PAPER B
Purpose : for Noting
REPORT TO THE EXECUTIVE
Date : 9 APRIL 2003
Title : QUARTERLY UPDATE OF THE BEST
VALUE REVIEW PROGRAMME
REPORT OF THE DEPUTY LEADER
SUMMARY/PURPOSE
1.
To
update members on progress of the Best Value Review Programme.
BACKGROUND
2.
Below
is a summary of the status of the current Best Value Reviews.
Community Development
Community Development have completed individual
service reviews on Libraries, Museums, Record Office, Ventnor Botanic Gardens,
Parks, School Music Service, Sports Unit.
A successful external challenge was completed by the IdeA in February.
There has been a delay in writing the overall strategic review report, which
draws together the main points from the service reviews and presents the main
recommendations and improvements. This
was scheduled to go the Education & Community Development Committee in
February, now delayed till 16th June, expected date at Directors
Group 10th July and Executive 30th July 2003.
Youth and Community Services
The Youth & Community Service Review has been completed and agreed by Executive on 26th February. There are several major changes for the Youth Service, building on its past strengths, concentrating on those young people with greatest needs (13 to 19 year olds), whilst ensuring it has the right skills and is responsive to changes in future demand.
Procurement
The
Review has now been split into two groups, with the Appraisal Group monitoring
the progress of the work being carried out and the Project Team, split into 10
Task Groups, physically undertaking the research, consultation etc. Cllr
Patrick Joyce has been elected as Lead Member for the Review. With John
Pulsford retiring the authority will need to appoint a new Procurement Champion
at officer level. The Scope of the Review was finally endorsed, subject to some
amendments, by the Resources Select Committee on 20 March 2003. A Project Plan
is in place which outlines the key stages
for
the Review and a target date of 31 December 2003 for the first draft of the
report.
A
major factor which could influence the direction the Review takes and its final
completion will be the Improvement & Development (IDeA) Fitness Check, to
be carried out 22 – 25 July 2003. This will be a free, but extensive
examination of the authority’s procurement practices and polices, resulting in
an Improvement Plan which the IDeA will help us to deliver. The Fitness Check will include a desk-top
review of a wide range of documents and a series of individual and group
interviews with Members and officers. The final report will be presented to the
Council on Friday 25 July 2003.
Other
procurement related work being carried out alongside the Best Value Review
includes the implementation of the Procurement Strategy, piloting Partnering Contracts
and the e-procurement project.
.
Planning
The work of the review is
progressing well. Many of the issues to
be addressed have already been identified by staff and Members, and these will
be added to or confirmed in forthcoming interviews and meetings with a range of
internal and external stakeholders.
A Member training session on
probity has been held recently, analysis work on current processes is being
undertaken, and comparison work with other Authorities is underway. Member
training for design issues is being organised.
A display of the progress of
the review was well received by those who saw it, but relatively poorly
attended by Members.
There is still a lot of work to
carry out, but the timetabled finish in September is still realistic.
Opportunities for Young People
A task group is currently
working on the issues which have arisen from the review. It will meet again on
the 10th April and report back to the Children and Young Person’s
Committee in May.
STRATEGIC CONTEXT
3.
Each
Review report will show the links between the proposed actions and the relevant
parts of the community strategy and corporate plan.
CONSULTATION
4.
A
wide range of consultation is carried out for all reviews.