PAPER H

 

Purpose : For Decision

                                                                                                                                                      

 

Committee :    EXECUTIVE

 

Date :              21 MAY 2002

 

Title :               BEST VALUE REVIEW OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

 
 
 

 


PORTFOLIO HOLDER – ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, UK AND EU, REGIONAL ISSUES

 

 

 


SUMMARY/PURPOSE

 

To present the Best Value Review report for decision.  Copies of the Summary Report and Service Improvement Plan have already been circulated.  Please bring your copy to the meeting.

 

BACKGROUND

 

This Review was carried out in the 2nd year of the Council’s Best Value Review Programme, at the same time as the reviews of Tourism and Beaches. The Review included consultation with a wide range of stakeholders, through a Challenge Day, the MORI Citizens’ Panel, interviews and questionnaires. The results of this consultation has confirmed that the service is considered to be very important, with generally high levels of satisfaction in terms of the quality of delivery. Areas for improvement have been highlighted and these are reflected in the options summarised below.

 

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

 

Strategic Development.

The full financial implications of options 1 - 4 have not been assessed. There are no additional financial implications arising from the recommended option 5 that have not been incorporated into the current years budget.

 

Operational Matters.

The financial implications relating to the recommended individual improvement actions are set out in the Service Improvement Plan. These should be considered against historically low levels of funding, (around ½ the average for England and Wales as at 1999/2000), the recent doubling of expenditure locally and the need to compare our £1million expenditure on Tourism on a like for like basis.

 

OPTIONS

 

Strategic Development

1          cessation of the service

2          continued delivery through IWEP (the ‘no change’ option)

3          transfer of the service to another external provider

4          bringing the service back in house

5          joint Council / IWEP delivery of service

 

 

 

Operational Matters

These actions can be grouped into 3 broad areas

 

1          Establishing a sustainable organisational structure for service delivery

-          Implementation of the IWEP ‘recovery plan’

-         Securing additional funding for the service from the Council and other  agencies

-   Development of a Partnership Protocol to support service delivery under the             new ‘federal’ delivery model

 

2          Maintaining and Improving Performance

-          Sharpening the strategic focus of the service

-         Improved work programme management to ensure a better match between stakeholder expectations of the service and available resources

 

3          Establishing an effective monitoring and evaluation framework

            -     Revision of the Service Level Agreement between the IWEP and the Council

            -    Development of a Monitoring and Evaluation Strategy

-    Development of an annual work programme         

 

RECOMMENDATIONS

 

Option 5 has been agreed as being the most appropriate solution for achievement of the Council’s objectives and continuation is recommended i.e. with the IWEP responsible for the delivery of the service and the Council responsible for advising strategic policy matters, bid development and research.

 

 

Contact Point : John Bentley, F  823346

 

 

 

A KAYE

Strategic Director, Education and Community Development

H REES

Portfolio Holder - Economic Development, UK and EU, Regional Issues