Argyll and Bute Council Service Choices

1. Area -Community Planning and Development.

Reduce cost of combined community development and community planning teams. 1.7 fewer FTEs. Less staff attendance at meetings. Money Saved: £71k.

2. Area -Community Planning and Development.

Introduce consistent management arrangements for our four main community centres.By changing the current arrangements (with community centre councils), the Council could deliver a consistent approach to pricing across the area. Money Saved = £45k

3. Area - Creditors.

Reduce postage, stationery, and printing costs.Increase email correspondence and electronic transfer (BACS) transactions. Money saved -£13k.

4. Area -Customer Service Centres.

Tiree Service Point service – deliver through contract with voluntary sector.This is in place in Jura and Colonsay. 0.5 fewer FTEs. Money saved: £19k.

5. Area - Customer Service Centres.

20% savings on postage, printing and stationery in all service points.Communicate by email rather than post. Money Saved £10k

6. Area - Facility Services.

Develop a Council catering service for events, functions etc.Build on the ad hoc special catering service already provided.
Money saved: £40k.

7. Area -Facility Services.

Spend to save: water utility savings.No significant impact on current service. Money Saved =£100k.

8. Area -Facility Services.

Spend to save: energy use savings.No significant impact on current service . Money Saved £25k

9. Area -Facility Services.

Increase heating efficiency through use of biomass boilers.Minor disruption at point when boilers are installed. Money Saved = £12k

10. Area -Facility Services.

Reduce costs of Estates Section, through use of external service providers .1.4 fewer FTEs required. Increased opportunities for external providers. £50k.

11. Area - Facility Services.

Improve use of fleet (transport) resources between council teams.1 fewer FTE required.Consider external partnership working. Money Saved £16k.

12. Area - Housing Services.

Transfer of strategy staff costs to Strategic Housing Fund.Subsidy available for 5 fewer new houses. Money Saved = £137k.

13. Area - Improvement and HR.

Redesign delivery of personal safety training for employees.1 fewer FTE required. Develop on-line/face to face training. Money Saved = £38k.

14. Area - Improvement and HR.

Redesign the Health and Safety Advisory Team, and develop on-line support.1.5 fewer FTE required. Increase on line support. Prioritise higher risk service areas. Money Saved £81k.

15. Area - Improvement and HR.

Combine Improvement and Organisational Development, and Human Resources teams to create a single service.12.2 fewer FTEs required. This woud provide council services with a ‘one stop shop’ for support on people management and improvement. Money Saved = £511k

16. Area - Information Technology.

Replace broadband circuits to offices and schools with cheaper, lower bandwidth alternatives.Bandwith requirements will be matched to level of use. Money Saved = £139k.

17. Area - Leisure and Libraries.

Create Charitable Leisure Trust, bringing together Council-owned community halls, libraries, swimming pools and fitness facilities.This would reduce council jobs; posts would transfer to the new organisation. Experience of other councils would be drawn on in establishing an effective Trust.Money Saved = £700k.

18. Area - Planning and Regulatory Services.

Reduce business support costs by efficiency savings provided by staff reductions. 1 fewer FTE to provide business support. Money Saved = £20k

19. Area -Planning and Regulatory Services .

Reduce central administration costs by improved processes and systems. 1 fewer FTE to provide support. Money Saved = £16k.

20. Area - Revenues and benefits.

Reduction in postage, printing and stationery costs. Stop providing pre-paid envelopes. Increase correspondence by email. Money Saved = £23k.

21. Area -Revenues and benefits.

Council tax e-billing / landlords’ portals – replace external contract. In-house solution to be developed; if unavailable withdraw the service. Money Saved = £50k.

22. Area - Revenues and benefits.

Retrieve cost of administering the double charge council tax from the income raised.Double charge council tax applies to empty homes. Money Saved = £80k

23. Area -Revenues and Benefits.

Benefit advisor posts – reduce to match expected reduction in caseload. 2 fewer FTEs. Introduction of Universal Credit is expected to reduce caseload.Money Saved = £48k.

24. Area -Roads and Amenities.

Move to a 3 weekly collection for general waste (green bin), continue fortnightly recycling collections using double shift patterns. 7 fewer FTEs. New shift pattern to make better use of fewer vehicles. Money Saved =£548k.

