Agenda item

The Business and Customer Services Portfolio Holder and Director of Health and Environmental Services, presented the report which updated the committee on Shared Service performance and progress.

The committee was informed that the next Business and Customer Services Portfolio Holder meeting would look at the Shared Legal Service in more detail.

The committee was informed that:

·         All three shared services had had a slow start and things had not gone as well as had been hoped in the first year due to problems recruiting leaders to each service. Staff had been lost during the move to shared services and savings targets were not met in the first year. Strong leaders had since been recruited to each service and each service had a new business plan. Savings targets would be met but this would be achieved less quickly than had first been hoped. Lessons had been learnt from the implementation of these shared services.

·         The data presented was for Quarter 3. There was a lag in the presentation of data due to the partnership’s shared governance. Improvements to the reporting were being looked at.

·         The overspend in the Building Control Shared Service had been due to interim management and staffing. A permanent manager had been in post since June 2017. Officers were now confident about this service, which should generate and income for the Council.

·         The committee was informed that recruitment was challenging for both shared and non shared services. Shared services was a way in which the Council was trying to limit the impact of the difficulty to recruit.

The committee discussed the report:

·         Members felt that evidence for optimism had not been provided in the report and that there was not enough detail in the report.

·         The committee was informed that the financial pressure was covered by current budgets and plans were in place to deliver the original saving aspirations over the next three years. The detail of how this would be met had been presented at the Business and Customer Services Portfolio Holder meeting.

·         Concern was expressed by members regarding going into a shared Planning Service and advised that the lessons learned from the first shared services, needed to be consolidated.

·         In response to a query regarding risk factors, the committee was informed that these were being picked up in business plans, which would be submitted for Cabinet approval in April 2018. The committee was informed that staffing had been a significant issue for shared services but that this issue had since settled.

·         In response to a query, the committee was informed that the Legal Shared Service had delivered its savings targets.

·         In response to a query the committee was informed that of 156 litigation cases, the Legal Shared Service had won 148. A large number of these were in relation to debt recovery.

·         Committee members congratulated the Shared Waste Service for continuing to deliver its service despite the recent snow. The Director of Health and Environmental Services informed the committee that despite the snow, all bin rounds had been completed in South Cambridgeshire and Cambridge City.

The committee noted the report and requested a fuller report which included more detail in future.