Minutes:
The Board received an update on the ongoing Building Control Transformation Programme.
During the discussion of this item the following points were made:
· With regards to staffing Roger Paine, Building Control Commercial & Operational Manager, informed Members that recruitment remained an issue. Work was being done with Jobs Go Public regarding recruitment to vacancies within the team. An advert for surveyor posts would be published the next day.
· Councillor Howe asked how many surveyors were required and was informed that there were five vacancies although it was anticipated that one post would be deleted. There were currently three vacancies within the support team. Interviews had been held recently and offers made to two candidates which had been verbally accepted. A third post would be deleted as a result of the efficiencies brought about by the introduction of Tascomi.
· Building Control Solutions had not been successful in appointing a Marketing Manager and was reviewing the best approach to marketing and business development.
· With regards to IT, it was noted that the Tascomi IT system had the data of Wokingham Borough Council and West Berkshire Council transferring to it. Data currently on the legacy systems was being transferred and it was anticipated that this would be finalised by the end of March for Wokingham Borough Council and by May for West Berkshire Council. Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead (RBWM) Council had a different system and processes in place.
· Richard Prewer, Head of Property and Compliance, RBWM Council, advised that at present there was not an appetite from RBWM Council to migrate its data to the Tascomi system. There were some concerns regarding the procurement exercise. Councillor Howe questioned whether these concerns were procedural, financial, operational or technical.
· Richard Prewer stated that a meeting would be held on 26 March and it was hoped that RBWM’s position would be clarified following this.
· Members proposed that RBWM Council officers present a paper to the Board at the earliest opportunity to outline the particular concerns. Councillor Halsall suggested that this should be carried out by June. Councillor Coppinger indicated that he hoped for clarification as soon as possible.
· Councillor Somner questioned what the implications would be for Wokingham and West Berkshire Councils. The shared service agreement was discussed. Sean Murphy, Public Protection Manager West Berkshire Council, emphasised that the shared service needed to move to a single IT service. Andy Glencross, Lead Specialist, Community, Heritage & Green Infrastructure, indicated that in the short term the Councils could move forward together. However, should RBWM not buy into the Tascomi system there would be cost implications of running two systems.
· Roger Paine went on to state that the the service’s ISO:9001 registered Quality Management System was regularly audited by the British Standards Institute and the next audit was due in June.
· With regards to accommodation, Members were advised that there were ongoing discussions about the team possibly moving to Waterford House or staying at Shute End. Five West Berkshire surveyors continued to be based at the West Berkshire Council offices, although much of their time was spent working remotely. The support team was based in Wokingham Borough Council offices. The service was working towards having the whole team located in one area.
· All staff now had a Building Control Solutions email address (firstname.surname@bcsolutions.org.uk). In addition the service now had a new single telephone number 0300 7900 580 to ease the customer experience.
· Councillor Halsall suggested that the Councils’ websites should include a link to the Building Control Solutions portal.
· Processes and procedures were being reviewed and revised to align to the Tascomi IT system, stepping towards a single set of processes and procedures delivering efficiencies and consistent service delivery. Councillor Cole asked why this had not been done earlier in the process and was informed that the work in this area could not be completed until full implementation of Tascomi had been achieved with the inclusion of RBWM Council. Councillor Somner questioned whether the outcome of the review could inform the meeting on 26 March and was informed that it would not have an impact on decisions other than the fact that it was more efficient to run a single system rather than two.
RESOLVED: That the current position of the transformation programme be noted.