Redesign Board makes recommendation for future of janitorial and catering services
19th October 2016
The Redesign Board of The Highland Council will recommend keeping Catering, Cleaning and Facilities Management/Janitorial Services (CCFM) in house within the Council.
Options for the future management of Catering, Cleaning and Facilities Management/Janitorial Services (CCFM) were considered by the Redesign Board today. The Board examined two proposed options, together with the potential savings, key benefits and risks associated with each model.
One option is for High Life Highland (HLH), the Council's arms length organisation, to manage all or part of the services.
The alternative option, which was supported by the vast majority of the Redesign Board, is to continue to manage these services in-house under a new Property Management Service within the Council. The Redesign Board will recommend this option to the full Highland council for approval and implementation.
The options appraisal demonstrates that all the options deliver some improvement over the current service and that there are advantages and disadvantages of each.
The Business Case for redesign of the £20 million service was developed under the supervision of a Project Board which included CCFM Managers, HLH, staff-side representatives, and noted the input provided by Head Teacher and Parent Council representatives.
The strategic objective of the project is to achieve effective use of total resources by delivering a local, coordinated and integrated service.
Chair of the Redesign Board, Cllr Isobel McCallum said: "This was a very well supported decision and I am very pleased for staff who will be anxious to know what is happening. There was good discussion and we recognise some of the issues which will need to be addressed. If approved by Council, this will bring about redesign within council services to drive improvements and efficiencies and the need to explore commercial opportunities."
Vice Chair, Cllr Bill Lobban added: "This is a tremendous opportunity for the Council to develop services for the future. This option provides a better and more efficient way of delivering these services, whilst maintaining more flexibility for redesign."
John Gibson (Unison) Staff-side representative on the Redesign Board welcomed the decision: "People who work for Highland Council have chosen to work for the council and to live and work in their communities. The best people to give advice on how to improve services and make them more efficient are the people who deliver them.
“We are delighted that the Highland Council Redesign Board have shown confidence in their greatest asset which is their staff."
The full business case and options can be found at http://www.highland.gov.uk/meetings/meeting/3762/re-design_of_the_highland_council_board
Related Businesses
Related Articles
At the Highland Council Economy and Infrastructure Committee. (Thursday 2 May 2024) Members had the opportunity to review the work the Council is doing to progress active travel and improve road safety before approving the next steps.
At the meeting of the Economy and Infrastructure Committee members had the opportunity to review the last two years of the Community Regeneration Funding Programme before agreeing changes to how the 2024/25 programme will be delivered. Committee Chair, Cllr Ken Gowans said: "Following a successful two years, it is a good time to review what has gone well and what can be done better so we can continue to build on success, and seamlessly move the focus onto how best to support the delivery of projects." "With 279 live projects and over £6million of committed funds still to be claimed, there is no doubt as to the value and impact of the programme's potential.
The Highland Council's In-House bus service pilot project was launched in January 2023. The success of its first year of operation in delivering savings and creating a valued and reliable service was highlighted at today’s Economy and Infrastructure Committee.
Members of Highland Council's Economy and Infrastructure Committee today (2 May 2024) approved the local authority's draft Ecology Strategy and Action Plan which will now move forward to an 12-week public consultation. The Ecology Strategy sets out an ambitious set of actions to tackle biodiversity loss and address the ecological emergency.
Economy and Infrastructure Committee members today (2 May 2024) agreed to direct £100K from the Council's share of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) to fund a new staff training programme at the Inverness Castle Experience. The funding will enable the project team to provide specialist visitor attraction training to young people identified through partners at Developing the Young Workforce (DYW) and the University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI).
The Housing and Property Committee met on Wednesday 1 May 2024 and noted the Housing Service performance report 2023/24 that met the agreed priorities and associated initiatives in the Local Housing Strategy 2023-2028. The report highlighted a number of achievements in 2023/24 in increasing housing supply.
Kate Lackie, Malcolm MacLeod and Allan Gunn have been appointed as Assistant Chief Executives with The Highland Council. Convener of the Council, Cllr Bill Lobban said: "I am delighted to say that Kate Lackie, Malcolm MacLeod and Allan Gunn have been appointed as Assistant Chief Executives with The Highland Council.
As intimated in Highland Council's budget plan, a new senior management structure is to be implemented following approval by Council 14th March. It reconfigures the senior management team into two layers, rather than three and brings Highland Council into line with other benchmarked authorities.
Today, Morrison Construction introduced some of their local apprentices who are working on the UK Governments' Levelling Up Funded refurbishment project at the Northern Meeting Park in Inverness. All these apprentices have been recruited from the Highland area.
The by-election to elect a councillor to represent Ward 19 - Inverness South on The Highland Council has been won by Duncan Cameron McDonald - Independent who was one of the eight candidates who contested the vacancy. Voters in the ward went to the poll yesterday (Thursday 11 April) and the by-election count was held this morning in The Highland Council Headquarters in Inverness.