Agenda and minutes

Members are asked to declare any interest and the nature of that interest which they may have in any of the items under consideration at this meeting.

There were none.

To confirm the Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 27 April 2022.

The minutes of the previous meeting held on 27 April 2022 were agreed as a true and accurate record of the meeting.

To receive communications from the Chair.

There were none.

a)    Library Support Services

b)    DTI

At the Chair’s invitation, the Library Services Manager presented the report and explained that the front-line library service and associate staff had been disaggregated since vesting day, April 2021. Members were being asked to approve the recommendation to re-profile the hosted Library Support Service disaggregation. The Library Services Manager explained that no disaggregation activity work had taken place so far in terms of the Library Support Service currently hosted by West Northamptonshire Council. He explained that under the new Communities and Opportunities directorate, transformation resource would be allocated within the libraries department. In addition, a detailed impact assessment would be presented to the Shared Services Joint Committee later in the year, detailing the timeline for disaggregation that was forecasted for completion by April 2023.

The Library Services Manager concluded his report and invited members to ask questions. Members questioned the reasoning for the lack of disaggregation activity work. The Library Services Manager explained that it was due to a lack of resource available to undertake the work. Members asked when the report relating to the timeline of disaggregation would be brought back to the committee and the Library Services Manager confirmed a report would be brought to the next meeting on 13 July 2022.

The Chair then invited the Director of Transformation, NNC to present the joint change request for the Digital, Technology and Innovation (DTI) service. Countywide services included digital, business systems, hosted services, strategy, and architecture. The report detailed the request for immediate changes to the DTI blueprint, as highlighted in the table in section 5.1. The original blueprint had West Northamptonshire Council listed as the Lead for the service, and the request sought for the blueprint to be amended to a disaggregated model for the Shared Joint Services Committee to consider and approve. The Director of Transformation, NNC highlighted that the report outlined the national implications once the digital service had disaggregated, and the service had been allocated to a digital team for West Northamptonshire and North Northamptonshire, and the intention to fund the Children’s Trust which operated countywide.

The Director of Transformation, NNC explained that DTI were also requesting a commission programme team and consultancy to look at options for the remaining areas of the blueprint. Proposals had been discussed previously at the Shared Service Joint Committee as well as detailed in their progress reports that were presented on a quarterly basis. The Director of Transformation, NNC highlighted the IT Disaggregation Discovery timeline in section 7 of the report and explained the consultancy would be in place within 6 weeks of the committee approving the decision.

Members questioned the need for a consultancy team and requested more information. The Director of Transformation, NNC explained that an independent review on systems and shared systems would provide a timeline for delivery, detailed cost implications and suggestions on how we build the service.  The findings would be presented in a report and the independent view would then be brought to the Shared Services Joint Committee for consideration. Members asked  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

a)    Public Health Management Commissioning and Admin Variation Notice

b)    Public Health Wellbeing Services Variation Notice

The Deputy Chief Executive and Executive Director for Adults, Communities and Wellbeing introduced the report and invited the Consultant for Public Health to present the request for the disaggregation of Public Health Management. The Consultant for Public Health explained that there were two recommendations for the two areas, Public Health Management Commission and Admin Services and Public Health Wellbeing Services. Over the past 6 months, Public Health had looked at options for service going forward and had undertaken an impact assessment, employed consultant staff, and reviewed implications. The findings proposed that Public Health goes ahead with the disaggregation of services, with new Directors of Public Health being recruited in the Councils, the disaggregation would allow the Directors to determine their respective delivery models going forward. In line with this, the service would be disaggregated by 30 September. The Consultant for Public Health shared that both areas have around 50/60 members of staff and the HR process would start following the approval of the report.

RESOLVED: That the Shared Services Joint Committee:

(1)  Approve the disaggregation of Public Health Management, Commissioning and Admin by 30th September 2022.

(2)  Granted delegated authority to the Monitoring Officers for North and West Northamptonshire Councils to put into place a deed of variation to the Inter Authority Agreement (IAA) for the service to exit the IAA schedule 2C3.

(3)  Approved that both WNC and NNC will act in accordance with service Plans and any Collaborative Working Agreements agreed by both WNC and NNC service leads and approved by Monitoring Officers.

Amendments:

a)    S106 Place Development Management (Schedule 2)

b)    Performance Report for Q4 2021/2022

-       Libraries

-       Minerals and Waste Planning

-       AMPHS

At the Chair’s invitation, the Assistant Director of Growth and Regeneration introduced the report and explained that Schedule 2 of the Inter Authority Agreements (IAA) related to the Section 106 Development Management function, which the former County Council delivered, covering services such as education, libraries, the fire and rescue service and highways and excludes other Section 106 contributions managed by district and borough councils such as leisure and so on. In relation to the former County Section 106 functions, these services were in a hosted arrangement by North Northamptonshire Council. The IAA Schedule 2 followed the standard format and the Shared Services Joint Committee resolved at a previous meeting that the service would be disaggregated by September 2022. The Assistant Director of Growth and Regeneration shared that the service agreement had a short lifespan from now until September and concluded his report.

Members asked for assurance that the disaggregation would take place as promised. The Assistant Director of Growth and Regeneration confirmed that they were on track working to the target of September 2022.

The Chair then invited the Assistant Chief Executive to present the Performance Report for Q4 2021/2022. The Assistant Chief Executive summarised the report and explained that there was an error in the purpose section of the report, and this would be rectified in the minutes outside of the meeting.

The Chair asked the Assistant Director of Growth and Regeneration to outline the minerals and waste plan. He highlighted page 67 of the report, which detailed 3 KPIs and reported that the amber rag rating for MWP3 outturn performance was due to archaeology consultations being submitted outside of the timeframe. He explained that there was one archaeologist currently working across the county. Overall, the current performance for 2021/2022 was above target. 

Next the Chair invited the Principal Social Worker for Adults presented the Approved Mental Health Professionals (AMPHs) performance report as detailed on page 61 of the report. The Principal Social Worker for Adults explained there are four performance indicators in the IAA, and the KPI relating to the provision of resource had been recorded as amber in the second and fourth quarters of 2021/22. She continued that the indicator tasked the area with providing data each day, but this had not happened on a couple of occasions due to staff leave and occasions of sickness. The Principal Social Worker for Adults confirmed that within the social care teams it had been agreed there would be a greater contribution to the rota. In terms of the AMPH3 which had a red indicator, she explained that this was in relation to staff being trained and authorised per year, to ensure that staffing continued to remain in place. Over the last year, 5 workers had completed the course and four AMPHs were expected to be authorised, however due to sickness and Covid-19, this did not happen. The Principal Social Worker for Adults assured that there would be regular meetings with the Team Manager and colleagues in WNC and a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

The Chair to advise whether they have agreed to any items of urgent business being admitted to the agenda.

There were no other items of business.