Agendas, reports and minutes

Minutes of Meeting of the Redesign Board of the Highland Council held in Committee Room 1, Council Headquarters, Glenurquhart Road, Inverness on Tuesday, 13 November 2018 at 11.00 am.

Present:
Mr B Lobban (Chair), Mr L Fraser, Dr I Cockburn, Mr A Jarvie, Mr G MacKenzie, Ms M Smith, Mr A Sinclair, Mr J Gibson

Also Present:
Mr D Louden                                     

Officials in attendance:
Mr M MacLeod, Council Redesign Lead
Mr W Gilfillan, Director of Community Services
Mr E Foster, Head of Corporate Finance and Commercialism, Finance Services
Mr D Goldie, Head of Housing and Building Maintenance, Community Services
Ms D Sutherland, Corporate Audit Manager, Finance Service
Miss J Maclennan, Principal Administrator

Business

1. Apologies for Absence

Apologies for absence were intimated on behalf of Mr G Adam, Mr R Bremner, Mrs C Caddick, Mrs H Carmichael, Mr A Christie, Mrs M Davidson, Mr A MacKinnon, Mr C Smith, Mrs C Wilson and Mr P MacPherson.

2. Declarations of Interest

The Board NOTED the following Declaration of Interest:-

Item 3 – Mr L Fraser (non-financial)

3. Redesign Review of Trade Services 

Declaration of Interest: Mr L Fraser declared a non-financial interest in this item as a Sub-Contractor for the Housing Service but, having applied the test outlined in Paragraphs 5.2 and 5.3 of the Councillors’ Code of Conduct, concluded that his interest did not preclude his involvement in the discussion.
                                                                                                                                                                      
There had been circulated separately Report No. RDB/6/18 dated 31 October 2018 by the Head of Planning and Environment/Council Redesign Lead which focused on the delivery of building trade services across the Council property estate.    

Following a summary of the report, and during discussion, Members raised the following issues:-

• implementation of the recommendations would result in a better service being provided for less money.  The aspiration was, eventually, for all building trade services to be carried out in-house;
• it was important to monitor progress to ensure momentum was not lost;
• the process for contractors joining the Procurement Framework should be simplified.  Furthermore, getting on the list involved a major outlay for contractors with no guarantee that they would receive work;
• confirmation was sought, and received, that the review of using in-house teams across the whole property estate would also include schools.  In this regard, whilst welcoming the closer working relationship between Community Services and Development and Infrastructure, this should also include Care and Learning given the degree of expenditure on the school estate;
• to increase staff numbers and to meet the geographical challenge consideration should be given to using trade apprenticeships.  It was recognised however that there were also disadvantages with employing apprenticeships including the time lost when they attended college; and
• in response to a question, it was confirmed that Community Services were involved in the scoping exercise looking for a replacement of the K2 property management system.

Thereafter, the Board NOTED the findings as detailed in the report and attached appendices and AGREED TO RECOMMEND that the Council:-

i.    agree the recommendations set out within the Trade Services final report as follows:-

1.  A review of building maintenance arrangements for the Badenoch & Strathspey and Nairn areas be undertaken to identify opportunities for more work in these areas to be undertaken by in-house staff rather than using sub-contractors.  This should tie in with a review of arrangements across all of the Inner Moray Firth area to ensure that cross-boundary work is undertaken as part of our Business as Usual approach.
2.  A Lean Review be undertaken on the process for reporting, instructing and managing Housing Repairs.
3.  The Council consult with staff and Unions to enable the scope of work carried out by existing trades persons to widen beyond what (the traditional functions of a specific trade) they are currently restricted to. The scope of additional functions should be clear that this will be for minor repair work only.  The Council should consider amending the job description for the future recruitment of trades persons to include a broader scope of minor work.   
4.  The Service examine the benefits of creating a dedicated Inverness or Inner Moray Firth Housing Voids team – with the sole purpose of reducing the timescales within the void management process.  This Voids team should include the relevant officers, trades persons and the required level of business support.
5.  The Commercial Board explore more fully the options available for expanding the service to provide care and repair services and/or handy person service. 
6.  A Lean Review on the Property Repairs process be carried out in tandem with the Review outlined in Recommendation 2.
7.  A trial for a specific Associated Schools Group (e.g. Inverness Royal Academy or other agreed area be carried out as a high priority to develop an arrangement where housing and non-housing repairs are dealt with by one team.  This will test the concept of greater work being offered to Building Maintenance but also allow a focus on quality and value for money.
8.  The procurement of a replacement framework be taken forward as a high priority, with a strong emphasis on ensuring that the appropriate governance, transparency and clarity in how contractors are chosen is built in to the contract arrangements.
9.  In the short term, Development & Infrastructure and Community Services set up a team with spend on Trades to work within a Group to carry out short-term spend consolidation.  This will be based on the priority to consolidate ALL council spend on trades to achieve better pricing for all budget types, and is a short-term measure to deliver value for money.  
10. The mobile working arrangements be implemented for the whole of the Building Maintenance team as a matter of urgency.  This should be a corporate focus, based on ensuring that the appropriate system support for mobile devices is in place as soon as possible. 
11. The mobile solution also be used for Non-housing Property Maintenance to ensure that the benefits can be achieved across the entire property estate.
12. The ongoing procurement of a replacement K2 system must fully consider all of the options for a shared/complementary system for scheduling day to day repairs and assisting long term asset management across all Council buildings (housing and other property).  
13. Notwithstanding the short term improvements to increase joint working across the whole property estate, further discussions take place on the merits of merging the housing and non-housing property maintenance functions to deliver a comprehensive Facilities Management function.
ii. oversees the delivery and implementation of 3 specific recommendations in the short term which will assist with the delivery of savings, with increased efficiency of operation and with the development of the in-house capability for trade services for both Council housing and other property.  These were:

• A Lean review into housing and property repairs processes;
• The development of a trial to pilot more effective joint working between Community Services and Development & Infrastructure; and 
• the procurement of a new framework for trade services.

The meeting ended at 11.25 am.