To consider the recommendations from the Executive in relation to bringing back in-house to Wokingham Borough Council the services currently delivered by the Public Protection Partnership (PPP), as from 1^st April 2022.

RECOMMENDATION That:

1)           the Council serves formal notice on the Public Protection Partnership before 31^st March 2021, which if effected would take place on 31^st March 2022;

2)           the delegation to PPP in respect to the Executive and Council functions and duties (including environmental health, licensing and trading standards) will end and will be exercised by the Council directly from 1^st April 2022;

3)           The Director of Place and Growth and Deputy Chief Executive (and Section 151 Officer), in consultation with the Lead Member for Environment and Lead Member for Finance & Housing, are authorised to commence design of the new services structure and any resulting negotiations on an Exit Plan and to address timeframe (including earlier dates than stated in recommendation 1 and 2 if agreed by the Councils), mitigation of risks and costs, key milestones, ongoing resources and staffing implications for a successful departure from the partnership;

4)           The Deputy Chief Executive and Director of Place and Growth create and work with a task force of Officers and Members to create the new in-house service;

5)           it be noted that a special item of £500k, spread over financial years 2021/22 and 2022/23, was included in the Medium Term Financial Plan to fund a safe and effective transition.

The Council considered a report regarding Trading Standards, Environmental Health and Licensing, set out at Agenda pages 47 to 56.

It was proposed by John Halsall and seconded by Parry Batth that the recommendations, as set out in the report, be agreed.

John Halsall commented that Wokingham Borough was the lowest funded authority area and also one of the healthiest.  The Council’s limited resources were focused where the greatest benefit could be achieved.  It was the Council’s ambition to provide a wraparound service to residents that kept them safe, secure and happy.  The Council aimed to tailor a service at locality level which would allow a cohesive response to residents’ issues such as anti-social behaviour, fly tipping, unauthorised encampments, noise, bonfires and neighbourhood disputes.  The delivery would be integrated into other Council services such as Localities, Community Safety, Legal, Children’s Services and Adults Services, making better use of the capacity of the existing Locality Officers, offering early intervention and prevention.  John Halsall went on to state that the Council would undoubtedly need to use outside agencies for some services, which might include the Public Protection Partnership.

It was proposed by Lindsay Ferris and seconded by Prue Bray that the recommendations be amended as follows:

RECOMMENDATION That:

1)       the Council serves formal notice on the Public Protection Partnership before 31st March 2021, which if effected would take place on 31st March 2022;

2)       the delegation to PPP in respect to the Executive and Council functions and duties (including environmental health, licensing and trading standards) will end and will be exercised by the Council directly from 1st April 2022 if no satisfactory alternative has been identified;

3)       The Director of Place and Growth and Deputy Chief Executive (and Section 151 Officer), in consultation with the Lead Member for Environment and Lead Member for Finance & Housing, are authorised to commence design of the new services structure and any resulting negotiations on an Exit Plan and to address timeframe (including earlier dates than stated in recommendation 1 and 2 if agreed by the Councils), mitigation of risks and costs, key milestones, ongoing resources and staffing implications for a successful departure from the partnership or other suitable reconfiguration of the services;

4)       The Deputy Chief Executive and Director of Place and Growth create and work with a cross-party task force of Officers and Members to create the new in-house service or other service delivery structure;

5)       it be noted that a special item of £500k, spread over financial years 2021/22 and 2022/23, was included in the Medium Term Financial Plan to fund a safe and effective transition.

6)       the proposals made under recommendations 3) and 4) will come back to Council in or before September 2021, accompanied by a full business case, for a final decision on implementation.

Lindsay Ferris stated that the Liberal Democrats agreed that the Public Protection Partnership in its current format no longer met the needs of residents or the Council.  However, they had concerns about how the changes proposed would  ...  view the full minutes text for item 115

That:

1)              the Council serves formal notice on the Public Protection Partnership before 31^st March 2021, which if effected would take place on 31^st March 2022;

2)              the delegation to PPP in respect to the Executive and Council functions and duties (including environmental health, licensing and trading standards) will end and will be exercised by the Council directly from 1^st April 2022;

3)              The Director of Place and Growth and Deputy Chief Executive (and Section 151 Officer), in consultation with the Lead Member for Environment and Lead Member for Finance and Housing, are authorised to commence design of the new services structure and any resulting negotiations on an Exit Plan and to address timeframe (including earlier dates than stated in recommendation 1 and 2 if agreed by the Councils), mitigation of risks and costs, key milestones, ongoing resources and staffing implications for a successful departure from the partnership;

4)              The Deputy Chief Executive and Director of Place and Growth create and work with a task force of Officers and Members to create the new in-house service;

5)              it be noted that a special item of £500k, spread over financial years 2021/22 and 2022/23, was included in the Medium Term Financial Plan to fund a safe and effective transition.

The Executive considered a report relating to a proposal to authorise the services delivered by the Public Protection Partnership (PPP) to be brought back in-house to Wokingham Borough Council as from 1 April 2022.

During his introduction of the report the Leader of Council advised that the Council had to continually analyse its limited resources to ensure that they were focussed to the greatest benefit of residents.  The Council’s ambition was to provide a wraparound service for residents to keep them safe, secure and happy.

One way of providing that wrap around service, was to repatriate the control of the more than one hundred pieces of legislation, which had previously been delegated to West Berkshire Council, and then subsequently to the PPP.  Whilst residents held the Council responsible for these duties the Council did not, however, have the power to set the priorities of the PPP to ensure that residents were provided with the service they expected and that which the Council would wish to give.

Councillor Halsall advised that the aim of the proposal therefore was to tailor service delivery at a locality level which would provide a clearer cohesive response to issues that arise in the community eg anti-social behaviour, fly tipping, unauthorised encampments, noise, bonfires, neighbourhood disputes.  The intention was for delivery of these services to be integrated into other Council services, such as Localities, Community Safety, Legal, Children’s and Adults. This would make better use of the capacity of existing locality officers offering earlier incisive intervention and prevention. It was also anticipated that this would engender effective joined up professional responses across the Council’s service specialisms i.e. safety, enforcement and environmental health, with swift responses, resulting in increased resident satisfaction and potentially efficiencies.

Councillor Halsall set out the benefits and advantages to the Council and residents of bringing the control of the service back in-house which included:

·       Greater control, in one organisation with direct influence over policy, implementation, and accountability;

·       More visible ownership and flexibility to focus on residents’ priorities;

·       An integrated single Council approach to delivery in localities, which crosses specialisms, with the efficiencies, in respect to time and outcomes, by tackling issues holistically that this approach brings. That is, “do it once’ with joined up and combined responses to issues that consider the range of enforcement powers that the Council possesses. For example, consideration of anti-social behaviour alongside neighbour disputes, planning enforcement, noise and bonfires;

• An improved resident perception and experience due to a less complex customer journey, with a greater emphasis upon prevention and proactivity than reactivity;
• A service that delivers valued and visible interventions with timely support at the time when residents most need it;
• Potential efficiencies and economies of scale (within a wider locality team) can increase accessible hours and reduce response times;
• Greater influence and control over preferred suppliers and associated costs;
• It will allow, if the PPP is willing, to retain the services of the PPP when appropriate.

The meeting was advised that the Inter Authority Agreement (IAA), which  ...  view the full minutes text for item 105