221104- ASSJC Minute
North Ayrshire Council · 2 December 2022
Back to Ayrshire Shared Services Committee — 2 December 2022 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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Ayrshire Shared Services Joint Committee 4 November 2022 At a Meeting of the Ayrshire Shared Services Joint Committee at 10.00 a.m. involving a combination of participation by remote electronic means and physical attendance within the Council Chambers, Irvine. Present (Physical Participation) Philip Saxton (South Ayrshire Council) Present (Remote Participation) Ian Davis, William Grant and Alec Clark (South Ayrshire Council), Maureen McKay, Neall Ingram and Neill Watts (East Ayrshire Council). In Attendance (Physical Participation) A. Little and C. Stewart, Committee Services Officers (Chief Executive's Service). In Attendance (Remote Participation) Katie Kelly, Depute Chief Executive and Paul Whip, Group Finance Manager (East Ayrshire Council); K. Braidwood, Head of Ayrshire Roads Alliance, Craig Knape, Strategic Manager Network and Operations (Ayrshire Roads Alliance) and Theresa Mackin, Strategic Manager Business Operations (Ayrshire Roads Alliance). Chair Councillor Philip Saxton. 1. Declarations of Interest There were no declarations of interest by Members in terms of the Joint Committee’s Order No. 25 and the Councillors’ Code of Conduct. 2. Minutes The Minutes of the meeting held on 2 September 2022 were confirmed and the Minutes signed in accordance with Paragraph 7 (1) of Schedule 7 of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973. 3. Revenue Financial Monitoring Report Submitted report by the Head of Finance and ICT on the revenue budget monitoring position for the year to 31 March 2022, for the Ayrshire Roads Alliance and also the budget for 2022/23. Appendix 1 provided the service budget split between the strategic service delivery and local service delivery, including the core/recurring costs of service delivery from the local service costs at a single Council level. A full budget monitoring statement, including reasons for major variances was attached at Appendix 2.
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Members asked questions and were provided with further information in relation to: • variances as a result of vacant posts; and • the creation of trainee roadworker posts to alleviate the difficulties in recruiting workers in this field. The Joint Committee agree to (a) note the financial management position of the Ayrshire Roads Alliance; and (b) receive a further financial update at the next meeting of the Joint Committee. 4. Roadworks Programme 2022/23 Submitted report by the Head of Roads on the progress of work through the Roads Improvement programmes within East Ayrshire and South Ayrshire for financial year 2022-2023. The 2022/23 programmes for South and East Ayrshire Councils were set out at Appendix 1 and Appendix 2 to the report and Appendix 3 provided details of EV Infrastructure. Members asked questions and were provided with further information in relation to:- • A review of the resurfacing programme spend that had been undertaken as a result of the increase in road materials, fuel and the withdrawal of fuel relief for red diesel; • A temporary suspension of the carriageway resurfacing programme until further discussion with South and East Ayrshire Finance colleagues; • The completion of resurfacing works already started and routine maintenance and safety repairs that will continue to be carried out; and • A report to Cabinet at South and East Ayrshire Councils on the Roadworks Programme 2022/23. The Joint Committee agreed to note the Ayrshire Roads Alliance works completed in 2022/23. 5. ARA Transformation - TUPE Arrangements Submitted report by the Head of Roads on the outcome of negotiations with Trade Unions and employees on varying the terms of conditions of service for the remaining SAC employees to EAC terms and conditions, to align the service, enabling greater service flexibility and ensuring continued and appropriate workforce planning. Members asked questions and were provided with further information in relation to:- • 24 employees that would have been subject to a level of detriment if full transfer had been implemented; • That the Trade Unions would not consider the option of employees moving to East Ayrshire Terms and Conditions while retaining their South Ayrshire salaries as this would breach TUPE regulations; and
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• In light of the financial detriment that the employees would face if the move to East Ayrshire salaries was imposed, ARA agreed not to pursue any amendments to their terms and conditions or salary at this time, however, the position would be reviewed again in 2024 as part of the next Best Value Review. The Joint Committee agreed (a) not to progress with varying the terms of conditions of service for the remaining SAC employees to EAC terms and conditions; (b) to carry out a further review in 2024 as part of Best Value Service Review and(c) to otherwise notes the content of the report. 6. Performance Scorecard Submitted report by the Head of Roads on the progress made to date against the Performance Scorecard. The Performance Scorecard was presented at Appendix 1 to the report and provided commentary against the specific red and amber performance measures. Members asked questions on the rate of successful parking fine appeals and were advised that further analysis would be undertaken in this area. The Joint Committee agreed to (a) note the performance scorecard presented in the report; (b) continue to receive the performance scorecard updates; and (c) otherwise, note the content of the report. 7. Improvement Action Plan Submitted report by the Head of Roads providing an update on the management of the Improvement Action Plan with the Ayrshire Roads Alliance. The November update of the Improvement Action Plan was attached at Appendix 1 to the report. The Joint Committee agreed to (a) note the Improvement Action Plan presented in the report;(b) continue to receive updates on progress; and (c) otherwise, note the content of the report. 8. Risk Register Submitted report by the Head of Roads providing an update on the management of risk associated with the Ayrshire Roads Alliance. The Risk Register Scoring Matrix was provided at Appendix 1 and the Ayrshire Roads Alliance Risk Register was attached at Appendix 2 to the report. Members asked questions and were provided with further information in relation to:- • A survey that had been undertaken on roadside trees to identify ash dieback; • Artificial intelligence that had been installed in vehicles to identify road surface defects; and • The inclusion of information on time [T] or cost [C] within the report and circulation of this report to the Joint Committee.
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The Joint Committee agreed to (a) note the Risk Register detailed at Appendix 2 to the report; and (b) receive updates on progress at future meetings of the Joint Committee. The meeting ended at 10.50 a.m.