To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting of the Shadow Executive held on 5 August 2008.

(previously circulated)

RESOLVED

that the Minutes of the meeting of the Shadow Executive held on 5 August 2008 be confirmed and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

(To set out the aspirations for Central Bedfordshire including how the new council will contribute to the wider policy context previously developed with partners, and to list the overall priorities that will feature in the work of the various directorates. (Report of the Officer Programme Board (Contact Officer: Simon Redmore  Tel: 01462 611255)))

1.            to adopt the Strategic Plan 2009 – 2011 at Appendix “A” to the report subject to any minor alterations to be determined by the Interim Chief Executive in consultation with the Leader and Deputy Leader.

2.            to publish the Strategic Plan 2009 – 2011 subject to recommendation 1 above,

3.            to prepare a summary of the Strategic Plan for the purpose of communication with stakeholders including staff.

The Shadow Executive considered the report of the Officer Programme Board, which sought Members’ approval of the Strategic Plan 2009 – 2011.  The Strategic Plan set out the aspirations for Central Bedfordshire including how the new Council would contribute to the wider policy context previously developed with partners, and listed the overall priorities that would feature in the work of the various portfolio holders and directorates.

The Plan was an essential background document for the budget setting, and showed how the work of Central Bedfordshire would contribute to partnership working.  The Plan had been drawn up using the Local Area Agreement indicators that had only recently been adopted after extensive consultation.

The Chairman advised Members that minor changes would be made to the  ‘Introduction from the Leader of Central Bedfordshire Council’.  Once a revised Leader’s statement had been produced it would be circulated to Members.  Members stated that the Introduction should reflect that Central Bedfordshire would seek to build on the success of the legacy authorities and develop new approaches, where appropriate. 

Members were advised that the Plan would be subject to review by the new Council following the elections in May/June 2009 and again following the elections in May 2011.  Members agreed that this information needed to be included in the Plan.

 Members made reference to the responsibility for the delivery of Priority 3 ‘Managing growth effectively’ as this sat not only with the Portfolio Holder and Director of Sustainable Communities but also, in part, with the Children, Families and Learning Directorate due to the reference to increasing the skills in the workplace.

Reason for decision:  To set out the high level aspirations of the new Council in order to guide budget setting and provide clarity for stakeholders regarding what the Council was setting out to achieve.

RESOLVED

1.      to adopt the Strategic Plan 2009 – 2011 at Appendix “A” to the report subject to any minor alterations to be determined by the Interim Chief Executive in consultation with the Leader and Deputy Leader.

2.      to publish the Strategic Plan 2009 – 2011 subject to recommendation 1 above,

3.      to prepare a summary of the Strategic Plan for the purpose of communication with stakeholders including staff.

(To report on overall progress following the adoption of the Implementation Plan by Shadow Executive on 10 June 2008.  (Report of the Officer Programme Board (Contact Officer: Simon Redmore  Tel: 01462 611255)))

** Appendix A is available on A3 paper upon request.  Please note it is separate to the main agenda.

that Officers work urgently with Bedfordshire County Council Officers to ensure that the resource implications of Bedford Borough Council’s decision in respect of enterprise resource planning software are thoroughly understood and appropriate assistance and expertise is available to meet Central Bedfordshire’s requirements.

The Shadow Executive considered the report of the Officer Programme Board that updated Members on the overall progress following the adoption of the Implementation Plan by the Shadow Executive on 10 June 2008. Members were advised of the current position relating to the key milestones as follows:-

Line 24 - first draft of services Business Plans. There were two outstanding Business Plans: Internal Audit and Business Transformation. Both Plans had been drafted and would be finalised within the next week enabling the milestone to be turned green.

Line 25 – agree shared services hosting arrangements for Central Bedfordshire and Bedford Borough Council (BBC).  Good progress was being made with BBC on discussing the arrangement for hosting shared services.  There were 70 BCC services to be disaggregated, of which, seven still needed further discussion with BBC.  It was proposed that 13 of the shared services would be hosted by BBC, 15 by Central Bedfordshire and 5 by the PCT.  Final agreement was needed under delegated power by the Leader, Deputy Leader, the relevant Portfolio Holder and the Lead Member of the relevant Transitional Task Force, as agreed at the Shadow Executive meeting on 10 June 2008.  Members were advised that these areas of disaggregation would be included in the Business Plans of the hosting authority during October 2008 and Service Level Agreements would be drawn up by the end of  November 2008.

Members received an update on BBC Implementation Executive meeting held on 20 August 2008 which had agreed that Agresso would provide BBC’s Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Software system. 

BBC would not be able to join Central Bedfordshire in sharing Bedfordshire County Council’s existing ERP Software system provided by SAP. The ERP system comprised integrated ICT solutions for financial management, human resources and the procurement function and included interfaces with most of the County’s significant customer facing systems. Deloitte had been commissioned to carry out a health check of the transition arrangements including a joint arrangement with BBC to look at the disaggregation of ICT software.

Officers highlighted the need to resolve adoption and fostering quickly, to enable the service to be running smoothly on 1 April 2009.  Members were advised that a meeting was being held on 15 September 2008 between the three constituent authorities to finalise the arrangements.  

Line 30 – Customer engagement (contact centre) shared services.  Discussions were taking place between Central Bedfordshire and BBC, as both authorities would like to host this service.

Reference was made to the desirability of reports on progress against Bedfordshire County Council’s key milestones also being submitted to the Shadow Executive, possibly by means of incorporation into the Central Bedfordshire Implementation Plan.  Officers advised that they would take this away and consider further.

Members were advised that at the next meeting of the Shadow Executive on 30 September 2008 they would receive a report on the Interim Accommodation Strategy which would include arrangements with regard to County Hall.

Reason for decision:  To enable the preparations to create the new authority to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 24.