Edinburgh, Lothians, Borders and Fife Forum (ELBF Forum) - Collaboration and Shared Services Between Councils November 2009

Edinburgh, Lothians, Borders and Fife Forum (ELBF Forum) - Collaboration and Shared Services between Councils November 2009

1 Purpose of report

1.1 To advise members of discussions which have been held by City of Edinburgh, East Lothian, Fife, Midlothian, Scottish Borders and West Lothian Councils on an approach to collaboration, joint working and potential sharing of services between the six Councils.

2 Context & Background

2.1 Following the Council elections in May 2007, the six Councils in south-east Scotland agreed to establish a Forum as a vehicle to discuss and review issues of common interest. The Forum consists of the Leaders and Chief Executives of the six Councils. Meetings of the forum take place on a quarterly basis.

2.2 A key issue currently under review by the Forum is the significant financial pressures facing Scottish local government. The draft budget of the Scottish Government has confirmed that the public sector in Scotland will need to identify a further £500m of efficiency savings in 2010-11. Current indications are that there will be significant real term reductions over the period of the 2011-14 finance settlement. In addition, demographic shifts, changing customer expectations and investment requirements are placing increasing burdens on Councils.

2.3 The emerging financial position requires all Councils to review their existing service delivery arrangements and consider all opportunities for service modernisation, including the scope to deliver efficiencies through greater collaboration.

2.4 Strong operational and strategic links already exist between the ELBF Councils and Appendix 1 gives an overview of the wide range of collaborative projects that are already in place. This list is not exhaustive as numerous other partnerships exist (eg with the Voluntary Sector, Police Fire, Health).

2.5 In May 2009 the Forum agreed to explore new opportunities for greater collaboration between the neighbouring Councils. To assist with this work the following statement of intent was approved.

“As a matter of priority it is agreed to identify and develop appropriate shared service models for the ELBF Councils. The project’s success will require a long term commitment, built on trust, collaboration and leadership.” 2.6 In order to structure this important work a number of guiding principles were identified:

x service change would be underpinned by an appropriate business case, with a realistic assessment of all associated costs and benefits, infrastructure requirements, timescales and risks;

x irrespective of any service delivery change, participating Councils would retain an appropriate level of control and oversight;

x the exercise would recognise the need for transparency and fairness in relation to shared costs and benefits;

x shared service proposals would take account of each Council’s strategic direction, policy initiatives and improvement plans;

x all Councils would be required to play an important role in championing identified proposals; and

x all activities would be supported by effective engagement with staff, elected members, trade unions, customers and the general public.

2.7 With the guiding principles in place a high level review of existing services was undertaken and the following candidate activities identified:

x Mobile/Flexible Working;

x Payroll;

x Procurement;

x Road Maintenance; and

x Audit.

A lead council was identified for each activity and, over recent months, officers from the ELBF Councils have been working together to explore and develop the potential for greater collaboration. The following section considers each work stream in detail and outlines future areas of activity.

3 ELBF Activities

Mobile/Flexible Working

3.1 This work stream is being led by West Lothian Council and early work confirmed that the ELBF Councils are at different stages in respect of their commitment to, and development of, mobile working. There is, however, a general consensus that a strategic approach to mobile working would be beneficial and a range of opportunities have been identified:

x Sharing Buildings – significant potential exists for staff to use flexible working facilities in other councils’ buildings; x Management Processes and Management Development – the successful deployment of mobile and flexible working will require a change in management culture. The potential exists to collaboratively develop performance management processes and training to support this new culture;

x Benefits Tracking and Management – the benefits of mobile working are considerable e.g. property savings, increased productivity, carbon reduction, work life balance etc. It is essential that Councils are able to realise these benefits and scope exists to adopt a shared approach to tracking the benefits of mobile working; and

x Support Mechanisms – traditional support services will need to adapt to the needs of staff working more flexibly. The potential exists to collaboratively develop or procure these supporting mechanisms (e.g. intranet, HR advice).

3.2 Given the considerable benefits that could be delivered through increased mobile and flexible working the ELBF Forum has recommended prioritising this activity. Future activity will focus on those areas with the greatest benefits and where technology already exists and capacity is currently being identified to undertake this work.

