Agenda, decisions and minutes

None.

None.

None.

None.

None.

      (Copy herewith)

Cabinet:

2.1         Approved the draft West Northamptonshire Statement of Community Involvement for public consultation.

Councillor Hill, as the relevant Cabinet Member, presented the report and highlighted the salient points. Local planning authorities were required to produce a Statement of Community Involvement (SCI). Each sovereign council in West Northamptonshire had their own existing SCI. however it was necessary to have a joint SCI adopted by all 3 councils to set out the approach to engagement for the Strategic Plan. It was proposed that a 6-week options consultation take place in the new year and considered necessary to have the SCI adopted before consultation took place. All 3 councils were required to approve the SCI before public consultation could commence and should the recommendations be approved, 6-week public consultation would begin on the draft SCI in October 2020.

RESOLVED:

Cabinet:

2.1       Approved the draft West Northamptonshire Statement of Community Involvement for public consultation.

      (Copy herewith)

Cabinet:

2.1           Noted the demise of the LGSS Partnership and transition to a Lead Authority Model by Northamptonshire County Council, Cambridgeshire County Council and Milton Keynes Council.

2.2           Approved the change from existing arrangements to a Lead Authority Model in respect of the Revenue and Benefits Service, to enable the completion of the wider transition by LGSS partners to a lead authority model.

2.3           Recommended to Full Council to approve the change in service delivery model, and that Council delegates  to the Chief Executive the power to finalise the necessary collaboration, governance  and agreements between the partners, in Consultation with the Leader of the Council and the Cabinet member for Finance.

Councillor Eldred, as the relevant Cabinet Member, presented the report and highlighted the salient points. It was explained that there would be no TUPE of staff to Milton Keynes Council; they would eventually be TUPEd to the new unitary authority. There would be no change to the level of service provided and the main change would be the Head of Revenue & Benefits would report daily to the Section 151 Officer at Milton Keynes Council and not the Managing Director of LGSS.

Councillor Stone expressed concern that the proposal came as a surprise and questioned what had led the Council to this point, commenting that the Council had not had an opportunity to come up with an alternate proposal. Councillor Stone advised that she had contacted the trade unions who also had reservations around the proposal.

Councillor Eldred explained that there was a clause in the agreement which allowed for a review after 18 months.

Councillor Duffy voiced concern around the localism and the potential loss of the “personal touch” that the Revenue and Benefits Team were often praised for.

It was explained that customers would not see any change in the service provided and that the move was not a physical one.

RESOLVED:

Cabinet:

2.1         Noted the demise of the LGSS Partnership and transition to a Lead Authority Model by Northamptonshire County Council, Cambridgeshire County Council and Milton Keynes Council.

2.2         Approved the change from existing arrangements to a Lead Authority Model in respect of the Revenue and Benefits Service, to enable the completion of the wider transition by LGSS partners to a lead authority model.

2.3         Recommended to Full Council to approve the change in service delivery model, and that Council delegates to the Chief Executive the power to finalise the necessary collaboration, governance and agreements between the partners, in Consultation with the Leader of the Council and the Cabinet member for Finance.