Report of Head of Service Transformation

Council received a report from Cabinet held on 4 June 2018, which was accompanied by the Head of Service Transformation’s original report to Cabinet.  There was one recommendation to Council.

RESOLVED –

that the financial resources necessary to deliver the programme as set out in section 8 of the report to Cabinet be approved.

Report of Head of Service Transformation

A report of the Head of Service Transformation was received.  Councillor Watkin introduced the report and praised the Watford 2020 Team for the work that had been done leading up to the report.  Following the collection of a huge amount of data, work would now focus on the detail of how to deliver and schedule the programme.  Councillor Watkin explained that there would be an investment of £1.92m which would result in an ongoing baseline budget reduction of £1.21m.  The aim was to achieve transformation of the council and how its services were perceived by the community, it was the beginning of an exciting period for the authority.

The Mayor commended the report for its focus on improving provision for residents and not on cost reduction.

The Head of Service Transformation explained that the business case and operating model showed how the vision of Watford 2020 could be delivered.  The programme was about delivering a sustainable organisation which addressed the expectations of customers, enabled the use of technology to deliver services and delivered the expected financial savings as included in the Medium Term Financial Strategy.  The delivery of the transformation was ambitious and required investment.  However, the savings could be delivered without cutting services and whilst maintaining and enhancing service delivery.  There would be a reduction in the staffing establishment, however, Leadership Team understood the implications and were looking to minimise redundancies.  A core part of the transformation was enabling customers to self-serve but it was not about closing communication channels and customers would continue to have the choice to transact  by telephone or face-to-face.  From the point of view of officers, it was about agile and flexible working and making the most of the systems available.

Cabinet discussed the £300,000 revenue income referred to in the report and it was explained that a consultant commercial adviser would be appointed to help take ideas from officers and work them into business propositions.  The contract for the consultant would be completed within two to three months.  The Managing Director commented that a consultant was needed as there were substantial amounts of work required on the business case and risk management for the ideas and additional capacity was needed.  The arrangement would follow a similar model of support provided by Lambert Smith Hampton to the Property Investment Board which was working well.

            RESOLVED

            That Cabinet:

1.         Approves the Watford 2020 business case, future operating model and implementation plan.

2.         Agrees that the above approval allows the Watford 2020 programme to progress to tranche 2, the detailed design and implementation as outlined in the implementation plan.

3.         Agrees that the financial resource necessary to deliver the programme as set out in section 8 of the report is presented to Full Council for approval on 10 July 2018.