overview Place
People
East Hampshire District Council Annual Report 2016-17
Pounds and pence
Highlights
Reduced our share of Council Tax by 2%
2%
New homes and facilities built in Whitehill & Bordon
£429,000 gross income from consultancy services
More than £4m support in Council Tax plus other benefits to support vulnerable people
New services available through our customer portal
Two electric fleet vehicles and electric vehicle charging points at Penns Place
£850,000 income from property investments
£29.5m invested in three leisure centres
Development of our staff and councillors key to our success
Introduction On track towards independence from central government grants. Welcome to Overview – the East Hampshire District Council (EHDC) annual report for 2016-17. In 2016-17, we reduced our share of council tax by two per cent and the success of the financial year has made it possible to make a further reduction for 2017-18. We’re the only council in the UK to have done this and are on a mission to achieve financial independence from central government and aim to minimise what we charge our residents for Council Tax. This has not been a case of cutting services and shrinking our workforce, but instead, we have invested in property and our staff to develop new income streams from our services. Property Since 2013, we have invested £12.5m in commercial property and continue to look for suitable investment opportunities as part of a mixed financial portfolio.
Income We have successfully sold our services to other local authorities, generating income. This means the we’re on track for independence from central government grants when these are expected to stop in 2019-20. As interest rates remain low, our strategists have looked into other methods to keep services running smoothly and we are investing £29.5m into building two new state-of-the-art leisure centres and an extensive redevelopment of an existing facility. And we’re not shying away from our community commitments – setting aside more than £100k to continue our popular grant schemes that local organisations can apply for. Councillor Ferris Cowper stepped down as Leader of EHDC in May 2017 after four years. We have exciting plans to build on the successes we have achieved so far and continue to work towards independence from central government grants. We hope that you find this annual report informative and would be interested to hear your opinions on our work through social media, our website or through your local councillor.
Staff In order to achieve our ambitious goals, we need staff with an entrepreneurial spirit, an understanding of the private sector and a drive to provide excellent public services. This has been at the heart of training for existing staff and key to our recruitment of new staff.
Councillor Richard Millard Leader of EHDC
Sandy Hopkins Chief Executive
Triple Bottom Line Initially suggested by John Elkington in 1994 [economist.com, 2009] a triple bottom line approach to reporting gives equal weight to the effect an organisation has on people and the planet as well as the profit the organisation makes. As a local authority with different priorities, our three areas are slightly different: Place – our effect on the environment in East Hampshire, ensuring that we can pass a district we are proud of on to future generations. People – how our work benefits local people and the investment we put into our own staff. Pounds and pence – what we do with taxpayers’ money and the other forms of income we have developed.
Our strategy The council’s strategy is at the heart of everything we do. It is key to ensuring that staff, partners, residents, businesses and even visitors understand why and how we do what we do. This page summarises our strategy. To see it in full go to: www.easthants.gov.uk/performance-strategy
Why? Why we do what we do:
Everything we believe, think and do is about better community and improving people’s lives by providing excellent services that represent great value for money and meet our communities’ needs.
All of our services are designed to be:
What? We will prioritise activities that contribute to:
£
How? Simple
Accessible
User friendly
Affordable
Economic growth
Environmental sustainability
Public service excellence
Innovation and creativity
Financial sustainability
Place
Strategic objectives Economic growth Environmental sustainability
Our focus remains on the regeneration of Whitehill & Bordon following the departure of the Army in 2015 New homes
Leisure centres
500 homes have been built on the Louisburg Barracks site in Whitehill & Bordon.
Agreed landmark new contract to build two new leisure centres (in Alton and Whitehill & Bordon) and make improvements to the Taro Centre in Petersfield.
Show homes open and first residents moving in during summer 2017.
Quebec Park (Radian) 100 mixed tenure homes in Whitehill & Bordon started on site now – show home open and residents are starting to move in. New employment units for 100 new jobs.
Making the best of green spaces An exciting new play park and relocated skate park have been built at Hogmoor Inclosure in Whitehill & Bordon with plans for new visitor facilities also being made.
Business infrastructure
Cosy East Hampshire
Completion of the Future Skills Centre and Business Enterprise Centre in Whitehill & Bordon expected in summer 2017.
£1.5m funding supported more than 350 homes through COSY scheme – reducing household bills by up to £200. A new COSY scheme will be launched in 2017.
Place
Strategic objectives Economic growth Environmental sustainability
Planning applications
Apprenticeships
Start-up grants
A 41% increase in planning applications compared to the previous year, led to a total of 481 houses being built in 2016-17.
More than 40 people have been supported by the Get East Hants Working Apprenticeship grants scheme since the start of the scheme in 2013.
The EHDC business start-up scheme helped 36 new businesses in 2016-17 with free business advice and a ÂŁ500 grant.
There was a slight fall in major applications but a big increase in ‘other’ householder applications. The team managed to hit national targets for all planning application decisions.
Planning income
Electric vehicle network
Invest for Growth
Planning work is being delivered for Hart District Council. In addition, heritage consultancy work has started generating a new income stream from the heritage contract with Havant.
Charging points have been installed at Penns Place and two electric vehicles have been purchased for use on council business, saving significant fuel costs.
Grant funding from the Enterprise M3 Local Enterprise Partnership is being used to develop new business premises. Rental income will be re-invested in local economic initiatives.
People
Strategic objectives Public service excellence Innovation and creativity
We are dedicated to our residents and businesses and take corporate social responsibility very seriously
RAPP and Get Activ8d Bookings and payments for the Rural Areas Play Project (RAPP) and Get Activ8d have moved into our easyto-use online portal. 2,213 sessions were booked through the portal in 2016-17.
