Meeting documents

RESOLVED

That Mr B Roberts be elected Chairman for the Finance Performance and Resources Select Committee for the ensuing year.

RESOLVED

That Mr B Chapple be appointed Vice Chairman for the Finance Performance and Resources Committee for the ensuing year.

Apologies for absence were received from David Shakespeare and David Schofield. David Martin and David Schofield had permanently replaced Trevor Egleton and David Watson as Members of this Select Committee.

To disclose any Personal or Disclosable Pecuniary Interests

There were no declarations of interest.

To agree the Minutes of the Meeting held on 31 March 2015

The Minutes of the Meeting held on 31 March 2015 were agreed as a correct record subject to the following amendment:-

Item 5 Primary Hot School Meals – Capital Expenditure

The Action in the Minutes referred to a written update from the Operations Manager on the take up of hot school meals. This should be amended to state that the Cabinet Member and Operations Manager would attend a future meeting to update Members on the monitoring of the take-up of hot school meals and also provide further data on the impact on schools and school teachers.

Other actions had been responded to within the Minutes except for the item on Expenditure of BCC Leadership Training. The Head of People and Organisational Development would provide an update on the plans for each Business Unit for staff development at the July meeting.

Action: Ms Frances Mills

Public Questions is an opportunity for people who live, work or study in the county to put a question to a Scrutiny Committee about any issue that has an impact on their local community or the county as a whole.

Members of public, who have given prior notice, will be invited to put their question in person.

The Cabinet Member and responsible officers will then be invited to respond. 

Further information and details on how to register can be found through the following link:-

http://www.buckscc.gov.uk/about-your-council/scrutiny/getting-involved/

There were no public questions.

For the Chairman of the Committee to provide an update to the Committee on recent scrutiny related activity.

Steve Lambert (Inquiry Chairman), will give an update on the Rent In Advance Inquiry. Inquiry Scope to be noted and agreed by the Committee.

Mr Lambert, Chairman of the Rent In Advance Inquiry provided an update. The next Inquiry Session would take place on 25 June 2015 with the Aylesbury Homeless Action Group and Social Landlords. Mr B Chapple was no longer a Member of the Inquiry Group as he was Chairman of the Council. Members agreed the scoping document for the Rent In Advance Inquiry.

For Members to receive a high level update on progress with Future Shape and its work streams and the new Operating Model since it went live on 1 April 2015 and how transformation is being taken forward in the new organisational structure. Attached is a report with power point slides giving an update on all the work streams.

Attendees:

Nick Cave Director Consultancy Services

Nick Cave Director Consultancy Services provided an update on the Future Shape Programme. Cabinet agreed the Future Shape business case on 24 March 2014 and the new structure was implemented on 1 April 2015. The business case contained savings benefits that were set in the context of already challenging targets of £49m by 2017/18 contained in the Medium Term Plan. Of this savings target £1.96m is to be delivered through the Future Shape Programme activities as part of a total Future Shape savings target of £8.9m over the next three years. Despite this the Council needs to provide good quality services and respond to customer demands.

The Future Shape Operating Model demonstrates new ways of working and new processes along with changing organisational structures. There is an operating framework in place to support this. The Council has a number of Business Units who provide services through Delivery Units. To take this model forward there are four workstreams which are:-

·         Strategic Options Appraisals

·         Digital

·         Organisational Development

·         Property

Members raised the following issues:-

Savings/Delivery

The Director reported that the key features of the Future Shape Model outlined on page 18 of the agenda were ambitious but this provided the building block for the Headquarters and the Operating Framework. Delivery Units had made significant progress in setting priorities for outcome based commissioning but there was further work to do.

They were in the implementation stage for digital processes in terms of customers undertaking business with the Council in a different way. The Director reported that Autumn was a target date and they were working with the supply chain to enable this to be delivered in the best possible way. Out of £112k savings £100k had been secured already. The full Programme would take 3 years to complete and was still at an early stage.

Areas of significant culture change would take some time to embed and the workstreams would help this process. Some portfolio areas were more developed than others and work on outcome based commissioning was challenging in particular for managers and members to produce the right outcomes in the first place. Training was in place particularly on being commercially aware and for commissioning which would take a while to show benefit.

Accountability

·         Managing Directors provided regular updates to the One Council Board. Savings had also been allocated to each of the Business Units to deliver, which included income generation to make the Council financially sustainable. £6 million income had already been generated from schools. There was also a single view of change register to outline responsibilities for each area. There were a vast number of projects in the Council and this helped look at the overall picture and making sure that value for money was being provided for the whole Council and resources were being targeted appropriately.

·         A Member commented that it was important to have external support and challenge to ensure that officers were addressing areas with a fresh mind.

·         Members recommended that the Member Steering Group should continue and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

For Member to receive an overview regarding the role of Members in the Commissioning Cycle.

Attendees:

James Sainsbury, Head of Strategic Commissioning, HQ Strategy and Policy

James Sainsbury Head of Strategic Commissioning provided an information update on the role of Members in the commissioning cycle. Members can play a pivotal leadership role to ensure that commissioning within the Council delivers savings and/or improved outcomes. The current financial climate means that the Council needs to maximise the benefit of the tax payer’s money, there must be an ever increasing focus on performance management as a route to cost efficiencies and service improvement.