25. Area -Waste management.

Energy Reduction Lighting programme. Use new lighting units that would reduce maintenance and energy costs.Money Saved = £150k.

26. Area - Social Work/Care Services.

Social Work is the Council’s second highest area of spend after Education. In 2014/15 we spent £55.4 million on these services. Proposed savings are for 4% - 6%. Social work/care services will join with health services as the Health and Social Care Partnership from April 2016. Identifying and delivering savings will be progressed by the Partnership. Money Saved = £2.25 Million - £3.37 Million.

27. Area - Strategic Finance .

Review staffing of the team. 7 fewer FTEs . Training on-going to develop team skills, self-service routes for managers.Money Saved = £259K.

28. Area -Economic Development.

Increase piers and harbours berthing charges. Charges (for commercial shipping) depend on gross registered tonnage. Money Saved = £37k.

29. Area - Economic Development.

Reduce subsidies to freight operators at Campbeltown. Phased withdrawal of subsidy. From 55% to 33% to 18% to standard rates from 2018/19. Money Saved = £58k.

30. Area - Education Services.

Increase fees for non-statutory music tuition by 50%. £150.80 per August–June session to rise to £226.20 for one pupil/one instrument. Cost for a sibling/another instrument to rise from £135.80 to £203.70. Money Saved = £50k.

31. Area -Planning and Regulatory Services .

Introduce charging, of developer or property owner, for statutory street numbering. In place in other council areas. £75 to name/number or rename first property and sliding scale for additional properties e.g. £210 for 10 properties and £710 for 50, plus £150 for each new street name. Money Saved = £10k.

32. Area - Planning and Regulatory Services .

Introduce charging for pre-application advice for major and locally-significant planning applications. In place in other council areas. Flat fee approx. £1,000 for major applications; maximum of approx. £800 for locally significant. Money Saved = £10k.

33. Area - Planning and Regulatory Services .

Introduce charges for Phase 1 Habitat Surveys. £600 per survey. Money Saved = £3k.

34. Area - Planning and Regulatory Services .

Increase charges to businesses for inspection and certification of food export certificates. Already in place in other council areas. Flat rate of £17.00 per certificate to replace current tiered fee structure. Money Saved = £12k.

35. Area -Planning and Regulatory Services .

Increase income from private landlord registration scheme. Targeted enforcement work on unregistered private landlords. Money Saved = £8k.

36. Area: revenues and Benefits.

Apply Landlord penalties.This would apply to landlords providing tenant information late, making it difficult to collect council tax. Money Saved £64k.

37. Area: Roads and amenity Services:

Increase burial charges by 20% plus inflation. From £488.65 to £604 (burial). From £507.95 to £627.83 (cremation). These costs are below the average in 9 comparative local authority areas. Money Saved £79k

38. Area: Roads and Amenity Services.

Increase cremation charges by 20% plus inflation. These costs are below the average in 9 comparative local authority areas. Money Saved £59k.

39. Area: Roads and Amenity Services.

Charge for, or remove services, for Cowal Games. This covers temporary toilets, event support, litter collection, staffing etc. Money Saved £30k.

40. Area: Roads and Amenity Services.

Increase parking charges .80p to £1. Introduce to Mull car parks. Year round charging.

Money Saved : £150k.

41. Area: Roads and Amenity Services.

Recover full cost for event banners and other activities associated with events.Recover costs from this non-core council activity, or do not provide the support. Money Saved: £15k.

42. Area: Adult Learning and Literacies.

Reduce Adult Learning and Literacies service . Reduction in classes, courses and and other learning support and materials. 3.4 fewer F.T.E's. Money saved £104k.

43. Area: Adult Learning and Literacies.

Reduce spend by 50% on adult learning and literacies resources and tutors. 3.4 fewer FTE's. Reduction in classes, courses and other learning support and materials. Money Saved: £29k.

44. Area: Arts and Festivals.

Reduce grants to major events and festivals by 20%. Funding/grants to continue to be available but to lesser amount. Money saved: £37k.

45. Area: Arts and Festivals.

Reduce arts development budget.Funding/grants to continue to be available but to lesser amount. . Money saved £10k.

