Agendas, reports and minutes

A meeting of the Re-Design Board of the Highland Council will take place on Tuesday, 30 August 2016 at 2.00pm in Committee Room 1, Highland Council Headquarters, Glenurquhart Road, Inverness. 

You are invited to attend the meeting and a note of the business to be considered is attached.

Yours faithfully

Michelle Morris
Depute Chief Executive/
Director of Corporate Development 

BUSINESS

1. Apologies for Absence

2. Declarations of Interest

Members are asked to consider whether they have an interest to declare in relation to any item on the agenda for this meeting. Any Member making a declaration of interest should indicate whether it is a financial or non-financial interest and include some information on the nature of the interest. Advice may be sought from Officers prior to the meeting taking place.

3. Minutes of Previous Meeting

There are circulated Minutes of the previous Meeting held on Tuesday, 21 June 2016 for approval. 

4. Redesign Progress: Concluding Phase 2 on re-prioritising services and the proposed approach to Phase 3 on appraising options for change

There is circulated Report No. RDB/11/16 dated 26 August 2016 by the Head of Policy & Reform which describes the process undertaken by the Board to conclude Phase 2 of its work and sets out proposals to begin Phase 3.

The Board is asked to note:-

i. that, by meeting fortnightly through the Summer Recess, it is on track with concluding Phase 2 of its work and beginning Phase 3 and this will be reported to the full Council on 8 September;
ii. the wide range of Council functions and the extent to which they are statutory or discretionary as shown in Booklet A;
iii. that a communications plan is in place for concluding Phase 2 and beginning Phase 3;
iv. the positive feedback from community planning partners to engage with redesign as described in Appendix 3 with further opportunities to engage as set out in Paragraph 4.23; and
v. the implications set out in Section 6 of the report.

The Board is asked to agree:-

i. any changes to the long list of functions proposed for review as set out in Booklet B, noting that they cover both statutory and discretionary functions and are spread across all Council services;
ii. that the approach to Phase 3 can demonstrate the values of challenging, open to ideas, participating and empowering;
iii. that the long list of reviews are prioritised by the Board during September, taking into account the factors listed in Paragraph 4.5, and that it seeks delegated authority from the Council to decide those functions for review in 2016/17;
iv. reviews should include the range of options for service delivery included in Paragraph 4.9, other than for those identified by Members to have a narrower focus e.g. on charges and income;
v. reviews are carried out internally over a period of up to 24 months and through challenge and review teams, with a pool of staff identified by the Chief Executive for these teams, with scope for external support where appropriate as described in Paragraph 4.13;
vi. reviews are scrutinised by the Board supported by Sub-Groups of Members for particular reviews once the reviews for 2016/17 are identified;
vii. to continue with the ways to engage staff as listed in Paragraph 4.17;
viii. that Group Leaders and the Chair and Vice Chair of the Board meet with Officers  to develop proposals for the Board on public engagement, including the public in general, representative groups across communities and with those using the services in scope for review in 2016/17;
ix. that a Conference is hosted by the Council in the Autumn involving community bodies, partners and Government to agree action to support community bodies to do more in and with their communities. A draft Programme will be considered by the Board in September; and
x. that the Board continues to meet fortnightly through October and to cover the topics set out in Paragraph 5.1.