The document summarizes budget and service changes being considered by Brighton and Hove City Council for 2012/13, which include staff reductions, increased fees and charges, and changes to services across areas such as adult social care, children's services, housing, transportation, libraries, and communities. An equality impact assessment is being conducted to understand how the changes could affect different groups. Council meetings in February will consider the full assessment and make final decisions, and public feedback is requested by January 16th to influence the process.

1. Council Budget 2012/13
Equality Impact Assessment
8th
December 2011

2. Headlines
• Savings of £17.25 million for 2012/13
• Similar for the following year
• Increase in council tax to 3.5%
• Raising other income
– Parking
– Royal Pavilion etc.
• Staffing reductions (100-120 FTE)

3. Purpose of the Equality Impact Assessment
• Corporate Priorities
– Tackling inequality
– Sustainability
– Involving residents
• Open decision making – informed by potential
impact
– 8th
December – Cabinet – EIA screenings published
– 9th
February – Cabinet NEED FOR FULLER
– 23rd
February – Council INFORMATION

4. Adult Social Care
Not about reduction in services but about doing
things differently
– Personal budgets
– More independent living
– Targeted services to those with most complex
needs
– Activity rather than building based services
Specific changes:
Transport, Accommodation

5. Children’s Services
• Protection of funding for carers and respite
care
• New Youth Services strategy
• Targeting of those most in need
• Provision of services to schools
Specific changes:
Looked after children, Education Welfare,
Sure start, Youth Employability

6. Housing
• Efficiency savings on Supporting People
provision and repairs contract
• Protection of the Preventing Homelessness
Grant
• Use of leasing for temporary accommodation
Specific changes:
Rent and service charge increases, staff
restructures in private sector housing renewal and
commissioning

7. City Regulation & Infrastructure
• Less revenue spend but more capital spend on
transport and the public realm
• Review of refuse & recycling service
• Increases in fees and charges
• Less subsidised bus routes
• Closure of less used public toilets
Specifics:
Less spend on preventative highway maintenance
and reduction in street lighting and street
cleaning

8. Resources & Finance
• Efficiency savings in accommodation, ICT and
other internal services
• Development of woodland burial site
• Reorganisations in Registration Service and
Life Events team
• Reduction to Benefits Service
• Hove Town Hall no longer to be used as
ceremony room
• Review of fees and charges in Bereavement
Services and Register Office

9. Communities
• Generation of income
• Changes to library opening hours
• Withdrawal of Mobile Library
• RNIB subscriptions for individuals
• Family Intervention project changes
• Reduction in sports development projects
• Access Manager post
• End of 8-13 year olds youth pilot projects

10. Challenges to the EIA screenings
Managers have identified the potential
impacts on equality groups
• Are they the right ones?
• What other impacts are possible?
• Are the actions identified the right ones?
• What else would help?
• What is the likely overall impact?

11. Next steps
• Cabinet meeting 9th
February to consider the fuller
Equality Impact assessments to enable decisions to be
based on minimising the risk to equality
• Deadline for responses to influence this meeting: 16th
January 2012
• Council meeting 23rd
February 2012 will make final
decisions so other opportunities to raise issues via
democratic process