Issue - meetings

More for York - Progress report

Meeting: 20/10/2009 - Executive - for meetings from 03/06/00 to 26/04/11 (Item 97)

97 More for York - Blueprints PDF 237 KB

This report sets out the outcomes of the recent blueprinting exercise undertaken by the More for York programme (including the efficiency partners Northgate Kendric Ash) to identify a range of service improvements and efficiencies. The report also sets out a series of decisions to be made in order to initiate work on delivering the benefits of the programme.

(Please note: Annex 1 to this report is available on-line)

Additional documents:

Decision:

RESOLVED: (i) That the decisions set out in Annex 5 to the report be approved, subject to Executive Members’ comments at the meeting, as set out in the annex to these minutes (and reproduced in full below on this Decision List).

1	Neighbourhood Services			Executive Comments Oct 2009
1.1	Centralisation of the administrator resource within Neighbourhood Services	Exec	July 09
1.2	The YCC will be developed to be the first point of contact for the customer of Neighbourhood Services	Exec	July 09	Need to have clarity on the systems which operate for members to report Street level problems which are quick and effective.
1.3	Staff will be developed in order to fulfil the required outcomes of the new business	Exec	July 09
1.4	Implement changes to staff terms and conditions to enable flexible deployment of staff and maximise productivity	Exec	July 09
1.5	Opportunities for generic working will be implemented where it will provide a service improvement	Exec	July 09
1.6	Implement mobile working to maximise the potential of operational staff	Exec	Oct 09
1.7	Provide additional recycling containers to enable prior to collection customers to sort recycling	Exec	Oct 09	Need clarity on the advertising campaign with residents to help the improvement in efficiency of the recycling service and impact on landfill waste in the areas benefiting from this action.
1.8	CMT to review the scope and delivery of Fleet	CMT	Sept 09	Carbon emissions analysis to be produced.
1.9	Develop proposals for extending area based working	Exec	April 10	This has been agreed in principle following the report from the Interim Neighbourhood Services Director approved by Executive in July. However Executive need a clear timeable on the changes that will be implemented and the impacts and improvements that will be felt by residents.

2	Customer Services
2.1	Establish a single Customer Service organisation for all face to face telephony and internet customer contact	Exec	Oct 09	Need to have clarity on the systems which operate for members to report Street level problems which are quick and effective
2.2	Consolidate all city centre face to face contact points under one manager and base at St Leonard’s – close customer receptions at, 10-12 GHS and 20 GHS and Mill House (retaining business reception)	Exec	Oct 09	Need to have clarity on the HR implications of this change.
2.3	Extend YCC opening hours to weekday evenings and Saturday mornings	Exec	Oct 09	Must increase costs?
2.4	Undertake small scale re-branding of single customer service organisation	CMT	Sept 09	Cost?
2.5	Develop a programme to bring in new services into the YCC prior to the move to the new HQ	Exec	Oct 09
2.6	Review internal telephone handling teams (HR ICT Property) to identify where use of call centre telephony could deliver efficiencies	CMT	April 2010
2.7	Increase the range of services delivered over the internet and encourage take up of this channel	Exec	Oct 09	The Easy@york programme was developing this so there needs to be clarity on how the use ... view the full decision text for item 97

Minutes:

See also under Part B Minutes

Members considered a report which informed them of the outcomes of the recent blueprinting exercise undertaken as part of the More for York improvements and efficiencies programme (involving efficiency partners Northgate Kendric Ash) and proposed a series of decisions required to initiate work on delivering the programme benefits.

On 7 July, the Executive had received a review report on the programme and had approved further work to complete detailed business cases, or ‘blueprints’, for ten work streams. Since then, intensive work had been carried out on nine of the work streams to baseline costs and performance, explore options and develop firm proposals to deliver efficiencies. The results of this work were summarised in paragraph 22. Full details of the blueprints had been made available on the Council’s website as Annex 1 to the report. With regard to the Adult Social Care stream, work was still ongoing to finalise the reviews of Home Care and Elderly People’s Homes, the results of which would be reported to the Executive in November 2009 and January 2010. Details of the Organisational review stream, which would incorporate the outcomes of the other nine work streams, would be reported to the Executive in the next few months.

The gross savings predicted from each work stream were summarised at paragraph 31 of the report. The capital and revenue investments required to deliver the programme efficiencies were set out in Annexes 2 and 3 respectively. Annex 4 detailed savings and investments made in the Housing Revenue Account (HRA), while Annex 5 presented for Members’ approval a log of decisions arising from the blueprinting exercise.

In response to questions from Members, Officers agreed to provide further information on the process for all decisions associated with the proposals, including those that did not require Executive approval.¹ With regard to the advice of the Shadow Executive and the points raised by the UNISON representative under Public Participation / Other Speakers, Officers confirmed that:

There would be over 100 collection points across the City where residents could pay by cash if they wished
Equality Impact Assessments (EIAs) had been carried out on every work stream and the process of consulting on and ‘embedding’ this work was ongoing.

RESOLVED: (i) That the decisions set out in Annex 5 to the report be approved, subject to Executive Members’ comments at the meeting, as set out in the annex to these minutes. ²

(ii) That authority be delegated to the Director of Resources to agree any eventual redundancy and pension costs and to report these costs, which will be funded from savings arising from the programme, through the quarterly budget monitoring process. ³

(iii) That the Director of Resources be requested to inform the Executive Member for Resources and the Executive Leader of the redundancy and pension costs on a monthly basis throughout the process. ⁴

(iv) That a full Equality Impact Assessment be undertaken. ⁵

(v) That a Sustainability Review be undertaken of how the changes will ... view the full minutes text for item 97