Issue - meetings

To consider the effectiveness of the Public Protection Shared Service and the process for setting fees and charges.

The Committee considered a report, set out in agenda pages 41 to 70, which provided an overview of the Public Protection Shared Service and the process for setting fees and charges.

Sean Murphy, Public Protection Partnership Manager, outlined the key areas of the Public Protection Partnership which included the following:

·                It was a very new and different arrangement to that present in 2017;

·                The theme for the partnership was a single level of service across all 3 Local Authorities (Wokingham, West Berkshire and Bracknell Forest) ;

·                The budget would be split between the 3 Local Authorities in accordance to their required workload. For example, Wokingham Borough Council’s (WBC’s) 2018/19 contribution to the budget was £1.14M which equated to approximately 33.6% of the budget;

·                The fees and charges would be set on the basis of full cost recovery, which equated to £55 per hour;

·                The next joint Committee would decide on the new budget. Once agreed, this would then go to each respective Local Authority to be considered at their Annual Budget Council meeting;

·                Looking to the future, the partnership would look to generate income via working with other local Authorities by selling the partnership’s expertise.

David Sleight asked whether the partnership had been considered a success thus far, taking in to account the £70K per year saving for WBC. Sean Murphy stated that the service had been successful, especially when considering the vast change that it had undertaken since 2017. He added that further savings were proposed for WBC in the future. Sean stated that the shared service had built up a large range of experience amongst staff and that it had also delivered resilience across the service for all 3 Local Authorities.

Rachel Burgess asked what had been lost as a result of the move to a shared service. Sean Murphy stated that upper management had been reduced as a cost cutting measure, which had meant that the frontline service delivery had been preserved. He added that most priorities identified by each Local Authority were unilaterally shared which made the service delivery easier.

Clive Jones asked whether there had been any cuts in the frontline service delivery. Sean Murphy stated that some frontline staff had been lost, but with the move to a shared service came a lot more flexibility and resilience. He added that the main issues for the service at the moment were IT and accommodation related.

Shahid Younis asked whether any further saving could be made by extending the shared service to other Local Authorities. Sean Murphy stated that there had been some interest from other Local Authorities and that the service was constantly in discussion regarding this.

RESOLVED That:

1)     the Public Protection Shared Service report be noted;

2)     Sean Murphy be thanked for attending the meeting.