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North Tyneside
State of the Area Event 2011State of the Area Event 2011
Post Event Report
November 2011
North Tyneside
State of the Area Event 2011State of the Area Event 2011
Post Event Report
November 2011
09:00 Arrival, Registration and Coffee
09.15 Welcome
Chair of the Council
09.20 Vision for North Tyneside
Linda Arkley, Elected Mayor
North Tyneside
State of the Area Event 2011
The Langdale Centre
7 October
09:45 Growth and Opportunities for New Ways of Partnership Working
Paul Woolston,
Chair of the North Eastern Local Enterprise Partnership
10.30 Introduction to Workshops
Graham Haywood, Chief Executive North Tyneside Council
10:45 Break
11:00 Workshop session A- New Ways of Working
12.00 Lunch
12.45 Workshop session B – New Ways of Working
13:45 Break
14:00 Feedback
14:45 Closing Remarks
Linda Arkley, Elected Mayor
Arrival, Registration and Coffee
North Tyneside
State of the Area Event 2011
The Langdale Centre
7 October
Growth and Opportunities for New Ways of Partnership
Chair of the North Eastern Local Enterprise Partnership
10.30 Introduction to Workshops
Graham Haywood, Chief Executive North Tyneside Council
New Ways of Working
New Ways of Working
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State of the Area Event
Friday 7 October 2011
Langdale Centre
1. Introduction
The North Tyneside State of the Area Event is an annual event to provide an
opportunity for the Council to present its vision and proposals for its Strategic Plan to
key stakeholders from across the borough.
This year’s event provided a platform to discuss what future public services will look
like in North Tyneside and what role the Council and its partners will have to play to
get there.
The event was attended by
• The Elected Mayor and Councillors
• Public Sector organisations
• Business and industry
• Voluntary and community sector organisations
• Area Forum representatives
• Young Cabinet and Deputy Young Mayor
• Faith organisations
• Education - schools and universities
• North Tyneside Strategic Partnership Executive, Theme Chairs and
Coordinators
2. Chair of Council Welcome - Councillor Stirling
Councillor Stirling welcomed people to the event and thanked those who had come
from outside the area for sharing their experience and learning.
3. Vision for North Tyneside – Elected Mayor Linda Arkley
The Elected Mayor outlined the Council’s vision for the future which will focus on making North Tyneside a place where:
• people can grow up, learn and live safely and healthily
• more businesses can grow and be successful
• visitors will come back again and again.
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She outlined that to achieve this commitment, in a challenging financial climate, the Council will need to do things differently and look at alternative ways to deliver some of its services. The Mayor explained that the event will contribute towards delivery of the Council’s priorities for service provision. Future decisions on how services will be delivered or changed are being made as
part of the Council’s Change, Efficiency and Improvement programme.
This has already involved undertaking a full review of every service to consider what
outcomes they deliver for residents, what they cost to deliver and how they compare
with similar services provided around the country.
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4. Growth and Opportunities for New Ways of Partnership Working
Paul Woolston, the Chair of the North Eastern Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP),
was invited to the event to expand traditional ideas of partnership working and
outline the current proposals for the LEP.
Paul stressed the importance of working outside of traditional boundaries and
building on the success of neighbouring partners whether that is on a very local level
or across local authority boundaries.
Paul outlined the aims and ambitions of the LEP and its biggest decision to date
around the proposals for the location of the Local Enterprise Zone (EZ). The EZ will
focus on the low carbon economy and the geographic area will include the North
Bank of the River Tyne. It is predicted that the EZ will create over 7,000 jobs.
Businesses in the EZ will have three opportunities to bid for a capital allowance of £1
million.
The next stage in the development of the LEP is
• Delivering the LEP and Enterprise Zone priorities
• Establishing a support structure
There is also a need to develop a stakeholder engagement programme, as the aim
is to create a LEP that is fully inclusive. The LEP will need to engage with the
voluntary sector and with those businesses and organisations that are not currently
represented.
The aim will be to increase private sector access to finance and a focus on transport,
infrastructure and connectivity.
In conclusion there is no handbook from Government on how to run a LEP. Paul
stressed that the experience is new for many members of the partnership and there
is a strong commitment to learning together.
There then followed a question and answer session with Paul Woolston.
Q. Can we ensure that there is sustainable design around the infrastructure?
A. Paul advised that it would be counter productive for the LEP to agree to support
anything that cuts across the principles of sustainability.
