Agenda item

Report of the Chief Operating Officer.

The Sub Committee received a report of the Chief Operating Officer concerning the findings of the review and the proposal to introduce a portfolio management approach that provides greater assurance to Members regarding the delivery of strategic objectives, allocation of resources and management of strategic risks and issues. 

The committee discussed the risks of authorising increased delegations to officers prior to the new project governance arrangements being adopted and embedded within the Corporation, what criteria would lead to delegated decisions being taken by the delegating body, and the accountability of Senior Responsible Officers. 

The committee discussed a transition period for new project governance arrangements, noting the need for cultural change and improvement of officer capability prior to increased delegations being issued, and for a mechanism through which projects which were on a negative trajectory could be identified and reported to the appropriate committee. In response to questions, officers confirmed that plans included the establishment of Portfolio and Financial Review Boards, a mechanism for a committee to review specific projects, and a dashboard which members and officers could use to review the progress of projects. Members noted an inaccuracy in the report which suggested Mr Paul Martin had been commissioned to review member governance rather than specifically members’ governance of projects. 

RESOLVED: 

1.    To note the findings of the externally led Project Governance Review set out in this report and in Appendix 1. 

2.    To note the proposals for the creation of an Enterprise Portfolio Management Office as part of an integrated Commercial, Change and Portfolio Delivery directorate and the subsequent merger of the existing Commercial Director role with the Project Governance Director role, which has been covered by the Commercial Director since the TOM changes (01/04/2022). 

To endorse the following recommendations for onward approval by the Court of Common Council: 
 

3.    To approveoption 4B of this report for the development of a portfolio management framework including the new definition of projects and programmes (as set out in paragraph 19) 

4.    To note the current Project Procedure will be retained for a period of 3-6 months whilst detailed design work is undertaken, and the final version of the new Project Procedure will be presented to Members for decision. 

5.    To delegate authority to the Town Clerk, in consultation with the Chairman and Deputy Chairman of Policy and Resources, to amend the current project procedure to incorporate the temporary measures previously approved by the Operational Property and Projects sub-Committee, namely delegation to (approved and trained) Officers to approve project-related decisions up to £1m for corporate projects and to descope routine procurements from the Project Procedure  

6.    To note the implementation plan set out in Appendix 3.