Agendas, Meetings and Minutes - Agenda and minutes

Agenda and minutes

Venue: County Hall Worcester

Contact: Alyson Grice/Samantha Morris  Overview and Scrutiny Officers

Items
No. Item

195.

Apologies and Welcome

Minutes:

None.

196.

Declarations of Interest and of any Party Whip

Minutes:

None.

197.

Public Participation

Members of the public wishing to take part should notify the Head of Legal and Democratic Services  in writing or by e-mail indicating the nature and content of their proposed participation no later than 9.00am on the working day before the meeting (in this case 12 September 2017).  Enquiries can be made through the telephone number/e-mail address below.

Minutes:

None.

198.

Confirmation of the Minutes of the Previous Meeting (previously circulated)

Minutes:

The Minutes of the Meeting held on 24 January 2017 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

199.

Update on Place Partnership Ltd pdf icon PDF 89 KB

Minutes:

The Cabinet Member with Responsibility (CMR) for Transformation and Commissioning, the Head of Commercial and the Managing Director from Place Partnership Ltd (PPL) attended the meeting to update the Panel on how the County Council's relationship with PPL was developing.

 

On 15 November 2016 (during the previous Council) the Corporate and Communities O&S Panel received a briefing on PPL. Following the Elections in May 2017, it was timely for the new Panel to receive a further update on PPL covering how the County Council's relationship with PPL was developing and providing background information for new and returning Members.

 

The CMR for Transformation and Commissioning introduced the Head of Commercial and the Managing Director from PPL and the Panel received a presentation (circulated at the Meeting) which covered:

 

·       The structure of PPL, a private company wholly owned by public sector partners and its merits

·       The geographical area covered by PPL and who its partners were and the types of organisations

·       Key objectives

·       Governance

·       Developing its relationship with Worcestershire County Council

·       Principal achievements

·       Principal savings opportunities

 

During the opportunity for questions, the following main points were made:

 

·       When PPL was formed in 2015, staff from the various partners' Property and Estates Department transferred by Transfer of Undertakings (TUPE) Regulations.  Initially PPL, employed 200 staff but now employed 165

·       PPL had a strategic overview of Worcestershire and its strength was in a consolidated workforce providing estate management expertise in one place

·       Targets for PPL were detailed in its 5 Year Business Plan agreed by Shareholders, then management targets were cascaded down from this and were reviewed annually 

·       £3.6m of savings had been made overall to date

·       In response to the concern that things could fall through the net In terms of the work PPL undertook with schools, it was important to ensure that PPL worked closely with both school and council staff to avoid this

·       The Panel would find it helpful to have a comparison of the costs and number of staff required to deliver the same service if it was outsourced. This was not known by PPL at the moment but was being worked on

·       It was queried whether One Public Estate was different in principle to PPL.  The Panel were advised that PPL was unique in that it brought together the property expertise of six public sector authorities into one company that acted as a joint property vehicle to achieve change, its core objectives didn't conflict with One Public Estate, in fact there were benefits from bringing partners together to grow and make savings

·       It was suggested that PPL's Portfolio was too broad with too many customers; however the Panel were advised that if there was ambition and the will to deliver, there was always the desire to grow.  Reassurance was given that nothing was lost or off the radar and the Head of Change worked with Directorates and PPL to ensure that services fitted the business need

·       It was queried why all local authorities were not setting up PPL  ...  view the full minutes text for item 199.