Issue - meetings

To provide an update to the Joint Committee on the three year business plan for Orbis which is now complete following a review of work in progress by the Joint Committee in October 2017.  Approval of the business plan is necessary, in order for the partnership to continue integration of services to deliver the benefits specified.

The Committee considered the revised Business Plan introduced by Kevin Foster.  

Witnesses:

Kevin Foster, Chief Operating Officer, East Sussex County Council

Adrian Stockbridge, Orbis Programme Manager

David Kuenssberg, Executive Director of Finance and Resources, Brighton & Hove City Council

Sheila Little, Director of Finance, Orbis and Surrey County Council

Key points raised during the discussion:

1.    Officers introduced the Plan which had been produced in the Orbis style to tell the story of what Orbis is and why it is different, together with the culture and values that underpin it.  The report also provided a draft Performance Framework and benchmarking information, requested by the Committee at a previous meeting.

2.    Members remarked that a key consideration was an ability to demonstrate the value added to services by Orbis, particularly when the more straightforward efficiency savings have been realised. 

3.    A timetable, setting out the state of services that have been and are to be integrated was suggested.  Officers advised that, at a Head of Service level, they were aware of the timescales for integration and the steps required to reach those targets. 

4.    Officers advised that the aim of the partnership was to adopt as much consistency as possible, with the recognition that there would be areas that would remain particular to each authority partner. 

5.    Officers set out the engagement with staff that was planned, and highlighted the material at Appendix 2, to assist Heads of Service and other managers enthuse their staff.  A meeting with the new Surrey Chief Executive has been scheduled.    

6.    Officers confirmed that the focus had been on ensuring that Orbis functioned efficiently in assisting the partner authorities deal with business as usual in the face of increasing service demand and reducing budgets, rather than expanding its client base. 

7.    Officers set out the public service ethos behind Orbis, and the desire for staff to be able to concentrate on delivering services rather than producing metrics.  The integration of BHCC as the final founding partner now allows their staff to focus on business as usual, rather than the process of integration.  

8.    Members asked questions about the maturity assessment, and in particular the processes and control element.  Officers set out that the criteria used to measure that are the same as for leading edge private sector companies.  Historically, local authorities have had a high  tolerance of user error when customers access services: this is time-consuming to correct but keeps complaint levels low.      

Actions/further information to be provided:

Spectrum of Integration of departments 

RESOLVED:

Members approved the Business Plan for 2018/19-2020/21.

Report by the Chief Operating Officer.

35.1     The Orbis Programme Manager introduced report which gives an update on the development of a revised Business Plan for the Orbis partnership, which now includes Brighton and Hove City Council (BHCC) as well as East Sussex County Council (ESCC) and Surrey County Council (SCC). The Orbis partnership provides a shared service for back office functions (Finance, IT & Digital, Property, Procurement, Human Resources and Business Operations) for the three partners. The draft Orbis Business Plan was presented to the Orbis Joint Committee in October and a final version will be presented to the Orbis Joint Committee in January 2018. The savings for the 2018/19 financial year remain the same as in the original business plan and represent a 17% reduction in baseline budgets.

35.2     The contribution and investment ratios in the original business plan are ESCC 30% and SCC 70%. With BHCC joining Orbis, the contribution ratios are predicted to be in the region of ESCC 24%, SCC 56% and BHCC 20%. The revised business plan provides a ten year vision for Orbis, and includes the financial years 2019/20 and 2020/21 which have been identified as requiring additional savings.

35.3     The Committee asked what input it would be able to have into the final version of the business plan. The Chief Operating Officer outlined that there is a current adopted business plan covering 2018/19 and the Committee could ask through the RPPR process for further savings in 2018/19. If further savings are required then this will have an impact on services. The Committee can also discuss what additional savings the partnership can deliver in 2019/20 to 2020/21 and the impact this would have on particular service areas.

35.4     The Committee noted the requirement for ESCC to make further savings of £36 million over the 2019/20 to 2020/21 financial years and asked if the other partners faced similar financial pressures. The Orbis Programme Manager responded that all three partners have similar financial pressures. SCC is already in the same position as ESCC and BHCC not far from requiring additional savings.

35.5     The Chief Operating Officer commented that the RPPR process next year will tackle this through the areas of search for further savings, but there will be service implications if back office support is reduced further. Orbis is currently developing Service Catalogues which look at where there are areas of choice in service levels and where there are professional standards or statutory guidelines where it is not possible to reduce services further. It will be for the Orbis Joint Committee to oversee how Orbis responds to requirements of the three authorities. The RPPR Board can scrutinise and consider the opportunities for further savings.