Payroll

3.3 Fife Council is the lead authority for the payroll work stream and under their direction a high level review has been undertaken. It was quickly identified that the link between payroll and transactional HR is essential to effective internal control and operational efficiencies. Consequently, any potential collaboration should include payroll activities and the parts of HR necessary to deliver an integrated service.

3.4 A collaborative approach to payroll/HR services could potentially deliver significant benefits. While this activity is not without complexity, as a service common to all Councils and one that is readily specified, it is an area worthy of further consideration. The ELBF Forum has recommended that further analysis is undertaken and that a detailed option appraisal for payroll/HR activities is developed. This appraisal will identify and assess a wide range of credible service options eg joint improvement activities, a solution hosted by a lead Council, joint venture or strategic partnership with external suppliers etc. The appraisal model would also consider the benefits and risks associated with each model.

Procurement

3.5 The City of Edinburgh Council has been working with the other ELBF Councils to establish the benefits of a procurement shared service. Initial discussions considered the strategic procurement service model that was developed as part of the joint pathfinder project involving the City of Edinburgh, Fife and Scottish Borders Councils. This model is now operational in Edinburgh, and Fife has restated its commitment to join the service (both Councils were recently involved in a joint recruitment exercise for key procurement posts). To date, the service has successfully focused on significant spend activities such as Learning and Care and other spend categories are now being assessed.

3.6 Procurement savings will continue to be a key focus for all organisations and willingness exists to drive forward procurement activities in a collaborative way. While Edinburgh and Fife are already working together, there is currently no specific call from the other ELBF Councils to formalise joint working arrangements. There is, however, significant scope to share best practice and Fife and Edinburgh will continue to actively engage with ELBF colleagues to develop mutually beneficial procurement arrangements. This activity could potentially lead to some form of ELBF partnership in the future.

3.7 Further work will also be undertaken to ensure that increased ELBF collaboration is complementary to the activities of Scotland Excel, the national procurement body, and Procurement Scotland.

Road Maintenance

3.8 The road maintenance work stream is led by Scottish Borders Council and there is a strong sense that greater levels of joint working would be beneficial. This will potentially focus on sharing best practice, sharing equipment, providing staff to cover shortages in other areas, undertaking roads maintenance activities for other councils etc.

3.9 The infrastructure specialists, Halcrow, have been commissioned to undertake an independent review of service activities. This will provide a useful insight into the competitiveness and performance levels of existing Council activities and will assist the ELBF Forum to shape future review activities.

Audit 3.10 Under Midlothian Council’s direction, a high level appraisal considered the scope for, and benefits of, increased collaborative working. This work identified that while cost efficiencies savings may be limited there are considerable benefits that could be achieved through greater collaboration (eg ability to respond to national initiatives, degree of flexibility, better understanding of trends, better co-ordination of activities etc).

3.11 The ELBF Forum recommends that audit services continue to share best practice and work together to build capacity and identify innovative new ways of working. This will include exploring different service models and developing common audit practices. These activities may lead to greater opportunities for a formal shared service in the future.

3.12 In addition to the specific shared services work of the ELBF Forum a wide range of other initiatives and activities are being explored and progressed. Appendix 2 provides an update on these activities and other related local and national initiatives. 4 Summary and ELBF Conclusions

4.1 The potential benefits from each of the activities examined to date could vary considerably. The ELBF Forum, has therefore, agreed to prioritise future activities. This will ensure that resources are focussed on those areas with the greatest potential to deliver service and cost benefits within an acceptable timeframe. The analysis undertaken to date indicates that the greatest opportunities relate to payroll/HR, mobile/flexible working, procurement and, potentially, road maintenance activities.

4.2 All of the opportunities require further work to explore the potential benefits and to develop the necessary business cases. This will require resources drawn from Councils and, possibly, external support. If meaningful progress is to be made then, as well as dedicating resources to the work programme, tight deadlines and strong project management arrangements will be needed. The pace of change will be critical to the overall success of the programme. The ELBF Chief Executives are currently identifying the necessary capacity to progress this work.

4.3 The attainment of effective shared services is an on-going process, with each work stream likely to achieve different levels of engagement and co- operation. Each work stream is being developed to ensure that Councils can review their involvement, at any time in the future.

