Annual Efficiency Statement – Backward LookAppendix Ci

Activities undertaken to achieve efficiency gain.

Underpinning the Council’s Corporate Strategy is the Medium Term Financial Plan. The Council’s budget strategy includes an efficiency programme to ensure the Council continues to review areas where efficiencies can be achieved and delivers affordable levels of Council Tax.

The Authority’s evidence to support the figures is held by Tony Dodridge in Room 24, Financial Services, Borough of Poole, Civic Centre, Poole. Tel: 01202-633397.

Title / Quality Cross Check Met? / 2004/05 annual efficiency gains (£) / … of which related to capital spend £ / … of which related to other spend (£) / … of which cashable (£)
Adult social services / Yes / 131,000 / 131,000
  • Activities undertaken to achieve efficiency gain:
Reduced the proportion of home care provided by higher cost in-house staff and sourced more from the private sector, leading to a cashable efficiency gain of £55,000.
Reviewed client residential needs which led to selectively moving clients from a residential setting to more appropriate but cheaper supported living at home, leading to a cashable efficiency gain of £76,000. This saving was achieved mainly in relation to Learning Disabled clients.
  • Quality cross-check notes: As above

Children’s services / Yes / 0 / 0
  • Activities undertaken to achieve efficiency gain: None
  • Quality cross-check notes: Not applicable

Culture and sport / Yes / 38,000 / 38,000
  • Activities undertaken to achieve efficiency gain:
Deletion of non-operational staffing post within the Library Service which achieved a cashable efficiency gain of £21,000.
Sourcing of improved business information on Internet more
cheaply’ which achieved a cashable efficiency gain of £5,000.
Negotiated a higher purchasing discount from library book suppliers, which achieved a cashable efficiency gain of £8,000.
Negotiated a better photocopier deal, which achieved a cashable efficiency gain of £4,000.
  • Quality cross-check notes: As above

Environmental services / Yes / 46,000 / 29.000
  • Activities undertaken to achieve efficiency gain:
Reduced number of abandoned cars through use of a car amnesty, which achieved a cashable efficiency gain of £20,000.
Reduced refuse vehicle costs as a result of tipping waste at transfer station rather than previously at a more distant and rough ground landfill site, which achieved cashable efficiency gains of £9,000.
Reduced resources dedicated to processing and monitoring invoices through contract negotiation, which achieved a non-cashable efficiency gain of £2,000.
Provision of an “e-enabled” service without additional resources, which achieved a non-cashable efficiency gain of £10,000.
Implemented new Fireworks regulations and enforced new Anti-Social Behaviour Act with no additional resources, which achieved a non-cashable efficiency gain of £2,500.
Enforced and regulated new Cosmetic piercing and semi-permanent make-up bye laws with no additional resources, which achieved a non-cashable efficiency gain of £2,500.
  • Quality cross-check notes: As above

Local transport / Yes / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0
  • Activities undertaken to achieve efficiency gain: None
  • Quality cross-check notes: Not applicable

LA social housing / Yes / 0 / 0 / 0 / 0
  • Activities undertaken to achieve efficiency gain: Non
  • Quality cross-check notes: Not applicable

Non-school educational services / Yes / 49,000 / 49,000
  • Activities undertaken to achieve efficiency gain:
Poole Adult Learning restructure – merged Finance and Data Managers posts into a single post, which achieved a cashable efficiency gain of £24,000.
Deleted Health & Safety Manager post and replaced with consultancy, which achieved a net cashable efficiency gain of £22,000.
Renting venue space to a language school during summer months in order to better utilise facilities and generating additional income on an ongoing basis of £3,000, which equates to a net cashable efficiency gain of £3,000.
  • Quality cross-check notes: Not applicable

Supporting people / Yes / 271,000 / 271,000
  • Activities undertaken to achieve efficiency gain:
Negotiated selective price freeze / reduction on continuing service contracts, which achieved a cashable efficiency gain of £109,000.
Restructured domestic support service, which achieved a cashable efficiency gain of £18,000.
Terminated non-productive contracts and accommodated service users within those contracts that remained, which achieved a net cashable efficiency gain of £144,000.
  • Quality cross-check notes As above

Homelessness / Yes / 0 / 0
  • Activities undertaken to achieve efficiency gain: None
  • Quality cross-check notes: Not applicable

Other cross-cutting efficiencies not covered above

Corporate services / Yes / 66,000 / 66,000
  • Activities undertaken to achieve efficiency gain:
External Auditor Scored Judgment gain an “above average” score which had the effect of reducing audit risk and consequently the fee, which achieved a cashable efficiency gain of £20,000.
Saving on long-standing consultancy fees within Strategic Finance with tasks being done by an unchanged in-house staffing resource at no detriment to service quality or outputs, which achieved a cashable efficiency gain of £25,000.
Property Services restructure, which achieved a cashable efficiency gain of £21,000.
  • Quality cross-check notes As above

Procurement / Yes / 60,000 / 60,000
  • Activities undertaken to achieve efficiency gain:
Change in approach to the procurement and installation of replacement desktop equipment in order to gain from bulk purchasing discounts, and reduce administrative overheads. Through the Council (excluding schools) sourcing its IT hardware requirements from approved G-Cat suppliers, it has achieved a cashable efficiency gain of £60,000.
  • Quality cross-check notes: As above

Productive time / Yes / 27,000 / 0
  • Activities undertaken to achieve efficiency gain:
Efficiency absence management processes and procedure, together with an enhancement to an occupational health contract, has led to a marginal improvement to sickness absence (excluding schools) between the financial years 2003-04 and 2004-05 from 10.55 days to 10.43 days. This achieved a non-cashable efficiency gain of £27,000.
More significant step-change improvements had been made in both 2001-02 and 2002-03 but this already achieved efficiency gain could not be counted.
  • Quality cross-check notes: As above

Transactions / Yes / 100,000 / 20,000
  • Activities undertaken to achieve efficiency gain:
A more widespread use of procurement cards led to a significant reduction in the number of invoices required to be processed, which achieved a non-cashable efficiency gain of £75,000.
Creditor Payments Section staff saving arising from the Council paying more of its suppliers electronically via BACS rather than by cheque, which achieved a cashable efficiency gain of £8,000.
Restructure of awards administration team, which achieved a cashable efficiency gain of £12,000.
Income Recovery Section no loner involving Legal Services in debt recovery activity, which achieved a non-cashable efficiency gain of £5,000.
  • Quality cross-check notes As above

Miscellaneous efficiencies / Yes / 144,000 / 144,000
  • Activities undertaken to achieve efficiency gain:
Asset sales that have resulted in no loss of service outputs or service quality and were previously operational, which were used to hold down Council Tax.
  • Quality cross-check notes: As above

Total / 932,000 / 0 / 0 / 808,000

Milner.I\Annual Efficiency Statement - Backward Look

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