Issue - meetings

To receive a report from the Chief Operating Officer and Lead Officer for HDC 3C ICT Shared Services) on the future of the shared ICT service that serves Huntingdonshire District Council, Cambridge City Council and South Cambridgeshire District Council.

Please note: Appendix 1 of the report is restricted.

Executive Councillors: L Davenport-Ray & B Mickelburgh.

The Cabinet has:

(a)  noted the final report submitted by Triple Value Impact (TVI) as per the exempt Appendix 1 to the report now submitted; and

(b)  agreed to the recommended Option 1 (redesigned 3C ICT and Digital, Lead Authority remains HDC) and has delegated the responsibility for finalising the scope and detailed nature of the new agreement and associated activities to the Chief Executives and respective Portfolio Holders for each partnership council reporting on progress through the revised member board.

The Cabinet received and noted a report by the Chief Operating Officer and Lead Officer for 3C ICT Shared Services (a copy of which is appended in the Minute Book) which provided an overview of the review of the 3C ICT Service, the key options to address the concerns and meet the ICT and digital requirements of the three partner Councils and the receipt of sufficient data and analysis to enable the three partner Councils to jointly agree a preferred option.

In introducing the report, the Executive Councillor for Climate, Transformation and Workforce acquainted the Cabinet with the background history to the shared service and advised that a number of options had been presented to all three partner Councils for consideration by Triple Value Impact, the consultants appointed to undertake the review. Appendix 1 detailed all options proposed (a copy of which is appended in the Annex to the Minute Book) including a high level overview of the impacts against risk, operational cost, digital costs, implementation costs, complexity and timescales. It was further reported that all three partner Councils had reached a consensus to recommend Option 1, whilst also proposing an increase to the budget from £8.1m to £8.4m.

Executive Members acknowledged the complexities with negotiating the new agreement and the extent of work undertaken by the Chief Executive, Corporate Director (People), Chief Operating Officer and the Executive Councillor for Climate, Transformation and Workforce to reach a conclusion amongst all partner authorities.

Having expressed support for the proposals, the Cabinet’s attention was then drawn to the views of the Overview and Scrutiny Panel (Performance & Growth). Cabinet Members concurred with the comments made in respect of reviewing performance of the shared service annually together with the governance arrangements that would be in place.

The Executive Councillor for Parks and Countryside, Waste and Street Scene indicated that she wished to raise a question in respect of Appendix 1. In doing so, the Chief Executive advised that the meeting would need to move to private session.

The Panel is invited to comment on the 3C ICT Shared Service Review Report.

By means of a report by the Chief Operating Officer (a copy of which was appended in the Minute Book) the 3C ICT Shared Service report was presented to the Panel.

Following an enquiry from Councillor Wells, the Panel heard that an independent consultant had been utilised to identify 7 options and the Chief executives of the 3 Councils had collectively agreed the recommendation option within the report.

Councillor Martin requested that a report on Shared Service performance be brought annually to the Panel as had been the case previously. The Panel heard that the new arrangement would be implemented by September 2025 and would be reviewed annually to measure performance against agreed success criteria. The Panel were also assured that the governance arrangements were detailed within the appendix. Following a further question from Councillor Gleadow, the Panel were advised that the current shared services partnership arrangements were due to end in September 2025 and that the new agreement would be a 5 year extension.

In response to a question from Councillor Wells, the Panel heard that the new agreement would focus on satisfying the identified user needs and that project delivery would identify additional capabilities required in order to fulfil this. The Panel were assured that the review had regalvanised and reenergised the service and that this process would be replicated into the future review of the shared legal service.

Following an enquiry from Councillor Cawley on alternative options should there be a dispute between partner Councils on the way forward, the Panel were assured that by developing the agreement across the 3 Councils the proposed recommendation and way forward had been thorough discussed and developed to ensure smooth progression.

The Panel heard, following a question from Councillor Gleadow, that Huntingdonshire were already the host employer for the shared service and that the employment liabilities were contained within the existing partnership agreement. The Panel were further assured that there was a mix of permanent and fixed term contract staff in line with employment terms across all three Councils.

In response to a question from Councillor Blackwell relating to the appointment of the CDIO, the Panel were assured that the recruitment would be by the Chief Executives of the 3 Councils.

Following the discussion, it was

RESOLVED

that the comments of the Overview and Scrutiny Panel be added to the Cabinet report in order for an informed decision to be made upon the report recommendations.