Leaders’ Committee
Regional Improvement and Efficiency Item no: 5
Partnership - Update
Report by:
Julia Vernalls
Date:
1 April 2008
Contact
Officer:
Julia Vernalls
Telephone:
020 7934 9955
Summary:
Job title: Director of Improvement and
Employment
Email:
[email protected]
This report:
- updates members on the governance and staffing arrangements
for Capital Ambition as the new regional improvement and
efficiency partnership for London;
- reports on the constitution and membership of the Capital
Ambition Programme Board as agreed at the Improvement Board
on 17 March 2008
- presents the interim Improvement and Efficiency Strategy for
London (IESL).
Recommendations:
Members are asked to:
a) note and approve the constitution and membership of the Capital
Ambition Programme Board as detailed in Appendix 1 and
paragraph 6 of this report; and
b) support the Interim Improvement and Efficiency Strategy for
London attached as Appendix 2 to this report.
INTRODUCTION
1. Arrangements have now been made for the implementation of Capital Ambition, the new
Regional Improvement and Efficiency Partnership for London. The arrangements cover the
review of the existing Boards and the staffing associated with Improvement and Employment
Division of London Councils, Capital Ambition, London Centre of Excellence and, subject to
final confirmation, London Connects.
2. Capital Ambition will be funded from central government grant anticipated to be in excess of
£21m enhanced by core subscriptions from London Councils and London Connects.
3. This report:
- updates members on the governance and staffing arrangements for Capital Ambition as the
new regional improvement and efficiency partnership for London;
- seeks approval for the constitution and membership of the Capital Ambition Programme
Board; and
- presents the interim Improvement and Efficiency Strategy for London (IESL).
GOVERNANCE
Guiding Principles
3. The governance arrangements for the Improvement and Efficiency Partnership for London
build on the success of the arrangements currently operating in attracting and retaining lead
members, chief executives, the GLA and other key regional partners as owners and drivers of
continual performance improvement across London.
4. The arrangements seek to demonstrate high standards of transparency and probity and clear
political leadership supported by senior management and professional contributions. They
aim to:
- Be open and accountable
- Be sector owned and driven
- Support mutualism and voluntarism
- Enable efficient decision making and management
- Deliver value for money performance improvement and efficiency
- Be responsive and flexible and evolve to meet future needs
Functions
5. Governance for improvement and efficiency will operate at a number of different levels to meet
political, strategic and operational needs:
i. At a pan London political level, London Councils Leaders’ Committee will represent the
overall interests of all London local authorities and provide political support and challenge
as required;
ii. At Strategic Partnership level, the London Improvement Board, will, over time, bring
together the key regional partners as sponsors to drive improvements in public services.
Chaired by the London Councils Portfolio Holder for Improvement, the Board comprises
representatives from each main political groups on London Councils; a London Assembly
member; chairs of the London Connects and Capital Ambition Boards and a London Chief
Executive efficiency champion.
iii. At Programme level, the Capital Ambition Programme Board (CAPB), chaired by a
London local authority chief executive, will oversee and direct the implementation of the
Improvement and Efficiency Strategy for London, commission improvement and efficiency
programmes of work, manage peer challenge, support and intervention and account to the
London Improvement Board for its actions.
