Agenda Document Pack - Executive Committee - 21/06/2023
South Lanarkshire Council · 21 June 2023
Back to Executive Committee — 21 June 2023 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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Council Offices, Almada Street Hamilton, ML3 0AA Tuesday, 13 June 2023 Dear Councillor Executive Committee The Members listed below are requested to attend a meeting of the above Committee to be held as follows:- Date: Wednesday, 21 June 2023 Time: 10:00 Venue: Hybrid - Committee Room 1, Council Offices, Almada Street, Hamilton, ML3 0AA The business to be considered at the meeting is listed overleaf. Yours sincerely Cleland Sneddon Chief Executive Members Joe Fagan (Chair/ex officio), Gerry Convery (Depute Chair), Alex Allison, John Anderson, Robert Brown, Andy Carmichael, Maureen Chalmers, Ross Clark, Margaret Cooper, Andrea Cowan, Maureen Devlin, Gladys Ferguson-Miller, Lynsey Hamilton, Mark Horsham, Eileen Logan, Katy Loudon, Hugh Macdonald, Ian McAllan, Catherine McClymont, Kenny McCreary, Lesley McDonald, Mark McGeever, Davie McLachlan, Richard Nelson, Mo Razzaq, Kirsten Robb, John Ross, David Shearer, Margaret B Walker Substitutes John Bradley, Walter Brogan, Poppy Corbett, Margaret Cowie, Graeme Horne, Martin Hose, Susan Kerr, Ross Lambie, Elaine McDougall, Norman Rae, Graham Scott, David Watson 1
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BUSINESS 1 Declaration of Interests 2 Minutes of Previous Meeting Minutes of the meeting of the Executive Committee held on 17 May 2023 submitted for approval as a correct record. (Copy attached) 5 - 14 Monitoring Item(s) 3 Revenue Budget Year-End 2022/2023 Report dated 12 June 2023 by the Executive Director (Finance and Corporate Resources). (Copy attached) 15 - 28 4 Revenue Budget Monitoring for Period 2 - 1 April to 19 May 2023 Report dated 2 June 2023 by the Executive Director (Finance and Corporate Resources). (Copy attached) 29 - 34 5 Capital Budget Monitoring Final Outturn - 2022/2023 Report dated 2 June 2023 by the Executive Director (Finance and Corporate Resources). (Copy attached) 35 - 42 6 Capital Budget 2023/2024 and Monitoring for Period 2 - 1 April to 19 May 2023 Report dated 7 June 2023 by the Executive Director (Finance and Corporate Resources). (Copy attached) 43 - 54 7 Additional Funding from Scottish Government and Other External Sources Report dated 1 June 2023 by the Executive Director (Finance and Corporate Resources). (Copy attached) 55 - 58 Item(s) for Decision 8 2024/2025 Revenue Budget Report dated 8 June 2023 by the Executive Director (Finance and Corporate Resources). (Copy attached) 59 - 72 9 Jackton Primary School and Jackton Early Learning and Childcare Centre - Staffing Requirements Joint report dated 24 May 2023 by the Executive Directors (Education Resources), (Community and Enterprise Resources) and (Finance and Corporate Resources). (Copy attached) 73 - 78 10 South Lanarkshire Social Enterprise Strategy 2023 to 2027 Report dated 26 May 2023 by the Executive Director (Community and Enterprise Resources). (Copy attached) 79 - 106 11 Equalities Mainstreaming - Progress Report Report dated 28 April 2023 by the Executive Director (Finance and Corporate Resources). (Copy attached) 107 - 190 Item(s) for Noting 2
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12 Strategic Environmental Assessment Progress 2022/2023 Report dated 26 May 2023 by the Executive Director (Community and Enterprise Resources). (Copy attached) 191 - 194 13 Resource Plans and Connect Reporting 2023 to 2024 Report dated 22 May 2023 by the Executive Director (Finance and Corporate Resources). (Copy attached) 195 - 288 Urgent Business 14 Urgent Business Any other items of business which the Chair decides are urgent. Exclusion of Press and Public 15 Exclusion of Press and Public It is recommended that the Committee makes the following resolution:- "That, in terms of Section 50A(4) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following item(s) of business on the grounds that it is likely that there will be disclosure of exempt information in terms of Paragraphs 8, 9 and 10 of Part I of Schedule 7A of the Act." Item(s) for Noting 16 Housing and Property Management System • Exempt information in terms of Paragraph 8 of Part I of Schedule 7A of the Act • Exempt information in terms of Paragraph 9 of Part I of Schedule 7A of the Act • Exempt information in terms of Paragraph 10 of Part I of Schedule 7A of the Act For further information, please contact:- Clerk Name: Pauline MacRae Clerk Telephone: 07385 370044 Clerk Email: pauline.macrae@southlanarkshire.gov.uk 3
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EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Minutes of meeting held via Confero and in Committee Room 1, Council Offices, Almada Street, Hamilton on 17 May 2023 Chair: Councillor Joe Fagan (ex officio) Councillors Present: Councillor Alex Allison, Councillor John Anderson, Councillor Robert Brown, Councillor Andy Carmichael, Councillor Maureen Chalmers, Councillor Ross Clark, Councillor Gerry Convery (Depute), Councillor Margaret Cooper, Councillor Andrea Cowan, Councillor Maureen Devlin, Councillor Gladys Ferguson-Miller, Councillor Lynsey Hamilton, Councillor Mark Horsham, Councillor Ross Lambie (substitute for Councillor Kenny McCreary), Councillor Eileen Logan, Councillor Katy Loudon, Councillor Hugh Macdonald, Councillor Ian McAllan, Councillor Catherine McClymont, Councillor Lesley McDonald, Councillor Mark McGeever, Councillor Davie McLachlan, Councillor Richard Nelson, Councillor Mo Razzaq, Councillor Kirsten Robb, Councillor John Ross, Councillor David Shearer, Councillor Margaret B Walker Councillor’s Apology: Councillor Kenny McCreary Attending: Chief Executive’s Service C Sneddon, Chief Executive Community and Enterprise Resources D Booth, Executive Director Education Resources T McDaid, Executive Director Finance and Corporate Resources P Manning, Executive Director; C Fergusson, Head of Finance (Transactions); T Little, Head of Communications and Strategy; P MacRae, Administration Adviser; G McCann, Head of Administration and Legal Services; K McLeod, Administration Assistant; K McVeigh, Head of Personnel Services Housing and Technical Resources S Gibson, Executive Director Health and Social Care/Social Work Resources S Sengupta, Director, Health and Social Care Order of Business The Committee decided: that the items of business be dealt with in the order minuted below. 1 Declaration of Interests No interests were declared. 2 Item of Urgent Business – Data Breach In terms of Standing Order No 4(c) of the Council’s Standing Orders on Procedures, the Chair decided that, in view of the nature of the matter, consideration be given to the following item of urgent business. 2 5
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The Executive Director (Finance and Corporate Resources) advised of a data breach by the Council in responding to a Freedom of Information (FOI) request. He indicated that:- 2 sets of data had been provided in the response, 1 of which contained data which identified Council officers the information had now been removed from the public domain and destroyed external advice had indicated that the risk that the data could be used in a way which would be harmful to officers was assessed as low full disclosure to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) had been made by the Council and advice had been taken from the ICO regarding the breach arrangements were in place to provide advice and support to affected officers action had been taken to ensure that no similar breach could take place in the future an apology had been extended to affected officers In response to members’ questions, the Executive Director:- assured members of the commitment to transparency in dealing with the breach referred to the sensitivity of the matter and offered to address members’ questions individually following the meeting The Committee decided: to note the position. 3 Item of Urgent Business – South Lanarkshire Leisure and Culture (SLLC) In terms of Standing Order No 4(c) of the Council’s Standing Orders on Procedures, the Chair decided that, as the Board of South Lanarkshire Leisure and Culture was meeting that afternoon, consideration be given to the following motion, as a matter of urgency:- Councillor Brown, seconded by Councillor Devlin, moved the following:- “As an Item of Urgent Business, the Executive Committee is asked to agree the following recommendations are made to the next scheduled full Council meeting:- (1) that the introduction of new concessionary rates for under-16s sports clubs be phased over three financial years as set out in Table 1 (below) (2) that the Director of Finance and Corporate Resources work with officers of SLLC to identify and address financial implications, noting the Committee’s wish that there be ‘no detriment’ to SLLC services, facilities or workers in the phasing of new concessionary rates. (3) that a request be made to the Scottish Government on behalf of the Committee through the Chief Executive to introduce a Scottish Swimming Pool Fund for municipal leisure providers following the creation of a Swimming Pool Fund in the UK Government’s Budget. (4) that the energy industry should be asked to fund additional support for municipal leisure providers, such as SLLC, from industry profits. (5) that South Lanarkshire Council reaffirms its support for fair funding for local government by central government and, specifically, a settlement that reflects the demands of the cross-party COSLA ‘Budget SOS’ lobbying campaign. (6) that the SLLC Board be asked to routinely publish board agendas and papers online to assist with transparency, scrutiny and understanding of matters of concern to the community. Statement of Reasons Concerns raised by elected members and local community sports clubs led SLLC to defer the new concession rates for under-16s clubs pending a process of further engagement. 6
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It is anticipated that SLLC will consider a revised approach to the implementation of new rates and that board members will be updated at their meeting later today. Meetings have now been held with clubs, which have explored the implications of the proposed pricing changes on different sorts of clubs and client groups. It is clear that phasing of the removal of the under 16s discount would be of considerable assistance to clubs in managing their budgets. To assist SLLC and to help address both the need to manage budget pressures and a desire to support under-16s clubs in the transition to new concessionary rates, the Executive Committee is asked to recommend a phased implementation plan in advance of today’s board meeting. This plan would be notified to the board and approval sought at the next ordinary meeting of the Council. Any financial implications will be considered by the Director of Finance and Corporate Resources in conjunction with officers of SLLC, with budget implications and solutions for the Council reported at that point. SLLC and SLC will continue to build on the support and advice provided to clubs at the engagement meetings to help build club capacity and signpost to grant and other support. Table 1 – phased implementation Would apply to 19 June 2023 Apply 19 June 23 to 31 March 2024 Apply 1 April 24 to 31 March 2025 Apply from 1 April 2025 2022/23 price (75% of adult rate) 2023/24 price (66.7% of adult rate) 2024/25 price (58.33% of adult rate – excludes any % change for 24/25) 2025/26 (50% of adult rate – excludes any % changes for 24/25 and 25/26) Following discussion, Councillor Ross, seconded by Councillor Loudon, moved the following as an amendment:- “Delete Recommendation 1 Add after Point 6: ‘Council notes with concern that the UK Government’s decision on 9th January to exclude community leisure from the Energy Bills Discount Scheme. Council notes with alarm the figures published by Scottish Swimming that Energy Prices for swimming pools and leisure centres have increased from £500 million in 2019 to £1.2 billion in 2022. Given that energy price regulation is a matter wholly reserved to the UK Parliament, Council backs Scottish Swimming’s Save Our Pools campaign, and the organisation’s call for the UK Government to support the sector by taking action on inflationary energy costs. As such Council calls on the CEO to write to the relevant UK minister.” 7
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On a vote being taken by roll call, members voted as follows:- Motion Alex Allison, Robert Brown, Andy Carmichael, Gerry Convery, Margaret Cooper, Maureen Devlin, Joe Fagan, Lynsey Hamilton, Ross Lambie, Eileen Logan, Catherine McClymont, Lesley McDonald, Davie McLachlan, Richard Nelson, Mo Razzaq, Margaret B Walker Amendment John Anderson, Maureen Chalmers, Ross Clark, Andrea Cowan, Gladys Ferguson-Miller, Mark Horsham, Katy Loudon, Hugh Macdonald, Ian McAllan, Kirsten Robb, John Ross, David Shearer 16 members voted for the motion and 12 for the amendment. The motion was declared carried. The Committee recommended to the Council: (1) that the introduction of new concessionary rates for under-16s sports clubs be phased over 3 financial years as set out in Table 1; (2) that the Executive Director (Finance and Corporate Resources) work with officers of SLLC to identify and address financial implications, noting the Committee’s wish that there be ‘no detriment’ to SLLC services, facilities or workers in the phasing of new concessionary rates; (3) that a request be made to the Scottish Government, on behalf of the Committee, through the Chief Executive to introduce a Scottish Swimming Pool Fund for municipal leisure providers following the creation of a Swimming Pool Fund in the UK Government’s Budget; (4) that the energy industry be asked to fund additional support for municipal leisure providers, such as SLLC, from industry profits; (5) that South Lanarkshire Council reaffirm its support for fair funding for local government by central government and, specifically, a settlement that reflected the demands of the cross- party COSLA ‘Budget SOS’ lobbying campaign; (6) that the SLLC Board be asked to routinely publish board agendas and papers online to assist with transparency, scrutiny and understanding of matters of concern to the community; and (7) that the above recommendations be submitted to the next scheduled full Council meeting. In terms of Standing Order No 14, the Chair adjourned the meeting during this item of business at 10.30am for a 15 minute period. The meeting reconvened at 10.45am without the attendance of Councillor McGeever 4 Minutes of Previous Meeting The minutes of the meeting of the Executive Committee held on 29 March 2023 were submitted for approval as a correct record. The Committee decided: that the minutes be approved as a correct record. 5 Additional Funding from Scottish Government and Other External Sources A report dated 26 April 2023 by the Executive Director (Finance and Corporate Resources) was submitted on additional funding, totalling £2.798 million, which had been made available to the Council by the Scottish Government and other external sources. 8
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The funding had been allocated as follows:- Revenue Funding Resource 2022/2023 (£m) Education 2.146 Total 2.146 Capital Funding Resource 2023/2024 (£m) Community and Enterprise 0.652 Total 0.652 Overall Total 2.798 The Committee decided: that the report be noted. [Reference: Minutes of 29 March 2023 (Paragraph 5)] 6 Glasgow City Region City Deal – A72 Lanark Road/M74 Junction 7 Signalisation - Full Business Case A report dated 27 April 2023 by the Executive Director (Community and Enterprise Resources) was submitted on the Full Business Case (FBC) for the A72 Lanark Road/M74 Junction 7 Signalisation element of the Larkhall Community Growth Area (CGA) City Deal project. Governance arrangements for the City Deal Initiative were defined within the associated City Deal Assurance Framework. This set out the requirements for the development of Business Cases for individual projects. The Larkhall CGA had received approval at both Strategic and Outline Business Case stages and a Full Business Case had now been produced for the A72 Lanark Road/M74 Junction 7 Signalisation element of the Larkhall CGA project. The A72 Lanark Road/M74 Junction 7 Signalisation project would provide:- 2 new traffic light-controlled junctions at the M74/A72 on and off ramp slip roads 2,300 square metres of new carriageway created or improved via widening works/resurfacing works improved LED street lighting installed (40 columns) 10,000 square metres of existing carriageway improved 2 new/improved vehicle restraint systems along the length of the M74/A72 overbridge parapets The FBC continued to make the case for the Larkhall CGA project in terms of:- strategic fit commercial case economic case financial case management case 9
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The Executive Summary of the FBC was attached as Appendix 1 to the report. The production of the FBC provided the basis for full delivery and construction of the A72 Lanark Road/M74 Junction 7 Signalisation. If approved by the Committee, the FBC for the project would then be considered by the Glasgow City Region Deal Programme Management Office which had delegated powers to confirm its approval under the Assurance Framework. Officers:- responded to members’ questions on various aspects of the report undertook to provide local members with a breakdown of community benefit funding in the Larkhall area undertook to advise members in the Clydesdale area if any slippage occurred in the project The Committee decided: (1) that the A72 Lanark Road/M74 Junction 7 Signalisation Full Business Case be approved; (2) that grant funding be sought in accordance with the City Deal Grant Distribution Process outlined in the Assurance Framework in relation to the delivery of the project; and (3) that it be noted that the precise arrangements would be agreed by the City Deal Chief Executive’s Group (CEG) and City Deal Cabinet. Councillor McGeever joined the meeting during consideration of this item of business In terms of Standing Order No 14, the Chair adjourned the meeting at 11.30am for a 10 minute period. The meeting reconvened at 11.40am without the attendance of Councillor Cooper 7 Update on Proposal to Conduct a Consultation to Realign the Catchment Areas of Glengowan Primary, Machanhill Primary and Robert Smillie Primary Schools, Larkhall A report dated 28 April 2023 by the Executive Director (Education Resources) was submitted on a statutory consultation in relation to the proposed catchment realignment of Glengowan, Machanhill and Robert Smillie Primary Schools, Larkhall. On 25 March 2020, under arrangements made as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Chief Executive, in consultation with Group Leaders, agreed that a statutory consultation exercise under the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010 be undertaken to propose a change to the catchment areas of Glengowan, Machanhill and Robert Smillie Primary Schools, Larkhall. Due to the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns, the legislative public consultation had not taken place. As a result, it was proposed that the Committee be advised of the updated position in relation to the school rolls/projected rolls and the developments in the area to allow the proposal to be reconsidered. The current catchment areas for Glengowan, Machanhill and Robert Smillie Primary Schools in Larkhall were detailed in Appendix 1 to the report, together with information on the 2 main housing development areas within Larkhall which were currently within the catchment area for Machanhill Primary School but were geographically closer to Glengowan and Robert Smillie Primary Schools. The pupil data for each school was detailed in section 3 of the report. Details were also given on the following proposed catchment realignments:- from Machanhill Primary School to Glengowan Primary School from Machanhill Primary School to Robert Smillie Primary School 10
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Given the physical capacity of both Glengowan and Robert Smillie Primary Schools and the assumptions of expected pupil numbers coming from the new housing developments, it was anticipated that the realignment would allow both Glengowan and Robert Smillie Primary Schools to accommodate the predicted numbers of pupils generated from the new housing developments. Officers responded to members’ questions on various aspects of the report. The Committee decided: that a statutory consultation be conducted to change the catchment areas of Glengowan Primary School, Machanhill Primary School and Robert Smillie Primary School to balance pupil numbers more effectively and better align new housing developments in Larkhall to the school geographically closer. Councillor Cooper entered the meeting during consideration of this item of business 8 Outcome of the Review of the Safer South Lanarkshire Board A report dated 26 April 2023 by the Executive Director (Housing and Technical Resources) was submitted on:- the outcome of the review of the Safer South Lanarkshire Board completed during 2022/2023 the proposed revised terms of reference for the Safer South Lanarkshire Board The Safer South Lanarkshire Board had been established in 2012 to ensure that the Council and the Community Safety Partnership (CSP) met statutory requirements arising from the Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012. Following a review of the South Lanarkshire Community Plan in 2022, and the subsequent launch of the new Community Plan 2022 to 2032, the CSP had been advised that the previous reporting requirements directly from the SSLB to the Community Planning Partnership Board (CPPB) were no longer necessary. A review had subsequently been undertaken of the SSLB to ensure that the role and remit remained appropriate and beneficial for partners within the CSP. Following completion of the review, it was proposed that the SSLB focus on the following key functions:- conducting regular review and scrutiny of police performance against priorities set within the Lanarkshire Local Police Plan conducting regular review and scrutiny of fire performance against priorities set within the Local Fire Plan monitoring progress within the statutory South Lanarkshire Anti-social Behaviour Strategy and associated partnership activity Additionally, the SSLB, supported by the Safer South Lanarkshire Steering Group (SSLSG), would continue its role as approver for the allocation of the annual budget and continue to receive an annual evaluation report on how the funds had been spent by partners and on the impact made. The review also identified aspects of the SSLB’s remit which were being progressed through different partnership arrangements already in place and proposed outcomes for each of those aspects were detailed in the report. The revised terms of reference for the SSLB, which took account of the outcome of the review, were detailed in Appendix 1 to the report. 11
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The Committee decided: (1) that the report be noted; and (2) that the revised terms of reference for the Safer South Lanarkshire Board, attached as Appendix 1 to the report, be approved and implemented from 18 May 2023. [Reference: Minutes of 21 November 2012 (Paragraph 11)] 9 Land and Property Transfers and Disposals A report dated 20 April 2023 by the Executive Director (Housing and Technical Resources) was submitted on proposed actions in respect of land and property transactions. The recommendations had been made in terms of agreed procedures for dealing with surplus land and property. The Committee decided: that the land and property, as detailed in Appendix A to the report, be declared surplus to Council requirements. 10 Representation on Outside Bodies A report dated 2 May 2023 by the Chief Executive was submitted on a proposed amendment to the elected member representation on the Safer South Lanarkshire Board. Following a request received from the Business Manager of the SNP Group on 2 May 2023, it was proposed that Councillor Gray be replaced by Councillor Cowan as a member of the Safer South Lanarkshire Board. The Committee decided: that Councillor Gray be replaced by Councillor Cowan as a member of the Safer South Lanarkshire Board. 11 External Representation on the Education Resources Committee - Update A joint report dated 25 April 2023 by the Executive Directors (Education Resources) and (Finance and Corporate Resources) was submitted providing an update on the arrangements for the appointment of representatives other than councillors to serve on the Education Resources Committee. At its meeting on 29 June 2022, the Committee had approved the selection procedures for specified categories of religious and parent/carer representation on the Education Resources Committee. With regard to parent/carer representation, all Parent Councils had been invited to submit nominations for representatives to serve on the Education Resources Committee. Each Parent Council could nominate 1 member provided that the nomination was proposed at a formal meeting of the Parent Council. 12
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At the close of nominations, 4 applications had been received for 2 available places. Subsequently, 1 applicant had withdrawn their application. Following an interview process conducted by Education Resources, it was proposed that the following 2 applicants be confirmed as the new parent council representatives on the Education Resources Committee:- Naomi Baxter, Bankhead Primary School Christine Hall, Chapelton Primary School (reappointment) The Committee decided: that the appointment of Naomi Baxter and the reappointment of Christine Hall as parent/carer representatives on the Education Resources Committee be confirmed. [Reference: Minutes of 29 June 2022 (Paragraph 7)] 12 Recommendations Referred from Resource Committees A report dated 3 May 2023 by the Chief Executive was submitted on recommendations referred to this Committee by the:- Education Resources Committee of 2 May 2023 Finance and Corporate Resources Committee of 3 May 2023 The recommendations of the Education Resources Committee were as follows:- that the priorities for admission to all Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) establishments, as detailed in Appendix 1 to the report, be approved that the admissions policy and process for the allocation of places to all Early Learning and Childcare Establishments be implemented from August 2023 The recommendation of the Finance and Corporate Resources Committee was as follows:- that the Procurement Strategy 2023 to 2028, attached as Appendix 1 to the report, be approved The Committee decided: (1) that the recommendations referred by the Education Resources Committee of 2 May 2023 in relation to the Review of Admissions Policy for Early Learning and Childcare Establishments 2023 be approved; and (2) that the recommendation of the Finance and Corporate Resources Committee of 3 May 2023 in relation to the Procurement Strategy 2023 to 2028 be approved subject to the insertion of the word “real” before the words “living wage” in the Strategy document. [Reference: Minutes of Education Resources Committee of 2 May 2023 (Paragraph 7) and Minutes of Finance and Corporate Resources Committee of 3 May 2023 (Paragraph 10)] 13 South Lanarkshire Leisure and Culture Strategy 2022 to 2027 A report dated 28 April 2023 by the Executive Director (Community and Enterprise Resources) was submitted on the South Lanarkshire Leisure and Culture (SLLC) Strategy 2022 to 2027. 13
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South Lanarkshire Leisure and Culture Limited (SLLC) assumed responsibility for the operation, management and development of sports and leisure, community halls, arts venues, country parks, libraries and museums on behalf of South Lanarkshire Council. A Cross Party Working Group (CPWG) review of leisure and culture provision had been undertaken during 2020/2021 to clarify the terms of the relationship between the Council, SLLC and its Board, and its role as a provider of services to the Council. At its meeting on 23 June 2021, the Committee approved the outcomes of the review, including new modernised governance arrangements which had led to the conversion of SLLC Ltd to a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation (SCIO) on 3 April 2023. The SLLC Strategy 2022 to 2027, approved by the SLLC Board on 22 June 2022, set out its strategic objectives for the next 5 years, which were based on the themes of:- Health and Wellbeing Connected and Engaged Equality and Inclusion Organisational Sustainability Details were given on arrangements for monitoring and implementation of the Strategy. Three cross cutting themes within the Strategy aligned with the priorities and key ambitions within the Council Plan Connect (2022 to 2027) and the South Lanarkshire Community Plan (2022 to 2032). Those were:- reduce inequality (people) recover, progress and improve (progress) work towards a sustainable future (planet) In line with SLLC’s conversion to a SCIO, the Council would take the opportunity to develop a Commissioning Plan for SLLC and this would be submitted to the Executive Committee for approval later in 2023. The Commissioning Plan would define the Council’s “ask” of SLLC, over the medium to long term, to help ensure that leisure and cultural services remained accessible and sustainable while taking account of projected and available Council funding. The commissioning plan exercise would also review and update the existing suite of documentation which defined the relationship between the Council and SLLC, including Service Level Agreements and other related documentation. There followed a full discussion during which:- officers responded to members’ questions on various aspects of the report officers advised that a report on the Warm Welcome initiative would be submitted to a future meeting of the Committee the Chair advised of proposals for members’ engagement with the SSLC management team prior to development of the Commissioning Plan The Committee decided: that the South Lanarkshire Leisure and Culture Strategy 2022 to 2027, attached as Appendix 1 to the report, be noted. [Reference: Minutes of 23 June 2021 (Paragraph 11)] 14 Urgent Business There were no items of urgent business. 14
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Report Agenda Item To: Executive Committee Date of Meeting: 21 June 2023 Prepared By: Executive Director (Finance and Corporate Resources) Subject: Revenue Budget Year-End 2022/2023 1. Purpose of Report 1.1. The purpose of the report is to: [purpose] ♦ advise the Committee of the overall financial position of the Council’s General Fund Revenue Account and Housing Revenue Account for the period 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023. 2. Recommendation(s) 2.1. The Committee is asked to approve the following recommendation(s): [1purpose] (1) that it be noted that across Resources, Corporate Items and Council Tax, the Council is showing an additional year end underspend of £3.966 million after proposed transfers to reserves (section 4 and Appendix 1); (2) that it be noted that the probable outturn transfers approved by members has now been revised to £39.009 million (previously (£39.311 million) (Appendix 3); (3) that the Resources requests for transfers to reserves to spend on commitments against specific streams of funding during the final part of the year totalling £8.325 million (Appendix 4), be approved; (4) that the overfunding position on the IJB contribution as detailed at section 4.5, be noted; (5) that approval be given for the £3.966 million underspend, after proposed transfers to reserves, to be transferred to reserves and used to fund future budget pressures (section 4.13); (6) that it be noted that following the transfer to reserves of the £3.966 million (recommendation 5), the result is a break-even position for the Council; (7) that the position regarding the recurring costs in relation to the Home Carers’ Job Evaluation exercise, (section 5.1-5.4) be noted; (8) that it be noted that the outcome of the review on Home Carers’ job evaluation has now been reached, and that a full paper covering expenditure and funding will be presented to committee in August 2023 (section 5.5-5.7); (9) that the clawback of underspend from the IJB will now not be possible, and that the alternate funds identified to contribute towards Children and Families costs in 2023/2024 (section 5.6), be agreed; and (10) that the break-even position on the Housing Revenue Account (section 6), be noted. 3. Background 3.1. This overview report will summarise the 2022/2023 Year-End position for the Council’s General Fund Revenue Account and Housing Revenue Account. 3 15
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3.2. Section 4 provides details of the final position for the financial year, as well as the movement from the previously reported Probable Outturn position for the Council. The position on the Home Carers’ Job Evaluation exercise is detailed in section 5 and the Housing Revenue position is shown in section 6. 3.3. Appendix 1 to the report details the overall spend position for the current year. This position includes all proposed transfers to reserves: the transfers to Reserves approved at Probable (Executive Committee, February 2023) are shown in Appendix 3 with any movements in these transfers as a result of in-year spend, shown separately for members’ information. Those new proposed Transfers to Reserves requested by Resources at Year-End are shown in Appendix 4. 4. General Services – 2022/2023 Year-End Position 4.1. For reference, the Council’s overall Probable Outturn position for the year (including approved Transfers to Reserves), was last reported to Committee as an underspend of £4.696 million (Executive Committee, 1 February 2023). Committee agreed that this underspend of £4.696 million on the Council’s General Services would be Transferred to Reserves resulting in a forecast break-even position for the year. 4.2. The Year-End position is showing an underspend of £3.966 million. This is after proposed transfers to reserves and is in addition to the £4.696 million reported as part of the Probable Outturn. This is summarised in Table 1 along with the movement from the break-even position agreed at Probable Outturn (after the £4.696 million Transfer to Reserves). This is an improvement of £3.966 million (from the break-even at Probable Outturn to the underspend of £3.966 million at financial Year-End). Table 1 – General Service Year-End 2022/2023 (after Transfers to Reserves) Probable Outturn £m Year-End £m Movement from Probable to Year- end £m Resource Position (Appendix 2, section 1 to 7) (0.335) (0.055) 0.280 Loan Charges (Appendix 2, section 8) 1.180 1.309 0.129 Corporate Items (Appendix 2, sections 9 to 12) 2.347 5.667 3.320 Corporate Items Strategy – Transfers to Reserves (Probable Outturn Underspend Transferred to Reserves) (4.696) (4.696) - Council Tax (Appendix 2, section 13) 1.504 1.741 0.237 General Services Underspend 2022/2023 - 3.966 3.966 4.3. This report and appendices provide a detailed analysis of the Council’s financial position at the end of the year. Appendices 1 and 2 provide detail of the Year-End position with a summary of the £3.966 million noted in sections 4.4 to 4.12. 4.4. Resources: The overspend position of (£0.055) million is after taking into account the Transfers to Reserves agreed at the Probable Outturn as well as the additional transfers being proposed by the Resources as part of the Year-End position. This minor overspend in Resources is a better position than forecast at Probable Outturn and reflects an improved position in Housing and Technical Resources. The Transfers at Probable Outturn and Year-End are detailed in Appendices 3 and 4 respectively. The Resources’ Transfers to Reserves agreed at Probable Outturn were originally £8.405 million and are now £7.810 million being a reduction of £0.595 million. This 16
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reflects the increase in spend achieved in year, and therefore a reduced level of budget to transfer to reserves. 4.5. The Resources’ Year-end position includes a break-even position on Social Work Resources. In relation to Adults and Older People specifically, the Service position includes a underspend on core funding from the Council to the IJB and the Council’s contribution can be reduced by this amount. As agreed in the Probable Outturn report (Executive Committee, 1 February 2023), this was to be dealt with as overfunding in year and the resultant underspend is presented as a Transfer to Reserves of £5.635 million (as agreed at Probable Outturn) meaning the Service shows a break-even position, after a Transfer to Reserves. These monies were to be used to help cover the Children and Families’ budget pressures into 2023/2024. This is permissible in the IJB financial regulations and is in line with integrating Health and Social Care budgets. (note that this position is before the impact of job evaluation as covered in section 5) 4.6. The Year-End position for Adults and Older People also includes a £1.875 million commitment in relation to the element of the budget delegated to the Integrated Joint Board (IJB). This is a slight increase on the £1.423 million predicted at Probable Outturn. This commitment reflects the agreed position at Probable Outturn where the Council allows the IJB to retain this non-recurring underspend within their reserves earmarked for future care costs, in line with the approach to integrating health and social care budgets. These monies will be retained in the Council’s Balance Sheet and will be available for use by the IJB. 4.7. Loan Charges: The year-end underspend of £1.309 million after the proposed Transfers to Reserves, is a movement of £0.129 million from the Probable Outturn position and reflects additional interest received during the year. This position includes a movement on the Interest Generated on Reserves/Funds anticipated at Probable Outturn. 4.8. Corporate Items: There is a net underspend of £5.667 million after Transfer to Reserves (Appendices 3 and 4). This is £3.320 million better than the Probable Outturn and in the main, reflects the impact of the Teachers’ Industrial Action (£2.798 million) and an underspend on the Pay Award budget not allocated to the IJB in-year (£0.900 million). 4.9. It is noted that the underspend on Corporate Items of £5.667 million is after the Transfer to Reserves of the £4.633 million underspend generated in 2022/2023 by the approved implementation of Service Concession arrangements. This is included in the Year-End Transfers to Reserves in Appendix 4 and will be used to support future Budget Strategies. 4.10. Council Tax: The over recovery for the year is £1.741 million, representing an improvement of £0.237 million since the Probable Outturn. The increase comprises a reduction in the level of Council Tax Reduction Scheme expenditure. 4.11. Transfers to Reserves: The Year-End underspend of £3.966 million includes total Transfers to Reserves of £47.334 million. This includes the Transfers to Reserves approved as part of the Probable Outturn (£39.311 million) adjusted for movements totalling £0.302 million to reflect the final position. The revisions to the Probable Outturn Transfers are shown in Appendix 3 (giving a total of £39.009 million for Probable Outturn Transfers). 17
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4.12. Furthermore, additional Transfers to Reserves proposed at Year-End total £8.325 million. This reflects carry forward of funding in Reserves to allow committed areas of spend to be incurred in 2023/2024. Details of these additional proposed transfers are provided in Appendix 4. This takes the total Transfers to Reserves at Year-End to £47.334 million (being Probable Outturn Revised Transfers of £39.009 million and Year-End Transfers of £8.325 million). 4.13. Taking into account the variances noted in sections 4.4 to 4.12, the year-end additional underspend position of £3.966 million is now confirmed (as summarised in Table 1) and it is proposed that this £3.966 million is used to meet future budget pressures (including children and families costs – refer section 5.6). 4.14. If this proposal is agreed, then these monies will be Transferred to Reserves and will result in the Council returning a break-even position for financial year 2022/2023. 5. Home Carers Job Evaluation 5.1. There are no implications within this paper from the outcome of the Home Carers’ Job Evaluation in terms of recurring costs. The outcome of the Job Evaluation exercise for Home Carers will result in significant recurring costs for the Care at Home service that is delegated to the IJB in 2023/2024 and beyond. The costs of grade changes will be approximately £7m. The IJB have set a budget for 2023/2024, however, these costs are not included in that budget. The IJB’s Financial Regulations and Integration Scheme set out the process for such an eventuality. 5.2. The Financial Regulations state that if the Integration Joint Boards Chief Financial Officer is advised that a significant change is likely to the Integration Joint Board's overall financial position and the deviation involves a change of policy of the Integration Joint Board or results in revenue implications for future years, a report will be provided for the Integration Joint Board in good time detailing the financial consequences to enable appropriate action to be taken timeously. 5.3. The regulations state that if an overspend is forecast on either Parties in scope budget, the Chief Officer and the Integration Joint Board’s Chief Financial Officer will aim to agree a recovery plan with the relevant Party to balance the overspending budget and to determine the actions required to be taken by the IJB to deliver the recovery plan. 5.4. Ordinarily, any such event would require to be met within the envelope of funding provided to the IJB. The intense budget and service pressures on local government, the Health Board and our Health and Social Care partners has been noted previously and is ongoing, both nationally and locally. It should be noted that the financial position for both the IJB and the Council partner both indicate significant budget gaps moving forwards, and, therefore, it is likely that any recovery plan identified will require changes to be made to the services currently commissioned by the IJB. 5.5. Back Dated Pay: In addition to the recurring costs, at a meeting of South Lanarkshire Council on 24 May 2023 it was asked that a review took place in relation to the implementation date of the outcome. Whilst the outcome of the Job Evaluation stated that grades were to change from 1 April 2023, there was the possibility that this review would change that outcome and back dated pay would require to be paid out. These costs would be in relation to Home Carers and, therefore, the costs are part of the services delegated to the IJB. 5.6. As of the 12 June the outcome of the review is now known. A basis has been established for back-dating to October 2020. The value of the back pay will take some time to calculate, however, these costs will require to be included in the financial 18
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position for 2022/2023. The Executive Committee (1 February 2023) had agreed that it would clawback a non-recurring underspend from the IJB of £5.6 million and use this to help with Children and Families pressures into 2023/2024. As Home Carer back pay now requires to be paid, the IJB will now not underspend, that funding will not be available and, therefore, that decision taken by the Executive Committee cannot now be implemented. We will, therefore, need to identify other funding to help with Children and Families costs into 2023/2024. We would propose that we look to the additional underspend of £3.966 million identified at section 4.13 as a means of contributing towards meeting those costs, alongside residual covid funding held in Council reserves. 5.7. As the outcome of the review was only known as this report was being finalised it has not been possible to update the figures in this report to reflect the outcome highlighted above. We will now require to quantify the full costs and the funding package and report back in August to Executive committee. 6. Housing Revenue Account Year-End 2022/2023 6.1. As at 31 March 2023, the position on the Housing Revenue Account is a breakeven position. This is after a transfer from the HRA Reserve of £3.990 million, which is £0.490 million higher than budgeted. 6.2. The details of the variances across the Housing Revenue Account are shown in Appendix 5 and in the main reflect an underspend on both Property Costs and Loan Charges, offset by an under-recovery of Income. 7. Employee Implications 7.1. None. 8. Financial Implications 8.1. As detailed in sections 4, 5 and 6 of the report. 9. Climate Change, Sustainability and Environmental Implications 9.1. There are no implications for climate change, sustainability or the environment in terms of the information contained in this report. 10. Other Implications 10.1. The main risk associated with the Council’s Revenue Budget is that there is an overspend. The risk has been assessed as low given the detailed budget management applied across the Resources. The risk is managed through four weekly Budget Monitoring Meetings at which any variance is analysed. In addition, the Probable Outturn exercise ensures early warning for corrective action to be taken where appropriate. 11. Equality Impact Assessment and Consultation Arrangements 11.1. This report does not introduce a new policy, function or strategy or recommend a change to an existing policy, function or strategy and, therefore, no impact assessment is required. 11.2. There is also no requirement to undertake any consultation in terms of the information contained in this report. Paul Manning Executive Director (Finance and Corporate Resources) 19
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12 June 2023 Link(s) to Council Values/Priorities/Outcomes ♦ Accountable, Effective, Efficient and Transparent Previous References ♦ None List of Background Papers ♦ Financial Ledger and budget monitoring results to 31 March 2023. Contact for Further Information If you would like to inspect the background papers or want further information, please contact: Lorraine O'Hagan, Finance Manager (Strategy) Ext: 2601 (Tel: 01698 452601) E-mail: lorraine.o'hagan@southlanarkshire.gov.uk 20
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Appendix 1 SOUTH LANARKSHIRE COUNCIL Revenue Budget Monitoring Report (AFTER Transfers) Period Ended 31 March 2023 Committee Annual Budget Forecast Before Transfers Forecast After Transfers Annual Forecast Variance (After Transfers) Actual to 31/03/23 Before Transfers Variance Annual Budget To Actual Before Transfers Actual to 31/03/23 After Transfers Variance Annual Budget To Actual After Transfers Departments: £m £m £m £m £m £m £m £m Community and Enterprise Resources 129.435 128.158 129.428 0.007 127.880 1.555 129.410 0.025 Facilities Streets, Waste and Grounds 75.719 73.962 75.192 0.527 73.909 1.810 75.349 0.370 Fleet, Environmental and Projects 24.542 24.530 24.530 0.012 24.524 0.018 24.524 0.018 Leisure and Culture Services 5.134 4.092 4.092 1.042 3.978 1.156 3.978 1.156 Planning and Economic Development 6.233 6.119 6.119 0.114 6.115 0.118 6.115 0.118 Roads 17.807 19.455 19.495 (1.688) 19.354 (1.547) 19.444 (1.637) Education Resources 410.918 409.418 410.918 0.000 409.607 1.311 410.918 0.000 Education Resources 410.918 409.418 410.918 0.000 409.607 1.311 410.918 0.000 Finance and Corporate Resources 49.019 49.019 49.019 0.000 48.041 0.978 49.019 0.000 Finance Services - Strategy 2.291 2.303 2.303 (0.012) 2.291 0.000 2.291 0.000 Finance Services - Transactions 24.913 24.419 24.419 0.494 23.969 0.944 24.528 0.385 Audit and Compliance Services 0.378 0.378 0.378 0.000 0.411 (0.033) 0.411 (0.033) Information Technology Services 4.520 4.556 4.556 (0.036) 4.544 (0.024) 4.544 (0.024) Communications and Strategy Services 3.439 3.590 3.590 (0.151) 3.203 0.236 3.538 (0.099) Administration and Licensing Services 4.289 4.762 4.762 (0.473) 4.565 (0.276) 4.649 (0.360) Personnel Services 9.189 9.011 9.011 0.178 9.058 0.131 9.058 0.131 Housing and Technical Resources 18.953 19.295 19.295 (0.342) 18.958 (0.005) 19.033 (0.080) Housing Services 9.340 9.340 9.340 0.000 9.237 0.103 9.312 0.028 Property Services 9.613 9.955 9.955 (0.342) 9.721 (0.108) 9.721 (0.108) Social Work Resources 216.093 210.458 216.093 0.000 210.458 5.635 216.093 0.000 Performance and Support Services 7.153 6.474 6.474 0.679 6.368 0.785 6.368 0.785 Children and Family 42.454 43.610 43.610 (1.156) 43.749 (1.295) 43.749 (1.295) Adults and Older People 165.334 159.699 165.334 0.000 159.699 5.635 165.334 0.000 Justice and Substance Misuse 1.152 0.675 0.675 0.477 0.642 0.510 0.642 0.510 Joint Boards 2.152 2.152 2.152 0.000 2.152 0.000 2.152 0.000 Total Resources 826.570 818.500 826.905 (0.335) 817.096 9.474 826.625 (0.055) Annual Budget Forecast Before Transfers Forecast After Transfers Annual Forecast Variance (After Transfers) Actual to 31/03/23 Before Transfers Variance Annual Budget To Actual Before Transfers Actual to 31/03/23 After Transfers Variance Annual Budget To Actual After Transfers £m £m £m £m £m £m £m £m Total Resources 826.570 818.500 826.905 (0.335) 817.096 9.474 826.625 (0.055) CFCR 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 Loan Charges 35.041 30.306 33.861 1.180 30.320 4.721 33.732 1.309 Corporate Items 13.812 9.240 11.465 2.347 (0.469) 14.281 8.145 5.667 Corporate Items - 22/23 Strategy 17.420 0.000 22.116 (4.696) 0.000 17.420 22.116 (4.696) Corporate Items - 21/22 Investments 0.611 0.611 0.611 0.000 0.000 0.611 0.611 0.000 Total Expenditure 893.454 858.657 894.958 (1.504) 846.947 46.507 891.229 2.225 Council Tax 167.437 170.688 169.078 1.641 170.703 3.266 169.051 1.614 Less: Council Tax Reduction Scheme (23.272) (22.009) (23.409) (0.137) (21.745) 1.527 (23.145) 0.127 Net Council Tax 144.165 148.679 145.669 1.504 148.958 4.793 145.906 1.741 General Revenue Grant 254.817 254.817 254.817 0.000 254.817 0.000 254.817 0.000 Non-Domestic Rates 422.591 422.591 422.591 0.000 422.591 0.000 422.591 0.000 Transfer from Reserves 71.881 71.881 71.881 0.000 71.881 0.000 71.881 0.000 Total Income 893.454 897.968 894.958 1.504 898.247 4.793 895.195 1.741 Net Expenditure / (Surplus) Before Transfers to Reserves 0.000 (39.311) 0.000 0.000 (51.300) 51.300 (3.966) 3.966 21
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Appendix 2 Detail of Year-End Position Across Resources and Centrally Held Budgets 1. Movement from Last Reported Position: The previously reported Probable Outturn position for General Services was an underspend of £4.696 million. It was agreed that this would be a Transfer to Reserves leaving a projected break-even position for the year. At financial Year-End, the position is an additional underspend of £3.966 million. This is made up of an improvement in Resources of £0.280 million, an improvement in the Centrally Held budgets of Corporate Items and Loan Charges (£3.449 million) and an increase in the over-recovery of Council Tax / Council Tax Reduction Scheme (£0.237 million). Each of the individual areas of the Council’s General Services budgets are detailed in the remainder of this Appendix. 2. Resources and Centrally Held Budgets: Details of the Resource positions, including any assumptions are detailed below. These figures include the Transfers to Reserves approved at Probable Outturn (Appendix 3) as well as those proposed as part of the Year-End position (Appendix 4). 3. Community and Enterprise Resources: The Year-End position after transfers to reserves is an underspend of £0.025 million. This is comparable to the Resource’s Probable Outturn position, a minor improvement of £0.018 million and is after additional Transfers to Reserves of £0.260 million. 4. Education Resources: The Year-End position after transfers to reserves is break-even and is comparable to the Resource’s Probable Outturn position. It is after further year- end transfers to Reserves of £0.406 million. 5. Finance and Corporate Resources: The Year-End position after transfers to reserves is break-even. This is in line with the forecast position at Probable Outturn and takes account of a number of Transfers to Reserves identified at year-end. 6. Housing and Technical Resources: The Year-End position after transfers to reserves is an overspend of £0.080 million. This is an improvement of £0.262 million on the reported Probable Outturn position and is due to greater levels of rental income than anticipated in relation to the Estates portfolio and Office Accommodation properties. 7. Social Work Resources: The Year-End position is break-even, in line with the Probable Outturn. As reported at Probable Outturn, this position includes the transfer to reserves of an over-provision of funding to the Integrated Joint Board. This money will be held in reserves and utilised to manage pressures within Children and Family Services in 2023/2024 (£5.635 million). In addition, the Year-End position also includes an amount of specific funding received in relation to the IJB that will be retained in the Council’s Balance Sheet and will be available for use by the IJB (£1.875 million). 8. Loan Charges: The year-end underspend of £1.309 million after the proposed Transfers to Reserves, is a movement of £0.129 million from the Probable Outturn position and reflects additional interest received during the year. This position includes a movement on the Interest Generated on Reserves/Funds anticipated at Probable Outturn. 9. Corporate Items: The Year-End position is a net underspend of £5.667 million, after Transfers to Reserves. This includes a revision to the value of the Transfers to Reserves agreed at Probable Outturn (an increase of £0.394 million to £2.619m). It also includes additional Transfers to Reserves proposed in Appendix 4 (£5.995m). This is an improvement of £3.320 million on the position reported at Probable Outturn which, 22
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in the main, reflects the impact of the Teachers’ Industrial Action (£2.798 million) and an underspend on the Pay Award budget not allocated to the IJB in-year (£0.900 million). 10. It is noted that the underspend on Corporate Items of £5.667 million is after the Transfer to Reserves of the £4.633 million underspend generated in 2022/2023 by the approved implementation of Service Concession arrangements. This is included in the Year-End Transfers to Reserves in Appendix 4 and will be used to support future Budget Strategies. 11. Corporate Items – Strategy (Transfer to Reserves): The overspend at Year-End reflects the Transfer to Reserves anticipated from the Probable Outturn exercise (£4.696 million) which has been approved to support the 2023/2024 Budget. 12. 2022/2023 Investments: After a Transfer to Reserves of £0.611 million proposed at Year-End for the underspend on Roads Participatory Budgets, there is a break-even position on this budget line. This is included in the Transfers proposed in Appendix 4. 13. Council Tax including Council Tax Reduction Scheme (CTRS): Council Tax is showing an over recovery of £1.741 million, comprising an over recovery of Council Tax of £1.614 million and an underspend on CTRS of £0.127 million. This is an increase of £0.237 million on the position reported as part of the Probable Outturn and is after approved Transfers to Reserves. 14. The Council Tax over recovery of £3.266 million (before Transfers to Reserves) is due to the following: • Empty Property charges - £0.089 million, • Arrears collection - £0.545 million • Additional in-year properties - £3.284 million • Income from Council Tax Second Homes - (£0.652) million (which will be transferred to the Housing Revenue Account). 15. The underspend of £1.527 million on the CTRS (before Transfer to Reserves) reflects current demand for these payments. 23
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Appendix 3 Transfers to Reserves – Included in the Probable Outturn Purpose / Description Resource Value £m Resources Unbudgeted Waste Income Income from waste to be carried forward to meet the anticipated increase in cost of waste contracts in 2023/2024. Community and Enterprise 1.080 Fleet Sinking Fund Annual contribution to the Fleet sinking fund to maintain the asset replacement programme. Community and Enterprise 0.025 Year 3 of Electric Vehicle Payback Ring-fenced reserves used to manage purchase of electric vehicles in short term which have to be repaid over next few years. This contribution is the second repayment. Community and Enterprise 0.015 Crematorium Sink Fund Annual contribution to the Crematorium sinking fund to maintain asset replacement programme. Community and Enterprise 0.050 Allotments This funding is required to support and pay for objectives and targets within the Food Growing Strategy and the Sustainable Development and Climate Change Strategy. This funding support the delivery of future allotment provision and food growing projects Community and Enterprise 0.100 Total Community and Enterprise Resources’ Transfers at Probable Outturn 1.270 Adjust: increase / (reduction) in transfers to reflect spend during the year Community and Enterprise - Total Community and Enterprise Resources’ Transfers at Year-End 1.270 Pupil Equity Fund The funding received from the Government can be used up to the end of the school term (June 2023). The underspend reflects the element of the funding that will be utilised in April to June 2023. Education 1.500 Total Education Resources’ Transfers at Probable Outturn 1.500 Adjust: increase / (reduction) in transfers to reflect spend during the year Education (0.595) Total Education Resources’ Transfers at Year-End 0.905 Children and Families In line with the proposal made to the IJB, unspent core Council funding for Adults and Older People will be carried forward to support the pressures in Children and Families into 2023/2024. Social Work Resources 5.635 Total Social Work Resources’ Transfers at Probable Outturn 5.635 Adjust: increase / (reduction) in transfers to reflect spend during the year Social Work Resources - Total Social Work Resources’ Transfers at Year-End 5.635 Total Resource Proposed Transfers to Reserves 8.405 Adjust: increase / (reduction) in transfers to reflect spend during the year Total Resources (0.595) Total Resource Proposed Transfers to Reserves at Year-End 7.810 Loan Charges Interest Costs Underspend to manage future interest cost from the implementation of Service Concessions (Council, 18 January 2023) Loan Charges 1.982 Loan Charges Underspend Underspend generated by an increase in Deposit Interest to be used to support the 2023/2024 Budget Strategy (Executive Committee, 2 November 2022) ALREADY PROPOSED IN BUDGET STRATEGY Loan Charges 1.000 Interest on Revenue Balances (on Reserves) Loan Charges 0.573 Total Loan Charges Proposed Transfers to Reserves 3.555 Adjust: increase / (reduction) in transfers to reflect spend during the year Loan Charges (0.143) Total Loan Charges Proposed Transfers to Reserves at Year-End 3.412 Corporate Items 2023/2024 Budget Strategy – National Insurance Underspend National Insurance Underspend in 2022/2023 to be used for the 2023/2024 Budget Strategy (Executive Committee, 2 November 2022) ALREADY PROPOSED IN BUDGET STRATEGY Corporate Items / Strategy 0.500 Wellbeing Day Transfer the underspend in the Wellbeing Day budget to Reserves, to manage the costs anticipated into 2023/2024. Corporate Items 0.600 Central Energy Efficiency Fund (CEEF), RHI and FIT Resources are allocated funding from the CEEF Reserve for spend to save projects, which they repay in future years from revenue savings generated by the project. This transfer is the payback of savings from Resources and allows the Reserve to be regenerated for future projects. Income from RHI and FIT is received in-year and is committed to future projects. Corporate Items 0.211 24
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Purpose / Description Resource Value £m 2023/2024 Budget Strategy – One-Off Underspend / Accounting Transactions Finance Exercise – for the 2023/2024 Budget Strategy (Executive Committee, 2 November 2022) taking these one-off or recurring underspends and accounting transactions to Reserves, will help offset increased costs into 2023/2024. ALREADY PROPOSED IN BUDGET STRATEGY Corporate Items / Strategy 0.914 Total Corporate Items Transfers to Reserves at Probable Outturn 2.225 Adjust: increase / (reduction) in transfers to reflect spend during the year Corporate Items – Strategy 0.394 Total Corporate Items Transfers to Reserves at Year-End 2.619 Corporate Items – Strategy Loans Fund Review Use of underspend generated by the Loans Fund Review to support future Budget Strategies. (Executive Committee, June 2022) INCLUDED IN BUDGET STRATEGY Corporate Items – Strategy 15.897 Loan Charges Underspend Underspend generated by the timing of borrowing to be used to support the 2023/2024 Budget Strategy (Executive Committee, June 2022) INCLUDED IN BUDGET STRATEGY Corporate Items – Strategy 0.873 Budget Underspend Budget not required in 2022/2023 therefore can be used to support the 2023/2024 Budget Strategy (Executive Committee, June 2022) INCLUDED IN BUDGET STRATEGY Corporate Items – Strategy 0.650 Probable Outturn Underspend Transfer of projected in-year underspend (2022/2023) for use in the 2023/2024 Budget (approved by Executive Committee, January 2023). Corporate Items – Strategy 4.696 Total Corporate Items – Strategy Transfers to Reserves at Probable Outturn 22.116 Adjust: increase / (reduction) in transfers to reflect spend during the year Corporate Items – Strategy - Total Corporate Items – Strategy Transfers to Reserves at Year-End 22.116 Council Tax / CTRS 2023/2034 Budget Strategy – Council Tax Over-Recovery of Council Tax to be used to support the Budget Strategy (Executive Committee, 2 November 2022). ALREADY PROPOSED IN BUDGET STRATEGY Council Tax / CTRS 1.000 Council Tax Second Homes This transfer represents the over recovery of income from Council Tax on second homes included in the Council’s Council Tax income line. This is required to be transferred to the Housing Revenue Account for use on social housing. Council Tax / CTRS 0.610 2023/2034 Budget Strategy – CTRS Over-Recovery of CTRS to be used to support the Budget Strategy (Executive Committee, 2 November 2022). ALREADY PROPOSED IN BUDGET STRATEGY Council Tax / CTRS 1.400 Total Council Tax / CTRS Transfers at Probable Outturn 3.010 Adjust: increase / (reduction) in transfers to reflect spend during the year Council Tax / CTRS 0.042 Total Council Tax / CTRS Transfers at Year-End 3.052 Total Transfers at Probable Outturn 39.311 Adjust: increase / (reduction) in transfers to reflect spend during the year (0.302) Total Transfers at Year-End 39.009 25
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Appendix 4 Transfers to Reserves – Additional Proposed Transfers at Year-End Purpose / Description Resource Value £m Resources Waste Committed contract / legal costs in relation to Waste Services. Community & Enterprise 0.210 Emergency Car Park Works at Community Facilities Funding required to support emergency work for car parks at Community Facilities. Community & Enterprise 0.050 Community and Enterprise Resources Proposed Transfers at Year-End 0.260 Equipment Replacement Fund Funding from schools’ Devolved Management Scheme being carried forward to allow spend across the academic year and to allow schools to support capital equipment requirements over a number of years. Education 0.406 Education Resources Proposed Transfers at Year-End 0.406 Scottish Welfare Fund Grant received from Scottish Government unspent at the end of the year. Carried forward for utilisation into 2023/2024. Finance and Corporate 0.145 Discretionary Housing Payment Scottish Government Grant unused at the end of the year, to be carried forward for use in 2023/2024. Finance and Corporate 0.115 Warm Welcome Initiative – Energy Support Grants Carry forward unspent energy support grants budget for distribution in 2023/2024. Finance and Corporate 0.299 Administration Grants An underspend on the Grants budget has been set aside to support additional spend into 2023/2024. Finance and Corporate 0.084 2022/2023 Investments – Participatory Budgeting Monies to be carried forward into 2023/2024 to reflect commitments in relation to Participatory Budgeting (the Can Do Community Challenge Fund), Community Led Activities, Community Wishlist and Community Asset Transfer. Finance and Corporate 0.335 Finance and Corporate Resources’ Proposed Transfers at Year-End 0.978 Local Heat and Energy Efficiency Strategies (LHEES) Funding Carry forward unspent budget to be utilised in 2023/2024. Housing and Technical 0.075 Housing and Technical Resources Proposed Transfers at Year-End 0.075 Total Resource Proposed Transfers to Reserves 1.719 2022/2023 Investments – Roads Underspend on the Roads Participatory Budget to be carried forward to complete the schemes into 2023/2024. 0.611 Corporate Items 0.611 Alternative Fuel Payment Funding Carry forward of unspent Government Funding for the alternative fuel payment scheme, to be used in 2023/2024. Corporate Items 0.191 Energy Bill Support Scheme Government funding for the energy support scheme carried forward into 2023/2024, reflecting the timing of anticipated spend. Corporate Items 1.055 Insurance Fund The in-year surplus will be carried forward to support commitments from the Insurance Fund. Corporate Items 0.116 Service Concessions The implementation of the Service Concession arrangement in 2022/2023 generates an underspend in year, which will be used to support Budget Strategies. Corporate Items 4.633 Total Corporate Items Proposed Transfers to Reserves at Year-End 5.995 Total Proposed Transfers to Reserves at Year-End (Resources and Corporate Items) 8.325 26
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Appendix 5 SOUTH LANARKSHIRE COUNCIL Revenue Budget Monitoring Report Year Ended 31 March 2023 Housing Revenue Account Annual Budget Forecast for Year BEFORE Transfers Annual Forecast Variance BEFORE Transfers Annual Forecast Variance AFTER Transfers Budget Proportion 31/03/23 Actual 31/03/23 Variance 31/03/23 % Variance 31/03/23 Notes Budget Category Employee Costs 14.641 14.140 0.501 0.501 14.641 14.342 0.299 under 2.0% 1 Property Costs 45.239 51.757 (6.518) (6.518) 45.239 52.852 (7.613) over (16.8%) 2, a, b Supplies & Services 0.609 1.021 (0.412) (0.412) 0.609 0.793 (0.184) over (30.2%) 3 Transport & Plant 0.195 0.183 0.012 0.012 0.195 0.127 0.068 under 34.9% 4 Administration Costs 5.644 5.593 0.051 0.051 5.644 5.532 0.112 under 2.0% 5 Payments to Other Bodies 3.141 3.165 (0.024) (0.024) 3.141 3.154 (0.013) over (0.4%) b Payments to Contractors 0.100 0.080 0.020 0.020 0.100 0.135 (0.035) over (35.0%) Transfer Payments 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 - 0.0% Financing Charges 26.050 26.050 0.000 0.000 26.050 25.451 0.599 under 2.3% 6 Total Controllable Exp. 95.619 101.989 (6.370) (6.370) 95.619 102.386 (6.767) over (7.1%) Total Controllable Inc. (110.444) (110,919) 0.475 0.475 (110.444) (112.588) 2.144 over recovered 1.9% 7, a Transfer to/(from) Balance Sheet (3.500) (5.840) 2.340 2.340 (3.500) (3.990) 0.490 over recovered 14.1% 8 Net Controllable Exp. (18.325) (14.770) (3.555) (3.555) (18.325) (14.192) (4.133) over (22.6%) Loan Charges 18.325 14.770 3.555 3.555 18.325 14.192 4.133 under 9 Net Controllable Exp. 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 - 0.0% Variance Explanations 1. Employee Costs This underspend reflects higher than anticipated staff turnover within the Service. 2. Property Costs The net overspend reflects the volume and cost of repairs and maintenance, including additional costs for the internal contractor, and additional repairs costs due to the cold weather incident in December 2022. This was partly offset by a lower than budgeted level of bad debt provision required as collection rates have been better than forecast. 3. Supplies and Services This overspend reflects payments and consultancy related costs for the new IT system which is under development. 4. Transport and Plant The underspend reflects lower than forecast embedded pool car costs across the service, reflecting changing working practices with meetings taking place online rather than in person. 5. Administration Costs A large element of this underspend is due to the demand led legal expenses and the underspend reflects the level of eviction action and minor underspends in relation to central support costs. 6. Financing Charges The interest on revenue balances is impacted by the levels held and interest rates and was significantly higher than budget. 7. Income The additional income is due to the favourable timing of new build and purchased council housing units being available to rent as well as income assumed from an insurance claim relating to the costs for the cold weather incident (refer 2.). 8. Transfer to / (from) Balance Sheet The net combined overspend requires for a higher than budgeted level of transfer from reserves but is overall lower than the level of reserves predicted to be required at Probable Outturn. 9. Loan Charges The overall level of debt charges was lower than anticipated due to the profile of funding requirements. Virements a. Budget realignment to reflect the annual demand levels (expenditure and income) for owner occupier energy efficiency measures. Net £0.000m: Property Costs (£1.556m) and Income £1.556m. b. An allocation of £0.111m was transferred from Bad Debt Provision to allow for Tenancy Sustainment measures. Net £0.000m: Property Costs (£0.111m) and Payments to Other Bodies £0.111m. 27
