Agenda item

            The Committee was advised that, following the recent Review of Public Administration Workshop which had been held for the Members of the Committee on 17th August and the subsequent circulation of a roadmap/timetable, a more detailed management implementation plan had been developed.  It was intended that the initial plan would form the basis of a Forward Work Plan for the Committee, setting out those important Review of Public Administration related issues which needed to be taken forward.

            The Chief Executive pointed out that, inevitably, the level of Review of Public Administration related activity would grow in intensity and scope throughout the transition period and that its management and delivery must be adequately resourced and co-ordinated.  The Chief Officers were committed to supporting the Transition Committee in its role in driving forward the transition process and ensuring that appropriate implementation structures were in place.  It was important to recognise that within every change process there would be uncertainty and unforeseen circumstances would inevitably arise.  Planning was a process of constant review, re-prioritisation and the refining and refocusing of effort and resources in line with shifting demands and needs.  Whilst Council officers would plan ahead in terms of what was needed, the Transition Plan should be viewed as a live document which would be updated continually to enable changes to be managed in the external programme of work or to take account of important ad-hoc issues as they arose.

            The Chief Executive explained that monthly progress update reports would be submitted for the consideration of the Committee, with an assessment against targets which would be illustrated through the use of the traffic light (red, amber, green) performance model.  That would provide Members with a clear indication of the degree of progress of each key strand of work and would flag up any issues/areas of concern.

            Key Milestones

            Some of the short-term indicative milestones in the Review of Public Administration process were as follows:

            September, 2009

·         a draft communications and engagement plan would be submitted to the Committee for consideration;

·         a draft response to the reform of the Northern Ireland Planning System would be submitted also;

·         a Belfast public consultation event entitled “Reform of the Northern Ireland Planning System” was scheduled to be held on 11th September;

·         final Ministerial agreement around the transfer of functions and the reconfiguration of local government boundaries; and

·         consultation on the draft Local Government (Reorganisation) Bill, which would dictate significantly the future shape and operation of Councils post-Review of Public Administration;

October, 2009

·         a staff vacancy control system would be introduced which would impact upon the filling of new posts within the existing 26 Councils; and

·         a draft response to the Local Government (Finance) Bill would be submitted to the Committee.

November, 2009

·         the development and role-out of the Council’s Capacity Building Programme for staff and Elected Members; and

·         a draft response to the Local Government (Reorganisation) Bill would be produced.

January/February, 2010

·         the Voluntary Transition Committees would become Statutory;

·         a Members’ Severance Scheme would be agreed; and

·         the Staff Severance Scheme would be agreed also.

            The Committee noted the information which had been provided and agreed to the implementation of the Transition Plan as outlined.