Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council

Our budget and value for money

Stockton Council has been preparing for significant budget reductions for several years and we have committed to reviewing everything we do. This planned approach has enabled us to become more efficient in what we do, and at the same time, allowed us to, so far, maintain front-line services.

Efficiency reviews that have been carried out over the past two years have resulted in overall savings of £16 million. While we have been able to achieve this without affecting the quality of services to residents it has meant we have, in certain areas, not been able to make some of the investments we had planned.

The scale of the spending cuts announced in the Government's Comprehensive Spending Review and the confirmation of a revenue support grant cut for Stockton of 12.1% in 2011/12 - well above the national average of 9.9% - makes further significant reductions unavoidable.

Consultation

Stockton Council consults regularly with residents about the services we offer and what should be our priorities. We welcome your feedback on our budget and ideas that will allow us to work more efficiently. The Ipsos-MORI residents' survey we conduct every two years has already helped us to prioritise our investment in services in the past and has informed our reviews. In addition, our Viewpoint panel of 1,200 local people meets regularly to give their opinions on any changes we are planning to make.

Creative ways of protecting services

Our Value for Money approach hasn't all been about saving money. Each of our service reviews looks at how we can be more creative in the way we provide services to make sure they can be retained. This can mean delivering them together with other councils or by involving voluntary and community groups.

A good example of this is the Dovecot Centre in Stockton. This was an underused building that the council once owned and we had to spend money in keeping it open. Rather than having the building fall into disrepair we have passed the management of the Dovecot Centre to the Five Lamps community organisation who now run employment workshops on the premises which generates income that is then reinvested into the building and its running costs. Support will continue for voluntary and community organisations, through an investment fund, as well as protecting the funding for advice and information services currently provided by the Stockton and District Advice and Information Service.