iv. At service and professional levels, operational sub groups and networks chaired by
service directors will work closely with London Councils’ officers to discuss and formulate
improvement plans and transformation and efficiency proposals, and champion and
manage work streams and projects covering performance improvement, transformation
and efficiency and building capacity.
Capital Ambition Programme Board
6. The constitution for the CAPB is attached as Appendix 1 to this report for approval. As the
Board is an Unincorporated Association its liabilities are born by its members. To avoid
individual members and officers bearing personal liability, the London local government
members on the Board are nominated by their member bodies but sit on the Board as
representatives of London Councils.
The nominations sought below will be reported at the
meeting for the Committee to approve.
Nominations for approval
i. London Councils Political Group nominees - to be notified.
ii. London Chief Executives nominated by the Chief Executives’ London Committee nominees
- to be notified.
iii. Society of London Treasurers - Jane West, LB Hammersmith and Fulham
Other Board Members
7. The other members of the Board are:
- John O’Brien, Chief Executive of London Councils
- A representative of the Greater London Authority (GLA) (invited)
- A representative of a GLA functional body (invited)
- A representative of the Metropolitan Police Service (invited)
- Paul Corrigan, London NHS
Advisers
8. Representatives from the Government Office for London, IDeA, Local Government Leadership
Centre and London Business sector will act as advisors to the Boards.
INTERIM IMPROVEMENT AND EFFICIENCY STRATEGY FOR LONDON
9. The National Improvement and Efficiency Strategy published in December 2007 set the scene
for the development of regional strategies for the new Regional Improvement and Efficiency
Partnerships (RIEPs). The regional strategies had to be submitted to the Local Government
Association and Department of Communities and Local Government on 3 March 2008 and
were then subject to Ministerial scrutiny prior to approval and release of funding for the RIEPs.
10.
The interim Improvement and Efficiency Strategy for London (IESL) attached as Appendix 2 to
this report, sets the vision for and outlines the context in which improvement and efficiency
challenge and support will be developed and provided; builds on the success of Capital
Ambition, the London Centre of Excellence and London Connects to date, and sets out a
challenging and an ambitious programme for the Partnership to deliver against around three
improvement themes:
- Checking on progress and measuring success
- Promoting peer challenge, review and support
- Collaboration, improvement, efficiency and innovation
11.
Successful delivery of the Strategy will work towards the vision that –
“London’s public services will continue to take the lead in innovation, fairness, relevance,
efficiency and effectiveness. “
12.
The Capital Ambition Programme Board will account to the London Improvement Board for the
delivery of the Strategy.
13.
All Leaders and their authorities are asked to support the vision, aims and of implementation
of the Strategy
STAFFING IMPLICATIONS
14.
The interim Improvement and Efficiency Strategy for London sets the direction for the work
programme to be delivered through the direct staffing and other delivery mechanisms. The
improvement and efficiency work within London Councils will adopt the Capital Ambition name
and brand as that is now well known in London’s public sector and amongst key national and
other regional improvement bodies and stakeholders.
15.
A staffing structure for the integrated former Capital Ambition, London Centre of Excellence
and London Councils Improvement and Employment Division has been consulted on and is
now being implemented.
16.
The structure reflects the key roles of:

