Agenda item

Members received an information report on the increase in charges by Wyre Forest District Council (WFDC). 

The Head of Regulatory Services reminded Members that at the Board meeting held on 1^st October 2020, during the presentation of the Worcestershire Regulatory Services (WRS) Budgets 2020/2021; Members had raised some concern with regard to the additional partner liabilities for 2020/2021 in respect of a £13k increase in accommodation charges and ICT hosting of WRS from Wyre Forest District Council.  

As requested by Members, the information report before Members provided some background information and the process that was followed leading to this increase.

In 2014/15, before the service moved to Wyre Forest House, a search for accommodation across the local government family in the county was undertaken, as Worcester City Council had decided to sell its accommodation that WRS occupied. 

WRS was offered space in Redditch Library, Wyre Forest House and the old Police Station in Pershore. A review concluded that the Wyre Forest offer was the most cost effective and, with office space that was ready to move into without any additional work, it was the easiest to adopt.  WRS moved into Wyre  Forest House in March 2015.

At the end of January 2020, as Head of Service, he was approached by the WFDC IT Manager and their Director of Finance as the original agreement for accommodation and IT support was coming to an end. The initial conversation covered only IT provision but, in the first week of February, it was confirmed that a similar uplift would be requested for the accommodation. The increases were based on the compounded impact of the rate of inflation over that period. The table below demonstrates how colleagues at WFDC arrived at their final figures:

Applying these figures on an annual basis looking backwards leads to a compound figure of £50,000 per annum for IT provision (up from £44,000,) and £61,000 per annum for accommodation (up from £54,000.) These figures are rounded, so the overall increase to the nearest £1,000 is £13,000.

As Head of Service, he did express his concerns that coming at this point in the year made it difficult to incorporate these increases into the WRS budget as it had been set for the year already. WFDC officers apologised for this issue but as the Head of Service he had had to agree.  This was not the first time that the need for the partnership to set a budget in November had caused an issue for one or other partner authorities in their own budget setting process.

The service provided by WFDC IT team is very good and, as part of the annual staff survey, staff still comment on how changing ICT host improved their experience of work based IT solutions. The office accommodation at Wyre Forest House is also of an excellent standard, better than many other public buildings in the County.

As Head of Service, he further consulted with the officer members of the Board. Whilst they expressed their disappointment that WFDC had asked for an increase, they did not object outright and had reluctantly accepted that an inflation only increase was difficult to resist.

The potential availability of other suitable accommodation within the local government family, was carried out, however, it was clear that nothing suitable was available at that time with sufficient quantity of space and desk numbers, even before a consideration of cost was made.  Only the old Police Station in Pershore remained available and that needed some work to bring it up to standard in order to be suitable. Worcestershire County Council were also approached regarding space at County Hall, but at this time, there was not sufficient available.

Members should also be aware that, officers had to consider the impact on disruptions to the service and the workforce; plus a re-location would also entail officers becoming entitled to a disbursement payment equivalent to the mileage cost of any additional home to work travel for a period of one year after the move. This was a not un-substantial amount the last time the service had had to move from Worcester City Council.

On balance, it was felt that the sensible solution was to pay the uplift and continue with the current arrangements. The increase in spend was within his remit for decision making.

In terms of the service’s accommodation, the accommodation and the service received from WFDC ICT was excellent.  The partnership was now on a rolling contract that would be reviewed annually. 

One of the results of Covid-19 was the increasing ubiquitous nature of working from home and this should give Councils the opportunity to re-consider staff working practices and accommodation needs.  The could lead to partner authorities having further capacity available that may be suitable for WRS.

However, with the current pandemic and the way in which resources were stretched, it would not be practical to consider this for 2021/22.  From February 2021, the Management Team would certainly explore options for the following year and review the number of desks currently available / in use and realistically look to reduce those numbers.

The Head of Service further commented that originally officer members of the Board had indicated that their preferred option was to simply include this increase in the income targets for the year. Given the current situation however, he had felt that it was worth asking Board Members to consider whether they would make an uplift to the budget to cover this.

If the Board did not wish to agree to uplift the budget by this amount, the option of reverting to fund this with income remained. 

Councillor A. D. Kent, Bromsgrove District Council, took the opportunity to thank the Head of Regulatory Services for his detailed report.  However, he was still disappointed that the democratic process had failed and that he had had to make a decision.  The Head of Regulatory Services had been put in a difficult position having to make such a decision so late in the day, and he fully understood the position that the Head of Regulatory Services had been put in.

In response to Councillor Kent, the Head of Finance and Customer Services commented that partner authorities based their budgets differently.  Bromsgrove District Council (BDC) and Redditch Borough Council (RBC) did not use RPI Annual percentage, they tended to set their budgets using CPI and the actual costs of delivering a service. 

The Head of Regulatory Services further commented that BDC, as the host authority for WRS had not increased their charges since the inception of WRS in 2010.  The costs had originally included ICT costs, which had over time been reduced when WRS moved into their current accommodation in 2016/2017.  Staffing numbers across WRS had reduced by half. Members stated that the costs of BDC hosting the shared service was something that needed to be discussed with all partner authorities and Board Members.

Members were in agreement and expressed their disappointment that very little notice of a 12% increase had been given to WRS. Members also commented that officers needed to assess the costs of disrupting the service against moving to other premises in the future.  However, Members also agreed that a review of the office accommodation needs of WRS was definitely needed going forward. 

The Chairman took the opportunity to inform the Board that, she had fed back the comments and concerns raised at the last meeting of the Board to her respective authority.

The Head of Regulatory Services further informed the Board that the current contract with Wyre Forest District Council was due to expire on 23^rd March 2021; therefore there had not been sufficient time to look at alternative accommodation; and realistically officers were dealing with the current pandemic.  However, between now and February 2021 officers would look at the number of desks require; and that going forward his management team would conduct a rigorous review of the requirements of the service with a potential reduction for 2022/2023.  The service had tried to keep as much as the hosting costs, as possible, within the local government family.

RECOMMENDED that the additional partner liabilities for 2020/2021 in relation to the increase in accommodation charges and ICT hosting from Wyre Forest District Council, be approved as follows:-