5 Engagement, Communications & Culture

5.1 Given the potential significance of this project to ELBF Councils the Forum is committed to engaging with staff and trade unions. This is formally recorded in the project’s guiding principles. Each Council is responsible for communicating the jointly agreed core programme messages and trade union engagement will be built in to the Council’s normal consultation processes.

5.2 The ELBF Chief Executives are keen to encourage a positive culture throughout the ELBF Councils towards seeking mutually beneficial shared solutions to business opportunities and challenges whenever possible. The effort to deliver this type of transformational change cannot be underestimated and it will require leadership, drive and support from senior politicians and managers.

6 Conclusions

6.1 The collaboration and shared services agenda has the potential to deliver financial and service benefits. It does, however, require a long term commitment and is only one of a number of measures available to Councils to tackle the current financial pressures. 6.2 The ELBF Forum is committed to progressing the identified opportunities and it is also actively exploring other potential opportunities. Council staff are being encouraged to consider how service activities could be delivered more collaboratively to deliver mutual benefits for the ELBF Councils.

6.3 Subject to approval by the ELBF Councils, the next phase of work will focus on those areas, outlined above, with the greatest potential to deliver benefits within an acceptable timeframe. The outputs from this work will be considered by the ELBF Forum in the first instance. Any service proposals and supporting business cases will be reported to members for their consideration and approval.

ELBF Chief Executives November 2009

Appendix 1 ELBF Collaboration and Shared Services - Existing Activities Appendix 2 Shared Services - Local and National Initiatives Appendix 1 Collaboration and Shared Services – Existing Activities

ELBF Councils are currently involved in a wide range of collaborative projects and this list provides a sample of those activities. It is important to note that this is not a comprehensive list and numerous other partnerships exist e.g. with the Voluntary Sector, Police Fire, Health.

Collaborative Description Project The CES is a partnership between the City of Edinburgh Community Equipment Council, NHS Lothian, East and Midlothian Councils. The aim of Service the service is to provide equipment that allows people, with illness or disabilities, to remain living at home. This is joint strategy with NHS Lothian and the three Lothian Joint Lothian Learning councils. Work is currently taking place on scoping and Disability Strategy identifying options for service provision to meet the needs of people with complex needs. This out of hours social work service is shared between Edinburgh, Midlothian and East Lothian Councils. It is managed Emergency Social Work by CEC and jointly financed on a formula to reflect both Service population and activity. It costs £1,000,000 to run and receives 60,000 phone calls a year This centre conducts drug testing of offenders who have been placed under a drug testing and treatment order (DTTO) and Drug Testing & Treatment proposes alternative sentencing provision. This is a partnership centre arrangement with Midlothian, Edinburgh and East Lothian Councils. SEEMIS system developed by the SEEMIS consortium and Education Management hosted by South Lanarkshire Council. The consortium provides System SEEMIS pupil administration systems to over 27 Scottish Authorities.

Edinburgh, Lothian and Borders Executive Group (ELBEG), comprises the Chief Executives of the Local Authorities of East Lothian, Midlothian, West Lothian, City of Edinburgh and the Child Protection Scottish Borders along with the Chief Executives of NHS Procedures Lothian, NHS Borders and the Chief Constable of Lothian and Borders Police. Together with other statutory and voluntary bodies and with communities these agencies are working closely together to deliver services for the protection of children. Pensions and investment services are provided to Edinburgh, Lothian Pension Fund Midlothian, West and East Lothian councils as well as over 100 other employers including colleges and charitable bodies. Midlothian and City of Edinburgh Council - Billing and collection Non Domestic Rates of NDR administered by Edinburgh Run by Lothian and Borders Police with CEC as the overseeing Taxi exam centre authority. It is currently used by CEC, West and Midlothian Councils with East expressing an interest.