external stakeholder management and engagement

programme and performance management
 management and delivery of shared solutions, improvement and efficiency work and
projects and dissemination of good practice; and
 the work of the Regional Employers’ Organisation.
17. A number of existing London Councils posts and staff are being assimilated into the new
structure and new and vacant posts are being advertised. It is hoped that the new structure
will be fully in place by end June 2008 when existing temporary secondments and contracts
are due to expire.
18. The London Connects work to transfer to Capital Ambition is under discussion.
Once
approved by the respective Boards, the London Connects staff undertaking the work
transferred will be consulted under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment)
Regulations (TUPE).
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
19. The costs of the revised staffing structure and operations for Capital Ambition for the period
2008-2012 will be allocated across the DCLG grant funding, expected to be in excess of
£21m, and will be enhanced by London Councils and the London Connects core
subscriptions.
CONCLUSION
20. The arrangements contained in this report will, once approved, provide the governance and
staffing for the new Improvement and Efficiency Partnership and implementation of the
Improvement and Efficiency Strategy for London 2008-12.
Appendices
Appendix 1: Draft Constitution – Capital Ambition Programme Board
Appendix 2: Interim Improvement and Efficiency Strategy for London
APPENDIX 1
CAPITAL AMBITION PROGRAMME BOARD
CONSTITUTION AND TERMS OF REFERENCE
SCOPE
1.
The Capital Ambition Programme Board has within its scope all improvement, efficiency
and employment matters referred to in the Improvement and Efficiency Strategy for London
(IESL).
VISION
2.
Capital Ambition’ key values are improvement, efficiency and credibility. Its vision is that
the capital’s public services will continue to take the lead in innovation, fairness, relevance,
efficiency and effectiveness. In particular, Capital Ambition will support councils and their
partners in delivering the shared priorities for their local areas (as expressed in their Local
area Agreements targets); and it will support them in meeting their 3% efficiency savings.
PURPOSE
3.
Capital Ambition is London’s Improvement and Efficiency Partnership. Its duty is to all of
those who live in, and use, London’s public services - and so its focus goes beyond local
government onto the wider public sector in the capital.
4.
Capital Ambition has deliberately developed a four-year strategy, even though its funding
from central government will only be available for three. This core funding has been
supplemented with additional funding direct from London Councils, and from other sources.
Capital Ambition’s aim is to be sustainable beyond the current funding cycle.
5.
Capital Ambition’s key focus is on improvement and efficiency. But as the improvement
and efficiency agendas are changing, and aligning, its focus will over time increasingly
move into the new agendas of innovation, service transformation and workforce reform.
6.
Capital Ambition is funded by central government grant allocated to Regional Improvement
and Efficiency Partnerships in accordance with a formula agreed with the Local
Government Association; subscriptions from London local authorities, and other
government, national and regional funding available from time to time. It is anticipated that
around £30m will be available to Capital Ambition for the period to March 2012. London
Councils is accountable to the Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG)
for the proper management of the DCLG funding allocated to London in accordance with
guidelines issued from time to time by the DCLG.
7.
London’s public services would expect to challenge and support themselves. But Capital
Ambition recognises that the current architecture of support and regulation has many other
players. So it will coordinate its work with that of the other stakeholders in London’s
improvement architecture; and Capital Ambition will position itself as the ‘hub’ of
improvement and efficiency activity in the capital. As part of this, Capital Ambition
welcomes the external insights and challenge that regulators will bring. And it is also
committed to learning from – and sharing with – other regions outside London, and other
world cities that share some of its challenges.
GOVERNANCE
8.
The governance of the Improvement and Efficiency Partnership for London will operate at a
number of different levels to meet political, strategic and operational needs:
v.
At a pan London political level, periodic reports on key issues and progress will be
submitted to the London Councils’ Leaders’ Committee who will represent the overall
interests of all London local authorities, seek wider political buy in to the work of the
London Improvement Board and Capital Ambition Programme Board and provide
political support and challenge as required;
vi. At Strategic Partnership level, the London Improvement Board, chaired by the
London Councils’ Portfolio Holder for Improvement will, over time, bring together the
key regional partners as sponsors to drive improvements in public services;
vii. At Programme level, the Capital Ambition Programme Board, chaired by a London
local authority chief executive, will oversee and direct the implementation of the
Improvement and Efficiency Strategy for London, commission improvement and
efficiency programmes of work, manage peer challenge, support and intervention and
account to the London Improvement Board for its actions.
PROGRAMME BOARD
9.
The Capital Ambition Programme Board (the Board) will:

Commission research and set the direction for performance improvement, service
transformation and efficiency, leadership development and capacity building across
London Local Government

Agree improvement and efficiency priorities, goals and targets

Oversee funding and budgets and allocate funding to work streams and programmes
needed to deliver the RIES

Encourage participation in and garner support for shared solutions in commissioning
and service delivery

Set criteria for improvement and efficiency support for individual and groups of local
authorities, services and activities.

Provide mechanism for challenge in relation to authority and service performance

Account for and performance manage improvement and efficiency support

Account to the London Improvement Board for its actions

Report to DCLG/LGA, and/or the London Councils Leaders' Committee or its Executive
as appropriate.
MEMBERSHIP
10. The full members of Capital Ambition are:

London Councils

The Greater London Authority (GLA)

