To consider the following Corporate reports scheduled for Cabinet consideration on 13 November 2019:
· Organisational Design and Transformation Business Case
· Corporate Performance Management Update
The O&S Board is asked to scrutinise the reports and make recommendations to Cabinet as appropriate.
Cabinet member invited to attend for this item: Councillor Vikki Slade, Leader of the Council.
The Cabinet report will be published on Tuesday 5 November 2019 and available to view at the following link:
https://democracy.bcpcouncil.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=285&MId=3723&Ver=4
Minutes:
Organisational Development - The Leader of the Council was invited to introduce the report, a copy of which had been circulated and which appears as Appendix 'D' to the Cabinet Minutes of 13 November in the Minute Book. The Leader outlined the key areas within the report and the proposed recommendations for Cabinet. A number of issues were raised in the ensuing discussion including:
· Cost – It was noted that whilst this was significant there were considerable savings which would be made, and it was important to ensure that the process was carried out effectively.
· Contract – A Councillor asked why KPMG was awarded the contract to carry out this work. The Leader explained that they had provided a fixed cost contract and would facilitate our view for the future of BCP Council rather than a generic proposal from elsewhere.
· Accommodation and location – The Board asked about pressures arising from teams and ensuring that professionals were in the right place logically. The accommodation strategy would look at a corporate hub, how current provision was utilised and the available options. It was noted that accommodation and ways of working shouldn’t be separate considerations and there was an expectation that there would need to be moved to meet needs and ensure the right people were where they needed to be. There would be a Cabinet Working Group to include the Leader of the Opposition to look at accommodation options as part of a 2-3 month programme which would then come back through Cabinet. A Board member commented that this would be the main focus of resident’s mind and was concerned about the lack of engagement with Councillors to date. It was noted that the exclusion of politicians from the accommodation group was deliberate in order not to influence and that this was a particularly challenging issue.
· Systems – It was noted that the high number of different software systems in place seemed horrendous but conversely it was important to ensure that that the requirements of the service were met. This was agreed but there was excesses within the system for example social care was working across three different platforms. The processes for this were likely to come back through Cabinet and Overview and Scrutiny.
· Savings – In response to a question the Leader confirmed that the figures outlined were somewhat pessimistic and other Councils in similar positions had made significant savings. The capital costs outlined were related to changes in working practices and not buildings which would be the subject of a separate report.
· Operating Model – Following questions from the Board it was confirmed that the model was decided following an intensive two-day process modelling different ideas. There was a clear driver that only a digitally enable front door model would transform. The model would be designed with communities in mind with services that people were able to access themselves without having to negotiate clunky systems whilst ensuring staff were available to address more complex problems.
Corporate Performance Management Update - The Leader of the Council was invited to introduce the report, a copy of which had been circulated and which appears as Appendix 'F' to the Cabinet Minutes of 13 November in the Minute Book. The Leader outlined the key areas within the report and the proposed recommendations for Cabinet. A number of issues were raised in the ensuing discussion including:
· The Leader asked the Board for any feedback on the areas that the report should include in he future. The Chairman asked the Board to exclude Children’s and Adults in its consideration as there were separate Scrutiny Committees to address these areas.
· A Member asked about the information on planning applications and the ability to turnaround householder applications. It was noted that it was important to know how much out of time those applications were, as the statistics only included the percentage of applications which did not meet the target. It was noted that he expectation was that the benchmark would be met. The Corporate Director would be asked specifically why this had reduced but it was also noted that there were staffing pressures within the planning department.
· The Board requested information on waste diverted from landfill and TROs completed on time. The Leader advised that she had already requested further information on transport, roadworks and other traffic issues to be included.
· It needed to be decided, where there was no national benchmark, what was a reasonable target. Benchmarks would need to be integrated into the new model of working. The more embedded these were into the system the better they could be utilised. It was also hoped to develop an electronic performance scorecard to monitor performance as it is changing.
· It was noted that this work sat alongside the base budget review programme which would enable a more joined up review of statistics and more informed conversations to take place. Performance would be an ongoing piece of work for the O&S Board and an issue for future consideration.