Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from David Watts, Executive Director of Adults, Health Partnerships & Housing (Matthew Jenkins substituting).

The Chair invited those who wished to do so to declare any interests in respect of items on the agenda.

No declarations were made.

The Chair was informed that no requests to address the meeting had been made.

The minutes of the meeting held on 29^th March 2023 were approved and signed by the Chair as a correct record.

There were no Chair’s announcements.

The Joint Committee received a report which sought approval to proceed with the disaggregation of the Assistive Technology Service (the Service), which is currently Hosted by West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) and provided to North Northamptonshire Council (NNC) in March 2024. A copy of the report was attached to the agenda for the meeting.

The Committee was in support of the paper, considering it would further empower service delivery.

RESOLVED:-

a)    That the disaggregation of the  Assistive Technology Disaggregation Service by 31 March 2024 be approved;

b)    That delegated authority be granted to the Monitoring Officers for North Northamptonshire Council and West Northamptonshire Council to amend the Inter Authority Agreement subject to an agreed Exit Plan;

Reasons for Decisions:

·         Disaggregating the Service adheres to the Future Northants Blueprint whereby both authorities can manage their own independent Assistive Technology Service and tailor it to adapt to the organisation and residents of NNC and WNC.

·         This option follows the principle agreed during local government reform whereby a service may be  hosted for a period before it can safely and legally disaggregate.

·         Ensures the Councils and customers receive the most benefit from the delivery of the Service, by enabling the organisations to tailor the service to the local demographics and address the needs and priorities of the individual authorities.

Alternative Options Considered

·           Option 2 – Not to disaggregate and move to a permanent relationship between WNC, NNC and Health

·           Option 3 – Disaggregate by 31 March 2024 – within the existing budget.

The Joint Committee considered the quarter four performance report for services delivered via the Inter-Authority Agreement (IAA) arrangements between North Northamptonshire Council (NNC) and West Northamptonshire Council (WNC). A copy of the report was attached to the agenda for the meeting.

The Committee wished to acknowledge the excellent work being undertaken and recognised the efforts of staff in this regard.

RESOLVED:

That the Quarter 4 performance report be noted.

The Joint Committee considered an annual summary of activity taken from the Inter Authority Agreement (IAA) between WNC and NNC with both hosted and disaggregated services. It was noted that this effectively fulfilled the role of an annual report for the activity of the Shared Services Joint Committee.

The report also set out the status of the Schedule 2 and Schedule 3 documents for each of the shared services, so that these could be resolved to enable a Deed of Variation to be in place, to give effect to changes agreed by the Joint Committee to date. A copy of the report was attached to the agenda for the meeting.

Following a query, officers confirmed that the IT Digital Services disaggregation proposals in train/under review during 2022/23 was underway, with TUPE now having commenced.

RESOLVED:-

a)    That the current position in relation to shared services set out in Table 1 of the report be noted, and that it be approved that all the services which are listed as already disaggregated or not a shared service should be removed from the Schedule 1 and 2 of the IAA where applicable and that any agreed Exit Plan be incorporated into the IAA at new Schedule 8;

b)    That the current position in relation to shared services be noted, as set out in Table 2 and it be approved that the proposed changes be made to the Schedule 2 for each services area to reflect the partial disaggregation in relation to those services;

c)    That the current position in relation to the Schedule 3s be noted and that it be approved that the Schedule 3 General Principles document together with all the Schedule 3s set out in Table 3 should be incorporated into the IAA;

d)    That it be noted that any outstanding Schedule 3s which have not already been agreed, will be drafted and then incorporated into the IAA;

e)    That it be noted the list of services identified as being shared services which are not currently covered by the IAA, and it be approved that the Schedule 2 and Schedule 3 documents should be drafted to set out the scope and when complete and agreed, those services should be incorporated into to the IAA in accordance with the templates and Schedule 1 amended to reflect the incorporation of those services;

f)     That it be approved that when services are disaggregated in future any agreed Exit plans at disaggregation will be incorporated into the IAA when the services are removed from the IAA and retained in new Schedule 8;

g)    That delegated authority be given to the Monitoring Officers for WNC and NNC, to make the necessary changes to the IAA to give effect to the decisions outlined in resolutions a) to f) above.

3.1.8   Agrees that each Joint Committee meeting will receive an update report on the progress towards the completion of the decisions arising from recommendations 3.1.1 to 3.1.7 above.

3.2     Reason for Recommendations

To accord with the Terms of  ...  view the full minutes text for item SSJC/8

The Chair thanked all those in attendance and, there being no other business to be transacted, closed the meeting.