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Report Agenda Item Report to: Executive Committee Date of Meeting: 21 June 2023 Report by: Executive Director (Finance and Corporate Resources) Subject: Revenue Budget Monitoring for Period 2 - 1 April to 19 May 2023 1. Purpose of Report 1.1. The purpose of the report is to: [purpose] ♦ advise the Committee of the overall financial position of the Council’s General Fund Revenue Account and Housing Revenue Account for the period 1 April to 19 May 2023 [1purpose] 2. Recommendation(s) 2.1. The Committee is asked to approve the following recommendation(s): [recs] (1) that the break-even position on the General Fund Revenue Account at 19 May 2023, (section 4 and Appendix 1), be noted; and (2) that the breakeven position on the Housing Revenue Account at 19 May 2023 (section 5 and Appendix 2 of the report), be noted. 3. Background 3.1. General Fund Position This overview report will summarise the actual expenditure and income to 19 May 2023 compared with the budget for the same period for both the Council’s General Fund (section 4) and for the Housing Revenue Account (section 5). 4. 2023/2024 General Services Position 4.1. General Services Current Position as at 19 May 2023 As at 19 May 2023, the position on the General Services budget is break-even (Appendix 1). 4.2. The budget for the year was set in February 2023, and included the impact of corporate funding solutions including the Loans Fund Review. The impact of this is included in section 4.3. In addition, the budget included a number of one-off investments. One of these was a multi-year sum for Clothing Grants. The treatment of these monies is detailed in section 4.4. 4.3. Loans Fund Review: The proposal to implement a Loans Fund Review was part of the Revenue Budget Strategy paper presented to Executive Committee on 24 June 2020. The Committee agreed to implement the Loans Fund Review and noted that the benefit each year will be realised through an underspend in Loan Charges which would be taken to reserves for use in future years budget strategies. Through the changes introduced as part of the Loans Fund Review, Loan Charges will underspend by £15.211 million in 2023/2024, in line with projections. This underspend will be used 4 29
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to support the current year budget and, for transparency, has been moved to the budget line Corporate Items (Strategy). 4.4. 2023/2024 Investments: The investment monies for 2023/2024 included an amount of £1.350 million for the extension of School Clothing Grants to 3 and 4 year olds in early years establishments. The amount allocated was to cover a 5-year period. An amount of £0.270 million for financial year 2023/2024 remains in Education Resources’ budget, but the remainder of £1.080 million will be transferred to reserves for use in the next 4 years and has been moved to the budget line 2023/2024 Investments – Transfers to Reserves. 4.5. The adjustments detailed in sections 4.2 to 4.3 are included in the figures in Appendix 1. 4.6. Covid Funding: At the end of financial year 2022/223, the Council holds £7.1 million of residual of Covid funding. It is proposed that in 2023/2024, up to £5 million of this funding will be allocated to support the residual impact of the pandemic on Children and Family placement pressures in Education and Social Work Resources, as well as the reduction in parking income in Community and Enterprise Resources. These allocations will be included in a future Revenue Monitoring report to the Executive Committee and will leave a balance of approximately £2.1 million of residual Covid funding. 5. Home Carers’ Job Evaluation 5.1. The outcome of the Job Evaluation exercise for Home Carers will result in significant recurring costs for the Care at Home service that is delegated to the IJB in 2023/2024 and beyond. The IJB have set a budget for 2023/2024, however, these costs are not included in that budget. The IJB’s Financial Regulations and Integration Scheme set out the process for such an eventuality. 5.2. The Financial Regulations state that if the Integration Joint Board’s Chief Financial Officer is advised that a significant change is likely to the Integration Joint Board's overall financial position and the deviation involves a change of policy of the Integration Joint Board or results in revenue implications for future years, a report will be provided for the Integration Joint Board in good time, detailing the financial consequences to enable appropriate action to be taken timeously. 5.3. The Regulations state that if an overspend is forecast on either Party’s in scope budget, the Chief Officer and the Integration Joint Board’s Chief Financial Officer will aim to agree a recovery plan with the relevant Party to balance the overspending budget and to determine the actions required to be taken by the IJB to deliver the recovery plan. 5.4. Ordinarily, any such event would require to be met within the envelope of funding provided to the IJB. The intense budget and service pressures on local government, the Health Board and our Health and Social Care partners has been noted previously and is ongoing, both nationally and locally. It should be noted that the financial position for both the IJB and the Council partner both indicate significant budget gaps moving forwards and, therefore, it is likely that any recovery plan identified will require changes to be made to the services currently commissioned by the IJB. 6. Housing Revenue Account Position 6.1. As at 19 May 2023, Appendix 2 of the report shows a breakeven position against the phased budget on the Housing Revenue Account. 30
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7. Employee Implications 7.1. None. 8. Financial Implications 8.1. As detailed in sections 4 to 5 of the report. 9. Climate Change, Sustainability and Environmental Implications 9.1. There are no implications for climate change, sustainability or the environment in terms of the information contained in this report. 10. Other Implications 10.1. The main risk associated with the Council’s Revenue Budget is that there is an overspend. The risk has been assessed as low given the detailed budget management applied across the Resources. The risk is managed through four weekly Budget Monitoring Meetings at which any variance is analysed. In addition, the probable outturn exercise ensures early warning for corrective action to be taken where appropriate. 11. Equality Impact Assessment and Consultation Arrangements 11.1. This report does not introduce a new policy, function or strategy or recommend a change to an existing policy, function or strategy and, therefore, no impact assessment is required. 11.2. There is also no requirement to undertake any consultation in terms of the information contained in this report. Paul Manning Executive Director (Finance and Corporate Resources) 2 June 2023 Link(s) to Council Values/Priorities/Outcomes ♦ Accountable, Effective, Efficient and Transparent Previous References ♦ None List of Background Papers ♦ Financial Ledger and budget monitoring results to 19 May 2023. Contact for Further Information If you would like to inspect the background papers or want further information, please contact: Lorraine O'Hagan, Finance Manager (Strategy) Ext: 2601 (Tel: 01698 452601) E-mail: lorraine.o'hagan@southlanarkshire.gov.uk 31
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Appendix 1 (a) SOUTH LANARKSHIRE COUNCIL Revenue Budget Monitoring Report Period Ended 19 May 2023 (No.2) Resource / Committee Annual Budget Annual Forecast Annual Forecast Variance Budget Proportion to 19/05/23 Actual to 19/05/23 Variance to 19/05/23 Departments: £m £m £m £m £m £m Community and Enterprise Resources 131.304 131.304 0.000 16.743 16.743 0.000 Facilities, Waste and Grounds 78.752 78.752 0.000 7.956 7.924 0.032 under Fleet, Environmental and Projects 23.231 23.231 0.000 5.352 5.352 0.000 Leisure and Culture Services 4.962 4.962 0.000 0.594 0.533 0.061 under Planning and Economic Development 4.777 4.777 0.000 0.627 0.619 0.008 under Roads 19.582 19.582 0.000 2.214 2.315 (0.101) over Education Resources 397.915 397.915 0.000 50.126 50.126 0.000 Education 397.915 397.915 0.000 50.126 50.126 0.000 Finance and Corporate Resources 40.521 40.521 0.000 8.198 8.198 0.000 Finance Services - Strategy 2.118 2.118 0.000 0.354 0.329 0.025 under Finance Services - Transactions 18.194 18.194 0.000 3.293 3.183 0.110 under Audit and Compliance Services 0.374 0.374 0.000 0.069 0.081 (0.012) over Information Technology Services 5.226 5.226 0.000 2.423 2.413 0.010 under Communications and Strategy Services 2.754 2.754 0.000 0.338 0.357 (0.019) over Administration and Licensing Services 7.666 7.666 0.000 0.534 0.564 (0.030) over Personnel Services 4.189 4.189 0.000 1.187 1.271 (0.084) over Housing and Technical Resources 13.721 13.721 0.000 5.458 5.458 0.000 Housing Services 8.464 8.464 0.000 1.591 1.591 0.000 Property Services 5.257 5.257 0.000 3.867 3.867 0.000 Social Work Resources 214.698 214.698 0.000 24.720 24.720 0.000 Performance and Support Services 6.357 6.357 0.000 0.718 0.638 0.080 under Children and Families 37.214 37.214 0.000 4.046 4.130 (0.084) over Adults and Older People 170.040 170.040 0.000 19.618 19.618 0.000 Justice and Substance Misuse 1.087 1.087 0.000 0.338 0.334 0.004 under Joint Boards 2.053 2.053 0.000 0.167 0.167 0.000 800.212 800.212 0.000 105.412 105.412 0.000 Summary Annual Budget Annual Forecast Annual Forecast Variance Budget Proportion to 19/05/23 Actual to 19/05/23 Variance to 19/05/23 £m £m £m £m £m £m Service Departments Total 800.212 800.212 0.000 105.412 105.412 0.000 CFCR 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 Loan Charges 23.669 23.669 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 Corporate Items 14.409 14.409 0.000 0.020 0.020 0.000 Corporate Items (Strategy) 15.211 15.211 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 2023/24 Investments – Transfers to Reserves 1.080 1.080 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 Total Expenditure 854.581 854.581 0.000 105.432 105.432 0.000 Council Tax 178.602 178.602 0.000 27.477 27.477 0.000 Less: Council Tax Reduction Scheme (23.278) (23.278) 0.000 (3.581) (3.581) 0.000 Net Council Tax 155.324 155.324 0.000 23.896 23.896 0.000 General Revenue Grant 319.072 319.072 0.000 49.088 49.088 0.000 Non-Domestic Rates 341.536 341.536 0.000 52.544 52.544 0.000 Transfer from Reserves 38.649 38.649 0.000 38.649 38.649 0.000 Total Income 854.581 854.581 0.000 164.177 164.177 0.000 Net Expenditure / (Income) 0.000 0.000 0.000 (58.745) (58.745) 0.000 32
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Appendix 1b SOUTH LANARKSHIRE COUNCIL Revenue Budget Monitoring Report Period Ended 19 May 2023 (No.2) Budget Category Annual Budget Annual Forecast Annual Forecast Variance Budget Proportion to 19/05/23 Actual to 19/05/23 Variance to 19/05/23 Service Departments: £m £m £m £m £m £m Expenditure Employee Cost 593.047 593.047 0.000 68.207 67.735 0.472 under Property Costs 59.655 59.655 0.000 6.505 6.510 (0.005) over Supplies and Services 61.039 61.039 0.000 5.779 5.809 (0.030) over Transport Costs 44.382 44.382 0.000 8.126 8.390 (0.264) over Administration Costs 16.122 16.122 0.000 1.509 1.525 (0.016) over Payments to Other Bodies 72.897 72.897 0.000 11.262 11.365 (0.103) over Payments to Contractors 245.912 245.912 0.000 21.715 21.873 (0.158) over Transfer Payments 6.082 6.082 0.000 0.890 0.892 (0.002) over Housing Benefits 65.301 65.301 0.000 5.300 5.300 0.000 - Financing Charges (controllable) 2.377 2.377 0.000 0.255 0.261 (0.006) over Total 1,166.814 1,166.814 0.000 129.548 129.660 (0.112) over Service Departments Total 1,166.814 1,166.814 0.000 129.548 129.660 (0.112) over CFCR 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 - Loan Charges 23.669 23.669 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 - Corporate Items 14.409 14.409 0.000 0.020 0.020 0.000 - Corporate Items (Strategy) 15.211 15.211 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 - 2023/24 Investments – Transfers to Reserves 1.080 1.080 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 - Total Expenditure 1,221.183 1,221.183 0.000 129.568 129.680 (0.112) over Income Housing Benefit Subsidy 60.258 60.258 0.000 3.477 3.477 0.000 - Other Income 306.344 306.344 0.000 20.659 20.771 0.112 over rec Council Tax (Net of Council Tax Reduction Scheme) 155.324 155.324 0.000 23.896 23.896 0.000 - General Revenue Grant 319.072 319.072 0.000 49.088 49.088 0.000 - Non-Domestic Rates 341.536 341.536 0.000 52.544 52.544 0.000 - Transfer from Reserves 38.649 38.649 0.000 38.649 38.649 0.000 - Total Income 1,221.183 1,221.183 0.000 188.313 188.425 0.112 over rec Net Expenditure / (Income) 0.000 0.000 0.000 (58.745) (58.745) 0.000 33
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Appendix 2 SOUTH LANARKSHIRE COUNCIL Revenue Budget Monitoring Report Period Ended 19 May 2023 (No.2) Housing Revenue Account Annual Budget Forecast for Year Annual Forecast Variance Budget Proportion to 19/05/23 Actual to 19/05/23 Variance to 19/05/23 % Note £m £m £m £m £m £m Employee Costs 14.648 14.648 0.000 1.631 1.628 0.003 under 0.2% Property Costs 50.931 50.931 0.000 6.945 6.968 (0.023) over (0.3%) Supplies & Services 0.431 0.431 0.000 0.061 0.079 (0.018) over (29.5%) Transport & Plant 0.195 0.195 0.000 0.016 0.011 0.005 under 31.3% Administration Costs 5.572 5.572 0.000 0.056 0.038 0.018 under 32.1% Payments to Other Bodies 2.975 2.975 0.000 0.316 0.316 0.000 - 0.0% Payments to Contractors 0.100 0.100 0.000 0.008 0.008 0.000 - 0.0% Transfer Payments 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 - 0.0% Financing Charges 27.162 27.162 0.000 0.002 0.002 0.000 - 0.0% Total Controllable Expenditure 102.014 102.014 0.000 9.035 9.050 (0.015) over (0.2%) Total Controllable Income (116.336) (116.336) 0.000 (8.656) (8.656) 0.000 - 0.0% Transfer to/(from) Balance Sheet (4.908) (4.908) 0.000 (0.755) (0.770) 0.015 over recovered 2.0% Net Controllable Expenditure (19.230) (19.230) 0.000 (0.376) (0.376) 0.000 - 0.0% Add: Non Controllable Budgets Financing Charges 19.230 19.230 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 - 0.0% Total Budget 0.000 0.000 0.000 (0.376) (0.376) 0.000 - 0.0% Variance Explanations No significant variances to report. Virements No virements to report. 34
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Report Agenda Item Report to: Executive Committee Date of Meeting: 21 June 2023 Report by: Executive Director (Finance and Corporate Resources) Subject: Capital Budget Monitoring Final Outturn – 2022/2023 1. Purpose of Report 1.1. The purpose of the report is to: [purpose] advise Committee of the outturn position of the General Services and Housing Capital Programmes for the year ended 31 March 2023 advise of the projects expressed in financial terms, which have been carried forward into year 2023/2024 2. Recommendation(s) 2.1. The Executive Committee is asked to approve the following recommendations: [recs] (1) that the outturn on the 2022/2023 General Services Programme of £65.736 million (section 4.1), be noted; (2) that approval be given for the £12.660 million of General Services Capital Programme to be carried forward into 2023/2024 (section 4.2); (3) that the outturn on the 2022/2023 Housing Capital Programme of £60.695 million (section 4.7), be noted; (4) that approval be given for the £8.081 million of Housing Capital Programme to be carried forward into future years’ (section 4.9); and (5) that it be noted that the level of overall spend anticipated in 2023/2024, for both the General Services and Housing Capital Programmes is the subject of a separate report to this Committee (sections 4.6 and 4.9). 3. Background 3.1. The General Services Capital Programme for 2022/2023 totalled £78.396 million. This revised programme consists of the base budget plus carry forward projects and adjustments which have been agreed by the Executive Committee up to and including its meeting on 29 March 2023. 3.2. The Housing Capital Programme for 2022/2023 totalled £66.361 million. This was approved by the Executive Committee on 24 August 2022. 3.3. Section 5 of this report will provide a final outturn position on the 2022/2023 General Services and Housing Capital Programmes and will update members on the carry forward into the new financial year. 4. Financial Implications 4.1. General Services: Appendix 1 shows the total expenditure of £65.736 million on the General Fund Capital Programme for year 2022/2023. This is compared to the budget of £78.396 million and results in an underspend of £12.660 million. This underspend 5 35
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relates to projects within Community and Enterprise Resources (£12.121m) and Housing and Technical Resources (£3.553m) with greater spend than anticipated achieved within Education Resources (£1.424m), Finance and Corporate Resources (£1.283m) and Social Work Resources (£0.307m). 4.2. Overall, the programme underspend reflects the timing of spend across financial years. The main projects responsible for the overall programme underspend of £12.660 million are detailed in Appendix 2. This appendix provides a list of the continuing projects into 2023/2024, along with their estimated completion dates. 4.3. Year End and Accounting Adjustments: Accounting Regulations mean that adjustments are required to report spend correctly as either Capital or Revenue for the purposes of publishing our Annual Accounts. This includes where spend from the Capital Programme is on assets that are not owned by the Council (for example Shawfield Industrial Estate spend) or where spend must be classed as Revenue due to the nature of the spend. This adjustment has no physical impact on projects, it is an accounting entry only. 4.4. From reviewing the Council’s Revenue and Capital spend, £3.128 million of capital spend is required to be recorded as Revenue spend. Conversely, £0.364 million of revenue spend should be recorded as Capital. These transfers mean that for the purpose of publishing our Annual Accounts only, there is capital spend of £62.972 million. The funding sources for this spend are detailed in Appendix 2. 4.5. Carry Forward to 2023/2024: As noted in 4.2, the year-end underspend is £12.660 million. This £12.660 million will carry forward into financial year 2023/2024. 4.6. The overall base programme for 2023/2024 including this carry forward of £12.660 million will be included in a further report to this Committee. This separate report will propose the programme for the coming year by focussing on the overall level of spend achievable. 4.7. Housing Programme Appendix 4 shows the budget for the year of £66.361 million. The actual expenditure on the Housing programme was £60.695 million, a net underspend of £5.666 million. This is due to a number of factors, mainly, property services operatives being diverted to tackle the impact of bad weather in December which resulted in flooding damage to a number of Council properties and delays in relation to the expected milestone payments for the Kirk Street, Strathaven new build project. In addition, environmental surveys on external fabric projects have required work to be paused due to the suspected presence of bats which, in turn, has delayed owner consultations. There has also been reduced owner uptake for external works and the service has also experienced higher than normal volumes of no access for legislative works. 4.8. Housing and Technical Resources have also received additional one-off income totalling £2.415 million in relation to Renewable Heating Initiative / Feed in Tariffs, land sales, developer contributions and Scottish Government Grants. This will be added to the overall funding available for the Housing Programme. 4.9. Taking into account the year-end underspend position of £5.666 million (section 4.7) and the additional income of £2.415 million (section 4.8), means a carry forward of £8.081 million. This will be added into the Capital Programme when the spend profile has been finalised. 5. Employee Implications 36
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5.1. None. 6. Financial Implications 6.1. Financial implications are contained within Section 4 of this report. 7. Climate Change, Sustainability and Environmental Implications 7.1. There are no implications for climate change, sustainability or the environment in terms of the information contained in this report. 8. Other Implications 8.1. The main risk associated with the Council’s Capital Programme is an overspend. The risk has been assessed as low given the detailed project management plans prepared and monitored for each project. The risk of overspend is managed through four weekly Investment management meetings. 9. Equality Impact Assessment and Consultation Arrangements 9.1 This report does not introduce a new policy, function or strategy or recommend a change to existing policy, function or strategy and, therefore, no impact assessment is required. 9.2. There was also no requirement to undertake any consultation in terms of the information contained in this report. Paul Manning Executive Director (Finance and Corporate Resources) 2 June 2023 Link(s) to Council Values/Priorities/Outcomes Accountable, Effective, Efficient and Transparent Previous References Executive Committee, 24 August 2022 Executive Committee, 29 March 2023 List of Background Papers Capital Ledger prints to 31 March 2023 Contact for Further Information If you would like to inspect the background papers or want further information, please contact: Lorraine O’Hagan, Finance Manager (Strategy) Ext: 2601(Tel: 01698 452601) E-mail: lorraine.o’hagan@southlanarkshire.gov.uk 37
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APPENDIX 1 SOUTH LANARKSHIRE COUNCIL CAPITAL EXPENDITURE 2022/2023 GENERAL FUND PROGRAMME FOR PERIOD 1 APRIL 2022 TO 31 MARCH 2023 Expenditure 2022/2023 Revised Budget 2022/2023 Actual to 31/03/23 £m £m General Fund Programme (Section 4.1) 78.396 65.736 Accounting Adjustments (Sections 4.3 and 4.4): Less: Transfers to Revenue (3.128) Add: Year End Transfers to Capital 0.364 2022/2023 Outturn Position (Accounting Basis only) 78.396 62.972 Income 2022/2023 Actual to 31/03/23 £m Prudential Borrowing 19.042 Developer Contributions 0.059 Partners (Including SPT, REF, Clyde Wind Farm and Energy Saving Trust) 2.655 Scottish Government: - Capital Grant 32.074 - Cycling, Walking and Safer Routes 2.665 - Vacant and Derelict Land 0.060 - Regeneration Capital Grant 1.096 - Town Centre Regeneration Fund 0.087 - Place Based Investment Programme 0.857 - Electric Vehicle Infrastructure 0.209 - NSS Tec 0.040 Glasgow City Region City Deal 3.254 Specific Reserves 0.874 Revenue Contribution - TOTAL FUNDING 62.972 38
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APPENDIX 2 (Page 1) SOUTH LANARKSHIRE COUNCIL CAPITAL EXPENDITURE 2022/2023 GENERAL FUND PROGRAMME FOR PERIOD 1 APRIL 2022 TO 31 MARCH 2023 Projects with Underspends in 2022/2023 which will Carry Forward into 2023/2024 Project Name Project Type Est. Completion Date Community and Enterprise Resources Library IT Infrastructure Upgrade Phase 2 – Desktop Refresh Infrastructure Summer 2023 Phillipshill Cemetery – Extension Infrastructure March 2024 Springhall Urban Greenspace Development (Springhall Cage) – Play Equipment Equipment Summer 2023 Halfway Park Play Area – Redevelopment Infrastructure April 2023 Bin Storage Areas Infrastructure March 2024 Chatelherault Allotments Infrastructure July 2023 Play Parks – Various Infrastructure Throughout 2023/2024 and beyond Greenhall Replacement Bridge – Design Infrastructure March 2024 Alexander Hamilton Memorial Park Woodland Management Infrastructure Throughout 2023/2024 Larkhall Leisure Centre – Design (Place Based Investment Funding) New Build Throughout 2023/2024 Lanark Library, Lindsay Institute – Roof and Windows Improvements Throughout 2023/2024 Hamilton Palace Grounds Sports Pitches Infrastructure June 2023 Priory Changing Pavilion, Blantyre Refurbishment March 2024 Town Centre Regeneration Fund Regeneration Throughout 2023/2024 Rural Development Centre – Lanark Racecourse Regeneration March 2024 New Cross Shopping Centre – Vaccination Centre Regeneration July 2023 EK Civic Relocation / Near to Home Regeneration Throughout 2023/2024 2022/2023 Place Based Investment Fund Regeneration September 2023 Vacant & Derelict Land – Cuningar Loop Phase 3 Greening Regeneration February 2024 City Deal – Calderside Academy Adaptations October 2025 City Deal – Holy Cross High Adaptations October 2025 City Deal – Lanark Road Signalisation Infrastructure December 2023 City Deal – Cathkin Bypass – Grant Payments Only Grants Throughout 2023/2024 City Deal – Stewartfield Way Infrastructure Throughout 2023/2024 City Deal – Greenhills Road – Landscaping / Rest Infrastructure September 2023 Roads Investment Programme Infrastructure June 2023 Footpaths and Roads Improvement Fund Infrastructure June 2023 Clyde Bridge Infrastructure Throughout 2023/2024 Sustrans Projects – Various Infrastructure Summer 2023 Daer Bridge Infrastructure December 2023 Roads Depots Salt Barns – Hawbank Improvements December 2023 SPT – Lanark Park and Ride Resurfacing Summer 2023 Cycling, Walking and Safer Routes Infrastructure Summer 2023 39
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APPENDIX 2 (Page 2) SOUTH LANARKSHIRE COUNCIL CAPITAL EXPENDITURE 2022/2023 GENERAL FUND PROGRAMME FOR PERIOD 1 APRIL 2022 TO 31 MARCH 2023 Projects with Underspends in 2022/2023 which will Carry Forward into 2023/2024 Project Name Project Type Est. Completion Date Education Resources Castlefield Primary School Extension Extension July 2023 Crawforddyke adaptation of nursery to classrooms Adaptations June 2023 Uddingston Nursery Expansion Adaptations August 2024 Woodside Primary School Adaptations August 2024 First Steps Nursery, Hamilton Adaptations May 2024 2022/2023 Free School Meals Adaptations Throughout 2023/2024 Clyde Terrace Early Years New Build November 2023 St Andrews and St Brides High School - Design Extension June 2024 Small Scale Adaptations Adaptations Throughout 2023/2024 Finance and Corporate Resources IT Infrastructure Refresh Infrastructure Throughout 2023/2024 Digital Tools Infrastructure Throughout 2023/2024 Digital Connectivity Infrastructure Throughout 2023/2024 Digital Transformation Infrastructure Throughout 2023/2024 Housing and Technical Resources Prioritised Urgent Investment Refurbishment Throughout 2023/2024 Principal Offices - Fabric and Service Investment Refurbishment Throughout 2023/2024 Lifecycle Replacement Schools Refurbishment Throughout 2023/2024 Lock Up Areas Infrastructure Throughout 2023/2024 New Cross Shopping Centre - Roof Refurbishment December 2023 Council Offices – Brandon Gate Infrastructure December 2023 Civic Centre Fabric Upgrade Refurbishment Throughout 2023/2024 Communities Facilities Fund Refurbishment Throughout 2023/2024 CEEF Programme Refurbishment Throughout 2023/2024 40
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APPENDIX 3 SOUTH LANARKSHIRE COUNCIL CAPITAL EXPENDITURE 2022/23 HOUSING PROGRAMME FOR PERIOD 1 APRIL 2022 TO 31 MARCH 2023 2022/2023 Annual Budget 2022/2023 Actual to 31/03/23 £m £m EXPENDITURE 2022/2023 Budget incl carry forward from 2022/22 66.361 60.695 2022/2023 Actual to 31/03/23 £m INCOME Capital Receipts 7.997 Capital Receipts – Land Sales 0.030 Capital Funded from Current Revenue 26.050 Prudential Borrowing 14.383 Scottish Government Specific Grant: – New Build 7.820 – Open Market Purchase Scheme 2.633 – Mortgage to Rent 0.082 Miscellaneous Income 1.700 TOTAL FUNDING 60.695 41
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Report Agenda Item Report to: Executive Committee Date of Meeting: 21 June 2023 Report by: Executive Director (Finance and Corporate Resources) Subject: Capital Budget 2023/2024 and Monitoring for Period 2 - 1 April 2023 to 19 May 2023 1. Purpose of Report 1.1. The purpose of the report is to: ♦ consolidate the capital budget monitoring to give a Council-wide summary of the 2023/2024 Capital Programme including 2022/2023 carry forward. It includes information on two programmes: the General Fund Programme (being Education, Social Work, Roads and Other General Services) and the Housing Investment Programme, which covers all investment in relation to the Council’s Housing stock. ♦ update members of the Committee of progress on the Capital Programme for the period 1 April 2023 to 19 May 2023. 2. Recommendation(s) 2.1. The Committee is asked to approve the following recommendation(s): (1) that the position of the General Fund Capital Programme detailed in Appendices 3 to 4 and the Housing Capital Programme at Appendix 5 be approved; (2) that the adjustments to the General Fund programme, listed at Appendix 2, be approved; and (3) that the revised programmes be monitored by the Financial Resources Scrutiny Forum. 3. Background 3.1. South Lanarkshire Council (22 February 2023) approved a General Services base budget of £91.061 million for financial year 2023/2024. Since the approval of this programme, the financial year-end and additional funding received will mean an adjustment to the 2023/2024 Capital Programme set. 3.2. A total Housing Capital Programme budget for 2023/2024 was also approved by Council in February 2023. This included funding carried forward from previous years and gave a total programme of £63.916 million. 3.3. The attached statements to this report provide an update on the Capital programmes as well as a summarised monitoring position as at 19 May 2023 (Period 2). Spending has been split into two separate sections below: 6 43
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♦ General Fund Capital Programme (which includes Education, Social Work, Roads and Other General Services) (Section 4) and ♦ Housing Capital Programme (Section 5) 4. 2023/2024 Capital Programmes 4.1. General Services – 2023/2024 Budget: Section 3.1 notes that the base programme for the General Fund is £91.061 million, as approved by Council in February 2023. This base budget is affected by the adjustments detailed in sections 4.2 to 4.8 and summarised in Table 1. 4.2. Approvals Post February 2023: The Executive Committee, at its meeting on the 29 March 2023, approved £0.180 million of additional funding towards the Chatelherault allotments project in financial year 2023/2024. Addition to Budget: £0.180 million 4.3. 2022/23 Carry Forward: As reported in the Final Outturn Report for 2022/2023, a separate report to this meeting, a carry forward total of £12.660 million will ensure sufficient budget is available to conclude ongoing projects within the General Fund Capital Programme. Addition to Budget: £12.660 million 4.4. Additional Funding (2023/2024): At the end of 2022/2023, additional funding was received and used to fund expenditure incurred in that year. The net total of this income is an increase to the programme of £0.723 million and this needs to be added to the overall expenditure budget being carried into 2023/2024. Addition to Budget: £0.723 million 4.5. Leisure and Culture Transformation Fund: As part of the 2023/2024 Revenue Budget, members approved an allocation of £1.182 million to pay for the cost of borrowing £13 million of capital investment for a Leisure and Culture Transformation Fund. The fund will help modernise the leisure and culture estate, optimise use of assets and assist in the transition towards net zero. Following the completion of the review of the Leisure and Cultural portfolio, when the profile of spend is known, this funding will be added to the 2023/2024 Capital Programme. While it has not been included in the Programme to date, the flexibility exists to bring in funding for specific projects as the review progresses where need is identified, particularly where this benefits our communities. 4.6. 2023/2024 Movements: As part of the carry forward exercise, Resources were asked to consider the level of spend which could realistically be achieved in financial year 2023/2024. Resources have confirmed that projects totalling £26.775 million are not required in financial year 2023/2024. A full breakdown of these projects is included in Appendix 1. 4.7. Due to the complex nature and scale of the proposed project, Larkhall Leisure Centre accounts for £9.219 million of the total movement of £26.775 million. An allocation of £0.250 million remains in the 2023/2024 programme for this project. Should a spend profile for this project be established in the coming months, the funding slipped into future years can be added back into the 2023/2024 programme as required. 44
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4.8. The total movements also include £0.937 million of project savings, where projects have been successfully completed for less than originally budgeted. Some of these projects are funded by developer contributions, which will no longer be required. Reduction to Budget: £26.775 million 4.9. 2023/2024 General Services Base Budget Position: Taking into account the movements noted in sections 4.2 to 4.8, the General Services Programme for 2023/2024 is now £77.849 million. This is the base budget for the financial year. This is summarised in Table 1 and is shown in detail, in Appendices 3 and 4 to this report. Table 1 – 2023/2024 General Services Base Budget 2023/24 £m Approved Programme – 22 February 2023 (Section 3.1) 91.061 2022/2023 Approvals Post February 2023 (Section 4.2) 0.180 2022/2023 Carry Forward (Section 4.3) 12.660 2022/2023 Additional Funding Received (Section 4.4) 0.723 Leisure and Culture Transformation Fund (Section 4.5) - 2023/2024 Movements (Section 4.6 – 4.8) (26.775) 2023/2024 General Services Base Budget 77.849 4.10. General Fund – Period 2 Position: Since the budget was approved in February 2023, additional funding of £4.141 million has been awarded to the Council by the Scottish Government and Strathclyde Passenger Transport. It is also proposed that funding from the Shared Prosperity Fund and developer contributions already received be added to the programme. A detailed breakdown of these proposals is included in Appendix 2. If these proposals are approved, the total base budget for the year will increase to £81.990 million. 4.11. The programme spend and funding for the General Fund is summarised in Appendix 4. As noted in Section 4.10, the total Capital Programme for the year is £81.990 million. Budget for the period is £2.048 million and spend to the 19 May 2023 is £2.048 million. 4.12. Actual funding received to 19 May 2023 is £39.296 million. Relevant officers will closely monitor the generation of all income. 5. 2023/2024 Housing Programme 5.1. Housing Programme – 2023/2024 Budget: The total Housing Capital programme for the year is £63.916 million, as detailed at Section 3.2. Programme funding for the year also totals £63.916 million. Appendix 5 summarises the position on the Housing programme as at 19 May 2023. Work is ongoing to establish the financial impact of current year plans. An update on the programme for financial year 2023/2024 will be reported to the next meeting of this Committee for approval, as part of the financial monitoring position for period 3. 5.2. Housing Programme – Period 2 Position: Budget for the period is £6.337 million and spend to 19 May 2023 amounts to £6.337 million. As at 19 May 2023, £6.337 million of funding had been received. 45
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6. Employee Implications 6.1. There are no employee implications as a result of this report. 7. Financial Implications 7.1. The General Services and Housing Programme Programmes and their spend position to 20 May 2022 are detailed in sections 4 and 5 respectively. 7.2. Regular monitoring of both the General Fund Programme and the Housing Programme will be carried out in detail by the Financial Resources Scrutiny Forum and reported on a regular basis to this Committee. 8 Climate Change, Sustainability and Environmental Implications 8.1 There are no implications for climate change, sustainability or the environment in terms of the information contained in this report. 9 Other Implications 9.1 The main risk associated with the Council’s Capital Programme is an overspend. The risk has been assessed as low given the detailed project management plans prepared and monitored for each project. The risk of overspend is managed through four weekly Investment management meetings. 10 Equality Impact Assessment and Consultation Arrangements 10.1 This report does not introduce a new policy, function or strategy or recommend a change to existing policy, function or strategy and, therefore, no impact assessment is required. 10.2 There was also no requirement to undertake any consultation in terms of the information contained in this report. Paul Manning Executive Director (Finance and Corporate Resources) 7 June 2023 Link(s) to Council Values/Priorities/Outcomes ♦ Accountable, Effective, Efficient and Transparent Previous References ♦ South Lanarkshire Council, 22 February 2023 ♦ Executive Committee, 29 March 2023 List of Background Papers ♦ Capital Ledger prints to 19 May 2023 46
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Contact for Further Information If you would like to inspect the background papers or want further information, please contact:- Lorraine O’Hagan, Finance Manager (Strategy) Ext: 2601 (Tel: 01698 452601) E-mail: lorraine.o’hagan@southlanarkshire.gov.uk 47
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PROJECTS WHERE BUDGET NOT REQUIRED IN 2023/2024 Appendix 1 Project Name Slippage (£m) Acceleration (£m) Saving (£m) Community and Enterprise Resources Parks and Play (inc Renewal of Play Parks) 1.026 Larkhall Leisure Centre 9.219 City Deal: Sustainable Transport Interventions 0.274 Calderside Academy - Phase 1 4.406 Woodfoot Road / Wellhall Road 1.174 Wellhall Road / Hillhouse Road 1.070 Woodfoot Road / Highstonehall Road 0.269 Strathaven Road / Mill Road 0.764 Upgrade Community Facilities 0.079 Holy Cross 3.036 Merryton Roundabout 0.856 M74 Works 1.007 Hairmyres Park and Ride 1.423 GSO Redwood Drive 0.048 Pedestrian Crossings – Eaglesham Road (Jackton and Hairmyres) 0.089 Education Resources Newton Farm Primary School Extension 0.409 St John the Baptist Nursery Expansion 0.504 Finance and Corporate Resources Digital Tools 0.124 Digital Transformation Review Fund 0.149 IT Review 0.073 Housing and Technical Resources Lock Ups 0.192 Social Work Resources Community Alarms – Analogue to Digital (0.176) SWIS Plus (0.177) Project Savings 0.937 SUB-TOTAL MOVEMENTS 26.191 (0.353) 0.937 TOTAL MOVEMENT 26.775 48
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Appendix 2 Proposed Adjustments Community and Enterprise Resources Place Based Investment Programme Funding from the Scottish Government of £1.213 million has been confirmed for the next phase of the Place Based Investment Programme. In line with previous years the funds are open to communities to bid for grants to support projects. Approval is sought to increase the 2023/2024 Capital Programme by £1.213 million. The allocation of this funding to specific projects has been approved by the Community and Enterprise Resources Committee at its meeting on 30 May 2023. £1.213m Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT) Strathclyde Partnership for Transport have awarded this Council £1.782 million to progress a number of schemes during 2023/2024: Bus Infrastructure Improvements £0.028m Bus Route Congestion Reduction Measures £0.195m Hairmyres Station Park and Ride £0.975m Lanark Interchange £0.194m National Strategic Cycle Routes £0.240m Route Action Plans £0.150m Total £1.782m The above allocations are net of budget of £0.468 million carried forward from 2022/2023. Approval is sought to increase the 2023/2024 Capital Programme by £1.782 million. £1.782m Cycling Walking and Safer Routes The Council’s Cycling, Walking and Safer Routes grant allocation from the Scottish Government for 2023/2024 has now been confirmed as £2.061 million. This is an increase of £0.652 million from the funding advised previously and included in the 2023/2024 Capital Programme (£1.409 million – approved 22 February 2023). This will be used to deliver road safety and infrastructure improvement schemes including road safety schemes at schools, route action plans and new walking & cycling facilities infrastructure. £0.652m Education Resources Jackton Primary School The 2023/2024 Capital Programme includes an allocation of £3.9 million for the new Jackton Primary School, which is scheduled to complete in July 2023. Approval is sought to increase the 2023/2024 Capital Programme by £0.100m to fund the cost of fixed furniture. This will be funded by developers’ contributions from the East Kilbride area, which have already been received. £0.100m Castlefield Primary School – Extension The 2023/24 capital programme includes an allocation of £0.401 million to allow the completion of a two-classroom extension to Castlefield Primary School, which commenced on site in late 2022 and is scheduled for completion July 2023. Approval is sought to increase the 2023/24 Capital Programme by a further £0.150 million to undertake additional external works to cater for additional support need £0.150m 49
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pupils and for extra material costs. The project will be funded from developer’s contributions already received for this area. Education Additional Support Needs Adaptations / Mainstream Growth Education Resources have identified a number of essential adaptations totalling £0.100 million, which will provide additional accommodation for ASN pupils and to accommodate for mainstream pupil growth in the Cathkin and Trinity Learning Community. These works will be funded from developer contributions already received for this area. £0.100m Education ICT – Duncanrig Secondary School Approval is sought to increase the 2023/2024 Capital Programme by £0.020m to allow additional ICT equipment to be purchased for Duncanrig Secondary School, East Kilbride. This will be funded by developer contributions which have already been received for the East Kilbride area. £0.020m Housing and Technical Resources Prioritised Urgent Investment - Biggar Corn Exchange Approval is sought to increase the 2023/2024 Capital Programme by £0.124 million to allow the improvement works to the roof of Biggar Corn Exchange project to progress. This will be funded from the following sources: SSE Funding (£0.070m), Clyde Extension Fund (£0.042m) and a contribution from Community and Enterprise Resources Revenue budget (£0.012m). This will be augmented by a £0.030 million contribution from the Prioritised Urgent Investment fund, which is already included in the 2023/2024 Capital Programme. £0.124m Minor Adjustments - TOTAL ADJUSTMENTS £4.141m 50
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APPENDIX 3 SOUTH LANARKSHIRE COUNCIL CAPITAL EXPENDITURE 2023/24 GENERAL FUND PROGRAMME FOR PERIOD 1 APRIL 2023 TO 19 MAY 2023 £m Total Base Budget (including carry forward from 2022/2023) 77.849 Proposed Adjustments – Period 2 4.141 Total Revised Budget 81.990 2023/24 Budget Period 2 Proposed Adjustments Revised 2023/24 Budget Resource £m £m £m Community & Enterprise 38.210 3.647 41.857 Education 18.677 0.370 19.047 Finance & Corporate 5.333 - 5.333 Housing & Technical 11.799 0.124 11.923 Social Work 2.030 - 2.030 Other Match Funding 1.800 - 1.800 TOTAL CAPITAL PROGRAMME 77.849 4.141 81.990 51
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APPENDIX 4 SOUTH LANARKSHIRE COUNCIL CAPITAL EXPENDITURE 2023/24 GENERAL FUND PROGRAMME FOR PERIOD 1 APRIL 2023 TO 19 MAY 2023 2023/24 Original Estimate inc C/F 2023/24 Revised Budget 2023/24 Budget to 19/05/23 2023/24 Actual to 19/05/23 Expenditure £m £m £m £m General Fund Programme 77.849 81.990 2.048 2.048 Income 2023/24 Budget 2023/24 Revised Budget 2023/24 Actual To 19/05/23 £m £m £m Prudential Borrowing 24.959 24.959 24.959 Developers Contributions 7.658 8.028 4.225 Partners (Including High Blantyre Construction, SPT, Sustrans, and CARES) 2.157 4.051 0.499 Scottish Government: - Capital Grant 33.985 33.985 4.820 - Cycling, Walking and Safer Routes 1.632 2.284 0.000 - Vacant and Derelict Land 2.019 2.019 1.334 - Regeneration Capital Grant 0.737 0.737 0.745 - Place Based Investment Programme 1.510 2.723 1.510 Glasgow City Region City Deal 0.000 0.000 0.000 Capital Receipts 2.000 2.000 0.000 Specific Reserves 1.192 1.204 1.204 Revenue Contribution 0.000 0.000 0.000 TOTAL FUNDING 77.849 81.990 39.296 52
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APPENDIX 5 SOUTH LANARKSHIRE COUNCIL CAPITAL EXPENDITURE 2023/24 HOUSING PROGRAMME FOR PERIOD 1 APRIL 2023 TO 19 MAY 2023 2023/24 Annual Budget 2023/24 Budget to 19/05/23 2023/24 Actual to 19/05/23 £m £m £m Expenditure 2023/24 Budget 63.916 6.337 6.337 2023/24 Annual Budget 2023/24 Actual to 19/05/23 £m £m INCOME Capital Receipts 0.000 1.683 Capital Receipts – Land Sales 0.000 0.000 Capital Funded from Current Revenue 27.162 4.654 Prudential Borrowing 17.302 0.000 Scottish Government Specific Grant: - New Build 16.632 0.000 - Open Market Purchase Scheme 2.700 0.000 - Mortgage to Rent 0.120 0.000 63.916 6.337 53
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Report Agenda Item Report to: Executive Committee Date of Meeting: 21 June 2023 Report by: Executive Director (Finance and Corporate Resources) Subject: Additional Funding from Scottish Government and Other External Sources 1. Purpose of Report 1.1. The purpose of the report is to: [purpose] advise Members of additional funding that has been made available to the Council by the Scottish Government and other external sources since the last report to this Committee (17 May 2023) [1purpose] 2. Recommendation(s) 2.1. The Committee is asked to approve the following recommendation(s): [recs] (1) that the additional funding totalling £5.421 million, detailed in Appendix 1, be noted. 3. Background 3.1. The Council is periodically advised of additional funding which is made available from the Scottish Government and other sources to enable various initiatives to be undertaken. 3.2. Additional funding may either be paid through the General Revenue Grant mechanism or by the completion of appropriate grant claims. 3.3. Details of the additional funding are attached in Appendix 1 of the report. The report details additional funding that has been reported by Resources as part of the additional resources notification process, as well as any additional funding that has increased the Council’s budget by more than £0.100 million. 4. Employee Implications 4.1. None. 5. Financial Implications 5.1. Additional Capital funding of £2.995 million has been confirmed for 2023/2024. Further funding has been agreed in-principle for 2024/2025 and 2025/2026 (£1.213 million per annum). This is detailed in Appendix 1. 5.2. The total additional funding is therefore £5.421 million, and the Capital Programme will be updated to reflect this additional funding as required. Where appropriate, details of spending plans will be presented to Resource Committees for approval. 5.3. There is no additional Revenue funding to note. 7 55
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6. Climate Change, Sustainability and Environmental Implications 6.1. There are no implications for climate change, sustainability or the environment in terms of the information contained in this report. 7. Other Implications 7.1. There are no other implications in terms of the information contained in this report. 8. Equality Impact Assessment and Consultation Arrangements 8.1. This report does not introduce a new policy, function or strategy or recommend a change to existing policy, function or strategy and, therefore, no impact assessment is required. 7.2. There was also no requirement to undertake any consultation in terms of the information contained in this report. Paul Manning Executive Director (Finance and Corporate Resources) 1 June 2023 Link(s) to Council Values/Priorities/Outcomes Accountable, Effective, Efficient and Transparent Previous References Executive Committee, 17 May 2023 List of Background Papers Additional Funding Reports 26 April 2023 to 31 May 2023 Contact for Further Information If you would like to inspect the background papers or want further information, please contact: Lorraine O’Hagan, Finance Manager (Strategy) Ext: 2601 (Tel: 01698 452601) E-mail: lorraine.o’hagan@southlanarkshire.gov.uk 56
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Appendix 1 Additional Capital Funding * The allocations for 2024/2025 and 2025/2026 are in-principle only. Resource Description 2023/2024 £m 2024/2025 £m 2025/2026 £m Total £m Method Community and Enterprise Place Based Investment Programme (PBIP) This is the third tranche of PBIP funding which is targeted at improving places across the country. The allocation of this funding to specific projects was approved by the Community and Enterprise Resources Committee (30 May 2023) as part of the report entitled Town Centre and Place Based Investment Programme. 1.213 1.213* 1.213* 3.639 Scottish Government Community and Enterprise Strathclyde Partnership for Transport The funding has been awarded to progress the following schemes during 2023/2024: £m Bus Infrastructure Improvements 0.028 Bus Route Congestion Reduction Measures 0.195 Hairmyres Station Park and Ride 0.975 Lanark Interchange 0.194 National Strategic Cycle Routes 0.240 Route Action Plans 0.150 TOTAL 1.782 The above allocations are net of funding of £0.468m carried forward from financial year 2022/23. 1.782 - - 1.782 Strathclyde Partnership for Transport TOTAL CAPITAL FUNDING 2.995 1.213 1.213 5.421 57
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Report Agenda Item Report to: Executive Committee Date of Meeting: 21 June 2023 Report by: Executive Director (Finance and Corporate Resources) Subject: 2024/2025 Revenue Budget 1. Purpose of Report 1.1. The purpose of the report is to: ♦ advise the Council on the Budget position for 2024/2025 2. Recommendation(s) 2.1. The Council is asked to approve the following recommendation(s): (1) that the Revenue Budget position for 2024/2025 (detailed in sections 4 and 5) resulting in a Budget Gap of £29.207 million, be noted; (2) that the use of service concession funds as detailed at section 5.9 be approved; and (3) that options to meet the budget gap be developed for members’ consideration and brought back to a future meeting (as detailed in section 6.3), be agreed. 3. Background 3.1. The latest iteration of the 2024/2025 budget was included in an Appendix to the 2023/2024 Revenue Budget (Council, February 2023) which reported an expected budget gap for 2024/2025 of £16.8 million. This gap was at a point in time and it was noted that position would require to be revisited as part of the 2024/25 budget exercise. 3.2. This report will consider the Revenue Budget position for 2024/2025. The purpose of this report is to present to Members the current estimate for the budget gap for 2024/2025 at the earliest opportunity. In line with the usual approach, this paper will include estimates of Government Grant levels, identify requirements for revenue expenditure items, including the impact of previous budget decisions and, ultimately, identify the Budget Gap that has to be met to balance the budget for that year. 3.3. This report will focus on 2024/2025, and will cover the following: ♦ Revenue Budget Expenditure Items (section 4) ♦ Corporate Solutions (section 5) ♦ Summary and Next Steps (section 6) 4. Revenue Budget Expenditure Items 4.1. There are a number of expenditure items that affect the Budget Strategy for 2024/2025. These include provision for increases in expenditure items which the Council would typically face as well as anticipated movements in Government Grant 8 59
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and the impact of previously adding new properties. 4.2. These expenditure items form the normal items that we would expect to cover as budget pressures and, also, include ‘one off’ solutions from previous years that require to be reinstated. These are included in Appendix 1 and summarised in Table 1. Table 1 – Summary of Budget Strategy Expenditure Items 2024/2025 £m Pay and Pension Items (Appendix 1, para 2.1 – 2.7) Includes assumed pay award for teachers and non-teachers. 16.120 Grant Movement (Appendix 1, para 3.1 – 3.7) Reflects the assumed ‘flat cash’ advised as part of the Spending Review in 2022 and the delayed impact of new properties on grant received because we are collecting more Council Tax from more properties (£0.880 million). 0.880 Reinstatement / Impact of Prior Year Budget Decisions (Appendix 1, para 4.1 – 4.10) This includes the need to reinstate budget to cover one-off savings from previous years and also to take the benefit of residual impact of previous year decisions. This includes: • £9.5 million re the Loans Fund Review impact of using one-off Reserves in 2023/2024 (£23.500 million) offset by a further use in 2024/2025 (£14.000 million) (2021/2022 Budget Report to Council, 24 June 2020), • £0.500 million additional Loan Charges Budget as a result of the Loans Fund Review, • 2021/2022 underspend (£6.109 million) used in 2023/2024 on a one-off basis (Executive Committee, June 2022), • £5.450 million of one-off monies used in 2023/2024 (Council, June 2022 and Executive Committee, November 2022), • £5.7 million of Reserves / Service concessions used on a one-off basis in 2023/2024 to fund the impact of the 2022/2023 Pay Award (Council, February 2023) and • £1.8m use of 2022/23 Underspend (Council meeting, February 2023). 30.675 Contract Impacts / Other Inflation (Appendix 1, para 5.1 – 5.10) Includes typical inflationary increases on non-domestic rates, the secondary schools’ modernisation contract (PPP), utilities, social care for children and families and waste. 11.616 Revenue Consequences of Capital (Appendix 1, para 6.1 – 6.2) This includes the revenue impact of approved capital projects. 0.811 Total Expenditure Items 60.102 4.3. Table 1 shows the core Budget Strategy expenditure items and gives an initial Budget Gap of £60.102 million. This is the position before Corporate Solutions which will be considered in section 5. 4.4. The grant assumption into 2024/2025 is Flat Cash. This is following the outcome of the Scottish Government’s Spending Review which was published on 31 May 2022, and which maintains the level of General Revenue Grant, Non-Domestic Rates Income and Specific Resource Grants between 2023/2024 and 2025/2026, with an amount of £100m added nationally in 2026/2027. 60
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4.5. The Loans Fund Review noted in the Reinstatement / Prior Year Decisions Core Item reflects the timing of the use of Reserves that were generated from the reprofiling of the Council’s Loan Debt. These have been used to support the Budget Strategy over recent years and, as in previous years, any use of Reserves has to be reinstated in the new year. A final tranche of these monies has been assumed in Table 1 to show the net impact on the 2024/2025 Budget Strategy (a net cost of £9.500 million being £23.500 million reinstated offset by the further planned use of £14.000 million). This £14.000 million will require to be reinstated in the 2025/2026 Revenue Budget Strategy (refer Table 3). 4.6. The Expenditure Items include the main areas for inflation being utilities, PPP, Waste and Licences. However, it is difficult to estimate the extent of inflation on other Council budgets. Consideration will have to be given to the timing of spend and the choices being made in terms of how services are delivered. 5. Corporate Solutions 5.1. In considering the Budget Gap there are some offsetting solutions that can be taken into account. These are detailed in Appendix 2 and summarised in Table 2. Table 2 – Summary of Corporate Solutions 2024/2025 £m Council Tax – Property Numbers (Appendix 2, para 2.1 to 2.2) Reflects the increase in property numbers being experienced so far in 2023/2024 and a projection of a further increase during the year and into 2024/2025. 2.219 Reduction in Bridging Solution Required (following implementation of Oracle Fusion) (Appendix 2, para 2.3) The bridging solution in place in advance of the implementation of the new Fusion system across the Council is no longer required in 2024/2025. 1.176 Service Concessions (Appendix 2, para 2.4) This is the one-off use of Reserves resulting from the implementation of Service Concessions. This requires to be reinstated into 2025/2026. ref section 5.6-5.9 27.500 Total Corporate Solutions 30.895 5.2. The total Corporate Solutions figure, as detailed in Table 2 is £30.895 million. 5.3. Taking these into account would reduce the Budget Gap to £29.207 million in 2024/2025. 5.4. The main movement from last reported position of £16.8 million reflects the impact of potential further pay (£7.400 million) and continued higher levels of inflation (£2.650 million), and utilities costs (£4.700 million) offset by additional income expected from council tax due to additional properties (£1.200 million). 5.5. At a level of £29.207 million, the savings requirement for 2024/2025 is substantial. To address this Budget Gap, consideration will be required regarding what the Council does for its communities, and difficult decisions will need to be made to balance the Council’s budget. 5.6. Service Concessions / Loans Fund Review: Table 2 and the resultant Budget Gap of £29.207 million includes a recommended use of £27.500 million of Service 61
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Concession Reserves and £14.000 million from the Loans Fund Review (referenced in Table 1) to support the Budget in 2024/2025. These are temporary funding solutions and will require to be reinstated into 2025/2026. 5.7. At a meeting on 18 January 2023, the Council approved the implementation of the guidance on accounting for Service Concessions. This resulted in a retrospective gain of £64 million. In previous reports (2022/2023 Probable Outturn report - Executive Committee - 1 February 2023, Revenue Budget - Council 22 February 2023), Members agreed to use £11.4 million of the retrospective gain from service concessions to pay for the increased 2022/2023 pay award in 2022/2023 and 2023/2024. 5.8. The Service Concessions paper (Council - January 2023) reported that, after taking into account the costs of the additional pay award, consideration could then be given to using £42.6 million of the retrospective benefit to support the Council’s medium term Budget Strategies (across 2024/2025 and 2025/2026) leaving £10 million of the £64 million retrospective benefit unallocated. £6.565 million of this was used as part of the Budget motion agreed at Council 22 February. 5.9. This paper proposes using £27.500 million of the Service concession retrospective gain in 2024/2025. This would leave £18.535 million of service concession funding unallocated. 5.10. The requirement to reinstate temporary funding solutions is covered in section 5.19. 5.11. Council Tax: Members will be aware that a lever available to the Council in managing its overall budget position and any Budget Gap is the ability to increase Council Tax. Each 1% increase in Band D would generate successive amounts of £1.550 million. It should be noted that in arriving at the budget gap of £29.207 million, no account has been taken of any potential increase in council tax. 5.12. It should be noted that South Lanarkshire continues to have the lowest level of Band D council tax in mainland Scotland at £1300.81. The average for mainland Scotland is £1409.69. 5.13. Level of Support Provided to the Integration Joint Board (IJB) and South Lanarkshire Leisure and Culture Limited (SLLCT):. The Council’s Budget Strategy for 2024/2025 at this stage assumes no additional allocation of monies from the Council to the IJB or SLLCT. This reflects the approach taken in 2023/2024 where the base Budget Strategy assumed that the Council did not allocate any additional monies to the IJB or SLLCT and, as part of that year’s budget strategy, SLC did not request a contribution to a savings exercise from these bodies. 5.14. Home Carers Job Evaluation: The outcome of the Job Evaluation exercise for Home Carers will result in significant recurring costs for the Care at Home service that is delegated to the IJB in 2023/2024 and beyond. The costs of grade changes will be approximately £7 million. The IJB have set a budget for 2023/2024, however, these costs are not included in that budget. The IJB’s Financial Regulations and Integration Scheme set out the process for such an eventuality. 5.15. The Financial Regulations state that if the Integration Joint Board’s Chief Financial Officer is advised that a significant change is likely to the Integration Joint Board's overall financial position and the deviation involves a change of policy of the Integration 62
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Joint Board or results in revenue implications for future years, a report will be provided for the Integration Joint Board in good time detailing the financial consequences to enable appropriate action to be taken timeously. 5.16. The regulations state that, if an overspend is forecast on either Party’s in scope budget, the Chief Officer and the Integration Joint Board’s Chief Financial Officer will aim to agree a recovery plan with the relevant Party to balance the overspending budget and to determine the actions required to be taken by the IJB to deliver the recovery plan. 5.17. Ordinarily, any such event would require to be met within the envelope of funding provided to the IJB. The intense budget and service pressures on local government, the Health Board and our health and social care partners has been noted previously and is ongoing, both nationally and locally. It should be noted that the financial position for both the IJB and the Council partner both indicate significant budget gaps moving forwards and, therefore, it is likely that any recovery plan identified will require changes to be made to the services currently commissioned by the IJB. 5.18. In relation to other IJB costs generally, any other increasing costs experienced by the IJB would require to be funded by Government monies or by efficiencies identified within the operations of the IJB. Any efficiency savings identified would require to be approved by the IJB. Any additional monies allocated to the Council specifically for Social Care, as part of the Government Grant award, would continue to be passed directly to the IJB. 5.19. Reinstatement of Temporary Funding: The Budget Strategy for 2024/2025 includes a number of solutions which are temporary in nature and will require to be re-instated in 2025/2026. The impact into next year is shown in Table 3. Table 3: Temporary Solutions Year of Adjustment 2025/ 2026 £m 2026/ 2027 £m 2024/2025 Corporate Solutions Loans Fund Review One-off use of Reserves (2024/2025) (June 2021 Executive Committee paper, section 7.2) 14.000 - Service Concessions One-off use of Reserves (2024/2025) Reinstated into 2025/2026 (Executive Committee, November 2022) 27.500 - Total Temporary Solutions 41.500 5.20. Table 3 shows the requirement to reinstate budget of £14.000 million in 2025/2026 following the use of the remaining reserves from the Loans Fund Review. Table 3 also shows that there is a requirement to reinstate budget of £27.500 million in 2025/2026 following the use of Service Concession Reserves in 2024/2025. We will continue to work to identify any corporate solutions to help the overall budget position and the need to reinstate budget in 2025/2026 as a result of temporary solutions, however, these are unlikely to generate recurring solutions. 63
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6. Summary and Next Steps 6.1. Taking account of the Corporate Solutions including the efficiencies from the ongoing Reviews, the Budget Gap for 2024/2025 is £29.207 million (section 5.3). This Budget Gap is based on the assumptions and estimates included in sections 4 and 5. Officers will continue to refine these budget estimates over the coming months, and we will provide updates to members in future reports. 6.2. The magnitude of the Budget Gap is very different to those managed in recent years and will require reconsideration of what the Council does for its communities, as well as potentially difficult decisions. 6.3. It is proposed that options to meet the budget gap will be developed for members consideration and brought back to a future meeting. Officers are presenting information to the Budget Sounding Board that have identified areas of budget that could be developed into savings options. To reiterate the point made earlier in the paper, the extent of the budget gap will mean that options will have to go significantly beyond the level of efficiencies made in previous years. 7. Employee Implications 7.1. There are no direct employee implications from this report. 8. Financial Implications 8.1. The financial implications are summarised within the report. 9. Climate Change, Sustainability and Environmental Implications 9.1. As part of the budget process, an environmental impact assessment of any decisions taken in relation to the budget will be carried out. This assessment will be updated as the budget process continues and, at this stage, members are not being asked to approve the budget. Elements feeding into this current budget strategy reflect increases in cost of current activity, rather than any change to existing practices and, therefore, should have no direct environmental impact change as a result. 9.2. Climate Change targets will have an impact on the Council’s future financial strategies. This will be included in future Budget Strategy papers. 10. Other Implications 10.1. The financial strategy is a way of managing a number of key risks which directly impact on the money available to deliver Council objectives. As detailed in the report, there is no certainty on the level of funding that will be received over the life of this Strategy. This Strategy is based on economic information and advice we have to date. However, it is accepted that these are assumptions. 10.2. The main risk area, where the Council has made assumptions which have a significant impact on the budget estimates going forwards, are on the level of grant which we will receive, as well as any general pay, demand or price increases / inflation assumptions currently unknown. These have been estimated, as far as possible. Also, the level of new build properties and, therefore, Council Tax Income generation is based on best information at the time of writing. Any movement in these assumptions would be a risk to the Strategy. 10.3. The Budget strategy does not, at this stage, include any additional funding in relation to the following areas: 64
