For discussion (attached), please see services listed below:

·         Building Control

·         Customer Focus

·         Environmental Enhancement

·         Environmental Health and Housing

·         Governance

·         Organisational Development

·         Place, Property and Regeneration.

Please note that the following Heads of Service have been invited to attend the meeting:

·         Director of Resources and Deputy Chief Executive.

·         Head of Governance.

·         Head of Organisational Development.

·         Head of Programme Management and Performance.

The Committee discussed the Service Plans (as previously circulated).

The Chair advised that the service plans were being presented to the Committee as part of their annual reporting process.

He explained that following the introduction of the 5 programmes to support the delivery of the Council’s Corporate Plan objectives, the service plans were now much more condensed and contained information only related to the day to day operation of each service.

There were five programmes established each with a Senior Responsible Owner (SRO) were as follows:

1. Customer Focus / Digital by Design – SRO Sarah Higgins.

2. Environmental Enhancement – SRO Mark Kentell.

3. Housing & Community Safety – SRO Nina Lake.

4. Regeneration & Economic Growth – SRO SarahJane Mackenzie-Shapland.

5. Organisational Development – SRO Nikki Gordon.

He added that the following Heads of Service had been invited to answer questions from the Committee:

• Director of Resources and Deputy Chief Executive.
• Head of Governance.
• Head of Organisational Development.
• Head of Programme Management and Performance.

He explained that with the uncertainty of devolution impacting upon the Council that it was important to ensure that the Council continued to operate as business as usual in the interim.

In response to questions from the Committee, the Heads of Service advised the following:

Governance

• With regards to a question related to the amount of engagement with Parish Councils in relation to the Community Governance Reviews under the Governance heading on page 5 of the report. The Committee was advised that consultation had been undertaken with Parish Councils via the Parish Forum, which was held on 27^th November 2024 and also via email to all the Town and Parish Councils. However, so far the response rate had been quite low.

In response request was made for an email being sent to all North Devon Councillors asking them to mention the Parish Reviews when they next attended their respective parish council meetings. The Chair agreed and also suggested that a note be added to the next Members Bulletin.

• With regards to the potential to delay boundary changes in light of the devolution situation, the Head of Governance advised that this was not a full community governance review, rather looking to address any current issues raised by Parish and Town Councils. He advised that this concern would be discussed with the Chief Executive.

          The deadlines were as follows:

Ø  End of consultation process – End of February 2025.

Ø  Terms of Reference – To be considered at Full Council in July 2025, which would allow sufficient time for feedback.

Organisational Development

• In response to a question regarding how the Council was managing the impact upon staff during the uncertainty surrounding the devolution white paper. The Head of Organisational Development advised the Senior Management Team were mindful of the impact of such unsettling times on staff; she added that it was vital that they were kept informed of the most up to date information and the purpose of them was to allay fears as much as possible.

The Director of Resources and Deputy Chief Executive advised that a report had been presented to the Governance Committee a few months prior with regards to future proofing the Councils workforce, which had been received positively by the Committee.

He added that the Council was keen to invest in its workforce to continue to develop its skills base and to continue to work to attract potential employees to the North Devon area.

In response to a question regarding any potential restructure that would occur as a result of any new authority set up, he explained that the Council were not anticipating any changes with regards to offices based in North Devon, as any new authority would still require a base in the North Devon area.

He explained that the Chief Executive released regular blog updates to all employees with the latest one due for release later that week.  He added that all Heads of Service and Organisational Development would keep staff fully informed of the latest updates as and when they were known.

The Committee discussed the potential delay of the Devon County Council elections in light of the uncertainty surrounding the current devolution proposals.

Councillor P. Leaver advised that he had been standing in for the Leader that morning at a meeting of Chief Executives and Leaders. He advised that Councils were expecting a letter from government at the beginning of February 2025, which would provide clarification with regards to the arrangements for the elections.

He added that there was a general feeling amongst Councillors that Councils would not meet the criteria for delaying the elections for 2025.

The Committee discussed the potential merger of Council services into a new unitary authority and agreed that it was important to proceed with the Councils current workload to deliver the Local Plan and Housing Strategy. Both of which it agreed were good initiatives to tackle the affordable housing and homelessness.

In response to a question regarding the establishment of a list of long term aspirations for the Council, which might not come to fruition if the plans for devolution take place. The Head of Programme Management and Performance advised that Senior Management Team had agreed that Member workshop be arranged to discuss the current programmes and whether or not they were going to be deliverable.

She acknowledged that there would be some actions currently contained within the service plans, which would likely be taken out as a result of any evolving devolution plans.

The Director of Resources and Deputy Chief Executive explained that it was important to establish a manageable balance of projects/schemes that may or may not happen and to ensure that the Council got the best out of those assets that it had already delivered. Such as the new leisure centre, which had a 20 year contract lease.

Councillor Bushell raised concerns regarding the Council’s asset portfolio and any potential risk that these should be lost or sold off as part of an established unitary authority.

In response, the Director of Resources and Deputy Chief Executive advised that any newly established unitary authority would need to have a sound financial base and the risk of loss of assets for financial benefit was unlikely.

RESOLVED, that the service plans be noted.