Agenda item

A report from the Chief Executive and Director of Finance, Resources and Customer Services is attached. This outlines the progress made on the Enfield 2017 Programme. (Key decision – reference number 4228)

(Report No.114)

(8.35 – 8.40 pm)

Councillor Doug Taylor (Leader of the Council) introduced the report of the Chief Executive and Director of Finance, Resources and Customer Services (No.114) outlining the progress made on the Enfield 2017 Transformation Programme.

NOTED

1.               That there was an additional recommendation to the report as follows and set out in decision 10 below: “The Assistant Director Legal and Governance would clarify responsibility of the Cabinet Member portfolios in light of the implementation of the Enfield 2017 transformation programme and would provide a briefing to a future informal Cabinet meeting”.

2.               James Rolfe (Director of Finance, Resources and Customer Services) highlighted a number of issues within the report for Members’ consideration and outlined in detail the proposals set out in recommendations 2.7 and 2.8 of the report (decisions 7 and 8 below refer). Significant progress had been made and the programme was on track to deliver. Positive feedback had been received from customers and staff to date. It was recognised that there was still a lot more work to be done but significant achievements had already been reached, as set out in full in the report.

3.               James Rolfe outlined both the short term and long term proposals for the creation of the Procurement and Commissioning Hub as set out in recommendations 2.7 and 2.8 and section 3 of the report. Members were advised of the future benefits that this would provide to the Council.

4.               Councillor Taylor invited questions from the Cabinet Members and the following points were raised during discussion.

5.               Councillor Oykener advised Members that he had asked officers to commission a report into the risk surrounding the unique nature of the HRA rental income. This was to ensure that there was no reduction in HRA rental income performance. The review was on-going and because of the nature of the HRA, the outcome of the review would be reported to him as the Cabinet Member for Housing and Housing Regeneration. Councillor Oykener undertook to report back to Cabinet on the findings of this report.

6.               Councillor Cazimoglu noted that the spend this year on the programme and associated staffing was projected to be £13.4m, as set out in recommendation 2.6 of the report. Councillor Cazimoglu questioned the release of such a significant proportion of the budget at this stage in the project. In response, James Rolfe explained that the release of monies was linked to delivery and a lot of investment was required early on in the project for example in the necessary digital developments and design work. This was in line with agreed payment structures and was as expected. The total project was on track to deliver the identified savings.

7.               Councillor Sitkin highlighted paragraph 3.3.2 of the report detailing that the hubs would be supported by a revised IT platform that would enhance self-service. This would also reduce the duplication of data provision.

8.               In response to a question raised by Councillor Sitkin, the previously agreed People Principle of: “We will institute an initial recruitment freeze in the affected areas” was clarified for Members. This was applied when a restructure was taking place, once affected staff had been dealt with and redeployment processes completed, then recruitment to any remaining vacant posts could take place in order to meet the identified needs of the service in question.

9.               Members noted the role and responsibilities of the Business Support Hub as detailed in section 3.7 of the report.

10.           In response to questions raised, Mark Stone (Assistant Director for Transformation and IT) explained that a separate update would be provided to a future meeting on the development of the business portal. It was noted that the proposed development was ahead of schedule.

11.           Councillor Brett highlighted the needs of vulnerable and hard to reach groups in the voluntary sector who would benefit from specific briefings on the new systems and how they would work in practice. It would be helpful for appropriate customer testing to take place with them to provide guidance and reassurance where required. Mark Stone outlined the work that had already been undertaken with a range of customers which he could repeat with a variety of voluntary sector groups. Councillor Brett stated that there were a number of vulnerable groups that could require additional support from the Council.

12.           Mark Stone was pleased to advise Members that to date activity levels on the Council’s new website was three times higher than on the old website. Activity levels would continue to be monitored.

13.           Councillor Georgiou reported that Mark Stone would be presenting to the Labour Group meeting in January how the new website works in detail and to provide any necessary IT support to Members arising from the changes that were taking place. The new website was likely to be fully operational by February/March 2016.