Council Tax Support
Reducing homelessness
More than £4m in Council Tax Support provided to East Hampshire residents.
Despite more people facing possible homelessness, preventative work resulted in fewer than 60 households becoming homeless (8% reduction from 2015-16).
Temporary accommodation
Grants awarded
Butserfest 2016
The council worked with Petersfield Housing Association to transform an office block in Alton into temporary accommodation for homeless people.
£179,000 councillor grants. £157,000 Cabinet approved grants (more than three times 2015-16 total).
The 10th Butserfest was held in September 2016 and was the best ever with almost 3,000 revellers.
Supporting troubled families 30 families engaged through the Supporting Troubled Families programme, providing co-ordinated services by bringing the district’s support agencies together.
£296,000 to partner funded organisations.
Disabled Facilities Grants More than £500,000 paid in Disabled Facilities Grants, improving the lives of the most vulnerable in our communities.
People
Strategic objectives Public service excellence Innovation and creativity
Customer satisfaction
Online services
Achieved 98% customer satisfaction (as recorded by our Customer Service Centre) across council services, but received more complaints and information requests than last year.
We are seeing the impact of channel shift with website traffic up 11% year on year and more than 700 customers signed up to use the three services currently available through our customer portal.
National Takeover Day More than 400 local children were invited to tour EHDC’s offices. The Children’s Commissioner awarded the council a Gold Commendation for this event.
Councillor and staff development Started new plans for councillor and staff development that will be accelerated to meet the challenges of current and future pressures on public services.
Sports awards
Autosolo
In February, more than 300 East Hampshire sports stars gathered to celebrate local sport.
Two Autosolo events took place in the council’s car park at Penns Place, teaching young people vehicle control and responsibility in a safe and fun environment.
The awards recognise sporting achievements and the commitment of coaches and officials.
Pounds and pence
Strategic objective Financial sustainability
Prudent financial management has enabled us to reduce our share of Council Tax for East Hampshire residents Reduced Council Tax
Land sales
We reduced Council Tax by 2% in 2016-17 and are committed to continuing to reduce Council Tax.
The commercial team has been working on our land assets and in March, after successfully gaining outline planning permission, sold a piece of land at auction for £213,000 (guide price was £100,000).
A balanced budget Delivered a balanced budget, in particular achieved our budget challenge of £1.6m through increased income and efficiencies while maintaining services.
Work is continuing and in future may involve us building and selling houses on our land.
How we met our £1.6m target
New income £569,000 Efficiencies £796,254 Fees and charges £199,000 Property £428,000
Consultancy income
Property investments
Our Planning Service, Community Team, Communications, Neighbourhood Planning and RegenCo (regeneration team) have brought in £490,000 gross income during 2016-17.
We have further invested in commercial property and continue to seek suitable investment properties with a strategy to purchase £40m worth in 2017-18.
Meeting the £1.6m challenge In order to achieve a balanced budget in 201617 a £1.6m challenge was set for Heads of Service. The target was overachieved by £480,000 giving a total of almost £2m. This was achieved mainly through generating significant new income within the planning service and increased fees and charges income, as well as considerable efficiencies throughout the organisation.
Pounds and pence
Strategic objective Financial sustainability
Preparing for the future
Efficiencies
Ordnance Park, Liphook
Identified significant funding challenges in the coming years and made plans and agreed contracts to help meet them.
We saved a total of £796,254 by working more efficiently.
We are working with partners to build office space and industrial units to deliver new jobs and generate revenue.
East Hampshire Commercial Services The commercial team has successfully grown our company. EH Commercial Services is now providing litter enforcement services to four authorities and looking to expand further. This is already generating income and saving money for all four authorities which can be reinvested in council services.
Planned completion in January 2018. Expected income £200k per year.
Property income
CRM development
Since 2013, six commercial properties have been purchased at a cost of £12.5m.
We’re investing in our Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system and are prioritising the services that customers are most likely to use and can generate savings or income.
Our property portfolio was valued at £23.4m on 31 March 2017.
Financial reports The annual accounts for EHDC can be found online at: www.easthants.gov.uk/accounts
Priorities for 2017-18 Place
People
Pounds and pence
• Whitehill & Bordon town centre finalised and progress on inward investment
• Organisational development strategy including pay and reward
• New commercial services developed including Building Control and RegenCo
• Energy Strategy to deliver energy reduction
• Six Councils implementation for effective, efficient services
• Trading company governance in place
• Housing initiatives developed including joint venture development to reduce homelessness and cover costs • Supporting new homes and employment through development programmes in the southern parishes and Alton • Liphook employment site launched and business support and apprenticeships successfully delivered • Penns Place further developed to deliver a better customer and staff experience • Business support and apprenticeships delivered • Support for the Jane Austen 200 campaign to attract tourists into the area
• Community commissioning strategy in place
• Leisure contract successfully running and waste contract solution agreed
• Successful General Election run
• Six Councils programme implemented
• Agreement and delivery of Enforcement Strategy
• Commercial opportunities explored
• Wellbeing Strategy developed with action plan agreed
• Pricing strategy agreed
• Neighbourhood Service developed (Environmental Health review complete)
• Marketing and insight developed to assist with commercial development
• Working with Troubled Families to improve lives
• Development of property investment opportunities
• CRM personalisation further developed and utilised to make life easier for our customers
• Planning consultancy service further developed to provide a profit
Keep up to date with our progress on social media: /EastHampshireDistrictCouncil
@EastHantsDC
/company/East-Hampshire-District-Council
Place
Want a whizzy annual report like ours? Contact the communications team to discuss your needs communications@easthants.gov.uk • 01730 234359
People
Pounds and pence