My report to council

Posted By: Keith Swift
Date Posted: 07/10/2008

Thank you Mr Mayor for the opportunity to report to the Council the latest developments on various matters relating to the Townships and Corporate Management Portfolio.

PERFORMANCE AND DEVELOPMENT

· Township Management continues to progress devolution across all 4 Townships. Each Township is in the process of reviewing its Township Plan’s priorities through consultation with local people, officers and councillors. Township Plans have been considered by all 4 Township Committees over the last 3 months. Officers in the different services continue to work closely with the councillors to develop actions to implement Township priorities; and identifying actions for implementation and monitoring systems during 2008/09

· The Council has been awarded Level 4 of the Equality Standard to the Council. Only 14% of local councils have achieved this standard.

· We have launched the of Community Cohesion strategy (July).

· We have published Townships Profiles which reflect the individual characteristics of those localities in terms of their economic, social and environmental conditions. The profiles also pick out the areas where townships differ significantly.

· We have published Aiming High Rochdale Borough Council’s corporate strategy. The strategy sets out our priorities and the contribution the Council will make in the next 3 years to our Community Strategy Pride of Place.

· We continue to drive forward the Council’s change programme Stepping Up. The first cohort has completed the enterprising leadership programme and the participants feedback has been excellent. Participants have found it inspiring and it has given them confidence to make changes in their workplace.

· We have refreshed Local Matters to make it more attractive to read and more informative for citizens.

· Township Communications Strategy is now focusing Township Managers on delivering improved communications at a township level

· The new Centre for Learning and Development has opened and we are focusing on supporting all council staff to maximise their potential and deliver Stepping Up




PEOPLE MANAGEMENT

Implementation of Trent HR System

Progress is being made with the implementation of the new computerised HR system and the second phase of the project as part of the People Management Transformation Programme has started.

The system will be web-based and some of the key benefits will include on-line recruitment and for managers to access better information about absence management, staffing levels, and overtime. The new system will also make life easier for staff and managers by letting people check payslips, check and change personal details at any time, book leave, request training and much more.

· A joint Impact Partnership and Council Project team are co-located in Municipal offices and training for staff involved is taking place, including system demonstrations for staff and Services.

· The design work and testing is now underway for the web-version upgrade of Trent 10.5 with Impact IT Consultants and the Trent Team in preparation for implementation in October.

· The first module (recruitment) will be introduced from October 2008 and there will be a rolling programme of new modules implemented throughout the 12 months thereafter. These include:- health and safety, learning and development and discipline and grievance.

Implementation of Local Government Pension Scheme Changes

Letters have been sent to all employees about the changes and their banding payment. In addition, casual employees have been taken out of the scheme and notified as per the new rules.

Staff Register of interests

In line with Audit Commission guidance in relation to the standards of conduct required of employees working for a body carrying out public functions, People Management are working with staff from Legal and Democratic and communications in Performance and Development to send all staff a questionnaire to declare any personal or business interests so these can be registered and maintained as part of the HR system.

Delivery of Pay & Grading Review

This massive challenge for the Authority involves:-

· Ensuring the Members are fully aware of the potential and the challenge posed by the Pay and Grading Review. Further Group Briefings will be arranged, and Lead Members will be updated regularly.
· Implementation of new grading structure for approximately 6000 employees
· Modernisation allowances and benefits
· Develop pay market data to ensure the organisation remains competitive
· Introduction of new arrangements for pay protection
· Responding to current and future legal risks from employees
· Responsibility to manage potential industrial relations challenge
· Ensuring that senior managers are equipped to respond to the demands within their service.
· Assessing the Authority’s future best interest both within existing national pay bargaining machinery
· Developing new and more realistic relationships with trade unions
· Developing a strong employer platform as a basis for effective future arrangements as development of the Council’s workforce.
· Develop and refine Communication Strategy
· Continuing to work within AGMA and with other authorities to share information/ co-ordinate strategic level options.

The work on the Pay and Grading Review is now approaching a critical phase with planning being undertaken regarding the delivery of the next phase of activity, which will involve the communication of the Council’s proposals to the employees affected as part of a mass consultation exercise. The Council will then consider the outcome of this process before making final decisions regarding the implementation of the Review.

PEOPLE’S CHAMPION TEAM

Information has been posted on the RMBC website on the role of The People’s Champion Team and the new policy and procedures and as a result the team are receiving telephone calls daily from both members of the public and RMBC staff for advice on the new complaints procedure, and how to deal with or make a complaint.

Most complaints received by the team are still at stages 1 and 2 of the procedure and are passed to the service concerned to deal with, supported and monitored by the People’s Champion Team. The team have also dealt with two stage 3 appeal investigations, one has been completed and the other is ongoing. In their role as the Council’s link with the Local Government Ombudsman, the team have also co-ordinated the Council’s response to three investigations being undertaken by the Ombudsman and dealt with complaints referred back to the Council as ‘premature’.

The Team are also planning further staff training sessions, including Local Government Ombudsman training for investigating officers to ensure all complaint investigations undertaken are of a consistently high standard.

The online customer feedback form for all types of feedback is proving successful and is being used by customers to contact us with complaints, comments and compliments, as is the generic e-mail address: feedback.council@rochdale.gov.uk. Statistics show an increase of 37% in people using the online feedback form in May compared with April, and an increase of 50% in people contacting us using the new e-mail address. Complaints continue to be the main reason for feedback, however there was a 13% increase in comments received in May compared with April, which would previously have been unrecorded.

