Agenda item

The 3C Shared Services Update is to be presented to the Panel.  

With the aid of a report by the Corporate Director (Services) (a copy of which is appended in the Minute Book) the 3C Shared Services Update was presented to the Panel. The Executive Councillor for Commercialisation and Shared Services introduced the report and informed Members that the report is the Quarter 3 Update Report and it is not as positive as had been anticipated.

The Panel was informed that the 3C Shared Services are not on course to achieve the targeted 15% savings across the board. In addition, a number of the previous savings were one off savings and were therefore not embedded.

The Managing Director added that the only unresolved leadership staffing issue has been the management of Building Control, which is seen as crucial to resolve so that the service has stability. In addition, Members were informed that the Service Plans for Legal and ICT are on track however the Building Control Service Plan is a working progress.

Following a question from the Chairman regarding what would the Council do differently and what would the Council do the same, the Managing Director informed the Panel that what the Council would do differently would be: have a map of the money down to the last penny; have more strategic investment in the service; ensure a greater service resilience (as the services have struggled to recruit the right calibre of personal so has therefore relied on interims) and align the decision making process. In terms of what would be done the same, the Panel was informed that the Council would be bold in its ambition.

When asked if there was going to be more shared services, Members were informed that the emphasis in the short term is to concentrate on the existing shared services, however future shared service arrangements have not been ruled out.

In response to questions of governance and the reviewing of targets, the Panel was informed that the report before them is a quarter three update report and that there will be a report presented at a future Panel meeting which outlines these issues.

A Member stated that they thought the business cases were not robust enough, only 20% of audits have been dealt with which shows the shared services have not got to grips with demand, recognises there is an Action Plan but is disappointed that there is no further details and argued that in terms of recruitment every post is crucial to the organisation. In response, the Managing Director informed the Panel that the Business Plans did the job but they were based on the old services and would look different if they were done today and agreed that every post is crucial. In addition, the new Business Plans will be ready in either March or April 2017.

In response to the Managing Director, the Panel requested to view the content of the Action Plan.

Following a question regarding the provision of services across three councils, Members were informed that the Council are confident that the services continue to be delivered across three councils and that each council has a portfolio holder dedicated to the delivery of shared services.

The Chairman questioned how many agency staff are the 3C Shared Services employing and stated that could a report be sent to the Panel, via email, monthly. Another Member questioned the cost of agency staff. The Panel was informed that the Council will always need agency staff and that some agency staff cost more due to the technical expertise that they bring.