35.6     The Lead Member for Resources added that it is important to look at how the Council can make savings without jeopardising day to day services and the ability to make bigger savings. Reductions in the back office services will not bridge the savings gap on their own, and it will be important to consider the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 35

This report provides an update to the Orbis Joint Committee on the development of a revised business plan and progress made on the key elements developed to date.

Declarations of interest:

None

Witnesses:

Kevin Foster, Chief Operating Officer, East Sussex County Council

Sheila Little, Director of Finance for Orbis and Surrey County Council

David Kuenssberg, Executive Director of Finance and Resources, Brighton & Hove City Council

Adrian Stockbridge, Orbis Programme Manager, Surrey County Council

Gail Perryman, Orbis Programme Co-ordinator, East Sussex County Council

Key points raised during the discussion:

1.            Officers introduced the report and explained the key components of the refreshed business plan.  It was highlighted that there were currently no financial details within the business plan, although officers recognised the ongoing austerity with local government funding and were therefore working on an assumption that further savings options would be required by each of the Sovereign Partners.  Areas of search for a further 2-8% saving being required in 2019/20 and 2020/21 will be firmed up during the Medium Term Financial Planning process.

2.            Members noted that by the end of 2019, the partnership will have delivered 20% saving on gross costs without impacting on service delivery and that there would come a point where it would not be possible for further efficiencies to made in some areas purely through the creation of the shared service and service integration.

3.            Members questioned the management structure and suggested there was a lack of clarity about the challenges ahead and direction of leadership.  Officers explained that each partner authority had ownership with three sovereign leads.  The leads work together to provide strategic direction, whilst acting individually to address sovereign-specific challenges.

4.            Members suggested added granularity in the business plan with greater detail would be more useful.  The inclusion of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) would allow Members to assess whether the partnership was on track. 

5.            Members acknowledged that within Business Operations, there were over 100 KPIs to measure performance, whilst in areas such as finance, as the nature of the business was different, those KPIs were less relevant and developed.  The Orbis Programme Director explained that performance metrics across finance, people and risk management were being developed with a view to pulling them into a balanced scorecard document to be able to review easily.

6.            Members were informed that benchmarking was possible in some services, for example IT & Digital, however in other areas, services were working to develop their own.

7.            Officers explained that delivering Centres of Expertise was core to the business model and would enable efficiencies to be delivered. 

8.            Members noted additional income was expected to be generated by Business Operations winning additional business through accounts payable and receivable and pension administration services.  It was acknowledged however, that this was a difficult market with tight margins.

9.            Members suggested that the business plan required consolidating into a smaller, more focussed document, including financials and for this to be reviewed at the next meeting in January 2018.

Actions/ further information to be provided:

Officers to amend the Orbis business plan refresh document based on Member feedback and bring back to the Committee in January 2018.

RESOLVED:

The Members noted  ...  view the full minutes text for item 19

Report by Chief Operating Officer

24.1     The Cabinet considered a report by the Chief Operating Officer together with comments from the Surrey County Council and East Sussex County Council joint scrutiny of the Orbis Programme.

24.2     It was RESOLVED to:

1)            note the three year (2016/17 to 2018/19) Orbis Business Plan which was approved by the Orbis Joint Committee on 28 September 2015; and

2)                 note the need for investment and to approve the roadmap for integration (contained within the Business Plan).

Reason

24.3     Approval of the Business Plan is necessary for the partnership to implement the integration required to deliver the Target Operating Model. The implementation requires investment from both authorities to realise efficiencies through full integration as set out in the Business Plan

To approve the three year (2016/17 – 2018/19) business plan and to recommend the investment proposals and the roadmap for integration, contained in the business plan,  to the Cabinets of East Sussex County Council and Surrey County Council for approval.

The Chief Operating Officer for Orbis introduced the report and outlined the key components of the Business Plan. The Committee discussed the benefits and investment required to deliver the Business Plan. The Chief Operating Officer highlighted that the benefits are based on business efficiencies and do not depend on business growth. The Committee noted that investment in the Business Solutions Platform and the replacement of the existing Enterprise Resource Planning (SAP) system will be subject to a separate business case and approval process.

RESOLVED:

It was resolved:

a)     to approve the three year (2016/17-2018/19) business plan; and

b)     to recommend the investment proposals and the roadmap for integration contained within it to the Cabinets of both Surrey County Council and East Sussex County Council for approval.

Reasons for Decisions:

Approval of the business plan is necessary in order for the partnership to implement the integration required to deliver the Target Operating Model. The implementation requires investment from both authorities to realise efficiencies that will be achieved through full integration as set out in the business plan