The capital scheme for residential care homes will be added to the reserve list of the Capital Investment plan, pending the completion of the business case and negotiations with the Bradford Children's and Families Trust. This has resulted in some changes from those adopted in the MTFS report and the December 14 budget proposal report, as outlined below. However, energy costs will pose a significant risk in 2023-2024, and it is therefore recommended that £6 million be set aside for the energy price volatility reserve.
This resulted in the following amounts being included in the December 14 budget proposal report to pay the contract price. The weight given to the purposes of the duty is not necessarily less when the number of persons affected is small.
OTHER IMPLICATIONS 1 EQUALITY & DIVERSITY
SUSTAINABILITY IMPLICATIONS
GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS IMPACTS
COMMUNITY SAFETY IMPLICATIONS
WARD IMPLICATIONS
IMPLICATIONS FOR CORPORATE PARENTING None identified
ISSUES ARISING FROM PRIVACY IMPACT ASSESMENT None identified
NOT FOR PUBLICATION DOCUMENTS None
RECOMMENDATIONS 1 Executive are asked to
BACKGROUND DOCUMENTS
Appendices
Appendix A - SUMMARY OF FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
Appendix B - CONSULTATION FEEDBACK AND EQUALITY ASSESSMENT FOR THE 2023-24 COUNCIL BUDGET PROPOSALS
Appendix A- Summary of Financial Implications – Revenue Budget 2023-24
The table below shows the 2023-24 budget requirement based on the updated information outlined within this report, and compares it to 2023-24 Budget Proposals
Appendix B
CONSULTATION FEEDBACK AND EQUALITY ASSESSMENT FOR THE COUNCIL BUDGET PROPOSALS FOR 2023-24
SUMMARY
December 2022 the Executive approved new budget proposals for
- BACKGROUND
Best Value and the Equality Act 2010
- Statutory guidance on Best Value introduced in September 2011 and reaffirmed in March 2015 reminds local authorities that they are under a duty to consult service
- There should also be opportunities for organisations, service users and the wider community to put forward options on how to reshape the service or project. Local
- The Equality Act 2010 protects people from unlawful discrimination on the basis of
- The 2010 Act also introduced a specific Public Sector Equality Duty which requires local authorities, in the exercise of their functions, including when making decisions,
- In discharging this duty, local authorities not only need to understand how different people will be affected by their activities, proposals and decisions, they also need to
- There is a range of guidance materials on the Public Sector Equality Duty from the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) to assist the bodies that are
- The EHRC emphasises the importance of ensuring that the duty is complied with before a decision is taken, while options are being developed and appraised, as
- OTHER CONSIDERATIONS
- While the Council is not required under statute to produce or publish Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) forms specifically, it must still show it is meeting its
- Case law has confirmed that in order to fulfil the duty under S149 of the Equality Act 2010, elected members need to have considered equality impacts and given due
- EIA forms outlining identified equality impacts on the new budget proposals agreed by the Executive at their meeting on 14 December 2022 are available on the
- Following a review and assessment of the consultation feedback, EIA forms will be updated then republished at the same time as the papers for the Executive meeting
Ensure that the Council fulfills its specific duties under equality legislation, in particular that the potential impact of proposals on groups or individuals who share protected characteristics are considered, assessed and consulted on. To do this, a local decision was previously taken to continue using EIA forms. The forms can then help members of the public and other stakeholders to see potential equity impacts.
Mitigations will also have been taken into account and, where possible, these have also been recorded on the EIA forms. Feedback from the consultation where respondents identified a potential negative impact on equality of a proposal can also be found in Appendix 1.
4 Cumulative Equality Impacts on the 2023-24 Budget Proposals
It shows the total level of negative impacts on each characteristic group protected by the proposals presented to the Executive on December 14, 2022.
Negative impact Levels Protected
Characteristic High Medium Low TOTAL
5 Consultation Process
The consultation provided the people, partners and businesses of the district along with Council staff and their Trades Unions, with opportunities to provide their views
The consultation opened on the 14 December 2022 and ran to the 25 January 2023. The consultation comprised of a survey enabling individuals and
The consultation has been promoted to
Annex 1 provides the consultation feedback on the budget proposals and feedback on their equality impacts for Executive to have regard to when considering their
6 Consultation – Responses and feedback received
- The number of comments received through responses to the survey, social media, and news releases for each of the proposals under consultation was as follows
- Consultation – Feedback on Proposals
- Trade Union feedback
- Headlines from the feedback received
As of January 19, 2023, the online survey has received feedback from 525 respondents against specific budget proposals and general feedback from 36 respondents against the budget proposals. The budget was on the agenda of the Corporate OJC1 meeting on December 15 and a Corporate Resources Level 2 meeting is scheduled for January 24, 2023. The budget will also be on the agenda of the Corporate OJC1 on January 26, 2023, prior to the final submission. of union feedback for the board meeting on February 21, 2023.
Any further feedback received from the unions will be presented to the Executive at their meeting on 21 February 2023. A summary of all responses is contained in Annex 1 - Consultation feedback and proposals against the budget proposals and equality impacts of those proposals to this annex .
7 Background documents
Consultation feedback and suggestions against the budget proposals and equality impacts of those proposals
One of the criteria for obtaining the click rate is to be on a low income; the scheme is means tested. Impact on low-income households and those struggling as a result of the cost of living crisis. Local Welfare Assistance – the Council has a local welfare assistance scheme which helps low income households with food, fuel and essential household goods.
This payment is offered in accordance with the requirements of the scheme and to support food and fuel costs. Accessible toilets are available on all floors and lower level worktops/sinks have been installed in the Britannia House kitchens on the Hall Ings side of the building. Feedback was received through the online survey regarding the proposal to review waste services.
