Report by Corporate Director, Improvement and Performance, Inverclyde Council

Report by Corporate Director, Improvement and Performance, Inverclyde Council

/ AGENDA ITEM NO: 10
Report To:rpCorporate Management Team / Inverclyde Alliance Board / Date: / 21/12/09

Report By:

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Report by Corporate Director, Improvement and Performance, Inverclyde Council

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Report No:

Contact Officer:
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Miriam McKenna
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Contact No:

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01475 712042

Subject: / Clyde Valley Community Planning Partnership Review
1.0 / PURPOSE
1.1 / The purpose of this report is to present to the Board for consideration and discussion, the final Report of the Clyde Valley Review into joint working and shared services.
2.0 / SUMMARY
2.1 / At the Alliance Board on 29 April 2009 a paper was considered which set out the decision to carry out a review of joint working and shared services across the Council areas which make up the Clyde Valley Community Planning Partnership. The Clyde Valley Review of Joint Working and Shared Services has now delivered its key recommendations to the eight Councils, including Inverclyde Council.
2.2 / The Councils asked Sir John Arbuthnott to examine existing shared services initiatives and joint working and identify opportunities for further development of shared and joint working. Sir John was also asked to prioritise areas most likely to deliver improved services and savings and identify how that could be achieved.
2.3 / The Councils initiated the review but all partners, including health boards, Strathclyde Police and SPT have been consulted.
2.4 / The review’s key recommendations include:
  • Local authorities and Health Boards should work together to create an integrated health and community care service in each local authority area.
  • There should be an integrated approach to waste management.
  • There should be a single social transport solution.
  • Councils and partners should have a joint and streamlined approach to fleet management and maintenance.
  • A shared roads maintenance programme should be investigated.
  • Property sharing and management in local hubs should be progressed.
  • Councils and partners should seek to develop a joint approach to “back office” services.
  • Joint workforce planning should be pursued.
  • A common charging framework should be considered.

2.5 / The Council has circulated the final report to partners in the Inverclyde Alliance asking for comment and feedback in regards to which recommendations they are interested in and what they regard as priority areas. The feedback gathered will be used to develop a partnership response to the Review which will be submitted to the Review Team by the 18th of December, having passed through the Council’s Policy and Resources Committee on the 15th of December prior to submission.
The Council, working with other partnership agencies and partner Councils,will then need to come to a position on how it wishes to progress the recommendations prioritised through this consultation process.
3.0 / RECOMMENDATIONS
It is recommended that the Alliance Board:
  1. Note the publication of the Clyde Valley Community Planning Partnership Review of Shared Services and Joint Working
  2. Note that a partnership response to the review has been submitted to the review team by the deadline of 18th December 2009.

Paul Wallace
Corporate Director, Improvement and Performance, Inverclyde Council
4.0 /

BACKGROUND

4.1 / Sir John Arbuthnott was commission by the Clyde Valley Community Planning Partnership (CVCPP) in March 2009 to lead an independent review of joint working and shared services. His remit, while aiming to minimise any detrimental impact on citizens, was to;
  • Review existing shared service initiatives and joint working,
  • Prioritise service areas most likely to deliver improved services and savings,
  • Identify opportunities for further development of shared and joint working, creating practical options,
  • Identify potential approaches to deliver shared services; and
  • Develop a framework or ‘roadmap’ to assess the potential for sharing and improvement.
The review had a broad remit and was to consider shared infrastructure and frontline services as well as support services such as finance and information technology.
4.2 / Councils and their public sector partners are facing significant cuts to their budgets as a result of the recession and national debt. The review included consultation and agreement with a wide range of partners about the potential to share services or work more effectively together.
5.0 / KEY MESSAGES
5.1 / The key messages from the review are as follows:
  1. The current and future financial outlook has transformed how councils approach the issue of shared services and how they manage their resources.
  1. The Clyde Valley Community Planning Partnership had the foresight to commission this review when the financial picture was emerging. Urgency is now required in how they address the financial squeeze. They cannot afford to continue as they are and things cannot remain the same. They must act and they must do this together as they go forward.
  1. The financial squeeze is not the only challenge the eight councils must deal with. They also face:
  2. Demographic changes which place a greater and different demand on their services,
  3. An infrastructure that needs investment; and
  4. Workforce planning challenges which need flexible, agile and trained staff.
  1. The report focuses on what they can do to share services. But this is not the only action they will have to take. They will need to;
  2. Revisit current priorities, with partners and with Government, and make sure they are focussing on the right outcomes for their communities.
  3. Continue to make budget savings and squeeze assets and resources.
  4. Stop doing some things and find a consistent way of deciding how and where to do this.
  5. Raise income, initially though increasing fees and charges and dealing with surplus assets when the market is more buoyant.
  1. The eight Councils cannot deliver this reform alone. They will need the support of the Scottish and UK Government to deliver this agenda. This will mean being clear about current priorities and what can be afforded, providing legal and other expert support and finding innovative ways to raise funding.
  1. Reform in the Clyde Valley will not address the issue across Scotland, although it may show the way. It is for the Scottish Government to set that vision if wider reform and sharing is to be driven across Scotland.

The diagrams in the opening pages of the report set out Sir John’s vision for the potential Clyde Valley shared services and some of the initial steps to deliver this vision. It is adaptable. The eight councils can decide to:
  • deliver this together,
  • tackle some or all of the suggestions,
  • develop a single approach.

6.0 /

Implications

6.1 / Legal: None at present until business cases have been developed.
Finance: None at present until business cases have been developed.
Personnel: None at present until business cases have been developed.
Equality and Diversity: An impact assessment of business cases will be required in the further development of the recommendations.
7.0 / Consultations
7.1 / The review was carried out with over 50 consultation meetings being held with a wide range of public and private sector organisations and the Scottish Government. A full list of consultees is set out in the report.
8.0 / List of Background Papers
8.1 / Clyde Valley Review Report, November 2009.
Clyde Valley Community Planning Partnership – Review of Joint Working and Shared Services, Report to the Alliance Board, 29/04/09

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