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♦ Children and Families: Pressures associated mainly with external placements have been reported. The current estimated pressure that will be managed on a temporary basis in 2023/2024 is £10 million. Work is ongoing with the Improvement services to provide intelligence on our position compared to others, and consideration will be made to any options and opportunities to manage some of the budget pressure arising from that study. ♦ School Transport: Costs associated with mainstream and ASN transport have increased significantly in the last 2 years. Current estimates show spend of over £4m in excess of budget. Education Resources are considering options to help reduce the costs of school transport and any options requiring approval by members will be brought back at a later date. ♦ Waste Contract: The contract for residual waste is due for renewal into 2024/2025. At this stage, it is not possible to estimate any financial implications of the outcome of this significant contract. Members will be informed of the outcome of the contract award and any impact on the budget as it is known. ♦ Teachers’ Pension: The 2020 valuation review was to determine the contribution rate to be applied for 2023/2024 onwards. The Scottish Public Pension Authority previously advised that any change in contribution rate will now be delayed until 2024/2025. We have not yet been notified formally of any change in contribution, however there is a risk that contribution rates could increase, with increase in costs currently estimated at £2.000 million. 10.4. Job Evaluations: As part of normal Council processes, Job Evaluation exercises continue across a number of services, and at the time of writing this paper there are currently 4 reviews at appeal stage which, if successful, may have financial implications on recurring costs for the Council. Any back pay implications would be dependent on the outcome of these appeals. If all appeals were successful, the costs of back pay could be significant, however, at this point in time, no funding has been included for these costs given the outcome of the appeals are not known and that the original outcome of the Job Evaluations concluded that there was no change to grade. These outcomes from these current appeals are expected to be known by December 2023. 11. Equality Impact Assessment and Consultation Arrangements 11.1. This report does not introduce a new policy, function or strategy or recommend a change to an existing policy, function or strategy and, therefore, no impact assessment is required. 11.2. There is no requirement to undertake any consultation in terms of the information contained in this report. 11.3. However, as the process to identify savings continues, and with proposals to be presented to members later in the year, stakeholder consultation and equality impact assessments will be carried out. The results will be provided to members to inform their decision-making process. Paul Manning Executive Director (Finance and Corporate Resources) 65
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8 June 2023 Link(s) to Council Values/Priorities/Outcomes ♦ Accountable, Effective, Efficient and Transparent Previous References ♦ Executive Committee, 15 August 2018 List of Background Papers ♦ None Contact for Further Information If you would like to inspect the background papers or want further information, please contact: Paul Manning, Executive Director, Finance and Corporate Resources Ext: 4530 (Tel: 01698 454530) E-mail : paul.manning@southlanarkshire.gov.uk 66
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Appendix 1 2024/2025 Budget Strategy: Budget Strategy Expenditure Items This Appendix details the Budget Strategy Expenditure Items included in the 2024/2025 Budget Strategy (Table 1 of main report). 1. Budget Strategy Expenditure Assumptions 1.1. In arriving at the expenditure assumptions, a number of factors are taken into account including the reinstatement of previous year solutions, demographics, economic conditions and ongoing commitments of the capital programme. These are each taken in turn. 2. Pay Items (£16.120 million) 2.1. Pay Award (inc. Apprenticeship Levy): An assumption had been made regarding the potential increase for 2024/2025 for both teaching and non-teaching staff, which results in an increase in costs of £7.220 million into 2024/2025. 2.2. The pay deal for Non-Teachers is set for 2022/2023 only. There has been no agreement of what the pay award will be beyond financial year 2022/2023. A quantum of funding has been agreed between Local Government and Scottish Government for 2023/2024 pay award, however the last offer made in negotiations (that was rejected) included an uplift in January 2024 that would result in full year impact in 2024/2025 beyond the funding agreed. This is estimated at this stage at £7.400 million and the full year impact of a further uplift to be implemented in January 2024. For teaching staff, there is no pay deal beyond 2023/2024. 2.3. This will be updated as more information becomes available. This excludes pay award for the Integrated Joint Board and the South Lanarkshire Leisure and Culture Trust. 2.4. As noted above, the pay award for 2023/2024 is not yet settled for non-teaching staff. While the 2023/2024 budget includes an estimate for these awards, depending on the award agreed, there is a risk that there could be an impact into 2024/2025. 2.5. Local Government Pension Scheme: The current employers’ rate of 19.3% was set after the previous actuarial review carried out on the Strathclyde Pension Fund (March 2020) and this rate has been confirmed until at least March 2024. The most recent actuarial review was in March 2023 with any impact on contribution rates falling into the following financial year (2024/2025). At the time of writing, there is no information available regarding any impact of the 2023 valuation on the Council’s employer contribution rate into 2024/2025, therefore there is no assumption made in the 2024/2025 Budget Strategy. 2.6. Early years staff: Due to phasing in of budget required to cover the additional costs incurred after regrading of Early Learning and Childcare Staff in 2019, an amount of £1.5 million is required into 2024/2025. 2.7. The total impact of the Pay Items on the 2024/2025 Strategy is £16.120 million. 67
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3. Government Grant (£0.880 million) 3.1. Local Government budgets are affected by both changes in the UK Government Budget and the subsequent Scottish Government Budget. 3.2. The Scottish Governments 5th Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) which was published in May 2022, maintained the level of funding for Local Government at flat cash levels between 2023/2024 and 2025/2026, with an amount of £100m added nationally in 2026/2027. The 6th MTFS was published in late May 23. That Strategy pointed towards significant budget gaps within the Scottish budget with solutions still to be found. Therefore, despite suggestions within the MTFS of inflationary increases for Local Government, at this stage, given the budget gap faced by the Scottish Government, it would be premature to assume the actual Settlement for South Lanarkshire would increase. A Flat Cash Government Grant position has therefore been assumed into 2024/2025. 3.3. Consequence of Council Tax Increases (Properties): As noted in previous Budget Strategies, increases in Council Tax due to increased property numbers, does not give a permanent benefit to the Council as there will be a reduction in grant in future years – an estimated 80% Grant Reduction for every additional £1 of Council Tax. 3.4. The impact on grant of additional properties is incurred 2 years after the new properties are built. In relation to 2024/2025, the consequent reduction in Government Grant (80% reduction after 2 years) reflects the new properties added in 2022/2023 and totals an estimated reduction in Grant Income of £0.880 million for 2024/2025. 3.5. In addition to planning for this 1% general reduction in grant, there may also be changes in how grant is distributed to councils, based on their share of population numbers. 3.6. In previous years, the Council has experienced both increases and decreases in grant as a result of the funding quantum and the way in which the funding is distributed. Movement in grant is wholly dependent on the distribution methodology used. It is proposed that the prudent approach is to not assume any grant increase due to population changes, and that if there is new money, it is likely this will have a policy intent attached and therefore no impact to the Council’s Budget Gap. 3.7. The total impact of Government Grant changes on the 2024/2025 Strategy is £0.880 million. 4. Reinstatement / Impact of Prior Year Budget Decisions (£30.675 million) 4.1. A number of budget strategy solutions approved for the previous year budgets were temporary in nature. These must be re-instated in 2024/2025 and are detailed below. 4.2. Leased Vehicles: In June 2020, the 2021/2022 Budget Strategy included the temporary use of Government Grant to pay for the lease costs of electric vehicles. This allowed a temporary reduction of £0.230 million in the Council’s budget which requires to be reinstated into 2024/2025. 4.3. Loans Fund Review: The Budget Strategy for 2024/2025 included the impact of 68
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Reserves generated from the Loans Fund Review. The £23.500 million used temporarily in 2023/2024 requires to be re-instated into 2024/2025 but will be offset by the remaining planned use of Loans Fund Review Reserves in that year (£14.000 million). This adds a net £9.500 million to the budget strategy in 2024/2025. 4.4. Interest on Loan Charges: As detailed to members in June 2020, implementation of the Loans Fund Review (and its significant up-front benefits) means that additional interest costs will be incurred as a result of paying back the debt over a longer period of time. It was noted that future budget strategies would need to include incremental increases to meet these costs and that the requirement of £1.746 million would be added incrementally to the Loans Fund budget from 2022/2023. As a result, £0.500 million requires to be added to the 2024/2025 Strategy. 4.5. Underspends from 2021/2022: In the 2023/2024 Budget Strategy (Executive, June 2022), an underspend of £6.109 million in the Council’s Outturn for 2021/2022 was transferred to Reserves and approved to support the 2023/2024 budget on a one-off basis. This £6.109 million requires to be reinstated in 2024/2025. 4.6. Underspends 22/23 and one off solutions: The 2023/2024 Budget Strategy also included the use of corporate solutions of one £4.8m identified in 2022/2023 (Executive Committee, November 2022) and £0.650m one off underspend from 2022/23 (Council, June 2022) These amounts totalling £5.450 million require to be reinstated into 2024/2025. 4.7. Similarly, the use of £1.800 million of reserves was also used to support the 2023/2024 budget (Council, February 2023) and this requires to be reinstated in 2024/2025. 4.8. 2022/2023 Pay Award: In order to fund the impact of the 2022/2023 Pay Award into 2023/2024, £5.700 million of Reserves (resulting from the implementation of Service Concessions) was used on a one-off basis in 2023/2024 (Council, February 2023). This needs to be reinstated into 2024/2025. 4.9. Loan Charges: The 2023/2024 Budget Strategy (June 2022) assumed a one-off underspend on Loan Charges of £0.513 million. This requires to be reinstated into the Loan Charges budget in 2024/2025. In addition, a previous year underspend of £0.873 million in Loan Charges was transferred to Reserves and used to support the Budget Strategy on a one-off basis in 2023/2024. Again, this needs to be reinstated into the 2024/2025 Budget Strategy. 4.10. The total impact of Reinstatements / Prior Year Budgets on the 2024/2025 Strategy is £30.675 million. 5. Contract Impacts / Other Inflation (£11.616 million) 5.1. Secondary Schools’ Modernisation Contract: An allocation of £2.952 million has been added to the Budget Strategy for anticipated inflationary increases on the contract. 5.2. Non-Domestic Rates: The 2023/024 Budget Strategy included an allocation for rates poundage into 2023/2024 as well as an allowance to accommodate the impact of property revaluation. Current projections into 2024/2025 show that the Rates budget could be reduced by (£0.103 million) so this can be removed from the 2024/2025 Budget. 69
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5.3. Social Care: As in previous years, the Strategy assumes increases in prices reflecting the ongoing commitments for Children and Families Social Care contracts held by the Council (excluding Adults and Older People contracts). Increases similar to those experienced in recent years have been assumed for Children and Families Social Care price increases into 2024/2025 (£0.800 million) as well as making good the shortfall anticipated for inflation into 2023/2024 that will require to be managed in year (£0.600 million). This equates to £1.400 million into 2024/2025. 5.4. Utilities: Based on estimated percentage increases and the level of energy already purchased, an allocation of £4.733 million has been added to the Budget Strategy for 2024/202. This is subject to change as utility prices are subject to movement. 5.5. Waste: The Council has a number of significant contracts for waste collection and disposal. For 2024/2025, an amount of £1.334 million has been included to manage the anticipated inflationary price increases and £0.150 million to allow the service to manage the increasing number of properties in the area. 5.6. Strathclyde Passenger Transport: In previous years, SPT had adjusted their requisitions to reflect the movement in the local government grant to councils. The Strategy for 2024/2025 assumes no change in the requisition payment, reflecting the assumption that there will be no change in grant levels. This will be updated as more information becomes available. 5.7. Licences: Renewal of the Council’s Microsoft Enterprise Licence Agreement (where pricing has been fixed since 2021) will increase costs. The expected increase is £0.250 million. 5.8. Estates Issues: Due to lessees entering administration, the level of income is expected to reduce by £0.600 million. 5.9. Insurance Fund: The Council’s Insurance Fund is projecting an annual shortfall from 2024/2025 and a budget increase of £0.300 million is required. 5.10. The total impact of Contract / Other Inflation on the 2024/2025 Strategy is £11.616 million. 6. Revenue Consequences of Capital 6.1. The assumptions in this Strategy continue to include provision for the revenue consequences of the opening/extension of new primary schools and other approved capital projects including the new Jackton Primary school, and the expansion at Castlefield Primary School. 6.2. An amount of £0.811 million has been included in the Strategy for 2024/2025. 7. Total Expenditure Items: The total of these expenditure items is £60.102 million. 70
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Appendix 2 2024/2025 Budget Strategy: Corporate Solutions 1. This Appendix details the Corporate Solutions included in the 2024/2025 Budget Strategy. 2. Corporate Solutions 2.1. Council Tax Properties: The South Lanarkshire Housing Land Audit (2022) details new houses anticipated in 2023/2024 and beyond. Based on Band D properties and net of Council Tax Reduction Scheme (CTRS), the increase in Council Tax Income for 2024/2025 has been assumed at (£2.219 million) (Council Tax of £2.485 million less CTRS of £0.266 million). This reflects the full year implication of new build houses anticipated in 2023/2024 and an estimate for 2024/2025. 2.2. While there remains a risk that development will not progress as originally anticipated, housebuilding continues to progress apace in sites across the Council area. The position will continue to be monitored during 2023/2024. The impact of new houses assumed in estimates for council tax for 2023/2024 on the Government Grant will be seen in the 2025/2026 Budget Strategy. Corporate Solution: £2.219 million 2.3. Reduction in Bridging Solution Required: In 2023/2024 a bridging solution has been in place in advance of the implementation of the new Fusion system across the Council. This is no longer required in 2024/2025 and therefore the budget can be reduced by £1.176 million. Corporate Solution: £1.176 million 2.4. Service Concessions: Implementation of the Service Concessions accounting arrangements has meant a retrospective benefit in the form of available Reserves to support the budget. This Budget Strategy paper for 2024/2025 proposes the use of £27.500 million on a temporary basis, and this requires to be reinstated into 2025/2026. This proposal reflects the budget position for 2024/2025 included in previous budget papers including the budget paper presented to Council on 22 Feb 2023 (appendix 2) Corporate Solution: £27.500 million temporary for 2024/2025 (reinstate in 2025/2026) 3. The total Corporate Solutions for the 2023/2024 Strategy is £30.895 million. 71
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Report Agenda Item Report to: Executive Committee Date of Meeting: 21 June 2023 Report by: Executive Director (Education Resources) Executive Director (Community and Enterprise Resources Executive Director (Finance and Corporate Resources) Subject: Jackton Primary School and Jackton Early Learning and Childcare Centre - Staffing Requirements 1. Purpose of Report 1.1. The purpose of the report is to:- [purpose] ♦ advise of the staffing position of the new Jackton Primary School and Jackton Early Learning and Childcare Centre (EL&CC), both due to open in August 2023 [1purpose] 2. Recommendation(s) 2.1. The Committee is asked to approve the following recommendation(s):- [recs] (1) that the establishment of the management posts of Head Teacher and Depute Head Teacher to lead Jackton Primary School, due to open in August 2023 as detailed in section 4, Table 1, be approved; (2) that the establishment of the management posts of Head of Centre, Depute Head of Centre and Team Leader to lead Jackton Early Learning and Childcare Centre (EL&CC), due to open in August 2023 as detailed in section 4, table 1, be approved; (3) that the staffing requirements, based on capacity, as outlined in Table 1 for both establishments, to be established in line with standard pupil roll related procedures, ASN staffing protocols and Early Years adult:child ratios and including the staffing to cover facilities services (Janitorial, Catering, and Cleaning) be approved; (4) that it be noted that, as rolls increase, both establishments will continue to be staffed as required; and (5) that the budgetary impact of the staffing requirements for both establishments as detailed in section 5, be noted. [1recs] 3. Background 3.1. The new Jackton Primary School and separate Jackton Early Learning and Childcare Centre (ELCC) is currently under construction and will be ready for occupation in August 2023. 9 73
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3.2. The school will have 17 classrooms, a gym hall, general purpose area, separate dining hall and outside floodlit pitch available for community lets out with school use. Assuming an average class size of 30, the school will be able to accommodate 510 pupils. In addition, the school will have a 4 classroom ASN base able to accommodate up to 32 children depending on need and complexity. 3.3. The ELCC will be able to accommodate up to 95 children (80 x 3-4 year olds and 15 x 2-3 year olds) and will be managed separately by a Head of Centre. 3.4. At full capacity, the management structure of the school, given a mainstream roll of 510 pupils (plus ASN), will be 1 Head Teacher, 3 Depute Head Teachers and 2 Principal Teachers. Similarly, at full capacity, the ELCC will be managed by 1 Head of Centre and 1 Depute Head of Centre, which will operate 52 weeks per year. 3.5. The management posts were appointed during May/June to allow for planning and preparation of the creation of these brand-new establishments, the appointment of staff from June, liaison with families, and delivery of transition activities. The school building will also be temporarily shared with Our Lady of Lourdes Primary School for the session 2023/2024 while their school building is undergoing major works. 3.6. Contact has been made with parents to advise them of the management appointments and arrangements are being made for running some introductory events for children and families to attend. 4. Employee Implications 4.1. Teachers, Early Years and Support Staff will be established over time in line with the requirements of the roll of the new school, the ELCC and the needs of individual children. The staffing requirements of the new establishments when at capacity is set out in Table 1 below. Table 1: Staffing establishment for Jackton Primary and Jackton Early Learning and Childcare centre. Posts FTE Grade / SCP Hourly Rate Annual Salary Gross Cost (incl on costs) Jackton Primary School Head Teacher 1 Depute/Head Teacher 10 N/A £76,704 £102,676 Depute Head Teacher 3 Depute/Head Teacher 2 N/A £60,627 £243,466 Principal Teacher 2 Principal Teacher 2 N/A £53,997 £144,561 Classroom Teachers 17 m/stream 4 ASN Base Plus CCC 22.5 Class Teacher N/A £47,565 £1,432,586 Support Staff Team Leader (Office) (27.5hrs per week) 1 Grade 1 Level 4 (TT)/ SCP 30-31 £12.59- £12.76 £20,448- £20,736 £26,643- £27,268 74
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School Support Assistants (8 ASN, 7 m/stream, 1 Office) (27.5hrs per week) 16 Grade 1 Level 1-3 (TT) / SCP 27 £11.11- £12.11 £18,043- £19,680 £376,160- £414,060 Jackton Early Learning and Childcare Centre Head of Centre 1 Grade 4 Level 2 / SCP 82-83 £25.37- £25.77 £48,943- £49,715 £63,773 £64,778 Depute Head of Centre 1 Grade 3 Level 8 / SCP 79-80 £24.28- £24.64 £46,840- £47,535 £61,033- £61,938 Early Years Team Leader 1 Grade 2 Level 4 / SCP 55-57 £17.38- £17.88 £33,529- £34,494 £43,688- £45,359 Early Years Practitioner 11 Grade 2 Level 3 SCP 46-48 £15.80- £15.80 £29,632- £30,481 £424,710- £440,908 Early Years Support Assistants 2 Grade 1 Level 1-3 SCP 20- 27 £12.11 £22,100 £58,122 School Support Assistant 1 Grade 1 Level 4 / SCP 31 £12.76 £23,286 £30,621 Facilities Services Staff Janitor (41.5hrs per week) 1.5 Grade 1 Level 1-3/SCP 25- 27 £11.81- £12.11 £25,554- £26,204 £49,945- £51,587 Catering (37hrs per week) 4.4 Grade 1 Level 1 (TT)/SCP 20 £11.11 £19,086 £110,433 1.5 Grade 1 Level 1/SCP 20 £11.11 £21,433 £42,277 0.9 Grade 1 Level 3/SCP 27 £11.81- £12.11 £22,783- £23,362 £26,880- £27,649 Cleaning (37hrs per week) 3.1 Grade 1 Level 1 (TT)/ SCP 20 £11.11 £19,086 £77,805 0.9 Grade 1 Level 1(TT)/SCP 20-27 £11.11- £12.11 £21,433- £23,362 £27,927- £30,440 5. Financial Implications 5.1. Table 1 in paragraph 4.1 outlines the overall staffing requirement of the school at capacity. Total full year cost for staffing when at capacity aligned to current staff to pupil ratios and legislative class sizes, based on current pay agreements, is £3.383m. 5.2. As outlined, some of the staffing is already in place or being appointed. The staffing requirement for the first year of operation for both the school and ELCC is outlined below. This is based on current roll numbers. 75
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Table 2: Part year staffing costs for 23/24 Total Estimate staffing costs - Part year costs for financial year 2023/24 £m Jackton Primary School £0.504 Jackton ELCC £0.408 Facilities Staff for both establishments (Net of Our Lady of Lourdes) £0.076 Total Part Year Costs 23/24 £0.988 5.3. Enrolment levels will be monitored to evaluate staffing requirements for August 2024 and beyond. 5.4. The resulting increase in staffing budget requirements for both establishments will be managed through current education budgets for 2023/24 with any required revenue consequences from this capital investment being considered as part of budget strategies. 6. Climate Change, Sustainability and Environmental Implications 6.1. As this report relates to staffing there are no implications identified. 7. Other Implications 7.1. There are no other implications identified. 8. Equality Impact Assessment and Consultation Arrangements 8.1. This report does not introduce a new policy function or strategy. Or recommend a change to an existing policy, function or strategy and, therefore, no impact assessment is required. Tony McDaid, Executive Director (Education Resources) David Booth, Executive Director (Community and Enterprise Resources) Paul Manning, Executive Director (Finance and Corporate Resources) 24 May 2023 Link(s) to Council Values/Priorities/Outcomes ♦ Our children and young people thrive ♦ Inspiring learners, transforming learning, strengthening partnerships Previous References Executive Committee 28 March 2018 (Outcome of the Statutory Consultation on Duncanrig and Calderglen High Schools) Executive Committee 2 February 2022 (Jackton Primary School – Full Business Case Glasgow City Region City Deal - East Kilbride Community Growth Area) List of Background Papers None 76
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Contact for Further Information If you would like to inspect the background papers or want further information, please contact:- Lynn Sherry, Head of Education (Support Services and Schools Estate) Ext: 5620 (Tel: 01698 455620) E-mail: lynn.sherry@southlanarkshire.gov.uk 77
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Report Agenda Item Report to: Executive Committee Date of Meeting: 21 June 2023 Report by: Executive Director (Community and Enterprise Resources) Subject: South Lanarkshire Social Enterprise Strategy 2023 to 2027 1. Purpose of Report 1.1. The purpose of the report is to: - [purpose] provide an overview of the South Lanarkshire Social Enterprise Strategy 2023 to 2027, (attached as Appendix 1 to this report) seek approval of the Social Enterprise Strategy confirm the Council’s continued commitment to investing in the growth and sustainability of the social enterprise sector in South Lanarkshire 2. Recommendation(s) 2.1. The Committee is asked to approve the following recommendation: - [recs] (1) The South Lanarkshire Social Enterprise Strategy 2023 to 2027 be approved. 3. Background 3.1. The Council is refreshing and launching a range of new key strategies and plans including the Council Plan ‘Connect’, the Community Plan, the Community Wealth Building Strategy, the Sustainable Development and Climate Change Strategy, the Tourism Strategy, and the Economic Strategy 2022 to 2027. All these documents are inherently linked and recognise social enterprise as a key sector under the priorities of People, Progress and Planet. 3.2. At the first meeting of the Community Wealth Building Commission on 31 August 2021, members approved an action plan to accompany the South Lanarkshire Community Wealth Building Strategy 2022. This new Social Enterprise Strategy is one of the outcomes of the Community Wealth Building Action Plan, alongside the development of a Social Enterprise Steering Group. 3.3. The Social Enterprise Strategy sets out the Council’s commitment to increase the number of social enterprises and improve the sustainability of the sector in South Lanarkshire. 3.4. Officers have consulted with the third sector on the preparation of the Strategy and its priorities, and a draft has been shared with partners and stakeholders as part of the consultation process. A list of consultees is attached at Appendix 2. 10 79
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3.5. A newly established South Lanarkshire Social Economy Steering Group is the leadership group for developing and implementing this Strategy and associated Action Plan. Its core role is to inform and influence the key priorities and set out the actions to be delivered through a partnership approach. Members of the Group include Voluntary Action South Lanarkshire (VASLan), South Lanarkshire Third Sector Chief Officers Group (COG), Third Sector rural representation, Inspirent, Business Gateway Lanarkshire, Social Enterprise Scotland, SLC Procurement and SLC Community and Enterprise Resources. 4. Social Enterprise Strategy 2023-2027 4.1. The proposed Social Enterprise Strategy is attached as Appendix 1. This is a new Strategy for South Lanarkshire, which is in keeping with the Scottish Government’s priorities for the sector and vision of a fair society and inclusive economy as set out in the ‘Scotland’s Social Enterprise Strategy 2016-2026’. The three high level priorities are:- 1. Stimulating Social Enterprise 2. Developing Stronger Organisations 3. Realising Market Opportunity 4.2. Contained within the Strategy, ‘Our Vision’ is: To cultivate a vibrant and growing social enterprise sector in South Lanarkshire, which creates social and environmental benefits for all. 4.3. The Strategy provides an ongoing framework for dialogue about, and influence upon, capacity building and business support practices as they affect, and are informed by, enterprising third sector organisations and specifically social enterprises. It takes an evidence-based approach to inform detailed actions and activity going forward, using data from the 2021 National Social Enterprise Census. 4.4. The Council has aligned significant resources to the delivery of this Strategy which will support the sector and ensure that South Lanarkshire social enterprises are receiving targeted assistance to start up and grow. This will complement the Council’s own business support programme, the existing ecosystem of support and contribute to the delivery of a well-being and greener economy. 4.5. Whilst most of the social enterprises are based in urban areas, around 26% are within rural locations. According to the National Social Enterprise Census 2021, social enterprises in South Lanarkshire were active in several sectors mostly, early learning and childcare (16%), health and social care (16%) and arts and creative industries (15%). Most reported a blended model of funding, however, many stated they aspire to become self-sustaining and, to this end, business support is critical. 4.6. In summary, the Strategy includes the following sections:- Foreword – Sets out the Council’s commitment and investment into growing and sustaining a vibrant social enterprise sector and the contribution to the local economy that the sector delivers, adding value to the existing ecosystem of local and national support and recognising the importance of collaboration and partnership working to effectively deliver on this Strategy Introduction – Highlights and promotes partners’ ambitions to deliver on actions under the key priorities of stimulating social enterprise, developing stronger organisations, and realising market opportunity 80
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The Strategy in Context – The Strategy is shaped by both the Strategic Policy Framework and current priorities. In developing the Strategy, officers have taken the opportunity to ensure that objectives remain aligned with policy and strategy updates moving forward to take cognisance of the existing ecosystem of support Officers have developed this Strategy as part of the Council’s suite of strategies and plans, namely the Council Plan ‘Connect’, the Community Plan, the Community Wealth Building Strategy, the Sustainable Development and Climate Change Strategy and the Tourism Strategy, all of which are inherently linked and informed by our communities The Strategy seeks to promote inclusive growth, community owned assets and shorter supply chains, supporting net zero ambitions, seeking to maximise opportunities across communities Our Priorities – Objectives are set under the key priorities of stimulating social enterprise, developing stronger organisations, and realising market opportunity to shape ambitions for the future. A series of ‘We Will’ statements to confirm commitment to strengthen and target existing business offering, invest in the sector, expand the capability of local social enterprises, and strengthen social capital Delivering on our Ambitions: The key actions and areas of activity are set out in the Strategy which defines our priorities, commitment, outcomes, and how we will measure success 4.7. Existing monitoring and reporting arrangements will be applied to avoid duplication and ensure consistency, with ‘measurement of success results being reported to committee annually. The Social Economy Steering Group, referred to in paragraph 3.5, will oversee the effective implementation of the Strategy and take collective ownership for setting out activity and delivering on the associated Action Plan. 5. Local Initiatives 5.1. A pilot Social Enterprise Accelerator programme offering targeted business support to 15 South Lanarkshire social enterprises which ran from November 2022 through to February 2023. Procurement is underway to deliver a further two programmes. 5.2. Delivered in person and on-line, the pilot programme included learning from weekly workshops and 1:1s with experts, focusing on topics enterprises can use immediately to grow. Topics included social investment, generating income, marketing, and business strategy. 5.3. Benefits for participants of this Accelerator programme are:- stimulus to change and innovate networking and peer support with fellow leaders from other social enterprises access to ‘expert help’ and action planning support 5.4. A bespoke procurement workshop, delivered by the Supplier Development Programme (SDP) in April, was attended by 11 local social enterprises, with input from SLC Procurement, and enabled attendees to access expert information and support to become more ‘tender-ready’. 6. Next Steps and Timescales 6.1. Subject to Committee approval, officers will finalise the graphical content of the Strategy and circulate in hard copy and communicate via the Council’s website. The graphic design is in keeping with the Community Wealth Building Strategy. 81
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6.2. The Strategy has been designed to set out the framework under which the Social Enterprise Steering Group will define specific actions. During the action planning phase, regular updates on implementation and measuring the success of the Strategy and Action Plan will be provided to Committee. 6.3. The Strategy will be launched in Autumn 2023, as part of a wider local event for the enterprising third sector and key stakeholders. 7. Employee Implications 7.1. An Economic Development Officer (Social Economy) has been recruited to finalise and assist with the delivery of the Strategy’s Action Plan and measure its success going forward. Existing resources within Enterprise and Sustainable Development will be utilised to finalise the Strategy, deliver the action plan and work with the Social Enterprise Steering Group and the sector to measure its success going forward. 8. Financial Implications 8.1. The funds required to finalise the Strategy and Action Plan are included in the Council’s revenue budgets for the lifespan of the Strategy. External funds will also be sought from UK Government and Scottish Government funding streams to maximising the impacts of Social Enterprise Strategy. 9. Climate Change, Sustainability and Environmental Implications 9.1. The Action Plan will be delivered having regard to best practice both in terms of how those actions are delivered and the commitment to net zero. 10. Other Implications 10.1. The key risk associated with the finalisation, delivery and monitoring of the Strategy is the potential for further national and/or international economic shocks. This could constrain recovery and economic growth both locally and nationally. 11. Equality Impact Assessment and Consultation Arrangements 11.1. Both a Strategic Environmental Assessment and an Equality Impact Assessment have been undertaken. 11.2. Council Resources and external partners have been consulted as part of the consultation process. Further consultation will take place on the roll out and implementation of the Action Plan. David Booth Executive Director 26 May 2023 Link(s) to Council Values/Priorities/Outcomes Focused on people and their needs Working with and respecting others Accountable, effective, efficient and transparent Ambitious, self-aware and improving Fair, open and sustainable Excellent employer We will work to put people first and reduce inequality We will work towards a sustainable future in sustainable places We will work to recover, progress and improve 82
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Our children and young people thrive Good quality, suitable and sustainable places to live Thriving business, fair jobs and vibrant town centres Caring, connected, sustainable communities People live the healthiest lives possible Inspiring learners, transforming learning, strengthening partnerships Previous References None List of Background Papers South Lanarkshire Economic Strategy 2022-2027 South Lanarkshire Community Wealth Building Strategy 2022 Contact for Further Information If you would like to inspect the background papers or want further information, please Contact: - Yvonne McBride, Economic Development Officer, Enterprise and Sustainable Development Services Email: yvonne.mcbride@southlanarkshire.gov.uk 83
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Contents Foreword 2 Introduction 3 Our Vision 4 About Social Enterprise 5 National Context 6 South Lanarkshire Context 7 Objectives 9 Priorities 12 Case Studies 14 1 SLC print proof 87
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Foreword Social Enterprises help make South Lanarkshire a green, dynamic and equitable place for all. We know the social economy has the ambition and power to transform the lives of our local communities, tackling inequalities, delivering local services and products, and contributing to the wellbeing and prosperity of our local economy. And at the same time reinvesting profits back into their social mission. We’ve seen social enterprises delivering innovative responses to tackle climate challenge through food, reuse and recycling initiatives and addressing wider environmental impact through local production and supply chains. Social enterprise is, indeed, a force for good which we want to support and invest in. To ensure our social economy continues to grow in confidence, potential and capability, we have prioritised our investment to enable the creation of sustainable social enterprises that thrive, grow, innovate, diversify, and support our local communities., because enterprise is what makes the social impact possible. The 2021 Social Enterprise Census showed that South Lanarkshire had 177 social enteprises, an increase of 14 or 8.6% since the 2017 census. Over 2015 to 2021 period, the number of social enterprises operating in South Lanarkshire increased by 34 or 23.7% which is greater than the increase experienced by Scotland as a whole, of 16.3%. We aim to build on this and invest further in social enterprises start-up and existing businesses and ensure that we support our social economy to continue to innovate and grow. Our social enterprises are motivated by a genuine desire to create a meaningful and lasting impact in our local communities, seeking to address social, economic, and environmental issues with limited resources – and often reliant on reducing grant funding which is not sustainable. We also recognise and celebrate the diversity of the sector and its ability to respond in times of crisis as we have seen through the Covid-19, and the current cost of living crisis. Our featured case studies with Clydesdale Community Initiatives, Juniors Play Café, R:evolve Recycle, Morphfit, Climate Action Strathaven, Social Enterprise in Schools and Healthy and Active East Kilbride, collectively demonstrate the range of supports and services, and the different sectors in which social enterprise operate. This strategy has been designed in collaboration with our wider third sector, partners, and stakeholders. If we are to realise our multiple and far-reaching aspirations for social enterprise in South Lanarkshire, continued collaboration and partnership working with the social economy, key public sector partners, and the private sector, will be vital. It is important that we also recognise the eco-system of support already available, and we will fully utilise this to ensure our social enterprises are empowered to shape their own ambitious future and deliver on our community wealth building approach. Looking ahead to the future, the objectives set out in this strategy are designed to create opportunities and build strength and confidence for the sector to deliver more services, tackle inequalities; and build strength and confidence within our communities. To drive forward these objectives, a newly formed SE Steering group will develop key actions that take the lead from the Scottish Government’s three priorities for the sector, namely: stimulating social enterprise; developing stronger organisations; and realising market opportunity. Our commitment to social enterprise is to deliver direct investment and continue to build on a sustainable social economy here in South Lanarkshire, which in turn will help deliver social value; more local services; and improved networking opportunities. Councillor Robert Brown Chair of Community and Enterprise Committee 2 flourishing | green | dynamic | equitable SLC print proof 88
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Introduction This new strategy will support the social enterprise sector in three priority areas: stimulating social enterprise activity, developing stronger organisations, and realising market opportunity. South Lanarkshire Council, working with Voluntary Action South Lanarkshire (VASLan) have co-produced this strategy following consultation with the sector and wider stakeholders. This document represents a next step in the journey to shape South Lanarkshire’s agenda for social enterprise, building upon the excellent work which is already taking place. This strategy is a first for South Lanarkshire and marks a fresh start for a partnership approach to further investment in local Social Enterprises. A newly formed South Lanarkshire Social Economy Steering group (SESG) is the leadership group for developing and implementing this social enterprise strategy and associated action plan. SESG membership is made up public and third sector leaders and influencers from organisations that represent, work with, and provide business and capacity building support to the enterprising third sector and social enterprises in South Lanarkshire. Steven Sweeney, CEO of Voluntary Action South Lanarkshire and Chair of SESG said, “Social Enterprises are a key enabler in the delivery of the community planning partnership’s shared ambitions, around People, Place and Planet. Together, we can form a more flourishing, green, dynamic and equitable Social Economy”. 3 SLC print proof 89
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Our vision Our shared vision is to cultivate a vibrant, and growing social enterprise sector in South Lanarkshire which creates social and environmental benefits for all. To grow the local economy, increasing local spend with the Sector and targeting support to our homegrown Social Enterprise 1 Aim Objectives Priorities 2 Priority 1: Stimulating the social economy Priority 2: Developing stronger organisations Priority 3: Realising market opportunities 3 Invest in a more balanced and prosperous economy for South Lanarkshire to: • Deliver bespoke accelerator business support programme(s) to 45 organisations from 2022 onwards. • Package up additional small grant funding in 2023 to support up to 30 organisations to start up and increase trading. • Work with SESG partners and wider public, private and third sector stakeholders to promote out good practice examples and the sector generally, via case studies, social media, and news releases. Deliver local services and Influence more local spend through effective use of procurement and robust local supply chains. We will: • Broker engagement with Business Gateway and the wider business support offer to local organisations seeking to take on leasing or buying publicly owned buildings or land. • Explore options for involvement and sign up to the Scottish Government’s Corporate Challenge and Buy Social programme managed by Social Enterprise Scotland. • Deliver a procurement workshop(s) for the sector. • Promote out the Council’s new Community Benefit menu and tool. Engage our young people so that they better understand social enterprise business models, and: • Direct young people to the training and opportunities available through the Social Enterprise Academy, Business Gateway’s Business start-up support. • Explore options for a South Lanarkshire Social Enterprise ‘Shark Tank’ schools initiative in 2024. Act on Climate, to target investment and support, we will: • Deliver 2 bespoke sector workshops on Net Zero for up to 50 organisations. • Customise a digital solution and deliver wraparound support to a cohort of 30 social enterprises and, • Create a sector pathway with the Net Zero action planning tool. Build strength and confidence within our communities, as part of our joint ambition to create thriving places we will: • Commit to a place-based approach, targeting investment to 6 – 8 local community anchor organisations and support local social enterprise supply chains. • Invest directly in our South Lanarkshire Social Enterprise Network over the next two years in support of shared learning opportunities, networking, and peer support to 150 organisations over the lifetime of this strategy. • Test a South Lanarkshire Community Bond model and provide a range of financial incentives to encourage people to invest in local regeneration projects. 4 flourishing | green | dynamic | equitable SLC print proof 90
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About Social Enterprise Social Enterprise has a unique advantage in delivering local services, contributing to net zero and tackling inequalities South Lanarkshire has a long tradition of socially responsible business, most notably Robert Owen, of New Lanark, a mill owner and social reformer who understood the importance of creating social good, as well as economic wealth. This tradition continued throughout Lanarkshire with the growth of the cooperative movement and to the present day with new forms of business in pursuit of a fairer and more equitable society. While there is no legal definition for social enterprise in Scotland, it is broadly accepted that a social enterprise trades for the benefit of all or most members of a community, rather than the unlimited private gain of the few. Its primary objective is to achieve social and wider environmental benefit, and distinct from other third sector organisations, social enterprises aspire to financial independence through trading. In Scotland, the ‘asset lock’ is the defining and essential feature of social enterprise and should be built into its business structure. The ‘asset lock’ sets out the requirement that upon dissolution of a company, profits are reinvested in the business or in the beneficiary community, and not distributed to private owners, shareholders, or investors. 5 SLC print proof 91
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National Context Social Enterprises provide a positive influence on the world of commerce, representing a more ethical way of doing business The Scottish Government’s 10-year strategy (Scotland’s Social Enterprise Strategy 2016- 2026) sets out the Government’s commitment and ambition to developing and supporting the sector, recognising the vital role it plays in our economy, in civil society and in creating a fairer, more equitable and inclusive Scotland. Social Enterprise make a significant contribution to Scotland’s economy in most sectors including, Education, Health, Housing and Employability. With over 6000 social enterprises operating in Scotland. Community Wealth Building (CWB) CWB is a place-based economic development model rolling out throughout Scotland. This approach, within the wider frame of the wellbeing economy, is a model of economic development that over time can deliver thriving communities, a fairer society which are environmentally sustainable. CWB looks to transform local and regional economies to deliver on our ambitions for inclusive growth and realise opportunities for more and better jobs, business growth, community owned assets and shorter supply chains supporting net zero ambitions. Social Enterprise Scotland (SES) SES is the national representative body for social enterprises in Scotland. A member-led organisation, SES champions and raises the profile of the sector, campaigning and influencing on key issues and policy. SES provides opportunities for social enterprises to network, connect, learn, and share experience and practice and supports initiatives to encourage and increase trading. SES engages and works with social enterprises, key stakeholders, and a wide range of partners, to develop and grow a collaborative movement that puts social enterprise at the heart of Scotland’s future. Social Enterprise Census The biennial social enterprise census provides a snapshot of the overall make up and economic contribution of the sector. Scotland is recognised as a global forerunner in social enterprise research, policy, networks, and business support. The latest 2021, census data alongside wider sector consultation has helped inform this strategy. See page 8. Sustainable Procurement Sustainable procurement lies at the heart of the Scottish Government’s commitment to deliver inclusive economic growth, where social and economic interventions are considered with equal importance. With public spending worth more than £13 billion annually, there is huge potential for social enterprises to deliver more of Scotland’s services and products, to the benefit of everyone. That is why the Scottish Government has continued to invest in national tailored business support to the sector under the ‘Just Enterprise’ brand to market and deliver start-up, business support and leadership development services and crucially to work with enterprising third sector organisations to support both individual and consortia with procurement and technical tendering support. Many businesses have already started to change their commercial procurement to increase social value and take responsibility for their total value chain impacts on people and the planet. An expanding number of firms in Scotland have systematically introduced social enterprises into their supply chain, partly prompted by the public sector duties and the legislative backing under the Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014. Supplier Development Programme (SDP) The wider public sector, also invests in SDP to support small to medium enterprises, including social enterprise, with little or no experience of tendering through a programme of free expert training, support, and information to help organisations win work with the public sector and to grow their business. 6 flourishing | green | dynamic | equitable SLC print proof 92
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Social Enterprises that are locally rooted, community-led and trading for wider community benefit are key to our community wealth building agenda. South Lanarkshire Context This strategy sets out a new and inspirational plan to achieve our ambition for local social enterprises. A key aim of the community wealth building approach is to influence spend towards local businesses, and social enterprises, to help grow and sustain local economies and promote positive social outcomes. The actions flowing from this strategy are designed to further develop and embed social enterprise business models and support the sector move towards greater financial independence, so that social enterprises can thrive, grow, innovate, diversify, and further support South Lanarkshire communities. The South Lanarkshire Social Enterprise Network (SLSEN) was recently launched as a platform to network and share ideas, provide peer support, encourage creative thinking, and recognise the contribution that the wider sector delivers to address local needs. Supported by VASLan, as the local Third Sector Interface, SLSEN is the key networking forum for both established and aspiring social enterprises. It is in this context that the Council is working with VASLan, SLSEN and the wider sector to develop this first social enterprise strategy and action plan, informed by what our communities have told us, inherently linked to a range of new and /or refreshed council and partner strategies and plans across the Local Authority area. Social enterprises are active across all sectors of the economy. Here in South Lanarkshire, the latest 2021 Census completed by 177 organisations, shows the largest fields of activity for social enterprises are for Health and Social Care (16%), Early Learning and Childcare (16%) and Arts and Creative Industries (15%). Four out of ten social enterprises trade locally, whether in their local community (25%) or within the local authority area (15%). A significant number of South Lanarkshire social enterprises have a wider reach, either to neighbouring local authority areas (35%) or Scotland-wide (25%). 7 SLC print proof 93
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£64m Total annual income of South Lanarkshire SEs £119m Net worth of South Lanarkshire’s social enterprises Pay at least the Real Living Wage to all employees92% Won a public contract within the last 12 months20% 59% Self-sufficiency as a proportion of income converted by trading 75% Led by women 63% Earned income from trading activities 1,280 Full time equivalent (FTE) employees £35m GVA added to South Lanarkshire economy Social Enterprise in South Lanarkshire - key facts Census 2021 78% Sell to direct consumers 26% Located in rural South Lanarkshire social enterprises177 8 flourishing | green | dynamic | equitable SLC print proof 94
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South Lanarkshire is in a good starting place, with our social enterprises already working directly to reduce the region’s social, economic, and environmental impact through innovative care, food, energy, tourism, and recycling initiatives. Objectives We realise the impact of social enterprises as a powerful force for good. Working with the public, private and third sector partners, our commitment is to target the wider business support and investment, ensuring social enterprises continue to grow in confidence, potential and capability. This partnership approach will create the right infrastructure for new models of business to emerge, such as social enterprises because enterprise is what makes the social impact possible. Our shared vision is to cultivate a vibrant, and growing social enterprise sector in South Lanarkshire which creates social and environmental benefits for all. 9 SLC print proof 95
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Invest in a more Balanced and Prosperous Economy for South Lanarkshire With a commitment to delivering social impact, social enterprises lead the way in harnessing the belief that commercial activity has a responsibility beyond turning a profit. By better demonstrating social impact and raising awareness of the sector here in South Lanarkshire, the objective is to, target and bring in more investment, generate a greater understanding of the importance of social enterprise, making the sector more visible, valued, and accessible to communities. There are some locations in South Lanarkshire, particularly local towns and villages, where there are clusters of organisations who play an important role in delivering inclusive economies. By creating the right conditions in local towns and neighbourhoods, we can further support the enterprising third sector to collaborate, share space and diversify to provide a better offering for users. Deliver Local Services Social Enterprises are motivated by core aspirations to improve our personal, collective, and environmental wellbeing. A desire to live better, more sustainable lives, means consumers are increasingly making ethical choices on where to shop and what products to purchase. Our Social enterprises, ethical businesses, credit unions, housing associations, community interest companies, and development trusts can deliver enhanced brand awareness and reputation for customers and consumers, particularly as these enterprises are motivated by core aspirations to improve personal, collective, and environmental wellbeing. The 2021 survey results reinforce two key trends. First, the overall reduction in the share of social enterprises doing business with the public sector (down from 60% in 2015 to 50% in 2021). Second, the increase in social enterprises serving the general public (up from 68% to 82%). This strategy recognises social enterprises as a vehicle for localised service delivery and community- led regeneration. Engage Young People Young people bring progressive values and new expectations about society, business, and life. For us, the social economy and social entrepreneurship an integral part of preparing young people for the world of work. Underpinning this approach is to ensure young people better understand social enterprise business models and ethos by giving them the opportunities to set up and grow social enterprises in their schools and communities. By raising awareness of the sector, we will promote opportunities and careers to young people working in and starting up new social enterprise helping young people to fulfil their potential, develop key employability skills, whilst aspiring to affect ongoing social change in their communities and beyond. 10 flourishing | green | dynamic | equitable SLC print proof 96
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Act on Climate South Lanarkshire’s social economy is ideally placed as a sector to play a leading role towards Net Zero in that social enterprises already consider the triple bottom line of social, economic, and environmental impact. With this additional investment and support, organisations will be better equipped to make Net Zero a reality for themselves and the benefit of communities they work with. The actions linked to this strategy seek to build knowledge and support for social enterprise to play an inspirational and leading role in delivering Scotland’s Net Zero transition by 2045 in a fair and just way. Climate challenge will not affect everyone to the same degree, and we want an approach that supports the sector along the journey, championing social justice and reducing the effects of poverty supported through improved digital, sustainable and green infrastructure. Build Strength and Confidence within our Communities South Lanarkshire is already a great place to live, work and visit. As a partnership, the Social Economy Steering group members, want to do more, which is why we are further investing in local social enterprises to ensure that they thrive and grow. This fits with our ambition to create thriving places where people can access local goods and services on foot or via public transport. Local community anchor organisations play a key role in supporting us develop small, locally owned enterprises which retain wealth in the local economy, and we are committed to this place-based approach, working with partners to develop robust local supply chains of social enterprises likely to support good employment and retain work locally. We will also look to maximise community benefit outcomes for social enterprises, strengthening collaboration and social impact across the public and third sector which will enable the local economy to further grow and develop. Influence more local spend and robust local supply chains Social enterprises offer public bodies an opportunity to practice more socially, environmentally, and economically responsible procurement. It is a key requirement for public bodies to evidence how its procurement processes have facilitated the involvement of small to medium enterprises, third sector and supported business under the sustainable procurement duty as outlined in the Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014. So, for our enterprises who want to become tender ready and bid for contracts, we will strengthen and target our existing business offering including that which is offered through the Supplier Development Programme, Lanarkshire Business Gateway and the wider ecosystem, supporting the local economy to grow effective use of procurement to benefit local communities. And by working together with other large public, private and third sector partners we will embrace progressive procurement approaches in South Lanarkshire, to develop dense supply chains and keeping more of our activity and spend local. 11 SLC print proof 97
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Priority 1 Stimulating Social Enterprise Working with public, private and third sector partners we will generate awareness and greater understanding of the social economy and encourage start up social enterprises and growth here in South Lanarkshire. We will: Target business support to grow social enterprises (SEs) and improve sustainability of the sector throughout South Lanarkshire. Work with partners to support organisations which offer volunteering opportunities as a route to employment. Pilot a community bond to unlock other sources of local investment to enable communities to thrive and provide a bond guarantee that will give local people confidence to invest. Invest in social enterprises and enterprising third sector organisations to generate more of their own funding through trading. Work with partners and support the development of co-working spaces where social entrepreneurs can collaborate with others to deliver social innovation. Maximise opportunities for young people to learn about, social enterprise business models, and opportunities to set up and grow social enterprises in their schools and communities. Invest in the development of the South Lanarkshire Social Enterprise Network (SLSEN). Deliver a Net Zero (NZ) pilot, building capacity of social enterprises and developing the tools to progress further along their NZ journey. Priority 2 Developing Stronger Organisations We will target capacity building and the wider business support offer to social enterprises, so that organisations can access the resources, knowledge and support needed and achieve greater potential. We will: Draw on the expertise through business support, including our business gateway contract to encourage social enterprises to consider how they can diversify their income and explore blended finance models. Build on existing knowledge of market supply through further analysis of the National Social Enterprise Census 2021 data to identify new opportunities for local business to grow. Develop a wider third sector business support offer out to enterprising third sector organisations. Increase networking opportunities, peer to peer support and knowledge exchange for the sector. Invest in the sector and package up new funding for social enterprises to test new ideas, support trial trading, make better use of technology and support entrepreneurship. Build on the strength of collaboration within the sector and encourage and support consortia development. Work with private sector and partners, to maximise community benefit outcomes and encourage our businesses to volunteer with and mentor social enterprises. Explore how we can best support social enterprises to work together to create a culture of self-evaluation and impact measurement. 12 flourishing | green | dynamic | equitable SLC print proof 98
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Priority 3 Realising Market Opportunity The SESG partnership ambition is to increase the number and range of social enterprises directly involved in selling to consumers, the public and private sector, and to increase supply chain opportunities in the delivery of local products and services. We will: Promote the Living Wage and Fair Work practices throughout our social economy to improve the prospects and wellbeing of our communities. Encourage partnership and consortium development in the sector and build capacity of social enterprise to compete for contracts. Continue to develop how our wider third sector business support offer can help strengthen the social economy. Encourage greater collaboration between the public and third sector local service delivery offering as an output of the Community Asset Transfer process. Expand the capability of local social enterprises to bid for public sector contracts, brokering support from economic development and procurement including the Supplier Development Programme and Just Enterprise Work with our community anchor institutions to explore further opportunities for more local spend through the local social enterprise supply chain Maximise the Council’s community benefit outcomes. What does success look like? This strategy, which is aligned with the priority outcomes in South Lanarkshire’s Community Wealth Building Strategy and Third Sector Strategy, takes its lead from the Scottish Government’s three priorities for the Sector: Stimulating Social Enterprise; Developing Stronger Organisations; and Realising Market Opportunity. By delivering on this Social Enterprise Strategy, we will contribute to key priority outcomes, using the following key indicators: 2021 South Lanarkshire baseline established for Turnover and GVA (data from the 2021 SE National Census). Increase in the number of social enterprises based in South Lanarkshire, (measured biannually via the SE National Census data). Increase in the number of social enterprises becoming ‘tender ready’. Increase in the number of supply chain opportunities promoted out to local social enterprises. Additional investment into development and growth of the sector, including instances of targeted business support. Increase in the number of social enterprises further along the journey to Net Zero Resourcing the South Lanarkshire Social Enterprise Network and opportunities for the sector to network, collaborate and deliver peer support. 13 SLC print proof 99
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Heart of Africa Heart of Africa UK, supports and promotes health advancement in Scotland and Africa, through their healthy eating and cooking programmes. Currently catering for weekly lunch club members, working in partnership with Larkhall and District Volunteer group. The objective of the charity is the prevention or relief of poverty, supporting and promoting health advancement in Scotland and Africa, through their healthy eating and cooking programme. Their activities are informed by comprehensive empirical studies and high-quality data evaluation with the aim of promoting equality and diversity, and integration through arts, food, and community activities. Heart of Africa has recently engaged with our business support offer through Lanarkshire Business Gateway to grow their impact and diversify their income. Case Studies Clydesdale Community Initiatives Clydesdale Community Initiatives (CCI) based in Lanark, was established in 2002 to support people, facing barriers to inclusion, to contribute to their community, through developing skills and gaining real work experience. Since 2015 the enterprise has operated from Langloch Farm. The business has evolved and developed to embrace and showcase the work of the Charity, to include a Tea Room, Gift Shop, wood craft workshop and Nature Play Areas, opening to the public in 2019. Langloch Farm produces a range of products including outdoor furniture and garden items to beautiful botanics such as lip balms, soaps, and sugar scrubs. The woodcraft workshop not only supplies products to the farm gift shop, but it also carries out projects, both onsite for CCI and offsite for customers such as South Lanarkshire Council and the NHS. Farm Botanics enterprise products are made on site. Most of the ingredients for the Botanics range are grown and processed at Langloch Farm, with additional organic ingredients thoughtfully and ethically outsourced. This award-winning social enterprise model empowers individuals to learn new skills, improve their health and wellbeing and most importantly see themselves (and be seen by others) as active members of their community. 14 flourishing | green | dynamic | equitable SLC print proof 100
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R:evolve Recycle R:evolve Recycle was established in 2015 in response to the concern for the increase in ‘fast fashion’. 100% of items donated, are reused, or recycled through multiple pathways including the clothing bank, workshop programme and links with local charities. Based on old fashioned concepts of swapping, sharing and mending clothes, the project operates two high street swap shop boutiques, offering a tangible platform for people to engage in the circular economy in South Lanarkshire. Wee Jinty’s Eco Haberdashery and R:evolve thrift + gift enterprises, all increase the value of end of life, vintage and second-hand clothing, developing a sustainable income stream which is reinvested to keep the swap shops free to customers. The enterprise also offers a retail platform for local artists and makers who share the same social purpose. Since its inception R:evolve Recycle have saved over 110 tonnes of textiles, bringing them back into circulation and away from landfill through social enterprise, sustainable pathways and partnerships. Morphfit The MorphFit Gentle Movement Project have been operating since 2021 and recently was recognised with the award for Enterprise and Innovation at the 2022 Voluntary Sector (Voluntary Action South Lanarkshire) awards. Their programme offers fully funded online Gentle Movement Exercises for The Elderly, all those who are shielding or in Isolation and to anyone who has acknowledged health issues. Clients include Sense Scotland, The Beatson, The Haven, MS Society, Bothwell Medical Centre, and The Lanarkshire Carers Association. Morphfit’s main aim is to deliver unique online services back into local communities, helping maintain mobility, fitness and health and help reduce social isolation. The Morphfit Gentle Movement Project Ltd is actively building partnerships to deliver online services for the elderly, people experiencing health issues and to carers and improve, physical and mental health and wellbeing. The enterprise also delivers programmes including baby massage classes for babies six weeks to six months to deliver benefits which promote sleep, aid digestion and address issues such as colic. Juniors Play Café This award-winning play café offers for families with young children a chance to meet and chat whilst the children enjoy soft play and access imagination play. The facility, based in Hamilton, also hosts a fully accessible café, where a selection of food and home baking is available. The soft play which has been specially designed to encourage imagination play and to enhance the social and physical development of children, also caters for children with additional support needs. 15 SLC print proof 101
