Agenda and minutes

Nominations are invited for the election of the Chair and Vice Chair of the Committee for the 2015/16 municipal year.

Note: As per the resolution of the Joint Committee at its meeting on 15 January 2014, the Chair for the 2015/16 municipal year will be from Havering and the Vice Chair from Newham.

Following receipts of nominations, Councillor Ron Ower was elected as

Chair for the 2015/16 municipal. Councillor Ellie Robinson was elected as Vice-Chair.

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meetings of the Joint Committee held on 13 February and 8 June 2015, and to authorise the Chairman to sign them.

The minutes of the meetings of the Joint Committee held on 13 February and 8 June were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

Members of the Joint Committee noted that the overall oneSource outturn position showed an underspend of £1,291k. It also noted that this had been agreed to be carried forward to 2015/16 by the respective Councils.

It was reported that the underspend was a mixture of one-off and on-going variances, with the bulk relating to staffing areas.  These were either as a result of the early achievement of transformation savings or vacancies being held pending the transformation reviews.  It was anticipated that the vacancies would be realised to contribute to the challenging future oneSource savings targets.

Following a query it was reported that the delayed Legal Services restructure was due for completion by 1 August. A new Director for Legal & Governance had recently been appointed and would take up the post at the end of summer.

The report also explained that the other key element of the underspend related to the investment budget, created to aid the implementation of oneSource. This would be required to support the on-going service review and development programme.

In respect of the change to the oneSource Service Portfolio, the Pension Administration costs of both authorities had been reclassified as non-shared oneSource activities. This was because the services were charged directly to the respective Council’s pension fund and were therefore, not appropriate to be shared through the agreed business case methodology.

Reasons for the decision:

This report was for information only.

Other options considered:

Not applicable.

The Joint Committee:

1.    Noted the 2014-15 oneSource outturn position;

2.    Approved the change to the oneSource service portfolio.

This report looks detailed progress on the transformation projects being undertaken to deliver the oneSource savings as outlined in the shared service business case approved by both councils.

Savings amounting to £2.4m had been either delivered (e.g. ICT) or identified in 2014/15. On-going savings by 2018/19 of £6m had been identified – over half of the required target. This excluded savings that would come out of the reviews currently in progress or to be finalised. Further savings were being delivered by the oneSource Management Team through budget management, through vacancy management and other budget savings. It was reported however that the identified savings for 2015/16 would be extremely challenging to meet with delays to the delivery of One Oracle in Newham.

The report also outlined the processes used for transforming services within oneSource and provides an update on progress to date.

Reasons for the decision:

This report was for information only and did not directly require a decision by the Joint Committee.

Other options considered:

Not applicable.

The Joint Committee noted progress on delivering the required savings from oneSource in 2014/15 and in future years.

The report updated the Joint Committee on oneSource’s current operating position, and review and monitor the progress of oneSource at the one year anniversary of the formal launch of the shared service.

It was noted that the oneSource Leadership Team, chaired by the oneSource Managing Director, agreed that each service within oneSource would have its own performance indicators to monitor and ensure effective service delivery. The performance indicators were utilised to improve customer satisfaction, perform within budget and improve receipt of net collectable debit. Ultimately ensuring that oneSource would provide an improved customer experience whilst reducing the cost of support services to both Councils.

The Joint Committee Agreement identified the key KPIs to be monitored by the committee at each meeting as follows:

·           Budget

·           Delivery of financial savings as per the business case

·           Council tax collection rates

·           NNDR collection rates

·           Customer satisfaction

Particular attention was drawn to the customer satisfaction KPIs. The overall satisfaction for oneSource services was 73.7%, slightly below the target 75.6%. This was considered a reasonable level of fluctuation considering the amount of change that has occurred within oneSource. Customer satisfaction with Newham Council is 73%, whilst Havering Council’s satisfaction was 75.2%. It was noted that a challenging target of 80% had been set for 2015/16. It was stressed that customer care was a key priority for managers within oneSource.

Attention also focussed on the KPI concerning the percentage of commercial estate let. Members were concerned that statistics weren’t available for Newham because such information wasn’t recorded as a matter of practice. It was agreed that this be rectified with a separate KPI established.

A similar concern was also raised in respect of the percentage of suppliers paid within 30 days. Again, statistics weren’t available for Newham as the necessary IT support had yet to be integrated. Members were keen that this be addressed as a matter of urgency.

Reasons for the decision:

This report was for information only and did not directly require a decision by the Joint Committee.

Other options considered:

Not applicable.

Members noted the remainder of the report.

The Joint Committee was provided with the draft text of the annual report of oneSource for submission to both Havering and Newham Councils in line with the Joint Committee Agreement.

Members were invited to consider and comment upon the text version prior to its final publication.

Reasons for the decision:

oneSource was required by the Joint Committee Agreement to produce an Annual Report.

Other options considered:

Not applicable.

Members were satisfied with the content of the annual report and suggested that the stakeholder list for external distribution be expanded to include additional interested parties.

Verbal update

Members noted the verbal update on potential business opportunities connected with the expansion of oneSource. Members remarked that there should be greater dialogue with members of the Joint Committee concerning potential growth opportunities.

Meeting dates proposed for the remainder of the 2015/16 municipal year are:

16 October 2015 (Havering)

19 February 2016 (Newham)

17 June 2016 (Havering)

The meeting dates for the 2016/17 municipal year will be set at the June meeting.

Members are asked to bring their diaries to confirm the proposed meeting dates.

It was agreed that the remaining meetings of the Joint Committee for the 2015/16 municipal year would take place on:

·         23 October 2015

·         19 February 2016

·         17 June 2016