46. Area: Community Development and Community Planning.

Reduce third sector grant funding by 10%. Funding/grants to continue to be available but to lesser amount. Money saved: £14k.

47. Area: Customer Service Centres and Registration.

Reduce service point opening hours to 30 hours a week. Stop taking council tax payments in service points, promoting alternative options (direct debit, online, Paypoint). 3.5 fewer service point staff, 2 fewer telephony staff, one fewer systems support staff, and (2018/19) one fewer in management structure. Money saved £207k.

48. Area: Customer Service Centres and Registration.

Rothesay service point – reduce opening hours further to 17.5 hours per week.
0.5 FTEs removed.This service point has the lowest volume of customer face to face contact. Money saved £20k.

49. Area: Customer Service Centres and Registration.

Reduce property maintenance costs - remove small repairs budget at Jura and Colonsay service points. Small repairs would not be done in these properties. Requirements to date have been minimal. Money saved: £4k.

50. Area: Education Services.

Reduce home and hospital tuition (25%). Reduced in line with past demand. Money saved £3k.

51. Area: Education Services.

Reduce Quality Improvement Team materials (60%).
Reduced opportunities for equipment loans and staff training. Money saved: £15k.

52. Area: Education Services.

Reduce specialist equipment budget (20%).The level of demand has meant that this budget has been underspent previously. Money saved: £7k.

53. Area: Education Services.

Reduce repairs outside contractor costs for Special Education HQ by 39%.Use risk-based approach to property maintenance. Money saved £7k.

54. Area: Education Services.

Reduce Additional Support Needs (ASN) assistants by 45%. 71 fewer FTEs Deliver efficiencies and match resources to greatest assessed need. Money saved: £1,37m

55. Area: Education Services.

Reduce Creative Arts in Schools Team by 20%. 0.2 FTE reduction in range of programmes for pupils.
Money Saved : £5k.

56. Area: Education Services.

Reduce instrumental instructors by 20%Reduce instrumental instructors by 20%. 2.6 fewer FTEs. Impact on choice of instruments available. Money saved : £99k.

57. Area: Education Services.

Reduce level of support available to the Council and providers of early learning and childcare.
6 fewer FTEs. 40% reduction in council pre-5 resource budgets.

58. Area: Education Services:

Withdraw 3% annual increase in payments to Early Learning and Childcare commissioned providers .
Continue to commission providers to meet requirement for 600 hours of early learning for 3 and 4 year olds but remove annual increase. Money saved : £82k.

59. Area: Education Services.

Reduce Central Support Staff .
4 fewer FTEs. Reduced administrative support. Money saved: £78.

60. Area: Education Services.

Reduce central PE facilities budget by 50%.
Reduce options for example to hire venues for PE Money saved : £60k.

61. Area: Education Services.

Reduce janitorial cover budget by 20%. Cover continue to be available but reduced. Money saved: £16.

62. Area: Education Services.

Reduce central repairs budget by 20%. Prioritise repair work required. Money saved £159.

63. Area: Education Services.

Reduce clothing grant budget by 30%. Demand has been less than the budget previously allocated. Money saved: £39k.

64. Area: Education Services.

Reduce Classroom Assistants by 20% - primary schools. 8 fewer FTEs across all 79 primary schools. Resources matched to greatest assessed need. Money saved: £137k.

65. Area: Education Services.

Reduce Classroom Assistants by 20% - secondary. 6.6 fewer FTEs across all 10 secondary schools. Resources matched to greatest assessed need. Money saved: £110k.

66. Area: Education services.

Reduce clerical assistants(20%) - primary. 13 fewer FTEs Prioritise support provided. Money saved: £217k.

67. Area: Education Services.

Reduce clerical assistants (20%)-secondary.6.2 fewer FTEs Prioritise support provided. Money saved: £108k.

68. Area: Education Services.

Reduce pupil support assistants (20%) -primary. 3 fewer FTEs 111 fewer hours per year across 30 primary schools. Resources matched to greatest assessed need. Money saved £62k.

69. Area: Education Services.

Reduce janitor costs by 20% - primary. 8.6 fewer FTEs Prioritise service provided. Money saved: £153k.

70. Area: Education Services.

Reduce janitor costs by 20% - secondary. 2 fewer FTEs Prioritise service provided. Money saved £39k.