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Healthy and Active East Kilbride (HAEK) Ever evolving since it began in 2003, HAEK main aim is to help improve the quality of life, mental and physical health and overall wellbeing of the people and communities in East Kilbride. The Meeting Place is their Community Hub with a community café offering a wide range of activities, information, services, and support to the people of South Lanarkshire and is located within East Kilbride Town Centre. The enterprise operates a minibus service, collecting older people to and from home and East Kilbride Town Centre and is supported by their shop mobility services. HEAK provides a range of health and wellbeing classes and activities including Art, Mindfulness and Tai Chi etc. They work in partnership with the NHS, South Lanarkshire Council, and other key public sector and third sector partners supported by a strong team of volunteers. Climate Action Strathaven Climate Action Strathaven aims to raise awareness about the reality of the impacts of climate breakdown and work towards a more sustainable future for the people of Strathaven and surrounding areas, by bringing communities together to act on and mobilise resources locally. Established in 2019, the enterprise has in its first year of becoming a charity, opened a pop-up cycle repair facility at the Strathaven Town Mill Arts and Heritage Centre and repaired over 350 bikes, (they currently operate a low-cost weekend bike repair shop and have a range of pre-loved bikes for sale). They also published a sustainable Strathaven manifesto and worked with local groups on growing and allotments to develop sustainable food options. Members have gone on to set up a cargo-club delivering goods locally in a sustainable way. Avondale Cargo Club are also partnering with two branches of Boots Pharmacy, to offer a low- cost, carbon-free prescription delivery service to residents of Strathaven and the surrounding areas. Through their partnership with Karshare UK, they have established a car club, which currently has three vehicles listed with many more expected in the coming weeks. 16 flourishing | green | dynamic | equitable SLC print proof 102
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Promoting Social Enterprise in our Schools Supporting young people across Scotland to set up social enterprises that solve the issues that matter to them while developing key skills for the future is something that we are all passionate about. Working with the Social Enterprise Academy to deliver workshops and encourage the next generation of social entrepreneurs, here is a flavour of just some of the enterprises in primary and secondary schools taking place across South Lanarkshire. Greenhills Primary – Their social enterprise project is called B4. It supports the provision of positive mental health activities in school and the pupils are selling bangles and bracelets that can help with anxiety. St Andrews and St Brides – Their social enterprise project ‘The Kitroom’ looks to provide used football boots at an affordable price while also helping to tackle climate change by stopping waste. Their enterprise was inspired by an S3 pupil noticing how quickly he was growing out of football boots before they were even close to worn through. This school won the Sustainable Fashion Dragons’ Den. Chapelton Primary – Their social project is called ‘one small step’. Inspired by a significant loss at the school this brilliant group of pupils have created a range of products promoting positive mental health. Chapelton won the Financial Education Dragons’ Den. 17 SLC print proof 103
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www.southlanarkshire.gov.uk If you need this information in another language or format, please contact us to discuss how we can best meet your needs. Phone: 0303 123 1015 Email: equalities@southlanarkshire.gov.uk Produced for Community and Enterprise Resources by Communications and Strategy. 063715/May23 SLC print proof 104
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Appendix 2; List of Consultees South Lanarkshire Social Enterprise Strategy The Council consulted with the wider third sector via a survey monkey questionnaire, promoted out through SLC and VASLAN with 15 third sector responses received. We have also undertaken further individual consultation with third sector lead officers made up of: - Clydesdale Community Initiatives - Healthy Valleys - Healthy n Happy - VASLAN - Healthy and Active East Kilbride A further partner / stakeholder focus group session on 14 September 2022 was attended by: • David Anderson, SLC Procurement Team • John McCafferty, SLC Communities Team • Kim Wallace, Social Enterprise Scotland • Mark Houston, Hub SW • Jennifer Payne, Supplier Development Programme • Bill Duncan, Elevator UK (contractor delivering Lanarkshire Business Gateway) • Charlie Duffin, Voluntary Action South Lanarkshire (VASLan) • Monica Alan, VASLan • Alana McGlynn, NHS Lanarkshire • Amanda Burghauer, Exec Director Common Weal South Lanarkshire, and voluntary sector Board member An on-line workshop delivered by VASLAN open to the wider community, partners, and stakeholders was attended by a further 8 third sector representatives on the 22 September 2022. From the Council, we engaged with the following team, initiatives, or programmes: - Planning (C&E resources) - Economic Development (C&E resources) - External funding (C&E resources) - Tackling poverty (Community Planning Partnership) - Rural development (C&E resources) - Procurement (Finance and Corporate) - Performance and Policy (C&E resources) - Communications and Strategy National and other Local Authorities: - Social Enterprise Scotland - Community Enterprise in Scotland - Supplier Development Programme - North Lanarkshire Council, Economic Development Team 10 105
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Report Agenda Item Report to: Executive Committee Date of Meeting: 21 June 2023 Report by: Executive Director (Finance and Corporate Resources) Subject: Equalities Mainstreaming - Progress Report 1. Purpose of Report 1.1. The purpose of the report is to:- outline the progress the Council has made in relation to meeting our equality outcomes and mainstreaming equalities into our organisation 2. Recommendation(s) 2.1. The Executive Committee is asked to note the following recommendation(s): - (1) that the Progress Report for the period 2021 to 2023 be approved. 3. Background 3.1. The Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties) (Scotland) Regulations 2012 (the Regulations) impose ‘specific duties’ upon Scottish public authorities to publish a set of equality outcomes and a report showing progress being made in ‘mainstreaming’ equality. This is required to show the progress being made by public authorities in making: …the equality duty integral to the exercise of its functions so as to better perform that duty. Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties) (Scotland) Regulations 2012 3.2. The Regulations require public authorities to prepare and publish a set of Equality Outcomes by 30 April at four-year intervals and a progress report at intervals of not more than two years. These reports should:- be based on equality evidence prioritise tackling the most pressing and significant inequalities relevant to the council’s work be realistic about where we can make a real difference over the next four years. be effective in eliminating discrimination, advancing equality and/ or fostering good relations be SMART and clearly set out the change we want to achieve include actions that are ambitious, bold and creative (e.g., make use of the positive action provisions in the Equality Act 2010) include information about how the impact and progress will be evaluated to know what difference is being achieved include an annual breakdown of the information gathered under the duty to gather and use employee information disaggregated by protected characteristics; 11 107
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including the race, disability, sex and age distribution of the workforce at different grades, and whether they are full or part-time employees include information on the recruitment, development and retention of employees with respect to the number and relevant protected characteristics of such persons provide an indication of the likely representation in terms of sexual orientation and religion and belief, provided that no individuals can be identified as a result give an indication of any issues for transsexual staff, based on involvement of transsexual staff or equality organisations detail the progress made in gathering and using that information to enable the Council to better perform the general equality duty include employee pay gap information showing the percentage difference, among employees, between men’s average hourly pay (excluding overtime) and women’s average hourly pay (excluding overtime) 3.3. The Council has produced Mainstreaming Equalities reports in 2013, 2017 and 2021, and progress reports in 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2021. 3.4. This progress report covering the period 2021 to 2023 shows the actions that have been taken since the publication of the mainstreaming equalities reports “South Lanarkshire working for you” in 2013, 2017 and 2021 to progress our equality outcomes. The equality outcomes cover all protected characteristics and assist the Council to meet its duties to eliminate discrimination, harassment and victimisation, advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations for all. 4. Progress Towards our Equality Outcomes 4.1. These outcomes have been the subject of consultation with Resources and will contribute directly towards the achievement of the strategic priorities identified in the Council’s objectives. 4.2. The reasons for the outcomes, the difference we wanted them to make and the activities that have been carried out to make progress towards achievement of the outcomes are set out in the mainstreaming progress report attached at Appendix 1. 4.3. The outcomes upon which our work has been focussed are those outlined in the Council Connect Plan for 2017- 2022, these were: - improve later life protect vulnerable children, young people and adults improve the availability, quality, and access of housing improve the road network, influence improvements in public transport and encourage active travel work with communities and partners to promote high quality, thriving and sustainable communities support our communities by tackling disadvantage and deprivation, and supporting aspiration improve achievement, raise educational attainment and support lifelong learning encourage participation in physical and cultural activities 4.4. The Council Plan Connect for 2022-2027 outcomes detailed are:- Our children and young people thrive Good quality sustainable places to live Thriving business, fair jobs and vibrant town centres Caring connected sustainable communities 108
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People live the healthiest lives possible Inspiring learners transforming learning strengthening partnerships The Equalities outcomes will now be aligned to these. 4.5. Examples of actions which have been taken to progress these outcomes are outlined below:- Provided support:- Support is provided to assist local communities to develop their own static Men’s sheds and ongoing support is provided to those sheds currently up and running in South Lanarkshire; this has now resulted in the establishment of more static sheds with a new total of 15 sheds in South Lanarkshire. Every shed has its own individual membership with an average of 50 men registered at each Supported 1093 people with a learning disability to live in their own communities We have supported 573 people (685 orders) to complete a Community Payback order including the opportunity for personal development and learning opportunities. 420 orders were successfully completed in 2021/22. Community projects are improved by those undertaking CPOs We have provided 12,468 items of specialised equipment for people living with disabilities to allow them to remain independent in their own home Specialist officers from the Refugee Resettlement Team continue to support refugees and contribute to the UK Global Resettlement Programme for refugees Supported local businesses through development and delivery of business support programmes. In 2021/22 2679 businesses were assisted via grants, loans or property advice, generating £22.1m in sales and creating or sustaining 1094.5 jobs. From April 2022 to December 2022 739 businesses were assisted via grants, loans or property advice, generating £11.2m in sales and creating or sustaining 809 jobs Delivered a range of targeted interventions to improve outcomes for individuals and families where this is needed the most. Interventions include debt, welfare and money advice, supporting people to get back into training and work, youth diversion activity and extensive community capacity building support has been undertaken in some of our most deprived neighbourhoods Supported 636 individuals improve their substance misuse behaviours with the support of specialist services Supported young people through ASPIRE, a Youth Employability programme that provides a bespoke programme for young people, in the last 6 months of school to age 19, who are at risk of becoming unemployed (26 if care experienced) Supported the Gypsy Traveller community through engagement with Gypsy Traveller site residents to inform and shape the programme of investment which continues to be delivered at both sites Engaged with members of the community to get a better understanding of lived experiences that are then used to influence policy and practice across the Council. This included:- Members of the Integrated Joint board South Lanarkshire Seniors Together South Lanarkshire Disability Partnership Tenants’ participation groups Gypsy Traveller site residents South Lanarkshire Citizens Panel 109
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Encouraged participation:- Used a participatory budgeting approach to engage and involve local residents, to promote participatory decision making and allocate elements of public funds Carried out extensive consultation with the public and local interest groups such as the Access Panel, Seniors Together and the Youth Council As outlined in the employee information, section we engage, consult, and encourage participation with employees via the Employee Network 5. Workforce Profile and Gender Pay Gap Information 5.1. In line with the specific duties, both the progress report and the draft Outcomes report contain the Council’s workforce figures and position on the gender pay gap. We are required to report the pay gap figures as the mean (average) and median (mid-point) pay gaps. This is a change to the reporting requirements where previously we reported the average pay gap figure. The information covers the Duty for the Education Authority and shows teaching staff figures separately where appropriate. 5.2. The workforce profile figures presented in the report reflect the makeup of Council employees at 31 March 2022. Some of this information is gathered through the employee verification exercise, which is voluntary. We will continue to encourage employees to share their details in future exercises. 5.3. The data shows a steady increase in the number of employees from a black and ethnic minority background. At March 2022, the figure was 1.2%, which compares favourably with the last Census assessment of the black and ethnic minority working age population in South Lanarkshire of 0.8%. 5.4. The Council’s gender pay gap continues to improve, from 5.78% in 2018 to 4.34% in 2020 with a further reduction to 4% in 2022. The Council has achieved this through its commitment to paying the living wage. In April 2018, the Council further restructured its pay model by removing the lowest points within grades at that time to a maximum of three points in each grade. This was reduced further in April 2019 to a maximum of two points, with the exception of the lowest level where only 1 point exists. 5.5. It is worth noting that the comparison of gender pay gap information across local authorities can be misleading, as the makeup each Council’s workforce is different, with some Councils excluding home carers, or significant construction operatives and trades, as these services have been outsourced or are delivered by an ALEO. 6. Mainstreaming Equalities Outcomes Report for the Period 2021 to 2025 6.1. In addition to producing progress reports there is a duty to publish equality outcomes, – a set of outcomes which the council considers will enable it to better perform the equality duty. Following advice from EHRC, our outcomes for 2021 to 2025 will focus on actions to produce results intended to achieve specific and identifiable improvements in people’s life chances. In addition, as in previous years, as part of our ongoing approach to mainstreaming equalities, we will continue to work towards our Council plan “Connect” objectives. The Outcomes set for 2021 to 2025 are shown in section two of the progress report at Appendix 1. 6.2. Outcomes that have been set for 2021 to 2025 are:- Increase the number of people from minority ethnic backgrounds employed in the South Lanarkshire Council workforce to reflect the diversity of the South Lanarkshire population 110
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Older people, those from vulnerable groups and individuals who live alone are protected from scams and nuisance calls and their wellbeing is improved through increased awareness and preventative action ‘Counselling through schools’ service is accessible for all children/young people aged 10 and over Prevent homelessness occurring and significantly reduce homelessness. Improve Health, Care and Wellbeing for the most vulnerable in our communities 7. Next Steps 7.1. The Outcomes for 2021 to 2025 will continue to be monitored and reported to the Equal Opportunities Forum. In order to comply with legislation, the equalities mainstreaming report was published on the Council’s website on 3 May 2023. 7.2. The Equality and Human Rights Commission will begin a process of checking compliance after the 30 April 2023. 8. Employee Implications 8.1. The progress report will be communicated to employees via core brief and the document, once approved, will be available on the intranet. 8.2. We will encourage employees to share their protected characteristics with the Council, as their employer, in order to understand the make-up of our workforce more fully. 9. Financial Implications 9.1. There are no financial implications as equality policy is well established and any costs will be met from within current resources. 10. Climate Change, Sustainability and Environmental Implications 10.1 There are no implications for climate change, sustainability or the environment in terms of the information contained in this report. 11. Other Implications 11.1. The risk to the Council is that if Elected Members, Executive Directors, and Resource officers do not have due regard to the Public Sector Equality Duty, it may lead to non- compliance with equalities legislation. This can carry unlimited financial penalties and serious risk to the Council’s reputation. 12. Equality Impact Assessment and Consultation Arrangements 12.1. An equality impact assessment has been carried out on the recommendations contained in this report and, where issues were identified, remedial action has been taken. Consultation on the outcomes was undertaken with Resources, Trade Unions, the Employee Network and with community representatives. 12.2. The assessment is that the proposals do not have any adverse impact on any part of the community covered by equalities legislation, or on community relations, and the results of the assessment will be published on the Council website. Paul Manning Executive Director (Finance and Corporate Resources) 28 April 2023 111
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Link(s) to Council Values/Priorities/Outcomes Focused on people and their needs. Working with and respecting others Accountable, effective, efficient, and transparent Ambitious, self-aware, and improving Fair, open, and sustainable Excellent employer Previous References None List of Background Papers None Contact for Further Information If you would like to inspect the background papers or want further information, please contact: - Gill Bhatti, Employee Development and Diversity Manager Ext: 5604 (Tel: 01698 455604) E-mail: gill.bhatti@southlanarkshire.gov.uk 112
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1 “South Lanarkshire working for you”. working together to “improve the quality of life of everyone in South Lanarkshire”. Mainstreaming equalities progress report 2021 – 2023 including Employee Data 113
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Section One 2 Contents Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 3 Progress report ............................................................................................................. 4 How We Have Mainstreamed Equality (2021-2023) ..................................................... 5 Outcomes for 2021-2025 ..................................................................................................... 7 2021-2025 Outcomes ................................................................................................. 13 Equality Outcome One ................................................................................................ 13 Equality Outcome Two ................................................................................................ 19 Equality Outcome Three ............................................................................................. 27 Equality Outcome Four ............................................................................................... 32 Equality Outcome Five ................................................................................................ 40 Employee information ........................................................................................................ 46 Diversity training ......................................................................................................... 47 Employee Network ...................................................................................................... 47 Diversity monitoring .................................................................................................... 48 Diversity and equality monitoring ....................................................................................... 60 Employee profile ......................................................................................................... 60 Access to training ....................................................................................................... 64 Recruitment monitoring ............................................................................................... 65 Pay Gap Analysis .............................................................................................................. 67 Pay Gap position at 31 March 2022............................................................................ 68 Occupational segregation ........................................................................................... 77 Other Equality Reporting .................................................................................................... 78 114
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Section One 3 Introduction South Lanarkshire Council sets itself the aim of ensuring that fairness is a priority for all of the work that it does. We recognise that to deliver our vision “to improve the quality of life of everyone in South Lanarkshire” we need to work closely with our communities and partners. We are committed to integrating equalities into our business, using tools such as Equality Impact Assessment (EqIA) and the Fairer Scotland Duty assessment where this is appropriate. By ensuring that equalities feature explicitly and proportionately in business planning, committee and other decision making reports and through other policy development and review mechanisms. This progress report shows the actions that have been taken since the original mainstreaming equalities report “South Lanarkshire working for you” published in April 2013 and reviewed in 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2021. Our focus remains to embed and achieve our legal equality duties of eliminating discrimination, harassment, and victimisation; advancing equality of opportunity; and fostering good relations in all that we do. The report shows how the Council has continued to work with others to ensure that the needs of everyone are met when using a service, regardless of the protected characteristics of: • age, • disability, • gender reassignment, • marriage and civil partnership, • pregnancy and maternity, • race, • religion or belief, • sex, • sexual orientation Within this update report of progress against our equality outcomes, we have highlighted some of the actions that have been taken to improve the lives of people in South Lanarkshire and have demonstrated how we have worked effectively with partners to achieve this. Working to understand the needs of our diverse community is at the heart of delivering the highest quality services. I commend this report to you, to highlight the ongoing efforts to ensure everyone in South Lanarkshire enjoys a life free from discrimination, full of opportunity and in a community that is respectful and welcoming to all. Cleland Sneddon Chief Executive 115
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Section One 4 Progress report This report provides information on how South Lanarkshire Council including South Lanarkshire Licensing Board have made progress towards achieving the equality outcomes set out in the mainstreaming report published in 2021. 2021-2025 outcomes In 2021 we set outcomes aligned with the council plan ‘Connect’ objectives. Progress towards achieving these outcomes is shown in section two of this report. In this set of outcomes, we focussed on actions to produce results intended to achieve specific and identifiable improvements in people’s life chances. 116
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Section One 5 How We Have Mainstreamed Equality (2021-2023) We last reported progress on achieving the outcomes in the mainstreaming report that was published in 2021, our key achievements since that report include: Provided support: • Support is provided to assist local communities to develop their own static Men’s sheds and ongoing support is provided to those sheds currently up and running in South Lanarkshire; this has now resulted in the establishment of more static sheds with a new total of 15 sheds in South Lanarkshire. Every shed has its own individual membership with an average of 50 men registered at each. • Supported 1093 people with a learning disability to live in their own communities. • We have supported 573 people (685 orders) to complete a Community Payback order including the opportunity for personal development and learning opportunities. 420 orders were successfully completed in 21/22. Community projects are improved by those undertaking CPOs. • We have provided 12,468 items of specialised equipment for people living with disabilities to allow them to remain independent in their own home. • Specialist officers from the Refugee Resettlement Team continue to support refugees and contribute to the UK Global Resettlement Programme for refugees. • Supported local businesses through development and delivery of business support programmes. In 2021-2022 2679 businesses were assisted via grants, loans or property advice, generating £22.1m in sales and creating or sustaining 1094.5 jobs. From April 2022 to December 2022 739 businesses were assisted via grants, loans or property advice, generating £11.2m in sales and creating or sustaining 809 jobs. • Delivered a range of targeted interventions to improve outcomes for individuals and families where this is needed the most. Interventions include debt, welfare and money advice, supporting people to get back into training and work, youth diversion activity and extensive community capacity building support has been undertaken in some of our most deprived neighbourhoods. • Supported 636 individuals improve their substance misuse behaviours with the support of specialist services. • Supported young people through ASPIRE, a Youth Employability programme that provides a bespoke programme for young people in the last 6 months of school to age 19 who are at risk of becoming unemployed (26 if care experienced). • Supported the Gypsy Traveller community through engagement with Gypsy Traveller site residents to inform and shape the programme of investment which continues to be delivered at both sites. Engaged with members of the community to get a better understanding of lived experiences that are then used to influence policy and practice across the council. This included: • Members of the Integrated Joint board • South Lanarkshire Seniors Together • South Lanarkshire Disability Partnership • Tenants’ participation groups 117
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Section One 6 • Gypsy Traveller site residents • South Lanarkshire Citizens Panel Encouraged participation: • Used a participatory budgeting approach to engage and involve local residents, to promote participatory decision making and allocate elements of public funds. • Carried out extensive consultation with the public and local interest groups such as the Access Panel, Seniors Together and the Youth Council. This informed the 2022-2027 council plan ‘Connect’ https://www.southlanarkshire.gov.uk/downloads/file/15715/connect_council_plan_2022 -27_pdf and the community planning partnership community plan 2022-2032 https://www.southlanarkshire.gov.uk/cp/info/26/community_plan_and_neighbourhood_ plans/80/community_plan_2022-2032 • As outlined in the employee information section we engage, consult, and encourage participation with employees via the Employee Network. 118
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Section Two 7 Outcomes for 2021-2025 When we set our Outcomes for 2021 to 2025 we focused on actions to produce results intended to achieve specific and identifiable improvements in people’s life chances. In addition, as part of our ongoing approach to mainstreaming equalities we will continue to work towards our Council plan “Connect” objectives shown below: 119
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Section Two 8 In addition to the specific Outcomes, outlined above, for 2021-2025 we continue to mainstream equalities by working towards the outcomes in our 2022-2027 council plan; some of this work is referenced below. Improve access to information especially for people with sensory impairments by continuing to action our British Sign Language (BSL) Plan. The Plan aims to Make Lanarkshire a place where people, whose first or preferred language is BSL, have the same opportunities to be active healthy citizens and are able to make informed choices about every aspect of their lives. Take account of poverty and deprivation through the work of our Community Planning Partnership who aims to: Work with communities to deliver better services targeted at reducing poverty and tackling inequalities and deprivation across South Lanarkshire. Include people and recognise diversity across all aspects of planning. Actions to achieve this are shown below. The Scottish Government’s reform of the planning system in Scotland resulted in the Planning (Scotland) Act 2019. A key outcome for the planning system is an increased emphasis on inclusion and recognition of diversity across all aspects of planning. A position statement published in late 2020 in relation to the direction of national planning policy advises that our future places and spaces need to be considered through the lens of gender, ethnicity age and disability to ensure they are inclusive. It also points out that there will be new policies to encourage more people to get involved in planning to improve equality and eliminate discrimination. The legislation makes provision for communities to develop their own ‘local place plans’ and also promotes the concept of ’20 minute neighbourhoods’, where residential and employment opportunities and retail, health and other services will be easily accessible, reducing the need for travel. These themes will be incorporated in government guidance and will influence planning policy at the local level, through development management procedures and the preparation of future local development plans. There will be increasing emphasis on community involvement and engagement in the planning process. The planning service in South Lanarkshire is already working jointly with the Council’s Community Engagement team to explore new ways to ensure meaningful engagement with local residents and groups. Further policy and guidance on these issues, developed through engagement with service users and communities, will be included in the next local development plan and associated supporting planning guidance. Work and support women and girls affected by domestic abuse through the work of our Gender Based Violence Partnership. Equally Safe: Scotland’s strategy for preventing and eradicating violence against women and girls sets out a clear vision of: ‘a strong and flourishing Scotland, where all individuals are equally safe and respected, and where women and girls live free from all forms of violence and abuse – and the attitudes that help perpetuate it.’ South Lanarkshire’s Gender Based Violence Partnership (SLGBVP) is the mechanism to deliver on Equally Safe at a local, strategic level. The partnership is committed to working collaboratively with key partners in the public, private and third sector to prevent and eradicate all forms of violence against women and girls in South Lanarkshire. The partnership recognises that no agency alone has the resources, skills 120
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Section Two 9 or reach to achieve the aims of Equally Safe. It is only by working between agencies that we will successfully achieve the vision and aims of Equally Safe. SLGBVP is responsible for the development and implementation of policy, process and guidance as well as delivering a full suite of learning and development opportunities to support our multi-agency workforce in providing positive outcomes for those affected by GBV. In collaboration with South Lanarkshire Child Protection Committee, SLGBVP has implemented the Safe & Together Model. This child-centred model derives its name from the concept that children are best served when we can work toward keeping them safe and together with the non-offending parent. The Model provides a framework for partnering with domestic abuse survivors and intervening with domestic abuse perpetrators in order to enhance the safety and well-being of children. A Safe & Together Steering Group has been established to oversee the ongoing implementation of the model, coordinating training for the multi-agency workforce, and carrying out an evaluation of the impact on professional practice and improved outcomes for children and young people affected by domestic abuse. The Partnership oversees the coordination, development, and evaluation of MARAC (Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conference) which aims to reduce immediate and long-term risk for those affected by Domestic Abuse as well as reducing repeat victimisation. This is achieved by providing a robust multi-agency safety and support plan tailored to individual’s needs. South Lanarkshire Social Work’s Criminal Justice Services operates the Caledonian System, which consists of a behaviour programme for those convicted of domestic abuse offences, and support, safety planning and advocacy services for their partners and children. The aim of the programme is to reduce reoffending by addressing and challenging offender’s problematic behaviour patterns. Monitoring and evaluation of the Caledonian System is reported into the GBVP on a quarterly basis. SLGBVP has a robust quality assurance framework and action plan which involves monitoring and reporting on progress of the strategy and action plan and statistical information from a national and local perspective to Chief Officer’s Group, Safer South Lanarkshire Board and The Improvement Service. Representation from SLGBVP on South Lanarkshire’s Equality and Diversity Working Group will ensure that selected measures and outcomes are gender competent taking cognisance of the complexities and nuances associated with a gendered analysis of abuse. 121
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Section Two 10 Many equalities groups face inequalities due to a variety of reasons. These became more obvious during the COVID-19 pandemic. Research into the impacts of the pandemic has highlighted that while it affected people who caught the virus and in general everyone because of the lockdown changes, there were specific groups of people who were more affected than others creating inequalities for a number of groups including: Women • there are more older women than men. • caring responsibilities, which have increase during the pandemic, including home schooling. • are more likely to experience domestic abuse. • more likely to be in jobs that do not pay well. • are more likely to work part-time, be in a job that is temporary, earn less money than men, be in a job where they are not paid if they are off sick. • most lone parents are women. Men • are more likely than women to become very ill from coronavirus and more likely as women to have been in intensive care because of coronavirus. Older people • are more likely to be shielding or social distancing so it is harder for them to keep in touch with friends and to go out to meet people, • are less likely to use the internet, this increases their risk of becoming isolated. People with disabilities • more likely to be in jobs that do not pay well. • access to information, especially for people with sensory impairments is difficult. • were more likely to be lonely and isolated before the coronavirus pandemic, many people with disabilities are more worried about becoming isolated now. • likely to have been required to shield and ‘lost’ their social interactions/group activities leading to a feeling of loneliness and isolation. There has also been an adverse impact on mental health issues. People from ethnic minority backgrounds: • more likely to be in jobs that do not pay well. • are younger than the white population on average. • may be subject to hate crime, there have been more reports of hate crime in the UK against people who are from a Chinese, South Asian or East Asian background since the start of the coronavirus crisis. • more likely to work in lower paid jobs and in some of the businesses that have had to close such as restaurants and hotels. • More likely to be affected by COVID-19, especially men. People in deprived areas • people who do not have much money are less likely to use the internet and therefore unable to access support. • are likely to be out of work, or in low paid work. Younger people • have had the most problems with mental health because of coronavirus. 122
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Section Two 11 • home learning has been most difficult for children and young people from poorer backgrounds. • missing school or college could affect the choices and chances of some young people in the future. • schools being closed has been harder for families with a disabled child. • the attainment gap could get wider for disabled children and young people. It is important to consider inequalities in an intersectionality way. It is very important that when we make changes to services and/or policies, we look at all types of inequality and how they affect each other. Sources: https://www.gov.scot/binaries/content/documents/govscot/publications/research-and-analysis/2020/09/the- impacts-of-covid-19-on-equality-in-scotland/documents/full-report/full- report/govscot%3Adocument/Covid%2Band%2BInequalities%2BFinal%2BReport%2BFor%2BPublication%2B- %2BPDF.pdf https://www.improvementservice.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0013/16402/Poverty-inequality-and-COVID19-briefing.pdf This report provides information on how South Lanarkshire Council including South Lanarkshire Licensing Board will address inequalities by integrating equality into the day- to-day working of the council and the licensing board. This means taking account of equality in everything we do. The aim of mainstreaming equalities is to embed our outcomes, which focus on both employees and members of the community, into all that we do. To do this we have built our outcomes on the following key principles: • Accessing – provide services in ways that mean everyone can and does have the right to use them • Community – provide services that bring people together and makes the most of individual needs and abilities • Informing – ensure that everyone has access to information, in a format that suits their needs, on Council services and what is happening in the South Lanarkshire area • Involving – talk to groups and individuals on a one to one basis and use views and opinions to inform decision making and shape service delivery • Promoting – ensure that individuals are treated as and given the opportunity to be full members of the community no matter their individual need • Understanding – raise awareness of individuals’ needs and promote awareness of the range of cultures and languages that exist within South Lanarkshire so that everyone can be treated fairly and with dignity and respect 123
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Section Two 12 Reporting on the achievements of our council plan is reported on the council website in various publications and in reports to elected members and committees. Much of the work we do to tackle inequalities and deprivation can be found in our: • 2022-2027 council plan ‘Connect’ https://www.southlanarkshire.gov.uk/downloads/file/15715/connect_council_plan_2022 -27_pdf • community planning partnership community plan 2022-2032 https://www.southlanarkshire.gov.uk/cp/info/26/community_plan_and_neighbourhood_ plans/80/community_plan_2022-2032 124
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Section Two 13 2021-2025 Outcomes Equality Outcome One Increase the number of people from ethnic minority backgrounds employed in the South Lanarkshire Council workforce to reflect the diversity of the South Lanarkshire population. General Duty: • Advance equality of opportunity between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it, and • Foster good relations between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it Protected Characteristic: Race - people from black, Asian and ethnic minority communities and different racial backgrounds Socio-economic Disadvantage: Low Income/Income Poverty – cannot afford to maintain regular payments such as bills, food, clothing Increasing the numbers of people in work will help to alleviate income poverty, particularly as SLC pays the living wage. Low and/or no wealth – enough money to meet basic living costs and pay bills but have no savings to deal with any unexpected spends and no provision for the future For some people they may be applying to the council from lower paid employment. 125
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Section Two 14 Evidence: Data from the Annual Population Survey1, collected by ONS, and the Scottish Government’s Race Equality Framework for Scotland 2016 to 20302 shows that the proportion of ethnic minority workers is lower in Scotland’s public sector than in the wider economy. There is a risk that this will worsen across the labour market due to the impact on the economy of the coronavirus pandemic. The Framework highlights that in order to achieve a representative workforce, the majority of Scotland’s public bodies will need to invest additional effort – including tackling discrimination and looking at opportunities to take positive action. An analysis of South Lanarkshire Council's employee recruitment data shows that the number of applicants who identify as being from an ethnic minority group has increased from 2.8% in 2018-19 to 3.1% in 2019-20 and 3.8% in 2021-22. Of those interviewed, 2.7% declared they identified as having an ethnic minority background. There have been increased applications from people who identify as having an ethnic minority background to South Lanarkshire Council. 1 Annual Population Survey 2 Race Equality Framework for Scotland 2016-2030 126
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Section Two 15 Actions to achieve (1): recruitment process Review recruitment policies and processes that may lead to unintentional biases of recruiting managers which can result in disproportionately lower success rates. Measures Analysis of success rates shows increase in number of successful ethnic minority candidates. Actions to achieve (2): - learning for employees involved in the process Make sure that everyone involved in the recruitment process is trained to current standards in recruitment best practice. This should include understanding and recognising all relevant forms of discrimination, including bias. Anyone involved in the selection process to have undertaken learning in the following areas: • Recruitment techniques, including sifting and interviewing. • Unconscious bias • Diversity/race equality awareness Within the 12 months prior to being a member of any recruitment panel. Measures The number of people involved in the recruitment process who have undertaken the required learning activities. Actions to achieve (3): - panel composition Where practical ensure that interview panel members are from diverse backgrounds to show commitment to different points of view and opinions and that SLC values diversity. Measures Increase in the number of ‘ethnic minority employees being part of recruitment panels. Increase in the development opportunities for employees to be part of the recruitment process. Increase in numbers of people from ethnic minorities backgrounds employed by SLC 127
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Section Two 16 Actions to achieve (4): - Social media/publicity Advertise more widely to attract candidates with diverse backgrounds. Include additional wording in vacancy adverts stating that South Lanarkshire Council welcomes applications from people from an ethnic minority background to encourage applications from ethnic minority communities. Testimonials from ethnic minority people at all levels within the organisation sharing their experiences of working for the organisation. Use positive images of ethnic minority employees of the workforce in any marketing and advertising campaigns. Measures: Analysis of the workforce data relating to job applicants shows an increased number of applications from ethnic minority people. Monitor the number of jobs advertised using ethnic minority specific publications/websites/organisations. Increase in numbers of people from ethnic minority backgrounds applying for reemployment in SLC. Actions to achieve (5): - work with external organisations Work with ethnic minority community organisations, particularly those who have an employability remit, to engage with local ethnic minority communities. Work with ethnic minority communities to help them better understand the recruitment process, including improving their ability to undertake competency based tests. With the support of external organisations whose aims are to build the capacity and sustainability of the ethnic minority voluntary sector and its communities: • Inform ethnic minority young people of Modern Apprenticeships opportunities available within South Lanarkshire Council. • Inform ethnic minority people of work experience opportunities available within South Lanarkshire Council. Inform ethnic minority people of opportunities to join South Lanarkshire Council Citizens Panel. Measures: An increase in the number of ethnic minority young people applying for and being successful for Modern Apprenticeships. The number of ethnic minority people applying for and being successful for work experience opportunities increases. The number of ethnic minority people joining the South Lanarkshire Council Citizens Panel increase. 128
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Section Two 17 Actions to achieve (6): - raise awareness amongst workforce Promote equality, diversity, and inclusion in the workplace. Communicate with staff to raise awareness of race equality within the workplace. Review and refresh the information relating to race equality within the Equality Policy and in the Equalities section of the staff intranet. Measures: Analyse the number of employees attending equality learning events, including online learning. Evaluate the effectiveness of the equality training. Analyse the number of staff who have raised a grievance reported by race. Analyse the number of staff who have raised a dignity at work issue reported by race. 129
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Section Two 18 Progress since 2021. All employees are required to undertake on-line mandatory equalities training, previously this was not a mandatory requirement. his is in the form of on-line learning. Modules include all protected characteristics and were reviewed during 2022. Specific modules relating to recruitment include Unconscious bias and Diversity/race equality awareness. There has been a slight increase in the number of applicants who identify as being from an ethnic minority group. This has increased from 2.8% in 2018-19 to 3.1% in 2019-20 and 3.8% in 2021-22. Of those interviewed, 2.7% declared they identified as having an ethnic minority background. We have increased the use of social media to advertise job vacancies, this includes Facebook and Twitter. This wording is included in advertisements for the Modern Apprentice programme and is ongoing for all other recruitment. We have worked with the Amira group to gain a greater understanding of the support available for ethnic minority applicants and discussed how the Council could work with the organisation to improve the recruitment of ethnic minority applicants. Any vacancies for the Modern apprentice programme are notified to the Employee Network members for wider distribution. The figures for people who identify as having an ethnic minority background applying for the modern apprentice programme has decreased and we had no-one on the modern apprentice programme for the year ending 31st March 2022. The team are reviewing the recruitment process and will continue to target this group. All employees are required to undertake mandatory online learning including equality and diversity awareness, race discrimination and unconscious bias. The figures for completion of the online learning is shown below: E&D Awareness = 6223 Unconscious Bias = 2229 Race Discrimination = 3616 130
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Section Two 19 Equality Outcome Two Older people, those from vulnerable groups and individuals who live alone are protected from scams and nuisance calls and their wellbeing is improved through increased awareness and preventative action. General Duty: Eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and other conduct prohibited by the Act. Protected Characteristic: Age – particularly older people, however it could also have an impact on other vulnerable groups such as disability; people with mental health issues, cognitive abilities impaired or learning disabilities. Disability - people with disabilities/long standing conditions Evidence: Scams of all kinds are a real and constant threat to our communities. They are operated by criminals with the sole purpose of identifying and exploiting victims, who are often vulnerable, elderly, or disabled. Although anyone can fall prey to a scam, regardless of age, gender, education or economic background, older people are often targeted by particular scams, such as mail or investment scams, and may be especially at risk because of their circumstances – being isolated or lonely, particularly in our rural communities, or living with dementia or cognitive decline. In 2018-19 alone the council’s Trading Standards team dealt with 350 scam complaints, with an average value of £450 lost to each consumer. However, given that only 5% of scams are ever reported this could be just the tip of the iceberg. UK wide figures3 report an average loss of as much as £1000 per victim. Applying that to the South Lanarkshire population, there could in fact be loss of up to £7m a year to our citizens. In some cases, financial loss is the smallest impact on a scam victim. Feelings of isolation, vulnerability, and fear lead to loss of confidence and withdrawal from family, friends and community. Research by UK National Trading Standards Team has shown that elderly scam victims are 2.5 times more likely to die prematurely or require residential care than those who have not been scammed. While Trading Standards is the local authority Service statutorily tasked to deal with scams, it is clear that scams can also have a substantial impact on many other Services e.g. Housing, Social Work, Police, NHS. Providing people with the knowledge and information they need to recognise and avoid scams is key to reducing the financial, physical and mental detriment suffered by victims with the added benefit of minimising the impact scams can have on other Services. 3 National Trading Standards (NTS) 131
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Section Two 20 Actions to achieve (1): Scams Alert Network Review impact of ‘Scams Alert Network’ (launched in 2019 to give people knowledge and information to recognise and avoid scams). It is hoped that by working alongside colleagues in Police Scotland, NHS, Community Engagement teams and Adult Protection Committee, Trading Standards can make a big difference by disseminating up-to-date scam information via a single point of contact. Measures Output/Contextual Measures • Number of scams identified and disseminated amongst partners • Number of talks delivered to community groups • Number of social media posts alerting the public • Number of ‘Scam Marshalls’ (members of the public who have been targeted by a scam and now want to volunteer to fight back and take a stand against scams). • Number of scam complaints dealt with by Trading Standards (target to decrease) Outcome Measures Case studies demonstrating the impact that becoming a Scam Marshall has had on the lives of our older and vulnerable residents. Actions to achieve (2): - Support for Vulnerable Groups Support vulnerable adults by providing truCall units (to monitor and stop scam calls) and video doorbell units (for doorstep crime) free of charge to vulnerable residents. These units will be installed, usually for 6 months, to give consumers an idea if the units provide the quality of life improvement hoped for. At this point the unit is retrieved and given to someone else on the list. If the unit is due to be retrieved but it is felt the improvement has been valuable and there is an affordability issue for the consumer to purchase their own unit, a case specific decision would be taken on leaving the unit in situ. 132
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Section Two 21 Measures Output/Contextual Measures • Number of truCall units installed to protect vulnerable residents from nuisance and scam phone calls • Total number of nuisance calls received through the truCall units • Average number of nuisance calls received per user • % of above nuisance calls which were blocked by the truCall units • Estimated number of scams prevented, and associated savings • Number of video doorbell units installed • Percentage of doorstep crime reports receiving an initial response from Trading Standards by the end of the next working day Outcome Measures Impact 3-6 months after installation of truCall unit: • % of users reporting a positive impact on their wellbeing • % of the users who previously felt threatened or scared by scam or nuisance calls who no longer felt this way • % of users surveyed at three months (who originally felt unsafe in their own home) who feel safer due to having a call blocker installed • % of applicants who were previously worried about losing money to scam and nuisance calls in the future who no longer feel this way • % of applicants who feel more confident in answering the phone knowing it will not be a scam or nuisance call. • Case studies demonstrating the impact that the truCall units have had on the lives of our older and vulnerable residents. 133
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Section Two 22 Actions to achieve (3): - Work in partnership to protect consumers and safeguard our communities Continue to work with Financial Institutions and the Police • Banks will notify Trading Standards if they have an elderly, vulnerable adult withdrawing large sums of money, or regular unusual withdrawals • Action taken will differ depending on the circumstances. For example, there is an existing project which provides short term support for victims to help them avoid becoming repeat victims and to give them the confidence to remain at home; we may contact social services or action may be taken to trace the perpetrator. Implementation of Operation Doric • Joint Lanarkshire initiative (SLC Trading Standards, NLC Trading Standards and Police Scotland) focusing on bogus callers. Targeted promotion of ‘Buy With Confidence’ - the Trusted Trader Scheme with local tradesmen/businesses Identify potential new members via Facebook, Scam Alert Network, Neighbourhood Watch, SLC Twitter, Seniors Together and community talks 134
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Section Two 23 Measures: Output/Contextual Measures • Number of referrals received from Banks and the Police • Number of members on the Trusted Trader Scheme Outcome Measures Annual case study demonstrating impact one or more of these initiatives have had on the lives of our older and vulnerable residents. 135
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Section Two 24 Progress since 2021 Elderly and vulnerable adults are often the victims of scams, cold calling and bogus workmen. To prevent these individuals being victims Trading Standards Officers have continued to work with Police Scotland, South Lanarkshire Council’s Social Work and Housing Services to provide talks and educational literature within sheltered housing complexes. The latest scams notified to us by the Trading Standards National Scam Team are published on the South Lanarkshire Council website. Talks were delivered by Trading Standards to Police Scotland and consumers at local shopping centres. These talks help prevent elderly and vulnerable adults becoming the victims of scams by raising the awareness of the areas where scammers target. The impact of Scams Alert Network has been a great success. Analysis of success shows: • A decrease in the number of scams identified. • Regular talks delivered to community groups. • Regular social media posts alerting the public. • Continued use of ‘Scam Marshalls’. • Case study evidence that becoming a ‘Scam Marshall’ improves people’s lives. Excellent levels of community engagement commenting on and sharing posts, growing awareness, and ability to avoid, common scam types. April 2021 – December 2022 19 talks delivered. 62 alerts on the (Scams Alert Network) SAN. 108 alerts on (Consumer and Trading Standards) CATS Facebook. “No Cold Calling’ stickers were distributed to vulnerable consumers and ‘Buy with Confidence’ literature was distributed to local businesses. During 2021-2022 60 stickers were issued, 100 have been issued so far during 2022-2023. Trading Standards officers undertook several initiatives to improve the confidence and engagement of vulnerable adults and the elderly who are targeted by scammers. It is estimated that over the lifetime of these two initiatives, scams saved vulnerable households £348,621 and led to a reduction of £323,821 in public service costs (NHS, social care and police). There will be wellbeing benefits of £115,980 across all users, and for those who would have been scam victims there are quality of life benefits of £198,166. This gives total initiative benefits of £986,588 of which £672,442 are direct financial benefits. 136
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Section Two 25 Installed units have blocked 100% of nuisance or scam calls this year. In cases 3 in 4 calls being received were nuisance calls. Analysis of success shows: • truCall units continue to be installed to protect vulnerable residents from nuisance and scam phone calls. • Trading Standards respond to all doorstep crime reports within target timescales. • Case study evidence that that the installation of truCall units improves the user’s quality of life. 100% of doorstep crime reports received an initial response from Trading Standards on the same day. April 2021 – September 2022 79 truCall units fitted. 12 video doorbells. 11 call outs attended. October 2022 – December 2022 Ongoing patrols to areas where bogus crime has previously been reported. Working in partnership to protect consumers and safeguard our communities has been a success. Analysis of success shows: • Continued work with Banks and the Police to protect vulnerable adults. • Implementation of Operation Doric targeting doorstep builders. • Continued promotion of ‘Buy With Confidence’ scheme. Case study evidence that these initiatives have made a difference to people’s lives and provided information on a wider choice of reputable companies and business types. Working relationships set up and regular joint visits with Police across a range of subject areas. July – September 2021 4 Joint visits with Police took place. Continued promotion on Facebook and by Housing colleagues in Home Improve, resulting in 4 new applications. October – December 2021 Police Officers now introducing new members to SAN. 4 joint visits made with discussions ongoing around expanding scope of cooperation to include underage sales. 137
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Section Two 26 No new BWC applicants but one new member admitted. January – March 2022 Continued joint working with Police Scotland on a variety of areas including Scams. 2 visits to bogus caller complaints and 1 joint talk. 1 new BWC applicant and 2 new members admitted. April – September 2022 Continued working with Police Scotland attending 4 events at shopping centres and supermarkets. Joint visits made to potential scam victims. BWC reaudit of existing members continues. October – December 2022 1 talk (joint with Police Scotland). 2 informal advisory presentations to Police on bogus callers. 3 visits with Police to bogus caller complaints. 138
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Section Two 27 Equality Outcome Three ‘Counselling through schools’ service is accessible for all children/young people aged 10 and over. General Duty: • Advance equality of opportunity between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it, and • Foster good relations between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it Protected Characteristic: Age - Older people, young people and children Disability - people with disabilities/long standing conditions Sexual Orientation – lesbian, gay, bisexual, heterosexual/straight Socio-economic Disadvantage: Low Income/Income Poverty – cannot afford to maintain regular payments such as bills, food, clothing • The Counselling through Schools service is available to all children/young people aged 10 years plus, with no cost to any family. Area Deprivation – where you live (rural areas), where you work (accessibility of transport) • Counselling through Schools has a number of counselling providers who can support children and young people in our educational establishments throughout the four localities in South Lanarkshire. 139
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Section Two 28 Evidence: In response to recommendations published by the Children and Young People’s Mental Health Task Force and funding through the Scottish Governments Mental Health Strategy, we aim to improve access to mental health services for all our children and young people, aged ten plus, through our Counselling through Schools programme. It is vitally important that our young people receive the right help at the right time wherever they are. Actions to achieve (1): Counselling through Schools service set up in schools School staff are informed and supported to set up a Counselling through Schools service within their establishments. Measures All schools and counselling providers are issued with the SLC Framework for the Delivery of Counselling through Schools. Schools are provided with further practical guidance, templates, flowcharts. PEP and Quality Link Officer (QLO) support school requests for guidance/support. Actions to achieve (2): access to experienced counselling providers All schools have access to a variety of experienced counselling providers who operate safely and effectively Recruitment techniques, including sifting and interviewing. Measures Robust assessment of all applications for post of counselling providers. Approved counselling providers agreed for all schools throughout South Lanarkshire. Schools have access to, and information regarding, a variety of experienced qualified counsellors. Ongoing monitoring of counselling providers. Actions to achieve (3): awareness of the Counselling through Schools service All children/young people aged 10 + in primary, secondary and ASN establishments are aware of, and know how to access, the Counselling through Schools service. Staff and parents/carers are aware of the service and know how to refer a child/young person. 140
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Section Two 29 Measures Information about the counselling service is visible in school , on school website/social media outlets. There is a clear referral system in place and young people in secondary schools know how they can self-refer. Counselling service is discussed and highlighted during PSHE classes and assemblies. Educational Psychologists promote the service through their social media outlet, meetings with young people/school staff/parents. Information regarding the counselling service is on SLC website. Actions to achieve (4): Children and young people are supported Children and young people are supported by the counselling service and feel that it has had a positive impact on their wellbeing. Measures: An increase in the number of young people who report a positive impact on their wellbeing from attending counselling. Staff and parent/carers report a positive impact regarding the wellbeing of the child/young person after attending counselling. Actions to achieve (5): Partnership working Work in partnership to further develop the service to ensure accessibility for all young people, with a particular focus on protected groups. Measures: Adaptations are made, as required, to ensure the service is accessible for all our young people, with a particular focus on identified groups who are not accessing the support. Quality Assurance visits/calls are undertaken with schools. The number of young people aware of the service is increasing. Parents/Carers/Staff awareness of the service is increasing. Progress since 2021 All secondary schools have a Counselling through Schools service. Primary Schools, working in their Learning Community, have access to counselling services, when required. Schools are supported by Inclusion Officer/Educational Psychologist for any queries and support that is required. 141
