Agenda item

The Chairman introduced the report and noted that if approved at Council, it would be the biggest decision the authority had made for over fifteen years. It would be a significant decision and not without risk, but at the moment members were only being asked to approve the concept. He acknowledged the transition through transformation would not be smooth, but there were experiences to draw on from elsewhere and SSDC would design its own model.No matter what option was taken, the funding shortfall for future years would have to be found.

The Portfolio Holder for Transformation commented the programme would enhance the customer experience and that there would be substantial savings which is why it was being recommended to Full Council.The proposals should also free up staff to work onpriorities such as income generation. She also thanked the Scrutiny Committee for their comments.

The Performance Managers explained aspects of the report in more detail including:

·         The report sets out the design principles for a citizen centric council.

·         In essence it describes a commissioning model, there is a degree of separation between strategy and delivery roles.

·         The Headline Business Case sets out the main roles.

·         Technology is essential to the model, but the technology enables transformation it does not lead it.

·         Significant financial implications

The use of funding from New Homes Bonus to support the Medium Term Financial Plan via the Revenue Support Reserve was queried. It was agreed that the Assistant Director (Finance & Corporate Services) would re-word the explanation to provide more detail in the report to full Council.

During further discussion other comments included:

·         This will be a colossal change for our staff but we can benefit from the experience of others who have taken a similar route, so lessening our risks.

·         There are positives for SSDC in better, more efficient and sometimes different delivery to citizens.

·         Case work will be followed through in a shorter time.

·         Performance measures will be much improved and assist better performance management.

·         Transformation is open ended and SSDC will need to be open to data sharing with other agencies in the future.

·         There is a need to be radical to get the required savings.

·         Selecting the right IT will be key.

·         Although it may not look the same as it does now, feel a commitment to Area Working should remain.

·         As members, we need to be clear on where we want to arrive as there may not be enough funding to do all that we want to do.

·         The proposed governance through the programme board, which will periodically report back to District Executive, will allow everyone to ask questions and know what is going on.

·         The sooner the end aspirations and structure are clear the better.

·         Unions have not been formally consulted to date.

·         Staff are important and need to be happy in their work, properly involved and have their fears acknowledged. They must also be helped to cope with change, including possible redundancies.

·         Fully support transformation and confident it will work, but concerned we don’t know the structure of the Council when going into the programme.

·         If the concept of transformation is agreed, then work will be done to develop new staffing structures.

·         Councillors need to look at how they work too – and look to see how they can contribute to savings.

·         All 60 members must be engaged in the process.

·         Communication will be important and the process must be explained in stages and an overview provided as to the current position and where the authority is going.

Scrutiny Committee had raised a number of comments and these had been emailed to members prior to the meeting. One of their main concerns was the lack of attendance by members at briefing sessions regarding transformation.

In response to comments made the interim Chief Executive wished to reassure members that they had tried to learn from other authorities, especially with South Hams. She noted there would be a need to be flexible, and so would staff.

At the conclusion of debate, members recommended the report, including a revised explanation of the New Homes Bonus element, to Full Council for approval.