Agenda item

Angela Andrews, Chief Executive:

(a)       Presented a report which updated the Committee on progress with the Vision 2020 objective of maintaining ‘professional high performance service delivery’ since the launch of the Vision in January 2017.

(b)       Reported that the Council’s Corporate Management Team sat on the new High Performing Services Board which had been in place since May 2017 to consider a holistic view of the important indicators of progress and performance across the organisation.

(c)        Reported that a key aim was to develop and deliver innovative programmes of work which would allow the authority to protect and invest in the public services its customers relied upon. The first of these programmes was the Towards Financial Sustainability programme.

(d)       Reported that the Towards Financial Sustainability programme, in the current 2017/18 financial year, would over-achieve the £3.5million savings target by £30,390, with a further £33,310 savings possible by year-end subject to finalised business cases. Further plans in development for the next phase would be considered by the Executive for approval for 2018/19.

(e)       Reported that the second programme had been developed from the ten High Performing Services projects identified in Vision 2020, as well as a number of projects highlighted throughout the year as areas of general performance that could still be improved. These were set out in Appendix B of the report, with eight projects on target and two having been completed. Six further activities, set out in part (ii) of Appendix B, had been added throughout the year from various sources such as quarterly performance reports, audits on services, risk registers and opportunities within the business development work plan. Of the six other activities, five projects were on target and one had been identified as an area of concern. This related to levels of staff sickness, with further work having been commissioned by HPS to understand the underlying issues.

(f)        Reported the following areas for improvement in relation to High Performing Services:

·         there remained a £250,000 financial target to achieve either through savings or new income streams;

·         the High Performing Services board would focus the skills of the Business Development Team to those Vision 2020 projects requiring support;

·         a focus would be given to equipping staff with the right skills and tools to deliver success, and the physical and mental resilience to work through change.

(g)       Reported that the following had been delivered in respect of High Performing Services and Towards Financial Sustainability:

·         the phase 4 programme had been completed and the financial target had been achieved for 2017/18;

·         the Council had proposed a new and innovative programme for delivering income and savings for the next Medium Term Financial Strategy, as well as a programme for improving the Council’s performance and services delivered to its customers;

·         significant levels of staff welfare support had been introduced over the last year, which should start to show results in decreasing sickness levels in 2018/19;

(h)       Highlighted that the asset rationalisation strand covered a review of the Council’s existing assets and also sought appropriate opportunities for investment to bring in additional new income streams. Two successful opportunities realised earlier in the year through direct reports to the Executive were:

·         the purchase of two areas of land in central Lincoln in October 2017, currently being operated as two car parks with the City of Lincoln Council now acting as the landlord;

·         the purchase of land and property in central Lincoln in February 2018 which would be the new Lincoln Travel Lodge, with the City of Lincoln Council being the owner/landlord.

(i)         Reported that the Council’s Strategic Property Manager had developed a further asset management programme of longer term opportunities which could be followed up if deemed appropriate and circumstances were correct at that time.

(j)         Reported that commercialisation was a strand aimed at developing commercial opportunities from the Council’s existing services or assets. This year concentration had been on looking to develop the authority’s advertising offer in the new facilities available at the Central Bus Station.

(k)        Reported that the cost reduction, shared services and demand management aspects of the Towards Financial Sustainability programme were considering a range of service reviews, from shared services to contract reviews. Discussion had taken place with neighbouring authorities on possibilities of sharing further services, with a good track record already demonstrated in respect of the highly successful Revenues and Benefits Shared Service, as well as the central hub creation with the Department for Work and Pensions and other partners. There was also potential to consider expanding the Revenues and Benefits Shared Service into new areas, which would be investigated further. Other options that had been explored and had been agreed to progress or had already commenced were:

·         review of the Lincoln BIG TIC contract for 2019;

·         restructure of financial services, commencing March 2018;

·         Council Community Lottery to take over and expand some of the small grant funding. Work was already underway with an expectation of the first lottery draw in August 2018;

·         determination of final savings arising from the Birchwood Leisure Centre refurbishment.

(l)         Invited members’ questions and comments.

Question: In relation to the purchase of the two car parks, was the borrowing arrangement on a fixed term basis?

Response: Yes, the interest rate was fixed.

Question: The term ‘asset rationalisation’ suggested a streamlining of assets, whereas the Council’s asset rationalisation strand included the purchase of assets such as the car parks and Travel Lodge. Would officers consider changing this term?

Response: The point was understood. The asset rationalisation stream sought to ensure that all current assets were made best use of and were achieving the best possible rate of return. Asset disposals were happening as part of this work stream as well as the purchase of land or property to provide additional revenue income for the authority. Consideration would be given to renaming the work stream. A suggestion of asset optimisation was noted.

Question: The new appraisal system had ensured that 86% of staff had completed their appraisals by January 2018, but had they all been completed now?

Response: The Council was committed to ensuring that appraisals took place throughout the authority and Directors undertook checks to ensure that they were carried out.

RESOLVED that the report be noted.