Issue - meetings

(i)              That this report and the successes evidenced, be acknowledged.

(ii)             That the lessons learned and the need to continuously improve as the One Council programme closes, be acknowledged.

(iii)           That service level change and delivery of improvement moves into business as usual as teams use the skills they have learned through this process to challenge them selves and others to continue to make positive change, be noted.

(iv)           That the significant efforts of Council teams involved in the transformation, be celebrated and endorsed.

(v)             That it be agreed that Agile becomes the espoused project methodology across NULBC, along with knowledge of the tools used to deliver the One Council Programme – Refresher training be offered to Business Managers to ensure the required adoption.

(vi)           That it be approved that the Benefits Tracker continues to be used to capture opportunities organisation wide to ensure their delivery and inclusion into succession programmes and Efficiency Boards.

(vii)          That the Programme governance, approach and dashboard model is emulated in the One Council Green, Digital and Commercial follow-on Programmes, be agreed.

(viii)        That the report be referred to the Finance, Assets and Performance Scrutiny Committee.

The Leader introduced a report providing a review of the One Council Programme and the next steps.   The programme had arisen from how the Council had changed its operations during the Covid pandemic, working in different ways.  The One Council Programme was then set up to make savings across the Council without affecting, but improving front line services.

In its present form, the One Council Programme would come to an end this year and through the life of the programme £1.17m in overall savings had been made each year.  This had been achieved by looking at the processes of the Council including a revamped website with all services available on it.  New technology had also helped out on the streets with streetscene, the dog wardens and town wardens all working together. 

One Council would continue in other forms under three work streams – One Green Council, Digital One Council and Commercial One Council.

Councillor Sweeney stated that the One Council Programme had been the finest achievement of this administration where an initial spend of £1.2m had created savings of £1.17m each year.

Councillor Hutchison stated that Streetscene were first to review their processes.  These included fly tipping removal and investigations, graffiti removal and litter bin emptying.  Referring to the litter bin emptying, Councillor Hutchison stated that route planning/emptying had saved approximately 499 hours; £1,500 in fuel costs and approximately 3.14 tonnes of carbon.  The One Council Programme allowed the Council to know where each litter bin was located digitally and when it required emptying. 

Resolved:    (i)       That this report and the successes evidenced, be

acknowledged.

(ii)              That the lessons learned and the need to continuously

improve as the One Council programme closes, be acknowledged.

(iii)           That service level change and delivery of improvement moves into business as usual as teams use the skills they have learned through this process to challenge themselves and others to continue to make positive change, be noted.

(iv)           That the significant efforts of Council teams involved in the transformation, be celebrated and endorsed.

(v)             That it be agreed that Agile becomes the espoused project methodology across NULBC, along with knowledge of the tools used to deliver the One Council Programme – Refresher training be offered to Business Managers to ensure the required adoption.

(vi)           That it be approved that the Benefits Tracker continues to be used to capture opportunities organisation wide to ensure their delivery and inclusion into succession programmes and Efficiency Boards.

(vii)          That the Programme governance, approach and dashboard model is emulated in the One Council Green, Digital and Commercial follow-on Programmes, be agreed.

(viii)        That the report be referred to the Finance, Assets and Performance Scrutiny Committee.

Watch the debate here