71. Area: Education Services.

Reduce supply teacher costs (20%)– primary. Cover to continue to be available but to a reduced level. Money saved: £98k.

72. Area: Education Services.

Reduce grounds maintenance by 20% - primary. Work to be prioritised. Money saved: £12k.

73. Area: Education Services.

Reduce grounds maintenance by 20% - secondary. Work to be prioritised. Money saved: £8k.

74. Area: Education Services.

Reduce (devolved) budgets for individual schools by 20% - primary. These budgets are supplementary to the central education budget. Money saved: £85k.

75. Area: Educations Services.

Reduce (devolved) budgets for individual schools by 20% - secondary. Expenditure to be prioritised.. Money saved £105k.

76. Area: Education Services.

Reduce school technician costs.6 fewer FTEs Reduced support for delivery of technical, ICT and science subjects. Money saved: £170k

77. Area: Education Services.

Reduce Educational Psychology Services budget by 7%. 0.6 fewer FTEs. Reduced visits to schools. Money saved: £37k.

78. Area: Education Services.

Reduce budget for residential schools (outside the area) by 7%. Young people cared for outside the area reduced by 53% over last 5 years. Money saved: £74k.

79. Area: Facility Services.

Reduce by 14.5% central repairs budget by removing planned maintenance for schools, libraries and social work premises. 3 fewer FTEs. Maintenance to be prioritised. Money saved. £164k.

80. Area: Facility Services.

Reduce by 8.4% central repairs budget by removing planned maintenance for shared offices from 2016/17. 1 fewer FTE. Maintenance to be prioritised. Money saved: £46k.

81. Area: Facility Services.

One off 25% reduction in bus stop/shelter budget in 2016/17 only. Prioritise/reduce bus shelters and stops built or replaced in 2016/2017. Money saved £16k.

82. Area: Governance and Law.

Reduce area committee/governance functions with reduced support for Elected Members. 9.8 fewer FTEs required. Options include fewer area and central committee meetings, no support for partnership/community planning meetings, increased ‘self service’ support for Elected Members. Money saved : £301k.

83. Area: Housing Services.

Reduce funding to energy and mediation advice services where there are other funding opportunities or reduced service demand. For example - 50 cases were referred for mediation in 2014/15 compared to 75 the previous year. Money saved: £41k.

84. Area: Housing Services.

Reduce funding by 25% for domestic abuse outreach support . Funding to continue to be available but reduced amount. Money saved: £40k.

85. Area: Housing services.

Reduce funding for tenancy support contracts. Funding to continue to be available but reduced amount. Money saved: £191k.

86. Area: Housing Services.

Reduce funding for Rent Deposit Scheme, and service user involvement. Service user consultation to be carried out by in-house staff. Funding reduced in line with demand over past 2 years. Money saved: £14k.

87. Area: Housing Services.

Reduce budget for Housing IT, strategy development and staff training. Limit survey and research work possible. Money saved: £51k.

88. Area: Housing services.

Reduce staffing costs. 1 less FTE. Impact on capacity for partnership work, and promotion of housing information. Money saved: £45k.

89. Area. Libaries.

Reduce Library management costs. 1 less FTE Reduced capacity to deliver library service. Money saved: £40k.

90. Area: Planning and Regulatory.

Reduce Development Management team – validation and registration of planning applications. Increase in time required to register planning applications. Money saved £30k.

91. Area: Planning and Regulatory.

Remodel Planning Enforcement Team. 1 fewer FTE (vacant post). Increase in response time to complaints about planning breaches. Money saved: £42k.

92. Area: Planning and Regulatory.

Remodel Access Team. 2 fewer FTE (one post currently vacant, one potentially from 2018) Focus on statutory duties only. Money saved: £70k.

93. Area: Planning and Regulatory.

Remove vacant Regulatory Services alternative enforcement post. 0.6 FTE removed . This post has been vacant for 18 months. Money saved: £17k

94. Area: Planning and Regulatory.

Reduce the debt counselling service. 1 fewer FTE Focus on complex cases affecting most vulnerable people. Money saved : £36k.