Q. Will the LEP have a lobbying role, especially around the issue of
connectivity?
A. Paul explained that there is no guidance on how the LEP will operate but it is
expected that the LEP will be an advocate for the region. The Government have
been clear that there will be an open door policy for new ideas.
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In terms of transport and wider connectivity the Government has indicated that
from 2015 the LEP will take over responsibility for strategic transport. Paul is keen
that the LEP looks to work outside of traditional boundaries.
Figure 1 Elected Mayor Linda Arkley and Paul Woolston, Chair of the North Eastern Local Enterprise Partnership
Q. What will the LEP do to ensure that no areas get left behind?
A. Paul replied to say that it won’t be for the LEP to determine that a local area
should get a specific building or facility. What it will do is work closely with local
authorities to ensure plans are linked to local priorities.
Q. How will the work of the LEP and its positive messages be shared with a
wider group?
A. Paul explained that while the initial work has been with the business community it
is vital that the work of the LEP is marketed to a wider community. This will be
worked on in the near future.
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Q. What will the LEP do for small businesses?
A. Paul agreed that today’s big business was yesterday’s small medium enterprise
(SME), for example SAGE started with only four people. The key task is around
access to funding and the key feature of the LEP will be around work on the
supply chain.
Q. What third sector engagement will there be on the LEP?
A. Paul agreed that this is something that needs to be addressed. The LEP wants to
harness the ability of the third sector through developing its structures to ensure
their voice is heard in the working groups that will be developed.
Q. Why is the LEP better than anything that has come before?
A. Paul felt that it is still very early days for the LEP but that it was important to note
that the LEP will not be the Regional Development Agency, it will not have the
same staff, funding or infrastructure. Instead it is business led with a lean
organisation. The fact that it is business led is what marks the LEP out as different
to previous economic development groups.
Q. What will the LEP do to ensure that the skills gap between the needs of new
employers and local people is met?
A. Paul explained that as the LEP is still in the development stage, there are many
issues that still need to be worked through. Tackling the skills gap is key and the
partnership will be working towards increasing opportunities for the North East.
As the structure of the partnership is intended to have a number of working groups
that can look at specific issues Paul advised that he would expect that we will look
at that as the priorities and work programme are developed.
Q. What will the LEP do to ensure that there are suitable transport links to new
development sites?
A. Paul advised that the LEP will not let any part of the work programme cut across
the principles of sustainability and the future responsibilities for strategic planning
of transport.
5. Workshops - A New Way of Working
Graham Haywood outlined the purpose of the workshops.
He explained that to respond to the changes in national policy the Council is taking
forward a Change Efficiency and Improvement Programme which is a four year
programme to explore new ways of working to deliver around £40m savings by 2015.
As part of this the Council will be changing the way that it works. It will work with, or
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commission, services from a broader mix of partners from the private, public and
voluntary sector. In this way it will seek to grow and improve services rather than
achieve savings through cuts.
He advised that the Council has started to explore alternative models of delivery and
has invited some other Councils to come and share their experiences in the
workshop sessions.
Delegates then attended two of five workshops to explore how some of these
alternative models may work for North Tyneside and how we may work better with
the voluntary and private sector.
Figure 2 Delegates in the Voluntary Sector as Service Providers Workshop
Below is a summary of the discussions within each workshop (Appendix A gives a
full write up of the sessions).
Workshop A - Xentrall (Public/public partnership between Stockton and
Darlington Councils)
Stockton and Darlington Councils are neighbouring unitary authorities which have a culture of innovation and service improvement. The Councils worked together to form a public sector partnership to deliver key back office transactional services, the partnership is called Xentrall. Xentrall was established in 2010 with a 10 year legal agreement. They have retained the public sector ethos of pride of staff serving
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residents and are happy to deliver under shared service. Elected members were involved from the very start of the process in all areas including governance and overview and scrutiny. Key points:
• A willingness of all stakeholders to allow the partnership to grow and develop
• Develop a simple legal agreement that allows saving efficiencies
• The people involved need the right mindset, be able to focus on solutions and
test everything
• Partners need the tenacity to overcome the challenges e.g. staff terms and
conditions
• Culture change is the key to success - everyone has to be customer focused.
