“Strong and Prosperous Communities” The New Local Government White Paper

The ‘latest’ WP headlines:  Lyons Inquiry report delayed in order to ‘consider implications..of Eddington report on transport; Barker report on planning and Leitch review on skills..and to make recommendations to Govt’  Lyons will be published around time of Budget potential to influence the CSR  ‘Short discussion document’ to be published on 11 December..responses feed into (more!) round- tables in new year  Likely delay of Bill...possible combination of Lyons review(s) into Bill

More headlines – Pre-budget report  CSR07 to make ‘at least’ 3% savings/yr across central and local govt  World-class skills – increase adult skills at all levels, strengthen employer voice in provision: Leitch Review  Reform land use planning system (Barker review) and invest transport infrastructure (Eddington review)  Sustainable housing supply – release of surplus public sector land and assisted home ownership  Tackling climate change

Pre-budget report – delivering high quality services  3% savings for CSR07 (to 2010/11); focus on net cashable savings to free-up resources  Publication of Sir David Varney’s review of public service transformation; join-up public service delivery and make more efficient and responsive to users  Public spending predicted to grow at 1.9%/yr in CSR07 period (has been ~4% above inflation since 2000)  Economic growth will deliver higher tax revenues in next few years and public spending will be held back

Back to the White Paper  Over 50% of the WP actions are for JP to deliver  75% of these are Corporate Policy, 25% are ED/Regeneration or Environment  The Directorate is under- resourced to deliver its current priorities - setting aside demands of WP; LEGI delivery; Master Plan delivery with/out casino; strategic housing etc  We have to make savings through CSR07 period not just next year  More fundamental re-structuring; re-prioritisation and re-allocation of resources to this Directorate required

Key White Paper areas for T&R  Chapter 4: Strong cities, strategic regions  Sub-national review of economic development and regeneration – influencing and punching our weight at regional, sub-regional and Fylde coast levels  Transport: seek to have more influence on transport planning and regulation in the Fylde coast  Multi- Area Agreement: potential for DCLG MAA pilot status for our Fylde coast joint working in ‘place- shaping services’  Review of Community Strategy about to start and opportunity to strengthen LSP

Key White Paper areas for T&R  Chapter 6: New Performance framework  Customers and citizens driving improvement – Communications Strategy  Clear set of national outcomes - 35 core targets for each area (plus 18 DfES): T&R activities will deliver on 75% of them.  Annual Comprehensive Area Assessment – from March 2009 – we could be a risk unless we improve our ability to deliver on outcomes consistently

Key White Paper areas for T&R (Vol II)  Community Safety  Health and well-being  Vulnerable people  Children, young people and families  Economic development, housing and planning  Climate change  The third sector

Others  Area Forums and neighbourhood management increasingly important  Community-ownership and management of assets  More Bye-laws requiring more enforcement  Implications of Barker; Leitch; Varney; Eddington and Lyons reviews feeding into Bill/Act and CSR07 published in summer 2007  Getting LEGI and the Casino exacerbate our delivery problems unless we can resource  Corporate capability and systems - strengthen

Reasons to be cheerful Strong position – Blackpool’s future is shaped by T&R Portfolio and Directorate Directorate has shown it can deliver big projects and win resources for Blackpool T&R needs to show it is efficient and ‘fit-for- purpose’ as a Directorate Need to make the most of our talented staff; work more synergistically; develop a culture of innovation and achievement; ensure good management and leadership; ensure political support