95. Area: Planning and Regulatory.

Review Development Policy Team. Staff reduction equivalent to £50,000. Ability to deliver Local Development Plan and so support jobs, housing and the environment is reduced. Money saved £50k.

96. Area: Roads and Amenity Services.

Close 43 public conveniences that cannot be run without cost to the Council. 7.6 fewer FTEs. These are located across Argyll and Bute. Money saved: £140k.

97. Area: Roads and Amenity Services.

Reduce hedge maintenance from 2-3 to 1 cut per year. 0.9 fewer FTEs. Hedges to be maintained in winter only. Money saved: £18k.

98. Area: Roads and Amenity Services.

Reduce to 1 grass cut per year / stop grass cuts. 1 fewer FTE 1 cut in October/November; allow some areas to grow wild. Money saved: £21k.

99. Area: Roads and Amenity Services.

Reduce Environmental Warden Team. 4.5 fewer FTEs Reduced enforcement / monitoring of litter, pest control, dog fouling, commercial waste etc. Money saved £113k.

100. Area: Roads and Amenity Services.

Reduce street sweeping frequency (50%). 4.5 fewer FTEs Streets maintained to reduced standards. Money saved £79k.

101. Area: Roads and Amenity Services.

Reduce maintenance- R&A property (25%). Prioritise dangerous/urgent work . Money saved: £64k.

102. Area: Roads and Amenity Services.

Reduce maintenance of depots (25%). Prioritise dangerous/urgent work . Money saved: £26k.

103. Area: Roads and Amenity Services.

Additional reduction in staffing across the Roads and Amenities service. Approx. 8 fewer FTEs Impact on areas’ visual appearance . Money saved: £167k.

104. Area: Roads and Amenity Services.

Reduce coastal and flooding work budgets. 1.8 fewer FTEs Priorities for coastal protection and flooding work to be set. Money saved: £81k.

105. Area: Roads and Amenity Services.

Reduce bridge assessment budget. 0.2 fewer FTEs Prioritise most vulnerable structures. Money saved: £13k.

106. Area: Roads and Amenity Services.

Reduce central administration costs through improvements to process and systems, and a reduction in training budget. 1 fewer FTEs. Source alternative training options eg on-line training. Money saved: £64k.

107. Area: Roads and Amenity Services.

Reduce budget for road works / bridge maintenance. 3 fewer FTEs Work to be prioritised. Money saved: £164k.

108. Area: Roads and Amenity services.

Street lighting - increase planned repairs on an area basis, reduce reactive repairs. 0.5 fewer FTEs Longer response time for lighting repairs. Money saved: £49k.

109. Area: Roads and Amenity Services.

3 weekly general waste, bi-weekly co-mingled uplift by internal resource for Islay. This is in line with other local areas. Money saved: £17k.

110. Area: Roads and Amenity services.

Further reduce road operations costs (from 2017). Reduced budget for vehicles, plant and a vacant post. Money saved: £140k.

111. Area: Roads and Amenity Services.

Remove vacant posts in Waste Management Service.2 fewer (vacant) FTEs Roads and Amenity service to be restructured. £54k.

112. Area: Culture and Libraries.

Withdraw mobile library service. 3.5 FTEs removed. Money saved £137k.

113. Area: Culture and Libraries.

Offer Campbeltown Museum for community ownership. If no interest from the community, close the Museum. Money saved £37k.

114. Area: Education Services.

Withdraw services that the Council is not required to provide for children under 5. 8 FTEs removed. Withdraw community childminding service. Money saved: £382k.

115. Area: Education Services.

Remove Attendance Officer posts. 4 FTEs removed. Loss of support for schools in following up on pupil absences. Money saved: £68k.

116. Area: Education Services.

Remove management development and training budget – primary schools. Reduced opportunity for professional development of teaching staff. Money saved: £49k.

117. Area: Education Services.

Remove management development and training budget – secondary schools. Reduced opportunity for professional development of teaching staff. Money saved : £37k.

118. Area: Education Services.

Remove school librarians in secondary schools. 10 FTEs removed. Reduction in library resource for pupils. Money saved: £319k.

119. Area: Education Services.

Stop paying for lunches for lunchtime supervision staff – primary. Staff volunteer for supervision . Money saved: £12k.

