Agenda and draft minutes

To agree to appoint Councillor Lynn Lloyd, the Cabinet member of the host authority South Oxfordshire District Council, as the chairman of the joint committee for the 2016/17 municipal year. 

The committee was asked to appoint the councillor representing the host authority as its chairman for the 2016/17 municipal year. 

RESOLVED: to appoint Councillor Lynn Lloyd, representing the host authority South Oxfordshire District Council, as the chairman of Five Councils Partnership Corporate Services Joint Committee for the 2016/17 municipal year. 

To agree to appoint Councillor Brian Burchfield of Hart District Council as the vice-chairman of the joint committee for the 2016/17 municipal year.     

The committee was asked to appoint the councillor representing the 2017/18 host authority as its vice-chairman for the 2016/17 municipal year. 

RESOLVED: to appoint Councillor Brian Burchfield, representing the 2017/18 host authority Hart District Council, as the vice-chairman of Five Councils Partnership Corporate Services Joint Committee for the 2016/17 municipal year. 

The chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting and announced that as part of the work on a revised inter-authority agreement, steps were being taken to allow East Hampshire District Council to take a full part in this committee.  In the meantime, the chairman welcomed Councillor Richard Millard, leader of East Hampshire, to sit at the table and join in the committee’s debate.  However, for the time being, Councillor Millard was not a full voting member should the committee need to vote on any of its business.   

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Matthew Barber (Leader of Vale of White Horse District Council), Councillor John Cotton (Leader of South Oxfordshire District Council), and Councillor Stephen Parker (Leader of Hart District Council). 

None

To note the terms of reference of the Corporate Services Joint Committee. 

The Five Councils Partnership Corporate Services Joint Committee (hereinafter referred to as the committee) noted its terms of reference. 

To consider a report on the current position and transition of the corporate services contract. 

The committee considered the report of Vicki Whitehouse, the Client Relationship Director, and Dawn Adey, the Transition and Transformation Manager.  The report set out an overview of the Five Councils Partnership’s (hereinafter referred to as the partnership) contracts with Capita and Vinci, the formation of a single client team, the operational activity that had taken place on transition, transformation and performance monitoring, and the activity planned to take place to tackle ongoing issues. 

The contracts had commenced on 1 August 2016 with South Oxfordshire District Council and Vale of White Horse District Council both transferring all Lot 1 services to Capita and all Lot 2 services to Vinci.  All five councils had transferred their procurement service to Capita.  Hart and Mendip District Councils had transferred their Land Charges services to Capita in September.  The innovation hub was live at all sites. 

In general, these transitions had been smooth.  However, there were some teething troubles and these were being tackled by the client team, the contractors, and the councils’ officers.  Overcoming these issues should result in an even smoother transition as the contracts commenced for Hart, Havant, and Mendip councils’ other services. 

The contracts included a three-month ‘honeymoon’ period before key performance indicators would be measured.  This allowed the contractors some transition time to implement their procedures.  The committee recognised this but asked for future reports to include a ‘traffic light’ system for performance monitoring.  This would help the committee to assess whether targets were being met, and if not, to ask what were the issues preventing this.  The committee was advised that it could take up to two years to reach a steady state, given the contracts’ size and complexity. 

The committee noted that the client team was operating at 50 per cent capacity and would not be at full capacity until the contract commenced for all councils’ services.  There were no proposed changes to the client team’s staffing structure at this early stage but the structure would be assessed once all services were part of the contract. 

The committee welcomed the report and recognised the work that had taken place to date. 

RESOLVED: to

(a)       note the work carried out to date by the partnership;

(b)       note the current status and operational outlook for the partner councils;

(c)       note that any issues and risks are being managed as they arise; and

(d)       include in future reports a ‘traffic light’ system for performance monitoring. 

To receive a verbal update on working towards further agreements between the partner councils. 

The committee noted that discussions were being held between the partner councils on supplemental inter-authority agreements, with the aim of making decision-making easier and ensuring they reflected a common understanding of what needed to be captured in new agreements between the five partner councils and East Hampshire District Council. 

The discussions also included a section 113 agreement on staff sharing.  Each council would have to formally agree the section 113 agreement to allow the client team could provide services to all partner councils. 

To receive an update on the current financial position and the budget setting process for 2017/18. 

The committee considered the report from Adam Savary, the Finance and Procurement Client Manager and Finance Lead Officer.  The report provided an overview of the partnership’s contract costs with Capita and Vinci and outlined the changes since the contracts were signed in April 2016.  The executive summary showed the baseline costs to each of the five councils, the original projected savings, the impact of contract movements, and the current projected savings.  The Havant Borough Council figures included the proportion of costs and savings for East Hampshire District Council.  The officer agreed to provide copies of the figures showing separate entries for East Hampshire, if required. 

The financial position within the scope of the partnership remained strong with savings of circa £50 million being achieved.  Despite the various movements, the savings were expected to exceed the original position.  This was due to the procurement and innovation hub provided by Capita, the joint approach taken by Capita and Vinci to maximise the benefits through joint working, and better use of the councils’ property assets through the strategic expertise provided by Vinci, which should deliver better returns on investment and potentially realise capital receipts for further investment. 

RESOLVED: to note the partnership’s current financial status. 

Tuesday 7 March 2017 at 10am, at 135 Eastern Avenue, Milton Park, Milton, OX14 4SB. 

RESOLVED: to agree that the next committee meeting will be held on Tuesday 7 March 2017 at 10am, in the offices of host authority South Oxfordshire District Council, 135 Eastern Avenue, Milton Park, Milton, OX14 4SB.