Agenda item

The Service Manager for Legal Services presented each section of her draft service plan for 2007/08:

Section 1 – Setting the Scene: this had been updated since the first gateway review and. Upon questioning from the panel, the officer indicated that whilst staffing levels in the service were adequate, current salary levels would not provide a sustainable staffing levels. Information on comparisons with other  authorities was now available and this was provided to the meeting.

Section 2 – Where are we now?: customer satisfaction survey results were still awaited and objectives had been achieved, although one judicial review had been undertaken in the current year. Key achievements and outcomes were identified and the officer explained that there was sufficient internal capacity to cover Monitoring Officer duties during investigations.

Section 3 – Where do we need to be?: the completed SWOT and PESTLE analyses were scrutinised.

Section 4 – How do we get there?: because of the nature of the service, the action plan contained one objective and this was discussed.

Section 5 – Gershon & Efficiency: savings were identified in the plan.

Section 6 – Financial Summary: figures were circulated at the meeting and explained.

Section 7 – Risk: several risks were identified, all being recorded as “high”. It was suggested that the likelihood of the risk to professional staff retention and insufficient management training and expertise be re-allocated as “medium”.  

Conclusions:

Having reviewed the 2007/08 service plan for Finance and Risk Management against the Gateway Review 2 checklist, the Resources DSP found that:

1.      All budget figures for the current year and future years had been identified in the service plan.

2.      All staffing resources had been identified and costed in the service plan.

3.      All other relevant costs had been identified and included in the service plan.

4.      There was clear quantification of how the service contributed towards the council priorities.

5.      Any relevant inflationary increases had been absorbed.

6.      The balanced score card was not yet complete and evidenced.

7.      Any relevant income streams had been reviewed and inflationary increases applied.

8.      Gershon efficiency savings had been identified and evidenced.

9.      Risks had been identified and actions for mitigation applied.

10.Any major deviations to the current budget had been identified.

11.Equality costs were not relevant to this service.

12.Section 4 of the service plan had been adequately completed and resources costs identified.

13.The SWOT analysis had been completed.

14.The PESTLE analysis had been completed.

15.The financial summary had been completed.

16.The were no major procurement proposals for the next three years.

17.Service staff had been consulted on compilation of the service plan. 

18.There were no capital projects identified for the next 3-5 years.

Other observations made were:

For Gateway Review 3, the Corporate Head of Finance and Resources to provide a “what ifs” summary spreadsheet for all items of exceptional variation in all services.  

The portfolio holder be recommended that due to the large number of high risks identifies in many cases, preventative measures be taken to ensures that these do not materialise.