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Section Two 30 Schools can access counsellors from ten counselling providers, who have been rigorously assessed and evaluated by Inclusion Officer and Educational Psychologists. All schools were issued with guidance and encouraged to raise awareness of the counselling support. Information is shared on school websites/social media, within PSHE classes, parent meetings, pupil meetings, Educational Psychologist social media, school events, HT conferences. Multi-agency guidance was created regarding counselling supports for children and young people and shared with colleagues across education, health, social work, police. Feedback from children and young people, school staff, counsellors and parents indicate that the support is having a positive impact. Feedback from pupils highlights how they feel ‘safe’ and ‘listened to’. Recent data highlights that the majority of pupils feel that counselling has improved their general mental health & wellbeing and that they feel better/happier. Secondary ASN schools and supported bases have a budget to access counselling. Young people attending Aspire have a route to refer to counselling. Referral information shared with Social Work and Health colleagues. Psychological Services and Education resources have established the counselling through school’s service for children and young people aged 10 and over providing a 1-1 counselling support. There are termly multi-agency meetings with Education, Educational Psychologist, CAMHS and the Social Work Trauma Recovery Service staff focusing on counselling support for children and young people. A mental health guidance for schools has been developed which is shared with Education, Social Work and Police Scotland. In order to support pupils regarding mental health which for many has been made more challenging by the Covid-19 pandemic, a Counselling through Schools service has been established for children and young people 10 years of age and over. As part of this strategy 10 counselling providers are available to schools. Education Resources recently hosted an Inclusion Conference which highlighted for all staff the importance of working to embed the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child into practice. Along with that, staff have received in-service training on the key aspects of the national “Promise” for care experienced children and young people. Education Resources, in partnership with Social Work Resources, have placed specialist teachers in each geographic area to work as teachers supporting the most vulnerable care experienced children to enable them to be present at school, participate, be supported and achieve. For the period January to June 2022, 929 children and young people accessed counselling from 19 secondary schools and 53 primary schools. Head teachers were provided updates about how to access counselling providers, to enable them to plan their budget for the 142
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Section Two 31 start of the school session 2022/23. School managers have been provided information about Kooth, an online service procured by South Lanarkshire Council which offers children and young people aged 10 up with on-line counselling services and other supports. Social Work offer therapeutic support to young people from South Lanarkshire, aged 0-26, who have experienced trauma. The Trauma Recovery Service (SW) is delivered by a team of therapists specialising in working with children and families, helping those who have experienced physical, emotional, or sexual abuse or sustained exposure to traumatic events, to understand their feelings and make changes in their life. We commissioned Kooth to provide the service for all 10 to 18-year-olds, and those aged up to 26 who are care experienced. The Kooth website is accessible 24 hours a day, 7 days per week, 365 days a year - and there are no waiting lists or thresholds to meet to qualify for support. Kooth was selected by South Lanarkshire Council following a Community Mental Health consultation undertaken by the Senior Educational Psychologist, involving more than 3,000 young people. Young people provided views about what additional mental health and wellbeing supports would be helpful. It will work alongside existing supports and services within South Lanarkshire and will help ensure that children and young adults have easy access to support if they need it. 143
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Section Two 32 Equality Outcome Four Prevent homelessness occurring and significantly reduce homelessness General Duty: • Advance equality of opportunity between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it, and • Foster good relations between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it Protected characteristics Age - Older people, young people and children Disability - people with disabilities/long standing conditions Gender reassignment - Trans/Transgender Identity – anybody whose gender identity or gender expression is different to the sex assigned to them at birth Sex - Gender Identity - women and men (girls and boys) and those who self-identify their gender Sexual Orientation – lesbian, gay, bisexual, heterosexual/straight Socio-economic Disadvantage: Low and/or no wealth – enough money to meet basic living costs and pay bills but have no savings to deal with any unexpected spends and no provision for the future Material Deprivation – being unable to access basic goods and services i.e. financial products like life insurance, repair/replace broken electrical goods, warm home, leisure and hobbies 144
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Section Two 33 Evidence: Homelessness is an everyday crisis for thousands of adults and children living in Scotland. Households in crisis often struggle to access the accommodation and housing, health and social care support they need during difficult and vulnerable points in their lives. People from across the full range of protected characteristics may find themselves homeless, or at risk of becoming homeless. The risk of homelessness is not equally distributed in society. There are many sources which confirm that children living in poverty are much more likely to experience homelessness in adulthood. Another powerful predictor of homelessness is substance misuse with the predictability of homelessness being greater in higher housing pressure areas. For some systematically disadvantaged groups, the probability of homelessness is very high. In some cases, it becomes a normality due to the lack of key intermediary protections such as support from family and friends which make homelessness less likely. It is important then that using Scottish Government guidelines and the recommendations of the Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Action Group (HARSAG), Housing and Technical Resources progress the design of effective long-term interventions which recognise that if homelessness is predictable, it is also preventable. Preventing homelessness is about more than just finding somewhere else to live. Housing and Technical Resources has co-produced its Rapid Rehousing Transition Plan (RRTP) 2019-24 in conjunction with third sector and other public and private sector partners. The plan aims to ensure that households affected by homelessness, have access to the housing and support they need to sustain a secure, warm home and break the cycle of repeat homelessness. The RRTP aims to address inequality and improve opportunity for disadvantaged households across the spectrum of protected characteristics. 145
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Section Two 34 Actions to achieve (1): Increase the number of affordable homes for rent Measures • Number of affordable homes added to the housing supply is increased in line with the Strategic Housing Investment Plan (SHIP) • Number of new supply affordable housing suitable to meet particular needs (amenity and wheelchair accessible, in line with the SHIP targets • Number of additional homes purchased through the council’s Open Market Purchase Scheme, in line with SHIP targets Case studies: to demonstrate the positive impact of a permanent home Actions to achieve (2): Develop and implement a Housing Options Framework for young people Measures • Number of people accessing Housing Options services which prevent homelessness. • Percentage of homeless households provided with Housing Support Officer assistance to reduce risk of repeat homelessness. • Increase access to housing and tenancy sustainment services for care experienced young people. • No. of homeless presentations is reduced in line with the RRTP • Level of homeless households is reduced in line with the RRTP Case studies: to demonstrate positive outcomes achieved for young people accessing Home Options and Housing Support services Actions to achieve (3): Work with Scottish Prison Service to implement SHORE standards for people entering and leaving prison, specifically ensuring suitable and sustainable accommodation Measures • No of people housed and provided with support on leaving prison Case studies: to demonstrate positive outcomes achieved for those supported on release from prison Actions to achieve (4): Expansion of Rent Deposit Scheme to assist in meeting housing needs in the private rented sector and support prevention of homelessness from the private sector 146
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Section Two 35 Measures: • No of people supported to access a tenancy in the private rented sector • No of people supported to sustain their tenancy in the private rented sector Case studies: to demonstrate positive outcomes achieved for those provided with support to access and/or sustain a tenancy within the private rented sector 147
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Section Two 36 Progress since 2021 During 2021/22, a total of 657 additional affordable homes for social rent were delivered across South Lanarkshire. This included 468 additional homes delivered by the council and 189 new build homes built by Registered Social Landlords (RSLs). In delivering the new build housing programme, the Resource exceeded the 8% target identified for the delivery of fully wheelchair accessible homes during 2021/22. During 2021/22, a total of 1,514 homes were adapted to support people with health conditions or disabilities to continue to live independently within their own homes, without the need for rehousing or moving to a care setting. The Resource completed 993 adaptations to council properties and a further 521 adaptations were completed in private homes through grant funding provided though the Scheme of Assistance. In 2021/22, 53 additional homes were purchased through the Open Market Purchase Scheme with 59 additional homes projected to 31 March 2023. Working together, the council and its partners have again made significant progress in preventing and reducing homelessness and in supporting those affected. This has been achieved through delivering on the priorities set out within the South Lanarkshire Rapid Rehousing Transition Plan (RRTP) 2019-2024. A review of year three (2021-22) of the RRTP, was completed and reported to both the Scottish Government and Housing and Technical Resources Committee. The review highlighted a number of key achievements including: • An improved position in long-term homelessness, with 25% fewer households living in temporary accommodation for more than 12 months and a 22% reduction in time spent in temporary accommodation by households with children. • A positive impact on levels of homelessness with a 21% reduction in the number of households who were homeless (from 969 households in March 2021 to 765 at the end of March 2022) • A 4% reduction in the number of homeless presentations to the council from 2,225 in 2020-21 to 2,134 in 2021-22 • An increase in the supply of affordable housing in South Lanarkshire with additional affordable homes delivered by the council and its housing association partners during the year. In addition, during 2021-22 there was a continued growth in the Housing First approach, with a further nine households with multiple and complex needs supported during the year. A total of 33 households have been included within the programme. The Housing First programme aims to provide people who are homeless and have ongoing support needs with a secure home quickly and support to live in their home. 148
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Section Two 37 In delivering Housing First, Housing Services work closely with a range of partner agencies to ensure that appropriate housing and intensive support can be provided. The support provided is flexible, tailored to the needs and circumstances of the household and includes advice on budgeting, benefit entitlements, managing utility bills as well as support to integrate into the community. Homelessness is made harder by additional experiences of trauma, mental ill health and addictions, partnership working, and sustainable solutions are required to end their experience of homelessness. South Lanarkshire continues to maintain a well-trained workforce and is implementing Trauma Informed Practice across services. The Housing First approach combines settled housing options with person-centred, strength based, flexible, and open-ended support and is the best evidenced solution for ending homelessness for people experiencing this range of challenges. Housing First is central to South Lanarkshire’s Rapid Rehousing Transition Plan and, to date, 33 households have moved into their own secure tenancy with the support they need to sustain it. The LHS will continue to ensure housing and homelessness services can effectively deliver a housing first approach and other trauma informed intensive support services within South Lanarkshire. The Council are committed to ensuring that young people in receipt of continuing aftercare will benefit from suitable housing and support that is provided to a quality and in a manner that reflects the values of a responsible parent. Also committed to working with partners to prevent homelessness for care experienced young people. In 2021/22, the number of approaches for advice and assistance to the council’s Housing Options services increased by 25%, from 912 to 1137, the increase in approaches can be attributed at least in part, to increased awareness of the services provided by the Integrated Housing Options Team Positively, the increase in the number of housing option cases has also been accompanied by an increase in the proportion of cases where homelessness has been prevented. This underlines the positive difference the Housing Options approach continues to have on preventing homelessness in South Lanarkshire. Prevention of homelessness is a key priority for all services and partners involved. The LHS will continue to ensure the strong partnership approach to preventing homelessness is maintained across all housing tenures. Housing Options provides an important pathway for people seeking advice and information to make informed choices about their housing circumstances. Anyone who is at risk of homelessness is made fully aware of their rights and is supported to make a homeless presentation if they choose to do so. Housing Options is a person-centred approach which can be extended and tailored to provide support to a wide range of people seeking advice and assistance. In addition, the LHS will ensure, tailored services and support to victims of domestic abuse, care experienced young people, and people leaving prison, with the aim of preventing homelessness. The Resettlement team acts as a conduit for all prisoners from South Lanarkshire by working closely with Scottish Prison Service and Social Work Resources to provide links to the appropriate area housing office for long term prisoners. The Sustainable Housing on Release for Everyone (SHORE) Housing Officer post has been an effective intervention, meeting with people 8 weeks prior to liberation has allowed for a person centred and planned approach to their return to the community. We have evidenced real positive outcomes with settled and secure accommodation being identified on release, access into the private rented sector and where 149
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Section Two 38 anyone has had to present as homeless, planned access into a temporary furnished flat has been organised. There has been no use of B&B or unsuitable accommodation. In 2021/22, 337 prisoners were provided with support and 2 were provided with permanent tenancy on liberation. In 2022/23, 350 prisoners were provided with support and 8 were provided with permanent tenancy on liberation. SHORE – Case Study In August 2022, the Justice Throughcare Team (JTT) contacted the SHORE service and advised that prisoner (Mr A) was due for a parole hearing in December 2022. Mr A, who was 72, had been in prison for around 30 years, had many health issues and was institutionalised. JTT had been working with Mr A for a few years and Social Workers had built up a reasonable relationship with him. Licence conditions would be put in place which the JTT would manage. JTT were also considering his health requirements and a support package to assist him upon his release. Given the challenges the prisoner would potentially face upon his release, the SHORE Lead Officer set up a case discussion meeting with all relevant partner services to create and progress an action plan. A priority for the SHORE Service was to secure permanent accommodation which would require to be risk assessed. There were pressures with the lack of available housing stock in a high demand area, which proved challenging. Mr A required to reside in an area which was close to his limited support network (family) and have a tenancy that was suitable for his health needs. As the case had been high profile in the wider area due to the reason for Mr A’s incarceration, there were concerns about where he could be accommodated. An appointment with Mr A was set up by the SHORE Housing Officer who discussed housing options and completed relevant paperwork to list him for housing in South Lanarkshire. To ensure that his housing needs could be met in line with SHORE processes, Mr A’s housing application was placed in the ‘Other Category’ list. Following a further case meeting with partner services, a discussion was held with Mr A and a suitable tenancy identified. Working closely with the partner agencies, there was a requirement to have the tenancy completely set up and ready for move in upon Mr A’s release. Regular update meetings with partners were held and joint working meant that all support areas for Mr A were considered and progressed. The SHORE Officer completed a Scottish Welfare Fund application and offered assistance with a furniture starter pack. The JTT provided additional furniture and other equipment to support Mr A’s daily living requirements. Mr A’s parole hearing took place on a Friday and it was agreed that Mr A would be released the following Monday. Although the short timescale was challenging, all partner services responded promptly and commenced with getting the tenancy set up. Mr A was liberated and moved straight into the tenancy. SHORE processes were followed and the additional partnership working with the JTT ensured a successful outcome for Mr A. He began his transition back into the community with continued support from the JTT. 150
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Section Two 39 The SHORE Lead Officer had a follow up discussion with the JTT, who advised that they were continuing to engage daily with Mr A, that he had settled well into his tenancy and was grateful for all supports provided to him. Private sector housing is a key option for meeting housing needs, particularly in areas where there is less availability of other affordable housing tenures. An important priority for the LHS is to promote suitable and sustainable housing and the council and its partners will work with private landlords to further improve standards across the sector. In addition, the LHS will consider how services can continue to support both private landlords and their tenants, whilst implementing any national actions locally. Consideration will also be given to the development of a social lettings agency to support tenants and improve standards. Number of Rent Deposit Guarantee Scheme (RDGS) properties identified and brought into scheme were 30 properties in 2021/22 and 11 YTD 2022/23. Psass service is available Mon- Fri 9am - 5pm, there are 4 staff members in total. They offer a drop in service, visits within the community or at home as well as a telephone service. They have been meeting with landlords/letting agents to promote and market the service, as well as homes for Ukraine and have worked with them to have information leaflets translated. They have a regular newsletter style email sent to landlords and letting agents. Also hosted 1 open day this year to invite landlords/letting agents to attend. 59 households have approached the service who have been threatened with homelessness and or who have required advice and assistance since April 2022 with an additional 36 who were supported by Local Authority Covid Economic Recovery (LACeR). 151
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Section Two 40 Equality Outcome Five Improve Health, Care and Wellbeing for the most vulnerable in our communities General Duty: • Advance equality of opportunity between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it, and • Foster good relations between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it Protected characteristics Age - Older people, young people and children Disability - people with disabilities/long standing conditions Gender reassignment - Trans/Transgender Identity – anybody whose gender identity or gender expression is different to the sex assigned to them at birth Sex - Gender Identity - women and men (girls and boys) and those who self-identify their gender Sexual Orientation – lesbian, gay, bisexual, heterosexual/straight Socio-economic Disadvantage: Low and/or no wealth – enough money to meet basic living costs and pay bills but have no savings to deal with any unexpected spends and no provision for the future (Charging Policy for some care services) Material Deprivation – being unable to access basic goods and services i.e. financial products like life insurance, repair/replace broken electrical goods, warm home, leisure and hobbies Health inequality – cognitive, physical ability to influence and direct daily routine, personal care needs 152
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Section Two 41 Evidence: The statutory framework for social work services is contained in a raft of different pieces of legislation. Principal among these is the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968 which places a duty on all local authorities to “promote social welfare”. Social workers have a distinctive set of knowledge, skills and values when supporting our most vulnerable people. In giving some additional background, many of the services that are delivered to the public are set out in statute and therefore, the majority of direct service delivery has to comply with the respective legislative framework. This legislative framework is both complex and ever changing and requires Social Work Resources to manage and change service delivery in line with new requirements. However, it is this framework that provides the basis of Social Work service, in that the key focus is to promote social welfare and provide effective care to meet the needs of vulnerable people in South Lanarkshire. Therefore, as a targeted service, much of the work centres on the following areas. • Child protection • Children with additional support needs • Looked after children • Adult support and protection • Mental Health • Alcohol and substance misuse • Physical and learning disability • Frail older people • People who become involved in the justice system • Unpaid Carers The nature of social work means that much of our core business supports people who are specifically mentioned under legislation and defined within the Equality Act 2010 as nine named protected characteristics groups. The protected characteristic groups of age, disability and gender are the focus of social work activity. 153
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Section Two 42 Actions to achieve (1): Advance the Care facilities programme Measures: • Complete phase one of the Care Facilities Programme in the Blantyre area. • Monitor occupancy of the in house care home population • Monitor occupancy of the external care home population Case studies: to demonstrate the positive impact of a supported living environment/home Actions to achieve (2): Redesign community support services for adults and older people. Measures: • Implement the review of day care services • Monitor occupancy in SLC day care /lifestyles facilities • Review the use of externally provided day support services (e.g. Sense Scotland, Scottish Autism) Case studies: to demonstrate the positive impact of a support service Actions to achieve (3): Review operations of the in house home care services Measures: • Review current locality model of 4 registered care at home services (Hamilton, East Kilbride, Camglen, Clydesdale) • Care Inspectorate improvement plans complete • National Care Standards checklists complete and regularly reviewed for locality services • Monitor the number and use of externally provided care at homes services. Case studies: to demonstrate positive outcomes achieved for those supported care at home services, annual surveys also undertaken Actions to achieve (4): Continue to support carers, continue to care in good health and wellbeing 154
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Section Two 43 Measures: • Adult carer support plan further enhanced • Commissioned Carers Services regularly monitored • Carers Partnership Group has oversite of all initiatives directed at carers. Case studies: to demonstrate positive outcomes achieved for those carers who continue to care Actions to achieve (5): Protect front line staff and carers with access to Personal Protective Equipment Measures: • PPE Hub established • Staffing to support PPE Hub recruitment underway • Regular stock control managed and distributed effectively • Monitor COVID implications for staff groups across care services. Case studies: to demonstrate range of individuals accessing PPE in both SLC and externally commissioned services. 155
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Section Two 44 Progress since 2021 Blantyre Care Facility - Planning permission was granted in 2019 to develop a range of care facilities on a site in Blantyre. The programme has four distinct areas of development, which include 20 technology enabled properties designed and equipped with technology to support older people to live independently in a family home rather than moving to residential care. The final 12 properties were allocated to service users at the end of July 2022. Feedback from service users to date is very favourable. Other services on the site, available from November 2022, are transitional care facilities offering short term support to individuals before returning home following a period of ill health or crisis, or to prevent hospital admission. A Centre of Excellence specialising in training and development of health and social care staff will be created to support all localities across South Lanarkshire. Finally, a TEC zone, designed in collaboration with Glasgow Science Centre, will showcase how technology enabled care can be used to support people to live well, safely, and independently at home. This model of care will enhance our ability to meet changing care needs offering individuals more choice and options to remain at home and in the community. Care and Support Service - offers support to adults with a learning disability to live safely within their own home in the community. The service, established in 2004 had seen little change since its inception and needed to embed policy directives such as Self-Directed Support (SDS), South Lanarkshire’s Eligibility Criteria and the Carers (Scotland) Act 2016. Alongside this there was a recognition that the staffing model needed to reflect the diminishing number of ageing service users, but with increased levels of dependency. On conclusion of the review, service users have greater choice and control over their care through the SDS assessment process. This is enabling individuals to achieve outcomes that matter to them, whilst ensuring there remains sufficient capacity within the service to continue to meet individuals’ changing needs and identified outcomes going forward. Technology Enabled Care (TEC) - provides health and care services to people in their own homes, or near to home, helping people to live independently, safely and well at home for longer. Our key services include assistive technology (usually linked to community alert alarms), Connect Me remote health monitoring service, and Near Me video consultations. Demand for assistive technology continues to increase with 2,287 items installed during 2021-22, a 62% increase from 1,414 during 2020-21. Our telecare installer carried out 2,046 assistive technology visits to community alarm service users’ during 2021-22, up 37% from 1,407 in 2020-21. Key safe installations also increased with 900 installation visits being completed during 2021-22, up 39% from 649 in 2020-21. Review operations of the inhouse care at home service - The service has continued to focus on a far-reaching modernisation agenda. The implementation of a sector leading IT system called Total Mobile commenced and is now operational in all localities. This is transforming the way the service schedules, allocates work and communicates with staff and service users. The system is already bringing efficiencies to the scheduling process and is facilitating wider organisational change throughout 2022-23. Continue to support carers, continue to care in good health and wellbeing - The Carers Partnership Group is tasked to drive forward the work of the Carers Strategy and ensure funding is directed to support the Carers agenda, staff have been recruited to at both strategic and operational level to maintain oversight of the whole system of support for adult carers and young carers. There is a 156
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Section Two 45 Lanarkshire Carers worker successfully linked with each of the four localities. Positive relationships between the SLHSCP and Lanarkshire Carers provide a strong base to build further improvement activity Protect front line staff and carers with access to Personal Protective Equipment - A PPE Hub was established immediately in direct response to the Covid pandemic to provide items of PPE to care providers, including care homes, paid carers, unpaid carers and charitable organisations. As procurement arrangements have normalised organisations are now sourcing their supplies directly and the HUB ceased on 31 October 2022. Services have also consistently adapted to the enhanced requirements for infection prevention and control measures (IPC). A Scottish Infection Prevention and Control Education Pathway (SIPCEP) has been developed by NHS Education for Scotland (NES) to provide a staged pathway of IPC education. It aims to enable all staff to continuously improve their knowledge and skills around IPC as part of their role. Work is underway within the Resource to identify trainers to deliver the programme to over 2,000 social care employees. Inclusion As Prevention - IAP is currently focusing on Rutherglen and Cambuslang. This five-year project is funded by the National Lottery Community Fund. The approach involves shifting from the acute and crisis driven intervention taken when a young person becomes involved in offending. IAP seek to provide early and inclusive support to young people who are at risk of offending as a means of intervening before negative patterns of behaviour begin. IAP is also tackling – and aiming to understand - the root causes of offending. To ensure the voices of the children and the unique needs of their community drive the re-design of early-stage services, IAP combine community engagement with co-production, co-design, and improvement methodologies. IAP are taking an iterative and collaborative approach, placing those with lived experience and expertise at the centre of everything they do. IAP’s core partners are South Lanarkshire Council, Action for Children, The Children and Young People’s Centre for Justice (CYCJ) and Dartington Service Design Lab. 157
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Section Three 46 Employee information South Lanarkshire Council Employees Information at 31st March 2022 Background As outlined in our mainstreaming equality and equality outcomes progress reports published in April 2021, South Lanarkshire Council is committed to achieving equality outcomes and taking action to advance equality. To do this, The Council will undertake a number of employee-focussed initiatives including: • Treating employees with fairness, to help ensure they feel valued • Asking for, and acting on employee feedback to support diversity and equality in how we do things • Ensuring employees feel that their wellbeing is a priority • Operating a flexible approach to working practices • Undertaking regular pay reviews to ensure that the reward system is fair - the gender pay gap, pay review activities and results are used to confirm this • Encouraging employees to disclose personal information to improve equality data collection • Encouraging job applications from people in under-represented groups to increase the diversity of job applicants • Improving recruitment and selection processes in response to feedback • Undertaking Equality Impact Assessments (EqIAs) when new policies are introduced, or existing policies are updated To help meet these commitments, we collect, monitor, and publish information about the diversity of our employees. This helps us check that we are supporting a culture of diversity and inclusion and identify areas for continuous improvement. We aim to ensure that our workforce reflects our community. In October 2012, the council began an employee verification exercise to capture relevant monitoring information across all protected characteristics. Publication of this information complies with the Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties) (Scotland) Regulations 2012. In particular: • the duty to gather and use employee information • the duty to publish gender pay gap information. In addition to the legislative requirements to publish gender pay gap information, as good practice, we also publish pay gap information in relation to disability and ethnicity in our reports. The published employee information looks at equality data through different stages of the employment journey, starting with the recruitment stage through to exit interviews. Gathering and using employee data helps the council progress towards meeting the requirement of having due regard to the general equality duty, as outlined in the Equality Act 2010. This requires public authorities to have due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination; advance equality of opportunity; and foster good relations, when making decisions and setting policies. We are committed to using data to understand whether our efforts to promote diversity and equality across our workforce are delivering results. 158
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Section Three 47 Diversity training Equality and diversity training is available to all South Lanarkshire Council employees and elected members. There are several online training courses including: • Age Discrimination awareness • Autism Spectrum Disorder awareness • Children (Equal Protection from Assault) (Scotland) Act 2019 • Communicating with people who are D/deaf • Deaf awareness • Disability awareness • Equality and diversity awareness • Forced Marriage • Gaelic and Scotland • Gender Reassignment awareness • LGBT people and public services • Marriage and Civil Partnerships awareness • Mental health and well-being an introduction • Mental health and well-being for employees • Mental health and well-being for managers • Positive thinking module • Race discrimination • Raising awareness of Prevent • Religion or belief awareness • Sex discrimination awareness • Sexual orientation awareness • Sight loss awareness • Transgender awareness • Unconscious bias In addition to the online training there are also opportunities to participate in face to face equality training. The training was reviewed and updated during 2022. A mandatory requirement was introduced to ensure that all council employees and elected members undertake the awareness modules for all the protected requirements within the first 6 months of taking up their appointments and there is also a requirement to undertake refresher training on a regular basis. Employee Network South Lanarkshire Council believes that speaking with and listening to our employees is the best way to ensure we can understand and meet their needs. Employees are encouraged to take part in regular forums, based around the protected characteristics, and this is intended to be supportive, and a forum for sharing good practice and raising concerns confidentially. The Network has four strands, Ethnicity Matters; Disability Matters; LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender) Matters; and Caring Matters. 159
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Section Three 48 Diversity monitoring All job applicants are given the opportunity to complete an equality monitoring questionnaire. This is voluntary, confidential, and forms no part of the recruitment and selection process. The information requested includes age, sex, transgender status, sexual orientation, disability, national identity, ethnic group, religion or belief, marital status, and caring responsibilities. Periodically, current employees are asked to take part in a verification exercise in which they are asked to check and update their data as necessary. The last exercise of this type was undertaken in July 2018. Although we have a duty to request equality information there is no requirement for people to provide this. Employees and job applicants provide their information in relation to the protected characteristics on a voluntary basis. There are inevitable gaps in the information provided as a result. Legislation requires us to state how we use employee equality data to better meet the equality duty. The information gathered is used to ensure that the Council has fair and open recruitment practices, that employees are given fair access to learning and development, and to promotion opportunities, as well as, ensuring that, as far as possible the workforce is reflective of the South Lanarkshire community. The information is also used to look at opportunities for continuous improvement. Workforce monitoring data is reported to the senior management team and to elected members on a regular basis. On 31st March 2022, South Lanarkshire Council employed 16,862 people. Information relating to the workforce is shown in the following paragraphs. The information below represents the Council workforce including Education teaching staff as at 31st March 2022. Where the number of employees with a protected characteristic is fewer than five, and the information is sensitive or personal, we have not specified the number in order to avoid individuals being identified. Full detail on 31st March 2022 about each protected characteristic and recruitment information is provided below. 160
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Section Three 49 Sex (Gender) Recent national population data shows 51% of the Scottish population are women and 49% are men. Source: Scotland's population structure, mid-2019 https://scotland.shinyapps.io/sg-equality-evidence-finder/ The gender split across the council reflects the national trends within the public sector where data shows that the majority of the workforce is female 73.8%. Source: Public sector employment in Scotland: web tables Women make up 73.7% of South Lanarkshire Council employees, a 1.3% increase from 2020, and 26.3% are men. The corporate management team is currently 100% male. South Lanarkshire Council is an accredited ‘Carer Positive Employer’. We have an ongoing commitment to supporting and encouraging flexible working, taking account of caring responsibilities and working to ensure that employees are supported to have a good work/life balance. Government research shows that women were more likely to provide informal care than men, in all age groups up to 75-84. The Office for National Statistics also estimated that in 2016/17, women made up more than 60% of ‘sandwich carers’, defined as those who care for both sick, disabled or older relatives and dependent children. Source: Gender Equality Monitor published by Government Equalities Office Female 73.7% Male 26.3% Female Male 161
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Section Three 50 Disability The disability profile continues to reduce, with the percentage of employees who have declared that they consider that they have a disability decreasing to 1.55% at March 2022 reducing from 1.65% at March 2020. We continue to raise awareness of the purpose of declaring disabilities and will continue to do this via the Employee Network. The numbers choosing not to disclose has increased slightly to 9.6%. Whilst the figure remains low compared to Scottish Government estimates that 19% of the working age population are disabled, we recognise that many employees have traditionally been reluctant to disclose that they consider themselves to be disabled and that this continues to be the case. The Council is a Disability Confident employer and continues to emphasise the supports that are available to employees through its Employee Assistance Programme. All new and existing employees are asked to confirm whether they consider themselves to have a disability. This allows for any required reasonable adjustments to be put in place. Disclosing this information is voluntary. Figures for March 2022 show that 90.5% of all employees who completed the equalities monitoring form had disclosed information on this protected characteristic. Each Resource within the council has a Diversity Liaison Officer who is there to provide advice and support to managers and employees with regards to recruitment and ongoing in-work support such as Access to Work. They help by sourcing and arranging reasonable adjustments. These are often required to eliminate or reduce barriers faced by an individual in accessing or remaining in employment, for example, at the interview stage by providing specialist equipment, translation or interpreting services. The Diversity Liaison Officers ensure that we are promoting best practice in this area. They receive regular training in this area. Support is also available via the Employee Network. We will continue to encourage employees to disclose information about disability through promotion of our Disability Confident status. Ethnicity Scottish population figures show that 95.4% of people report their ethnicity as ‘White’, while 4.6% of the population are from a Black, Asian, Ethnic Minority background, with the Asian population being the largest ethnic minority group (2.8%). Source: Scottish Government equality evidence finder (Scotland's population structure, mid-2018) South Lanarkshire Council employee data shows that 98.8% of employees have chosen to declare their ethnic origin this is a 1.9% increase on the 2020 figures. The percentage of Black, Asian, ethnic minority employees as of 31st March 2022 was 1.2% an increase of Yes 1.6% No 88.9% Not Declared 9.6% Yes No Not Declared 162
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Section Three 51 0.12% on the declared figures in 2020. This compares to the census figure of 0.8% of the working age population in South Lanarkshire who identify as having an ethnic minority background. Analysis of our overall workforce position shows a gradual increase in the percentage of ethnic minority employees. Employee information show the numbers continuing to rise, from 0.85% at 31st March 2014, to 1.08% at 31st March 2020 and to 1.2% at 31st March 2022. The largest ethnic minority employee group in South Lanarkshire Council is Asian. The work started during 2020 to analyse job applications to get a better understanding of the numbers of people from ethnic minority backgrounds applying for jobs in the council is continuing. This work explores practical steps we can take to increase the diversity of our workforce. Support for ethnic minority employees is available via the Diversity Liaison Officers and the employee Network. Ethnic Minority 1.2% White 94.2% Not Disclosed 4.6% Ethnic Minority White Not Disclosed 163
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Section Three 52 Age The table below shows the age profile of South Lanarkshire Council workforce at 31st March 2022. The average age of a South Lanarkshire Council employee is 45.0 years, this is a slight decrease in the average age at 31st March 2020 which was 45.6. There has been an increase in the number of employees who are in the age ranges under 21, 21-29, 30-39 and 60-65 years. The other age ranges 40-49 and 50-59 continue to show decreases in numbers. Marital status The majority of employees who declared their marital status are married or in a civil partnership 41.2%, 21.7% are single, 11.1% are either living together, widowed, or divorced. The remaining 26.0% did not disclose their marital status. Pregnancy and Maternity During the year ending 31st March 2022, 325 women took maternity leave. The average length of the maternity leave was 43 weeks. South Lanarkshire Council has a Maternity, Adoption, Paternity Leave, Additional Paternity Leave, Shared Parental Leave and Pay Policy. This policy outlines the 2 maternity schemes that are available to South Lanarkshire Council employees. Everyone who is pregnant, irrespective of length of service and hours worked are entitled to a 52 week maternity leave. 0.00% 5.00% 10.00% 15.00% 20.00% 25.00% 30.00% Under 21 21 - 29 30 - 39 40 - 49 50 - 59 60 - 65 Over 65 Age Profile - 2022 Married/civil partnership 41.2% Single 21.7% Other 11.1% Not disclosed 26.0% Married/civil partnership Single Other Not disclosed 164
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Section Three 53 Religion or belief 52.8% of employees have declared their religion or belief, 47.2% preferred not to share their religion or belief. Of those who declared their religion or belief 13.8% associate with the Church of Scotland, 12.2% with the Roman Catholic Church, 4.6% declared another religion or belief, the remaining 22.2% do not associate with any religion. The Council recognises that we have a diverse workforce which includes a number of employees whose faith requires prayer at specific times. A small room is available to all employees and provides a tranquil space that allows for quiet reflection or religious observance. There is flexibility in the way that people can book their annual leave, this allows colleagues who observe key dates in their religious calendar to engage in such events and occasions. Sexual orientation According to the most recent Scottish Government data, around 3% of the Scottish population identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or other (LGBO) and 95% identified as straight or heterosexual. The Scottish Government note that it is likely that this data undercounts the number of adults self-identifying as LGBO. Source: Scottish Government equality evidence finder (Scotland's population structure, mid-2019) The workforce profile figures show that 53.4% of South Lanarkshire Council employees disclosed their sexual orientation. While this percentage remains low it this is an increase of 9.9% on the previous figures reported in March 2020. Of those who declared their sexuality 52.2% identify as heterosexual/straight and 1.2% identify as LGBO. The remaining employees have chosen not to record their sexual orientation. Not Disclosed 47.2% None 22.2% Church of Scotland 13.8% Roman Catholic 12.2% Other 4.6% Not Disclosed None Church of Scotland Roman Catholic Other 165
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Section Three 54 South Lanarkshire Council supports all employees and works to ensure that all LGBO employees are accepted without exception and that our policies and processes remain inclusive and considerate. Sexual orientation is one of the strands of the employee Network. Heterosexual/ Straight 52.2% LGBO 1.2% Not Declared 46.7% Heterosexual/ Straight LGBO Not Declared 166
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Section Three 55 Recruitment South Lanarkshire Council are committed to providing the best possible recruitment service and are working to remove any barriers to equality of opportunity at all stages of the recruitment process. All job applicants are given the opportunity to complete an equality monitoring questionnaire. This is voluntary, confidential, and forms no part of the recruitment and selection process. The information requested includes age, gender, transgender status, sexual orientation, disability, national identity, ethnic background, religion or belief, marital status, and caring responsibilities. Guaranteed interviews are available to people with disabilities who meet the essential criteria requirements for the post, they will be invited to a selection event. This also applies to Veterans whose previous employer has been the armed forces. Adjustments due to a disability will be made to enable people with disabilities to apply for a post or to attend the selection event. Examples of adjustments may be a large print or audio application form, location with ramp access, a sign language interpreter or information in large print. South Lanarkshire Council has a recruitment charter that outlines our commitments to job applicants. Currently all applications are made online through My Job Scotland. However, a recent focus on equality issues from the Scottish Government with regard to the national Modern Apprenticeship programme, led the Council to examine recruitment practices for this group. It has always been difficult to attract applicants from an ethnic minority background to any of our Modern and Craft Apprenticeships. Measures are in place to try to increase applications for these opportunities from people from an ethnic minority background as well as those who are care experienced (people who have previously been looked after by the local authority). These measures included: • additional wording to encourage applications from people from an ethnic minority background as well as those who are care experienced • sharing adverts with the Council’s Diversity Officer – who in turn shares with the Employee Network and the local Syrian Re-settlement Officer • increased use of social media when advertising and closer direct links with schools regarding Modern Apprenticeship careers The data in relation to Modern Apprentice appointments for the last year, indicate that these measures have improved South Lanarkshire’s recruitment profile in relation to the current Scottish figures. The figures for are collected and collated nationally by Skills Development Scotland. At 31st March 2020 27.7% of people who took part in the Modern Apprentice programme declared a disability/health impairment, health condition or learning disability this was above the national figure of 15.4%. at 31st March 2022 the figure was 14.3% again above the national figure of 13.3%. Ethnicity figures for the Modern Apprentice programme at 31st March 2020 show that South Lanarkshire Council was 5.9% above the national figure of 2.4%, however at 31st March 2022 we had no recruits to the Modern Apprentice programme who identified as having an ethnic minority background the national figure was 3.1%. To improve Modern Apprentice applications in terms of people identifying as having an ethnic minority background we have taken positive action by including text in vacancies to encourage applications and share the opportunities with various equality groups. Recruitment processes are regularly reviewed, in particular to identify opportunities to increase the diversity of our workforce by recruiting more people from ethnic minority 167
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Section Three 56 backgrounds. To help us to make the most of our recruitment opportunities we will take account of the recent Scottish Government publication Ethnic minority Recruitment Toolkit. Recruitment and selection is based purely on the ability to complete the job. In line with the Council’s policy on flexible working, all posts are suitable for flexible working unless advertised to the contrary, and an applicant user guide to the on-line application process is available and can be downloaded from the on-line recruitment platform. The employee figures are not significantly robust for the areas of gender identity, religion and belief or sexual orientation and as such the information presented below provides an analysis by age, disability, ethnicity, and gender as provided by job applicants. This information is used by the Council’s personnel managers and diversity liaison officers to ensure access to appropriate supports are in place for candidates and successful appointees and also to ensure that the Council’s recruitment practice is working fairly and effectively. Where issues are identified, managers are supported to ensure the process remains fair and open. Full details about recruitment and protected characteristics are provided as an Appendix. A summary analysis is detailed below. During the year, 2021-22, the council recruited for 2,788 posts, this resulted in 2,199 appointments being made. A total of 13,071 applications were received for these posts. 98.7% of applicants completed an equal opportunities form. Using the information provided in the equal opportunities forms, the majority of applications were made by women (63.5%). Of the candidates interviewed, 67.5% were women. The number of applicants who identify as being from an ethnic minority group has increased from 2.8% in 2018-19 to 3.1% in 2019-20 and 3.8% in 2021-22. Of those interviewed, 2.7% declared they identified as having a ethnic minority background. The number of applicants who have declared a disability decreased 5.2% in 2019-20 to 3.5% in 2021-22. Of those interviewed 4.1% had declared a disability. South Lanarkshire Council is a Disability Confident employer and promotes this in vacancy information and in our recruitment charter. Looking at applicants by age, the highest number of applicants were under 50, 82.6%. The over 50 age group made up 16.0% of applications. There were 1.4% of applicants who chose not to disclose their age. 168
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Section Three 57 Training All employees are given access to learning and development opportunities. All applications for internal and external training are monitored. During 2021-22, South Lanarkshire Council delivered 1,312 learning events. The total number of attendees at these sessions was 19328. Recorded equalities information shows that 55.9% of attendees were women and 44.1% were men. Training places taken up by those who declared a disability is 1.1%, sitting slightly lower than the percentage of the workforce who declared a disability,1.55%, 8.1% of those who attended training events did not disclose their disability status. The age range with the majority of attendees is in the 50-59 year range, this is slightly higher than the average age of the council employee. The majority of people attending training identified as White 89.6%. We continue to schedule training flexibly to allow those who work have a flexible working pattern to attend training. The growing use of eLearning approaches has helped to allow employees to access learning and development at a time which suits them. Leavers Over the course of 2021-22, there was a total of 943 leavers. All employees are invited to take part in an exit survey and provide the reasons for leaving. This data shows that the top three reasons given for leaving were:- • career development 31.6%, • personal reasons 29.5%. • other teaching elsewhere 8.3% Of those who provided information on resignation relating to protected characteristics: • 74.5% were from women. • 1.8% declared their ethnic backgrounds as African, Asian, Caribbean or Black, Mixed or Multiple Ethnic Groups or Other Ethnic Group (data about specific ethnic backgrounds is not included due to low numbers), 8.6% did not state their ethnic background, and the remainder 89.4% declared their ethnic background as White/White others • 0.8% declared a disability, 87.6% stated they had no disabilities. Data about other protected characteristics and retention has not been included given the relatively low numbers. 169
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Section Three 58 Real Living Wage Along with a number of employers across South Lanarkshire the council pays the real Living Wage. The real Living Wage is an independently calculated rate based on the cost of living and is paid voluntarily by employers. The rate is calculated each year in November by The Resolution Foundation on an analysis of the wage that employees need to earn in order to afford the basket of goods required for a decent standard of living. This basket of goods includes housing, childcare, transport and heating costs. The Real Living Wage for 2022/2023 is £10.90 (£11.95 for London wages). South Lanarkshire council has been paying the living wage to its employees since 2011 and achieved accreditation as a living wage employer in 2016. Job evaluation The Equality Act 2010 defines a job evaluation scheme as ‘a study undertaken to evaluate the jobs being done in terms of the demands made on a person by reference to factors such as effort, skill and decision-making’. Every aspect of the Council’s Job Evaluation Scheme is scrutinised to ensure that it does not discriminate on grounds of gender, race, disability or age and to ensure that the tasks and evidence gathered do not contain any form of bias. The aim of our Job Evaluation Scheme and processes is to minimise subjectivity and make decisions about jobs in a rational, consistent and transparent manner. It is important to recognise that any assessment of a job's total demands relative to another will always contain elements of subjectivity. The process of job evaluation is carried out using the South Lanarkshire Council 555 Grading Scheme (555 Grading Scheme). The Job Evaluation Scheme is an analytical process and is accepted by the courts as an appropriate method for determining whether jobs are, or are not, equivalent. The 555 Grading Scheme is used to determine the grade and level for the identified tasks for post(s) and the value of jobs relative to others in the organisation. Job evaluation is used to establish key tasks for a new post or review tasks where an existing post has undergone a significant change i.e. more than 33% of the job has altered. The Job Evaluation Scheme applies to all South Lanarkshire Council employees, with the exception of employees covered by the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers (SNCT) conditions i.e. teachers and associated professionals. 170
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Section Three 59 Employee data summary and conclusion South Lanarkshire Council is fully committed to the principles and practice of diversity and equality. We regularly analyse relevant workforce data so that we can identify trends, disproportionality, and opportunities for further improvement. We are responsive to socio-economic changes over time and our approach to diversity and equality continues to change and grow. Collecting good quality data about our workforce, employees, and job applicants, is important to provide us with accurate data about the diversity of the workforce. Data is analysed so that it can be used to ensure that the Council has fair and open recruitment practices, that employees are given fair access to learning and development and promotion opportunities, as well as, ensuring that in as far as possible the workforce is reflective of the South Lanarkshire Community. The information is also used to look at opportunities for continuous improvement. Workforce monitoring data is reported to the senior management team on a regular basis. Our analysis of the data within this year’s diversity report indicates that our policies and practice are supportive of the equality protected characteristics. We have identified some areas where the data analysis suggests further examination is useful and where applicable, have detailed this throughout the report and below. We will explore options for positive action to increase the number of applicants from groups who are underrepresented in our workforce. Recent events in America, have highlighted social injustices experienced by people from BAME backgrounds. South Lanarkshire Council is committed, both as an employer and through delivery of our services, to help improve the opportunities and life choices available to people from every part of our community. We will continue to provide young people with Modern Apprenticeships, giving them access to paid work experience and qualifications to help support their future life choices and career plans. We would also like to see the number of job applicants from people with disabilities increase. We recognise the value in having a diverse workforce and the additional skills that some individuals with disabilities can bring. We plan to establish an internal working group identifying improvements in recruitment for those groups who are under-represented. Through our policies and practices, we work to ensure they have a positive effect on all employees and that we value diverse backgrounds and characteristics. We will continue to encourage employees to have a voice in how we can become a more diverse and inclusive organisation either through various working groups and/or the employee network. 171
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Section Four 60 Diversity and equality monitoring The tables below allow comparisons over the period March 2014 - to March 2022. For certain characteristics, some employees have not provided a response or prefer not to provide the information. The level of disclosure is increasing, however it should be noted that providing this information is voluntary. Employee profile The average age of employees continues to drop, and at March 2020 was 45.0. the graph below illustrates the changes in the age ranges since 2014. The graph highlights the highest percentage increase at March 2022 is in the over 65 age range (28.79% increase). The highest percentage decrease (-7.65% decrease) at 31st March 2022 is in 50-59 age range. An additional option “Other Sexual Orientation” is now included at the sexual orientation question. The data presented in the tables is at 31 March for the years 2014, 2016, 2018, 2020 and 2022. Information before 31 March 2022 has previously been reported in earlier mainstreaming reports and is included for comparison purposes. Age Mar-22 Mar-20 Mar-18 Mar-16 Mar-14 Under 21 1.14% 1.09% 0.66% 0.36% 0.72% 21 - 29 12.37% 11.62% 10.46% 9.37% 9.96% 30 - 39 21.14% 20.73% 19.68% 19.26% 18.44% 40 - 49 22.58% 22.92% 24.48% 25.22% 26.62% 50 - 59 28.56% 30.74% 32.38% 32.05% 32.25% 60 - 65 11.51% 10.98% 10.39% 11.42% 9.71% Over 65 2.71% 1.93% 1.94% 2.33% 2.3% Table 1 - age Ethnicity Mar-22 Mar-20 Mar-18 Mar-16 Mar-14 Any Other Background 0.1% 0.11% 0.12% 0.15% 0.14% Arab - British/Scottish 0.0% 0.02% 0.01% 0.00% 0.00% Arab - Other 0.0% 0.01% 0.01% 0.00% 0.00% Asian - Bangladeshi 0.0% 0.01% 0.01% 0.01% 0.01% Asian - Chinese 0.0% 0.06% 0.04% 0.03% 0.02% Asian - Indian 0.2% 0.17% 0.17% 0.14% 0.14% Asian - Other 0.2% 0.18% 0.12% 0.12% 0.11% Asian - Pakistani 0.3% 0.24% 0.17% 0.16% 0.14% Black - African 0.1% 0.07% 0.07% 0.08% 0.08% Black - Caribbean 0.0% 0.02% 0.01% 0.01% 0.01% Black - Other 0.1% 0.06% 0.05% 0.03% 0.03% Mixed Background 0.2% 0.13% 0.17% 0.19% 0.17% White - Eastern European 0.1% 0.10% 0.07% 0.04% 0.00% White - Gypsy/Traveller 0.0% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% White - Irish 0.5% 0.52% 0.48% 0.50% 0.53% White - Other British 3.5% 3.33% 3.29% 3.23% 3.19% White - Other White 1.1% 0.95% 0.94% 1.01% 1.15% White - Scottish 89.0% 90.95% 90.75% 92.40% 92.87% Not Disclosed 0.4% 0.29% 0.34% 0.38% 0.45% Details not entered 4.2% 2.79% 3.18% 1.52% 0.96% 172
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Section Four 61 Table 2 – ethnicity National identity Mar-22 Mar-20 Mar-18 Mar-16 Mar-14 British 9.72% 9.51% 5.33% 4.62% 4.61% English 0.48% 0.46% 0.27% 0.25% 0.24% Northern Irish 0.18% 0.15% 0.06% 0.06% 0.07% Other 0.85% 0.58% 0.26% 0.16% 0.13% Scottish 46.10% 37.26% 20.72% 17.01% 16.82% Welsh 0.08% 0.07% 0.04% 0.03% 0.04% Prefer not to say 0.12% 0.06% 0.02% 0.00% 0.00% Prefer not to answer 0.44% 0.43% 0.32% 0.28% 0.28% Details not entered 42.02% 51.48% 72.99% 77.60% 77.81% Table 3 – national identity Religion or Belief Mar-22 Mar- 20 Mar-18 Mar-16 Mar-14 Buddhist 0.07% 0.07% 0.04% 0.03% 0.03% Church of Scotland 13.85% 12.73% 8.31% 7.43% 7.61% Hindu 0.04% 0.03% 0.01% 0.01% 0.01% Humanist 0.24% 0.27% 0.11% 0.09% 0.07% Jewish 0.03% 0.03% 0.02% 0.01% 0.01% Muslim 0.30% 0.22% 0.07% 0.07% 0.06% None 3.47% 16.27% 7.00% 5.08% 4.79% Other Christian 3.47% 3.10% 1.82% 1.67% 1.61% Other Religion 0.33% 0.32% 0.22% 0.18% 0.18% Pagan 0.07% 0.06% 0.06% 0.05% 0.04% Roman Catholic 12.22% 10.05% 5.81% 4.84% 4.65% Sikh 0.04% 0.04% 0.04% 0.03% 0.03% Prefer not to answer 3.77% 3.08% 1.89% 1.61% 1.69% Details not entered 43.42% 53.74% 74.61% 78.90% 79.22% Table 4 – religion or belief Sexual Orientation Mar-22 Mar-20 Mar-18 Mar-16 Mar-14 Bisexual 0.37% 0.22% 0.06% 0.06% 0.06% Gay 0.01% 0.02% 0.07% 0.06% 0.06% Gay/Lesbian 0.77% 0.49% 0.02% N/A N/A Heterosexual/Straight 52.15% 42.72% 23.07% 19.25% 18.73% Lesbian 0.01% 0.01% 0.07% 0.05% 0.05% Prefer not to answer 2.51% 2.05% 1.27% 1.11% 1.20% Details not entered 44.14% 54.49% 75.47% 79.47% 79.89% Other Sexual Orientation 0.03% Table 5 – sexual orientation 173
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Section Four 62 Disability by Resource Percentage Mar-22 Mar-20 Yes No Not Declared Yes No Not Declared Community and Enterprise Resources 0.92% 91.98% 7.10% 1.10% 93.71% 5.19% Education Resources 1.19% 90.10% 8.71% 1.12% 91.12% 7.76% Finance and Corporate Resources 2.83% 79.85% 17.32$ 3.26% 81.08% 15.67% Housing and Technical Resources 4.14% 82.47% 13.39% 4.15% 81.47% 14.38% Social Work Resources 1.60% 87.85% 10.55% 1.80% 86.62% 11.58% South Lanarkshire Council 1.55% 88.88% 9.57% 1.65% 89.33% 9.02% Mar-18 Mar-16 Yes No Not Declared Yes No Not Declared Community and Enterprise Resources 1.21% 94.78% 4.01% 1.47% 95.17% 0.95% Education Resources 1.22% 92.01% 6.77% 1.50% 92.54% 2.84% Finance and Corporate Resources 3.19% 79.88% 16.92% 3.39% 74.35% 20.48% Housing and Technical Resources 4.60% 80.01% 15.38% 4.62% 79.31% 3.34% Social Work Resources 2.19% 85.22% 12.60% 2.49% 83.35% 13.12% South Lanarkshire Council 1.85% 89.38% 8.77% 2.14% 88.96% 5.24% Mar-14 Yes No Not Declared Not Entered Community and Enterprise Resources 1.53% 93.87% 0.77% 3.83% Education Resources 1.74% 92.74% 3.22% 2.29% Finance and Corporate Resources 3.65% 70.65% 23.88% 1.82% Housing and Technical Resources 4.78% 79.02% 3.42% 12.78% Social Work Resources 2.79% 80.93% 15.44% 0.83% South Lanarkshire Council 2.36% 88.08% 5.89% 3.67% Table 6 – disability by resource Gender by Resource percentage 174
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Section Four 63 Mar-22 Mar-20 Mar-18 Mar-16 Mar-14 Gender Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Community and Enterprise Resources 53.50% 46.50% 50.71% 49.29% 50.71% 49.29% 50.42% 49.58% 49.58% 50.42% Education Resources 85.25% 14.75% 85.39% 14.61% 84.09% 15.91% 82.92% 17.08% 82.41% 19.59% Finance and Corporate Resources 74.60% 25.40% 75.89% 24.11% 75.73% 24.27% 68.80% 31.20% 67.23% 32.77% Housing and Technical Resources 33.45% 66.55% 33.40% 66.60% 33.86% 66.14% 45.27% 54.73% 45.89% 54.11% Social Work Resources 85.03% 14.97% 85.33% 14.67% 85.32% 16.48% 84.81% 15.19% 85.04% 14.96% South Lanarkshire Council 73.68% 26.32% 72.40% 27.60% 71.87% 28.13% 70.80% 29.20% 70.05% 29.95% ``Table 7 – gender by resource 175
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Section Four 64 Access to training Through the Council’s Personal Development and Review process all employees are given access to learning and development opportunities. Applications and attendance at internal and external training are monitored and the figures provided by attendees is shown below. Information relating to the numbers of courses delivered is shown below: • between 1 April 2016 and 31 March 2017 = 2543 • between 1 April 2017 and 31 March 2018 = 2099 • between 1 April 2019 and 31 March 2020 = 1936 • between 1 April 2021 and 31 March 2022 = 1312 Gender Mar-22 Mar-20 Mar-18 Mar-16 Mar-14 Male 44.06% 27.08% 34.60% 28.91% 37.39% Female 55.94% 72.92% 65.40% 71.09% 62.61% Disability Mar-22 Mar-20 Mar-18 Mar-16 Mar-14 Disabled 1.08% 1.33% 1.80% 1.86% 1.86% Not Disabled 90.80% 83.60% 88.60% 86.98% 85.95% Not Disclosed 2.90% 2.72% 3.80% 4.85% 5.42% Not Entered 5.22% 12.35% 5.90% 6.31% 6.77% Ethnicity Mar-22 Mar-20 Mar-18 Mar-16 Mar-14 White – Scottish 89.59% 82.65% 90.60% 91.34% 92.04% White - Other British 3.22% 2.98% 2.60% 2.89% 2.73% White – Irish 0.48% 0.57% 0.50% 0.48% 0.57% White - Any other Background 0.88% 1.09% 0.90% 0.94% 1.15% Asian – Pakistani 0.05% 0.15% 0.20% 0.30% 0.24% All Others 5.79% 12.57% 5.30% 4.04% 3.28% Age Mar-22 Mar-20 Mar-18 Mar-16 Mar-14 Under 21 Years 2.51% 3.07% 2.40% 2.53% 2.51% 21-29 Years 19.74% 19.54% 17.00% 17.69% 16.96% 30-39 Years 21.02% 20.96% 20.20% 19.45% 17.80% 40-49 Years 21.02% 23.54% 25.40% 26.79% 28.29% 50-59 Years 25.31% 24.80% 26.60% 26.43% 27.92% 60-65 Years 8.25% 6.69% 7.00% 5.84% 5.44% Over 65 Years 2.15% 1.41% 1.50% 1.27% 1.08% 176
