Agendas, reports and minutes

A meeting of the Redesign Board will take place REMOTELY on Tuesday, 23 March 2021 at 10.30am. 

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

Yours faithfully

Stewart Fraser
Head of Corporate Governance 

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 the Previous Meeting

There are circulated Minutes of the Previous Meeting held on Monday, 1 February 2021. 

4. Review of Engineering Services

There is circulated Report No RDB/2/21 dated 12 March by the Executive Chief Officer, Infrastructure and Environment.

Members are asked to agree the Engineering Services Peer Review recommendations as follows; 

(i)    create a consolidated structure for the delivery of engineering services within the Infrastructure and Environment Service which continues the focus on local service delivery, performance and value for money;
(ii)    encourage the adoption of a single service approach and a collective sense of ownership, supported by a clear vision and strategy developed in conjunction with staff. It is essential that the Service ensures there is greater transparency on the associated resource and funding requirements in delivering local and national outcomes; 
(iii)    create a co-ordinated and collaborative approach to the management of engineering staff, projects and assets recognising the close inter-relationship and need for integration across all parts of the new service and wider Council;
(iv)    review the measures for forecasting and allocating the resources required for the effective delivery of all engineering services, including recognition of the feedback on asset management functions and strategic transport planning;
(v)    identify and explore opportunities to streamline process-based functions and associated administrative tasks in the new service structure, including, where appropriate, the undertaking of lean review(s) and electronic methods of workload management;
(vi)    review current overhead costs recovered under the cost multiplier to see if further efficiencies can be made;
(vii)    prioritise a comprehensive review of the current means of budgeting for the PDU including the surplus income requirement (budget pressure) and exploration of alternative charging models for the services supplied to in-house clients;
(viii)    explore longer term potential for supplying in-house design services to partners and private clients;
(ix)    create a service wide workforce plan which encourages agility, flexibility and diversification across all functional areas and aligns the training and development of staff through CPD and on the job training, coupled with a ‘cradle to grave’ approach to create a culture of knowledge sharing and nurturing staff development; and 
(x)    develop and build on the existing relationships with external parties including Transport Scotland and Northern Roads Collaboration as well as Hitrans and family group of local authorities. 

5. Amenities Project

There is circulated Report No RDB/3/21 dated 3 March 2021 by the Executive Chief Officer, Communities and Place.

Members are asked to note:- 

(i)    the re-setting of the amenities review as a project, as per presentation on 27th November 2020 and the inclusion of any learning from Covid;
(ii)    the 6 project objectives and the progress made to date, with the project overseen by the Redesign Board; 
(iii)    the anticipated project timescales and estimated date for completion; and 
(iv)    Covid is an ongoing factor which may impact on the projects progress against estimated project timescales, as a result slippage in any agreed timescales could occur or tasks could be paused.

6. Workforce Planning & Development – Progress Update

There is circulated Report No RDB/4/21 dated 12 March 2021 by the Executive Chief Officer, Resources and Finance.

Members are asked to note the presentation of the Workforce Planning and Development Action Plan.