Issue - meetings

This report  provides an update on progress made in delivering the More for York programme and seeks approval for the inclusion of two additional work streams in the programme in respect of Children’s Services and Finance Services.

RESOLVED: (i)         That the progress made on delivering the programme be noted.

                        (ii)        That the Children’s Services Blueprint set out in Annex 1 to the report be agreed.

                        (iii)       That the Finance Services Blueprint set out in Annex 2 be agreed.

REASON:      To enable the Council to deliver the strategic objective to be an Effective Organisation, to deliver service improvements and to create net efficiency savings of £5.7m in 2010/11.

Members considered a report which provided an update on progress made in delivering the More for York efficiency programme and sought approval to include two additional work streams in the programme.

It was reported that, since December 2009, the programme had been delivered in house and there had been no loss of momentum.  Some early achievements, and changes to be implemented over the next six months, were summarised in paragraphs 17 to 31 of the report.  They included implementation of Phase 1 of the Organisational Review and savings of £464k on procurement, as well as planned improvements to waste collection, income collection and Home Care staffing arrangements.  In total, savings of £476k had been achieved against the 2009/10 target of £512k.  A robust and detailed process had been established to ensure that savings were properly monitored and realised.  A comprehensive review of related HR policies was under way to ensure that the organisation was fully prepared for the large scale changes resulting from the programme.

Blueprints had been prepared for two additional work streams recommended for inclusion in the programme, as summarised in paragraphs 42 to 50 of the report.  The Children’s Social Care blueprint, attached as Annex 1, aimed to create a new model to provide services that were financially sustainable yet could achieve and maintain excellent outcomes for customers.  The Finance Services blueprint, attached as Annex 2, aimed to deliver efficiencies and improvements by consolidating Corporate and Directorate Finance teams into  a single Financial Management function.

In response to the comments made by the UNISON representative, Officers confirmed that every effort was being made to avoid redundancies and that they were engaged in dialogue with the unions via a bi-weekly corporate JCC meeting.  Having noted the comments of the Labour Group spokespersons on this item, it was

RESOLVED: (i)         That the progress made on delivering the programme be noted.

                        (ii)        That the Children’s Services Blueprint set out in Annex 1 to the report be agreed.¹

                        (iii)       That the Finance Services Blueprint set out in Annex 2 be agreed.²

REASON:      To enable the Council to deliver the strategic objective to be an Effective Organisation, to deliver service improvements and to create net efficiency savings of £5.7m in 2010/11.