This was not embedded in the services before and has taken a lot of work to
develop and establish
• Agreed to share - anything and everything
• Make sure you pick the right partner for you
• Trust is the key to a successful partnership
Workshop B - Wigan Leisure and Cultural Trust
The Wigan Leisure and Cultural Trust was formed in April 2003 following the
introduction of Best Value. At the time, it was the single largest transfer of leisure
related services into Trust in the country.
The transfer was driven by the desire to achieve a step change in the quality of
services and arrest a long-term decline in participation. It also sought to address
both strategic and financial weaknesses in the provision of the leisure and cultural
portfolio.
Services involved in transfer included sports centres and swimming pools, libraries,
museums, parks, cemeteries, grounds maintenance and a wide range of
development services.
Over the eight years of its existence, the Trust has expanded to take on other
contracts and projects and, in 2010/11, had a turnover in excess of £34m, employing
some 800 staff.
There was a consensus in the workshops that this is a model North Tyneside should
be looking at, it appears to provide the efficiency savings whilst protecting the
services and facilities that we currently have.
Key points
• Accessibility needs to be maintained
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• There was strong support from the voluntary and business sector for this
model
• Make sure the governance is right for what is required
• Make sure the partner relationships are right
• Recognise that it is not an arms length management organisation (ALMO )
but a new model with NTC working in partnership to deliver high quality
services
• The strategic development of leisure services in the borough would remain
with the Council
• If we are going to do this it must be for the right reasons - protecting and
investing
• Keep freedoms and flexibilities and make sure the contract is right
• Learn from other people’s experiences
Workshop C - South Tyneside partnership with BT ( Public /Private)
South Tyneside Council entered into a 10 year Strategic Partnership with BT in
October 2008. The BT South Tyneside partnership is delivering a number of Council
services, including, procurement, ICT, Finance, Human Resources, Customer
Services and Revenues/Benefits. The partnership is also creating jobs and kick
starting a major regeneration programme. There are some similarities with the
Xentrall partnership.
Key points
• Responsibility remains with the Council
• Know what your objectives are
• Culture change is key
• They have found that staff satisfaction is higher then in other parts of the
Council
• A good contract will allow you to work through any problems that you may
have
• It is important to involve staff and members, get their views and act upon them
to help you move forward
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Figure 3 Workshop delegates discuss the future of public services
Workshop D - The Voluntary Sector as Service Providers
With the emergence of the Big Society there is an increasing emphasis on the shift
of power from central government to local people. We have to achieve increasingly
improved and more efficient services with less resources and doing that means we
need to be closely in touch with the people that use the services and thinking
differently about who provides those services.
Working with the voluntary sector to deliver good quality services is part of the
Council’s plan. We already have great examples of where we are doing this
including our work in adult social care and children’s services.
This workshop looked at what we have learned so far and what we might do
differently in the future to develop a more collaborative approach between the
commissioning and delivery of services; particularly considering the role of the
voluntary sector in the future design and delivery of good public services.
Discussions took place around the way the voluntary and community sector has
developed over time in North Tyneside. The conclusion was that the voluntary and
community sector is not one thing. There are clear groupings
• Big and service led
• Small and local
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They are sometimes
• Of a time
• Of an issue
• Of a community /place
Key points
• Active engagement/partnership always improves results
• What should North Tyneside do differently?
o The NTSP should have a clear strategy about how to deal/support
smaller groups and larger providers
o New conversations need to be had around the personalisation of social
care, making the most of assets, infrastructure/funding and how to
make a difference
• Key for success is to nurture transparency, honesty and trust
Workshop E - The Private Sector and Public Services
As public services are increasingly delivered by partnerships with private sector organisations we need to make sure that we are creating the right opportunities in North Tyneside to not only engage and attract major businesses to the borough but also invest and develop our relationships with small and medium enterprises. We already have a strong relationship with businesses within the borough but more needs to be done. This workshop looked at the change in culture required for all partners to develop a more collaborative approach between the private and public sector and look at the procurement opportunities and challenges that lie ahead as the public reform of services is implemented.
This workshop focused on the relationships between small and medium business
and public services.
Key points
• We need to identify the need and how we involve the private sector,
specifically small and medium businesses
• North Tyneside Council needs to improve its approach to planning and
procurement
• Contracting issues need to be resolved
• Smaller businesses require more support in the procurement process
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6. Closing Remarks – Elected Mayor
The Mayor thanked participants for contributing to the discussions throughout the
event.
The content of discussions will contribute towards plans for successful partnerships
that will deliver successful public services for our communities. They will also feed
into North Tyneside Council’s strategic plan for the coming year and our long term
vision.
