Agenda and minutes

Resolved: (Unanimously)

That Councillor Paul Foster be appointed as Chair and Councillor Alistair Bradley be appointed as Vice-Chair of the Shared Service Joint Committee for the 2023/24 municipal year.

Apologies were received for Councillor Margaret France who was substituted by Councillor Hasina Khan.

Resolved: (Unanimously)

That the minutes of the meeting of the Shared Services Joint Committee held on Tuesday, 21 February 2023 be approved as a correct record for signing by the Chair.

Members are reminded of their responsibility to declare any pecuniary interest in respect of matters contained in this agenda.

If you have a pecuniary interest you must withdraw from the meeting. Normally you should leave the room before the business starts to be discussed. You do, however, have the same right to speak as a member of the public and may remain in the room to enable you to exercise that right and then leave immediately. In either case you must not seek to improperly influence a decision on the matter.

No interests were declared.

To receive and consider the report of the Director of Change and Delivery.

The Chair welcomed the Director for Change and Delivery and invited her to present the monitoring report which provided an update on budget, service objectives, risk, performance, and staff satisfaction.

New additions within the report were highlighted, including the phase 3 shared service, Property and Development since its implementation in February 2023. The report now also included case studies that showed examples of successful shared learning between the councils across the different phases.

Members were pleased to note the improvements in staff satisfaction since the last meeting, particularly in the customer services and ICT teams and welcomed the addition of case studies within the report.

Queries were raised on the risk of insufficient resources within the customer services team that were previously identified, how long the process would be to transfer non-shared staff to new terms and conditions and how the Chorley/South Ribble work split in certain teams may change. In response, the Committee were advised that following feedback from Members, further capacity was created with the customer services team, changing terms and conditions were included in the wider 18 month project that was well underway and the splits in certain teams would move towards being even but would be considered on a post by post basis.

Finally, it was agreed that:

• Further details on ICT posts recruited to or still vacant be provided to the Committee;
• Call performance statistics continue to be closely monitored; and
• Work on development of the procurement service should link in with the Governance Committee’s Constitution Task Group which has also been reviewing this.

Resolved: (Unanimously)

That the shared services monitoring report be noted.

To receive and consider the report of the Director of Change and Delivery.

The Director of Change and Delivery was invited to present the report which outlined service areas that had been considered for further sharing, including proposals to review and develop a shared building control service.

The Committee heard that opportunities to explore further sharing in several service areas, including planning, licensing and public protection had been identified but for the reasons detailed within the report, required further consideration before progressing.

Members were advised that a shared building control service would enable greater resilience in an area with recruitment challenges, ensure effective succession planning and become less reliant on agency staff. It was noted that both teams operated within the same regulatory frameworks and used IDOX software which enable easier integration.

The Committee were supportive of reviewing a shared building control service, highlighting the benefits in recruiting and retaining staff, and the logical approach given both teams already operate within the same regulatory frameworks. Members also suggested that the review consider how the service provided to residents could be expanded and developed further in future reports.

Resolved: (Unanimously)

That the Committee approve a review into a shared building control service.

There was no urgent business.