Modern Council:

Project Progress in 2008/09

Key

	The project is on track for completion as planned.
	The project is currently at risk of falling behind plan.
	The project is not progressing according to plan.

Ref	Description	Project Progress for 2008/09
1	Develop a vision for Thanet	Vision drafted consultation with residents and stakeholders just completed. Final vision to go to council in July 2009.
2	Be the ‘Employer of Choice’ in Thanet by:
2a)	Improving the working environment for staff	Please refer to project 6.5b)
2b)	Renewing the staff package – improve image recruitment and retention	Asperity Reward Scheme implemented. Achieved Investors in People and Disability Two Tick status. Signed up to the Skills Pledge and Local Employer Partnership. Apprenticeship programme now well advanced.
2c)	Reinvigorating the Council’s values – Service, Teamwork, Economics, and Pride (STEP)	Incorporated into Managers Charter. Staff Charter due for completion May 09. STEP incorporated into general activities/initiatives.
3	Extend customer contact facilities across Thanet by extending Council services to Ramsgate using new library to provide Council services	Discussions with KCC resulted in no space available at the new Library. However, a customer profiling project is underway to establish the customer need for facilities in Ramsgate.
4	Improve the quality of services through external validation	Charter Mark for Customer Service excellence was awarded to the Customer Services & Business Transformation directorate. Thanet's Gateway Plus was a finalist in this year's LGC awards in the efficiency and modernisation category.
5	Reduce the overall amount of accommodation used by the Council by:
5a)	Reducing the storage of paper by 50%	Print Strategy communicated, implemented and savings achieved. Print section open day held to inform users of enhanced services and branding/formatting workshops scheduled to further maximise efficiency & quality of print
5b)	Relocating 70% of office staff into main building	Phase 5 of 9 underway. Reduction in Council Office Accommodation on schedule and Area A/B Mill Lane vacated and handed back to landlord. Office space footprint reduced and efficiency savings achieved.
6	Achieve 3% cash savings year-on-year in order to sustain budgetary growth for service improvements	The annual efficiency savings target for 2008/09 was £759k. The budget allowed for efficiency savings of £954.7k. The outturn is yet to be confirmed but the original target will be exceeded.
7	Implement the Asset Management Strategy	2008-09 disposals under implementation. 2009-2010 disposals consulted on and for decision by Cabinet August 2009. The programme is essential to the Capital Programme, and Medium Term Financial Strategy.
8	Ensure Thanet is fully represented in East Kent by:
8a)	Producing a Graffiti Strategy with strands to tackle or improve: removal, enforcement and prevention	Graffiti strategy completed and being implemented with increased enforcement, diversion activities and a new removal service
8b)	Working in partnership with Kent Police to successfully prosecute graffiti taggers	Operation tag 2 & 3 were successful with 9 arrests in total and 4 convictions
8c)	Developing joint committee arrangements	More projects are currently being routed through the framework - i.e. joint housing management, joint HR
8d)	Continuing to explore efficiencies and service improvements in partnership with neighbouring authorities	Human Resources and Payroll Cabinet agreed to defer its decision regarding the proposed delegation of HR/Payroll until the East Kent Joint Arrangements Committee had approved the Service Level Agreements. These have now been agreed subject to them being a working document. Time scales have been re-arranged to enable Thanet's continued inclusion in the project. Discussions at the EK Forum have confirmed Thanet’s commitment to the procurement and roll out of the HR/payroll system across the four authorities and slowing the “go live” of the shared HR service to allow Thanet's Cabinet and Council to consider the report and sign up. Dover, Shepway and Canterbury's Cabinet and Council have agreed the proposal to delegate HR/Payroll. The report is due to go to Cabinet in June and Council in July. Subject to approval TUPE consultation with staff will take place in July/August with an intended transfer in September. The project is working towards a go live date of January 2010. Housing Services The business case for the joint housing services project is being rebuilt to ensure that the impact of the proposal on other areas of the council are fully understood. A start date for the project is unlikely to before October 2010 at the earliest.
9)	Develop comprehensive information management system to support delivery of Corporate Plan to include:
9a)	Develop a consistent framework of plans and strategies to underpin the delivery of the Corporate Plan	Publication scheme has now gone live. The new process was detailed at the staff development sessions in March 2009. The process is also available to all staff via the Council’s intranet.
9b)	Set up document management/retrieval and storage system	Publication scheme launched within required timescales. All new documents will be added via an intranet workflow process to ensure compliance with relevant approvals and branding.
10	Implement a complaints logging and response system including Freedom of Information (FOI) and Member enquiries	FOI review accepted and staff identified to support process. Awaiting confirmation of management reporting requirements before process developed and launched. Target May 09.

Next page: Modern Council: Looking forward to 2009-10

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