Agenda item

Report of the Town Clerk.

The Sub-Committee considered a report of the Town Clerk which provided the latest version of the Service Based Review Roadmap.

The Chairman commented that it appeared to be increasingly likely that the Service Based Review would be an ongoing process. The Chairman compared the Service Based Review to the Procurement and Procure to Pay (PP2P) scheme, which had eventually led to the creation of City Procurement. Members commented that PP2P had, in effect, been a process of continuous improvement in procurement and it would be beneficial for a similar approach in relation to efficiency to become embedded in the Corporation.

Members also noted that one of the major learning points from PP2P had been the importance of ensuring that there was a thorough awareness of specific needs within departments. The Deputy Town Clerk explained that this was being fed into the Strategic Asset Management review, particularly in terms of delineating between the roles of provider, end user and intelligent client.

The Sub-Committee commented that the majority of the cross-departmental projects were reporting slippage against their intended programmes. Members commented that it was important that Officers assessed the critical path for these cross-departmental projects to ensure that the savings were delivered on time. In response to a question from a Member, the Chamberlain explained that the cross-departmental projects were being delayed due to both the complexity of the projects and their cross-departmental nature. It was also noted that the initial projections for when these projects would be delivered may have been too optimistic.

The Sub-Committee noted that a highly consultative approach had been taken to the Service Based Review, with significant consultation with Departments, and that this had been especially pronounced for the cross-departmental reviews. However, the Sub-Committee commented that, at some stage, it would need to be acknowledged that the implementation of cross-departmental reviews would not be universally popular within all Departments.

The Sub-Committee agreed that, at that stage, it would be necessary to implement the projects in the way which would maximise the benefit to the Corporation as a whole. The Sub-Committee noted that the cross-departmental projects had been agreed by Members and Senior Officers, and therefore Members and Senior Officers should do all they could to support the implementation of these savings in line with the agreed programmes. The Sub-Committee agreed that it would certainly offer any support that it could to Officers in implementing the cross-departmental projects.

The Chamberlain highlighted to Members that the Government’s Autumn Statement would provide further clarity to the funding environment for the Corporation for the remainder of the decade. He advised that a report on the implications of the Autumn Statement would be brought before the Sub-Committee in early 2016.

RESOLVED – That the Sub-Committee notes the report.