Issue - meetings

To receive the report of the Cabinet Member for Finance on the outline business case for shared back office services with Arun and Chichester District Councils

            RESOLVED

(i)         That full business cases and implementation plans be developed for Human Resources, Internal Audit and Legal Services including comparing other delivery options with shared services.

(ii)        That a contribution of £25,000 be made towards the cost of a project manager and support to prepare the detailed business cases and implementation plan.

REASON

Continuing with the shared services project for Legal Services, Internal Audit and Human Resources is recommended because potential savings would make a useful contribution towards balancing Horsham District Council’s budget in the next three years while improving resilience through the larger team.

The Cabinet Member for Finance and Assets reported on the work completed to develop outline business cases for sharing some support services with Chichester and Arun District Councils. The work completed indicated there would be sufficient savings from sharing these services for Horsham to continue to progress to a full detailed business case.  It also looked likely that sharing would improve the resilience of the Council’s small support services and give more career opportunities to employees.  Cabinet was therefore being asked to approve working up to full business case the sharing of Legal Services, Internal Audit and Human Resources. 

A contribution of £25,000 to a shared fund to recruit a project manager and team to prepare the full business cases was required.

The Finance and Assets Policy Development Advisory Group generally supported the proposal and considered it important that the quality of the services to internal and external customers was maintained.

            RESOLVED

(i)         That full business cases and implementation plans be developed for Human Resources, Internal Audit and Legal Services including comparing other delivery options with shared services.

(ii)        That a contribution of £25,000 be made towards the cost of a project manager and support to prepare the detailed business cases and implementation plan.

REASON

Continuing with the shared services project for Legal Services, Internal Audit and Human Resources is recommended because potential savings would make a useful contribution towards balancing Horsham District Council’s budget in the next three years while improving resilience through the larger team.

Presentation from the Director of Corporate Resources.

The Director of Corporate Resources presented to the group. The group heard that shared services opportunities were being considered with Chichester and Arun councils. The drivers for those considerations were:

• Reduced Government funding for local authorities,
• Opportunity to reduce costs,
• Opportunity to build resilience to protect services to customers,
• Opportunity for staff to broaden experience, and
• That shared services was nothing new – there are many examples in public services already that the council could learn from.

Research by the Local Government Association showed that the most common shared services were back-office based, for example 226 councils shared legal services. Outline business cases had been prepared and three back-office services involving Horsham District Council had been progressed to a detailed business case stage. The three services were Human Resources, Legal and Internal Audit.

The principles that the three councils were guided by were that:

·         No partner should be worse off,

·         Our customers should be at the heart of everything we do,

·         Shared services is a partnership with one authority hosting and delivering the service; and that

·         Any operating model should support flexible working.

The Director of Corporate Resources explained the potential projected revenue savings within a 5 year period across the partners as follows:

Those projections include some initial investment in shared computer systems and fewer staff through joint management, service redesign and economies of scale.

The group discussed:

·         Maintenance of service levels for customers,

·         Potential savings as outlined,

·         The success of the first phase of business transformation at the council

·         Accommodation considerations for staff

·         Staff implications

·         Understanding of the performance of any shared services

Cabinet on 21 July 2016 would be asked to agree to develop full business cases and implementation plans for Human Resources, Internal Audit and Legal Services including comparing other delivery options with shared services. Secondly, Cabinet would be asked to contribute £25,000 towards the cost of a project manager and support to prepare the detailed business cases and implementation plan.

The Chairman asked the group for its views on the proposed recommendations to Cabinet. The group were generally in support of the proposals but said it was important the quality of the services to internal and external customers was maintained, especially for Legal Services. The Advisory Group further supported the use of £25,000 to develop the business case and implementation plan.