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Section Four 65 Recruitment monitoring As part of the myjobscotland partnership the Council collects monitoring information across all protected characteristics. The figures are not significantly robust for the areas of gender identity, religion and belief or sexual orientation and as such the information presented below provides an analysis by age, disability, ethnicity, and gender as provided by job applicants. This information is used by the Council’s personnel managers and diversity liaison officers to ensure access to appropriate supports are in place for candidates and successful appointees and also to ensure that the Council’s recruitment practice is working fairly and effectively. Where issues are identified, managers are supported to ensure the process remains fair and open. From : 1 April 2021 - 31 March 2022 Total Number of applications received: 13071 Total Number of Equal Opportunities Monitoring forms received: 12907 Total Number of posts recruited for: 2788 Total Number of appointments: 2199 Age/Disability/Ethnicity/Gender Applied Interviewed Appointed Total EO Forms Received 12907 5233 2116 Total No of Male Applicants 4670 1717 521 Total No of Female Applicants 8200 3591 1569 Total No of Disabled Applicants 453 218 63 Total No of applicants aged under 50 10661 4281 1732 Total No of applicants aged over 50 2059 926 349 Total No of White applicants 12268 4996 2047 Total No of Black/Ethnic minority applicants* 492 142 33 Total No of Veteran applicants 132 78 0 *Black/Ethnic Minority applicants include Mixed, Asian, Black and other backgrounds. From : 1 April 2020 - 31 March 2021 Total Number of applications received: 21586 Total Number of Equal Opportunities Monitoring forms received: 21126 Total Number of posts recruited for: 1685 Total Number of appointments: 2855 Age/Disability/Ethnicity/Gender Applied Interviewed Appointed Total EO Forms Received 21126 7008 2561 Total No of Male Applicants 7445 2439 697 Total No of Female Applicants 13406 4695 1851 Total No of Disabled Applicants 1150 482 95 Total No of applicants aged under 50 16917 5784 2065 Total No of applicants aged over 50 3970 1428 437 Total No of White applicants 20057 6980 2384 Total No of Black/Ethnic minority applicants* 727 221 58 Total No of Veteran applicants 31 10 0 177
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Section Four 66 *Black/Ethnic Minority applicants include Mixed, Asian, Black and other backgrounds. 1 April 2019 - 31 March 2020 Total Number of applications received: 20090 Total Number of Equal Opportunities Monitoring forms received: 19594 Total Number of posts recruited for: 1098 Total Number of appointments: 2726 Age/ Disability/Ethnicity/Gender Applied Interviewed Appointed Total EO Forms Received 19612 6613 2438 Total No of Male Applicants 6372 2053 568 Total No of Female Applicants 12987 4685 1858 Total No of Disabled Applicants 1028 464 89 Total No of applicants aged under 50 15793 5432 1933 Total No of applicants aged over 50 3703 1441 489 Total No of White applicants 18585 6634 2271 Total No of Black/Ethnic minority applicants* 604 189 51 *Black/Ethnic Minority applicants include Mixed, Asian, Black and other backgrounds. 1 April 2018 - 31 March 2019 Total Number of applications received: 13614 Total Number of Equal Opportunities Monitoring forms received: 13300 Total Number of posts recruited for: 884 Total Number of appointments: 2060 Age/ Disability/Ethnicity/Gender Applied Interviewed Appointed Total EO Forms Received 13300 5880 2021 Total No of Male Applicants 4253 1638 393 Total No of Female Applicants 8836 4200 1478 Total No of Disabled Applicants 626 377 63 Total No of applicants aged under 50 8132 2950 983 Total No of applicants aged over 50 1660 721 204 Total No of White applicants 12615 5462 1811 Total No of Black/Ethnic minority applicants* 371 169 26 *Black/Ethnic Minority applicants include Mixed, Asian, Black and other backgrounds. Table 21 178
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Section Five 67 Pay Gap Analysis The information presented below outlines the full year 2022 pay gap analysis for the Council and Education Authority. Figures for the Council as a whole and for the Education Authority are provided for gender, disability and ethnicity. The pay gap for all employees, including teachers, has continued to fall since 2013 figures are shown below. • 2013 – 8.5% • 2014 – 8.1% • 2016 – 6.8% • 2018 – 5.78% • 2020 – 4.34% • 2022 – 4.00% Pay gap figures are provided in the tables below and show the average (mean) pay gap and the mid point (median) pay gap, for gender, ethnicity, and disability. The median pay gap is calculated by listing all employees' salaries from highest to lowest and comparing the number that sits in the middle. The Tables show the information as hourly rates and also annual salaries for part-time and full time employees, 179
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Section Five 68 Pay Gap position at 31 March 2022 Gender Pay Gap information. All SLC Employees (includes Teachers) hourly rates Basic Hourly Rate Male Female Total Count M/F Ratio Average Male Hourly Rate Average Female Hourly Rate Pay Gap (%) Median Male Salary Median Female Salary Median Pay Gap % Total 4447 12309 16,756 1:2 £17.27 £16.58 4.00% £16.85 £14.77 12.34% All SLC Employees (includes Teachers) annual rates Basic Salary Male Female Total Count M/F Ratio Average Male Basic Salary Average Female Basic Salary Pay Gap (%) Median Male Salary Median Female Salary Median Pay Gap % Total 4447 12309 16,756 1:2 £31,516.02 £30,256.84 4.00% £30,749.57 £26,953.77 12.34% 180
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Section Five 69 Full Time (Local Government (LG) employees) hourly rates Basic Hourly Rate Grade Male Female Total Count M/F Ratio Average Male Hourly Rate Average Female Hourly Rate Pay Gap (%) Median Male hourly Rate Median Female Hourly Rate Median Pay Gap % Grade 1 1090 1095 2,185 1:1 £11.11 £11.45 -3.06% £11.08 £11.73 -5.87% Grade 2 928 1144 2,072 1:1 £15.09 £14.86 1.52% £14.77 £14.77 0.00% Grade 3 648 722 1,370 1:1 £20.61 £21.16 -2.67% £21.02 £21.46 -2.09% Grade 4 93 113 34 1:1 £26.42 £25.68 2.80% £26.44 £25.64 3.03% Grade 5 40 51 91 1:1 £33.78 £34.59 -2.40% £34.31 £35.08 -2.24% Grade 6 8 9 17 1:1 £55.25 £54.82 0.78% £54.69 £54.69 0.00% Chief Officials 6 0 6 6:0 £79.92 £0.00 100.00% £77.22 £0.00 100.00% *salaries based on 35 hours per week therefore hours have been grossed up to equate to 1.0 fte Full Time (LG employees) annual rates Basic Salary Grade Male Female Total Count M/F Ratio Average Male Basic Salary Average Female Basic Salary Pay Gap (%) Median Male Basic Salary Median Female Basic Salary Median Pay Gap % Grade 1 1090 1095 2,185 1:1 £20,274.64 £20,895.11 -3.06% £20,219.89 £21,406.08 -5.87% Grade 2 928 1144 2,072 1:1 £27,537.74 £27,118.01 1.52% £26,953.77 £26,953.77 0.00% Grade 3 648 722 1,370 1:1 £37,611.19 £38,614.88 -2.67% £38,359.40 £39,162.35 -2.09% Grade 4 93 113 34 1:1 £48,213.86 £46,863.43 2.80% £48,250.36 £46,790.44 3.03% Grade 5 40 51 91 1:1 £61,645.12 £63,123.29 -2.40% £62,612.32 £64,017.49 -2.24% Grade 6 8 9 17 1:1 £100,825.73 £100,041.02 0.78% £99,803.78 £99,803.78 0.00% Chief Officials 6 0 6 6:0 £145,846.01 £0.00 100.00% £140,918.78 £0.00 100.00% *salaries based on 35 hours per week therefore hours have been grossed up to equate to 1.0 fte 181
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Section Five 70 Part Time (LG Employees) hourly rates Basic Hourly Rate Grade Male Female Total Count M/F Ratio Average Male Hourly Rate Average Female Hourly Rate Pay Gap (%) Median Male hourly Rate Median Female Hourly Rate Median Pay Gap % Grade 1 374 3942 4316 1:10 £10.89 £10.75 1.29% £11.08 £10.78 2.71% Grade 2 167 1284 1451 1:7 £15.30 £14.81 3.20% £15.21 £14.77 2.89% Grade 3 86 248 334 1:2 £20.59 £21.24 -3.16% £18.97 £21.46 -13.13% Grade 4 13 21 34 1:1 £26.24 £26.19 0.19% £26.44 £26.44 0.00% Grade 5 2 5 7 1:2 £37.85 £33.27 12.10% £37.85 £30.22 20.16% Grade 6 Chief Officials *salaries based on 35 hours per week therefore hours have been grossed up to equate to 1.0 fte Part Time (LG Employees) annual rates Basic Salary Grade Male Female Total Count M/F Ratio Average Male Basic Salary Average Female Basic Salary Pay Gap (%) Median Male Basic Salary Median Female Basic Salary Median Pay Gap % Grade 1 374 3942 4316 1:10 £19,878.04 £19,625.93 1.27% £20,219.89 £19,672.42 2.71% Grade 2 167 1284 1451 1:7 £27,920.97 £27,026.77 3.20% £27,756.73 £26,953.77 2.89% Grade 3 86 248 334 1:2 £37,574.69 £38,760.88 -3.16% £34,618.35 £39,162.35 -13.13% Grade 4 13 21 34 1:1 £47,885.38 £47,794.13 0.19% £48,250.36 £48,250.36 0.00% Grade 5 ** Grade 6 Chief Officials *salaries based on 35 hours per week therefore hours have been grossed up to equate to 1.0 fte **information for grade 5 has not been provided as the low number of employees within this grade could result in individuals being identified. 182
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Section Five 71 Disability Pay Gap information. Disability (All SLC Employees) hourly rates Basic Hourly Rate Non disabled (Excludes Null and Non disclosed) Declared disabled employees Total Employees Count Ratio Average Non Disabled Employee Hourly Rate Average Disabled Employee Hourly Rate Pay Gap (%) Median Non Disabled Employee Hourly Rate Median Disabled Employee Hourly Rate Median Pay Gap % Total 14920 260 15180 57:1 £16.77 £16.31 2.74% £14.77 £14.77 0.00% *figures exclude NULL and Non Disclosed employees Disability (All SLC Employees) annual rates Basic Salary Non disabled (Excludes Null and Non disclosed) Declared disabled employees Total Employees Count Ratio Average Non Disabled Employee Basic Salary Average Disabled Employee Basic Salary Pay Gap (%) Median Non Disabled Employee Salary Median Disabled Employee Salary Median Pay Gap % Total 14920 260 15180 57:1 £30,603.57 £29,764.12 2.74% £26,953.77 £26,953.77 0.00% *figures exclude NULL and Non Disclosed employees Disability (LG Employees) hourly rates Basic Hourly Rate Non disabled (Excludes Null and Non disclosed) Declared disabled employees Total Employees Count Ratio Average Non Disabled Employee Hourly Rate Average Disabled Employee Hourly Rate Pay Gap (%) Median Non Disabled Employee Hourly Rate Median Disabled Employee Hourly Rate Median Pay Gap % Total 10751 210 10961 51:1 £14.00 £14.77 -5.50% £12.06 £13.21 -9.54% *figures exclude NULL and Non Disclosed employees Disability (LG Employees) annual rates Basic Salary 183
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Section Five 72 Non disabled (Excludes Null and Non disclosed) Declared disabled employees Total Employees Count Ratio Average Non Disabled Employee Basic Salary Average Disabled Employee Basic Salary Pay Gap (%) Median Non Disabled Employee Salary Median Disabled Employee Salary Median Pay Gap % Total 10751 210 10961 51:1 £25,548.60 £26,953.77 -5.50% £22,008.29 £24,106.93 -9.54% *figures exclude NULL and Non Disclosed employees 184
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Section Five 73 Ethnicity Pay Gap Information. Ethnicity (All SLC Employees) hourly rates Basic Hourly Rate White Ethnic minority Staff Total Employees Count Average White Employee Hourly Rate Average Ethnic minority Basic Hourly Rate Pay Gap (%) Median White Employee Hourly Rate Median Ethnic minority Employee hourly Rate Median Pay Gap % Total 15714 311 16025 £16.74 £17.96 -7.29% £14.77 £16.85 -14.08% *figures exclude NULL and Non Disclosed employees Ethnicity (All SLC Employees) annual rates Basic Salary White Ethnic minority Staff Total Employees Count Average White Employee Hourly Rate Average Ethnic minority Basic Hourly Rate Pay Gap (%) Median White Employee Hourly Rate Median Ethnic minority Employee hourly Rate Median Pay Gap % Total 15307 281 15588 £30,548.83 £32,775.20 -7.29% £26,953.77 £30,749.57 -14.08% *figures exclude NULL and Non Disclosed employees Ethnicity (LG Employees) hourly rates Basic Hourly Rate White Ethnic minority Staff Total Employees Count Average White Employee Hourly Rate Average Ethnic minority Basic Hourly Rate Pay Gap (%) Median White Employee Hourly Rate Median Ethnic minority Employee hourly Rate Median Pay Gap % Total 11541 206 11747 £14.13 £15.52 -9.84% £12.06 £13.30 -10.28% *figures exclude NULL and Non Disclosed employees Ethnicity (LG Employees) annual rates Basic Salary White Ethnic minority Staff Total Employees Count Average White Employee Hourly Rate Average Ethnic minority Basic Hourly Rate Pay Gap (%) Median White Employee Hourly Rate Median Ethnic minority Employee hourly Rate Median Pay Gap % Total 11541 206 11747 £25,785.84 £28,322.45 -9.84% £22,008.29 £24,271.17 -10.28% *figures exclude NULL and Non Disclosed employees 185
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Section Five 74 Pay Gap information - (Education Employees covered by SNCT conditions). The figures in the tables below are shown as at 31st March 2022. The gender split within the workforce for previous years are shown below: • 31st March 2016 the split was 26.8% male and 73.2% female. • 31st March 2018 the split was 24.0% male and 76.0% female. • 31st March 2020 the spilt was 21.2% male and 78.8% female which represents a drop in male teaching staff. • 31st March 2022 the spilt was 24.5% male and 73.5% female, which represents an increase in female teaching staff. The gender pay gap for all teaching employees increased from 3.0% in 2016 to 5.78% in 2018 and reduced to 4.02% in 2020 and further reduced to 2.12% in 2022. Gender Pay Gap information - (Education Employees covered by SNCT conditions). Full Time (Education Employees covered by SNCT conditions) hourly rates Basic Hourly Rate Male Female Total Count M/F Ratio Average Male Hourly Rate Average Female Hourly Rate Pay Gap (%) Median Male Hourly Rate Median Female Hourly Rate Median Pay Gap % Total 908 2798 3,706 1:9 £24.01 £23.50 2.12% £23.26 £23.26 0.00% Full Time (Education Employees covered by SNCT conditions) annual rates Basic Salary Male Female Total Count M/F Ratio Average Male Basic Salary Average Female Basic Salary Pay Gap (%) Median Male Salary Median Female Salary Median Pay Gap % Total 908 2798 3,706 1:9 £43,815.85 £42,885.15 2.12% £42,447.17 £42,447.17 0.00% 186
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Section Five 75 Disability Pay Gap information - (Education Employees covered by SNCT conditions). Disability (Education Employees covered by SNCT conditions) Hourly Rates. Basic Hourly Rate Non disabled (Excludes Null and Non disclosed) Declared disabled employees Total Employees Count Ratio Average Non Disabled Employee Hourly Rate Average Disabled Employee Hourly Rate Pay Gap (%) Median Non Disabled Employee Hourly Rate Median Disabled Employee Hourly Rate Median Pay Gap % Total 4169 50 4219 83:1 £23.94 £22.76 4.93% £23.26 £23.26 0.00% *figures exclude NULL and Non Disclosed employees Disability (Education Employees covered by SNCT conditions) annual rates. Basic Salary Non disabled (Excludes Null and Non disclosed) Declared disabled employees Total Employees Count Ratio Average Non Disabled Employee Basic Salary Average Disabled Employee Basic Salary Pay Gap (%) Median Non Disabled Employee Salary Median Disabled Employee Salary Median Pay Gap % Total 4169 50 4219 83:1 £43,688.11 £41,534.72 4.93% £42,447.17 £42,447.17 0.00% *figures exclude NULL and Non Disclosed employees 187
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Section Five 76 Ethnicity Pay Gap information - (Education Employees covered by SNCT conditions). Ethnicity (Education Employees covered by SNCT conditions) hourly rates Basic Hourly Rate White Ethnic minority Staff Total Employees Count Average White Employee Hourly Rate Average Ethnic minority Basic Hourly Rate Pay Gap (%) Median White Employee Hourly Rate Median Ethnic minority Employee hourly Rate Median Pay Gap % Total 4173 105 4278 £23.94 £22.73 5.05% £23.26 £23.26 0.00% *figures exclude NULL and Non Disclosed employees Ethnicity (Education Employees covered by SNCT conditions) annual rates Basic Salary White Ethnic minority Staff Total Employees Count Average White Employee Basic Salary Average Ethnic minority Employee Basic Salary Pay Gap (%) Median White Employee Salary Median Ethnic minority Employee Salary Median Pay Gap % Total 4173 105 4278 £43,688.11 £41,479.98 5.05% £42,447.17 £42,447.17 0.00% *figures exclude NULL and Non Disclosed employees 188
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Section Five 77 Occupational segregation As part of the Council’s ongoing work on equal pay the tables below provide a breakdown of the key occupational areas and an overall analysis by grading. The figures show that there have been decreases of men across traditionally female roles of catering, however, there has been a slight increase in men working as school support assistants a traditionally female role. There continues to be an increase of women in the traditionally male role in grounds and road operatives. In relation to grading there have been continued increases for women at grade 2 and grade 4 levels. Occupational Segregation Position as at 31 March 2022 Male Female White Minority Ethnic Declared Disabled Non- Disabled Cleaning 8.39% 91.61% 95.05% 1.18% 0.32% 93.33% Catering 1.63% 98.37% 95.75% 0.65% 0.33% 92.97% Janitorial 52.60% 47.40% 99.48% 0.00% 1.04% 93.75% Refuse 95.31% 4.69% 94.95% 0.36% 0.36% 94.58% Grounds 95.02% 4.98% 82.47% 0.17% 1.20% 86.94% Home Care 12.21% 87.79% 98.64% 0.45% 0.81% 90.87% Road Operatives 89.40% 10.60% 97.42% 1.15% 2.58% 94.27% School Support 3.26% 96.74% 95.93% 1.50% 1.23% 92.40% Teaching staff breakdown Position at 31 March 2022 Male Female White Minority Ethnic Declared Disabled Non Disabled Early Years 1.87% 98.13% 94.15% 1.64% 1.25% 90.72% Primary Teachers 8.12% 91.88% 91.29% 1.00% 0.59% 90.43% Secondary Teachers 33.82% 66.18% 88.86% 1.94% 1.45% 88.81% Music Instructors 64.63% 35.37% 73.17% 2.44% 1.22% 65.85% Improvement Service 13.64% 86.36% 100.00% 0.00% 4.55% 95.45% Psychological Services 33.08% 76.92% 96.15% 0.00% 3.85% 88.46% Inclusion services 15.54% 84.47% 94.52% 1.37% 0.91% 90.41% 189
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Section six 78 Other Equality Reporting As well as the cycle of reporting required by law, in our mainstreaming equalities reports, the Council gathers and reports a wide range of workforce monitoring information to its elected members and Corporate Management Team (CMT). These include: - Report Frequency of reporting Workforce monitoring reports CMT Monthly Resource Committees In line with committee cycle Executive Committee 6 monthly Employee Issues Forum In line with meeting cycle Equal Opportunities Forum In line with meeting cycle Resource Parent Joint Consultative Committees (JCCs) In line with meeting cycle Local JCCs In line with meeting cycle If you would like this information in a different format or language, phone 0303 123 1015 or email equalities@southlanarkshire.gov.uk 190
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Report Agenda Item Report to: Executive Committee Date of Meeting: 21 June 2023 Report by: Executive Director (Community and Enterprise Resources) Subject: Strategic Environmental Assessment Progress 2022 - 2023 1. Purpose of Report 1.1. The purpose of the report is to:- [purpose] inform the Committee of the progress in carrying out Strategic Environmental Assessments (SEA) on the Council’s policies, plans, programmes and strategies [1purpose] 2. Recommendations 2.1. The Committee is asked to approve the following recommendations:- [re] (1) that the statutory requirement for Strategic Environmental Assessments (SEA) to inform the development of Council led policies, plans, programmes and strategies be noted. [1recs] 3. Background 3.1. The Environmental Assessment (Scotland) Act 2005 requires the Council, as a ‘Responsible Authority’, to carry out a Strategic Environmental Assessment of all its policies, plans, programmes and strategies (plans). 3.2. The SEA process helps to integrate environmental considerations into the preparation and adoption of plans. The SEA is carried out in a staged process alongside the preparation of the proposed plan. Throughout the process, the plan can be adjusted to mitigate negative, or enhance beneficial, environmental effects. 3.3. SEAs help to promote the Council’s commitment to sustainability and are a key priority within the Sustainable Development and Climate Change Strategy. SEAs are a valuable resource in raising the profile of environmental considerations and for facilitating holistic approaches to address the climate and nature emergencies. 3.4. A Corporate SEA Working Group meets regularly to oversee the progression of SEAs across the Council. Its remit also includes development and mainstreaming of employee knowledge and understanding of the SEA process and development of the skills needed to undertake assessments. The Group is chaired by the Planning Officer (SEA). 3.5. The SEA process is further supported by the publication of the biennial South Lanarkshire State of the Environment Report which provides the baseline environmental data. The 2021 edition of this report was approved by the Executive Committee in March 2022. Work on the 2023 edition is currently progressing. 12 191
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3.6. As part of the SEA process, the Council is also required to formally engage with the statutory Consultation Authorities (Historic Environment Scotland, Scottish Environment Protection Agency and NatureScot). This is facilitated by the Scottish Government’s SEA Gateway. 3.7. In March 2009, the Executive Committee delegated authority to the Chief Executive to make determinations on whether a Council led plan is exempt from SEA or if a full SEA would be carried out. In January 2020, the Chief Executive delegated this authority to the Executive Director (Community and Enterprise Resources). These determinations are collated by the SEA Gateway and issued to the statutory Consultation Authorities for consultation and agreement. This process is facilitated within the Council by the Planning Officer (SEA). 3.8. Although it is not a legal requirement to report on SEA progress to Committee, it is considered good practice to keep members informed. 4. Progress in Carrying Out SEAs 4.1. The Council has a statutory duty to consider and carry out an SEA for all its policies, plans, programmes and strategies as they are being developed or refreshed. During 2022/2023, a number of Council led plans were subject to SEA. 4.2. The SEA Act requires the Council to assess whether plans are within the scope of the legislation and whether SEA is required. This can be considered through either Pre- screening or Screening. 4.3. Three assessments of plans were completed at the Pre-screening stage. At this stage, the Council informed the Scottish Government’s SEA Gateway of its opinion that these plans were exempt from SEA as their implementation would have no, or minimal, effect on the environment. These are detailed in Table 1. Table 1: Pre-screening completions 2022/2023 Lead Resource Plan Community and Enterprise Economic Development Strategy Finance and Corporate Digital Strategy South Lanarkshire Leisure and Culture Ltd Leisure and Culture Strategy 4.4. Four plans were finalised at Screening stage. A formal determination was made and agreed by the Consultation Authorities that further SEA work was not required for them. These are detailed in Table 2. Table 2: Screening completions 2022/2023 Lead Resource Plan Community and Enterprise Supporting Planning Guidance: Community Infrastructure Assessment Tourism Strategy Development Framework Hagshaw Energy Cluster: Planning for Net Zero Supporting Planning Guidance: Local Nature Reserves 4.5. During 2022/2023, the Community Plan, Council Plan, Sustainable Development and Climate Change Strategy and the Local Housing Strategy were all subject to full SEA. Workshops, involving staff from across the Council and partners, were held to facilitate 192
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the scope of each assessment. These were considered by the Consultation Authorities and agreed. Following a comprehensive process, the assessment findings for each of these plans were set out in Environmental Reports and submitted to the SEA Gateway. The conclusions of the four individual assessments were well received by the Consultation Authorities. 4.6. The final stage of the SEA process is the preparation and submission of a Post Adoption Statement to the SEA Gateway. The Post Adoption Statement sets out the key findings from the SEA and how these have been taken account of in the final adopted plan. In 2022/2023, the Community Plan, Council Plan and the Sustainable Development and Climate Change Strategy were adopted, and Post Adoption Statements were submitted, as statutorily required. The Post Adoption Statement for the Local Housing Strategy was prepared and submitted in May 2023. 4.7. The Strategic Environmental Assessment work continues to promote the protection and enhancement of the South Lanarkshire environment for our people and communities. 5. Employee Implications 5.1. SEAs are resourced by existing staff. 6. Financial Implications 6.1. SEAs are resourced within existing budgets. 7. Climate Change, Sustainability and Environmental Implications 7.1. Strategic Environmental Assessment is a valuable tool for the Council and partners in strategic planning. It safeguards South Lanarkshire’s natural and built environment and is a useful tool to help address both the climate and nature emergencies. 8. Other Implications 8.1. Failure to make a formal determination in relation to a plan could result in the SEA process having to be restarted, leading to a delay in the development of the plan. Council actions in relation to SEA are also open to legal challenge and it is, therefore, important to ensure compliance with the legislation. 9. Equality Impact Assessment and Consultation Arrangements 9.1. This report does not introduce a new policy, function or strategy or recommend a significant change to an existing policy, function or strategy and, therefore, no impact assessment is required. The report is for information only and consultation on its contents is not required. David Booth Executive Director 26 May 2023 Link(s) to Council Values/Priorities/Outcomes Focussed on people and their needs Accountable, effective, efficient and transparent Fair, open and sustainable Previous References Executive Committee, 25 March 2009 193
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List of Background Papers South Lanarkshire State of the Environment Report 2021 (approved by Executive Committee, March 2022) Contact for Further Information If you would like to inspect the background papers or want further information, please contact:- Jennifer Murphy Planning Officer (Strategic Environmental Assessment) Email: jennifer.murphy@southlanarkshire.gov.uk 194
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Report Agenda Item Report to: Executive Committee Date of Meeting: 21 June 2023 Report by: Executive Director (Finance and Corporate Resources) Subject: Resource Plans and Connect Reporting 2023 to 2024 1. Purpose of Report 1.1. The purpose of the report is to:- [purpose] provide the Committee with copies of the Resource Plans for 2023 to 2024, for noting, together with an indication of how the Council Plan, Connect, will be reported in the year [1purpose] 2. Recommendation(s) 2.1. The Committee is asked to approve the following recommendation(s):- [] (1) that the Resource Plans 2023 to 2024, prepared in line with revised corporate Guidance, be noted; and (2) that the reporting intention in relation to Connect, summarised at Section 5 of this report, be noted. 3. Background 3.1. This report presents the suite of Resource Plans 2023 to 2024 (Appendix 1). These plans have already been approved by the relevant Resource Committees. This report also provides an indication of how the Council Plan, Connect, will be reported in the year. 4. Resource Planning Process 2023 to 2024 4.1. The Resource Plans for 2023 to 2024 were prepared in line with corporate Resource Planning guidance and a Resource Plan template and updated to take account of the new Priorities and Outcomes in the Council Plan Connect 2022 to 2027. 4.2. As part of the Resource Planning process, Resources undertake a horizon-scanning and situational-awareness exercise covering Social Change, Legislation and Policies; Areas for Improvement, including LGBF, customer views and external inspection results; and other triggers for action such as top risks. 4.3. From this exercise, a maximum of ten topics are selected as key areas of focus for inclusion and development in the Resource Plans. The key areas are shown in table 1 below and are provided to supply Committee with an overview of the most significant Resource Plan issues identified for 2023 to 2024. 13 195
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Table 1: Key areas of focus in Resource Plans 2023-24 CER Cost of living crisis Sustainable Development and Climate Change Economic Development and Renewal Fair, Healthy and Sustainable Food System Circular Economy Glasgow City Region City Deal UK Government Shared Prosperity Funding Health and Wellbeing Legislative and Policy Changes EDR Cost of living crisis Health and wellbeing for learning Equity Curriculum, learning, teaching and assessment Digital learning and inclusion Climate change and Sustainability Communication and engagement FCR Cost of living crisis Financial Strategy Involving our Communities Deliver effective Employability Services to support Individuals and Business Recruitment and Retention Oracle Fusion Strategic digital developments Sustainable development and climate change HTR Cost of living crisis Housing to 2040 Financial Considerations Preventing and Alleviating Homelessness Continuing to improve the supply and availability of housing Provision of Services to Gypsy/Travellers Health and Social Care Development of Integrated Housing and Property Management System Health and Safety Sustainable development and climate change Refugee re-settlement programme SWR Challenges and service demand Regulation and inspection of services Recruitment and retention Cost of living crisis COVID - 19 Continued Response and Recovery The Promise Delivering the strategic commissioning plan intentions Transformation and service improvement programme Social Work IT system replacement National Care Service 4.4. The cost of living crisis features as a challenge in the year ahead in all Resource Plans. Despite the return of services through the Council’s Recovery Plan, there is a Covid legacy in terms of a residual impact on some services and a significant build-up of demand. As a result, there remains an inevitable impact on performance in some areas. Sustainability and climate change feature strongly, as does tackling inequalities and achieving equity in the aftermath of Covid-19. Other topics which feature across 196
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a number of Plans include financial considerations, service transformation and efficiencies, health and wellbeing and engagement with communities. 5. Resource Plans – Outcomes, Measures and the Link to Connect 5.1. Resources have used the six Connect outcomes to generate their own Resource outcomes, supported by a range of actions and measures. Recognising that the Council continually aims to improve and ensure effective and efficient use of resources, additional actions and measures have been developed under the heading Delivering the Plan and achieving Best Value. 5.2. Table 2 below shows the number of measures from each Resource Plan selected to be reported against Connect. The figures for 2023-24 are based on the Resource Plans included at Appendix 1. Table 2: Number of measures from Resource Plans selected to be reported against Connect Number of measures 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24 Community and Enterprise 48 26 49 Education 47 65 64 Finance and Corporate 46 46 32 Housing and Technical 66 59 68 Social Work 38 38 28 TOTAL (Resource Plans) 245 234 241 Council Plan, Connect 108 66 70 (Note – 2023-24 figures correct per Resource Plans as at May 2023; the final number of measures may vary following internal verifications and cross-checks.) 5.3. As part of the performance reporting arrangements, Connect progress reports will be presented to the Performance and Review Scrutiny Forum for monitoring at the mid- year point (Quarter 2) and at the end of the financial year (Quarter 4). 6. Next Steps 6.1. Committee is asked to note the suite of Resource Plans 2023 to 2024, and to agree that progress reports be taken to the appropriate Resource Committees for monitoring at Quarter 2 and Quarter 4. 7. Employee Implications 7.1. There are no direct employee implications. 7.2. The Council acknowledges the serious and immediate threat of climate change and is committed to accelerating the pace of action in response to the climate emergency and in Scotland’s transition to a net-zero and climate resilient society and economy. All Resource Plans have recognised sustainable development and climate change as a key area of focus for 2023 to 2024. 8. Financial Implications 8.1. There are no direct financial implications. 9. Climate Change, Sustainability and Environmental Implications 9.1. There are no direct climate change, sustainability and natural environment implications arising from this report. 197
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10. Other Implications 10.1. Considering the detail of the report and identifying actions, as appropriate, contributes towards effective risk management. 11. Equality Impact Assessment and Consultation Arrangements 11.1. This report does not introduce a new policy, function or strategy or recommend a change to an existing policy, function or strategy and, therefore, no impact assessment is required. 11.2. Consultation was undertaken internally with Resources through the annual Resource Planning process and associated guidance. Paul Manning Executive Director (Finance and Corporate Resources) 22 May 2023 Link(s) to Council Values/Priorities/Outcomes Accountable, effective, efficient and transparent Ambitious, self-aware and improving Previous References Draft Resource Plans and Connect Reporting 2022-23: 24 August 2022 List of Background Papers None Contact for Further Information If you would like to inspect the background papers or want further information, please contact:- Tom Little, Head of Communications and Strategy Ext: 4904 (Tel: 01698.454904) E-mail: Tom.Little@southlanarkshire.gov.uk 198
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1 Community and Enterprise Resources Community and Enterprise Resource Plan 2023 – 2024 13 199
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2 Section Contents 1.0 Introduction 2.0 Key areas of focus for the year ahead 3.0 Resource outcomes 4.0 Measures and actions 5.0 Resourcing the Plan 200
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3 Section One – Introduction I am pleased to introduce our Resource Plan for 2023-24 which sets out our intended outcomes and priorities for the coming year. This is the main annual business planning document for the resource. It reflects the council’s key priorities as set out in the Council Plan ‘Connect’ and provides an overview of the resource’s main areas of activity. Our resource comprises the following four service areas – facilities, waste and grounds services; roads, transportation and fleet services; planning and regulatory services; and enterprise and sustainable development. The resource employs 3,413 people who together provide a wide range of services for local communities, including: delivering key services within schools and council premises, including cleaning, catering, receptionist, janitorial, concierge, and crossing patrol services keeping our streets clean and maintaining and developing public parks, open spaces, tree stock, fixed play areas, sports fields, golf courses, allotments, and food growing opportunities collecting and disposing of waste and encouraging recycling managing and maintaining the councils’ cemeteries and crematorium, providing bereavement services, and ensuring the provision of burial ground maintaining our roads and transportation network to support safe and effective transport, and promoting active travel procuring and managing the council’s vehicle fleet, including refuse collection, roads maintenance, street sweeping and passenger transport providing planning and building standard services which guide and control physical development and land use in the area, ensure the health and safety of persons in or about buildings, ensure the conservation of energy and the achievement of sustainable development protecting public health through the delivery of environmental health services providing trading standards to protect consumers and communities promoting economic development and delivering support for local businesses supporting town centres and physical regeneration leading the council in developing and promoting sustainability, supporting the transition to a net zero carbon economy, and addressing climate change, and leading the council in promoting and developing a fair, healthy, and sustainable food system The resource also has a significant role to play in managing the relationship between the council and South Lanarkshire Leisure and Culture (SLLC). SLLC deliver leisure and cultural services on behalf of the council and promote the health and wellbeing of South Lanarkshire residents through libraries, cultural venues, museum, arts centres, indoor and outdoor sports and leisure centres, community halls and country parks. The Resource Plan is an important element of the councils’ performance management arrangements and is complemented by the details of individual service plans and other key business plans and strategies. During 2023-24 services will continue to be involved in a series of council-wide transformational reviews to generate efficiencies which will inform how our services are shaped and delivered in the future. David Booth Executive Director Community and Enterprise Resources 201
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4 Section Two – Key areas of focus for the year ahead 2.0. Overview The resource has identified the main challenges, risks and new developments which will have significant impact on the delivery of services in the coming year. These are outlined briefly below. 2.1. Cost of Living Crisis The UK is experiencing the worst cost-of-living crisis in 40 years. With inflation soaring into double figures both the UK and the Scottish Government have formally recognised the severity of the crisis and have deployed emergency measures to help mitigate the effects of rising costs. While all sectors of society are seeing prices rise the impacts are greatest for those on the lowest incomes. The council recognises the immense pressures being faced by households across South Lanarkshire and acknowledges the potential for additional demands on council services. The council has identified a range of new and existing support which can help households manage scarce resources and services will continue to explore all avenues to support the most vulnerable in the year ahead. While doing all we can to support our communities in these difficult times, the council recognises that inflationary pressures will also present significant challenges for council services as budgets are increasingly squeezed by rising costs. 2.2. Sustainable Development and Climate Change The council acknowledges the serious and immediate threat of climate change and is committed to accelerating the pace of action in response to the climate emergency and in Scotland’s transition to a net-zero and climate resilient society and economy. It is expected that, as a public body, the council leads by example and uses its role to influence area-wide climate change action and sustainability. The Sustainable Development and Climate Change Strategy and action plan sets out how the council aims to develop sustainably and tackle climate change over the five year period from 2022 – 2027 and beyond. 2.3. Economic Development and Renewal The UK, Scottish, Glasgow City Region and South Lanarkshire economies are all facing real challenges following the global pandemic, our country’s new international trading position, the war in Ukraine and the climate emergency, all of which impact our lives now and in the foreseeable future. Economic recovery in South Lanarkshire will incorporate the principles of community wealth building and be framed around three key themes of sustainable development: People, Place and Business (or social, physical, and economic regeneration). These themes align council and pan-Lanarkshire activity with local, national and regional strategies, delivering the collaborative approach required to achieve sustainable and inclusive economic growth. The Economic Strategy (2022-27) sets out the key priorities and actions for the council and aims “to make South Lanarkshire a flourishing, green, dynamic and equitable place for all”. 2.4. Fair, Healthy and Sustainable Food System The council is committed to improving the lives and prospects of everyone in South Lanarkshire through the development of a Good Food Council; where food is celebrated, supports healthy life and wellbeing, is affordable and accessible to all, encourages a fair and inclusive food economy, has limited impacts on the environment and climate change, and promotes animal welfare. The Good Food Strategy (2020-2025) which is aligned with the national priority to make Scotland a Good Food Nation, provides a framework for actions to progress towards this vision. Community and Enterprise Resources has a key role in 202
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5 monitoring and implementing the strategy together with other resources and in collaboration with partners and third sector organisations. 2.5. Circular Economy At the time of writing, the Scottish Government is currently consulting on proposals for a Route Map to deliver a circular economy in Scotland (‘Delivering Scotland’s circular economy: A Route Map to 2025 and beyond), and on proposals for legislation in a Circular Economy Bill. The proposed Route Map will set out how we will reach 2025 waste and recycling targets and achieve a long-term goal of net zero by 2045. The outcome of this consultation will influence the decisions the council makes in over the next 5-10 years. 2.6. Glasgow City Region City Deal As part of the City Deal, the resource is leading the delivery of three major transportation projects being undertaken to boost South Lanarkshire’s access to the rest of Scotland. The Cathkin Relief Road in Rutherglen / Cambuslang is complete and the Greenhills Road project in East Kilbride substantially complete and open. Proposals in relation to Stewartfield Way are being developed through the preparation of the outline business case. The City Deal is also helping to deliver private housing led development in some of its Community Growth Areas, including new schools and community facilities. 2.7. UK Government Shared Prosperity Funding (UKSPF) Following the UK withdrawal from the European Union, the UK Government outlined proposals to replace EU funding with national funds to address structural and economic imbalances and to aid the public and private sector in delivering transformational change in communities. The delivery of the 3-year UK Shared Prosperity Funding (UKSPF) commenced in 2022. Economic Development Officers will work with council services and external partners on delivery of the UKSPF to maximise economic and community outcomes. 2.8. Health and Wellbeing This is a cross-cutting theme across Community and Enterprise Resources and covers a wide range of activities, from promoting healthy eating (via the Good Food Strategy and the provision of school meals), to the positive contribution that our partners SLLC make in ensuring inclusive access to sport, leisure and culture across our communities. Furthermore, the environmental health service promotes health protection practices and regulates public health across South Lanarkshire. Access to good quality greenspace and safe and accessible active travel routes are also a key priority for the resource, encouraging physical exercise and improving the wellbeing of our communities. The continuing preparation of the council’s Open Space Strategy will contribute to achieving these aims. In addition, the Planning Service and Economic Development team are working in collaboration with the Community Engagement team and NHS Lanarkshire on the Shaping Places for Wellbeing pilot project in Rutherglen, which seeks to address long standing health inequalities and tackle climate change issues in the town. 2.9. Legislative and Policy Changes New and revised legislation will also impact on the work of the resource during 2023-24, including: Climate Change Act (2019) - commits Scotland to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2045, with interim targets of 75% by 2030, 90% by 2040 (against 1990 baseline). The Scottish Government also has an ambition to be carbon neutral by 2040. The council, through the Sustainable Development and Climate Change Strategy Action Plan, will develop a route map for reducing the council’s direct and indirect carbon emissions. 203
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6 The Planning (Scotland) Act 2019 – the Scottish Government’s National Planning Framework 4 is due to be adopted in early 2023 when it will become part of the Development Plan alongside the Council’s Local Development Plan 2. Key outcomes include achieving sustainable development, tackling the climate and nature emergencies, encouraging high quality places, promoting 20 minute neighbourhoods, delivering a green economic recovery and improving the health and wellbeing of the population. It will be a primary consideration when determining planning applications. In addition, the Act introduces changes to the way Local Development Plans are prepared with particular emphasis on empowering communities. Work will formally start on LDP3 this year and the Open Space Strategy (also a new statutory duty under the Act) will be progressed. Building (Scotland) Regulations – changes to the Building Regulations intended to reduce emissions and improve the energy performance of buildings will be introduced in early 2023. Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 - designed to help make Scotland’s transport network cleaner, smarter and more accessible. It provides local transport authorities with powers to establish and operate municipal bus companies and for local authorities to manage vehicle emissions via the establishment of Low Emission Zones. The Act requires the production of a national strategy in relation to transport and this has been published. Themes in the National Transport Strategy include economic growth; carbon; equality; health/active travel. A balance will need to be struck between driving inclusive economic growth while achieving zero carbon ambitions. Another key provision of the Act is to prohibit the parking of vehicles on pavements, prohibit double parking and prohibit parking adjacent to dropped footways and to provide local authorities with powers to enforce these prohibitions. This provision will have significant employee and financial resourcing issues and timescales. Details of how the Act will be implemented in relation to its provisions are awaited. Deposit Return Scheme (2020) – introduces a deposit return scheme for single- use drinks containers, to help improve quality and quantity of recycling, reduce litter and achieve our climate change targets. This is expected to be implemented during 2023-24 and may require a review of our waste collection services to determine the level of impact in terms of: household residual waste tonnages and household recycling rates; and to determine whether collection routes and frequencies need to be reviewed as a consequence of residents’ change in behaviour. Free School Meals Roll Out - the Scottish Government is committed to extending free school meal provision to pupils in P6 and P7, however the timescales for this have still to be confirmed. EU Food Imports - phased implementation of checks on EU food imports were due to commence in 2021 and implementation has been delayed by UK Government. Food Standards Scotland (FSS) has indicated new Border Control Points in Scotland will not be ready and operational, which could require inland (point of destination) import controls. The central location and good transport links of South Lanarkshire is likely to mean the council will be asked to carry out import controls. It is not possible to quantify the potential increase in workload at this time and could lead to a reprioritisation of work during 2023-24. 204
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7 Section Three – Resource Outcomes 3.1. Resource Outcomes Community and Enterprise Resources has established the following Resource Outcomes to support the delivery of Connect Outcomes in 2023-24. Connect Outcomes Resource Outcomes Communities and Environment High-quality streets, parks and other public areas ensures South Lanarkshire is a place where people want to live, work, visit and invest Communities are encouraged and supported to reduce, re- use and recycle their waste The council addresses climate change by reducing carbon emissions, protecting our natural environment, adapting to the impacts of climate change, and acting sustainably The council supports and promotes a fairer, healthier, and more sustainable food system Communities are well connected All roads, footways, cycle routes, bridges and associated infrastructure are safe and fit for purpose Road and transportation infrastructure supports new development, enables use of public transport and encourages active travel The 20-minute neighbourhood principle is established in our communities to make our places more sustainable and liveable. Education and Learning No resource outcomes for this Connect outcome Health and Wellbeing Public health is safeguarded through an effective environmental regulation and enforcement service All school and nursery children have access to nutritious school meals Health inequalities are addressed through collaboration with local communities and partners All residents have the opportunity to access cultural, leisure and outdoor recreational activities to help improve their wellbeing and quality of life Children and Young People No resource outcomes for this Connect outcome Housing and Land Vacant, derelict and contaminated land is brought back into productive use Appropriate supply of housing land (including affordable housing) is maintained Our Economy South Lanarkshire is an attractive place to start, grow and locate a business Economic development and growth in South Lanarkshire are fair, inclusive, sustainable and low carbon Thriving town and neighbourhood centres provide a focal point for local communities Physical development and land use in the area is enabled, guided and controlled to help facilitate economic growth Consumers and communities are protected through an effective trading standards service 205
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8 3.2. Delivering the Plan and achieving Best Value In working towards the six outcomes, the council aims to continually improve and ensure effective and efficient use of resources, and our business will be conducted with integrity, transparency and will operate to the highest standards. Community and Enterprise Resources has established the following resource outcomes to support Delivering the Plan and achieving Best Value. Delivering the Plan and achieving Best Value Customers experience high quality and improving council services The council demonstrates high standards of governance and sound financial stewardship The workforce has the skills, flexibility and capacity to deliver the council’s priorities Digital and ICT services meet the needs of the council and its customers 206
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9 Section Four – Measures and actions 4.0. Performance measures and action plan This section of the Resource Plan is divided into two parts: part (a) sets out our main performance measures against our outcomes; and part (b) describes the key actions we will take in the coming year to respond to the challenges ahead and improve services and outcomes. 4.a. How we will measure our performance The ongoing effects of COVID-19 continue to have an impact on the performance of some services. The table below shows our performance measures, with data for the last two years, the target for 2023-24 and additional context for the targets is detailed within the note’s column where applicable. Resource Outcome: High-quality streets, parks and other public areas ensures South Lanarkshire is a place where people want to live, work, visit and invest Measure 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24 Target Links Service Notes 1. Percentage of streets found to be acceptable during Litter Monitoring System surveys (Locally set target) 92.1% LGBF Data for 2022-23 due January 2024 More than 2022-23 figure 01.09 Facilities, Waste and Grounds Target: more than previous year. 2. Land Audit Management System grounds maintenance score (Locally set target) 71.3 72.0 72.0 C01.09 Facilities, Waste and Grounds Target to remain at 72.0. Resource Outcome: Communities are encouraged and supported to reduce, re-use and recycle their waste Measure 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24 Target Links Service Notes 3. Percentage of total household waste that is recycled in 2023 (Locally set target) 41.5% (2021) 41.2% (2022) 50% C01.14 Facilities, Waste and Grounds Target to remain at 50%. 4. Percentage of household waste sent to landfill in 2023 (Locally set target) 8.66% (2021) 1.84% (2022) Less than 10% C01.06 Facilities, Waste and Grounds Target to remain at 10%. 207
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10 Resource Outcome: The council addresses climate change by reducing carbon emissions, protecting our natural environment, adapting to the impacts of climate change, and acting sustainably Measure 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24 Target Links Service Notes 5. Reduction in the council’s carbon emissions achieved by March 2024 (buildings, waste, street lighting, transport) (Locally set target) 17.0% 2022-23 data will be available in July 2023 Less than 2022-23 figure 01.13 Enterprise and Sustainable Development Target: reduction on the previous year Resource Outcome: Communities are well connected Measure 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24 Target Links Service Notes 6. Percentage of properties with Superfast Broadband >30Mbps (Locally set target) 97.0% 97.3% 99% C01.07 Enterprise and Sustainable Development Target has been increased 7. Percentage of properties with Full Fibre connection (Locally set target) 21.9% 32.6% 33% 01.07 Enterprise and Sustainable Development Target has been increased Resource Outcome: All roads, footways and bridges and associated infrastructure are safe and fit for purpose Measure 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24 Target Links Service Notes 8. Percentage of our road network that should be considered for maintenance treatment (Locally set target) 29.7% (2020- 2022) 30.8% (2021- 2023) Less than 30.8% C01.10 Roads, Transportation and Fleet Target: improvement on the previous year 9. Number of road casualties in South Lanarkshire during 2023 (Locally set target) 254 (2021) 279 (2022) Less than 279 C01.01 Roads, Transportation and Fleet Target: improvement on the previous year Resource Outcome: Public health is safeguarded through an effective environmental regulation and enforcement service Measure 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24 Target Links Service Notes 10. Broad compliance with food law statutory requirements secured in premises (Locally set target) 93.0% 96.0% 85.0% 01.11 Planning and Regulatory Services Target to remain at 85% 208
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11 Resource Outcome: All school and nursery children have access to nutritious school meals Measure 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24 Target Links Service Notes 11. Level of primary school meal uptake (as proportion of to- tal primary school meals which could be taken up over the period) (Locally set target) 58% 66% 60% 03.03 Facilities, Waste and Grounds Target has been increased 12. Level of secondary school meal uptake (as proportion of total secondary school meals which could be taken up over the period) (Locally set target) 36% 38% 38% 03.03 Facilities, Waste and Grounds Target has been increased Resource Outcome: South Lanarkshire is an attractive place to start, grow and locate a business Measure 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24 Target Links Service Notes 13. Number of new South Lanarkshire business starts supported by Business Gateway (Locally set target) N/A 520 500 C06.08 Enterprise and Sustainable Development Target is 50% of Business Gateway pan- Lanarkshire contract target 14. Number of business support interventions per annum by Economic Development (grants, loans or advice) (Locally set target) 2,679 1,615 1,200 C06.08 Enterprise and Sustainable Development Target has been reduced from 1,500 to 1,200 as new start-ups are now reported separately 15. Number of jobs created or sustained as a direct result of Economic Development intervention (Locally set target) 1,095 1,256 500 C06.08 Enterprise and Sustainable Development Target to remain at 500 16. Increased value of sales generated by businesses as a direct result of Economic Development intervention (Locally set target) £22.11m £13.11m £5m C06.08 Enterprise and Sustainable Development Target to remain at £5m 209
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12 Resource Outcome: South Lanarkshire is an attractive place to start, grow and locate a business Measure 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24 Target Links Service Notes 17. Percentage of procurement spend on local enterprises (Locally set target) 18.21% LGBF Data for 2022-23 due January 2024 More than 2022-23 figure 06.11 Enterprise and Sustainable Development Target: improvement on the previous year Resource Outcome: Economic development and growth in South Lanarkshire is fair, inclusive, sustainable and low carbon Measure 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24 Target Links Service Notes 18. Delivery of UK Shared Prosperity Program (National target) N/A N/A £3.m 07.02 Enterprise and Sustainable Development New measure for 2023-24 Resource Outcome: Physical development and land use in the area is enabled, guided and controlled to help facilitate economic growth Measure 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24 Target Links Service Notes 19. Percentage of all planning applications approved (Locally set target) 97.1% 97.6% 95% 05.05 Planning and Regulatory Services The rolling target of 95% provides the service with scope to refuse applications 210
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13 4.b. What actions we will take in 2023-24 Resource Outcome: High-quality streets, parks and other public areas ensures South Lanarkshire is a place where people want to live, work, visit and invest Action Milestones/steps we will take to deliver our actions Links Service 1. Prepare an Open Space Strategy in partnership with Glasgow and Clyde Valley Green Network Partnership and other council services. Strategy will contain standards on access to and quality of open spaces. Draft Open Space strategy to be presented to the Planning Committee by March 2024 C01.09 Planning and Regulatory Services 2. To make South Lanarkshire a cleaner place to live, work and visit free of letter, fly- tipping and dog waste Prepare an annual progress report for Climate Change and Sustainability Committee in September 2023, demonstrating the impact of the Litter Strategy (2022-2027) 01.09 Facilities, Waste and Grounds Resource Outcome: Communities are encouraged and supported to reduce, re-use and recycle their waste Action Milestones/steps we will take to deliver our actions Links Service 3. Support a circular economy by re-using, recycling and generating energy from the waste we manage Commence a review of the waste service during 2023-24 that will incorporate the impact of the Deposit Return Scheme 01.06 Facilities, Waste and Grounds Resource Outcome: The council addresses climate change by reducing carbon emissions, protecting our natural environment, adapting to the impacts of climate change, and acting sustainably Action Milestones/steps we will take to deliver our actions Links Service 4. Lead by example and influence area-wide climate change and sustainability action Implement the Sustainable Development and Climate Change Strategy (2022-2027) Action Plan, and report progress at quarter two and quarter four to Climate Change and Sustainability Committee C01.08 Enterprise and Sustainable Development 5. Protect, enhance and respect South Lanarkshire’s natural environment Develop a new Biodiversity Strategy (2024 – 2030) and Biodiversity Implementation Plan for (2024-2026) for approval by Climate Change and Sustainability Committee by February 2024. C01.02 Facilities, Waste and Grounds 6. Ensure national planning policy set out in National Planning Framework 4 in relation to climate change, biodiversity and sustainable travel is embedded in decision making process for planning applications and the preparation of the South Lanarkshire Local Development Plan 3. Prepare Supporting Planning Guidance on climate change & sustainability and green issues as an interim measure pending preparation of LDP3. 01.08 Planning and Regulatory Services Awareness sessions to be developed for elected members, planning officers and developers/agents by September 2023 211
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14 Resource Outcome: The council addresses climate change by reducing carbon emissions, protecting our natural environment, adapting to the impacts of climate change, and acting sustainably Action Milestones/steps we will take to deliver our actions Links Service 7. Create the conditions for the decarbonisation of the council’s fleet Implement and review the Fleet Strategy (2020-2025) Action Plan including a reduction in transport related emissions, conversion of fossil fuelled small fleet to full electric and the trialling of new fuel option for the medium to heavy fleet. 01.13 Roads, Transportation and Fleet 8. Deliver new and improved low carbon vehicle charging infrastructure Maintain, manage and expand public infrastructure points / hubs in line with available internal and external funding sources. 01.13 Roads, Transportation and Fleet Resource Outcome: The council supports and promotes a fairer, healthier, and more sustainable food system Action Milestones/steps we will take to deliver our actions Links Service 9. Develop a sustainable food system to overcome social, health, economic and environmental issues related to food Implement the Good Food Strategy (2020- 2025) Action Plan and report progress at quarter two and quarter four to the Climate Change and Sustainability Committee 01.11 Enterprise and Sustainable Development 10. Continue to identify opportunities to increase food growing provision throughout South Lanarkshire Progress planning application and process for new site at Chatelherault, and if successful, begin development of the site and allocating plots from the waiting list by March 2024 01.03 Facilities, Waste and Grounds Resource Outcome: All roads, footways, cycle routes, bridges and associated infrastructure are safe and fit for purpose Action Milestones/steps we will take to deliver our actions Links Service 11. Deliver prioritised road safety infrastructure improvements and promote road safety Deliver road safety projects and schemes in line with agreed 2023-24 programme 01.01 Roads, Transportation and Fleet 12. Improve resilience of strategic routes during adverse weather Implement prioritised / enhanced drainage / gulley cleaning action plan across the network by June 2023 01.08 Roads, Transportation and Fleet 212
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15 Resource Outcome: Road and transportation infrastructure supports new development, enables use of public transport and encourages active travel Action Milestones/steps we will take to deliver our actions Links Service 13. Produce a new Local Transport Strategy for South Lanarkshire to support the National and Regional Transport Strategy as well as the provisions, where appropriate, of the Transport Scotland Act Draft Local Transport Strategy to be presented to Committee by Spring 2024 C01.10 Roads, Transportation and Fleet 14. Provide road and transportation infrastructure improvements to support new developments including those undertaken as part of the City Deal An Outline Business Case will be prepared for the Stewartfield Way Sustainable Transport Capacity Enhancement Project in Autumn 2023 C01.10 Roads, Transportation and Fleet 15. Encourage active travel by extending our network of walking and cycling routes Deliver walking and cycling projects/ schemes in line with agreed 2023-24 capital programme and to support safe routes priorities. 01.10 Roads, Transportation and Fleet Resource Outcome: All school and nursery children have access to nutritious school meals Action Milestones/steps we will take to deliver our actions Links Service 16. Complete the roll out of free school meals to all primary children All P6s and P7s to receive free school meals in line with Scottish Government timescales 03.03 Facilities, Waste and Grounds Resource Outcome: Health inequalities are addressed through collaboration with local communities and partners Action Milestones/steps we will take to deliver our actions Links Service 17. Complete the Shaping Places for Wellbeing project in Rutherglen Use the data analysis conducted during 2022-23 to develop actions to address health inequalities, taking account of the existing infrastructure available in the form of codesigned solutions, by October 2023 03.03 Planning and Regulatory Services Present regular update reports to the Corporate Management Team, with a final outcome report being delivered by March 2024 213
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16 Resource Outcome: All residents have the opportunity to access cultural, leisure and outdoor recreational activities to help improve their wellbeing and quality of life Action Milestones/steps we will take to deliver our actions Links Service 18. Develop a Commissioning Plan to define the council’s ask of South Lanarkshire Leisure and Culture (SLLC) Develop a Commissioning Plan for approval by Executive Committee 03.03 Enterprise and Sustainable Development 19. Improve health and wellbeing by offering attractive and affordable leisure and cultural activities delivered with warmth, friendliness and individual pride (SLLC Mission) Implement the South Lanarkshire Leisure and Culture Strategy (2022-2027), monitor impact on a quarterly basis via the four SLLC Strategy Implementation Groups, and report on progress twice per year to the Community and Enterprise Resources Committee 03.03 SLLC 20. Begin implementation of the multi-year Play Area Investment Programme Undertake consultation with local members and communities in Larkhall, Cambuslang and Rutherglen 03.03 Facilities, Waste and Grounds Finalise design options and implement agreed proposals by March 2024 Resource Outcome: Vacant, derelict and contaminated land is brought back into productive use Action Milestones/steps we will take to deliver our actions Links Service 21. Agree and implement vacant and derelict / contaminated land programme Implement projects approved within the Vacant and Derelict Land Fund framework agreed for 2023-24 05.04 Enterprise and Sustainable Development Resource Outcome: South Lanarkshire is an attractive place to start, grow and locate a business Action Milestones/steps we will take to deliver our actions Links Service 22. Prioritise business development advice, support and financial assistance to ensure businesses are able to continue to operate, whilst creating the right conditions for low carbon economic growth Deliver programmes, services, and events to businesses around sectors, location, and themes (e.g., food and drink, tourism, construction, low carbon, innovation, internationalisation, collaboration, and young enterprise) 06.03 Enterprise and Sustainable Development Manage the Supplier Development Programme to deliver events, training and e-commerce support to SME’s or third sector organisations who are interested in working with the public sector 06.09 Enterprise and Sustainable Development 214
