Issue - meetings

The Board considered a report of the Strategic Director – Health and Community seeking support for the procurement of the Consumer Protection (Trading Standards) Service from Warrington Borough Council and the associated transfer of the officers of Halton’s Consumer Protection team to the employ of Warrington Borough Council.

It was noted that, during the budget-setting process for the financial year 2008/09, a savings target of £75,000 had been included, based on the proposal that Warrington Borough Council would provide the Consumer Protection Service. The ultimate business objective of this project was to deliver a single Trading Standards Service of optimum size, “fit for purpose” in delivering good outcomes, and which would develop and continually improve to meet the present and future Trading Standards needs of the Halton and Warrington communities. The aim was to provide an enhanced quality of service by combining the best of two very good but relatively small services, delivering economies of scale and flexibilities through a larger team. Financial implications of this change were outlined within the report for Members’ consideration.

To date, the project had been delivered through a Project Board with sub-groups focusing on legal/human resources, finance, IT and technical trading standards matters. Colleagues from both authorities had supported managers to progress the project and Warrington had provided a lead project manager. Officers who would be subject to transfer had played active roles in the IT and technical trading standards sub-groups. In addition, a joint Halton/Warrington visioning day had been held for both sets of staff and a number of on-going information/consultation meetings had been held with officers of Halton’s Consumer Protection team.

The Heads of Terms Document, which included governance arrangements, was included at Appendix 1 of the report. The foundation for the service on which the contract was based was provided by a comprehensive specification document appended to the contract that provided the background, overview, current strengths and outcomes of the present Halton and Warrington Services, and key joint service objectives. The latest version of this document was attached to the report at Appendix 2.

Between the date of transfer and 31^st March 2009, the two teams would operate side by side and all officers would be involved in the design of a new, single Service structure that would provide full integration on 1^st April 2009. The first five months of operation would see a focus on delivering the front line job whilst at the same time creating the new structure with existing officers and recruiting to vacant posts. The specification at Appendix 2 was intended to take the Service through to 31^st March 2010. From then on, whilst the specification would continue to have some relevance, it would effectively be updated and taken forward via an annual Service Plan.

The Board was advised that the terms of the contract would ensure satisfactory governance arrangements for Halton. The initial contract term was five years with a formal review every two years and, subject to satisfactory review, the option to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 60