Talking with Terry Cutmore, County Councillor (Continuation)

(18th November 2013)

RL: Is it so big that you’re just a cog or will you’ll really be able to influence what happens? Will you be able to make a mark as you have done at District level?

Terry:  I’d like to think so, yes. A lot of the Cabinet I already know. I’ve had very long talks with Dave Finch who is the leader of the Council and we have an extremely good relationship and he does bounce things off me sometimes. I know him through leaders meetings and he is a man you can talk to and he knows his stuff;  he’s been deputy for some time. He’s held the strings of the finance so he’s got that very much in mind and there are some very difficult problems there.

RL: So what sort of figures do we have to play with?

Terry: Over the last four or five years they’ve saved on an annual basis something like £365M.   Now with some of the further cuts that are coming through, they intend to save on an annual basis in County something like £225M. That’s the target. The overall budget is about £2.2B, it was about £2.6B, but that includes things like schools and a lot of that money is just passing through. It’s an economy larger than three of the European countries, that’s the sort of scale we’re talking about here. It’s a real big animal and you need the machinery to do that. To me it’s not just the structural things, looking at an overview, it’s more about getting down to the individual making sure that the individual knows if he has a problem he has got somebody he can go to, to try and help him. That’s true of District as well. The interesting thing is that a lot of people who came forward to County this year are double hatted, so there are District and Borough and City all sitting at Council now so the relationship between District and County is getting stronger.          

RL: You mentioned Highways at the beginning.

Terry:  Yes, one of the things they do now - and computers are everything - is there is an online reporting tool  that people can go to on the Essex County site just to make sure they can get access very quickly, so if someone comes to me with highway problem, I use that, and you can too.

RL: But behind it all today, the big issue is saving money?

Terry: Yes, as we said earlier, money and efficiencies. The programme that is going to go forward in County, relating to saving money, is known as Transformation 2. Now they have already gone through their original Transformation which is all about aligning their services and making sure they are efficient etc.  The idea is that you will commission services more, so that there will be companies, or companies will be formed, so that services will be commissioned in the same way we do our recycling in Rochford. Here we have a very successful partnership ensuring we’ve come top of the country in recycling, so these things can work.

I was talking to the cabinet post-holder for that and one thing I stressed to him, and he agreed with me, is that it’s not just about commissioning, it’s not just about tasking a company, it’s about working with them in partnership. That partnership is the important thing. Yes, you are paying them to deliver a service and you are tasking them, and there will always be problems that you will need to talk through. It’s about working with them to try and solve some of those problems, making sure they know what you want and enabling them to be efficient as well.

So efficiencies through commissioning is one of the things I think is coming forward now. Yes, there will be changes for some of the staff in County – and there are a lot of staff in County – but this is the way we’re having to go. So we’re looking at the assets of County, because they have lots of them, buildings here or there and so on, assets they don’t necessarily need, that they are maintaining, paying insurance on and so on. For instance I went up to Suffolk, for a Finance Meeting for the Eastern region. The building I went to in South Cambridgeshire, used by  South Cambridge District Council, they actually share the with Suffolk County Council and so if you have a problem, rather than  get on the Internet or phone someone, you just walk down the corridor, and it works. On the other hand, with an area as big as Essex, it’s very difficult because it is so disparate as far as the areas are concerned, it needs sometimes the local view and use the local knowledge.         

RL: Is that likely to filter down to District level? Are you likely to share buildings with Castle Point?

Terry:  It may be, I don’t know, but we do things for each other anyway. We have some joint services and we’ve just started our IT programmes together with Castle Point. However  with things like IT it’s not necessarily geographical; we’ve also got Colchester and Braintree in that one and this is the future again, about making sure you get the most for your money, and making sure that you have services in a joined up way but still having that relationship, that partnership.    

RL: I believe they are also seeking savings by turning off street lights?

Terry:  There are various things that County are looking at, at the moment. I am sure you’ll be aware of the turning off of the lights around twelve and back on about five. They are due to come off here about  6th January, I think it is, so that will be interesting. Over 20% of the lights will still be on, on major roads, junctions, and so on, and places where you have a night culture on Friday or Saturday evenings,  alleyways and passages etc.  There are some things that are out for consultation at the moment, such as bus subsidies because we really have to start looking very closely at these things.  Home to school transport subsidies – if you apply for a school place for your child, and it’s your choice, and it is five miles away, at the moment you are getting a subsidy for that – but it was your choice. Is that right? I don’t know, but it is something being looked at.

RL: And the family areas you’re interested in particularly?

Terry: Well, there is the Children’s and Youth Services – and I have my own qualms about that – because they have been reducing it from £12M to £5M over the last three years. They are looking to reduce it to £2M, but they are going to use the third sector, the charity side.  I have my own concerns about that when you think of things like antisocial behaviour and the families work that we are doing, so I’m looking very closely at that and reading up on it, about how it might happen, but some of these things won’t happen until 2014-16.

RL: You certainly have a lot on your plate at County.

Terry: Yes. One thing I do notice with County, you go to a meeting and it’s like receiving War and Peace,  the paperwork is so thick sometimes, and then it’s picking out the details because it is such a large and complicated organisation, particularly on the scrutiny side and it’s a case of learning why things are done. Sometimes things happen not because people want to do it but simply because you have to do it. If you haven’t got the money to do it, you just can’t. It’s about making sure you get things right and prioritising doing things right, and that’s very important for moving forward. A lot of it is about innovations, smart working, and making sure you can focus on things you need to.

The remainder of this interview focused on the District Council and is continued on the RDC pages.

For the RDC part of the interview please CLICK HERE

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Terry mentioned the Economic Development, Environment and Highways Policy and Scrutiny Committee

Below is the work this committee does

To contribute to the delivery of the Council’s objectives in relation to matters of strategic, regional or County-wide significance relating to integrated spatial development and transportation planning; highways (including bridleways, footpaths and byways), all car parking, traffic and vehicle registration and public transport; Road Safety and school crossing patrols; delivery of highways capital programme; Essex Transport; the promotion of recycling and waste minimisation and the disposal of waste; Environmental strategy; delivery of waste capital programme; Country Parks (except Cressing Temple); Natural Environment; gypsies and travellers; sustainable development; Built environment; regional and local planning including dealing with consultation responses and statements of general conformity in relation to other Councils’ local plans; local planning; policies and development documents for minerals and waste; trading standards, weights and measures, food safety, consumer protection, animal health, performing animals and explosives licensing; regeneration, economic development and enterprise;; Lee Valley Regional Park Authority; Thames Gateway; tourism; Rural affairs; international relations and European funding programmes; Emergency Planning and Flood Management.

- To scrutinise areas of the Council’s policy, service provision or performance within the Committee’s remit and make recommendations to the Cabinet or Council as appropriate.

-  To agree a rolling work programme for policy development and scrutiny within the Committee’s remit.