The Mayor asked that delegates take the issues discussed at the event back to their
groups and organisations and consider their own business and how they may deliver
their services in the future.
7. Evaluation
32 Evaluation forms were received.
94% rated the overall experience of the event as good or very good no one rated it
as poor or very poor.
100% of respondents said they were very likely to attend a future State of the Area
event.
8. Next Steps
North Tyneside Council will be working together over the next four years to
implement the Council’s Change, Efficiency and Improvement Programme.
We will use the learning from the State of the Area event to inform our discussions
with our partners, the voluntary sector and private businesses as we expand our
approach to partnership working, joint ventures and alternative service models and
deliver the Council’s Strategic Plan.
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Appendix A – Workshop Write Up in Full
WORKSHOP A – Xentrall – Public/public partnership between Councils
Ian Coxon Head of Transactional Services at Xentrall gave a background to the
partnership.
Stockton and Darlington Councils are neighbouring unitary authorities which have a culture of innovation and service improvement. The Councils worked together to form a public sector partnership to deliver key back office transactional services. The partnership is called Xentrall. Xentrall works jointly with both Councils supporting them in the delivery of their services. The services currently being delivered by the partnership are ICT, Design and Print, Transactional HR and Transactional Finance. The partnership was set up to deliver savings but there has also been investment in the partnership providing additional capacity to support each Council in the transformation of their services. This workshop considered the strengths and weaknesses of a public/public partnership approach for delivering services in North Tyneside. Strengths of a public/public partnership
1. Freedom/flexibility – to invest in staff/ICT etc - Overcome the
policies/procedures of the Council. Better focus on priorities.
2. Still a public sector organisation important to retain this ethos.
3. Efficiencies.
4. Political ownership – Cabinet member involvement in governance.
5. Able to grow and expand the business.
Challenges
1. Both Councils having the right mindset.
2. Focus on solutions rather than ‘must follow existing rules’.
3. Flexibility of procuring HR/Finance etc from anywhere in the market is a
potential drawback.
4. Clear strategic objectives for the partnership that can be reflected on all the
way through the relationship.
5. Transition plan for terms and conditions.
Culture Change
1. Develop relationship with both Councils.
2. More customer focus (customer engagement training)
3. Staff awards (reward culture)
4. Independent brand to demonstrate something different.
5. Private sector outlook with public sector ethos.
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How do we know we have the right authority to partner with?
1. Trust
2. Able to move beyond the show stoppers/deal breakers e.g IT systems, office
accommodation, staff terms and conditions.
3. Right leadership.
4. Same motivations.
What services could we share?
1. Back office across sectors like further education, health, fire etc in the
borough (although VAT may be an issue for FE partners).
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WORKSHOP B – Wigan Leisure and Culture Trust
1. Context:
Paul Gowans explained that cultural services in North Tyneside are both valued by
people (as evidenced by the Residents’ Survey) and well used, with participation
numbers increasing.
The challenge therefore, in the current period of reducing resources, is how these
services are sustained and supported in the future rather than being radically
changed.
Wigan had been invited to share their experience as they were seen as a good
example of a Trust in action. Wigan was also a similar size to North Tyneside in
terms of financial turnover and number of users.
Wigan leisure and Culture Trust was formed in April 2003 following the introduction
of Best Value. At the time, it was the single largest transfer of leisure related
services into Trust in the country.
The transfer was driven by the desire to achieve a step change in the quality of
services and arrest a long-term decline in participation. It also sought to address
both strategic and financial weaknesses in the provision of the leisure and cultural
portfolio.
Services involved in transfer included sports centres and swimming pools, libraries,
museums, parks, cemeteries, grounds maintenance and a wide range of
development services.
Over the eight years of its existence, the Trust has expanded to take on other
contracts and projects and, in 2010/11, had a turnover in excess of £34m, employing
some 800 staff.
2. Questions and Answers:
Q. When are the first savings realised?
A. Some savings (Tax and NDDR) can be seen on day one, if certain tasks have
been completed in advance e.g. gaining charity status. However the start up costs
should not be underestimated. Wigan Council gave the Trust some time to organise
itself, as it can take 12 to 18 months to disentangle the old and new services.
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Q. Has the model that Wigan adopted (running the buildings through a license
rather than through a long term lease) restricted its ability to access funding?
