Agenda item

(To receive a report from Andrew McLean, Assistant Director – Corporate Transformation, Programmes and Performance and Clare Rowley - Head of Transformation, which invites the Board to consider the Transformation Programme which is being presented to the Executive on 3 November 2020. The views of the Board will be reported to the Executive as part of its consideration of this item)

The Board received a report from the Assistant Director – Corporate Transformation, Programmes and Performance and the Head of Transformation, on the Transformation Programme which was being presented to the Executive on 3 November 2020. The views of the Board would be reported to the Executive as part of its consideration of this item. The Executive would be asked to support the scope of the transformation programme, along with the approach recommended for running and managing the programme and provide feedback on any matters to support successful delivery.

The Council had developed a Corporate Plan which set out the goals and ambitions it wished to achieve for its residents over the coming years. It had been recognised that there was a need to focus and resource activity to deliver the Plan, driving innovation and efficiency that was best delivered through a corporate transformation programme, supported by change management and recognisable benefits realisation.

The Transformation Programme encompassed a number of wide-ranging projects that would positively impact upon residents, communities, staff, businesses, visitors and other stakeholders engaged with the Council. The programme was organised into three overarching workstreams of Our People, Our Communities and Our Processes, each of which had a number of projects delivered within them, with enabling technology acting as a key driver throughout. Dedicated funds of £10.790m had been identified to support the delivery of the programme and comprehensive governance arrangements were in place to oversee delivery.

The overall aims of the programme were to: develop a strong vision, direction and identity; put our customers at the heart of everything the Council did; become an employer of choice; be more flexible and agile in how the Council operated; have leadership that was collaborative and empowering through a distributed leadership approach; develop a culture that promoted ownership and  accountability. A detailed overview of the objectives and deliverables for each of the workstreams and the projects currently being delivered was detailed in the report.

It was reported that the Council's effective response to the Covid-19 pandemic had accelerated and focussed its ambition for change, specifically the opportunities for greater digitalisation and automation, which would assist the Council to proactively manage its future financial challenges and protect the services delivered to the residents of Lincolnshire.

Members considered the report, and during the discussion the following points were noted:

·         There was a request for periodic reports to the Board on the progress of the projects overall (work planned, expenditure and completion dates), including an evaluation of the costs and in particular the benefits of each project.  Information on successes and failures could also be reported.  It was also suggested that service specific projects could be considered by individual scrutiny committees. 

·         Each councillor was a source of intelligence on how County Council services were being delivered in their particular division. There should be consideration of whether and how this intelligence can be used as part of the Transformation Programme.  There was a suggestion that the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Board would meet with the lead officers to discuss this. 

·         In Appendix 1 - Workstream and Project Objectives (pages 32-47 of the agenda pack), it was suggested that some of the wording for the objectives and deliverables would need to be clarified, to ensure that it was clear that the wording was specific to that particular objective or deliverable; and did not mislead the public to think that that the objective or deliverable applied to all Council services. 

·         It was confirmed that that the sum of £7.395 million (page 22) had been allocated from the overall County Council underspend for 2019-20, and represented an investment in the Transformation Programme and One Council approach. 

·         The additional costs (fourth bullet point, page 48) represent those costs not specifically covered by the Transformation Programme allocation, such as HR, as well as any further additional resources. 

RESOLVED:

1.     That the Board support the recommendations to the Executive, as set out in the report;

2.    That a summary of the above comments be passed on to the Executive   as part of its consideration of this item.