Meeting documents

Cabinet are asked to:

i.              Agree to the implementation of the proposals set out in this report.

ii.            Delegate to the Executive Director for Resources, following agreement with the       Cabinet Member for Resources, authority to execute an Inter Authority       Agreement with the district councils and take any other necessary actions to give effect to the proposals.

iii.           Revoke the current delegations to the London Borough of Harrow for the            discharge of the Council’s legal function with effect from 30 September 2019, and delegate such authority thereafter in accordance with the new legal service model, including:

a)    To delegate the discharge of the Council’s legal function to the Head of Legal & Compliance;

b)   To authorise the Head of Legal & Compliance to institute, defend or participate in any legal proceedings and sign documents on behalf of the council.

Mr J Chilver, Cabinet Member for Resources introduced the item and highlighted the following points:

• The County Council, since 2016 had had a shared legal service with the London Borough of Harrow.
• Notice had been given and the contract was due to end in September 2019.
• Due to the creation of the new council in April 2020 there was an interim period between October 2019 and March 2020 where a hybrid model would be used in order to remain flexible and but provide continuity while reducing costs.
• The County Council was working collaboratively with all 4 district councils.

Mrs S Payne, Director of Policy, Communications and Performance attended the meeting to present the report to Cabinet.  Mrs Payne highlighted the following points:

• The options had been designed with the new unitary authority in mind, maximising early opportunities to share with district councils as there were clear benefits of avoiding duplication, retaining specialist staff and minimising any potential redundancies later.
• The flexibility would allow the use of external provisions where appropriate.
• Business Units would continue to have transparency on legal work and costs and the continuity of support to relevant meetings.
• The business case set out a full range of options and due diligence had taken place.
• Mrs Payne thanked district colleagues for their collaboration which was the first step towards integration of back office services.

Cabinet raised and discussed the following points.

• Districts colleagues were commended for their collaborative work by Cabinet Members and it was hoped that it sent a strong message to all staff that there are big opportunities.
• Assurances were asked for a seamless transition and Mrs Payne stated that the existing children’s team would transfer to the Council to ensure continuity.  Mr Chilver also stated that a new case management software had recently been agreed which was the same used as HBPL and would be working on the license being carried forward into the new authority.
• Mrs Payne clarified that while option 5 was predominately in-house there would still be the option to outsource if there were the requirements for it.
• Mrs Payne confirmed that the preferred model was intended to contain costs.

Cabinet agreed there was no need to discuss the confidential appendices.

Cabinet were asked to:

1. Agree to the implementation of the proposals set out in this report.
2. Delegate to the Executive Director for Resources, following agreement with the Cabinet Member for Resources, authority to execute an Inter Authority Agreement with the district councils and take any other necessary actions to give effect to the proposals.
3. Revoke the current delegations to the London Borough of Harrow for the discharge of the Council’s legal function with effect from 30 September 2019, and delegate such authority thereafter in accordance with the new legal service model, including:

a)  To delegate the discharge of the Council’s legal function to the Head of Legal & Compliance;

b)  To authorise the Head of Legal & Compliance to institute, defend or participate in any legal proceedings and sign documents on behalf of the council.

RESOLVED:  Cabinet AGREED the recommendations as set out above.