Agenda and minutes

Venue: Newham Dockside

Contact: Andrew Beesley, Committee Administration Manager  Email: andrew.beesley@onesource.co.uk

Items
No. Item

23.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 588 KB

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meetings of the Joint Committee held on 22 January and 3 February 2016, and to authorise the Chairman to sign them.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The minutes of the meetings of the Joint Committee held on 22 January and 3 February 2016 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

 

In an update to Minute 22, it was reported that Kathy Robinson had provisionally accepted the post of Deputy Director for Legal & Governance.

24.

Membership of the Joint Committee

The Joint Committee is invited to note the membership and to welcome Councillor Donald Massey as the representative for the London Borough of Bexley.

Minutes:

The Joint Committee noted the change to the membership of the Joint Committee and welcomed Councillor Massey.

25.

OneSource 2016-17 Budget pdf icon PDF 393 KB

Minutes:

Members were informed that the total oneSource shared budget for 2016-17 was £43.595m. The joint working was set to realise at least £14.6m of savings in the period up to 2018/19. This included the original business case savings of £10.4m, an additional £3.5m added as part of the 2016/17- 19 Medium Term Financial Strategy and a further £0.7m of savings achievable through LB Bexley joining the partnership.

 

Each Council had approved funding to oneSource as part of their respective budget reports and Council Tax setting.

 

The 2015/16 forecast budget position as at Period 9 (December 2015) showed a pressure of £549k, with £88k relating to Havering and £461k relating to Newham. It was reported that the shared overspend was largely due to delays in implementing service review recommendations and associated service restructures. Management had implemented a number of strategies to drive down the overspend with a number of vacancies remaining open to assist with this.

 

A concern was raised regarding a perceived reduction in the levels of support from the back office to assist front line services. It was agreed that Members be provided with monthly updates from senior oneSource managers on progress to deliver the new oneSource strategy.

 

The report also explained that oneSource non shared budgets for both Havering and Newham showed a projected underspend position. Outturn variances on non shared services affect the relevant council only.

 

The Joint Committee: -

 

1.      noted the 2016-17 oneSource shared and non shared budgets;

2.                 noted the period 9 2015/16 oneSource shared and non shared forecast outturns;

3.      approved the 2016-17 budget allocation to services.

26.

oneSource Transformation Update pdf icon PDF 232 KB

Minutes:

It was reported that transformation projects covering Finance, HR & OD and Transactional Services were coming to a finish with staff consolation of new structures due to commence in April for Finance and May for HR & OD and Transactional.

 

Once implemented, savings of £2.349m would be delivered in 2015/16 against a target of £3.042m, an under achievement of £0.693m. It was noted that the difference would be found through the current level of vacant posts. £3.633m will be achieved in 2017/18 compared to a target of £3.724m, a difference of £0.091m.

 

It was also reported that a transformation project for Council Tax & benefits had commenced and would be completed by late 2016 with a new shared structure in place by 1 January 2017. This project would also look at improving performance regarding the collection rates for council tax across both councils.

 

The Joint Committee noted progress on delivering the required savings from oneSource from the current transformation projects covering Finance, HR & OD and Transactional Services.

27.

Joint Committee Scheme of Delegation to Officers pdf icon PDF 95 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The report before Members sought approval for proposed delegations to officers of the London Borough of Bexley’s Finance functions that formed part of the Joint Committee’s delegated powers from 1 April 2016.

 

The Joint Committee agreed the delegations as set out in the report and delegated authority to the Director of Legal & Governance to amend the Joint Committee Scheme of Delegation to reflect the changes.

28.

Proposed variation to the oneSource legal agreement pdf icon PDF 87 KB

Minutes:

The report notified members of the joint committee that a request had been received and accepted for a variation to the oneSource legal agreement. The request concerned the following variations:

 

1.    Schedule 1 – Constitution of the Joint Committee; for non-executive members to be appointed to the Joint Committee.

 

2.    Remove ‘Democratic Services, Committees and Partnerships, and Scrutiny’ from the London Borough of Newham portfolio of shared services within oneSource

 

The Joint Committee noted the approved variations to the oneSource legal agreement.