CCTV is often seen as a highly visible council presence in addressing a resident's "fear of crime" and where residents come to rely on the service (because they have been a victim of criminal activity or civil wrongdoing) they often do. A review of waste management services to reduce costs and increase efficiency, including the possible closure of Keighley Household Waste and Recycling yard, one of the least used sites, and reduced opening hours at all HWRCs. All comments related to the potential closure of Keighley Waste and Recycling Centre.
None of those who responded via the online survey were in favor of a possible shutdown of the site. Residents of Eastburn and Silsden and it's always busy but the queues are on a quiet street - data is incorrect. Remove the building at the rear of the site to make it larger and able to accommodate larger skips.
Disproportionate impacts can be somewhat mitigated by providing end-to-end process costs from the outset based on a 'standard' intersection specification, with any changes to this specified separately (due to increased/decreased construction costs of larger/smaller crossings). As mentioned above, the need for residents to appoint their own reputable contractor to build their underpass will also be removed.
SUMMARY OF OTHER COMMENTS – NOT DIRECTLY RELATED TO SPECIFIC PROPOSALS
PARTNERS AND PUBLIC CONSULTATION EVENTS FEEDBACK
Voluntary and Community Sector hosted by Community Action Bradford and District – Virtual and Face to Face events
Those who received the letters were confused and appalled. Many left the office feeling they would lose services or have to withdraw their support. EIA is solely about the loss of jobs and not about the loss of services and what this could mean. Can we look at how this resource can be made accessible to the VCS and community organizations?
Previous capital funding for disability facilities: All money went to locations and not to activities or the means of reaching the locations. However, there is no clear recognition of the impact on services provided by other providers through contract or grant (whether to VCS, other statutory organizations or the private sector). At Place Lead Executive, partners have committed to addressing these challenges, but this is not explored in the Budget, nor in the budget or service implications of these commitments.
There must be clear assessments of the financial viability of contracts and grant schemes and a clear decision-making process that examines the options for increasing the budget to maintain services or reducing services to maintain delivery. In the latter case, mitigation measures should be carefully considered to limit the impact on the most vulnerable. The quality of most EIAs provided is appalling and many we expected to be missing – we expected a full EIA on the £45 million that went to children's services, on the SEND improvements, on the closure of people-occupied buildings used to access services and partners to provide/access training.
WE are unable to properly engage and contribute when the relevant information is not available. Management will receive the consultation feedback report and a financial budget update report on January 31. They will consider this and then meet again on 21 February to set their budget recommendations to the Full Council on 23 February.
Public face to face drop in events in each constituency
Council Officers in attendance – Alan Lunt, Place Interim Strategy Director, Helen Johnston, Senior Policy Officer and Amani Ali, Graduate Trainee. All of the public participants were Keighley residents and all were primarily concerned about the potential closure of the Keighley Household Waste Recycling Centre. Alan explained the Council's position in relation to funding cuts of over £300 million since 2010 and the constant need to look for savings year on year while delivering essential services.
I would like to know what the costs are to the Council of the tipping approach. One participant told the officers that they felt that the Council wants to take services from Keighley, and this is an essential service, that there is nothing left in Keighley, feel at the bottom of the pile, another 'nail in the coffin' as money spent on Bradford. Alan replied: The Council was unable to improve children's services at the pace required so decided to transfer responsibility to a Trust.
The participant pointed out that the proposal to close the KWRC was against the Council's 2017 Waste Management Development Plan, which states that the Council will protect waste recycling sites. Alan explained that the document was about land use and not waste management and how the Council had achieved this. The participant felt that the council was not transparent, the basis for the selection of Keighley was flawed.
Another attendee said library staff were unaware of the budget hearing and could not find it on the Council website. The member of the public had not been able to attend the Keighley meeting but a resident there and wanted to be heard on a number of the proposals. Keighley people should decide what to do with the green space created by the demolition of the college.
LETTERS AND EMAIL Aire Rivers Trust
Our volunteers remove fly-tipping because we know it is a major source of pollution to our rivers, from microplastics to cooking oil waste that is harmful to our wildlife. Larger pieces, or accumulations of flies, pose a flooding risk if they enter culverts and arches downstream. We realize that the Council faces significant financial challenges and must make difficult decisions, but believe that this is a choice with far-reaching consequences.
I would be grateful if you could confirm how the impacts of fly tipping in the Keighley area are being considered if the closure of the Keighley Household Waste Center goes ahead and whether additional resources will be put into enforcement and clean-up to mitigate this. Our objections are based on the firm belief that the proposed closure will have a detrimental effect on Keighley's river, environment and community.
Sent: 13 December 2022 12:15
Subject: River Worth Friends - Objection to Closure of Keighley HWRC Dear Ms Hinchcliffe
If the facility is closed the council will also need to significantly increase its provision for fly debris removal, I trust this has been factored into your considerations. We recognize that the current budget issues are a problem not of the councils making but would urge you to consider other ways of amending the budget rather than closing the Keighley HWRC. I am only writing to express my concern regarding the proposed closure of Hard Ings Road point in Keighley.
As a gardener who regularly uses a tip and relies on it to run my business, I think this is an absurd idea that will affect many. Due to the growing problem of littering in our area, I believe that Bradford Council should be making it easier for businesses to dispose of their waste, not harder. With the recent introduction of the Bradford Clean Air Zone, wouldn't it be irresponsible to bring more traffic, including many lorries, into the city.
I hope you will consider this carefully before making a decision that could affect people's livelihoods.
From
Subject: feedback re proposal 2023/24 Keighley tip closure Cust doesn’t have internet so cannot via log online form
BRADFORD BD1 1HX
City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council Department of Place
Why don't you try using the bigger jumps before using it as an excuse. I'm sure your staff will be only too happy to help.
