Agenda and minutes

It was noted that there were no substitute members for this meeting.

(Director of Governance). To declare interests in any items on the agenda.

In considering whether to declare a personal or a prejudicial interest under the Code of Conduct, Overview & Scrutiny members are asked pay particular attention to paragraph 11 of the Code in addition to the more familiar requirements.

This requires the declaration of a personal and prejudicial interest in any matter before an OS Committee which relates to a decision of or action by another Committee or Sub Committee of the Council, a Joint Committee or Joint Sub Committee in which the Council is involved and of which the Councillor is also a member.

Paragraph 11 does not refer to Cabinet decisions or attendance at an OS meeting purely for the purpose of answering questions or providing information on such a matter.

There were no declarations of interest made pursuant to the Member Code of Conduct.

The agreed Terms of Reference agreed by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 6th June 2017 are attached along with the original PICK form.

The Panel considered and agreed their Terms of Reference.

(Chief Executive) To receive a report (Report to Follow) on the Transformation Programme outlining its background, scope and the intentions for the Programme.

For benefit of all Members of the T&F Panel, the report should answer the following questions on the Transformation Programme:-

a)      What is the Transformation Programme?

b)      What are the aims and objectives of the Programme?

c)      What is the scope and duration of the Programme?

d)      What are the issues that the Programme is designed to address?

e)      How is the budget for the Transformation Programme currently allocated?

f)       What are the costs associated to the management of the Programme?

g)      Who determines what projects are to be taken forward?

h)      How is this decision made currently?

i)       What is the process of risk management for each project?

j)       How are the financial and non-financial benefits of potential projects calculated?

k)       How are the achievements of specific outcomes of each project currently evaluated?

l)       What are the specific projects that have been determined by the Programme so far?

m)     Which Directorates do these fall under?

n)      What factors determine under which Directorate project will sit?

o)      How and when are projects allocated to the different Directorates?

p)      How and when are the financial arrangements for each project passed over to the different Directorates?

q)      Have all projects identified through the programme been allocated to a Directorate?

r)       If not where do they currently sit?

After receiving this information, the Panel will then have to consider:-

1)    How to best scrutinize the management of the Transformation programme

2)    How to best monitor and assess performance of the management of Transformation programme

3)    How to identify projects and sub-programmes not within the remit of specific Select committees

4)    How to measure and assess performance of identified projects and sub-programmes not within the remit of specific Select committees

5)    Suitable forum for future scrutiny of Transformation programme

The Panel considered the report that set out to answer the questions (a to r) posed at the special Resources Select Committee meeting held on 10 April 2017.

Mr Bailey the Head of Transformation took the Panel through the report, highlighting that transformation was about change management.

Councillor Surtees asked if there was an overarching aim or idea for the whole organisation and Mr Bailey replied that effectively change did not stop instead it ebb and flowed over time. Councillor Chris Whitbread, Leader of the Council, noted that it was to make the Council fit for the 21^st Century and was not something that would just be happening now; it would go on for decades. It was important to have a low Council tax and to keep our front line services. Councillor Kane added that it was best looked at as a way of managing that change. Mr Bailey noted that it was useful to note that transformation was charged with realising four key benefits, that of:

§  Recognising what customers’ value about our services and placing them at the heart of everything we do;

§  Focussing on getting things right first time through joined up services;

§  Reducing red tape to simplify how we work; and

§  Delivery of resource savings and income generation, to keep Council Tax low.

The vast majority of work was to deliver the Corporate Plan and deliver the various projects.

Councillor Sartin asked what would have happened if the Council had not set up the Transformation Programme. Mr Bailey answered that we would have continued the way we were; with some good projects and a majority of so-so projects and some less than good. We were now looking for a larger range of change than we have in the past. Mr Chipp, the Chief Executive, agreed that progress would have been slower and less joined up. We would be able to have big structural changes on the back of this and would be able to look at projects on a corporate basis and prioritise them. Councillor Whitbread said that this pulled all the projects together, such as putting two buildings into one, which was a bold move. Areas such as the customer facing project were making this Council less of a silo based organisation than we used to be.

Councillor Avey wondered about the use of external contractors and would it be better in house.

Mr Bailey spoke about the answer to question ‘d’ and the four drivers for change as detailed in the Corporate Plan 2015/20. They were:

§  Our customers and their needs are changing;

§  Our customers expect modern, customer focussed services;

§  Our customers demand well-managed, value for money services; and

§  Our customers want us to reduce our costs and protect front line services.

The new draft Corporate Plan would be made available on line. The management of all change within the authority was organised into workstreams, each containing a set of transformation programmes and projects, arranged in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

To consider a date for the next meeting.

The meeting considered the dates for a future meeting and decided that the most appropriate date would be 1 August 2017.

RESOLVED:

That the next meeting of this Task and Finish Panel be held on Tuesday 1^st August 2017.