Agenda item

Report of Deputy Chief Executive.

Cabinet lead member:  Councillor Troy Tester.

(1) Option A (integration of the staff and services of both councils) be the Council’s preferred option for wider integration of services with Lewes District Council as set out in appendix A to the report.

(2) Proposed strategy for development of shared services based on option A approved.

(3) Expenditure of up to £30,000 on the preparation of a more detailed business case and programme plan approved.

(4) Exception to contract procedure rules approved in order to appoint Ignite Consulting Ltd to carry out detailed work to inform the business case.(1)

34.1 Councillor Tony Freebody addressed the cabinet giving a cautious welcome to the proposals.

34.2 Cabinet considered the report of the deputy chief executive.  Two of the key SSDS programmes currently underway were the implementation of the Future Model, which aimed to improve service delivery whilst delivering savings of 1.7m to £2m across the organisation, and the shared corporate services programme with Lewes District Council (LDC) which, to date, had seen a shared legal service and a shared human resources service set up, as well as a number of other successful sharing arrangements noted update reported to cabinet last July. 

34.3 Despite the significant savings delivered to date through the SSDS, the council continued to face challenging savings targets going forward.  The council’s medium term financial strategy (MTFS) set a target of £900,000 of recurring savings to be delivered between now and 2020 from shared services.  LDC had an MTFS target of £1.7m through transformation, including shared services.  Both councils had jointly commissioned Improvement and Efficiency Social Enterprise (iESE) to set out the options for the development of shared services and, in particular, an outline business case for wider integration between EBC and LDC.

34.4 The outline business case from iESE was given in appendix A to the report. It presented two options:

a)   An integrated council - full integration of management and services (with the exclusion of waste and housing due to the current difference in delivery models).

b)   An integrated management team.

The report set out details of the strategic, financial and management case for integration and followed the guidance laid down in the HM Treasury Green Book guidance for business case development.  The legal services team had been consulted on the proposals and the report outlined a number of legal structures and powers which could be used as the basis of integrating the councils. 

34.5 Given the national context of increasing collaboration, sharing and devolution, the successful track record of EBC and LDC in delivering shared services to date and the requirements of the MTFS to deliver further significant savings, cabinet was recommended to adopt a strategy for the development of shared services with LDC based on option A above.  In order to validate the savings estimates, analyse the risks of implementation and develop an outline programme plan including costs, governance and technology, further work was required to develop a more detailed business case, which would be brought back to cabinet at a future date.

34.6 On 24 September LDC’s cabinet had considered iESE’s outline business case and agreed to adopt the recommended strategy.  It was noted that although staffing and management structures would be integrated, the two councils would remain separate bodies under the control of their respective elected members.

34.7 Resolved (key decision): (1) That option A (integration of the staff and services of both councils) be the council’s preferred option for wider integration of services with Lewes District Council as set out in appendix A to the report.

(2) That the proposed strategy for the development of shared services based on option A be approved.

(3) That expenditure of up to £30,000 on the preparation of a more detailed business case and programme plan be approved.

(4) That an exception to contract procedure rules, in order to appoint Ignite Consulting Ltd to carry out detailed work to inform the business case, be approved.