Issue - meetings

Matter for Decision

 

To consider the business plan for the shared Building Control Service.

 

Decision of Executive Councillor for Planning Policy and Transport.

 

     i.        Approved the business plan for shared Building Control Services attached at Appendix 1 of the Officer’s report, with two additional recommendations to be included in the plan.

 

Reason for the Decision

As set out in the Officer’s report.

 

Any Alternative Options Considered and Rejected

Not applicable.

 

Scrutiny Considerations

The Committee received a report from the Director of Environment.

 

The report outlined that Cambridge City had become the Employing Authority for Building Control on October 1 2015.  All impacted staff from Huntingdonshire and South Cambridgeshire District Councils had successfully transferred under TUPE to their new employer.

 

The three councils had previously agreed that the achievement of the following outcomes constitute the primary objectives of the sharing services:

·          Protection of services which support the delivery of the wider policy objectives of each Council

·          Creation of services that are genuinely shared between the relevant councils with those councils sharing the risks and benefits whilst having in place a robust model to control the operation and direction of the service

·          Savings through reduced managements costs and economies of scale

·          Increased resilience and retention of staff

·          Minimise the bureaucracy involved in operating the shared service

·          Opportunities to generate additional income, where appropriate

·          Procurement and purchasing efficiencies, and

·          Sharing of specialist roles which individually, are not viable in the long-term.

Since October 1 2015, each shared service had been working to review staffing structures, working practices and overall service provision in order to deliver the desired outcomes of the shared service partnership, as outlined above.

A key part of the service reviews had been the development of a set of forward-looking business plans that set out the key priorities, objectives, activities and measures of success for each service. These could be found at Appendix 1 of the Officer’s report.

 

It was recommended that the business plan be endorsed to enable the shared service to work to an agreed direction and deliver an agreed set of objectives. In the event that there were any revisions to the business plan that were due to operational matters a decision will be made by the Director of Environment (or successor) in consultation with the Executive Councillor.

 

In response to Members’ questions the Director of Environment said the following:

 

     i.        The £50,000 savings referenced in the report would be made across the three Councils based on an existing cost formula, with approximately £20,000 saving to the City Council.

    ii.        The intention would be to move two of the hubs in the next two months and would further be reviewed over the next twelve months to ensure that the optimum arrangements were in place.

   iii.        Further detail of how the benefits would be measured would be collated by Officers.

  iv.        A schedule was currently being produced to harmonise the fees across all the Councils and the City Council would not subsidise the shared building control services.

   v.        Services were being delivered in accordance with building regulations and each Council’s climate control and sustainability policies.

  vi.        The new arrangements allowed for the expansion of best practice, such as the employment of apprentices, recruiting of permanent staff, development and training which it was hoped would bring young people to the industry, of which there was a shortage.

 vii.        Acknowledged that all figures needed to be transparent and clearly show a breakdown of the cost to the City Council.

viii.        Recognised that the speed of service was an important factor and further details could be provided on this matter.

  ix.        Acknowledged there would be a risk to ICT when transferring to a single system to support the shared service.

   x.        Staff would be encouraged to use remote working and access information on site rather than visit the office.

  xi.        Greater risk was employment of staff; currently there were seven permanent positions which needed to be filled.

 xii.        Error to say the project was time limited.

xiii.        Agreed to ensure that on the matter of learning across the three Councils that more detail was included in the business plan.

xiv.        Cambridge City was the only Council to be part of the ‘Considerate Contractor Scheme’ of which there was a cost. Agreed to put the suggestion forward that Huntingdonshire and South Cambridgeshire District Council both sign up to the scheme.

 

Councillor Robertson proposed that the business plan be amended to include speed of service.

 

Councillor Gehring proposed that the business plan be amended to include point of learning across the shared service. 

 

Members resolved (nem com) to accept both the recommendations.

 

The Committee unanimously resolved to endorse the recommendation with the two additional recommendations to be included in the plan.

 

The Executive Councillor approved the recommendation and two additional recommendations to be included in the plan.

 

Conflicts of Interest Declared by the Executive Councillor (and any Dispensations Granted)

No conflicts of interest were declared by the Executive Councillor.