Agenda item

A report was presented which updated the Committee about the current status and next steps for the Future Tandridge Programme (FTP). This included the results of the initial cycle of service reviews and proposed savings of £450,000 (the third and final tranche of savings associated with the 2022/23 budget) i.e.:

·      £325,000 in respect of services delivered by this Committee; and

·      £125,000 to be achieved through a management restructure.

The actions required to deliver the £325,000 savings in 2022/23 were detailed in Appendix A to the report.

The report provided an overview of the FTP and details about the service review process to date, including Key Lines of Enquiry and initial observations about the scope for improving the delivery of services. The emerging ‘direction of travel’ was for Tandridge to become a ‘commissioning Council’, details of which would be presented as part of a future business case.

The report reiterated that, while the FTP should be led and owned by Tandridge, expert support and external challenge was still required to design and deliver changes. The estimated investment required to deliver Phase 1 (mobilisation and design, from February to July) had been approved by the Committee on 1st February. The funding for Phase 1 would allow the completion of the service reviews by the end of July within the approved budget. However, while the budget for Phase 2 (delivery of identified savings) was due to be submitted to the Committee’s next meeting on 30th September, initial work on that phase would have to commence beforehand to maintain momentum and develop detailed delivery plans. £50,000 was therefore required to bridge the FTP during August and September, pending consideration of the full Phase 2 business case at the next meeting.  

The debate focused on the desire to maintain the delivery of priority services and the need for key staff to be capable of operating a new ‘commissioning model’. It was acknowledged that the £450,000 Tranche 3 savings target was a tactical means of achieving a balanced budget for 2022/23 but that more radical, strategic measures would be required to ensure sustainability in the years ahead. The Chief Executive considered that the key principle of the FTP was to design and target resources according to established needs and to monitor progress within a robust performance management regime.  Other aspects of the debate included:

·      the need to assess the impact on the ‘front line’ before considering the any reductions to support services 

·      the future approach to funding IT services and the rationale for transferring development costs from revenue to capital 

·      the view that the provision of services to meet residents’ needs was more important than preserving the Council in its present form

·      Councillors had an important role to play in the change process.  

            R E S O L V E D – that:

A.        the £450,000 savings allocated to the Committee from corporate items, set out in paragraph 2.1, Table 1 and Appendix A to the report, be approved and authority be delegated to the Chief Executive to proceed with actions required to deliver them;

B.        the £50,000 bridge funding investment, required by the Future Tandridge Programme to progress the delivery of the £450,000 savings identified in the report and to develop full business cases in September, be approved;

C.        the new redundancy policy, set out in Section 9 and Appendix D to the report, necessary to give clarity on the arrangements for redundancies resulting from the service reviews and a constrained financial position, be noted;

D.        authority be delegated to the Chief Executive, in consultation with the

Chair and Vice Chair of the Committee, to agree the final redundancy policy wording, following engagement and feedback from the workforce through the Staff Conference; and

E.        the progress to date in delivering the Future Tandridge Programme and

                     direction of travel for the service reviews be noted.