Agenda, decisions and minutes

To sign the minutes of the meeting held on 1 September 2015.

The minutes of the meeting held on 1 September 2015 were taken as read and signed by the Chair as correct.

Councillors are reminded of the need to declare any disclosable pecuniary interests that relate to business on the agenda and which have not already been included in the register of interests, before any discussion takes place on the item. Unless the interest is sensitive, you must also disclose the nature of the interest. In accordance with the Council's Code of Conduct, you must then leave the room and must not participate in any further discussion of the item.  Councillors requiring clarification should seek the advice of the Monitoring Officer prior to the day of the meeting.

No declarations of disclosable pecuniary interest were made.

A Verbal update from the Chief Operating Officer.

The Chief Operating Officer gave a verbal update on the Progress to date.

Members were updated on the following:-

·         Exeter new global desktop started two weeks ago – positive feedback from the users on the process

·         70 people currently logged in and using the system

·         encountering problems but they were being resolved

·         infrastructure work was largely on target, roll out had been extended to ensure good training; a new plan had been proposed for the three councils

·         new plan mostly affected Teignbridge District Council with the start date moved from February to July 2016

·         all telecom’s contracts now being merged onto a single Virgin Media contract ready for move to digital telephony next year – this would result in cost savings

·         new Mobile contracts signed with the three major networks  - able to offer any network to any user

·         iPhones for Teignbridge District Council were being tested and should be able to offer to users shortly

·         virgin network in place and working- all councils now seeing some benefit from improved internet speed.  Some elements of the network still need testing; and

·         new remote access technology in test – would enable simple direct access over the internet to all systems for a council provided device.

RESOLVED that the update be noted.

To consider the report of the Chief Operating Officer.

The report of the Chief Operating Officer was submitted advising Members of the Strata performance reports. The indicators were reported to the Senior Management Teams each month together with a list of work and change requests.

Members were updated on the indicators and the improvements to Teignbridge District Council’s IT system to ensure that it was more stable.

RESOLVED that the report be noted.

To consider the report of the Strata Lead for Human Resources.

The report of the Strata Lead for Human Resources was submitted outlining the Human Resource and cost implications provided to the Strata Board in respect of restructuring and offering staff new Strata terms and conditions by adopting a phased strategy based on affordability and business need. The report also provided an update on recent meetings with the Strata Staff Joint Forum and Employee Representatives as well as agreements made with the Board in relation to annual appraisals, learning and development and staff engagement.

Discussion took place with regards to the alignment of salaries and the challenges of retaining staff as demand in the sector increases with the expansion of Exeter and the surrounding area as an Innovation Centre.

The Strata Lead of Human Resources clarified that the Job Evaluation Scheme to be used would be the Greater London Scheme.

The Director (DH) advised that the increase in salaries would not impact on the 10 year business plan.

RESOLVED that:-

(1)          the report be noted and the approach proposed in relation to restructuring teams and offering Strata staff terms and conditions which, subject to costs was scheduled to take place in the first quarter of 2016, be agreed; and

(2)        the agreements made at the Staff Joint Forum with UNISON as set out in point 4, be noted .

To consider the report of the Chief Operating Officer.

The report of the Chief Operating Officer was submitted seeking approval for funding to deliver Idox Uniform in Exeter City Council, which would replace numerous lines of business systems with a common platform used across all partners.

Members were advised that this was the first real shared project with all three partners involving the installation of a system into Exeter City Council and upgrading and adding functionality to the systems at East Devon and Teignbridge. Anticipated cost savings shared between the three Councils would be approximately £368k revenue and about £432K capital avoidance. This was a three year project and Exeter City Council would also need to improve its data and therefore may need to spend a further £100K to clean old and inaccurate data and ensure correct formatting. The Uniform software provided systems for many areas of the Council and would enable data sharing where appropriate between services.

The Business Development Manager clarified, that whichever system that Exeter City Council transferred to data cleaning would need to take place.

RECOMMENDED that East Devon District Council, Exeter City Council and Teignbridge District Council approve a budget for the implementation of Uniform within Exeter City Council. The budget required is:

RECOMMENDED that Exeter City Council approve additional funding to improve the quality of data within the system, estimated at £100,000.

RESOLVED that, under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of items 11, 12 and 13 on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraphs 1, 2, 3 and 4 of Part I, Schedule 12A of the Act. 

RESOLVED that under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following items on the grounds that it involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraphs 1, 2, 3 and 4 of Part 1, Schedule 12A of the Act. 

To consider the report of the Chief Operating Officer.

The report of the Chief Operating Officer was submitted to provide Members with an update on the Human Resource Business Case with preliminary costs so that a budget could be secured for the financial year 2016/17.

Members were advised that this was the second shared project covering four areas of functionality of HR, payroll, time and attendance (T&A) for flexitime and door entry. The cost savings were anticipated to be £204k over 10 years.

The Director (DH) clarified that the pay back period for this project was anticipated to be five years.

Discussion took place with regards to how the benefits of shared IT systems could help further partnership working in the future.

RESOLVED that the HR business case and the capital funding requirements as follows, be approved:

To consider the report of the Chief Operating Officer.

The report of the Chief Operating Officer was submitted to advise Members of the progress that Strata had made in the Implementation Plan and to seek approval for changes to the Business Case and gain for capital expenditure.

Members were advised that, while new contracts were coming in on or lower than budget, there were timing issues turning off old contract with security products, networks, servers and storage. This delay would cause the first year revenue savings to be lower by around £50K but this would be made up in the following two years and the overall 10 year target would still be realised.

The Chief Operating Officer advised the revised software Convergence Plan had yet to be incorporated into the Business Plan and therefore further work was required to be able to give a definite figure of the additions that the three Councils would need to approve to their capital programme for 2016/17.

Discussion took place with regards to the external factors that that could affect the business plan and the planned savings over the next 10 years. Further details would be useful on how the saving were progressing year on year and the impact on individual authorities. The Joint Executive Committee agreed that, in order for the recommendation to be able to be taken forward to the three Councils, a 10% contingency would be added to the recommendation.

RESOLVED that the Revised Business Case for Strata, be approved; and

RECOMMENDED that the three Councils approve the following additions to their capital programmes subject to a 10% contingency to allow the 2016/17 convergence plan to be delivered:-

To consider the report of the Director with responsibility for Finance.

The report of the Director with responsibility for Finance was submitted to advise Members on the financial progress of Strata during the first six months of 2015/16, including a project outturn assessment against the savings set out in the Business Plan.  The report also provided a summary of the final Statement of Accounts for 2014/15.

Members were advised that the Auditors were satisfied that the Company was treated as a going concern and had provided an unqualified opinion on the accounts. The startup costs were being managed within budget and there had been no capital spend on existing IT systems as expected. Strata would be short on revenue savings by around £50K but this would be made up over following two years.

RESOLVED that the report be noted.