CLARENCE enables citizens to report a wide range of faults and hazards concerning road, cycleways, footpaths and lighting. It CLARENCE also deals with enquiries relating to road closures and parking issues. It is run by CEC on behalf of East Lothian and Midlothian Councils. Edinburgh undertakes architectural consultancy work on behalf Architectural consultancy of Lothian and Borders Fire and Rescue Service work and Borders and East Lothian Councils. Regular discussions involving Fife, Edinburgh, East Lothian Council, West Lothian Council and Borders Councils on a wide Asset Management range of Asset Management and related topics both individually through SCALA (Society of Chief Architects in Local Authorities), and in the wider Scottish context through the Federation of Property Societies. Edinburgh currently provides District Court Services for the District Court Services Scottish Borders (and Glasgow)

Provision for Gypsy East Lothian and Midlothian Council - Provision of site and Travellers. facilities for gypsies and travelling people. Other Lothian authorities – shared costs of consultations/studies Lothian Housing Forum etc. Scottish Borders, Edinburgh and Fife working together on the Procurement South East Scotland Procurement Shared Services

Office of Government Use of shared procurement contracts for category A purchasing, Commerce Procurement mainly in IT and Telecoms.

DNAS (National Address Scottish local authorities, GROS & others. Develop and maintain Gazetteer) corporate address gazetteers linked to national gazetteer.

Scottish local authorities, plus range of public agencies. Formal National Entitlement Card shared service to provide a smartcard system, primarily used for concessionary travel cards and also some Young Scot cards.

Scottish local authorities, Health, Police, voluntary sector. Lothian’s Data Sharing Formal shared IT service and partnership working to deliver Partnership - eCare data better child protection and health/social care services. Should sharing service (also become operational during 2010. eAssess and Child EAssess and CPR are Lothians only. eAssess and CPR will Protection Register) ultimately be superseded by eCare

Various shared projects between most Scottish local authorities. Formal shared IT service to deliver on-line planning processes ePlanning project across Scotland. Partially operational now, remainder during 2009.

Local Authorities and police in the Lothian and Borders area plus Scottish Government. IT administration system for the registration and analysis of rest centre residents. Scottish Rest Centre Software Government has recently agreed to fund the service for a two year commencing April 2009 for any Scottish local authority that wishes to use it.

Local authorities, health boards, police, fire and rescue service Lothian and Borders Alert in the Lothian and Borders area. IT system for inter-agency communications particularly during emergencies.

Generic and Specific Emergency Plans and Collaboration on planning in response to emergencies. Training and Exercises East/Midlothian/Scottish Borders- shared SVQ Centre and a joint approach to training and development is being developed. Workforce Development Generates economies of scale for the purchase of training courses and materials East Lothian Council & Midlothian Council (and other agencies) - creation of a joint Adult Protection Committee, structure to be Adult Protection & further developed and the potential for further development in Substance misuse child protection being evaluated, creation of a joint DAAT structure

East Lothian Council & Midlothian Council (and other agencies) Adult and Children - Project Board established to review potential for shared Services services across adult and children’s services, including criminal justice

Scottish Enterprise, Lothian based Councils, Universities and Edinburgh Science research institutes and NHS Lothian. Midlothian Council Triangle undertakes the project governance. Initiative designed to attract mobile investment to the Edinburgh and Lothian region.

Midlothian & East Lothian Council and other key stakeholders - Revitalising communities revitalising communities in designated rural parts of Midlothian and East Lothian

Lothian based Councils - Provision of Business Gateway service Business Gateway in Edinburgh and the Lothians.

Midlothian & East Lothian Council - Archaeological service Archaeological Service provided by East Lothian Council

East Lothian Council, Scottish Borders Council, West Lothian South East Scotland Council, City of Edinburgh Council, Fife Council Statutory Strategic Development development planning authority covering the regional planning Planning Authority authorities charged with preparing and implementing the strategic development plan. South East Scotland Lothian Councils (and Central Scotland) consider transport at a Transport Partnership strategic/ regional level Consortium of Building Standards Authorities in Peer Review of schemes of development the Lothian and Fife areas Inter-authority collaboration in developing leaders of learning – Education formally Principal Teachers Local Authority Co- Consultations on new initiatives through membership of Chief ordinators of Regulatory Officers of Trading Standards in Scotland and regional liaison Services groups.

Standards are set for participating authorities with West Lothian Council providing expertise to smaller authorities when required. Traffic Signal Consortium West Lothian Council also lets and manages a maintenance contract on behalf of the other authorities.

Materials Consortium of West Lothian Council is the lead authority in letting and Local Authorities managing a contract for street lighting materials. Lothian & Borders Safety Partnership of three local authorities and Lothian & Borders Camera Partnership Police to provide speed enforcement at approved locations. Appendix 2

Shared Services - Local and National Initiatives hub Initiative The Scottish Futures Trust is overseeing a strategic programme to improve the efficiency and delivery of community infrastructure. While at an early stage the hub Initiative will focus on providing joint services across local authorities, health boards and other community planning partners.

