2017: Priorities and concerns for the year ahead

Sajid Javid, Philip Hammond, Donald Trump and the EU flag.

Last year communities secretary Sajid Javid introduced policy to alleviate the crisis in social care funding while chancellor Philip Hammond attempted to have an impact with his first Autumn Statement. Meanwhile, the UK voted to leave the EU and Donal Trump was elected president. But for 2017 there are other issues on the local government agenda. Finance and treasury officers give us a snapshot preview of the year ahead, their worries and their priorities.

Lorelei Watson
Head of treasury, pensions and capital, deputy S151
Hounslow Borough Council

The first thing keeping me awake at night is obviously our budget. For the first time in ten years we are increasing the council tax — by 3.99%.

We have a £70m savings target for 2017/18 and 2018/19. The savings for 2017/18 have been identified but they need to be delivered. Like most London boroughs this is easier said than done, and we need robust mitigation plans if savings start to slip.

I’m also worried about the difficulty in retaining and attracting high quality finance staff,  given the reducing opportunities and instability with what feels like continuous restructurings. There are some key areas of very difficult to recruit staff in the more specialised technical functions – like treasury management. And there are shortages in the interim market too.

My area of concern is will we really have had to make significant progress in pooling our pension fund investments by the end of 2018, bearing in mind 2018 is next year? I can’t see how it can be value for money being forced to transition, at significant cost,  our assets to funds which maybe don’t meet our strategic needs, are poorer performers and have higher fees.

Vic Allison
Deputy managing director & acting chief executive
Wychavon District Council

The year 2017 feels a bit mid term here in Wychavon, and that’s probably because it is.  But we need to press on with all those promises we made in our strategy – always a challenge with less and less people and money.

And 2017 should see some exciting developments which will help to re-energise staff and members.  We will start building a new superstore in the centre of Evesham in the Spring, and by the Autumn we will have set up a wholly owned company to directly invest in housing.

Now that the government has finally decided on the future of New Homes Bonus, as a high housing growth area, we can start to plan how best to make use of this income stream to enhance the lives of our residents.  And, of course we will continue to watch for signals as we move one year closer to 100% business rates retention and all the benefits and opportunities this will bring.  Will we coast for a year?  I don’t think so.

Chris Buss
Director of finance & deputy chief executive
Wandsworth Borough Council

Trying to anticipate things to look out for in 2017 , is like trying to predict the weather six months hence. The key thing will be keeping the lid on spending pressures other than adult social care which has gained the limelight due to its close proximity to the NHS.

But adult social isn’t the only spending pressure facing local authorities particularly those in London where further changes to the benefits system will lead to further increase in homelessness costs before the change in the homelessness prevention duty further adds to cost pressures.

But these are likely to be trumped (no pun intended) by the seemingly inexhaustible rise in the costs of children looked after, which is just adding to long term pressures. What I don’t expect to see is a local authority financially falling over this year but perhaps that’s one for 2018 or 2019.

Belinda White
Finance manager – treasury management
Birmingham City Council

Like many of our fellow local authorities, Birmingham City Council has been going through restructures. In our case due both to budget pressures and to move towards creating our Council of the Future, which takes on board the recommendations of the Kerslake Report and the Birmingham Independent Improvement Panel.

Within the City Finance restructure, which we have just completed and which comes into operation Monday 16 January, there are going to be changes which impact on our treasury operations. Even without direct changes to the personnel in our team, the people we rely on for good quality information, be it for their capital expenditure plans and how much of it requires prudential borrowing, on projects with quite complex financial arrangements, or their expected cash inflows from grants, are changing. Many senior, highly experienced members of staff have gone or are going, having taken the VR package, so I see this as a challenge for 2017; albeit not an insurmountable one.

Ian O’Donnell
Executive director of corporate resources
London Borough of Ealing

Councils are increasingly making it possible for customers to apply for and receive services digitally. These changes present opportunities to prevent and detect fraud more effectively by using data more intelligently.

For example, can a housing applicant’s identity be verified against established sources? Does the applicant own a property or have a tenancy elsewhere? Is other information about personal circumstances correct?

In 2017 we will see councils taking advantage of such opportunities as they build the capacity to process and analyse data, and build relationships with third parties, including other councils.

The London Counter Fraud Hub, for example, a collaboration between all 33 London local authorities, operated by CIPFA and powered by BAE Systems, is now in its pilot phase, and in 2017 will establish itself as a leading example of how sharing data and using advanced technology can take the fight against fraud to a new level.

Aidan Dunn
Assistant director
Suffolk County Council

Devolution dominated Suffolk’s agenda in 2016, with a tremendous amount of effort invested in developing proposals for a combined authority with Norfolk County Council, only for the bid to fall at the final hurdle.

Consequently, the problem remains of meeting increasing demand and financial pressures whilst funding reduces. During 2017 we will tackle this by working ever closer with our health and local government partners building on relationships which were strengthened through the devolution process.

Three areas of financial focus for Suffolk will be (i) aligning the council and partners to support growth in housing and the economy; (ii) skilling up the organisation to be more commercially minded; and (iii) driving through the returns from the investment made in digital services.

Mind you, the outcome of the of the council elections in May could change everything again.

Photos:

Said Javid, British High Commission, Flickr
Philip Hammond, Foreign & Commonwealth Office, Flickr
Donald trump, Gage Skidmore, Flickr
EU flag, Europa, EU Media Services.