Agenda item

Trading Standards, Environmental Health and Licensing

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 1st April 2022.

 

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;

 

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.

Minutes:

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 be achieved and felt that it was important to have a back up set of arrangements in place should the move to a standalone service encounter problems achieving the timescales or in finding the appropriate staff to perform the new function.  He emphasised that the proposed Working Group should look at all possible options including whether it was possible to improve the current service, whether it would be possible to use elements of the Public Protection Partnership Service, or whether a standalone service was achievable.  Lindsay Ferris expressed concerns regarding the likely additional costs of developing a standalone service and sought further clarification on that issue.

 

Prue Bray stated that not enough had been done to resolve the issues with the Partnership before taking irreversible action.  The Shared Service had originally been put in place because an in-house service had not been working.  She was of the view that the proposals would result in a less resilient service with less specialist staff.  Nevertheless, she felt that there were things which could be done in-house to improve service delivery to residents, but a proper plan and costings was required.

 

John Halsall, proposer of the original recommendations, did not accept the amendments.

 

Stephen Conway commented that leaving the Public Protection Partnership may be the correct action but there was a need to establish if this was the case.

 

John Kaiser stated that he was in favour of the original recommendations and that nothing could be progressed until notice had been served. He felt that bringing the service in-house would help to create a stronger enforcement service.

 

Gary Cowan agreed with John Kaiser regarding enforcement but felt that more time needed to be taken to look at the different options available.

 

John Halsall emphasised that there was a wish to retain the parts of the service that worked well.  However, under the existing agreement negotiations were not permitted until notice had been served.  There was a need to choose local priorities and he believed that the proposed amendment would increase costs.

 

Upon being put to the vote, the amendment was lost.

 

Rachel Burgess commented that whilst insourcing could help develop public services, she questioned why the Public Partnership had been in place for so long if it were considered not fit for purpose.  She also expressed concern regarding the additional £500,000 required to fund the transition.  She went on to question whether there would be any detrimental effects on staffing.

 

Andy Croy expressed concern that the Public Protection Partnership had not been scrutinised and the proposals had not been through Scrutiny.

 

John Halsall emphasised that staff were a core resource and that there was a need to have control of decision making.

 

Parry Batth stated that the time was right to bring services back inhouse.

 

Upon being put to the vote, it was:

 

RESOLVED:  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;

 

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.

 

Supporting documents: