Minutes:
The Council had before it a Notice of Motion set out in the agenda papers standing in the names of Mr P M McDonald, Mr R M Udall, Mr R C Lunn, Mr P Denham, Mr C J Bloore and Mr L C R Mallett.
The motion was moved by Mr R M Udall and seconded by Mr P M McDonald who both spoke in favour of it.
The Council agreed to deal with the motion on the day.
An amendment that the wording "… based on Worcestershire being a Co-operative Council .." be removed from the motion was put forward by Mrs F M Oborski. The original mover and seconder accepted this amendment which became the substantive motion.
Those in favour of the motion made the following comments:
· The problems experienced with Carilion and other private contractors showed that public services should not be left to the vagaries of the free market. This motion asked the Council to look at other ways of operating to share wealth, opportunity and prosperity. The co-operative business model had operated successfully in both the public and private sector. The model placed responsibility in the hands of the individual. Too many officers and members failed to recognise the important contribution of service users. Service users needed to be trusted to manage their own affairs
· The current operating model was not working in the best interests of the public or the local economy. The co-operative model increased transparency and accountability in local public services and delivered more social economies sensitive to local differences as well as empowerment of communities. The Council would have a new role as civil leaders with genuine co-operation and collective action
· It was good practice to review the way the Council worked and the proposed cross party Committee was welcomed albeit with a revised terms of reference to that suggested in the original motion
· A number of different councils had brought previously out-sourced public services back in-house during 2017
· There were many different forms of the co-operation as an operating model. Council needed a clear understanding and consideration of how the co-operative model could work for the Council and not reject it out-of-hand.
Those against the motion made the following comments:
· The creation of a committee to look at different models of operation seemed reasonable however the original motion pre-determined the outcome of that review and that was not acceptable
· The example of the Co-operative Group was not a good basis for considering a change to the Council's operating Model. This Council's approach to commissioning was mature and the Council should continue to try to remodel the market for the benefit of the residents of Worcestershire
· The Cabinet Member for Transformation and Commissioning commented that the Council was a successful commissioning authority with a blended approach to providing services. There had been issues with service delivery but the Council had acted swiftly and effectively to resolve them. Contracts were robustly monitored and managed
· The Leader of the Council commented that the Council's operating model had been set out in the Council's Corporate Plan. In addition, a new Director of Commercial and Change had recently been recruited. On this basis he would not support any change to the Council's operating model. Commissioning was about outcomes and the best way to provide services. However, he would wish to see better engagement of members in the future.
On being put to the vote, the motion was lost.