A. Yes. Having no collateral has limited the Trusts ability to access resources. For
the major sports centres the Trust would prefer to have a 25 year lease and for the
management contracts to be co-terminus with the lease.
Q. How do you ensure that all parts of the borough have access to high quality
services, with no areas being ignored?
A. The strategic direction for cultural services remains with the Council, while the
operational delivery is from the Trust.
Q. What has the Trust meant for residents, especially those people that use
services in their local community?
A. The Trust doesn’t work in isolation but works very closely with partners in the
Local Strategic Partnership. One of the things that Stuart was most proud of was the
Trust’s outreach work, for example in estates on Friday nights with young people or
older people in their homes.
Q. Seems a positive opportunity for the voluntary sector to be engaged, are
contracts sub-contracted to the voluntary sector in Wigan?
A. Yes but they want to do more of it.
Paul Gowans explained that in North Tyneside a Trust would receive the money that
is currently commissioning services from the voluntary sector, such as Widening
Horizons. There would be an expectation that this would continue.
Q. Would residents in Wigan give the Trust a Thumbs Up or a Thumbs down?
A. The local Community Survey remained about the same level.
3. Next steps
Paul Gowans explained that the State of the Area event represented the start of a
conversation on whether this arrangement was right for North Tyneside. The
conversation would shortly involve Cabinet, elected members and other key
stakeholders.
He concluded by asking whether people had an opinion on whether North Tyneside
should consider a Trust. All answers were for exploring this option further, with
comments that it “seems a sensible thing to consider releasing the money”.
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WORKSHOP C – South Tyneside Partnership with BT
Presentation - Mike Conlon (Head of Commissioning & Commercial Services,
South Tyneside Council)
a) Context - 2006 – facing cost pressures, albeit not at the same level as current financial pressures – CPA recognised that they delivered high quality services but from a very traditional standpoint. Everything was delivered in-house. In seeking efficiencies, the Council protected front line services and sought its savings by reducing the cost of support services. They realised that this was unsustainable. Regeneration was a major issue for them and they were unable to provide sufficient funds for investment. Against this backdrop, they decided to seek alternative ways of achieving some key objectives.
b) Objectives – recognising that these services were already performing well, the Council set four clear objectives for any new model of delivery:
1. Improve service efficiency and quality 2. Protect staff terms and conditions 3. Establish Business Centres in South Tyneside 4. Create sustainable jobs
They looked at various options but few could deliver all four objectives and so
they decided to seek a strategic partner
c) Process – the Council embarked on a two-year process to procure a partner:
OJEU notice ⇒ 8 Expressions of Interest ⇒ Questionnaire process reduced
this to 6 ⇒ processes whittled down to 3 serious bidders, eventually reduced
to 2 ⇒ process of competitive dialogue ⇒ final tenders and draft contracts
discussed with each bidder ⇒ contract awarded to BT
Mike said that the costs of the process for the Council were £1m and most of
this was spent on External Advisors. Each of the two bidders incurred similar
costs. It would be possible to accelerate the process but it would require
absolute clarity about what the organisation expected to achieve and what it
wanted to include. The dialogue process was more flexible and allowed
exploration of options.
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d) Scope – 430 staff and £14m of budgets covering the following services:
• Finance – including payroll
• Revenues & Benefits
• Customer Services
• ICT
• Human Resources
• Procurement
Neither of the two final bidders wished to include legal services and the
Council did not wish to include Asset Management, as they did not feel the
service was in a state of readiness.
e) Why BT? – Against the four objectives, BT could offer the following:
1. Guaranteed investment and reduced costs 2. Protected terms and conditions, as well as no compulsory
redundancies 3. Creation of an average of 750 new jobs per year, rising to 1250
(and this was over an above protecting the 430 jobs associated with the services)
4. Two new business centres in the borough – one immediately and one within three years
f) Contractual Model – runs for ten years with a five year extension option. One main contract with various schedules, which allows new services to be added without needing to re-procure. Backed by six SLAs; 30 KPIs; and 60 PIs. They provide an annual cost certificate and there is open book accounting. The contract provides for profit sharing and penalties if BT fail to hit the agreed targets. Importantly for staff, there was a TUPE plus agreement in place. This is all overseen by a very small client function.