A GLA Functional Body
11. The Board comprises the following:
 Representatives of London Councils
-
An elected member representative from each of the Conservative, Labour and
Liberal Democrat Political Groups
-
The London Councils Chief Executive
-
Seven London local authority Chief Executives – nominated by the Chief
Executives’ London Committee (CELC)
-
A representative of the Society for London Treasurers (SLT)
 A representative of
-
The Greater London Authority (GLA)
-
A functional body of the GLA group
12. London Councils, the GLA and the GLA functional Body will each nominate a substitute
representative to act in the event of the unavoidable absence of that Member’s usual officer
representative. The political groups on London Councils will be responsible for naming a
substitute member for the political group. In the case of the remaining representatives from
London local government, the CELC and SLT will name alternate members to act in the
event of the unavoidable absence of the usual representatives.
13. The Chair of the Board will be elected from amongst the London local authority Chief
Executives at the Annual General Meeting for a term of one year.
14. The Board may admit the London National Health Service, Metropolitan Police Service
and/or other appropriate organisations to its membership.
Advisers
15. A representative from the Government Office for London, the Improvement and
Development Agency, London business community, and the Local Government Leadership
Centre will act as advisers to the Board as appropriate and will bear no personal or corporate
liability for the decisions and actions of the Board.
Sub Groups
16.
The Board may set up sub-groups for specific purposes and may determine the
composition, governance arrangements and terms of reference of the sub-groups.
VOTING
17.
The quorum shall be one half of the membership acting or their substitutes, subject to a
minimum of six members, at least three of which must be nominees of the CELC.
18.
Each representative (including substitutes) shall have one vote and decisions of the
Board will be taken on a show of hands (unless otherwise agreed by the Chair) by simple
majority vote. In the event of an equality of votes, the Chair will have a second or casting
vote.
19.
Substitute representatives for full members must announce their substitute role at the
beginning of the meeting or as soon as possible after their arrival.
MEETINGS AND ADMINISTRATION
Annual Meeting
20.
The Capital Ambition Programme Board will hold an annual meeting by end July each
year at which the following business will have precedence:
i.
Election of Chair;
ii.
Election of Vice Chair;
iii.
Consideration of the Annual Report from the Capital Ambition Director; and
iv.
Approval of the annual accounts.
Other Meeting Arrangements
21.
The Board will meet six to eight times in each financial year including the Annual General
Meeting. The Capital Ambition Director will notify Board members of the time and place of
the meetings.
22.
The Programme Administrator (the Secretary) will give five clear working days’ notice of the
time and place of meetings of the Board together with an agenda of the matters to be
considered. Urgent meetings of the full Board or a sub-group of the Board may be called
by the Secretary with the approval of the Chair.
Confidentiality
23.
When considering business of a personal, confidential and/or commercially or politically
sensitive nature, the Board may decide to consider such items in private session and
exclude non Board members and/or the advisers present.
Administration and Support
24.
Secretariat support for the Board will be provided by London Councils as appropriate.
LIABILITIES
25.
Capital Ambition is an unincorporated association and has, therefore, no legal capacity to
enter into contracts. Any liabilities of Capital Ambition will be the joint and several liabilities
of the full members as listed in paragraph 10 of this constitution.
Funding authorised by Capital Ambition
26.
In the event that the DCLG or other funder demands repayment of any grant funding paid
to London Councils for purposes associated with Capital Ambition, and London Councils
has used its reasonable endeavours to obtain reimbursement from any recipient and has
been unable to do so, and London Councils then repays the amount any such funding to
DCLG, then provided that the repayment is not required due to the default or negligence of
any full member (in which case that member or members shall repay that amount to DCLG)
the full members of Capital Ambition shall reimburse London Councils the amount of that
funding in equal shares.
Staffing
27.
London Councils will be the employer for all directly employed Capital Ambition staff.
Contracts
28.
Where London Councils lets contracts on behalf of Capital Ambition it will act in
accordance with the financial regulations agreed by London Councils and/or any variations
to those financial regulations approved specifically in relation to the work of Capital
Ambition.
Officer Delegation
29.
The Board may delegate matters to the Director of Capital Ambition together with authority
to spend up to £50,000, subject to that spend being reported to the Board and being in line
with London Councils standing orders and financial regulations.
TERMINATION
30.
Capital Ambition and its Programme Board will remain in operation for the duration of
funding from central government or other funding mechanisms as determined by the
Government and/or London Councils’ Leaders' Committee.
31.
In the event of a reduction in or cessation of funding for the Capital Ambition work
programme, London Councils will reach agreement with the full members of the Capital
Ambition Programme Board in relation to the liability for any redundancy and/or other
liabilities or cessation costs. Capital Ambition will retain a contingency sum, at a level to
be agreed, for such purposes.
32.
In the event of the termination of the Capital Ambition Programme Board, the full members
of the Board will reach agreement with London Councils in relation to the disposal of any
assets.
AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION
33.
The constitution of the Capital Ambition Programme Board will be determined by The
Executive of London Councils. Amendments to this Constitution may be recommended by
any Full Member at any meeting of the Programme Board, and will be submitted to The
Executive of London Councils for ratification.
John O’Brien
Chief Executive, London Councils
20 February 2008