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17 Resource Outcome: Economic development and growth in South Lanarkshire is fair, inclusive, sustainable and low carbon Action Milestones/steps we will take to deliver our actions Links Service 23. Review the remit, membership and effectiveness of the existing Lanarkshire Economic Forum, and if required, refocus/restructure in order for it to act as the Economic Transformation Board to drive forward the South Lanarkshire Economic Strategy Review the original scope and membership of the Lanarkshire Economic Forum, together with the outputs of the Forum since establishment in 2020 06.05 Enterprise and Sustainable Development Dependent on the outcomes of the review, refocus/restructure the forum in consultation with the partner organisations 24. Promote sustainable economic development across South Lanarkshire Prepare an annual progress report for Community and Enterprise Resources Committee, demonstrating the impact of the South Lanarkshire Economic Strategy (2022-2027) 06.05 Enterprise and Sustainable Development 25. Positively enhance the benefits of tourism across South Lanarkshire by delivering the very best for our visitors, our businesses, our people, our communities, and our environment Prepare an annual progress report for Community and Enterprise Resources Committee, demonstrating the impact of South Lanarkshire Tourism Strategy (2022-2025) 06.06 Enterprise and Sustainable Development 26. Champion the social enterprise sector and invest in start-up and growth of our local social enterprise Develop a new Social Enterprise Strategy for approval by Community and Enterprise Resources Committee in May 2023. 06.03 Enterprise and Sustainable Development 27. Income generating projects will be scoped across all council resources to identify viable projects with a focus on green initiatives including exploring options for delivery and funding Liaise with all council resources, third parties and funders to identify new opportunities for generating income and consider a risk analysis of each opportunity 06.05 Enterprise and Sustainable Development 28. Consult with community organisations and develop a Rural Action Plan max- imising existing and future funding through Community Led Local Development and Renewable Energy Fund Finalise the Rural Action Plan and report to Rural Task Force in November 2023 C05.13 Enterprise and Sustainable Development 215
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18 Resource Outcome: Thriving town and neighbourhood centres provide a focal point for local communities Action Milestones/steps we will take to deliver our actions Links Service 29. Complete the south Lanarkshire wide town centre visioning strategy which will give a strategic overview on the engagement and interventions with town centres over the next 10 years, and a series of town specific strategies and action plans will sit below this, giving a template for placemaking within our communities. Complete draft town centre visioning study by end June 2023 for consultation, and present final visioning strategy to Community and Enterprise Resources Committee in November 2023 C06.04 Enterprise and Sustainable Development Resource Outcome: Physical development and land use in the area is enabled, guided and controlled to help facilitate economic growth Action Milestones/steps we will take to deliver our actions Links Service 30. Preparation of revised Residential Design Guide Develop interim framework for consultation with stakeholders, with final framework prepared by end of June 2023 05.05 Planning and Regulatory Services Present finalised document to Planning Committee for approval by December 2023 Resource Outcome: Customers experience high quality and improving council services Action Milestones/steps we will take to deliver our actions Links Service 31. Implement the Frontline First Fund Identify and implement a programme of projects to deliver the Frontline First Fund 07.01 Facilities, Waste and Grounds 216
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19 Section Five – Resourcing the Plan 5.0. Introduction In this section we consider the resources needed to implement our plan, including funding and staffing. 5.1. Revenue Budget 2023-24 The resource has a Net Revenue Budget of £148.531 million for 2023-24. The table below allocates this budget across the services: NET Budget by Service 2023-24 Detail £ million % Facilities, Waste, and Grounds 79.511 54% Roads, Transportation and Fleet 26.535 18% Planning and Regulatory Services 5.001 3% Enterprise and Sustainable Development 7.262 5% South Lanarkshire Leisure and Culture Ltd 30.155 20% Total 148.464 100% 5.2. Capital Budget 2023-24 The following capital budget of £58.918 million is allocated to the resource for 2023-24: Capital Programme 2023-24 Service £ million Facilities, Waste, and Grounds 2.286 Roads, Transportation and Fleet 20.118 Planning and Regulatory Services - Enterprise and Sustainable Development 36.514 Total 58.918 217
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20 5.3. Resource Employees Community and Enterprise Resources has 3,413 employees, as at 1 February 2023. We support these employees to deliver their duties through a range of policies, including personal appraisal and a robust training framework. The number of employees by service is as follows: Service Number of employees Facilities, Waste, and Grounds 2,647 Roads, Transportation and Fleet 593 Planning and Regulatory Services 91 Enterprise and Sustainable Development 82 Total 3,413 If you need this information in another language or format, please contact us to discuss how we can best meet your needs. Phone 0303 123 1015 or email equalities@southlanarkshire.gov.uk 218
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Education Resources Education Resource Plan 2023-24 13 219
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Section Contents Page 1.0 Introduction 1 2.0 Key areas of focus for the year ahead 2 3.0 Resource outcomes 4 4.0 Measures and actions 5 5.0 Resourcing the Plan 14 220
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1 Section One – Introduction I am pleased to introduce our Resource Plan for 2023-24 which sets out our outcomes and priorities for the coming year. This is the main planning document for Education Resources and aligns closely to the council’s outcomes and priorities set out in the Council Plan and in the National Improvement Framework. Our values, purpose and priorities are the building blocks for this Resource Plan, as well as our service plans and school improvement plans. This enables all of us to have a shared and clear purpose in our efforts to achieve better outcomes for children, young people and families. The overarching national priority for education is to close the equity gap. In summary, this includes improving the attainment of young people, particularly those from backgrounds of disadvantage, tackling poverty, improving literacy and numeracy and supporting learners to develop their skills for learning, life and work. We will use the data we hold more effectively to help generate meaningful and sustained outcomes for children, young people and families. We will ensure that Strategic Equity Funding is used to deliver targeted activities, approaches and resources which are clearly additional to universal local improvement plans in line with the aspirations of the Scottish Attainment Challenge Framework for Recovery and Accelerating Progress and our own Equity Strategy. Our priorities have been influenced and shaped following extensive consultation and engagement with stakeholders, including the views of children and young people. We have set out the priorities for our schools, establishments and services in our ‘strategy on a page’. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all staff for their commitment and dedication in continuing to adapt to the ever-changing landscape in education, in the knowledge that we are all working together to deliver the best experiences and outcomes we can for every learner. Tony McDaid Executive Director Education Resources 221
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2 Section Two – Key areas of focus for the year ahead 2.0. Overview The Resource has identified the main challenges, risks and new developments which will have a significant impact on the delivery of services in the coming year. In our Resource Plan we set out a range of performance measures and actions under the objectives we have in ‘our strategy on a page’. It relies on practitioners being empowered to make decisions that best suit their learners, and leaders being supported to navigate the challenges ahead. It is important that equity, excellence and empowerment continue to be the driving vision for everyone and these are set out in more detail in the National Improvement Framework. We have set out below our key areas of focus for the year ahead: 2.1. Cost of living crisis The UK is experiencing the worst cost-of-living crisis in 40 years. With inflation soaring into double figures both the UK and the Scottish Government have formally recognised the severity of the crisis and have deployed emergency measures to help mitigate the effects of rising costs. While all sectors of society are seeing prices rise the impacts are greatest for those on the lowest incomes. The council recognises the immense pressures being faced by households across South Lanarkshire and acknowledges the potential for additional pressures on council services. The council has identified a range of new and existing support which can help households manage scarce resources and services will continue to explore all avenues to support the most vulnerable in the year ahead. While doing all we can to support our communities in these difficult times, the council recognises that inflationary pressures will also present significant challenges for council services as budgets are increasingly squeezed by rising costs. 2.2 Health and wellbeing for learning We wish to support the health and wellbeing of children and young to enable them to learn: • Extend the roll-out of training on the Attachment Strategy across council staff to promote inclusive, safe and caring environments for all. • Support care experienced young people to achieve positive learning outcomes and positive destinations in line with the aspirations of The Promise, the national vision for care experienced children and young people. • Improve attendance rates in primary and secondary schools. • Promote children’s rights in line with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. 2.3 Equity We will have a focus on supporting young people overcome any disadvantage and take forward our targets for excellence and equity: • A new funding model, known as the Strategic Equity Fund (SEF), and National Policy was launched in March 2022 to “use education to improve outcomes for children and young people impacted by poverty, with a focus on tackling the poverty-related attainment gap.” A new feature of the national strategy is the requirement for local authorities to set yearly targets for both excellence and equity, referred to as “stretch aims.” The national guidelines ask us to adopt a “Core Plus” model. This means that there is a national suite of measures which form the “Core” of the target-setting approach and can be supplemented by additional local measures, known as “Plus” measures. • Each of the Scottish Government six core measures, along with our local measures, will be addressed through the following five workstreams: Pedagogy, Learner Engagement, Strengthening Relationships, Curriculum and Learner Pathways. • Education Resources is firmly committed to supporting young people overcome any disadvantage which arises as a result of being born into poverty, not just in attainment, but in their everyday lives. By June 2023 all South Lanarkshire schools will be required to move from a Position Statement on Cost of the School Day. Schools should also support families to access all financial supports and entitlements. This includes working to increase the 222
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3 uptake of Free School Meals and Clothing Grants by all who are entitled and signposting families to other agencies when required. 2.4 Curriculum, learning, teaching and assessment We wish to ensure teaching and learning along with a stimulating curriculum inspires learners to achieve and develop their skills: • Continue to develop a rich and stimulating curriculum through delivering training and materials which help schools fulfil the ambitions of Curriculum for Excellence. • Raise attainment in literacy and numeracy in Curriculum for Excellence levels and in senior phase qualifications. • Continue to promote and develop teaching and learning of the highest quality across all our schools and establishments including the use of digital solutions. • Increase the qualifications and skills and achievements of young people through universal and targeted programmes. • Improve the numbers of young people entering positive destinations. • Develop literacy, numeracy and outdoor learning training in early learning and childcare settings. • Strengthen our learning networks; that enable collaboration, encourage connectedness, and help practitioners at all levels to continuously improve. • Develop leadership capacity at all levels with a view to succession planning. • Implement the recommendations of national reviews including the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) review of Curriculum for Excellence. 2.5 Digital learning and inclusion We wish to ensure digital learning is available for all learners to develop their skills, and their life and work opportunities: • Support the ongoing use of digital learning to meet the needs of individual learners and to improve learner outcomes. • Use digital technology to engage with communities and young people. • Provide remote access to some Advanced Higher courses delivered in secondary schools for pupils across South Lanarkshire. 2.6 Climate change and sustainability We will listen to the voice of children and young people to effect positive actions in terms of climate change and sustainability: • Implement agreed climate change actions across Education Resources. • Empower children and young people to influence and shape activities that will help reduce our carbon footprint in schools, educational settings and communities. • Empower learners to shape and influence action on climate change and sustainability through the Youth Forum. 2.7 Communication and engagement We will continue to listen, communicate and engage with a range of partners and stakeholders to improve learning outcomes for children and young people: • Use and share the data from the national parental survey with schools, parents and carers to help improve parental engagement with the aim to support children’s learning. • Support parents/carers and family members to continue to be regularly engaged in communications with their child’s school and educators. • Continue to support the work of Parent Council’s as a forum to promote ‘parental voice’ and to work in partnership with their school and community. • Ensure the voice of children and young people is a core part of helping to shape and influence things which matter to them and to promote citizenship and democratic participation. • Use the model of participatory budgeting as a way of engaging with and involving children, young people and families. 223
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4 Section Three – Resource Outcomes 3.1. Resource outcomes Education Resources has established the following Resource outcomes to support the delivery of Connect Outcomes in 2023-24. Connect Outcome Resource Outcomes Communities and Environment • Empower learners to shape and influence actions on climate change and sustainability Education and Learning • Provide a rich and stimulating curriculum that helps raise standards in literacy and numeracy • Support children and young people to develop their skills for learning, life and work • Ensure inclusion, equity and equality are at the heart of what we do Health and Wellbeing • Improve health and wellbeing to enable children and families to flourish • Ensure inclusion, equity and equality are at the heart of what we do Children and Young People • Improve health and wellbeing to enable children and families to flourish • Ensure inclusion, equity and equality are at the heart of what we do • Provide a rich and stimulating curriculum that helps raise standards in literacy and numeracy • Support children and young people to develop their skills for learning, life and work • Empower learners to shape and influence actions on climate change and sustainability Housing and Land No Resource Outcomes for this Connect Outcome Our Economy No Resource Outcomes for this Connect Outcome 3.2. Delivering the Plan and achieving Best Value In working towards the six outcomes, the council aims to continually improve and ensure effective and efficient use of resources, and our business will be conducted with integrity, transparency and will operate to the highest standards. 224
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5 Section Four – Measures and actions 4.0. Performance measures and action plan This section of the Resource Plan is divided into two parts: part (a) sets out our main performance measures against our outcomes; and part (b) describes the key actions we will take in the coming year to respond to the challenges ahead and improve services and outcomes. 4.a. How we will measure our performance The impact of Covid continues to have a significant effect on the performance for schools and services. For this reason, a number of annual targets have been adjusted accordingly and may sit below the baseline level established in previous years. In most cases, the baselines below refer to the financial year 2019-20 and additional context for the targets is detailed within the notes column, where applicable. Resource Outcome: Improve health and wellbeing to enable children and families to flourish Measure 2019-20 Annual target Links Service Notes 1. Improve the attendance of children and young people at primary school 94.6% 91.8% C02.04 CQIS Targets reflect continuing rebuild towards pre covid levels 2. Improve the attendance of children and young people at secondary school 90.5% 87.5% C02.04 CQIS Resource Outcome: Provide a rich and stimulating curriculum that helps raise standards in literacy and numeracy Measure 2019-20 Annual target Links Service Notes 3. Percentage of P1, P4 and P7 pupils attaining the appropriate Curriculum for Excellence level for their stage or better in Literacy 71.7% 71.1% 02.03 CQIS (BGE) 4. Percentage gap between P1, P4 and P7 pupils from the least and most deprived areas attaining the appropriate Curriculum for Excellence level for their stage or better in Literacy -19.4% -19.0% 02.03 CQIS (BGE) 5. Percentage of P1, P4 and P7 pupils attaining the appropriate Curriculum for Excellence level for their stage or better in Numeracy 79.2% 79.2% 02.03 CQIS (BGE) 6. Percentage gap between P1, P4 and P7 pupils from the least and most deprived areas -15.4% -15.0% 02.03 CQIS (BGE) 225
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6 Resource Outcome: Provide a rich and stimulating curriculum that helps raise standards in literacy and numeracy Measure 2019-20 Annual target Links Service Notes attaining the appropriate Curriculum for Excellence level for their stage or better in Numeracy 7. Percentage gap between the attendance of the least and most deprived children and young people at primary school -4.0% -4.0% 02.04 CQIS 8. Percentage gap between the attendance of the least and most deprived children and young people at secondary school -7.4% -7.4% 02.04 CQIS Resource Outcome: Ensure inclusion, equity and equality are at the heart of what we do Measure 2019-20 Annual target Links Service Notes 9. Percentage of pupils gaining 1 or more awards at SCQF Level 5 or better 86.5% 86.5% 02.03 CQIS (SP) 10. Percentage gap between pupils from the least and most deprived areas gaining 1 or more awards at SCQF Level 5 or better -19.4% -19.0% 02.02 CQIS (SP) 11. Percentage of pupils gaining 1 or more awards at SCQF Level 6 or better 66.5% 66.5% 02.03 CQIS (SP) 12. Percentage gap between pupils from the least and most deprived areas gaining 1 or more awards at SCQF Level 6 or better -36.3% -36.0% 02.02 CQIS (SP) 13. Increase the number of English as a Second or Other Language (ESOL) learners who have improved their English language skills 330 346 02.02 YFCL Baseline for these measures is 2022/23 14. Increase the number of learners achieving nationally recognised awards 1463 1478 04.02 YFCL 15. Increase the number of adult learners improving their literacy skills 320 323 04.02 YFCL 226
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7 Resource Outcome: Ensure inclusion, equity and equality are at the heart of what we do Measure 2019-20 Annual target Links Service Notes 16. Develop and deliver primary lifelines training (number of staff) n/a 75 07.03 EPS This is a new measure and performance will set a baseline for measuring progress Resource Outcome: Support children and young people to develop their skills for learning, life and work Measure 2019-20 Annual target Links Service Notes 17. Percentage of pupils entering positive destinations (initial destinations) 95.7% 96.0% C02.05 CQIS 18. Percentage gap between pupils from the least and most deprived areas entering positive destinations -4.9% -5.8% C02.05 CQIS Target reflects continuing rebuild towards pre covid levels 4.b. What actions will we take in 2023-24? Resource Outcome: Improve health and wellbeing to enable children and families to flourish Action Steps we will take to deliver our actions Links Service 1. Develop the Health and Wellbeing Curriculum Strategy to support schools to consider the recovery improvement agenda Implement the Health and Wellbeing Curriculum Strategy to support schools to develop their strategy to improve outcomes for learners 04.04 CQIS 2. Provide professional learning and development training for Early Learning and Childcare Deliver a programme of support and targeted training to all Early Learning and Childcare establishments to improve outcomes for children 07.03 ELC 3. Improve the Council’s Social, Emotional, Behavioural Needs and Nurture Provision to meet needs of children and families more effectively with an attachment informed focus Develop further the Council’s Social, Emotional, Behavioural Needs and Nurture Provision to meet the needs of children and families more effectively 03.03 IES 227
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8 Resource Outcome: Improve health and wellbeing to enable children and families to flourish 4. Ensure effective delivery of tackling poverty policy and raise awareness of the priorities contained in the Local Child Poverty Action Report (LCPAR) across all partner organisations Produce and publish a Child Poverty Strategy for 2023-26 and supporting Local Child Poverty Action Report by June 2023 to outline the key support offered to families to address child poverty challenges. C02.02 IES (CS) Resource Outcome: Provide a rich and stimulating curriculum that helps raise standards in literacy and numeracy Action Steps we will take to deliver our actions Links Service 5. Implement National Improvement Framework priorities by ensuring that every child achieves the highest standards in literacy and numeracy Implement the Literacy Strategy to support schools to develop their literacy curriculum to improve outcomes for learners 02.01 CQIS Develop and implement the Numeracy Strategy to support schools to develop their numeracy curriculum to improve outcomes for learners 02.01 CQIS 6. Develop and implement the Learning Teaching and Assessment Strategy to improve outcomes for learners Evaluate and develop the Learning, Teaching and Assessment Strategy 04.02 CQIS 7. Develop the school improvement strategy to support schools to consider the recovery improvement agenda Implement further the School Improvement Strategy to support schools to achieve better outcomes for learners 04.02 CQIS 8. Develop professional networks as a vehicle to extend leadership learning opportunities for employees Evaluate existing professional networks and use the outcomes to expand leadership capacity across the Resource 04.03 CQIS 9. Take forward the National Improvement Framework priorities by ensuring that every child achieves the highest standards in literacy and numeracy in Early Learning and Deliver training on literacy and communication, numeracy and health and wellbeing for all Early Learning and Childcare establishments to ensure improved outcomes for children 04.03 ELC 228
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9 Resource Outcome: Provide a rich and stimulating curriculum that helps raise standards in literacy and numeracy Action Steps we will take to deliver our actions Links Service Childcare 10. Invest in digital technology and the ICT infrastructure to support anytime, anywhere learning, raise attainment and promote inclusion Deliver the programme of desktop refresh in Primary, ASN and Early Years, including a move to SLC cloud 04.03 ITS Support the roll-out of digital learning and inclusion to engage with children and young people and improve their learning opportunities 04.03 ITS 11. Expand the Council’s ELCC provision to make early learning and childcare more flexible Open the new Early Learning and Childcare Centre at Clyde Terrace, Bothwell. C04.03 SM 12. Enhance the school estate with targeted investment to increase capacity Open the new Jackton Primary School in August 2023 C04.02 SM Commence the major refurbishment and expansion of Our Lady of Lourdes Primary School C04.02 Complete the expansion of Castlefield Primary School and First Step Early Learning and Childcare Centre CC Centre C04.02 Complete adaptations at Kirklandpark Primary School and St Patrick’s Primary School Nursery 04.02 Resource Outcome: Ensure inclusion, equity and equality are at the heart of what we do Action Steps we will take to deliver our actions Links Service 13. Enhance the school estate through the expansion of ASN provision across the Council Complete the programme of Additional Support Needs adaptations in Primary and Secondary Schools 04.02 SM 14. Update the Council Framework for Inclusion guidance taking account of The Morgan Review, the Additional Support for Learning Action Plan, The Promise and Getting it Right for Every Child update Audit and update all sections of the inclusion framework to ensure all education establishments can meet the expected principles and practice associated with inclusion and equality C02.02 IES 15. Progress the Additional Support for Learning Action Plan recommendations and the Morgan Implement the recommendations from the Additional Support for Learning improvement action plan to improve outcomes for children and young people 02.02 IES 229
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10 Resource Outcome: Ensure inclusion, equity and equality are at the heart of what we do Action Steps we will take to deliver our actions Links Service Review improvement action plan to improve and effectively deliver additional support for learning for children and young people 16. Promote key training for teaching staff to ensure progression and a transference of skills to the classroom following the recommendations of the Morgan Review Develop a digital Additional Support Needs Continued Professional Development hub including a ‘clinic’ to share best practice to better meet the needs of learners with greater complexity. 02.02 IES 17. Close the equity gap and improve learner outcomes Develop and implement the Equity Strategy including Strategic Equity Funding and use this to support schools to close the poverty-related attainment gap as measured in the authority’s Stretch Aims C02.02 CQIS 18. Develop Digital learning and Inclusion Implement the Digital Strategy to support schools to improve outcomes for learners and maximise opportunities through the West On-line partnership 04.03 CQIS 19. Ensure all Early Learning and Childcare establishments engage in GIRFEC agenda Ensure the delivery of training and support for all Early Learning and Childcare for Staged Intervention 04.03 ELC Ensure the delivery of training and support for all Early Learning and Childcare establishments for GIRFEC implementation 04.03 Deliver multi-agency training to Early Learning and Childcare staff to meet the needs of the highest priority children 04.03 20. Implement the new Scottish Government guidance, linking in with the Department of Work & Pensions to increase the uptake of eligible 2- 3 places. Improve early years uptake for vulnerable for 2–3-year-olds who meet the eligibility criteria for 1140 hours of early learning and childcare. C04.03 ELC 21. Ensure the delivery of a partnership strategy for the delivery of 1140 hours Early Learning and Childcare for third sector and Deliver a programme of professional development and support for the third sector to improve the quality of 1140 hours Early Learning and Childcare provision through Support for Play and Learning in Lanarkshire (SPELL) 04.03 ELC 230
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11 Resource Outcome: Ensure inclusion, equity and equality are at the heart of what we do Action Steps we will take to deliver our actions Links Service childminders and other ELCC provision 22. Improve outcomes for children and young people with speech, language and communication needs in South Lanarkshire, developing an equitable service and building capacity to meet all needs, and take account of the Morgan Review Ensure more equitable Speech and Language Therapy (SALT) service delivery to all education sectors in order to meet children’s needs and to have a shared vision and action plan for all partners. 02.02 IES 23. Continue the progress of the South Lanarkshire Community Learning and Development Partnership and ensure that the improvement actions of the South Lanarkshire Community Learning and Development Plan 2021-2024 are implemented Implement the improvement actions of the South Lanarkshire Community Learning and Development Plan 2021- 2024 to improve outcomes for local communities 01.01 YFCL 24. Provide opportunities for learners to be actively engaged in shaping the Youth Strategy and improvement actions Engage young people in the roll-out of the improvement actions in the Youth Strategy for 2022-2025 and use their feedback to influence and shape more positive outcomes for their communities 02.02 YFCL 25. Support young people to gain nationally recognised awards through Youth Family and Community Learning programmes Provide young people with opportunities to receive accreditation through recognised awards 02.02 YFCL 26. Raise awareness of the priorities within the Children’s Services Plan across all partner Publish a Children’s Service Plan annual/final report by June 2023 to support the accountability of partners to stakeholders including children, young people and families C03.03 231
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12 Resource Outcome: Ensure inclusion, equity and equality are at the heart of what we do Action Steps we will take to deliver our actions Links Service organisations Publish a revised Children’s Services Plan (2023-26) by June 2023 that sets out the agreed priorities for the Children’s Services Partnership for the next three years C03.03 IES (CS) 27. Raise awareness of the implications of the Children’s Rights Bill across the children’s services workforce Produce a Children’s Rights Report for the Children’s Services Partnership that reflects progress made in respecting children’s rights and compliance with the duties of the Children and Young People’s (Scotland) Act 2014 Part One by June 2023 0303 IES (CS) 28. Provide opportunities for learners to experience a residential experience Increase the opportunities following the pandemic for children and young people to experience a residential/outdoor activity 03.03 Ops Resource Outcome: Support children and young people to develop their skills for learning, life and work Action Steps we will take to deliver our actions Links Service 29. Support young people to develop their skills to achieve positive outcomes Develop further the range of skills-based qualifications accessible to learners in schools 02.05 CQIS 30. Support modern apprentices to achieve employment in for Early Learning and Childcare establishments Deliver training and support for up to 20 Modern Apprentices leading to the offer employment opportunities 02.05 ELC 31. Provide opportunities for young people to participate in work- based learning opportunities in the senior phase Deliver a Foundation Apprenticeship programme in partnership with colleges to provide young people with increased opportunities to access FA frameworks locally. C02.05 CQIS (YE) 32. Support young people to progress to positive post- school destinations Deliver targeted Aspire one-to-one and winter/summer leaver programmes with reviewed referral processes 02.05 CQIS (YE) 33. Evaluate the findings from the national Parental Involvement and Engagement survey Use the new baseline and comparable data on parental engagement to identify areas for improvement and to develop and action plan to monitor impact and progress. 04.01 Op Resource Outcome: Empower learners to shape and influence action on climate change and sustainability Action Steps we will take to deliver our actions Links Service 232
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13 Resource Outcome: Empower learners to shape and influence action on climate change and sustainability Action Steps we will take to deliver our actions Links Service 34. Develop Climate Change and Sustainability Plan to support educational settings Undertake a recycling audit within secondary schools to ensure opportunities for recycling are maximised 01.12 SService Organise a pupil led COS2 conference involving primary, secondary and ASN schools to empower the voice of young people and build on pledges to improve climate change and sustainability C01.12 Implement a pilot programme in primary schools to empower children to take action to reduce food waste 01.12 35. Promote citizenship and the democratic participation of children and young people to effect change in climate and sustainability matters Empower the involvement of children and young people in schools, and through the Young People’s Forum, to help shape and influence Council outcomes in the climate strategy C01.12 CQIS 36. Increase awareness of issues pertaining to climate change and sustainability Establish environmental projects in the 4 localities addressing issues such as recycling, re-using and reducing carbon footprint 01.12 YFCL CQIS (BGE) - Curriculum and Quality Improvement Service (Broad General Education) CQIS (SP) - Curriculum and Quality Improvement Service (Senior Phase) CQIS (YE) - Curriculum and Quality Improvement Service (Youth Employment) ELC - Early Learning and Childcare Service EPS - Educational Psychology Service IES - Inclusive Education Service IES (CS) - Inclusive Education Service Children’s Services ITS - IT Services OP - Operations Service SM - Schools Modernisation Service SServices - Support Services YFCL - Youth, Family and Community Learning 233
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14 Section Five – Resourcing the Plan 5.0 Introduction In this section we consider the resources needed to implement our Plan, including funding and staffing. 5.1. Revenue Budget 2023-24 The Resource has a Net Revenue Budget of £392.897 million. The table below allocates this budget across the services: NET Budget by Service 2023-24 Detail £ million % Central admin 2.11 0.54 CQIS 1.677 0.43 Directorate 0.751 0.19 Early Years 34.495 8.78 Inclusion 1.183 0.30 Learning Community 3.555 0.90 Operations 0.174 0.04 Primary Schools 136.077 34.63 Psychological Services 2.146 0.55 School Modernisation 44.115 11.23 Secondary Schools 133.559 33.99 Special School 23.543 5.99 Support Services 2.102 0.54 YFCL 6.253 1.59 Youth Employability 1.157 0.29 Total £392.897 100.0 234
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15 5.2. Capital Budget 2023-24 The following capital budget of £12.879 million is allocated to the Resource for 2023-24 Capital Programme 2023-24 Project £ million Accommodation Pressures 0.648 Early Years 1140 hours 3.145 Free School Meals 6.642 ICT 2.444 Total 12.879 5.3. Resource Employees Education Resources has 7,439 employees as at 30 November 2022. We support these employees to deliver their duties through a range of policies including personal appraisal and a robust training framework. The number of employees by type is as follows: Employee Type Number of employees Teaching staff 3,969 Local Government staff 3,470 Total 7,439 235
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Finance and Corporate Resources Finance and Corporate Resource Plan 2023-24 13 237
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Section Contents 1.0 Introduction 2.0 Key areas of focus for the year ahead 3.0 Resource outcomes 4.0 Measures and actions 5.0 Resourcing the Plan 238
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Section One – Introduction I am pleased to introduce our Resource Plan for 2023-24 which sets out outcomes and priorities for the coming year. The five services within Finance and Corporate Resources help to ensure that the council operates successfully in an increasingly complex and challenging environment, and although diverse, each service is essential to the running of the council and the delivery of its vision, values and priorities. Administration and Legal Services provides essential support for the core democratic and governance arrangements of the council as well as providing a full range of legal advice and support, managing electoral events and licensing and registration services to the public. Communications and Strategy provides accurate, timely information for employees and residents. The service is responsible for the council's publications, its websites, intranet and social media. It also co-ordinates all Media enquiries. The service incorporates the Research and Improvement Unit as well as the Community Engagement Team, which provides support to the Community Planning Board, and provides a single interface for community engagement including neighbourhood planning. Finance Services provides sound financial stewardship to ensure the council’s priorities are effectively funded and expenditure, including procurement, is appropriately monitored, controlled and reported. Finance Services is split between transactional activities including payables, procurement, risk management and insurance, revenues and benefits, customer services and development and money matters advice; and Strategy which includes budget strategy, budget monitoring and providing financial support to all Resources. Information Technology Services supports all council services through the maintenance of over 5,000 computers and servers running over 200 business applications across council Resources. This delivery is supported by council wide networks covering telephone, printing, mail and internet technologies. Personnel Services is responsible for delivery of the personnel policies and practices across the council. This includes employee learning and organisational development; consultation; supporting unemployed people into jobs, training or further education. The service also manages payroll, health, safety and wellbeing and is responsible for the co-ordination and implementation of equality and diversity legislation, good practice, and advancing equality for all. The Resource is also responsible for Audit and Compliance Services, which provides assurance on the effectiveness of the council’s risk management, control and governance arrangements, as well as ensuring compliance with European grant award requirements. Paul Manning Executive Director Finance and Corporate Resources 239
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Section Two – Key areas of focus for the year ahead 2.0. Overview The Resource has identified the main challenges, risks and new developments which will have significant impact on the delivery of services in the coming year. These are outlined briefly below. 2.1. Cost of living Crisis The UK is experiencing the worst cost-of-living crisis in 40 years. With inflation soaring into double figures both the UK and the Scottish Government have formally recognised the severity of the crisis and have deployed emergency measures to help mitigate the effects of rising costs. While all sectors of society are seeing prices rise the impacts are greatest for those on the lowest incomes. The council recognises the immense pressures being faced by households across South Lanarkshire, and acknowledges the potential for additional demands on council services. The council has identified a range of new and existing support which can help households manage scarce resources and services will continue to explore all avenues to support the most vulnerable in the year ahead. While doing all we can to support our communities in these difficult times, the council recognises that inflationary pressures will also present significant challenges for council services as budgets are increasingly squeezed by rising costs. 2.2. Financial Strategy The Resource leads on financial planning and reporting for the Council. Over recent years, the challenges for Local Government finance have continued, around balancing pressures of meeting additional demand and costs of delivering services. A key part of the financial management process is the development of Financial Strategies, developing financial plans which deliver the council’s visions, values and priorities, while recognising and responding to financial constraints. Financial strategies are prepared annually and approved by members leading to the final approval of annual budgets. This process includes consideration and approval of efficiency and savings options and considers requirements for investment. One of the key features for future strategies will be the output from our programme of Transformational Reviews, which is covered at section 2.4. The strategic approach to financial planning also includes planning for Capital programmes of work. One of the main features of the budget for 2023-24 are exceptional items of additional costs, brought about by inflation. This increases the level of budget gap that requires to be managed by the Council, and is likely to feature for a period of time. 2.3. Involving Our Communities Our Council and Community plans both reflect the priorities of our communities and connect to the neighbourhood plans created in smaller areas of South Lanarkshire. We will continue to progress delivery of these, developing appropriate ways to codesign services with local people. Our ambition is that all communities in South Lanarkshire have the opportunity to identify their local priorities and can see these reflected in the way we engage and work with them. Supporting community groups to represent the views of their neighbours and to work together to address issues that matter to them is the way we will progress this. We will work to develop opportunities for our community to take action themselves, including continuing to support community asset transfer, developing our communities access to community benefits and helping them to take action to improve sustainability. 2.4. Deliver effective Employability Services to support Individuals and Business Covid19 has had a significant impact on Individuals and the Labour Market. 240
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There has been an escalation in skills shortage and a change in the support required for individuals seeking employment. There are new groups of unemployed people seeking support, different from those groups the employability programmes were originally designed for. Programmes will have to address new need, in addition to offering enhanced assistance to those traditionally supported in this area. Opportunities for employment and work placements have changed, so creative approaches to the provision of occupational experiences and effective use of funding streams to maximise support are required. The current economic picture is mixed, with some areas of the economy struggling to fill vacancies and others recovering more slowly. The impact of Brexit is also continuing to an effect on the supply of skilled and qualified labour. The council is working closely with its partners to make effective use of funding streams to support those most in need of employability support, and to develop programmes which meet demands and anticipated workforce and labour market shortages. 2.5. Recruitment and Retention There have been significant changes in the available labour market through Brexit and the impact of Covid. Covid has also impacted on the life choices made by employees around employment. These impacts have led to increasing turnover and difficulties in recruitment. Improving both recruitment and retention will be essential in ensuring the council has sufficient employee resources to meet service requirements. 2.6. Oracle Fusion The current Oracle system (People Connect/HRMS, FMS) is being migrated to Fusion, Oracle’s cloud based solution. This is a significant change programme affecting the whole workforce and work will now focus on delivering significant improvements to process, support agile working, employee self-service and engagement as well as greater levels of automation and improved management information. These efficiency improvements will be captured to support the council’s financial position. This change project will also provide a platform for continuing service improvements and efficiencies. 2.7. Strategic digital developments The Council is investing heavily in digital technologies to improve the delivery of services to citizens, streamline and standardise business processes, and improve collaboration and partnership working (for example Health and Social Care Partnership - HSCP). This investment is targeted on delivering significant productivity improvements and cost savings. Information Technology (IT) has a major part to play in digital transformation by implementing and supporting new technologies at pace and at scale. IT projects will continue to be prioritised based upon need, business case and alignment with Council Priorities. Partnerships with Local Government Digital Office, NHS Lanarkshire, Scottish Government and key suppliers will be leveraged to share best practices and accelerate rollout and adoption of new digital solutions. IT will continue to maintain high levels of availability of IT estate and high levels of support to officers and elected members. Key IT activities will include completing the rollout of agile working for council staff, replacement of legacy business applications (for example Housing & Property, Social Work) and the rollout of digital connectivity solutions to improve internet access, deliver wider economic benefits and support digital inclusion. 2.8. Sustainable Development and Climate Change The council acknowledges the serious and immediate threat of climate change and is committed to accelerating the 241
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pace of action in response to the climate emergency and in Scotland’s transition to a net- zero and climate resilient society and economy. It is expected that, as a public body, the council leads by example and uses its role to influence area-wide climate change action and sustainability. The Sustainable Development and Climate Change Strategy (2022-27) sets out how the council aims to develop sustainably and tackle climate change. 242
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Section Three – Resource Outcomes 3.1. Resource Outcomes Finance and Corporate Resources has established the following Resource outcomes to support the delivery of Connect Outcomes in 2023-24. Connect Outcomes Resource Outcomes Communities and Environment • Individuals and communities in South Lanarkshire are engaged and able to participate in decision-making processes Education and Learning • No Resource Outcomes for this Connect Outcome Health and Wellbeing • No Resource Outcomes for this Connect Outcome Children and Young People • No Resource Outcomes for this Connect Outcome Housing and Land • No Resource Outcomes for this Connect Outcome Our Economy • A people-centred approach to recovery is implemented to help individuals, communities, businesses and the social and third sector thrive 3.2. Delivering the Plan and achieving Best Value In working towards the six Outcomes, the council aims to continually improve and ensure effective and efficient use of resources, and our business will be conducted with integrity, transparency and will operate to the highest standards. Finance and Corporate Resources has established the following Resource outcomes to support Delivering the Plan and achieving Best Value. Delivering the Plan and achieving Best Value • The council demonstrates high standards of governance and sound financial stewardship • Customers experience high quality and improving council services • The workforce has the skills, flexibility and capacity to deliver the council’s priorities • Digital and ICT services meet the needs of the council and its customers 243
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Section Four – Measures and actions 4.0. Performance measures and action plan This section of the Resource Plan is divided into two parts: part (a) sets out our main performance measures against our outcomes; and part (b) describes the key actions we will take in the coming year to respond to the challenges ahead and improve services and outcomes. 4.a. How we will measure our performance The impact of Covid19 continues to have a significant effect on performance for some services. The table below shows our key performance measures, with actual data for the last 2 years and the target for 2023-24. To provide additional context for the targets, information is provided within the notes column, where applicable. Resource Outcome: The council demonstrates high standards of governance and sound financial stewardship Measure 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24 Target Links Service Notes 1. Pay invoices within the target of 28 days (local target) 93.4% tbc at Q4 90.0% 07.02 Finance (Trans) Target remains the same 2. Percentage of income due from Council Tax received by the end of the year - in year (incl water) (local target) 95.5% tbc at Q4 95.2% C07.02 Finance (Trans) Target reduced from 95.5% to 95.2% due to impact of cost of living crisis on households 3. % of Non-Domestic rates income achieved (local target) 97.5% tbc at Q4 97.0% 07.02 Finance (Trans) Target reduced from 97.5% to 97.0% due to impact of cost of living crisis on businesses 4. Sundry Income collection (local target) 98.1% tbc at Q4 97.0% 07.02 Finance (Trans) Target remains the same 5. Liquor licensing processing target - 97% within service targets (local target) 92% tbc at Q4 97% 07.01 Admin and Legal This year’s targets remain the same and are realistic, based on the service’s experience, anticipated workload and desire to drive continuous improvements 6. Registration processing target - 97% within service targets (local target) 93% tbc at Q4 97% 07.01 Admin and Legal 7. Citizenship processing target - 97% within service targets (local target) 100% tbc at Q4 97% 07.01 Admin and Legal 8. Complaints processing target - 97% within service targets (local target) 100% tbc at Q4 97% 07.01 Admin and Legal 244
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Resource Outcome: A people-centred approach to recovery is implemented to help individuals, communities, businesses and the social and third sector thrive. Measure 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24 Target Links Service Notes 9. Number of unemployed people supported via council-operated employability programmes (local target) 1,934 People * tbc at Q4 1,350 people C06.01 Personnel Target increased from 1,200 in 2022- 23 to 1,350 in 2023-24 to include additional engagements to counter the expectation that the cost of living crisis will have a negative impact on the local labour market. 10. Number of unemployed people gaining sustainable employment (local target) 1,146 People * tbc at Q4 675 people C06.13 Personnel Target increased from 600 in 2022- 23 to 675 in 2023- 24 because higher jobs outcomes are expected through targeted recruitment drives, particularly within SIMD areas where households are likely to be affected by the cost of living crisis. 11. Number of unemployed people accessing further education or training (local target) 219 People * tbc at Q4 225 people C06.02 Personnel Target increased from 200 in 2022- 23 to 225 in 2023- 24 because we expect more people to access up-skilling training and policies are targeted at expanding sectors such as Renewable Energy * The main reason the actual results were higher in 2021-22 was due to increased funding to support economic recovery, and the resilience of the local economy bouncing back to previous pre-covid levels. 245
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Resource Outcome: Customers experience high quality and improving council services Measure 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24 Target Links Service Notes 12. Customer Service Centre - % of calls answered (local target) 93% tbc at Q4 90% C07.01 Finance (Trans) Target remains the same 13. Customer Service Centre – average queue time (local target) 93 seconds tbc at Q4 5 mins C07.01 Finance (Trans) Target changed from 2 mins (in 2022-23) to 5 mins. which will continue to provide customers with a responsive service. Online contact options continue to be offered, providing 24 hour access to many council services. 14. Benefits administration – average processing times for new Housing Benefit and Council Tax Reduction claims (local target) 13 days tbc at Q4 14 days 07.01 Finance (Trans) Target remains the same 15. Benefits administration – average processing times for Housing Benefit and Council Tax Reduction change in circumstances (local target) 2 days tbc at Q4 4 days 07.01 Finance (Trans) Target remains the same 16. Housing Benefit and Council Tax Reduction – accuracy of processing (local target) 94.4% tbc at Q4 94.0% 07.01 Finance (Trans) Target increased from 93.5% in 2022-23 to 94% in 2023-24 to acknowledge recovery journey following Covid 17. Scottish Welfare Fund – average processing times for Crisis Grants (National target) 2 days tbc at Q4 2 days 07.01 Finance (Trans) Target remains the same 18. Scottish Welfare Fund – average processing times for Community Care grants (National target) 16 days tbc at Q4 15 days 07.01 Finance (Trans) Target remains the same 246
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Resource Outcome: Customers experience high quality and improving council services Measure 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24 Target Links Service Notes 19. Money Matters Advice – customer service - % cases responded to within 5 days of initial customer contact (local target) N/A N/A 95% 07.01 Finance (Trans) This is a new measure -data now available from the new case management system introduced in April 2022. 4.b. What actions we will take Resource Outcome: Individuals and communities in South Lanarkshire are engaged and able to participate in decision-making processes Action Steps we will take to deliver our actions Links Service 1. Increase routes for communities to participate in decision making and priority setting Increase activity around our Place Based Participatory Budgeting programme in priority neighbourhoods 01.05 Community Engagement Team Increase the number of communities with their own community-led neighbourhood plans C01.05 Community Engagement Team Implement new approaches to community involvement in decision making such as a community Wishlist approach to community benefits and the delivery of the Shaping Places for Wellbeing project C01.05 Community Engagement Team 2. Take forward IT strategic developments Complete procurement exercise to identify partner to meet SLC Digital Connectivity requirements, including improved availability and affordability of broadband and 4G/5G mobile services across the council area C01.07 IT Resource Outcome: A people-centred approach to recovery is implemented to help individuals, communities, businesses and the social and third sector thrive. Action Steps we will take to deliver our actions Links Service 3. Deliver effective Employability Services to support Individuals and Business Monitor and adjust the delivery plan agreed via the LEP and Community Planning Partners C06.10 Personnel Resource Outcome: The council demonstrates high standards of governance and sound financial stewardship Action Steps we will take to deliver our actions Links Service 4. Lead financial planning and reporting for the council Financial Strategy to be agreed by June 2023 07.02 Finance (Strategy) Budget proposals to be considered by members by December 2023 07.02 Finance (Strategy) Budget agreed by March 2024 07.02 Finance (Strategy) 247
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Capital programme for 2024-25 to be agreed by March 2024 07.02 Finance (Strategy) 5. Governance Consideration of the case for an additional emergency committee 07.02 Admin and Legal Resource Outcome: Customers experience high quality and improving council services Action Steps we will take to deliver our actions Links Service Resource Outcome: The workforce has the skills, flexibility and capacity to deliver the council’s priorities Action Steps we will take to deliver our actions Links Service 6. Implement the Council Workforce Plans to match Service need Resource Workforce Plans are in place and will be monitored and adjusted throughout the year. Any additional actions will be reported via Resource Workforce Monitoring reports C07.03 Personnel Resource Outcome: Digital and ICT services meet the needs of the council and its customers Action Steps we will take to deliver our actions Links Service 7. Take forward IT strategic developments Migrate to new Integrated Housing and Property Management system by November 2023 07.04 IT Develop and deliver training plan to upskill IT staff in new technologies 07.04 IT 248
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Section Five – Resourcing the Plan 5.0. Introduction In this section we consider the resources needed to implement our plan, including funding and staffing. 5.1. Revenue Budget 2023-24 The Resource has a Net Revenue Budget of £40.202 million for 2023-24. The table below allocates this budget across the services: NET Budget by Service 2023-24 Detail £ million % Finance Services (Transactions) 18.057 45% Finance Services (Strategy) 2.117 5% Information Technology Services 5.133 13% Administration and Legal Services 4.188 10% Communications and Strategy (incl Community and Engagement and Research and Improvement) 2.755 7% Personnel Services 7.579 19% Audit and Compliance 0.373 1% Total 40.202 100% 5.2. Capital Budget 2023-24 The following capital budget of £7.230 million is allocated to the Resource for 2023-24: Capital Programme 2023-24 Project £ million IT Infrastructure – Business As Usual 0.450 Oracle Fusion 6.780 Total 7.230 5.3. Resource Employees Finance and Corporate Resources has 954 employees as at February 2023. We support these employees to deliver their duties through a range of policies including personal appraisal and a robust training framework. 249
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Service Number of employees Finance Services (Transactions) 400 Finance Services (Strategy) 75 Information Technology Services 105 Administration and Legal Services 93 Communications and Strategy 51 Personnel Services 217 Other (Audit and Compliance) 13 Total 954 250
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Housing and Technical Resources Housing and Technical Resource Plan 2023-2024 13 251
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Section Contents Page 1.0 Introduction 1 2.0 Key areas of focus for the year ahead 2 3.0 Resource outcomes 5 4.0 Measures and actions 7 5.0 Resourcing the Plan 19 252
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1 Section One – Introduction I am pleased to introduce our Resource Plan for 2023-24 which sets out our intended outcomes and priorities for the coming year. This is the main annual business planning document for the Resource. It reflects the council’s key priorities as set out in the Council Plan ‘Connect’ and provides an overview of the Resource’s main areas of activity. This plan demonstrates our clear commitment to deliver on the priorities set out in ‘Connect’ and the vision, “To Improve the Lives and Prospects of Everyone in South Lanarkshire”. There are two Services within Housing and Technical Resources which help to ensure that the council operates successfully in an increasingly complex and challenging environment, and although diverse, each service is essential to the running of the council and the delivery of its vision, values and priorities. Housing Services is the fourth largest social landlord in Scotland and is responsible for providing a comprehensive housing management service, managing 25,328 homes, including 34 Sheltered Housing complexes and two sites and services for the Gypsy /Traveller community. Housing Services is divided into the three distinct, yet interrelated service areas of Homelessness and housing support; Housing Management Services and Housing Strategy and Support. We provide a homelessness and housing support services, working to prevent and alleviate homelessness; support independent living; improve levels of tenancy sustainment and support vulnerable households in our communities, including refugees. At a strategic level, we have responsibility for the development and implementation of the Strategic Housing Investment Plan (SHIP) and the Local Housing Strategy. The Service also provides both strategic and support functions across the Resource, contributing to the Council and national agenda, including community safety, tackling poverty, affordable warmth and the development and delivery of additional affordable homes. Property Services is responsible for managing the council’s portfolio of properties and land and is split between three services, Building Services, Assets and Estates and Consultancy Services. These services have a wide range of responsibilities including working with all other Resources to develop, design, procure and, in many cases deliver property construction/improvement projects. The Service undertakes maintenance works across the property portfolio, including the out of hours repairs service and carries out legislative compliance works including electrical testing and gas safety checks. The Service also manages properties for sale and lease and provides strategic support to the Resource and the council for energy efficiency and the sustainability agenda. Stephen Gibson Executive Director (Housing and Technical Resources) 253
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2 Section Two – Key areas of focus for the year ahead 2.0. Overview The Resource has identified the main challenges, risks and new developments which will have significant impact on the delivery of services in the coming year. These are outlined briefly below. 2.1. Cost of living Crisis The UK is experiencing the worst cost-of-living crisis in 40 years. With inflation soaring into double figures both the UK and the Scottish Government have formally recognised the severity of the crisis and have deployed emergency measures to help mitigate the effects of rising costs. While all sectors of society are seeing prices rise the impacts are greatest for those on the lowest incomes. The council recognises the immense pressures being faced by households across South Lanarkshire and acknowledges the potential for additional pressures on council services. The council has identified a range of new and existing support which can help households manage scarce resources and services will continue to explore all avenues to support the most vulnerable in the year ahead. While doing all we can to support our communities in these difficult times, the council recognises that inflationary pressures will also present significant challenges for council services as budgets are increasingly squeezed by rising costs. 2.2. Housing to 2040 Published in early 2021, the Scottish Government’s Housing to 2040 publication identified significant policy changes planned for the housing sector over the next 20 years. This includes a target of delivering 110,000 additional affordable homes across Scotland, the introduction of a Rented Sector Strategy, including proposals to introduce new legislation aimed at aligning standards within both the private and social rented sectors, new housing quality standards, an emphasis on place-based strategy and accelerated energy efficiency targets. The Resource will continue to monitor progress in relation to all aspects of this document, working with housing, health and homelessness partners across South Lanarkshire to meet any new requirements. 2.3. Financial Considerations In order to continue to maintain, invest and meet legislative requirements for council housing and services, maximising rental income and minimising arrears will continue to be a priority for the Resource. However, we recognise that the ongoing situation will be having a significant impact to the financial capacity or security of many. It is therefore our intention to continue to set affordable rents and provide a person centred approach to supporting our tenants and customers who face financial difficulties, while contributing to the wider tackling poverty agenda. The scale and nature of investment in the council’s property assets is changing as a result of restricted budgets and new technology. The Resource will review operational models to ensure that property services continue to be delivered effectively and staff are upskilled. 2.4. Preventing and Alleviating Homelessness The Resource continues to work closely with our partners to address emerging issues and the priorities identified in the South Lanarkshire Rapid Re-housing Transition Plan 2019-24, including review our supply of temporary and supported accommodation to ensure it is suitable and is meeting identified needs as well as delivering our Housing Options service with a focus on homeless prevention to support and assist people who are homeless or at risk of becoming so. 254
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3 We will continue to work in partnership and seek to further develop person centred housing and support packages for vulnerable households, including continued joint working with corporate parenting partners, strengthen our pathway planning approach, and Women’s Aid South Lanarkshire and East Renfrewshire to further develop responses to domestic abuse. We will continue to deliver the aims and objectives of the SHORE (Sustainable Housing on Release for Everyone) standards, working with partners to prevent homelessness and stop the cycle of reoffending, contributing to community safety. 2.5. Continuing to improve the supply and availability of housing The Resource will continue to deliver on its Home+ programme to increase the supply of council homes through the building of new homes and purchasing existing ones from the market. To support this, we aim to deliver an additional 1,300 council homes by 2027. In addition, by working with RSL partners, the Resource will also continue to meet housing needs by letting houses efficiently, effectively and fairly. 2.6. Provision of Services to Gypsy/Travellers The Resource currently operates two Gypsy/Traveller sites comprising a total of 24 pitches. The Resource will continue to work closely with residents to deliver an accommodation need and demand assessment, and continue to implement a co-produced investment masterplan for both sites which includes a range of investment activities including; pitch expansions, upgrades to amenity buildings and continuing to implement measures to support fire safety on sites. In addition, the Resource will continue to work with the Scottish Government and COSLA to deliver appropriate outcomes from the national ‘Improving the Lives for Gypsy/Travellers Action Plan.’ 2.7. Health and Social Care With the approval of the third Strategic Commissioning Plan, the Resource will continue to contribute to the planning and delivery of services provided through the Health and Social Care partnership and ensure effective alignment in relation to strategic planning for housing and homelessness, through two specific Directions to prioritise access to health service and ensure appropriate referrals by health practitioners for households who are homeless 2.8. Development of Integrated Housing and Property Management System The development and implementation of the new integrated housing and property management system will remain a key priority for the Resource during 2023/24. This will progress in tandem with ensuring effective operation of existing systems to meet statutory and regulatory requirements and further digitisation of services that will enhance our interactions with customers and tackle digital inclusion. 2.9. Health and Safety Health and Safety legislation and regulations will remain a key area for the Resource to maximise efforts to reduce accidents and comply with all current and emerging health and safety legislation for council buildings and housing, developing and promoting a safe environment for employees, tenants and customers. 2.10. Sustainable Development and Climate Change The council acknowledges the serious and immediate threat of climate change and is committed to accelerating the pace of action in response to the climate emergency and in Scotland’s transition to a net-zero and climate resilient society and economy. To the full extent that funding permits, the Resource will continue to manage the property and land assets as well as the commercial portfolio of the council, ensuring it continues to meet requirements in terms of scale, location, condition, suitability and corporate image. 255
