Organisational business plan

Financial Plans

The Authority sets its budget on an annual basis, alongside reviews of its 4-year Medium-Term Financial Plan (MTFP) and 5-year Capital Investment Plan.  This ensures that the resources the Authority expects to have available can support the delivery of its strategic objectives and vision, as set out in the Our North Tyneside Plan. 

The organisation also reviews the investment plans for the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) annually. The HRA operates as a ring-fenced account to ensure that rents and service charges paid by tenants are invested in maintaining and improving homes, as part of a long-term 30-year business plan.

The Authority’s financial plans are developed in line with its Financial Strategy. Decision making is built on the key principles of strategic alignment, governance, sustainability and resilience.

Key principles of financial decision making

The Authority has a robust Performance and Financial Management reporting framework. Cabinet receives regular updates to ensure that decision makers fully understand the underlying demand and performance data that is driving the organisation’s financial position. The organisation continues to develop solutions as an Authority, rather than focussing on individual services.

The MTFP process for 2025/26 builds upon work started in 2024/25. It is currently made up of fourteen projects that aim to tackle the highest pressures the Authority faces and to explore opportunities to deliver savings. This helps to frame options and choices about the way that the Authority delivers its services. Since introducing this approach in excess of £10m of savings have been made.

Organisation & Workforce Development

People First Strategy

Every colleague at North Tyneside Council plays a part in shaping the success of the Borough and in supporting residents and local communities.  The Authority employs 3,428 colleagues (equivalent to 3,031 full time roles).

That's why the People Team focus on creating a great colleague experience – it's at the heart of how the organisation puts people first.  
 

The organisation knows that when it make things easier for colleagues to do their jobs, trust people to make the right calls, and truly listen to ideas, everyone thrives.  That’s the foundation of the Authority’s People First Strategy.  It’s about three simple things:

• creating a safe, supportive environment and culture where colleagues live the values, wellbeing is prioritised and individuals can be themselves and do their best work.
• attracting, retaining and developing the talent the organisation needs to deliver to local communities, and
• colleagues having the information, knowledge, tools and guidance to do their jobs. 

The Authority’s ambition is for North Tyneside Council to be a place where people aspire to work, where joining our team is an exciting prospect, staying with us feels like a great decision, and building a career at North Tyneside is a natural progression.

The People First Strategy is the organisation’s promise to make North Tyneside Council an exceptional place to work, where everyone can thrive and flourish in delivery of the Our North Tyneside Council Plan. 

Assets and Property Portfolio

The Authority has 161 operational buildings, 1,716 non-operational assets (please see definitions below) and 78 schools. It regularly reviews its operational and non-operational portfolio to identify surplus accommodation that can be disposed of to support the aims of the organisation.

Operational Buildings

The Authority holds operational property assets for the delivery of direct and in direct services to the community; the regeneration of the Borough; and economic wellbeing. 

An operational asset means an asset held for service delivery and not held for income or capital gain purposes.

The Authority has a diverse range of property located throughout the Borough.  The property portfolio comprises of 161 operational buildings (please see table below for details).

Based on the 2023/24 Statement of Accounts the Authority’s operational assets have a total net book value of £99.656m (excluding surplus assets and investment properties and assets held for sale).

Non-operational buildings and assets

The Authority holds non-operational property assets to encourage local area regeneration and to provide a revenue stream that supports: operational budgets; the regeneration of the Borough and economic wellbeing. 

A non-operational asset (tenanted non-residential property) are assets which are not used in the operations of a business, but instead are meant to generate additional income or capital gain purposes.

The Authority currently has a total of 1,716 non-operational assets; 1,053 as part of General Fund and 663 Housing Revenue Account.

Based on the 2023/24 Statement of Accounts the total net book value of the non-operational buildings totals £34.166m (split General Fund £30.098m and HRA £4.068m). This excludes surplus assets and investment properties and assets held for sale. 

Schools

Investment across the School Estate aligns with the Government’s overarching asset management planning process.  This requires responsible bodies such as the Local Authority to determine the prioritisation of projects based on national Department for Education (DfE) guidance. Information on the Authority’s delivery arrangements is provided on an annual basis to the DfE as part of the Schools Annual Capital Spend Survey . 

Major investment is aligned with the Government’s announcements on the spending review, which currently delivers the National Schools Rebuilding Programme (SRP). 

*Including 3 PFI ** including 2 PFI

All schools are responsible for day to day repairs and maintenance as part of the Local Management of Schools and the delegated budget allocated to individual schools through the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG).

The Authority has responsibility for the overarching asset management planning process for all schools covering condition, suitability and sufficiency. This is in accordance with the Department for Education (DfE) Guidelines. This process also helps inform the Authority’s assessment on the asset life and valuation assessment.

The Authority has responsibility for maintaining only the Community and Trust schools (other than day to day repairs) and receives annual formulaic capital grant allocations from the Education & Skills Funding Agency (ESFA). This capital allocation is known as the School Capital Allocation. The Government expects all local authority’s to plan effectively and make local strategic investment decisions that deliver the best possible value for their schools, based on a previously published methodology and classification for asset management (condition) works.

The current value of condition related works (schools and education) for the next 5 years (2025/26 - 2029/30) is calculated at £ 19.179m, with a further £6.960m for the 5 years following ( 2030/31 – 2034/35). It should be noted that data is constantly changing with new reports and priorities, and due to the relevant responsibility changes for academy schools. Current conditional requirements are calculated based on expected funding from the DfE and priority planning.