Agenda item

The Scrutiny and Overview Committee ENDORSED the recommendations to Cabinet as set out in the Shared Services Overview report and in the shared Legal, Building Control and ICT services reports.

The Committee also RECOMMENDED:

a)    That performance of the Legal, Building Control and ICT shared services be monitored monthly at the Partnership Board for Shared Services and the Joint Committee, for the first six months of the shared services.

b)    That the Legal Practice Business Plan for 2016/17 be available for scrutiny by February 2016.

The Leader and Deputy Leader of the Council presented the Shared Services reports and business cases which would be presented to Cabinet. The Scrutiny and Overview Committee Chairman raised concern that these were being presented to the committee with such short notice before the Cabinet meeting. The Leader of the Council apologised for this and made the committee aware that attempts had been made to reschedule the Cabinet meeting to allow more time between the two meetings, however this had not been possible due to coordination required between all Councils involved in the shared services.

The Deputy Leader of the Council presented the Shared Services Overview report. Discussion and questions ensued:

·         It was clarified that Internal Audit was not a shared service with Huntingdonshire District Council; this was an option for the expansion of the shared service.

·         Members were informed that a lead authority ethos was being applied to shared services. It was noted that South Cambridgeshire District Council was not acting as the lead authority for ICT, Building Control or Legal shared services.

·         The Executive Director (Corporate Services) clarified that the Head of Service for each shared service, was accountable to all Councils.

·         Concern was raised that the reduction in economies of scale and savings would lead to the loss of staff through restructuring. The committee was informed that a number of posts had been held vacant in anticipation of a rationalisation of posts.

·         The cost of rebranding was queried. The Leader of the Council informed members that there was no cost to the rebranding as this would be done in-house. Council brands from the public’s point of view would not be changing. The rebranding was to give shared service teams a sense of common identity and staff had been involved in the rebranding exercise.

·         Staff involvement in the development of the shared services was queried. The Portfolio Holder for Corporate and Customer Services confirmed that there had been a good level of engagement with staff with a detailed communications plan having been developed and staff involved in shared services discussions through workshops and brainstorming sessions. Formal engagement with staff began in May 2015.

The Portfolio Holder for Corporate and Customer Services presented the Legal Shared Services report and business case. Issues raised by members of the committee were:

·         Savings on external legal costs across the three councils were slim. Members were informed that the savings on external legal costs were just one component of where savings were expected. Other savings would come from elements such as shared structures, libraries and systems.

·         A breakdown of the savings outlined at 3.1 of the Shared Legal Services Business Case was requested.

·         The Leader of the Council highlighted that shared services was not only about savings but about providing quality of service and increasing the resilience of services.

·         Concern was raised regarding potential implications of staff being required to travel more, staff becoming isolated through home working and losing touch with best practice as a result of this. This concern was acknowledged by the Portfolio Holder for Corporate and Customer Services who assured members that this would be managed by the heads of service. Shared service working practices would be more flexible, with flexible working facilitated.

·         Members were informed that the location of the legal shared services hub had not yet been decided.

·         Members were informed that potential opportunities for the shared service to offer legal services to other public sector partners were being looked at.

·         Concern was raised regarding existing roles changing significantly with the move to shared services and existing staff being unable to cope with new roles. Members were assured that TUPE would be followed so members of staff would have to apply for jobs if job descriptions changed significantly.

·         2014/15 spend across the three Councils was requested, to ensure that the projected savings were achievable. The Executive Director (Corporate Services) would provide this information to committee members following the meeting.

·         The committee was informed that Members would have the opportunity to participate in the recruitment of heads of service.

The Corporate and Customer Services Portfolio Holder presented the  shared ICT services report and business case:

·         Members were informed that significant savings would come from the collective hosting of services and being part of a larger cross Council shared service would offer members of ICT staff better career prospects.

·         An ICT requirement catalogue had been collated from those services which relied upon ICT.

·         Members were informed that a Corporate and Customer Services Portfolio Holder meeting had been arranged for September 2015.

·         Members requested that any future shared ICT helpdesk should mirror the South Cambridgeshire District Council helpdesk.

The Shared Building Control Service report and business case was presented:

·         The Economic Development Portfolio Holder, as the former Portfolio Holder for this service, explained the principles behind its development.

·         Members were informed that by joining with those who would otherwise have been competitors, the service would be more robust.

·         Members were informed of the disadvantages that Council Building Control services faced, which included the requirement to publish their fees publicly. As a result the private sector were aware of the fees and undercut them,  meaning that the service had always had to provide added value in order to compete in the market.

·         Members were informed that other Councils would be welcome to join the shared service in future, but that costs to join would be higher as time went on.

·         The committee was informed that the Council had statutory Building Control functions and that savings would be against the non-fee earning part of the service. The business case was predicated on the statutory service.

·         Members queried who would scrutinise any conflicts of interest of the service. It was suggested that the Partnerships Review Committee would have a remit in terms of partnership working and the Scrutiny and Overview Committee would have a remit in terms of service delivery.

The Scrutiny and Overview Committee ENDORSED the recommendations to Cabinet as set out in the Shared Services Overview report and in the shared Legal, Building Control and ICT services reports.

The Committee also RECOMMENDED:

a)    That performance of the Legal, Building Control and ICT shared services be monitored monthly at the Partnership Board for Shared Services and the Joint Committee, for the first six months of the shared services.

b)    That the Legal Practice Business Plan for 2016/17 be available for scrutiny by February 2016.