Written Statement - Round 9 Invest to Save Projects

To date, the Welsh Government Invest to Save Fund has invested over £102 million in 94 projects.  Independent analysis has shown that the fund generates £3 of gross benefit for every £1 invested.

I am pleased to announce the investment of more than £10 million for new public service improvement projects as a result of the latest round of the Invest-to-Save Fund.

This investment will support a total of 23 projects.  The organisations which are to receive support range from Health Boards, to local authorities, further and higher education establishments.  

This set of projects demonstrate that good practice – from within Wales, from the rest of the UK and further afield – is spreading.  At the same time, it shows that the investment will align with new and innovative ideas on service delivery being developed in Wales, which will in turn become the best practice of tomorrow.  There are also a number of schemes which concentrate on energy efficiency and reducing not only costs but carbon emissions.  

The latest investments for the healthcare service in Wales include:

• £810,000 to Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board to support two projects, one to improve the management of hospital wards and the second to improve the utilisation of theatre resources.  Together these schemes will generate  cash releasing savings of £450,000 per annum from 2016-17;
• £1.2 million to fund three projects at Powys Teaching Health Board.  £407,000 is to fund changes to community pharmacy services which will generate cash releasing savings of £250,000 per annum from 2016-17.  The second scheme is the development of Community Resource Teams which will improve patient care in the community and generate savings of £588,000 per annum from 2016-17.  The third scheme involves implementation of E-Rostering for the workforce of the health board.  This is a tried and tested approach used in other health boards which reduces overtime costs and the use of external staff, and is estimated to save £136,000 per annum from 2016-17;     
• £1.6 million is being allocated to Cwm Taf University Health Board to support a number of new and innovative approaches which will improve patient care and efficiency.  The projects which Cwm Taf plan to implement include the provision of acute therapists, improvements for the care and rehabilitation of stroke patients and the use of mobile technology to improve working in the community. From this investment it is expected that savings of £2.3 million per annum will be generated by 2018-19; 
• £395,000 is being provided to NHS Shared Services for a project to develop a joint NHS and local authority framework for the provision of care services to vulnerable groups.  This project is an example of how collaboration can not only improve services but also bring significant financial benefits.  It is estimated that cash releasing savings in the region of £2.2 million per annum will be generated by 2016-17;  
• £1.1 million for NHS voluntary early release schemes in Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board and Cwm Taf University Health Board which will consolidate the restructuring of staffing in these organisations;  

Local authorities will benefit from:

• £1.6 million for Conwy County Borough to fund the Conwy Workwise project which is making better use of assets and developing new ways of working using electronic document management systems;
• £130,000 to Newport City Council for investment in road maintenance and management technology which will help improve the road network in Newport and provide savings of £100,000 by 2018-19.

Further education will also benefit with:

• £775,000 to Cardiff and Vale College to allow the development of digital platforms to manage the relationships the college has with students, employers and parents.  This project will streamline back office processes and improve the way in which the college relates its stakeholders.  This is the first project of its kind in Wales and, as well as improving the standards of service which the college can offer, it is estimated that the cash benefits which the project will generate will be £750,000 per annum by 2018-19;

Energy efficiency schemes will also make a difference across the Public Sector:

• £959,000 for a range of energy efficiency schemes across Wales.  £325,000 is being invested in LED lighting at the National Museum.  In the NHS, Powys Teaching Health Board will receive £167,000 and Aneurin Bevan University Health Board will receive £317,000 for LED and voltage optimisation schemes.  £150,000 will be invested in a project across a number of sites at Cardiff Metropolitan University.  Together, these schemes will reduce carbon emissions by at least 1,200 tonnes per annum and will generate cash releasing savings of £333k per annum by 2017-18;
• Finally, Amgueddfa Cymru National Museum Wales will benefit from £1.5 million towards a voluntary early release scheme arising from restructuring of the workforce to improve efficiency.

This statement covers the first tranche of schemes from the latest round of Invest to Save funding.  Additional schemes are being developed at the moment and I will update Assembly Members with the details of these projects later in the year.