(a)

the Corporate Structure had been in existence since April 2009 and covered five areas including Customer Services and Business Transformation; Finance, Assets and Efficiencies; ICT; Human Resources and Organisational Development and Democracy and Governance. Assistant Directors had been employed in these five areas since January 2010;

(b)

Corporate Support’s net spend was £32,297m, which was approximately one sixth of the council’s overall net spend of £200m, however, the gross budget of Corporate Support was the biggest of any of the council departments due to the allocation of benefits;

(c)

in 2009/10 Corporate Support significantly under spent but remained on target to achieve the set delivery plans. In 2010/11 there have been increased demands as a result of a rise in in-year savings and the effects of budget constraints have created a great challenge in achieving the set delivery plans;

(d)

the department have been involved in many key achievements over the past 12 months, including –

·         

the new competency appraisal process, which had full agreement from the trade unions;

·         

the sale of Citybus and the housing stock transfer to Plymouth Community Homes;

·         

the Registration Service received a good inspection;

·         

the Cashier Service have received accreditation, becoming the first cashier service in the UK to do so;

·         

the Customer Service team received an excellence award;

·         

both the Corporate Property & Capital Projects and Legal & Risk Management Services have received ISO 9001, which had been regarded as an excellent achievement;

·         

the FISH programme which had been trialled in Customer Services had worked really well and the possibility of rolling it out over the rest of the authority was being looked into;

·         

there had been a 99% availability across all core systems within the department;

(e)

there were some significant challenges and priorities ahead in the department, including –

·         

the need to be flexible when dealing with economic challenges, this had been demonstrated with decision made by central government regarding Building Schools for the Future;

·         

major investment in ICT was required to maintain the departments standards and to ensure that the department had the capacity to provide the support that was required;

·         

the growing public demand for services despite the budget constraints within the department was challenging;

·         

implementing changes to policies and procedures to ensure that there was a more flexible approach;

·         

adopting a new constitution;

(f)

Corporate Support was trying to achieve all of the delivery plans, challenges and priorities with pace, by using joined up working, improving staff attitudes and motivation and by incorporating a ‘one version of the truth’ ethos into all the work undertaken in order to become more customer aware and provide the best standard of work possible;

(g)

these delivery plans and future achievements were being targeted by focusing on, amongst others –

·         

hot-desking, as  ...  view the full minutes text for item 19.

(a)

the three strategies formed the common core of a corporate approach to transformation. This transformation was focused on three key areas service delivery, structural and cultural transformation;

(b)

the Accommodation Strategy began in June 2009 and a detailed business case and timeline were being followed. A report is going to Cabinet in August 2010 with the aim of creating a cultural change in the authority improving the way the council works and saves money;

(c)

the cultural change was demonstrated through the transformation on floor 5 in the Civic Centre which had created a more spacious and comfortable environment for staff as a result of hot-desking and an open-plan office. The change on floor 5 was designed by staff themselves in consultation with unions and provided a great example as to what the Accommodation Strategy could achieve;

(d)

the cultural change in offices were based on the ratio of eight desks to 10 people, and as an authority the aim was to implement this across the council and reduce the use of major council buildings to three relinquishing six council satellite offices, this change would generate huge financial savings;

(e)

joined up working, shared services and co-location with the Health organisations was being sought as this would increase money saving potential;

(f)

the strategy aimed to save money through the following revenue saving options –

·         

reduction in building lease costs;

·         

reduction in rates, operational costs and energy costs, thus improving the council’s carbon footprint and also creating a reduction in carbon tax liability;

·         

less PC’s, printers and licenses through hot-desking and also a reduction in repairs and maintenance;

·         

potential capital receipts through the sale of buildings;

(g)

it was anticipated that the revenue savings would start to accrue from 2011/12;

(h)

in order for the Accommodation Strategy to be successful it was vital that it worked in partnership with the People’s Strategy and the ICT Strategy. A great improvement was required in ICT provisioned functionality in order for the Accommodation Strategy to be implemented fully;

(j)

invest to save options were key to the ICT Strategy being successful in achieving its objectives which were –

·         

to ensure value for money was being achieved;

·         

to create improved joined up working internally and externally with partners to ensure assets were being re-used and shared appropriately;

·         

to exploit all information provided ensuring that information was reliable and from a trustworthy source;

·         

to reduce the risks from ICT equipment failures;

(k)

there was universal agreement for the need to invest in ICT.  However, it was understood that the Accommodation Strategy represented only one of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 20.