1. Money Advice Scotland Annual Conference & Exhibition 2016
Crieff Hydro, 2nd & 3rd June 2016

2. Local Authority Funding:- Impact on Advice Services
Money Advice Scotland Annual Conference 2016
Andrew McGuire, Sandra Sankey,
Karen Carrick, Monika Baczyk
Improvement Service

3. What the presentation will cover
The Improvement Service
Overview of Local Govt Funding and Challenges
Local Govt funding of Money Advice
Options and challenges in responding to shortfall in resources
Workshop case study

4. The Improvement Service
Established in 2005
Local Government organisation
Supporting improvement on a wide range of issues of common interest to councils & CPPs
Not for profit
Working with Scottish councils and their partners to improve outcomes for citizens
Delivering a range of products regarding data analysis, digital public services, learning & development, performance management, research and knowledge management
Providing advisory services, consultancy and facilitation
Supporting Elected Member development

5. Current Local Government Funding
c.£18bn total LG spend in Scotland
SG funding for LG c.£11bn
-11 % real term change in SG funding for LG since 2010/11
Reduced flexibility (e.g. 8 yrs of Council Tax freeze, class sizes, etc)
Cost pressures – (e.g. demographic change, living wage, pension costs, etc)
Settlement beyond 2016/17 not yet known, but further significant cuts anticipated

6. Government Finance and Demand 2009/10 – 2017/18 (% real terms)
Updated to account for Autumn Statement
Hard lines = original forecast. Dotted lines – updated analysis
Real income continuing to fall against context of rising demand
Major gap arising

7. Savings options have included:
Voluntary redundancy / early retirement
Increased fees & charges
Reducing provision / eligibility for certain services
Sale of assets
Use of reserves
Borrowing
Outsourcing / ALEOs / 3rd sector / private sector
Transformation initiatives
12% reduction in staff since 2008
Risk of reduced staff / loss of experience
LGBF continuing improvement
Fees - e.g. rent, some social care services, parking, use of amenities – leisure facilities / pitch hire

8. The Dangers………. We simply cut rather than re-think the system
Small cuts to fragile budgets can create big losses
Focus on s-t balancing the books
We prioritise services and not outcomes
We compete rather than share capacity

9. Audit Scotland LG Overview 2016
“The scale of the challenge in 2016/17 and beyond has significantly increased because of the local government funding settlement. The settlement has substantial implications for services….”
“Most of the savings councils have made over the last four years have relied on incremental reductions to a wide range of services and relatively small increases in income from fees and charges. Many savings have come from staff voluntary redundancies. There is a limit to how many staff can be lost before there is a major impact on the quality or quantity of services. Councils need to consider options for more fundamental changes to the way they deliver services.”

10. Local Government Funding of Money Advice
Improvement Service partnership with Money Advice Service
Overseen by Advisory Board - range of partners from across money advice sector
Initial research:-
Scottish Local authorities invest around £21 million p.a. in money advice services
Councils are the single largest partner involved in funding / delivering money advice in Scotland
But very limited info on actual impact of money advice
‘Messy landscape’ - likely gaps, duplication, confusion, etc
Wide range of areas for improvement identified
Framework for Public Funding of Advice workstream
Money Advice Performance Management Framework workstream

11. Framework for Public Funding of Advice
Partners Include: Money Advice Service, Improvement Service, Scottish Government, Scottish Legal Aid Board, etc
The Framework aims to:-
• Assist funders to ensure they are working in line with good practice for funding of advice services;
• Minimise duplication and overlap by encouraging referrals and a joined-up strategic approach between funders and providers;
• Drive improvements in the quality and impact of advice services; and
• Focus on the best outcomes for clients, whilst providing good
overall value for the public purse.

12. Money Advice Performance Management Framework (MAPMF)
MAPMF is a key element of the Framework for Public Funding of Advice
Effective perf mgt is essential to public service reform agenda
Work on MAPMF has involved widespread consultation to build consensus on the most relevant indicators and definitions (aim to reduce reporting burden on frontline staff)
Will help highlight the contribution of money advice services / make the case for continued investment, incl value added and difference made to clients
Improved consistency helps facilitate sharing of good practice, benchmarking, opportunities for partnership working
Can help identify and actively manage potential improvement areas
Scope for framework roll-out beyond councils

13. MAPMF – Some Initial Results
(Year 2 data from Councils due to be returned shortly for analysis)
Findings from year 1 data analysis include:-
Ethnic minority groups are accessing money advice services as well as the general population (Scottish level data)
50% of all clients seen by money advice services have an annual household income of less than £15,000
The average financial gain for clients using money advice services is £1,900
Every £1 invested by councils in money advice results in around £5 in people’s pockets

14. Current Year Budgets

15. Public Sector Reform Challenges
Need to address the scale of spend on negative outcomes & reduce long term demand for public services
Managing down demand is central to balancing books
Improving outcomes by:-
Targeting ‘hard to reach’ / tackling poverty & inequalities
Implementing the shift to prevention and early intervention
Client-centred and evidence-based approaches
More effective partnerships / integration / service delivery models
Access to good quality advice services arguably more important than ever
Focus on prevention, improving financial capability, health & wellbeing

16. Conclusion
Very limited options for increased funding - need to make better use of existing resources across the sector
In light of financial challenges, need to make the case effectively for:-
Ongoing investment in advice services to deal with current ‘reactive demand’
Increasing preventative interventions that reduce future need (e.g. in schools)
Advice services and financial capability can be an important means of improving outcomes and driving down l-t demand for public services

17. Final Key Messages
Rising to the challenge will require more radical solutions than the incremental changes of recent years
Routes to improving outcomes in a sustainable way are likely to include:-
Considering new ways of providing services, including best mix of delivery channels
Increasing focus on preventative interventions aimed at improving financial capability
Embedding key principles of the ‘Framework for Public Funding of Advice Services’ across Scotland
Ongoing development, use and roll-out of MAPMF to assess the performance of services and identify improvement opportunities
Making best use evaluation evidence re what does / does not work (MAS Evaluation Toolkit)
Better joining-up / collaboration / sharing of resources and expertise
More effective partnership working / co-ordination to ensure best possible use of resources needs to happen both strategically and at a local level
Better targeting of services on those who will benefit most (including current unmet need)
Streamlining the ‘customer journey’ and ensuring timely access to high quality advice

18. Contact Info

20. your challenge
It is February ‘16, Warrenshire Council have agreed to reduce funding for in-house services and grants to the voluntary sector by 10% on an across the board basis from 1 April ‘16. From 1 April ’17, a further cut of 20% is expected.
Your task is to consider, from the perspective you have been allocated, how best to manage with the reduced levels of funding, both current and future, and to consider how services might be sustained or, if possible, enhanced.
This should be done in a very general way. Your plan and the way it is presented can be very creative and the only constraints are that;
there is no additional funding from the local Authority
any planned activities must be legal
When you have agreed on your approach, you should consider how it might best be presented or pitched to the panel of 3 decision makers - our very own ‘dragons’. Their decision will be final. Your pitch should last a maximum of 2 minutes and can be in any form you wish.

21. Introducing your dragons
True or False?
False