Agenda item

Stop The One Barnet Programme Petition - Executive Response

Minutes:

On 24 October 2012, the Committee considered a petition which had received 2,973 signatures which called for the One Barnet programme to be stopped and for a referendum to be held on this issue.  In accordance with the provisions of the Council’s Constitution, the Committee called an officer to give account with regards to the issues raised in the petition.  At the meeting, Committee Members made a number of comments and requested that the officer called to give account refer these to the responsible Cabinet Member.  In accordance with the recommendation of the Committee, the representation was referred to the Cabinet Member who attended the meeting to respond to the issues identified. 

 

The Cabinet Member for Customer Access and Partnerships, Councillor Rams, addressed the Committee.  He advised the Committee that as part of the One Barnet programme each service that had been reviewed and considered on a case by case basis.  A variety of approaches were being taken to service transformation including shared services, local authority trading companies, in-house options and outsourcing. 

 

Responding to concerns regarding public consultation on the One Barnet Programme, Councillor Rams informed the Committee that the administration had been elected on a manifesto pledge of a 0% council tax increase.  He advised the Committee that this would be achieved though savings arising from the One Barnet programme.  He added public consultation had taken place on the Council Budget which included details of savings that were expected to be achieved from various projects within the Programme. 

 

In relation to the use of a public sector comparator, Councillor Rams advised the Committee that each service had been reviewed methodically with all options considered and assessed. 

 

Responding to concerns regarding the 10 year contract duration, Councillor Rams reported that checks and balances would be in place for monitoring and a change protocol would be in place to deal with legal, financial and policy changes.  He added that a new management structure would be in place to support delivery of the new organisational structure.  The Assistant Director Commercial Services advised the Committee that it would be possible to promote performance indicators to key performance indicators (which are associated with financial penalties if not delivered) during the contract lifetime to deal with any new requirements arising from legal, financial and policy changes.

 

The Chairman highlighted recent issues with contracting and procurement and sought assurance that contracts had been properly drafted.  The Assistant Director Commercial Services advised the Committee that the Council had been utilising the services of external legal (Trowers and Hamlins) and commercial experts (iMPOWER) to draft service specifications, undertake the competitive dialogue process and negotiate contract terms.  He added that the new senior management structure would ensure that there was sufficient contracting / commissioning expertise in the management team. 

 

The Committee noted that the contract would include exit clauses.

 

A Member commented that the One Barnet Programme represented a significant departure from the original policy outlined in the Future Shape agenda in 2008 which envisaged a ‘one public sector’ approach. 

 

Responding to concerns regarding the role of overview and scrutiny committees in the new organisational structure, Officers reported that senior officers (commissioners) and delivery units (service providers) would still be required to come and give account whenever requested and that this had been written into contracts.

 

In relation to the Development and Regulatory Services (DRS) project, a Member highlighted that when the Business Case was presented to Cabinet Resources Committee in December 2011, a strategic partnership was preferred over a joint venture.  It was noted that recent information had identified a joint venture as the preferred option.  The Assistant Director Commercial Services advised the Committee that the competitive dialogue process had been used to explore different options and that these had evolved over time.  During the second stage of the dialogue process, it had become evident that a joint venture would present a better option for the Council than a strategic partnership.  Councillor Rams added that Cabinet Members had been briefed throughout the dialogue process. 

 

Responding to a suggestion that the Council could utilise reserves to fund the required investment in infrastructure, Officers reported that bidders for the DRS services cluster would invest in IS and there were expected economies of scale from developing commercial expertise which may lead to opportunities for external trade. 

 

A Member questioned how commissioners would monitor the performance of delivery units in terms of delivering specified outcomes.  Officers advised the Committee that key performance indicators would measure both quantitative outputs and also outcomes, adding that overview and scrutiny committees and the Audit Committee would be able to monitor performance on an ongoing basis. 

 

Responding to a question, the Legal Officer advised the Committee that the Council were under no obligation to enter into a contract with the bidder.  It was noted that this would be a decision reserved for the Cabinet. 

 

RESOLVEDthat:-

 

1.            The Committee note the response of the Cabinet Member to the Stop The One Barnet Programme petition, as outlined above.

 

2.            The Committee request that the Cabinet consider the comments, recommendations and representation made by the Committee in relation to the Stop The One Barnet Programme petition and that these be referred to the Cabinet for consideration and response. 

 

3.            Officers be requested to provide additional information to the Committee on learning from other council’s including details of locations, dates,duration and how learning was applied to the projects in the One Barnet programme. 

 

4.            Officers be requested to provide a breakdown of the cost of external legal advice for the One Barnet programme. 

 

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