g) Benefits
Tangible Benefits Non Tangible Benefits
• £11m procurement savings to date
• 3% year on year efficiency targets met
• 90% staff satisfaction
• Business Centre on Riverside (£31m investment)
• Above target on jobs created
• Culture change
• New ways of thinking and working
• Clearer focus on outcomes
• More for less
• Infrastructure improvements
• More outward focussed support services
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There are quotas in place about the number of jobs that must be filled from ST
residents; the wider NE region as well as the types of jobs to be created.
h) Issues and Lessons – there are some clear messages. It is important to learn from others but more important to understand why we’re doing it. It is vital to have very clear objectives – and stick to them. Wide, extensive and continuous communication is critical. There will be resistance to change and it won’t all be resolved by the time contracts are signed. It is important to plan to address this. Finally, it must be a partnership and not just another contractor arrangement.
i) What next? – maturing partnership; many objectives realised; is now about bringing more business into the borough, seeking other areas of mutual benefit and keeping the partnership fresh.
Workshop Discussions
The following notes reflect the key questions and comments raised during the
discussion that took place in the two workshops. Where similar questions were
raised, this is noted and only new information added to the afternoon record.
• Did the ten-year agreement mean that arrangements were very rigid? No – in fact the schedule of services actually made it easier for the Council and BT to agree on service delivery changes. This also meant that they could ensure that benefits were not adversely affected.
• What happens after 10 years? There is an option to extend the contract. Services could return to the Council. The Council would examine its requirements at that time against clear objectives and what it wanted to achieve. These were not underperforming services and that wasn’t a motivation for the partnership being established. Mike did emphasise that any organisation needed to be clear that if inefficient services were simply put into scope, the gains would all be to the provider and not to the Council. It was important to get the right state of readiness.
• As BT now delivers the procurement service, there is a perception that small businesses are being ‘frozen out’. BT’s target to increase business in the borough means that this does not happen. Procurement from small businesses is now running at 43%, which is an increase from 34% when the service was in-house. A group has been set up to oversee this aspect of the arrangement.
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• As BT guaranteed no compulsory redundancy, ST’s redundancies last year came from a much smaller pool. Was this fair? Protection of staff was part of the agreed approach. Some of the staff made redundant were redeployed to jobs in BT, where they met the appropriate job criteria.
• Noted that leadership was vital – it was led ‘from the front’ and much was done to sell the vision. On visits to reference sites, it is important to speak to the staff.
• What would BT say about South Tyneside? Good partner; provides an opportunity to prove the concept; provides the opportunity to grow the business
• What is South Tyneside doing to create apprenticeships? Whilst there isn’t a specific apprentice programme, a key driver for the partnership is job creation and they do monitor where the jobs are going. The location of the new business centre is aimed at the regeneration of the riverside, which will assist in this area.
• The group acknowledged that BT needed to make a profit – where did this come from? Two main areas – transferred staff do not just work on South Tyneside business and this creates efficiencies. The contract allows for profit sharing, especially from procurement savings.
• The group commented that clarity of objectives and the readiness of services to transfer were clearly crucial aspects.
• What communication work was done to inform Elected Members and help them to support the venture? All of the established committee and briefing routes were used to the full. Additional sessions were put on at every stage of the process to keep Members informed.
• Why can’t we just do what BT does, ourselves? This is partly to do with commercial awareness and the culture of the organisation. The performance management approach they take means that BT deal with underperformance very effectively. Lack of investment can also be an issue.
• Noted that South Tyneside is currently considering the possibility of a Leisure Trust. There are some potential difficulties as other such trusts made significant savings from the back office but this won’t be available in South Tyneside.
• Final note in this session was to emphasise that this only works through true partnership working.
• The issue of accountability was raised. A concern for residents was that the current accountability via Elected Members should not be lost and they wished to know how that now worked in South Tyneside. Mike
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commented that outward facing services are subject to exactly the same scrutiny arrangements as before – and may be additional scrutiny due to the partnership monitoring arrangements. He emphasised that decisions about issues such as charges, remained Council decisions, which the partnership only had operational responsibility to implement. In response to a further question, he said that BT does not make any political decisions in South Tyneside and that included decisions about savings.
• Clarification was sought on the 3% year on year target. Mike said this was against a unitary charge paid by the Council and had to reduce by 3% every year (30% or £4m over the span of the contract).
• What were the pitfalls? In the Council - Struggle to combat the silo mentality amongst staff; problems with changing from a telephone ordering system when a new electronic ordering system was introduced; general culture and practices caused some barriers. With BT – there was sometimes some frustration about delays if anything need to be referred to their head office.
