Decision details

To accept the quote from IMPOWER of The Ministry, 79-81 C/O The Virtual Legal Counsel Ltd, Borough Road, London, England, SE1 1DN, 03876501 and [email protected].
For the DA from the ESPO664_25 Consultancy Services FW (Lot 1A) for the Financial Sustainability Support

The Council is experiencing a significantly challenging financial position as a result of increasing demand for services and rising costs that continue to outpace available funding. This position is not unique to Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council, with many local authorities across the country experiencing similar pressures. The Council is currently forecasting a budget gap in every year of the Medium Term Financial Plan period and is projecting an additional in-year pressure of £5.8m in 2026/27, which will increase the budget gap further in future years.
In response, the Council has established its transformation programme, Powering Our Futures, which is focused on transforming the way services are delivered, improving outcomes for residents and identifying sustainable financial savings. Since the programme commenced in 2023, the Council has invested in strengthening its internal transformation capability through additional training, development and the creation of dedicated Project Manager posts. This enhanced capacity has supported a substantial programme of transformation activity and the identification of significant savings opportunities.
Whilst this internal investment has been beneficial, there remains a significant volume of complex transformation activity underway across multiple reviews and workstreams. The Council's financial position continues to evolve and demand-led services, particularly within Adult Social Care and Children's Services, continue to experience increasing cost and demand pressures. Given the requirement to set a balanced budget in February 2027 and the urgency of identifying further opportunities to close the budget gap, the Council considers it timely to undertake a focused external review.
The Council is therefore engaging IMPOWER to complement the existing Powering our Futures Programme, specifically to identify areas of further service redesign to deliver efficiencies and savings. The Council has previously worked successfully with IMPOWER on the development of the Valuing Care needs and care placement assessment model within Children’s Social Care, providing confidence in their approach and understanding of the organisation.
The work will focus primarily on the Council's largest demand-led service areas, Adult Social Care and Children's Social Care, where increasing demand and expenditure present some of the Council's most significant financial challenges. However, the review will not be exclusive to these areas, it will also consider wider organisational, commissioning, operational and demand-management opportunities that could contribute to improved outcomes, greater efficiency and long-term financial sustainability. The work will be coordinated by the Council’s Project Management Office and Finance team to ensure the outcomes complement and add to the existing transformation programme, and avoid duplication.
The work will provide additional capacity at a critical point in the Council's financial planning cycle, alongside independent challenge, specialist sector expertise and experience gained from supporting other local authorities facing similar financial and service delivery challenges. The work will help identify, assess and where appropriate support the implementation of opportunities for transformation, efficiency and demand reduction, strengthening the Council's ability to deliver a balanced and sustainable financial position.

Option 1: Undertake the work in-house
This option was considered and discounted. The Council has already invested in strengthening its internal transformation capability through additional training, skills development and the creation of dedicated Project Manager posts. This investment has supported the delivery of the Council's transformation programme, Powering Our Future, and contributed to the identification of a number of savings since the programme commenced in 2023.
While this additional capacity has been valuable, there remains a significant volume of complex transformation activity underway across multiple reviews and workstreams. Given the scale of the financial challenge facing the Council and the importance of informing budget-setting decisions for 2027/28, it is considered timely to undertake an independent review of opportunities across the largest demand-led services.
Engaging IMPOWER will enable the Council to draw on specialist expertise and experience gained from supporting other local authorities facing similar challenges. This external perspective will provide independent challenge, benchmarking, insight into emerging best practice and additional capacity to accelerate the identification and delivery of sustainable improvements. The Council's previous experience of working with IMPOWER through the Valuing Care model also provides confidence in their approach and enables the work to focus on outcomes rather than designing new methodologies.
Option 2: Procure targeted external capacity or engage an alternative provider
The Council also considered procuring additional temporary capacity or engaging an alternative consultancy provider. While this could have supplemented internal resources, it was considered less likely to provide the same combination of specialist local government transformation expertise, established methodologies, sector benchmarking and experience of delivering large-scale transformation programmes across local authorities.
IMPOWER has supported many other local authorities facing similar challenges and have demonstrated results in their work with others. In addition, the Council's Children's Services already utilise the Valuing Care model developed with IMPOWER, providing an established foundation and understanding of service demand, needs assessment and placement decision-making. This creates a strong starting point for exploring opportunities within Children's Services, which is the most significant contributor to the Council's financial pressures. It is therefore anticipated the work will be able to focus on delivering outcomes rather than developing new methodologies.
Cabinet Member Observations
After discussion with CMT, the rationale for the commission was explained. My concerns were raised, however following explanation that the external advice is required to unlock potentially significant savings for the council, I have agreed to sign this decision record.

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