The following points were noted:-

·         This is the first time that there has been a central commissioning team in BCC with commissioning dispersed in the Business Units. This new HQ function will allow a more consistent approach to be applied to commissioning.

·         Commissioning does not always mean outsourcing provision rather right sourcing– services should be commissioned according to need and the best delivery method to meet the need. It may be that some services should be delivered in house to provide the best value for money.

·         Work has been undertaken with the Centre for Public Scrutiny on the role of Select Committees in the commissioning cycle

·         Members will operate on a ‘by exception basis’ in looking at specific issues as and when needed with the ability to influence commissioning and procurement/contract management at an early stage. Small scale contracts were also important where they had significant impact on local communities.

·         Performance management – there was now a business intelligence hub to help improve this area. Further work was being undertaken on customer journeys e.g they were looking at repeat demand through Adult and Children’s Services.

·         Partnership working was key and looking at joint commissioning opportunities that could realise efficiencies e.g combining health and social care functions

·         The Commissioning model that is being used is the Oxford Brookes University Institute for Public Care which illustrates the cyclical relationship between the activities involved in commissioning and procurement; analyse, plan, secure services and review.

·         It was important to address how to involve citizens in commissioning process and to strengthen links to improve outcomes particularly on local services.

·         Plan the best way of meeting need identified within the Strategic Plan

·         Work on the Commissioning Framework would take place at the end of the summer.

Members discussed the following areas:-

·         Reference was made to look at areas on an exception basis and for Members to be involved at an early stage. The Head of Strategic Commissioning reported that the mechanism for this would be the forward plans of all the business units which would give an insight to the key work being undertaken. Members suggested that a forward plan should be developed to provide Members with this information.

Action: James Sainsbury

·         The involvement of front line councillors was key particularly with significant service changes which impact on the whole of Buckinghamshire. There have been previous experiences where this did not happen and it was important to get this process right. The Head of Strategic Commissioning reported that he was developing a Commissioning Framework which would help to address the issue  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

To receive a 12 month progress report on the Implementation of Member Accountability Inquiry Recommendations and discuss the RAG status.

Link to Operating Framework

http://www.buckscc.gov.uk/media/2851752/Operating-Framework-Approved-12_14.pdf

Attendees:

Sarah Ashmead, Director of Strategy and Policy

Sara Turnbull, Head of Member Services, HQ Strategy and Policy 

James Sainsbury, Head of Strategic Commissioning, HQ Strategy and Policy

Members were informed that there was a new process for recommendation monitoring where Members are asked to allocate a RAG status as to whether the recommendation has been implemented properly and Cabinet Members can then respond with their views. As the Cabinet Member was unable to attend his views would be obtained in writing. The Director of Policy and Strategy, Head of Strategic Commissioning and Head of Member Services attended for this item.

Information on the report(item 6)

http://moderngov/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=790&MID=5724

Cabinet Response

http://moderngov/documents/b16551/Cabinet%20Responses%2028th-Apr-2014%2010.30%20Cabinet.pdf?T=9

The Head of Member Services provided an update. There had been a considerable amount of change in the organisation through the Future Shape Programme which had gone live from 1 April 2015. The following points were made:-

·         The functions of the Policy and Democratic Services had been brought together as Member Services to provide a one stop shop so advice and support could be given to Members in one area. Member Services would also be advocates for championing their role as community leaders. There is a new Operational Service Plan which includes Member comments.

·         Member briefings were being held as part of the new Member Services function and these were particularly important in terms of the culture change relating to the Future Shape Programme and outcome based commissioning.

·         There had been some governance changes through the Constitution and the Operating Framework. This was agreed by Cabinet in December last year and sets out the internal rules on how the new Headquarters works with Business Units and the accountability lay with the Managing Director. It also set out the framework for Member engagement

·         Commissioning had been looked at in the previous item

·         Michelle Granat the Head of Innovation and Commercial Services was unable to attend the meeting and provide an update on contract management (recommendation 5-8) but would be attending the Select Committee in September. There would be a protocol on Member roles for the contract framework

·         Better Management Information Systems were being introduced to provide Members with information relating to their specific division

·         Karen Cruickshanks was the new Head of the Business Intelligence Hub

Members welcomed the report and recognised the significant amount of work that had been achieved through the implementation of the Future Shape Programme. They allocated the following RAG status:-

Recommendation One – Member Support

Implemented

Recommendation Two - Communication

On track – the new Member Services Team will be working with Business Units to encourage and support services in communication with Members and engagement with Members on local issues was key.

Action: Sara Turnbull

Recommendation Three – Commissioning

On track – Members commented that it would be helpful to look at ways to improve local information on commissioning. A Member gave a recent example where he had not been informed when his local Children’s Centre had lost their contract.

Action: James Sainsbury

Recommendation Four – Member Development

On track - This will be discussed at the next Member Development Working Group in June and discussions will be undertaken with Members about their development  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

To consider and agree the Finance, Performance and Resources Select Committee Work Programme 2015/16. There will be an informal workshop following the meeting on the Work Programme.

The Committee Work Programme was noted – there would be changes as a result of the informal Work Programme Session.

14 July 2015 – 10am

14 July 2015