Agenda item

To receive a presentation from the Portfolio Holder for Corporate Management on themes proposed by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

(Report attached)

The Chair welcomed the Portfolio Holder for Corporate Management, Councillor Braley, to the meeting.  Councillor Braley explained that his Portfolio brief was very large and included internal systems, assets, risk management and performance management.  Since he had last attended the Committee to present his Portfolio Holder annual report, the Information Technology Steering Group had been formed and had been acting as a useful forum for Members to raise issues about IT at the Council.  Councillor Braley explained that he sat on a number of panels and groups in his capacity as Portfolio Holder.  He felt that as the role of Portfolio Holder was time consuming that it would be best suited to a Councillor who did not work full time.

In response to question two, regarding his priorities for his Portfolio brief, Councillor Braley explained that his main priority was to ensure that the Council was a well managed organisation.  To achieve this he felt that it was important that the organisation strived to get the best out of its staff, partners, Members and its assets. An important factor in achieving this was getting residents involved in running the Borough.  He also suggested that staff needed to be well trained, motivated, and ultimately as a result of this, satisfied.  He explained that Members should not interfere in the day to day management of staff but should be available to listen to any concerns that staff may have. 

Councillor Braley informed the Committee that he believed the most interesting area within his Portfolio was performance and asset management.  The most challenging area was equality and diversity.  He explained that he understood that by law, the Council was required to tackle these issues. He had attended a ‘Dignity at Work’ training event where he had learned about the Council’s Phone a Friend imitative which he commended as a good idea to help diffuse difficult personnel and work situations before they could escalate. 

When asked about the future direction for the Council’s Asset Management Strategy, Councillor Braley explained that he felt property assets were vital to the organisation.  Over a number of years, he felt that the public sector generally had not invested in its physical infrastructure which had resulted in inefficiency and greater running costs.  Councillor Braley proposed that asset management should be viewed as an opportunity and that the visual appearance of the Council’s buildings impacted on perceptions of the organisation.   Councillor Braley viewed the sustained improvement to the Council’s property portfolio and the increased sustainability of the Council’s public buildings as a future priority for the Council’s Asset Management Strategy. 

Councillor Braley explained that he felt that assets should be rated in accordance with the value that the community placed on them.  The community demonstrated how much it valued an asset in the amount of use that it made of a building: the more they used a building the greater the building’s value.

In relation to shared services, Councillor Braley explained that he felt that the Council needed to progress the review quickly but should not rush.  He explained that several areas were due for review within his Portfolio: including Lifeline; IT; Human Resources; and Asset Management.  He felt that no service should be exempt from consideration but each service should be considered on its individual business case, risk analysis, and an evaluation of the impact on users and customers.  Opportunities to share services should be sought from not only Bromsgrove but also the rest of the County. 

The Chair thanked Councillor Braley for attending the meeting. 

RESOLVED that

the report be noted.