Agenda item

Following a request at the last PAASC meeting (22 June 2009) for an update on the Value for Money project, received a report from the Head of Community Cohesion and Equalities detailing progress of the work of the Value for Money Strategy Board (VfMSB).

The VfMSB is one of five sub-boards which reports to the One Barking and Dagenham Programme Board. The VfMSB is tasked with ‘driving transformational change in respect of value for money at Barking and Dagenham Council, so that the Council’s services significantly and increasingly demonstrate improved effectiveness and efficiency into the medium and long term, and that resources can be redirected to deliver the Council’s priorities’. 

The VfMSB work plan includes:

• Develop and implement a Value for Money vision and strategy for the Council;

• Detailed analysis and use of a baseline position to inform strategy;

• Identification of best practice and application in a B&D context;

• Identification of challenging, efficiency savings and targets, in support of the business planning process;

• Development and commissioning of tools and techniques to deliver VFM targets;

• Assurance that there is appropriate organisational capacity and resources to deliver VFM targets;

• Development and commissioning of mechanisms and processes for the organisation to manage VFM on an ongoing basis;

• Organisational development and capacity-building as appropriate across the organisation to embed VFM into the culture, ensuring capacity and capability to deliver savings and efficiencies into the future;

• Governance of VFM delivery;

• Development and monitoring of an implementation plan; and

• Provide challenge to the rest of the One B&D programme to ensure that VFM is being delivered by all other work streams.
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Current work in progress includes:

• Identification of the baseline position for the Council’s services in terms of price, performance, people and perceptions – for both individual and cross-cutting services; 

• Identification of benchmarks against which to compare the Council’s position to inform a prioritised programme for improvement;

• Review best practice elsewhere in the country and identify areas for improvement which are relevant for Barking and Dagenham;

• Establishment of detailed criteria for the setting of targets for efficiencies across the Council;

• Ensure a detailed programme of service reviews is delivered, targeted towards greatest areas of risk and where scope for significant efficiencies have been identified;

• Ensure an effective range of tools and techniques are made available to service managers to enable them to drive out efficiencies in their services;

• Review the procurement capability of the Council and ensure that action is taken to develop a more commercial approach to the procurement and management of contracts;

• Review of the strategic commissioning capability of the Council, in the context of the wider Partnership;

• As part of the Organisational Development strategy, ensure that the skills, capability, capacity and culture of the Council is developed to become one where everyone ‘treats every penny as if it were their own’;

• Development and implementation of an outsourcing strategy (including IT in the first instance); and

• Development and implementation of a strategy for income generation and maximisation of external funding.

We have noted the report and request that the Head of Community Cohesion and Equalities provide us with an update on progress in 3 months time at our meeting in November 09.