Issue - meetings

Report of the Cabinet Member for Finance and Assets

            RESOLVED

(i)         That the recommendation from the Shared Services Steering Group not to enter into a shared services arrangement with Arun and Chichester District Councils be accepted.

(ii)        That the Human Resources and Organisational Development Manager be authorised to identify and procure a self-service Human Resources system with funds from the Transformation Reserve to facilitate internal savings from Human Resources Services.

(iii)       That the Head of Legal and Democratic Services be authorised to identify and procure a self-service legal case management system with funds from the Transformation Reserve to facilitate internal savings from Legal Services.

(iv)       That the internal audit service be procured from the Orbis Partnership and the Director of Corporate Resources be authorised to enter into the agreement on behalf of the Council after being satisfied as to the terms and conditions and its delivery of the £50,000 savings.

(v)        That the proposals to achieve the savings in Human Resources and Legal Services outlined in the report be noted.

REASONS

(i)         The procurement of the new systems in Human Resources and Legal Services will allow these services to modernise, maintain quality and deliver savings to support the Medium Term Financial Plan.

(ii)        The transfer of internal audit services to Orbis will allow the service to deliver savings, maintain resilience, give the Council access to further audit specialisms and allow the service to be benchmarked from specialists the Council could not afford if operating alone.

The Cabinet Member for Finance and Assets reminded Cabinet that, in July 2016, they had approved the development of final business cases for sharing Internal Audit, Human Resources and Payroll and Legal Services with Chichester and Arun District Councils.  In November 2016, Cabinet had approved the Medium Term Financial Plan which included £250,000 savings from sharing these services.

On 13^th December 2016 the Shared Services Steering Group met and concluded that the savings that could be realised from sharing these services were not sufficient for all Councils for them to recommend the final business cases to their Cabinets.  The Chief Executives of the three authorities met and agreed this position with the Leaders of the Councils on 9^th December 2016.

The report now submitted considered the need for these services to deliver the savings included in the Medium Term Financial Plan.  It was therefore recommended that internal audit services were commissioned from a public sector audit partnership, Orbis, saving the Council £50,000 and that Human Resources and Legal Services’ management modernise and redesign their services to deliver £100,000 and £150,000 savings respectively.  Approval was also sought for the use of Transformation Reserve funds to procure new IT systems in Human Resources and Legal Services to support these changes.

The Finance and Assets Policy Development Advisory Group supported the proposal and their comments were noted.

            RESOLVED

(i)         That the recommendation from the Shared Services Steering Group not to enter into a shared services arrangement with Arun and Chichester District Councils be accepted.

(ii)        That the Human Resources and Organisational Development Manager be authorised to identify and procure a self-service Human Resources system with funds from the Transformation Reserve to facilitate internal savings from Human Resources Services.

(iii)       That the Head of Legal and Democratic Services be authorised to identify and procure a self-service legal case management system with funds from the Transformation Reserve to facilitate internal savings from Legal Services.

(iv)       That the internal audit service be procured from the Orbis Partnership and the Director of Corporate Resources be authorised to enter into the agreement on behalf of the Council after being satisfied as to the terms and conditions and its delivery of the £50,000 savings.

(v)        That the proposals to achieve the savings in Human Resources and Legal Services outlined in the report be noted.

REASONS

(i)         The procurement of the new systems in Human Resources and Legal Services will allow these services to modernise, maintain quality and deliver savings to support the Medium Term Financial Plan.

(ii)        The transfer of internal audit services to Orbis will allow the service to deliver savings, maintain resilience, give the Council access to further audit specialisms and allow the service to be benchmarked from specialists the Council could not afford if operating alone.

Briefing by the Director of Corporate Resources.

The Director of Corporate Resources updated the group on the progress of the shared services projects. She reminded the group that over the last twelve months Horsham, Chichester and Arun councils had been working together to explore the possibility of delivering services on a shared basis. Horsham had been working with the other two councils on proposals to share Internal Audit, Human Resources and Legal services. In July the three Cabinets approved outline business cases for sharing those services subject to the development of detailed business cases to establish the costs, benefits and savings allocation model to be applied. Full business cases had been produced and had been evaluated by senior managers and the conclusions had been discussed with the three Councils’ Leaders and relevant Cabinet Members.

Leaders and Officers agreed that the work undertaken to pursue the projects had been valuable in analysing and comparing resources, operating methods and productivity. However, they considered that the projected scale and timing of savings and the degree of difference in the Councils operating models, resource levels and systems did not justify the costs and risks of implementation.

In assessing the risks, assumptions, implementation costs and payback periods for each business case, the Programme Steering Board (Chief Executives and the Leader or Cabinet Member of each authority) recommend that none of the proposed business cases be progressed. It was felt that much of the proposed savings could be made in-house. HDC had gained very detailed benchmarking data and analysis of processes as part of the project. This work would be the basis for reviewing existing operating models within the services and applying, where appropriate, those changes that could be delivered to meet the savings target. Officers felt confident that the target of £250,000 could be achieved, and Cabinet would receive a report in January.

The Director of Corporate Resources outlined the discussions underway for each of the three services. Members discussed:

• No longer being constrained by the shared services outline business cases, and the potential benefits of considering alternatives
• Practical aspects of each service, and the need to protect the quality of service; and
• Whether the timescale for delivery could be accelerated.

The Chairman thanked the group for their views and reminded the group of the context of the business transformation programme which had been running for some time. Modern councils were looking at how services were delivered all the time, and Horsham would continue to do so.