• Views were sought on the types of organisation North Tyneside Council should consider to partner with, if it decided to go down this route. Members of the group felt they would like to be able to support local organisations, though they recognised that procurement rules governed how partners could be chosen. Not for profit organisations would fit more with their public service ethos but they did recognise that this may not generate the kind of investment that might prove possible with a private partner. A question was raised as to whether a trust may prove to be a suitable vehicle for these kinds of services. Noted that the suitability of organisations directly links to the objectives the Council will set.
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WORKSHOP D – Voluntary Sector as Service Providers
This session focused on the role of the voluntary sector in the changing world of
public services. With the emergence of the Big Society there is an increasing
emphasis on the shift of power from central government to local people. We have to
achieve increasingly improved and more efficient services with less resources and
doing that means we need to be closely in touch with the people that use the
services and thinking differently about who provides those services.
Working with the voluntary sector to deliver good quality services is part of the
Council’s plan. We already have great examples of where we are doing this
including our work in adult social care and children’s services.
This workshop looked at what we have learned so far and what we might do
differently in the future to develop a more collaborative approach between
commissioning and delivery of services; particularly considering the role of the
voluntary sector in the future design and delivery of good public services.
Morning session
What have we learned so far?
o The more we work in partnership and develop a equal relationship the better
the outcomes for the people who use the services
o Building capacity is important at all levels, especially the grass roots – it
should continue
o When strategy is clear it benefits the sector
o Job Centre Plus has changed its approach and culture and now
acknowledges different approaches to volunteering whilst unemployed. It is
now seen as positive
o Flexibility in relationships between the Council and voluntary and community
sector has improved working relationships
o We have begun to share power - it has to continue
What we might do differently in the future?
o There is too much bureaucracy which is destroying innovation
o The large organisations need to learn to let go of more power
o Speed dating to get to know each others experience and talent and then
share it
o The NTSP should have a clear strategy about how to deal/support smaller
groups and larger providers
o Area Forums should have a more open agenda
o Initiate a volunteering project for the borough
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WORKSHOP E – Private Sector
This session focused on the role of the private sector, (particularly Small and
Medium Enterprises) in the changing world of public services.
As public services are increasingly delivered by partnerships with private sector organisations we need to make sure that we are creating the right opportunities in North Tyneside to not only engage and attract major businesses to the borough but also invest and develop our relationships with small and medium enterprises. We already have a strong relationship with businesses within the borough but more needs to be done. This workshop looked at the change in culture required for all partners to develop a more collaborative approach between the private and public sector and look at the procurement opportunities and challenges that lie ahead as public service reform is implemented.
Morning Session
Procurement:
- The marketing of contracts - giving small businesses the knowledge and awareness of what is out there and available to tender for. Giving full information to small business to allow them to access contracts. There is a risk with big contracts that they perceive there is nothing for them when the reality may be different. Also, on the other side, having that knowledge to make sure that small business can benefit from contracts is important for the authority to know.
- Making sure that more apprenticeships are promoted and offered through procurement.
- It was felt that the personalisation of budgets giving patients full control over their spending could offer an opportunity to give small business opportunities. The likely diversification of services provided may have opportunities for new tenders to arise.
- European rules and regulations create tensions in regards to some of the aims of changing services. For example, they show no regards to local suppliers because the EU is concerned with freedom across the market.
- There are private sector benefits to be had from procurement, but we need to consider how public bodies can work together.
- The Localism Bill will invariably have an impact on procurement and delivery of services. There was a concern that this may prove too much of a risk for small groups who don’t have access to the finance needed.
- There is a need for culture change, bringing in different skills and being innovative.
Business:
- It is important to recognise that there is a different motivation when it comes to involving the private sector in running Council services. They operate to make
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a profit, and it will need to be settled what level of profit would be comfortable for the Council/community for an organisation to make.
- Following on from this we need to consider whether the internal skills within the Council at present are the right ones that will be needed as services change. They will need to bring about a culture change if these changes are to truly work.
- There will need to be a tackling of the inherent risk-aversiveness in Councils as they manage public money.
- The Tyne Tunnel contract was cited as a good example of a new working arrangement – providing local sub contractors and employment.
- The Business Forum events should continue and prove an excellent opportunity.
- Education and higher level skills – it is important that subjects such as science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) are promoted, along with languages.
- Introducing role models, mentors and ambassadors. - Clustering of successful businesses, such as the approach taken on the
Swans site.