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4 The 2023/24 Housing Capital Programme reflects the level of investment required to continue to maintain the Scottish Housing Quality Standard and to increase the proportion of homes that meet the Energy Efficiency Standard for Social Housing by December 2032 (EESSH2). The Scottish Government will require all new domestic buildings to be installed with a decarbonised heating source and will not be able to be connected to the existing gas network, through a New Build Heat Standard which is proposed to be introduced in 2024. Significant planning will be required to meet this new requirement, including changes to suppliers and procurement routes as well as training and restructuring existing services. 2.11. Refugee Re-settlement Programme and Asylum Dispersal The Resource will continue to manage and support the refugee resettlement programmes for families who arrive in South Lanarkshire through the following visa schemes: the UK Resettlement Scheme, the Afghanistan Relocation and Assistance Policy, the Afghan Resettlement Programme and the Homes for Ukraine scheme. We will work in partnership with relevant agencies to support new arrivals and ensure that families move to settled accommodation as quickly as possible. The Resource will also coordinate the council and partners involvement in the asylum seeker dispersal programme. 256
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5 Section Three – Resource outcomes 3.1. Resource Outcomes The Resource has established the following outcomes to support the delivery of Connect Outcomes in 2023-2024. Connect Outcomes Resource Outcomes Communities and Environment • Work with communities to create safe, strong sustainable places • Increased ownership of local assets Education and Learning • No Resource outcomes for this Connect outcome. Health and Wellbeing • Support people to live active and independent lives • Help people to continue to live within their homes and communities through integrated community health and social care services Children and Young People • Improve the health and wellbeing of children, young people and families Housing and Land • Support people to access and sustain housing which meets their needs through our Integrated Housing Options service • Provide a comprehensive range of services to help prevent and alleviate homelessness including the provision of suitable temporary and supported accommodation • Continue to deliver an affordable housing programme to meet needs • Manage the council’s portfolio of properties and land • Ensure our repairs service continues to meet the needs of customers • More energy efficient council homes • Continue to engage and work with tenants and other customers to design our services • Provide high quality services to our service to our tenants, including those who live in sheltered housing and residents at our Gypsy / Travellers sites • Improved outcomes for households experiencing homelessness, including access to settled accommodation • Work to bring empty homes back into use to help meet needs within South Lanarkshire • Continue to develop a range of properties to meet the council needs • Deliver a first-class repairs and maintenance service • Work with property owners and landlords to make sure our private housing is suitable for the needs of our residents Our Economy • Help create town centres that offer a social, cultural and economic heart to a community and contain shared built environment, 257
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6 heritage and spaces that, with the right conditions, provides inclusive and sustainable centres 3.2. Delivering the Plan and achieving Best Value In working towards the six Outcomes, the council aims to continually improve and ensure effective and efficient use of resources, and our business will be conducted with integrity, transparency and will operate to the highest standards. Housing and Technical Resources has established the following Resource outcomes which specifically aim to support delivery of the plan and achieving best value. Delivering the Plan and achieving Best Value Resource Outcomes • Digital and ICT services meet the needs of its customer • Customers experience high quality and improving council services • The council demonstrates high standards of governance and sound financial stewardship • The workforce has the skills, flexibility and capacity to deliver the council’s outcomes 258
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7 Section Four – Measures and actions 4.0. Performance measures and action plan This section of the Resource Plan is divided into two parts: part (a) sets out our main performance measures against our outcomes; and part (b) describes the key actions we will take in the coming year to respond to the challenges ahead and improve services and outcomes. 4.a. How we will measure our performance The ongoing effects of COVID-19 continue to have a significant impact on performance for some services. The table below shows our performance measures, with data for the last two years and the target for 2023-24 and additional context for the targets is detailed within the notes column where applicable. Resource Outcome: Support people to access and sustain housing which meets their needs through our Integrated Housing Option Service Measure 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24 Target Links Service Notes 1. % of lets to Urgent housing (UH) need households (locally set target) 56.59% 58.14% 55% to 65% C05.01 Housing The target is set between 55% - 65% to ensure progress is made towards the priorities and targets set within RRTP. Target approved by HTR Committee on 15/3/23 as part of Local Letting Plan Report. 2. % of new tenancies sustained for more than a year for all lets (locally set target) 93.4% 92% 88% SSHC C05.01 Housing Tenancy sustainment has remained strong in year, significantly above target. 3. % of tenancy offers refused during the year (N/A) 16.6% 23.38% N/A SSHC 05.01 Housing This is a contextual indicator as refusals are driven by the applicant and can vary significantly depending on size/availability/location of housing. This indicator is required for the Scottish Housing Regulator charter return and is used to benchmark against all other Scottish LA’s. 4. Average time taken to re-let empty properties (locally set target) 21.51 days 27.76 days 30 days 05.16 SSHC Housing This continues to be a key focus for the Resource with a Voids Working Group established to closely monitor and identify improvement actions. Performance against this Charter measure is consistently good and SLC remains one of the top 259
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8 performing councils in void management. Resource Outcome: Provide a comprehensive range of services to help prevent and alleviate homelessness including the provision of suitable and temporary and supported accommodation Measure 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24 Target Links Service Notes 5. Average length of time in temporary accommodatio n (locally set target) 105 days 95.7 days 120 days SG 05.02 Housing The target has been set, taking account of the continued uncertainty in relation to turnover/ availability of permanent housing solutions and the demand for homelessness services. 6. % of households provided with temporary accommodatio n (nationally set target) 100% 100% 100% SG 05.02 Housing Consistently excellent performance against indicator which is reported to the Scottish Government. 7. % of temporary accommodatio n offers refused (locally set target) 7.42% 6% 6% SG 05.02 Housing Performance has improved in the year and will continue to be monitored closely. 8. Number of times we did not meet our obligation to provide suitable accommodatio n (nationally set target) 0 0 0 SG 05.02 Housing Good performance against national requirement Resource Outcome: Improved outcomes for households experiencing homelessness, including access to settled accommodation Measure 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24 Target Links Service Notes 9. % of homeless households advised of outcome of assessment within 28 days (locally set target) 99.6% 95.2% 95% SG 05.15 Housing Slight drop in performance due to new service arrangements implemented in first half of year. Performance returned to previously high levels second half of year. This is a locally set target and is a key focus for the Resource and continues to be closely monitored by management. 260
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9 10. % of Housing Options interventions where Homelessnes s prevented (locally set target) 73.48% 65.92% 70% C05.15 Housing This is a locally set target and is a key focus for the Resource. The operating context in relation to the prevention of homelessness has proven to be extremely challenging in the year. The prevailing socio- economic conditions adversely impacted upon the ability to prevent homelessness during 2022/23. This trend has been mirrored nationally Resource Outcome: Ensure our repairs service continues to meet the needs of customers Measure 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24 Target Links Service Notes 11. % of response repairs completed on time (nationally set target) 99.1% 95.3% 90% C05.16 Property This measure is a statutory requirement and is also used for benchmarking returns. Slight drop in performance due to the ongoing onset of Covid 19 and the impact of severe weather. 12. Average length of time to complete emergency repair (contracted target) 4 hours 24 minutes 5 hours 36 mins 24 hours (contracted target) SSHC 05.16 Property This target is a contractual arrangement and is a Charter requirement of the Scottish Housing Regulator. 13. Average length of time to complete non- emergency repair (contracted target) 11.76 days 11.63 days 28 days (contracted target) SSHC LGBF 05.16 Property This target is a contractual arrangement and is a Charter requirement of the Scottish Housing Regulator. 14. % of reactive repairs completed first time right (nationally set target) 99.76% 99.6% 90% SSHC 05.16 Property This target is nationally set and is a statutory requirement for the Scottish Housing Regulator. 15. % of repairs appointment kept (nationally set target) 94% 100% 90% SHN 05.16 Property This indicator is a statutory requirement and is also used for benchmarking returns. 16. Number of times we did 439 20 0 SSHC Property As result of the residual impact of COVID-19 and 261
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10 not, meet our obligation to complete the annual gas safety check by annual anniversary date (nationally set target) 05.16 tenants refusing access due to self-isolation as well as occasions where it was not considered appropriate to carry out a service, has resulted in target not being achieved. Resource Outcome: Deliver a first-class repairs and maintenance service Measure 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24 Target Links Service Notes 17. % of tenant satisfaction with repairs or maintenance in year (locally set target) 91% 89% 90% SSHC 05.08 Property This target is to maintain performance at 90% and is a charter requirement for the Scottish Housing Regulator. Resource Outcome: More energy efficient homes Measure 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24 Target Links Service Notes 18. % of council stock meeting the SHQS (locally set target) 72.25% 80.00% 90% SSHC 05.17 Property The changes to the Fire Tolerable standard has continued to impact on the SHQS pass rate due to the lack of supplies of the alarms. We have also experienced difficulties with gaining access to properties to carry out Fixed Electrical Testing. 19. % of council dwellings that are Energy Efficiency Standard for Social Housing 2 (EESSH2) (N/A) 6.48% 7.39% No target as currently subject to review C05.17 Property Reporting to the Scottish Government against this indicator has ceased. New indicators are currently being devised as part of a national review. In advance of the new national indicators, a review of housing stock is underway to determine the additional energy measures required to achieve energy efficiency and carbon reduction requirements within the council’s housing stock. Resource Outcome: Work with communities to create safe, strong and sustainable places Measure 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24 Target Links Service Notes 20. % of Anti- Social Behaviour 94.3% 96.8% 90% SSHC 01.01 Housing Performance continues to be strong against this indicator 262
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11 cases resolved in the year (locally set target) Resource Outcome: Support people to live active and independent lives Measure 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24 Target Links Service Notes 21. Number of adaptations completed in Council homes (locally set target) 933 1,266 100% of requests received 03.01 Property Performance in this area is demand led - numbers are contextual and can vary significantly from year to year. We have updated the target to 100% of adaptations received. 22. Number of households currently waiting for adaptations to their home (locally set target) 0 0 0 C03.01 Property This is a locally set target and has been consistently achieved over a number of years. 23. % of approved applications for adaptations completed in year (locally set target) 100% 100% 100% SSHC C03.01 Property This target is a local target and indicator is a statutory requirement for the Scottish Housing Regulator. This target has been consistently achieved over the past years. 24. Average time (working days) to complete applications (nationally set target) 23.49 days 21.72 days 28 days SSHC 03.01 Property This target is a contractual arrangement and indicator is a statutory requirement for the Scottish Housing Regulator. 25. % of standard adaptations to council houses within agreed appointment times (nationally set target) 98.3% 90.1% 90% C03.01 Property This target is a contractual arrangement and indicator is a requirement for benchmarking returns. 26. % of new build that are wheelchair accessible (locally set target) N/A N/A 10% C03.01 Housing/ Property Target is determined through demand analysis achieved through the regional Housing Need and Demand Assessment and local 263
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12 discussions with social housing providers. Resource Outcome: Customers experience high quality and improving council services Measure 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24 Target Links Service Notes 27. % of Stage 1 complaints responded to in full (nationally set target) 91% 95% 100% SSHC 07.01 Housing/ Property This is a nationally set target and indicator is a statutory requirement for the Scottish Housing Regulator. 28. Average time in working days for a full response at Stage 1 (nationally set target) 5 days 5.2 days 5 days SSHC 07.01 Housing/ Property This is a nationally set target and indicator is a statutory requirement for the Scottish Housing Regulator. 29. % of Stage 2 complaints responded to in full nationally set target) 100% 88% 100% SSHC 07.01 Housing/ Property This is a nationally set target and indicator is a statutory requirement for the Scottish Housing Regulator. Complaints continue to be a focus for management and are routinely monitored. As a result, the numbers remain consistently low, which in turn can have a detrimental impact on the overall percentage. 30. Average time in working days for a full response at Stage 2 (nationally set target) 15 days 15 days 20 days SSHC 07.01 Housing/ Property This is a nationally set target and indicator is a statutory requirement for the Scottish Housing Regulator. Resource Outcome: The council demonstrates high standards of governance and sound financial stewardship 31. Rent collected as a % of rent due in the year (locally set target) 98.3% 99.10% 99.31% SSHC 07.02 Housing Performance in this area has been strong in the year against extremely challenging socio-economic environment. It will continue to be an area of focus in the 2023-24 and monitored and reported at a senior management level. 32. Gross rent arrears (current and former tenants) as a 8.91% 8.66% 9.01% LGBF SSHC 07.02 Housing Performance against this indicator has improved despite the challenging socio- economic environment. It will continue to be an area of 264
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13 % of rent due for the year (locally set target) focus in the forthcoming year and monitored and reported at a senior management level. 33. % of rent due in the year that was lost due to voids (Operational void rent loss) (locally set target) 0.6% 0.62% 0.62% SSHC 07.02 Housing Performance impacted by void repair performance and associated challenges. It will continue to be an area of focus in the forthcoming year and monitored and reported at a senior management level. 34. % of total void rent loss (locally set target) 1.53% 1.41% 1.42% SSHC 07.02 Housing Performance will continue to be an area of focus in the forthcoming year and monitored and reported at a senior management level as well as a statutory requirement for the Scottish Housing Regulator. 35. Factoring collection rate (locally set target) 73% 72.2% 75% C07.02 Property Target set by Finance and Corporate Resources. 4.b. What actions we will take in 2023-2024 Resource Outcome: Continue to deliver an affordable housing programme to meet needs Action Milestones/Steps we will take to deliver our actions Links Service 1. Increase the number of new affordable homes (NH) Total new/additional affordable homes delivered per SHIP and reported to HTR Committee. C05.10 Housing/ Property Resource Outcome: Work to bring empty homes back into use to help meet needs within South Lanarkshire 2. Physical regeneration work in priority areas Work with partners to bring 15 Long Term empty homes into use by March 2024. C05.07 Housing/ Property Resource Outcome: Continue to develop a range of properties to meet the council needs 3. Increase supply of housing suitable for older people (NH) Continue to adapt suitable homes, as identified at the void stage, to Amenity standard. Total new amenity homes delivered through AHSP and reported to HTR Committee through the SHIP C05.09 Housing/ Property Resource Outcome: Support people to access and sustain housing which meets their needs through our Integrated Housing Option Service Action Milestones/Steps we will take to deliver our actions Links Service 265
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14 4. Understand the financial security of our customers Provide a programme of support to our customers including – • The offer of tailored support to 100% of tenants who go on to receive Universal Credit • Tenancy Sustainment Fund to support tenant experiencing financial difficulties sustain their tenancy As part of rent setting process - • Complete analysis of the affordability of our rents by December 2023. Consult with tenants regarding proposed rent levels by December 2023. 05.01 Housing 5. Development and implement Local Housing Strategy for 2022-27 Annual Review completed and approved by Executive Committee in November 2023. C05.01 Housing Resource Outcome: Improved outcomes for households experiencing homelessness, including access to settled accommodation Action Milestones/Steps we will take to deliver our actions Links Service 6. Improve access to settled accommodation for homeless households Continue to implement Rapid Rehousing Transition Plan delivered including – Implement Housing First approach, provide suitable accommodation and support for up to 40 individuals with complex needs by 2023/24. Increase settled accommodation by converting 10 to 15 temporary accommodation units to Scottish Secure Tenancies during 2023/24. We will continue to make progress towards our target of converting up to 100 temporary accommodation units to Scottish Secure tenancies by 2024. Reduce and maintain repeat instances of homelessness to below 4.5% of all cases during 2023/24 (RRTP aim is <3% over life of plan) Review of Commissioned Services exploring opportunities of partnership working for efficiencies and to lever in funding that will add value to existing homelessness services. C05.15 Housing Resource Outcome: Work with communities to create safe, strong sustainable places Action Milestones/Steps we will take to deliver our actions Links Service 7. Community Safety priorities are achieved (NH) Implement the recommended next steps of the review of the Safer South Lanarkshire Board and associated structure, ensuring that reporting requirements around police and fire scrutiny, anti-social behaviour and community justice are appropriate A project to upgrade the public space cameras and install new cameras at identified hotspots not currently covered by C01.01 Housing / Property 266
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15 CCTV is due to complete during 2023/24. These measures will allow the council to provide a significantly more effective support function to the police and increase public safety. Contribute to the Environmental Task Force to address graffiti, vandalism and fly tipping. Review the Anti-Social Behaviour Strategy. 01.01 8. Review of rural action plans to improve sustainability Rural action plans will be reviewed with rural communities every two years 1.01 Housing Resource Outcome: Continue to engage and work with tenants and other customers to design our services Action Milestones/Steps we will take to deliver our actions Links Service 9. Develop and implement Customer Involvement Strategy The new Customer Involvement Strategy will be developed, consulted, and approved by Housing and Technical Resources Committee by September 2023. 05.12 Housing 10.Ensure effective involvement with tenants and other customer groups Annual Scrutiny Programme 2023/24 developed August 2023 and implemented by March 2024. Customer Engagement Programme agreed with tenant representatives by August 2023. C05.12 Housing 11.Service development is informed by understanding our customer satisfaction levels of key service areas Customer Satisfaction Programme developed and approved by July 2023. Results are reviewed quarterly, and any improvement activities are identified and incorporated into service and resource planning cycles. SSHC 05.12 Housing/ Property Resource Outcome: Provide high quality services to our service to our tenants, including those who live in sheltered housing and residents at our Gypsy / Travellers sites Action Milestones/Steps we will take to deliver our actions Links Service 12.Work with Gypsy/Traveller residents to develop and implement a programme of site improvement Continue to deliver co-produced Site Masterplans at both sites, reflecting council and resident priorities. Work in 2023/24 will continue with key projects including new pitches, play parks and upgrade of amenity units. C05.03 Housing 13.Ensure that Sheltered housing services are compliant with Care Inspectorate inspection standards Complete Quality assurance checks to monitor and ensure compliance with care inspectorate standards. Each of the 34 sheltered housing complexes will be checked during 2023/24 with findings of completed checks reported on a quarterly basis. C05.03 Housing Resource Outcome: More energy efficient council homes Action Milestones/Steps we will take to deliver our actions Links Service 14. Improve energy efficiency stock to help address fuel poverty (NH) Deliver Housing Investment Programmes to ensure as many socially rented properties as practically possible achieve the Energy Efficiency Standard for Social Housing (EESSH2) by 2032. C05.17 05.17 Property 267
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16 Maximise the energy efficiency of homes to help with household bills and build towards net zero. Develop and implement South Lanarkshire Local Heat and Energy Efficiency Strategy (LHEES) and associated Delivery Plan. To contribute to national fuel poverty targets, the council will undertake a review to identify the proportion of households within its housing stock that are in, or are susceptible to being in, fuel poverty. Develop feasibility studies for proposed district heating systems at the multi storey blocks in East Kilbride and Hamilton. Improve homes and the housing environment for residents by continuing to invest in fabric upgrade. 05.17 05.17 Resource Outcome: Improve the health and wellbeing of children, young people and families Action Milestones/Steps we will take to deliver our actions Links Service 15. Contribute to effective joint working to protect and promote the wellbeing of children, young people and adults 100% of households identified as at risk are referred to appropriate statutory agencies. 04.04 Housing/ Property Deliver key actions detailed in the Local Child Poverty Action Report during 2023/24 within the following areas: • Reducing the costs of housing for families including energy costs; • Investment to increase new affordable housing supply; • Preventing and reducing homelessness for households, including families with children and young people 04.04 Housing Continue to deliver the SHORE Standards (Sustainable Housing on Release for Everyone) standards, by providing appropriate support to 80% of individuals leaving prison with identified housing need 04.04 Housing 100% of young people moving on from care offered housing options appointment, and of those requiring Housing Service assistance, 100% supported to move onto suitable and sustainable housing via a personal housing pathway plan. 04.04 Housing Resource Outcome: Work with property owners and landlords to make sure our private housing is suitable for the needs of our residents Action Milestones/Steps we will take to deliver our actions Links Service 16. Provide support and assistance to owner occupiers and landlords helping them to meet their responsibilities of maintain and repair to their homes. Conduct review of Scheme of Assistance Policy during 2023/24. 05.06 Housing / Property Resource Outcome: Help people to continue to live within their homes and communities through integrated community health and social care services Action Milestones/Steps we will take to deliver our actions Links Service 268
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17 17.Ensure effective contribution to health and social care outcomes contained within the Strategic Commissioning Plan In line with Homelessness related Directions within the Strategic Commissioning Plan 2022-25 pilot routine enquiry within identified front line homelessness services and develop plan to support full roll out across health and care services. C03.08 Housing Resource Outcome: Increased ownership of local assets Action Milestones/Steps we will take to deliver our actions Links Service 18. Support sustainable Community asset transfer (NH) Further promote the community asset transfer process and support communities to develop sustained applications target 3. 01.16 Property Resource Outcome: Manage the Council’s portfolio of properties and land Action Milestones/Steps we will take to deliver our actions Links Service 19. Project Management of General Services Projects The General Services Programme spend will be achieved for the financial year. C05.11 Property Clyde Terrace, Bothwell commencing with completion in 2023. 05.11 Property New Jackton Primary School is due for completion in 2023. 05.11 Property 20.Review of operational assets and reduction in the number of properties Continue to engage with all Council Resources and public sector partners during 2023/24 to ensure continued progress towards establishing a core estate through property rationalisation and investment. A review of operational assets in each area will identify opportunities to rationalise, reuse and redevelop to create sustainable property portfolio. 05.11 Property 21.Review of office accommodation in light of changing working patterns Develop and implement a new 5 year office strategy and action plan. Condition is assessed as the percentage of floor space of operational buildings which are in a satisfactory condition. Suitability is assessed as the percentage of operational buildings which are considered to be suitable for service delivery. 05.11 Property 22. Progress towards decarbonisation on the non housing estate The council will develop a programme for reducing emissions within its non-domestic building stock, aiming for heat to be delivered by zero carbon technology by the 2038 backstop. Complete feasibility studies to identify and cost the energy efficiency measures and heating system replacement works that will be required to decarbonise heat by 2038 across the council’s wet leisure and primary school estate. Achieve energy efficiency and carbon emissions reductions through delivery of the CEEF programme. 05.11 Property 269
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18 Resource Outcome: Help create town centres that offer a social, cultural and economic heart to a community and contain shared built environment, heritage and spaces that, with the right conditions, provides inclusive and sustainable centres Action Steps we have taken to deliver our actions Links Service 23.Ensure effective development of opportunities Support the development of opportunities to re-envision and redevelop town centres 06.04 Property Resource Outcome: The Council demonstrates high standards of governance and sound financial stewardship Action eps we have taken to deliver our actions Links Service 24.Ensure effective management of all Resource budgets and Business Plans Overall budgetary target achieved by March 2024. 07.02 Housing/ Property Resource Outcome: Digital and ICT Services meet the needs of the council and its customer 25.Progress the council’s Digital Strategy within the Resource Progress the implementation of a new Integrated Housing and Property management System, including sourcing a new supplier and contract negotiations. 07.04 Housing/ Property 270
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19 Section Five – Resourcing the Plan 5.0. Introduction In this section we consider the resources needed to implement our plan, including funding and staffing. 5.1. Revenue Budget 2023-24 The Resource has a Net Revenue Budget of £13.630 million for 2023-24. The table below allocates this budget across the services: NET Budget by Service 2023-24 Detail £ million % Housing Services 8.373 61% Property Services 5.257 39% Total 13.630 100% 5.2. Capital Budget 2023-24 The following capital budget of £63.916 million is allocated to the Resource for 2023/24: Capital Programme 2023-24 Project £ million Housing Revenue Account (HRA) Capital (new projects) 63.916 Total 63.916 5.3. Resource Employees The Resource has 1,434 employees as at February 2023. We support these employees to deliver their duties through a range of policies including personal appraisal and a robust training framework. The number of employees (per headcount) by service is as follows: Service Number of employees Housing Services 484 Property Services 950 Total 1,434 271
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Social Work Resources Social Work Resource Plan 2023-24 13 273
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Section Contents Page 1.0 Introduction 3 2.0 Key areas of focus for the year ahead 5 3.0 Resource Outcomes 10 4.0 Measures and actions 12 5.0 Resourcing the Plan 16 274
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Section One – Introduction I am pleased to introduce our Resource Plan for 2023-24 which sets out our intended outcomes and priorities for the coming year. This is the main annual business planning document for the Resource. It reflects the Council’s key priorities as set out in the Council Plan and the directions provided to the Council within the South Lanarkshire Integration Joint Board Strategic Commissioning Plan. Social Work Resources promotes social welfare and provides effective care and support, with many services providing this through a legislative framework, to meet the needs of vulnerable people in South Lanarkshire. We are committed to providing responsive and accessible services, with defined standards for service provision and to supporting local people to maximise their potential, maintain their independence and improve outcomes. We support and protect children, young people, adults, older people and their carers, as well as supporting adults in communities involved with the justice system. There is a statutory requirement for the council to appoint a professionally qualified Chief Social Work Officer (CSWO) who must be registered with the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC). The role of the CSWO is to provide professional advice and guidance to the local authority, elected members and officers in the provision of Social Work services, whether commissioned or directly provided. A copy of the CSWO Report is available to download from the Council website. Social Work Resources requires to deliver services within a complex and changing environment. Much of this delivery is shaped by statutory duties set out in legislation, whilst other elements involve the establishment of multi-agency approaches to support wider and agreed strategic objectives. Service Background In terms of how the Resource is currently structured, there are 3 distinct areas of service delivered as outlined below: Children and Justice Services Children’s services provide support and care for children, young people, and their families so that, wherever possible, young people can remain with their own families in their own communities. The service works to provide family support to promote the welfare and development of children, young people, and their families, ensuring that young people have a voice and participation in the decisions about their lives. Social Work Resources has a duty to protect children. Whilst this is a shared responsibility with other agencies and the community, Social Work has responsibility to investigate allegations of child abuse. These responsibilities are carried out in the framework of jointly agreed child protection procedures. Justice staff work within the context of a South Lanarkshire Community Justice Partnership to provide services that enable people to participate effectively in response to the problems and consequences of crime. Services are offered in courts, local offices, and specialised teams to people referred by the courts, prisons, and other agencies. A key aim is to work with people in conflict with the law to reduce their offending behaviour and promote community safety. This is done by helping a person resettle following a period in prison, addressing responsibility for offending, providing programs that offer realistic alternatives and raising awareness about how offending affects victims. 275
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South Lanarkshire Health and Social Care Partnership South Lanarkshire Integration Joint Board (IJB) has the responsibility for the strategic direction of the delivery of health and social care in South Lanarkshire. The South Lanarkshire Health and Social Care Partnership (SLHSCP) supports the IJB to operationally deliver community- based health and social care services. Staff deliver statutory services for adults under a range of legislation including the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 and Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000. Assessment and care management services assess the care needs of service users and their carers and help plan services to meet those needs. Care at home services and day services for adults and older people provide a range of support designed to help people remain as independent as possible within the community. Care homes provide individuals with support in such a setting on a short or long-term basis. The SLHSCP commission services provided by the independent, voluntary, and private sector. Performance and Support Services Performance and Support Services support the work of all other services within Social Work Resources and the South Lanarkshire Health and Social Care Partnership and embraces a range of business support functions and links with: IT; procurement; finance; personnel; workforce planning; corporate governance; information governance; and asset management. Administration Services provide effective administration and communication support to all the service areas across the Resource, including frontline operations; minute taking; data processing; handling customer enquiries and supporting the Electronic Document Records Management System (EDRMS) A dedicated team of staff provides a range of services and support in the areas of performance reporting and statutory planning, inspection, regulation, and risk management which involves the provision of a range of information which resource planning requirements, Scottish Government returns and statutory performance indicators. Information to support planning, for example demographic profiles and trends, strategic needs analysis and management information is provided as required by services and business needs. This Resource Plan has been prepared in the context of recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and current exceptional budgetary and workforce challenges. Unprecedented inflation levels are impacting on our local communities and council services, with significant gaps identified in council budgets spanning into future years. Alongside this there is a national recruitment shortage for social care staff with staff vacancies rising at a time of continued growth in demand for services. In taking forward this plan it is incumbent on us to apply our learning over recent years to ensure that we continue to deliver services which are fit for purpose, sustainable and address the needs of vulnerable people across all our communities. Soumen Sengupta Director of Health and Social Care Social Work Resources 276
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Section Two – Key areas of focus for the year ahead 2.0 Overview The Resource has identified the main challenges, risks and new developments which will have significant impact on the delivery of services in the coming year. These are outlined briefly below. 2.1 Challenges and service demand The statutory framework for social work services is contained in a raft of legislation, principal among these is the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968, which places a duty on all local authorities to “promote social welfare”. This legislative framework is both complex and ever changing and requires Social Work Resources to manage and change service delivery in line with new requirements. Scottish policy ambitions include the formation of a National Care Service, the embedding of human rights and delivery of “The Promise.” Within social work, the vision requires a skilled and valued workforce with a focus on prevention, early intervention and enablement. Social Work Resources takes consideration of the risks in service delivery, planning and decision-making processes. The Resource Risk Management Group meets on a regular basis to provide strategic and operational oversight of all risks and has identified five top risks that impact on the delivery of social care services. Whilst these top risks are the primary focus of the Resource, there are other risks that will continue to be monitored and contributed to by way of mitigation. The five top risks are: workforce availability and capacity (lack of capacity and skills to meet increased service demands) meeting public protection and legislative duties (Combined legislation/statutory duties Public Protection, Care Inspectorate/Self Directed Support (SDS) market and provider capacity (Procurement/supply chain) funding and budgetary pressures (Reduction in funding/increased costs) demand pressures (Emergency response) Social Work Resources funding and budgetary pressures are affected by additional demand and cost of delivering services. The Council approves annual budgets which consider areas of efficiency and savings along with opportunities for investment. Children’s Services will face challenging budget pressures during 2023-24 that will impact on both statutory and non- statutory areas of work. The statutory duties of Continuing Care introduced by Children and Young Persons (Scotland) Act 2014, extends the duty on local authorities to continue to provide options for young people to remain within their foster, kinship or residential care placement up to the age of 21 years (previously 18 years). There is also a continued increase in the requirement for children’s residential school and external placements. This increased service demand is currently met within existing resources. The decision to stand down non-urgent services during the Covid-19 pandemic and prioritise those in greatest need has resulted in a build-up of future demand and deterioration in individual circumstances due to early intervention and preventative activity not occurring. Additional demand and potential reduction in budget sits alongside the need for the service to develop and meet the ambitions of The Promise to deliver preventative, needs based support to children and families when it is required, and for as long as they need it. 277
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Other challenges that the Resource continues to address include: A projected increase in the South Lanarkshire population from 321,849 in 2022 to 326,771 in 2032, which is around a 1.5% increase from the current population. This projects an increase in demand, further challenged by limited recruitment opportunities across social care. (Table 1). An increasing ageing population (this is most pronounced in the 75+ age group) and a lower healthy life expectancy for people in South Lanarkshire is resulting in an increase in demand for services. The average weekly package of care has increased by just under 15% from 11.4 hours per user per week in 2016/17 to 13 hours per user per week in 2021/22. In 2020/21, 14% of the South Lanarkshire population had three or more long-term health conditions (LTCs). The rate of people with 3+LTCs is projected to increase steadily between 2022 and 2025 across most age groups 18+. The number of adult support and protection inquiries has increased by 16%, with 735 adult protection inquiries received from 1 April 2020 to 30 June 2020 compared to 853 from 1 July to 30 September 2022. Adults with Welfare Guardianship Orders have increased 18% from 1 April 2020 to 30 September 2022. Consequently, AWI Supervising Officer visits have increased 10% across the same period. The number of Justice Social Work Reports (JSWRs) submitted have increased by 35%, 288 JSWRs were submitted to courts from 1 July to 30 September 2020 compared to 441 in same period in 2022. Graph 1: South Lanarkshire population projections for all ages for 2023-2032 Source: National Records of Scotland population projections 2.2 Regulation and inspection of services The Resource must comply with Care Inspectorate regulation and inspection and is responsible for 41 registered care services. The Resource is also involved in partnership assurance oversight activities in respect of independent commissioned services. 20000 30000 40000 50000 60000 70000 80000 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 Population Projection by Age 0 to 15 16 to 30 31 to 45 46 to 60 61 to 75 Over 75 278
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A joint inspection of Adult Support and Protection was carried out in August/September 2022 by the Care Inspectorate in collaboration with His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary Scotland (HMICS) and Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS). The inspection findings concluded that the partnership’s key processes and strategic leadership for adult support and protection were effective at keeping adults safe from harm and interventions supported positive experiences and improved outcomes for adults at risk of harm. Key processes were found to be well organised and allowed for effective oversight and decision making early in the adult support and protection process, enabling adults to be supported through timely person-centred interventions. The strategic leadership vision and strategy was described by inspectors as collaborative and effective. Strategic leaders were recognised as promoting an extensive range of training opportunities for staff; and for encouraging effective engagement with unpaid carers throughout strategic planning and service delivery. Overall, the clear strengths in both key processes and strategic leadership collectively outweighed areas for improvement. The South Lanarkshire ASP partnership will prepare an improvement plan for the priority areas identified in the report. This will be implemented through the local Adult Support and Protection Committee, with oversight through the South Lanarkshire Public Protection Chief Officers’ Group. A national joint review of diversion from prosecution was undertaken in 2022. The aim of the review was to assess the operation and impact of diversion from prosecution in Scotland with the final report published in December 2022 for consideration and implementation. In December 2022, The Care Inspectorate reported on the findings of a national inquiry into carers experiences of social care services. Recommendations will be considered by the South Lanarkshire Health and Social Care Partnership alongside local commissioned carers services. The outcome report following The Mental Welfare Commission’s national survey into advocacy provision across Scotland’s Health and Social Care Partnerships is expected late February 2023 and any recommendations will be incorporated into the Lanarkshire Advocacy Planning Group’s existing action plan. An Independent Review of Inspection, Scrutiny and Regulation (IRISR) started in October 2022 will look at how social care services are regulated and inspected in Scotland. An independent recommendations report will be published in June 2023. 2.3 Recruitment and retention Social Work services are experiencing sustained pressure to meet increased demand against a national workforce supply shortage. Recruitment and retention to the social care workforce for both qualified and paraprofessional roles continue to be challenging and is impacted further with an existing ageing workforce. Investment in key areas will continue to address the increased demand for services while looking at how to redesign services to maximise the use of available resources. A review of recruitment practices is underway to extend and promote social care by using a flexible approach and utilising employability routes such as the Care Academy and succession planning. 2.4 Cost of living Crisis The UK is experiencing the worst cost-of-living crisis in 40 years. With inflation soaring into double figures both the UK and the Scottish Government have formally recognised the severity of the crisis and have deployed emergency measures to help mitigate the effects of rising 279
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costs. While all sectors of society are seeing prices rise the impacts are greatest for those on the lowest incomes. The council recognises the immense pressures being faced by households across South Lanarkshire and acknowledges the potential for additional demands on council services. The council has identified a range of new and existing support which can help households manage scarce resources and services and will continue to explore all avenues to support the most vulnerable in the year ahead. While doing all we can to support our communities in these difficult times, the council recognises that inflationary pressures will also present significant challenges for council services as budgets are increasingly squeezed by rising costs. 2.5 COVID - 19 Continued Response and Recovery As recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic continues, there remains a significant backlog of demand in some areas. The completion of Community Payback Orders has been challenging with restricted court access and enhanced safety arrangements; performance is now steadily improving. Work has been ongoing to progress the outstanding internal assessments and reviews with agreement to enhance teams to ensure the safety, health and wellbeing of service users. Services such as family centres and adult and older people day services are offering more direct support in a planned way, whilst remaining vigilant to minimise risk to service users and maintain staffing levels. A Scottish Infection Prevention and Control Education Pathway (SIPCEP) has been developed by NHS Education for Scotland (NES) to provide IPC education. This will support approximately 2,000 social care staff to continuously improve their knowledge and skills as part of their role. 2.6 The Promise The Promise produced by the Independent Care Review in 2020; sets out an overall view of what the new approach to supporting children, young people and families should be. A Champions Board has been established to listen to the voice of those who are care experienced as well as a Community Planning Partnership Promise Board to drive forward the work of The Promise. Focussing on the whole family approach, Family Support Hubs have been established within each locality to provide a more preventative response to requests for assistance from families and reduce the likelihood of an escalation in risk and concern. Education, NHS and Third Sector are contributing to the work of the Family Support Hubs whilst they embed and ensure South Lanarkshire’s whole family support strategy is developed and reviewed collaboratively. Inclusion As Prevention (IAP) is an approach that involves shifting from the acute and crisis driven intervention taken when a young person becomes involved in offending to seeking to provide early and inclusive support before negative patterns of behaviour begin. IAP is also tackling - and aiming to understand - the root causes of offending. A new pilot commenced in January 2023 to introduce the Family Group Decision making approach with adolescents (aged 12-18) at risk of being in conflict with the law, or in conflict with the law. Within the Justice Service, a priority for 2023-24 is to further develop provisions and pathways for young people (aged 16-21) involved in conflict with the law. This aims to ensure that young people involved are not criminalised and are instead provided with intensive and targeted supports aimed at addressing the issues that have contributed to the behaviours, allowing tailored and time limited care plans to be created for each individual, based on their assessed strengths and critical vulnerabilities. 280
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2.7 Delivering the strategic commissioning plan intentions Following a public engagement programme, the Strategic Commissioning Plan 2022 – 2025 (SCP) has been approved by the South Lanarkshire Integration Joint Board. Social Work Resources, a key partner of the Health and Social Care Partnership, will deliver the SCP intentions through the directions issued by South Lanarkshire Integration Joint Board. By working together collaboratively with providers of health and social care the HSCP will maximise the use of scarce resources and develop service models that specifically focus on delivering both micro (personal outcomes) and macro (commissioning intentions) priorities set out in the SCP. 2.8 Transformation and service improvement programme As part of the council’s and South Lanarkshire Integration Joint Board’s (IJB) long-standing commitment to improve later life for adults and older people, and to meet the future needs and wishes of the people, 20 award winning technology enabled houses and a new care facility, in addition to 25 barrier free homes have been developed within Blantyre. The technology enabled properties as well as the care facility champions the ‘home for life’ principle, seeking to reduce reliance on long-stay nursing and residential care and instead enhancing access to intermediate care. The new state-of-the-art care facility incorporates 20 intermediate care beds aimed at supporting people to return home or to a setting which best meets their needs. Care at Home services will look to cement the recent transformative redesign programme that has remodelled the service to enable it to respond to the increasingly complex needs of service users. A new initiative will build on existing partnerships with commissioned Care at Home providers through the use of an interactive mapping solution. The system will refine the way services are commissioned by directing providers to increased neighbourhood working, thus minimising travel time and increasing capacity that can be utilised to meet demands for services. The Pan Lanarkshire Court Service will aim to reduce the number of people being remanded to custody and contribute to the reduction of the national prison population through increased assessment, use of diversion from prosecution, bail supervision and electronically monitored bail. Additional areas of priority for 2023/2024 include the provision of advice, guidance, and appropriate signposting to those appearing from police custody and to work alongside third sector partners including the new SACRO AYE Service, who will be providing arrest referral, diversion and bail supervision mentoring supports, following successfully obtaining Alcohol and Drug Partnership (ADP) funding. 2.9 Social Work IT System Replacement Works commenced to implement a replacement Social Work Case Management IT System in 2022-2023. Following a successful tender and evaluation process, Liquidlogic were awarded the contract in September 2022. The anticipated go-live date for the system is January 2024. 2.10 National Care Service The Independent Review of Adult Social Care in Scotland recommended the development of a National Care Service, which the Scottish Government has committed to deliver by 2026. The National Care Services (Scotland) Bill was presented to Parliament on 20 June 2022. It is a framework Bill that will allow a co-design approach and proposes that Scottish Ministers transfer social care responsibility from local authorities to a new national service. New “care boards” would be responsible for delivering care locally with potential to include children’s services and justice social work at a later stage following further consultation. 281
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Section Three – Resource Outcomes 3.1 Resource Outcomes Social Work Resources has established the following Resource outcomes to support the delivery of Connect outcomes in 2023-24. Connect Outcomes Resource Outcomes Communities and Environment Social Work Resources embeds sustainable development across services Strengthen engagement with service users and carers Education and Learning No Resource Outcomes for this Connect Outcome Health and Wellbeing Promote early intervention and prevention to achieve healthy, active lives and reduce inequalities Care and protect children, young people and adults from risk of harm Work with our communities to deliver person-centred care and support Continue to support carers good health and wellbeing alongside their caring role Promote self-care and self-management Community Justice Outcome Improvement Plan is progressed Disadvantaged people/groups are provided with access to timely support and interventions For those who have committed offences safely and effectively support them to reintegrate into the community and realise their potential for the benefits of all Help people to continue to live within their homes and communities through integrated community health and social care services Children and Young People Improve the health and wellbeing of children, young people and families Housing and Land No Resource Outcomes for this Connect Outcome Our Economy No Resource Outcomes for this Connect Outcome 3.2. Delivering the Plan and achieving Best Value In working towards the six outcomes, the council aims to continually improve and ensure effective and efficient use of resources, and our business will be conducted with integrity, transparency and will operate to the highest standards. 282
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Social Work Resources has established the following Resource outcomes to support Delivering the Plan and achieving Best Value. Delivering the Plan and achieving Best Value Resource Outcomes Digital and ICT services meet the needs of the council and its customers 283
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Section Four – Measures and actions 4.0 Performance measures and action plan This section of the Resource Plan is divided into two parts: part (a) sets out our main performance measures against our outcomes; and part (b) describes the key actions we will take in the coming year to respond to the challenges ahead and improve services and outcomes. 4.a. How we will measure our performance The impact of Covid19 and the current recruitment challenges continue to have a significant effect on performance for some services. The table below shows our performance measures, with data for the last 2 years and the target for 2023-24, and additional context for the targets is detailed within the notes column, where applicable. Resource Outcome: Social Work Resources embeds sustainable development across services Measure 2021- 22 2022- 23 2023-24 Target Links Service Notes 1. Make an annual saving from using recycled items as opposed to new through the joint store £267 tbc at Q4 £200k C01.06 Adult and Older Target increase from £175k to £200k to reflect previous performance Resource Outcome: Care and protect children, young people and adults from risk of harm Measure 2021- 22 2022- 23 2023-24 Target Links Service Notes 2. Percentage of parental attendance at initial Child Protection case conferences 89% tbc at Q4 85% 04.05 Children and Justice Target to remain same 3. Percentage of children in attendance at initial Child Protection Case Conferences (aged over 5) n/a n/a Increase per quarter 04.05 Children and Justice New measure no baseline data 4. Percentage of children seen by a supervising officer within 15 days 94% tbc at Q4 75% 03.04 Children and Justice National target 75% 5. Percentage of reports submitted to the Children’s Reporter within agreed timescales 82% tbc at Q4 75% C03.0 4 Children and Justice National target 75% 6. Percentage of our looked after children and young people accommodated in residential placements 10% tbc at Q4 10% C04.0 8 Children and Justice National target 10% 7. Percentage of statutory supervising officer visits completed within timescale for local authority welfare guardianship orders 94% tbc at Q4 90% C03.0 4 Adult and Older People Target to remain same due to workforce pressures 8. Percentage of statutory supervising officer visits completed within timescale 95% tbc at Q4 90% C03.0 4 Adult and Target to remain same due to 284
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for private welfare guardianship orders Older People workforce pressures Resource Outcome: Promote self-care and self-management Measure 2021- 22 2022- 23 2023-24 Target Links Service Notes 9. Number of people participating in a co- produced SDS Assessment to exercise choice and control over their care n/a n/a 3000 03.05 Adult and Older People New measure 10. Number of people in receipt of a direct and managed personal budget payment to exercise choice and control over their care n/a n/a TBC 03.05 Adult and Older People Baseline set from Social Care Return 11. Spend on adults in receipt of direct payments and personal budget payments as a percentage of the total social work spend on adults n/a n/a TBC 03.05 Adult and Older People Baseline set from LGBF Return Resource Outcome: For those who have committed offences safely and effectively support them to reintegrate into the community and realise their potential for the benefits of all Measure 2021- 22 2022- 23 2023-24 Target Links Service Notes 12. Percentage of people on CPO unpaid work requirement seen within five working days by their case manager 68% tbc at Q4 75% 03.02 Children and Justice Target to remain same due to existing backlog 13. Percentage of people starting their placement within seven days of a CPO unpaid work 65% tbc at Q4 75% 03.02 Children and Justice Target to remain same due to existing backlog 14. Percentage of Justice Social Work reports submitted to Court by the due date 99% tbc at Q4 95% C03.0 2 Children and Justice Target to remain same at 95% 4.b. What actions we will take in 2023-24 Resource Outcome: Community Justice Outcome Improvement Plan is progressed Action Milestones/Steps we will take to deliver our actions Links Service 1. Embed the national model for Community Justice with our partners in South Lanarkshire Present a progress report on the priorities set out within the Community Justice Outcome Improvement Plan 2023-2026 by March 2024 03.02 Children and Justice 285
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2. Contribute to a reduction of the national prison population through the use of SDS assessments and diversion from prosecution. Provide a report to Social Work Committee on progress 03.02 Children and Justice Resource Outcome: For those who have committed offences safely and effectively support them to reintegrate into the community and realise their potential for the benefits of all Action Milestones/Steps we will take to deliver our actions Links Service 3. Promote the use of alternatives to remand in South Lanarkshire Provide a report to Social Work Committee on the use of movement restriction conditions, restriction of liberty orders and bail supervision as alternatives to remand 03.02 Children and Justice New measure Resource Outcome: Care and protect children, young people and adults from risk of harm Action Milestones/Steps we will take to deliver our actions Links Service 4. Report on the Adult Support and Protection Inspection Improvement Plan Report to Social Work Committee on the implementation of the ASP Inspection Improvement Plan C03.0 4 Adult and Older People 5. Monitor public protection activity Report annually to the Community Planning Partnership on public protection activity 03.04 Children and Justice 6. Chief Social Work Officer to provide professional advice and guidance to the Council in accordance with legislative duties Provide an annual report on key challenges, developments and improvements across Social Work including service quality, performance and delivery of statutory functions by September 2023 07.02 Performance and Support Resource Outcome: Strengthen engagement with service users and carers Action Milestones/Steps we will take to deliver our actions Links Service 7. Continue to support the culture where consultation and participation is part of the planning, development and delivery of all our services. Embed the Care Opinion system across our services throughout 2023 to enable service users and stakeholders to share their experiences using our services 01.05 Performance and Support Resource Outcome: Work with our communities to deliver person-centred care and support Action Milestones/Steps we will take to deliver our actions Links Service 8. Ensure monitoring, compliance and control of delivered services Provide bi-annual reports to Social Work Committee on internal registered care services C06.0 9 Performance and Support Resource Outcome: Continue to support carers good health and wellbeing alongside their caring role Action Milestones/Steps we will take to deliver our actions Links Service 9. Report on services and supports provided to adult carers by Commissioned Services Provide quarterly reports to Senior Management Team and a report to Social Work Committee on the support and services provided by 03.02 Performance and Support 286
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commissioned third sector organisations Resource Outcome: Disadvantaged people/groups are provided with access to timely support and interventions Action Milestones/Steps we will take to deliver our actions Links Service 10. Report on MAT Standards 1- 5 - to be implemented 2023- 24 Report to Social Work Committee on the performance of MAT Standards 1-5 03.02 Adult and Older People’s Service Resource Outcome: Improve the health and wellbeing of children, young people and families Action Milestones/Steps we will take to deliver our actions Links Service 11. Report on services and supports provided to young carers by Commissioned Services Quarterly reports to Senior Management Team and a report to Social Work Committee on the support and services provided by commissioned third sector organisations 03.02 Performance and Support Resource Outcome: Promote early intervention and prevention to achieve healthy, active lives and reduce inequalities Action Milestones/Steps we will take to deliver our actions Links Service 12. Embed Family Support Hubs across each locality Develop effective consultation and feedback methods to identify and report on improved outcomes for families in receipt of early intervention 03.06 Children and Justice Resource Outcome: Digital and ICT services meet the needs of the council and its customers Action Milestones/Steps we will take to deliver our actions Links Service 13. Deliver the implementation programme to replace the existing Social Work IT system within timescale Implement the new Social Work IT system by January 2024 07.04 Performance and Support New measure Resource Outcome: Help people to continue to live within their homes and communities through integrated community health and social care services Action Milestones/Steps we will take to deliver our actions Links Service 14. Continue to champion the home first approach by enhancing health and care provision in the community Report to Social Work Committee on continued development of home first approach, including operational commencement of services from Blantyre Life facility 01.04 Adult and Older People 287
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Section Five – Resourcing the Plan 5.0. Introduction In this section we consider the resources needed to implement our plan, including funding and staffing. 5.1. Revenue Budget 2023-24 The Resource has a Net Revenue Budget of £219.616 million for 2023-24. The table below allocates this budget across the services: NET Budget by Service 2023-24 Detail £ million % Performance and Support Services 7.068 3.2 Adult and Older People 169.314 77.1 Children and Families 37.742 17.2 Justice and Substance Misuse 5.492 2.5 Total 219.616 100 5.2. Capital Budget 2023-24 The following capital budget of £1.984 million is allocated to the Resource for 2023-24: Capital Programme 2023-24 Project £ million Community Alarms – Analogue to Digital 1.232 SWIS Plus Replacement 0.752 Total 1.984 5.3. Resource Employees Social Work Resources has 2859 employees as of February 2023. We support these employees to deliver their duties through a range of policies including personal appraisal and a robust training framework. The number of employees (per headcount) by service is as follows: Service Number of employees Adult and Older Peoples Services 2107 Children and Justice Services 560 Performance and Support 192 Total 2859 288