14.           Councillor Brett also highlighted the benefit of presenting to 16-18 year olds in schools. The pupils could then in turn support their parents in the use of the new IT systems. 

15.           In response to a question raised by Councillor Sitkin, Mark Stone explained in detail the proposals for the creation of Procurement and Commissioning Hub and provided assurance that the proposals would not have any negative effect on current performance and overall targets. The current principles would remain in place. The benefits of the proposals were outlined for Members.

Alternative Options Considered: The programme had been delivered as per its Cabinet approvals and was on track to achieve its planned savings over the life time of the programme. This will be within the overall financial cost envelope approved by Cabinet. The decision to proceed to a co-sourced model of procurement and commissioning was a logical extension of the savings work already undertaken within Enfield 2017. Officers had considered developing a service without the leadership of a delivery partner, but this would not address the need for additional innovation and breadth of experience that was now required in this area to drive out further savings and opportunities for multi-partner working.

DECISION: The Cabinet noted

1.               The continued use of the SIAM based contract between the Council and Serco to deliver relevant elements of the E2017 programme, to the extent that these elements fall within the scope of SIAM based IT contract with Serco or a permitted modification of its terms.

2.               The content of this update regarding the Enfield 2017 Transformation Programme.

3.               The in year cashable savings predicted of £9.6m for 2015/16 and that the full year effect of these savings was predicted to be £15.4m from 2016/17.

4.               That the programme was on track to achieve its long term full year effect savings of £29m per annum by the end of the programme, with some re-profiling of these to better reflect part year and full year impacts in 2016/17, 2017/18 and 2018/19.

5.               The need to ensure that payments to delivery partners involved in release three were proportionate to the effort they expend in its delivery and reflect the SIAM contracting model and the requirement to ensure all digital products perform as expected.

6.               That the spend this year on the programme and associated staffing was projected to be £13.4m and officers were confident that the programme would be delivered in full within the identified budget of £16m and would deliver its required savings over the lifetime of the programme.

7.               The proposal to award a contract for the interim leadership of a council wide procurement and commissioning function until 31 March 2016 following a mini-tendering exercise across Consultancy One, and delegate this award to the Cabinet Member for Finance and Efficiency and the Director of Finance, Resources and Customer Services. This contract would be funded via reserves on a “spend to save” basis and would therefore be awarded only if the tender process identifies net savings for the council.

8.               That the creation of the Procurement and Commissioning Hub, which was in progress, would be best sustained via a co-sourced partner model and delegate authority to commence the tender process and approve the award of final contract from 1 April 2016 (or as soon as possible thereafter) to the Cabinet Member for Finance and Efficiency and the Director of Finance, Resources and Customer Services, with any award being subject to a review of delivered savings at 31 March 2017, 31 March 2018 and 31 March 2019.

9.               That the Director of Finance, Resources and Customer Services would ensure that any procurement for co-source partner for Procurement and Commissioning be undertaken in such a way that should the London Borough of Waltham Forest wish to join a co-sourced joint procurement arrangement with Enfield they were able to do so, recognising that the London Borough of Waltham Forest would need to follow their own governance processes to gain authority to do so.

10.           The Assistant Director Legal and Governance would clarify responsibility of the Cabinet Member portfolios in light of the implementation of the Enfield 2017 transformation programme and would provide a briefing to a future informal Cabinet meeting.

Reason: The recommendations update Cabinet on the progress of E2017, confirm that it would be delivered within its approved cost envelope and that over the life time of the programme, its planned savings would be delivered or exceeded. Additionally the recommendations reflect the work being done to create a co-sourced model for the delivery of Procurement and Commissioning to maximise the knowledge and skills available to the council to drive further savings from this area and seek Cabinet approval to delegate award of a contract for this to the relevant member and officer.

(Key decision – reference number 4228)