Research An opportunity has been identified for the Edinburgh Partnership and ELBF Councils to collaborate on data sharing and e-engagement activities. This has the potential to deliver cost savings and service improvements by making more efficient use of resources and expanding the quality and range of information available. Agreement in principle has now been reached to explore this opportunity in greater detail.

Planning Discussions are on-going regarding the potential for greater shared services between Planning Authorities in south east Scotland. In broad terms, there is agreement to pool resources to provide the assessor role (independent advisor) to the new Local Review Bodies. In addition, the basis of a pooled resource approach for areas of specialist activity has also been agreed.

Options are also being considered in relation to joint training arrangements and the possibility of a shared/pooled approach to the preparation of Local Development Plans. Discussions have also been held involving administrative support for planning activities and legal agreements. It is likely that a more formal approach to sharing best practice will be developed for these areas.

Leadership & Development The Improvement Service has been working with councils to promote leadership development within Scottish local government. Progress has been made in a number of areas, including the delivery of regional events, the development of national training materials and the development of an accredited qualification in management etc. ELBF Councils have played an important role in developing this framework.

Waste Management The Zero Waste Project has been set up by City of Edinburgh and Midlothian Councils to deliver a Contract with the private sector to treat residual municipal solid waste that currently goes to landfill. Fife Council and City of Edinburgh are also exploring the possibility of synergies in their respective strategies for waste management.

Alternative Business Models A number of Councils are currently in the initial stages of exploring potential alternative business models. The City of Edinburgh Council’s programme has already identified a list of services that could be considered for delivery through alternative arrangements. The options for these candidate services are currently being explored and this work is being supported by market consultation. The work programme is geared towards reporting to Council before the end of the year. This would allow the original objectives of advertising in the European Journal in January 2010 to be met, should the Council decide to proceed to the next stage of the project.

Should any Council decide to take forward any or all of the Alternative Business Model approach then how this relates to the ELBEF shared services approach will have to be carefully considered.

Regional Economic Framework The Regional Economic Framework is a live example of an existing shared services initiative. Over the last two years economic development officers from the City Region councils have been working together on a wide range of issues.

The EARN network is another example. It has a wider scope and it has already engaged a number of partners with regional interests such as NHS Lothian, and Scottish Enterprise as well as some neighbouring councils.

Other Councils The North of Scotland Local Authorities are seeking pathfinder funding to support the establishment of a single shared organisation to deliver revenues and benefits processing for participating Councils. The design of the shared organisation will be based on a single ICT platform and full standardisation of processes, which will enable other authorities to participate in the proposed shared service arrangement. This proposal may be worthy of further exploration by ELBF Councils as geography is not considered to be a barrier.

The Clyde Valley authorities are also actively engaged in developing potential shared services.

Improvement Service The Improvement Service works with the Local Government National Shared Services Board, councils and other partners on developing shared services strategy and delivering specific collaborative projects. The Improvement Service is involved in a number of activities including: x Developing strategy - working with the COSLA Shared Services Board to shape a vision, framework and advocacy plan for shared services to influence and define the direction of travel for the next three to five years. x Public Information Notices (PINs) portal - creating a single online source of local information regarding services such as road works, property developments and all other types of approved and proposed projects in a clear and easy to use format. x Diagnostic Pathway - an innovative approach for engaging organisations in identifying opportunities for improving services through simplifying, standardising and sharing. x Revenues and benefits - investigating the feasibility of collaboration around administration, billing and collection of Council Tax and Non Domestic Rates and the administration of Council Tax Benefit and Housing Benefit. x Pensions - working with Councils to assess the opportunities that exist to rationalise and improve the management of the Local Government Pension Scheme in Scotland. An option appraisal has now been produced and is being considered by the Pensions Project Board in October 2009. After consultation with interested parties, including COSLA, it is hoped that there will be support for a Scotland-wide solution.

The Improvement Service has also been involved in a number of active shared services. These include: x the local government national recruitment portal, www.myjobscotland.gov.uk x Scotland Excel, the local government procurement centre of expertise.