Unlike traditional contractor service provision, under the partnership agreement between SCDC, Norfolk County Council (NCC) and Norfolk County Services (NCS), NCS is responsible for both the strategic policy formation, and for quality service delivery in conjunction with its partners.
The partnership was set up under Section 101 of the Local Government Act, for an initial ten-year term.
Range of services
A comprehensive range of strategic services is provided – waste management, grounds maintenance, street cleansing, public works (including building cleaning, maintenance and minor civil's), vehicle fleet management, engineering services, with waste management the most significant operation.
Under a TUPE agreement the entire 170 services staff, including Strategic Director and now Managing Director of SCS Dennis Ball, transferred to the new partnership.
On matters of service development or policy, SCS work with the key politicians and personnel within SCDC, reporting direct to the Council’s Cabinet, and ultimately the Council, in the same way as internal departments do.
Savings and benefits
The benefits to SCDC are considerable. Initial financial savings were made through lower central support costs in areas such as Human Resources, Health and Safety and Information Technology; procurement, facilitated by NCS’s considerable purchasing power, and reductions in vehicle operation and insurance costs.
However, it was not just cost savings that were realised. Councils have, over recent years, had a degree of flexibility in being able to charge for certain services; with the formation of SCS as a separate limited company, that freedom to trade more openly increased dramatically, to the extent that SCDC now receives an annual profit percentage return from SCS. “There are joint risks,” says Dennis Ball, “but there are also considerable joint benefits.”
Innovative performance measurement
A Partnership Liaison Board, consisting of three members of SCDC and three from NCS/NCC, ensures management and reporting meet the Council’s targets.
The partnership is based on the ‘Balanced Scorecard’ performance management system. SCS have a scorecard containing around 40 measurable indicators, which reflect the Council’s priorities and measures of performance with output, rather than input, assessments. Areas such as Learning and Growth, Finance, Customer Service and Internal Business Processes are all evaluated to give a holistic view of the success of the partnership.
Since the partnership began turnover has risen to around £8 million. This represents an increase of 15% since August 2004, partly achieved from external business development and partly from the introduction of a new waste-recycling scheme.
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