LEGAL SERVICES

Legal Services supports the maintenance and promotion of high standards of conduct and good corporate governance throughout the Authority. Legal Services also continues to be very closely involved in a number of high profile projects across the Council including: Building Schools for the Future; the redevelopment of Rochdale Town Centre; Kingsway Business Park; and Street lighting PFI.


The Service is engaged in a comprehensive programme of service improvement following a fundamental strategic review. The key elements of this include:

· Ensuring financial stability to enable the Service as a whole to plan and make investments for the future, including the implementation of a new document management system and electronic legal resource materials. This, however, is being made more difficult by the national economic slowdown and depressed housing market which is making it extremely challenging to balance the Land Charges budget.

· Completion of the VFM reviews across the Service. This has highlighted a small number of areas for improvement which are now being addressed.

· Implementing the “Going Local” agenda which has seen the Council’s Standards Committee taking greater responsibility for dealing with issues of Member conduct than has hitherto been the case. Unfortunately, no additional resource has been made available by the Government for this increased role which is likely to place the Service’s budget under greater pressure this year. The Service has also supported the Standards Committee in carrying out another recruitment exercise for new Independent Members.

· The Services’ Business Continuity Plan is reviewed and updated on a regular basis. In addition Legal Services has undergone a test of the plan in an exercise led by the Practice Manager and the Emergency Planning Team. Democratic Services will undergo a test of their emergency plan in the Autumn.

· The Service has a strong history of staff development with a number of members of staff starting off in the ‘old’ junior pool and qualifying as solicitors or legal executives. The Service now has two newly qualified solicitors and another two undertaking examination courses. The Service also has a career structure for Legal Assistants which is linked to qualification as Legal Executives (although this may be changed as a result of pay and grading). In addition, one of the junior participants on the corporate programme has recently been offered, and accepted, a permanent position within the Land Charges section.

· Staff training needs continue to be identified and taken forward on a six monthly basis as part of the Performance and Development Review process which every member of staff undertakes twice a year. In addition, all members of staff have the opportunity to attend and participate in regular internal training sessions on legal topics. These sessions continue to be very well attended and as Legal Services is now accredited by the Law Society to award Continuing Professional Development points (which all solicitors and legal executives are required to gain throughout a year) this has reduced the need for fee earners to attend costly external courses. In the past few months, both the Chief Executive and the Borough Solicitor have presented well received courses on advocacy/presentation skills and public procurement law and practice, respectively. Other well received courses have included different topics across the fields of planning, licensing and employment law. Future topics will include Freedom of Information, money laundering and litigation.

· The Service adopts a pro-active approach to the management of sickness absence and Corporate and Service targets and actuals are communicated to



staff on a regular basis. As such, whilst there is no room for complacency, the Service continues to record low levels of sickness absence and exceeded both the corporate and Service targets during 2007/8.

· Over the next few months the Service will focus on developing its workforce and succession plans. Preliminary work on this has started, although full implementation may be delayed depending upon the timing of the pay and grading consultations with staff.

BUSINESS PARTNERSHIPS

The challenge for everyone involved in procurement is to deliver innovative opportunities which embrace sustainable procurement and value for money but not at the cost of quality to support the Council’s strategic vision. The Service is developing a new Corporate Procurement Strategy which will set out a framework in which we can achieve this through a combination of contract management, collaborative arrangements and long-term strategic partnerships, maximising opportunities whilst taking account of economic, social and environmental issues. Members will be consulted on this in the near future.

The development of the new proposed New Municipal Offices is progressing with the appointment of Pennine Land as Programme Co-ordinator and the Impact Partnership as Project Managers. The Business Case for the new buildings is progressing through the Council’s approval process.

In addition, we have recently seconded Mark Widdup into the role of Transformation Programme Director who will have overall responsibility for the delivery of Stepping Up, Business Transformation and the new Municipal Buildings. Mark will quickly establish a Transformation Programme Office which will enable the overall transformation agenda to be managed effectively.

EQUALITIES AND DIVERSITY

In June, Rochdale Council was externally assessed as having reached level four of the Equality Standard for Local Government. Only 14% of all metropolitan authorities in England have achieved level four or five status.
The Council's policies and processes were examined to determine how fair and equal services and employment practices are in the organisation, regardless of age, disability, gender, race, religion, belief or sexual orientation. The assessment process looked at leadership and corporate commitment, community engagement and accountability, service delivery and customer care, employment and training.
The Equality Standard has five levels, which exist to ensure fair and good quality service delivery and employment is mainstreamed across the council.
Achieving level 4 is a great achievement that reflects the council’s commitment to equality and testament to the hard work and effort put in by our staff. However, we are not complacent and our aim is to now go on and achieve level five.
The result is a robust foundation; however a good deal of hard work lies ahead. We believe that equality should be part of the fabric of the organisation and be reflected in the way we work, provide services and recruit staff. The achievement of Level 4 shows the hard work and commitment of the Service Equality Contacts (Equalities Champions) across the organisation.
TOWNSHIPS

Devolution to Township Committees continued to develop through the first half of this year guided by the outcomes of the Township Chairs and Portfolio Holder’s review meeting on 29th January 2008.

Discussions at the Township Chairs and Portfolio Holder’s Meeting – 24th June 2008 focused on the Projects Stage 2 Action Plan development in the areas of :

Commissioning
Devolved budgets and reporting
Communications
Resources

I am pleased to report that Services are liaising and working more closely with Townships to define the detail of the projects in support of the Township Plans which will be developed and drawn into the decision making, budget and service planning processes for the next period.




Thank you.
Councillor Keith Swift