Agenda item

Objective : Consider annual report 2022/23: where is performance good/requires improvement

Frank Wilson, Executive Director Finance, Publica

Sally Walker, Chair, Publica

To be preceded by an update to the committee by Claire Hughes, Corporate Director and Monitoring Officer, on services transferred to Cheltenham Borough Council

Ahead of the report from Publica, the Monitoring Officer gave a brief update on the changes currently underway, following the decision early in 2023 to bring HR services (other than payroll) back in house.  The new HR team has been operating well for over a month now, and the new digital recruitment system has received positive feedback from staff and Members.  She was happy to take any Member questions on this.

The Chair welcomed Frank Wilson and Sally Walker from Publica, and invited Mr Wilson to address Members.  He thanked Members for inviting him, and said he would be happy to support any scrutiny of the changes currently in progress. He highlighted the following:

-       the final version of Publica’s Annual Report will be shared once the shareholders’ forum has taken place, but all the main elements are covered in the text-only version presented with the agenda;

-       a section on Future Publica is the result of work with the shareholder forum to consider ways of delivering further £2m saving for partner councils, having now delivered what was set out in the original business case.  The service-specific metrics are appended for information, as CBC takes a smaller set of services from Publica than other partners;

-       last year, to March 2023, and following the consolidation of previous savings plans, Publica delivered more than £2.9m savings, 50% more than what was set out in the original business case;

-       Publica recognises that partner councils are moving in different directions and taking strategic decisions, as CBC has done with its HR provision, and is happy to flex its model to work with them in this;

-       another key element in the last year was a further £450k one-off saving returned to councils, and work continues on the Future Publica programme of additional savings.  Publica recognises the challenges partner councils are facing over the next few years, and are looking at a number of ways to respond;

-       key non-financial achievements include Investors in People status and bronze position for carbon literacy training, plus investment, with the councils’ support, in cyber security to further secure our systems – this was recognised as a critical area over a year ago, and is now paying dividends;

-       Publica has also sought to secure external funding for partners in a number of different programmes, including the local authority housing fund;

-       Publica continues to focus on identifying and reflecting on where it can deliver more over the next 2-3 years, but is mindful of the decisions of the last week and those being made over the weeks.

He concluded by saying that the services provided for Cheltenham were limited but critical, the most important being ICT, which underpins the work of the council and its partners, including Ubico, CBH and the Cheltenham Trust.  The report shows strong performance data in terms of work done in responding to requests.  He said Publica recognises that the model needs to flex and is happy to work with the management team at CBC, including on the transition of CBH, which may have some impact on the ICT infrastructure and financial transactional services.  

Member questions and responses circulated before the meeting were taken as read. 

A Member expressed appreciation for the critical work of John Chorlton and his team, maintaining CBC’s cyber security for a number of years.  Mr Wilson agreed that there have been many challenges over the years, and he in turn thanked the Chief Executive and his team for the additional resources provided to fund their work.  He was confident that CBC would not be hit by the same situation as some other councils, but stressed the need to be constantly on guard.

The Chair took the opportunity to remind Members to complete their on-line cyber-ninja training by 01 November.