Minutes:
The Interim Chief Executive and the Executive Director of Education, Care and Health (Mr Adetosoye) was not able to attend the meeting to provide an update concerning the Transformation Board and the Transformation Programme.
Mr Adetosoye had provided written responses to questions that had been asked by the Chairman. The questions and responses were tabled to the Committee at the meeting. The Chairman inferred from one of the responses that the Commissioning Board would resume meeting at some point. It was noted that the ‘Transformation Board’ had been referred to as an ‘officer group’ and the Chairman wondered if there would be any Member involvement in the Board in the future. He looked forward to the Interim Chief Executive and the Executive Director of Education, Care and Health providing clarification regarding this at the April meeting.
The Committee had been provided with the following documents:
1. Transformation Programme—2018/19—2022/23
2. Transformation Programme Project Initiation Document and Terms of Reference—Draft V1.8
3. Reporting Schedule of the Transformation Board Delivery Groups
The Committee was informed that the Commissioning Board had ceased to operate from 29th October 2018. The Chairman had been informed that the Transformation Board had already started meeting and he wondered when this had commenced. The Chairman was concerned that reports and service redesigns may not have been looked at during the period when the Commissioning Board was not meeting.
The Assistant Director assured that Contract Procedure Rules were still being applied and monitored. Reports concerning contract actions that would have normally gone to the Commissioning Board were still being reviewed through the Assistant Director. Reports regarding service re-design were expected to be managed through the Transformation Board in the future.
Some Members felt that it was too early at this point for the Contracts and Commissioning Sub Committee to be attempting to assess and scrutinise the progress made by the Transformation Board. The Chairman stated that he was anxious that Members should retain the ability for engagement, and to have a say in which services were delivered going forward. A Member said that the role of the Contracts and Commissioning Sub Committee would come in later, after the Transformation Project work had been commenced. The Chairman pondered over the matter of when it would be appropriate for the Contracts and Commissioning Sub Committee to become involved.
The Chairman asked one of the Members if he thought the Transformation Programme was aggressive enough. The Member responded that it did look like it was aggressive enough, but ultimately it would depend on what was delivered. The six Board Delivery Group reports would involve much work. He hoped that the respective work plans would be aggressive.
On examination of the six Board Delivery Group reports, a Member stated that in his view, the report on Statutory Services should be drafted first. The Assistant Director suggested that the timescale of Housing Services reflected that a Project Board was already in place and in progress.
The Vice Chairman asserted that in his view the Commissioning Board had been demoted and he hoped that the effect of this would not be too damaging. The Chairman stated that it was a shame that the Commissioning Board had been suspended; he felt that it provided an invaluable role in looking at reports in detail, as well as providing support to officers. The Commissioning Board was also very effective in driving issues forward.
Members asked questions about the reporting schedule and asked what the Board Delivery Groups would be reporting on to the Transformation Board. A Member also queried what was meant by ‘Report to Group’. This seemed to indicate that a report would be made directly to the Conservative Group, and the Labour Member that had raised the issue stated that if this was indeed the case then it was not satisfactory.
The Vice Chairman commented that in his view the schedule was an aggressive one. A Member felt that a report should be presented to Members so that they could provide feedback and input into the transformation process for each delivery group.
RESOLVED that:
1) The Interim Chief Executive clarify when the Transformation Board had started to meet and that he be invited to attend the next meeting of the Committee to provide an update on the Transformation Programme and answer any questions that Members may have.