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Issue - meetings

Publica Phase two transition plan

 

 

Meeting: 19/03/2025 - Council (Item 246)

246 Publica Phase two transition plan pdf icon PDF 488 KB

Purpose

To consider the Transition Plan, to note its contents and to approve the recommendations therein.

 

Recommendation

Subject to the resolutions of the Executive on 12 March 2025, Council is recommended to:

  1. Approve the implementation of Phase 2 of the Publica Transition on the basis of the Phase 2 Transition Plan.
  2. Delegate to the Chief Executive in consultation with the Leader of the Council the decision to deal with any final detailed matters arising from the Phase 2 Transition Plan.
  3. Delegate authority to the Director of Governance in liaison with the Leader to update the Constitution by making any consequential changes required as a result of Phase 2 of the Publica Transition.
  4. Carry out a budget re-basing for the 2026/7 financial year so that the funding provided to Publica is proportionate to the services received.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Councillor Andy Graham, the Leader of the Council, introduced the item. The purpose of the item was to consider the Transition Plan, to note its contents and to approve the recommendations therein. Councillor Graham highlighted the services that were being transitioned, explaining that phase two was smaller, containing 60 roles across the whole partnership as opposed to the 271 roles that were transferred in phase one.

 

The Leader explained that the hope was that as many of the existing staff would be able to transfer either through TUPE or through an expressions of interest process. Publica would continue to deliver a range of services for the councils.

 

Councillor Andy Graham proposed accepting the recommendations in the report and Councillor Duncan Enright seconded this proposal, which was put to the vote and agreed unanimously by Council.

 

Council resolved to:

  1. Approve the implementation of Phase 2 of the Publica Transition on the basis of the Phase 2 Transition Plan.
  2. Delegate to the Chief Executive in consultation with the Leader of the Council the decision to deal with any final detailed matters arising from the Phase 2 Transition Plan.
  3. Delegate authority to the Director of Governance in liaison with the Leader to update the Constitution by making any consequential changes required as a result of Phase 2 of the Publica Transition.
  4. Agree to carry out a budget re-basing for the 2026/7 financial year so that the funding provided to Publica is proportionate to the services received.

 

Meeting: 12/03/2025 - Executive (Item 308)

308 Publica Phase Two Transition Plan pdf icon PDF 486 KB

Purpose

To consider the Transition Plan, to note its contents and to approve the recommendations therein.

Recommendations

That Executive resolves to Recommend to Full Council to:

1.       Approve the implementation of Phase 2 of the Publica Transition on the basis of the Phase 2 Transition Plan.

2.       Delegate to the Chief Executive in consultation with the Leader of the Council the decision to deal with any final detailed matters arising from the Phase 2 Transition Plan.

3.       Delegate authority to the Director of Governance in liaison with the Leader to update the Constitution by making any consequential changes required as a result of Phase 2 of the Publica Transition.

4.       Agree carry out a budget re-basing for the 2026/7 financial year so that the funding provided to Publica is proportionate to the services received.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Councillor Andy Graham, the Leader of the Council, introduced the item stating that the purpose of the item was to consider the Transition Plan, to note its contents and to approve the recommendations therein. Councillor Graham explained that some of the services formerly provided through Publica had already been brought back under the Council, and that this was phase two of that process. Services under phase two would be brought back on 1 July 2025. Councillor Graham noted that the staff involved in these services were relied on, gave a professional service to the Council, worked cohesively with the Executive and did a fantastic job and it was therefore important that this was recognised. Areas to be brought back under this phase were Property & Estates, Waste, Leisure and Project Management.

 

Councillor Alaric Smith, Executive Member for Finance, commented that it was fortunate that the Council had embarked on such changes prior to Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) as this would put the Council in a position to make transition into the new authority easier and as such it was a welcome step.

 

Councillor Andy Graham, the Leader of the Council, proposed accepting the recommendations.

 

Councillor Duncan Enright, Deputy Leader, seconded the recommendations

 

RESOLVED:

 

That the Executive recommend to Full Council to:

1.           Approve the implementation of Phase 2 of the Publica Transition on the basis of the Phase 2 Transition Plan.

2.           Delegate to the Chief Executive in consultation with the Leader of the Council the decision to deal with any final detailed matters arising from the Phase 2 Transition Plan.

3.           Delegate authority to the Director of Governance in liaison with the Leader to update the Constitution by making any consequential changes required as a result of Phase 2 of the Publica Transition.

Agree carry out a budget re-basing for the 2026/7 financial year so that the funding provided to Publica is proportionate to the services received.

Meeting: 05/03/2025 - Overview and Scrutiny Committee (Item 109)

109 Publica Phase Two Transition Plan pdf icon PDF 487 KB

Purpose:

To consider the transition plan.

 

Recommendation:

That the Committee scrutinises the report and agrees any recommendations it wishes to submit to the Executive on 12 March 2025.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Leader of the Council introduced the item, explaining that phase one staff had been transferred over to the Council, and this had been successful. While Local Government Reorganisation proposals had affected the scope of phase two transition proposals, it was considered appropriate to still transfer over some Publica roles to the Council. The purpose of the report was to consider the Publica Transition Plan for the phase 2 transfer.

 

The Chief Executive explained the details of the phase two transition plan. The Chief Executive explained that most of the roles concerned were fragmented roles, and that this meant that members of staffed carried out work for two or more of the Publica Councils. The Chief Executive

Explained that staff in fragmented roles would be ring-fenced and able to apply for new council-side roles while the remaining staff would be transferred over through the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) regulations (TUPE). The areas included in phase two were areas of significant focus for the Council. The Chief Executive stated that there were many people in Publica who would continue to be key to the Council and were doing great work, but that by moving some staff across to direct employment, the Council would be able to create more capacity for West Oxfordshire. The proposals also made sense in the context of Local Government Reorganisation. The roles included those in areas such as project management, contract management and assets.

 

In discussion the following points were noted;

  • Roles that were fragmented could not be transferred through TUPE to reduce redundancy costs. Options for redeployment would be looked at in order to ensure that as many staff were retained as possible.
  • Twelve roles were to be transferred through TUPE.
  • Work on Local Government Reorganisation would be reported to the Council at a later stage.
  • It was stated by some members that in light of reorganisation, Publica may be in an advantageous position. The Publica Assistant Director for Commercial development explained that the future of Publica was a matter for Publica’s shareholders.
  • It was too early in the process to understand what impact unitarisation might have on staff being offered new roles e.g. if the office location was to change in the future or further redundancies were necessary. Environmental and Regulatory Services (ERS) had been on the initial list of services included in phase 2 that was provided to members when they scrutinised the previous report in September.  While this was recognised as an important area for the Council, it was felt due to the scale and size of the prospective transfer, there would not be sufficient benefit in transferring this service to the Council to justify the significant cost.

 

The Committee noted the report.

 

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