120. Area: Education Services.

Stop paying for lunches for lunchtime supervision staff – secondary. Staff volunteer for supervision . Money saved; £12k.

121. Area: Education Services.

Withdraw Early Years third sector grants and services. Impact on families who receive services through this funding across the area. Money saved: £183k.

122. Area: Education Services.

Remove Early Years Change Fund. Impact on families who receive services through this funding across the area. Money saved: £90k.

123. Area: Education Services.

Remove budget for external support in modern language education.Foreign language training to be provided through the Scottish Government Languages 1+2 budget. Money saved £36k.

124. Area: Education Services.

Remove subsidy payments to community swimming pools. Subsidy currently paid to swimming pools in Mid Argyll and Islay. Money saved : £15k.

125. Area: Education Services.

Remove central budget for additional ASN assistant cover (eg in-service days). Use existing resources. Money saved: £80k.

126. Area: Facility Services.

Remove out-of-hours property emergency line cover. Repairs to be reported Monday to Friday between 9am and 5pm. Money saved £9k.

127. Area: Facility Services.

Remove discretionary community transport grant funding. Support no longer available to community transport groups. Money saved: £93k.

128. Area: Planning and Regulatory.

Remove aerial photography provided by Ordnance Survey. Council still able to provide a similar service. money saved: £5k.

129. Area: Planning and Regulatory.

Remove general budget for local development plan consultation events. Increase on-line consultation. Money saved: £5k.

130. Area: Planning and Regulatory.

Remove software/licences used for local development plan consultation. Internal software solutions to be developed. Money saved: £24k.

131. Area: Planning and Regulatory.

Remove budget for footpath maintenance and signage works. Reduce activity to core duties –statutory access rights/of way, and up-to-date Core Path Plan.. Money saved: £5k.

132. Area: Planning and Regulatory.

Remove footpath survey software and Local Access Forum support budget. Use alternative ways of surveying, and supporting the Forum. Money saved: £4k.

133. Area: Planning and Regulatory.

Remove specialist legal expenses budget for resolving access disputes. Draw on internal legal advice if it is required. Money saved £8k.

134. Area: Planning and Regulatory.

Remove direct funding to advice agencies. This funding supports general advice organisations. Money saved: £55k.

135. Area: Revenues and Benefits.

End (discretionary) non-domestic rates relief for charitable bodies. This will vary between 20% and 100% depending on charitable status. Money saved: £90k.

136. Area: Roads and Amenities.

Removal of hanging baskets. 1.5 FTEs removed. Reduce visual appeal. Money saved : £30k.

137. Area: Roads and Amenities.

Replace annual bedding displays with grass areas. 1.6 FTEs removed. Reduce visual appeal. Money saved: £33k.

138. Area: Roads and Amenities.

Remove rose and shrub beds, return to grass. 3.4 FTEs removed. Reduce visual appeal. Money saved:£70k.

139. Area: Roads and Amenities.

Removal of Christmas lights installation. Free up staff for lighting maintenance. Money saved: £100k.

140. Area: Roads and Amenities.

Remove all school crossing patrollers. 13.5 FTEs removed. This is not a core function of a council. Money saved £200k.

141. Area: Roads and Amenities.

Remove food waste collections in Helensburgh area. 4 FTEs removed. Helensburgh is the only area in Argyll and Bute designated (Scottish Govt/Zero Waste Scotland) for food waste collections. Money saved: £76k.

142. Area: Roads and Amenities.

Remove subsidies to Tobermory Harbour Association. Subsidy to be removed on a phased basis. Money saved: £8k.

143. Area: Strategic Finance.

Review size of team further. 3 FTEs removed. Service provided to Council would reduce. Money saved: £120k.

144. Area: Education Services.

Reduce the disability access budget (for adaptations in education centres). The level of demand has meant that this budget has been underspent previously. Money saved: £20k.

145. Area: Education Services.

Reduce supply teacher costs (20%) - secondary. Cover to continue to be available but to a reduced level. Money saved: £75k.

146. Area: Facility Services.

Reduce by 21.6% shared office central repairs budget from 2017/18. Maintenance to be prioritised. Money saved £118k.

147. Area: Roads and Amenities. Further reduce central support team (from 2017) 2 fewer FTEs. Reduce level of administrative support. Money saved £60k.