start of the financial year, the Council established a transition reserve that currently stands at £15m;

• The Council also holds a contingency budget, which will be £6m for 2020/21 and later years.

Whilst the Invest to Transform reserve numbers initially look healthy, much of this reflects the timing of drawing down committed funds (i.e funds that have been approved, but not yet drawn down still show in the reserve balance. With all the commitments made, there is only £2.1m left at the end of the 2019/20 Financial Year.

We’re planning to top up by £4.3m next year, a mix of repayments into the fund and a general top up (although this does assume the settlement, taxbase and collection funds are all as expected and we don’t have to resort to this to balance the budget).

That would make £6.4m in total. However we know there are pipeline bids totalling £2m being discussed (including things like the fire HQ, asset management and Baldock/Brookfield). This would leave very little to drive the level of transformation that the IP requires (for example it is expected that the office accommodation review may require a substantial bid to progress). It is recommended that the ITT fund is kept under close review to ensure there is sufficient to support the most critical projects.

4.3. In assessing the adequacy of the Council’s reserves, the robustness of the estimates, the identified risks and uncertainties and the level of the general contingency all need to be considered.

4.4. It should also be noted that the following is the expected approach if risks or financial pressures emerge during the year:

• Departments will exhaust all options to find corresponding savings. If necessary a council wide approach will be taken

• If this cannot deliver a balanced budget, then consideration will be given to use of contingency. This will be considered by SMB, and will only be considered during the second half of the financial year when other options have been exhausted and the financial picture is clearer

• Reserves will be only used as a last resort


This approach has proved successful and the Council has not had to make unplanned used of its reserves in recent years.

4.5. As such the level of reserves is currently considered to be adequate. This view depends on the following:

• Departments delivering savings plans outlined in the IP • The Council developing plans to deliver balanced budgets over the medium

term

5. Risk assessment

5.1. In response to the significant challenges that the Council continue to face and the associated emerging risks, an integrated risk framework is well established across the Council and will be maintained. The risk governance arrangements are well embedded and the close link between risk registers and business impact analyses and continuity plans has been sustained and will continue into 2019/20. Similarly the Risk Register remains in place and will continue to be monitored monthly by the Chief Executive and senior officers, and reviewed by Cabinet and Audit and Governance Committee.

6. Conclusion

6.1. Although the level of risk remains significant and the position is challenging, once all the above points are taken into account it is the view of the Director of Resources that the budget proposals for 2020/21 are credible and deliverable.

6.2. The medium term financial position of the Council is challenging, as outlined above. The significant uncertainty hampers the Councils attempt to develop a genuine medium term financial strategy. Depending on timing of a national budget and spending round, the Council may need to start work early in the new year to consider options for delivering medium term financial sustainability for the Council.

Scott Crudgington Director of Resources (Chief Finance Officer and Section 151 Officer)


Documents

INTEGRATED PLAN PART A OVERVIEW - Hertfordshire · 1 Introduction – Strategic Context and Key Decisions 1.1 The Integrated Plan (IP) sets out the Council’s plans for service delivery