Agenda item

This paper sets out joint working that is taking place with North Somerset Council and proposes a Co-operation agreement to enable the two Councils to identify further opportunities to work together

Councillor David Bellotti introduced the item by saying that he would be quite happy to move the recommendations.  Councillor Bellotti said that it was really important to have a purpose in looking at working with other people and the main purpose here was to improve the quality of services for B&NES residents.  At the same time, it would be possible to make some savings.  Those savings could either be used to avoid an increase Council Tax or to increase the level of services provided.  The Council had been already working with a lot of local partners in the area, such as Sirona.  The Council had been also working with neighbouring Councils in some areas, such as a jointly managed Audit service with North Somerset. 

Councillor Bellotti said that Councillor Crossley had had a number of very useful meetings with the Leader of the North Somerset Council, and also some individual Cabinet Members had met with their equivalents from the North Somerset Cabinet, in order to discuss shared services.

Councillor Bellotti concluded his introduction by saying this was about delivering services to our residents in better way.

Councillor Bellotti moved the proposals.

Councillor Crossley seconded the proposal.

Councillor Crossley said that there was one change in the report.  The following should be added at the paragraph 6.1 of the report: ‘….but only where this does not contradict or lessen the impact of the Think Local procurement strategy’. 

Councillor Crossley also said that the B&NES Council had had a prior record of working with different organisations and partners across ex-Avon, Wiltshire and Somerset.  This would be a growing model of the future.  This proposal was not only about saving money, it was more about delivering better services with better value to residents. 

Councillor Crossley added that there were quite a few meetings between senior officers from both Councils, which helped towards building the trust and interest between two Councils.

Councillor Katie Hall said that she was delighted to see this paper on the agenda.  Councillor Hall appreciated the thoughtful way of talking with the North Somerset Council over the past 18-24 months, instead of rushing into this agreement.  This was all about service improvement and doing this in more modern and efficient way.

Councillor Bellotti summed up by saying that even though B&NES Council had been in discussion with North Somerset Council, this Council would welcome an opportunity to work with other neighbouring Councils in future.  Councillor Bellotti also said that, in terms of working with local partners, he was particularly pleased that the Police in Bath had expressed an interest in having a presence in our One Stop Shop.  In the years to come there would be great developments with other Councils, local partners and voluntary organisations. 

On a motion from Councillor David Bellotti, seconded by Councillor Paul Crossley, it was

RESOLVED (unanimously)

(1) To APPROVE:

(a) further opportunities to join up services internally;

(b) develop work with local partners in Bath & NE Somerset; and

(c) work with other Councils where our services could benefit from joint working;

(2) To APPROVE the Co-operation agreement;

(3) To AUTHORISE the Leader to sign it on behalf of Bath & North East Council; and

(4) To ASK for a progress report in 12 months on the joint work that is developing.