CIEP 2010-11

CIEP Year 3:

CIEP has aligned it’s year 3 projects closely with the CAA Improvement Plan from the December 2009 results. To support the Cumbria Strategic Partnership (CSP) CIEP, with the lead officers on those projects, has designed improvement & efficiency projects that support the priority areas for Cumbria.

Funding for CIEP 2010-11

NWIEP will enter its third and final year of funding from DCLG in 2010-11 (their financial year begins 1st July 2010 and ends 30th June 2011).

NWIEP have had confirmation of their funding from DCLG of just over £8m for 10-11, of which 10% is capital. 

NWIEP Strategic Forum also made the decision to keep the percentage split between the sub regions and the region the same as it has been over the past 2 years at 60% for the sub regions and 40% held centrally to be used on regional projects.

We have had confirmation of an allocation of £503k for Year 3, which is slightly less than what we received for Year 2.This shortfall is a direct consequence of reduced funding overall for the North West.

Our intention is to make up some of the shortfall to the total received in Year 2 (£541K) some of which will be carried forward to next year. 

CIEP's proposal for Year 3 was received favourably by NWIEP, particularly they way that we have begun to address the improvement areas taken from the December 2009 CAA.

Cashable and non cashable savings: 

For all projects in the current year and new projects scheduled to begin in July, cashable and non cashable efficiencies have been projected and realised. This highlights return on investment and for new projects, gives clarity on their strength before decision is made on investment.   

Programme of work for 2010-11

CIEP has 6 main programmes of work for 2010-11:

A continuation of EPiC (Effective Procurement in Cumbria)

Update on progress October - November 2010 (19.11.2010);

The EPiC procurement project continues to develop in accordance with the delivery plan, whilst expanding participating authorities to include Cumbria Constabulary and Cumbria NHS. 

All participating authorities (six district councils, Cumbria Constabulary, Cumbria County Council, Cumbria NHS and Lake District National Park) are currently looking into the use of a new spend analysis tool, SpendPro, which may be advantageous as it highlights opportunities for collaboration between authorities (and the financials are more current).

Three ‘Action Basic Sustainability’ training sessions have been arranged. Currently one training session has commenced, with positive feedback.  

Further training events include formal external Gateway Review training, provided by Local Partnerships, which aids EPiC’s work towards increasing and developing procurement skills; reviews and learning transfer etc.(A number of colleagues across the North West are also participating in this training in Cumbria in December 2010).

EPiC attended the Chamber of Commerce ‘Business to Business Event’ on the 14th of October 2010. Over three hundred businesses attended the business to businesses event resulting in promotion of EPiC and the online e-tendering programme, The Chest. Live demonstrations were given to current and prospective suppliers on The Chest to show opportunities they may wish to pursue. An updated EPiC leaflet was given to attendees at the event also stating how they can sign up as a supplier onto The Chest.  

A future event EPiC will be attending is the West Cumbria Development Agencies’ Business to Business event on the 25th of November 2010. The Supplier Guide is aimed to be completed and used at the event. The ‘SME/Third Sector Supplier Engagement’ project is now moving forward at some pace, in terms of meeting various Enterprise Council’s; Chambers of Commerce and Guild colleagues, in an attempt to capture a fuller picture across Cumbria and identify what the relationships are between the goods/services the public sector requires and the local suppliers of such.

Please see the link below to access the EPiC delivery plan:

A continuation of the Achieving Equality Joint Programme.

Update on progress: October - November (19.11.2010) 

The Equalities project has had fantastic news this month with South Lakeland District Council, Carlisle City Council and South Lakes Housing all being externally assessed as 'Achieving' against the Equality Framework for Local Government. 

Copeland Borough Council are next to be assessed on the 29th and 30th November 2010 and the rest as follows:

             Allerdale Borough Council on the 1st and 2nd December 2010

             Barrow Borough Council on the 6th and 7th December 2010

             Eden District Council on the 13th and 14th December 2010

Elected members from all authorities and cross parties have continued to meet monthly. Chaired by Cllr Liz Mallinson, Cumbria CC, this group is considered a model of good practice for supporting elected members to work together to ensure 'Equality for All' in Cumbria.

Please find the links below to access the Achieving Equality delivery plan and Cumbria County Council's Equality Site which is only accessible for Cumbria CC employees:

Capital project - The Cumbria Private Sector Housing Condition Survey

Update on progress July - September 2010 (20.09.2010);

10% of CIEP's current funding is to be used for a capital project. Bids were discussed by the CIEP Partnership Board in August and the Cumbria Private Sector Housing Condition Survey was successful, as it is believed that it will produce the widest benefits and efficiency savings.

Barrow Borough Council will be leading on this project, which aims to deliver co-ordinated private sector house condition surveys in each District Council area. 

The surveys will inform local and sub-regional policies in relation to private sector housing, especially with regard to Decent Homes, Energy Efficiency and Fuel Poverty. 

This project directly links to the housing project that is also being funded by CIEP; the Cumbria Housing Research Officer, will be able to coordinate this project and include the evidence in the development of the Local Investment Plan.

Housing

Update on progress October - November 2010 (19.11.2010);

This project has been funded in order to improve communication and partnership working between the Districts and the County Council, housing providers and other local partners involved in the delivery of housing, such as the Lake District National Park Authority, Planning and Economic Development departments etc.

The aims of the project are:

·         The development of an up-to-date and evidenced based Cumbria Housing Strategy, and revised Local Investment Plan.

·         To provide a co-ordinated and integrated approach to the delivery of housing services to improve effectiveness and provide efficiencies.

The Cumbria Housing Strategy Manager and Research Officer took up their positions in September, and are based at Eden District Council offices in Penrith. They have started to map homelessness services across the County with a view to presenting a report and recommendations for efficiencies in mid November. 

They are also collating the information gathered within the 20 Strategic Housing Market Assessments (SHMA’s), with the aim of producing robust evidence for the update of the Cumbria Housing Strategy and Local Investment Plan.

A Cumbria Housing Conference has also been arranged for Friday 17 December 2010 in order to highlight the issues affecting housing delivery in Cumbria. Speakers include local MP Rory Stewart, Marie Fallon, Corporate Director for Environment at Cumbria County Council, and Professor John Ashton, Director of Public Health for Cumbria. 

For further information about the Cumbria Housing Project, please contact Louise Jeffery Cumbria Housing Strategy Manager, louise.jeffery@eden.gov.uk tel 01768 212327 or Cumbria Housing Research Officer, Sam Bradley samantha.bradley@eden.gov.uk tel 01768 212453.   

Please see the link below to access the Housing delivery plan:

Climate Change

Update on progress October - November 2010 (19.11.2010);

Climate Change: Cumbria renewable and low carbon energy capacity and deployment study.

SQW and Land Use Consultants have been contracted to deliver the study. An inception meeting was held in October with the consultants and the Cumbrian Local Planning Authorities. Key organisations including Natural England, Forestry Commission and Envirolink NW are already involved in the project. The Environment Agency and Britain's Energy Coast have also been invited. Other organisations, including the Cumbria Renewable Energy Panel and community based groups will be invited to become involved during October.  

SQW will be producing a Scoping Report by November setting out the methodology for the study and how it will use existing studies and data.  

More information on the project can be found at 

http://www.cumbria.gov.uk/planning-environment/renewable-energy/renewableEnergyStudy.asp

Please see the link below to access the Climate Change delivery plan:

Support for Joint Working

Following a series of government reforms and the abolition of the performance framework, this project will focus on how the Cumbria Local Government can work together and deal with the impacts of these, particularly in the light of the Comprehensive Spending Review announced on the 20th October 2010.