Work On Ceredigion County Council’s Transformation Programme

To fundamentally change the way the Council runs its services, the work on Ceredigion County Council’s Transformation Programme is moving into an implementation phase.
​Following last year’s savings of £11m by the Council, the pressure to find further savings will continue with an additional £8.7m expected this year (2016/17). ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

As part of identifying service efficiencies to achieve these financial savings, Technical Services is one of the many areas of the Council that is being transformed. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

On 1 May 2015, the Technical Services group came into existence by combining the two former groups of Asset and Transportation Services and Municipal and Environmental Services. A major restructure was undertaken to bring all the staff into holistic service groups and a major realignment of budgets took place. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

Following on from this, effort is being focused on redesigning the service to ensure effective services for the future whilst taking the opportunity to save money at a time when the Council’s funding is reduced. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

The Technical Services Redesign Business Case was taken to Thriving Communities Scrutiny on 27 April to consider the detailed case put forward to achieve the financial savings requested within a range of £2.5 – £4.7 million pounds. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

Huw T. Morgan, Strategic Director for Sustainable Communities said, “This will be a big change to everyone in Ceredigion, including the public, businesses, Council staff, and the Council itself, but we hope to make the necessary changes as efficiently as possible in order to secure the long term sustainability of our services for the benefit of the citizens of Ceredigion.” ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

There are seven main areas of opportunity to achieve both financial savings and improved realignment of the service to the other work streams currently being undertaken by the Council, such as the Customer Care Work Stream. These are rationalise management; corporatise customer services; merge common teams; reduce standards; externalise delivery; data control hub and technology. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

The overall effect of the main areas would result in a smaller structure to manage in terms of finance and staffing. The current level of service being delivered would be pared back in some service areas as the budget was reduced which in turn would require less management and fewer operatives. Management and staff within the services identified for externalisation would transfer to the private sector under the existing employment TUPE regulations. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

Consultation is currently ongoing with relevant staff and the Trade Unions and the Full Business Case will go to Thriving Communities Scrutiny in May. Work is also ongoing elsewhere in the Council as all services will contribute to the drive to improve efficiency and deliver savings for the benefit of the citizens of Ceredigion. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​