07/12/11……South and Vale up for ?Council of the Year? award

SOUTH Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse District Councils have been jointly shortlisted in the ?Council of the Year? category for the 2012 Local Government Chronicle (LGC) Awards.

The two councils, which operate on a predominantly shared basis, are one of just six throughout the country to have been shortlisted for this prestigious award.

The nomination highlights the work carried out by the two councils over the last year, and shows how far they have come since they began working together in 2005 to provide a range of financial services, such as council tax and benefits administration, alongside contractor Capita.

Since then the councils have taken on an entirely shared management team and now operate with most services, including external contracts such as the highly successful waste and recycling service, being provided on a shared basis, with the vast majority of staff also employed on joint contacts.

Throughout the past year the two councils have announced an array of exciting proposals to benefit residents, such as the Orchard Centre Phase two in Didcot and the Abbey Shopping Centre development in Abingdon, which will lead to vast improvements for shoppers in the town centres.

The councils have continued to work with their market towns in developing a range of initiatives to help make them more attractive to visitors and residents, boosting the local economy by bringing more people in to visit the indepedent shops and local attractions.

South and Vale have also been a key driving force behind Science Vale UK and the successful LEP Enterprise Zone bid, which is set to create thousands of jobs over the next five years and secure southern Oxfordshire?s place as one of the most important areas in the world for scientific development.

Cllr Ann Ducker, Leader of South Oxfordshire District Council, said: ?We are delighted to have been shortlisted for the ?Council of the Year? award. For the last three years we have led from the front to develop a shared services operation to be proud of. We are now being used by many other councils as the example to work towards in terms of providing first class services for residents in an efficient and an effective manner, all while having two of the lowest council tax rates in the country.

?For South Oxfordshire it has meant being able to continue to provide a first class service for our residents while many other areas of the country are having to cut back.?

Cllr Matthew Barber, Leader of Vale of White Horse District Council, said: ?We have proven beyond any doubt that a shared services operation can work, and provide real value for money in the process. Both councils have seen real benefits in terms of greater efficiencies, joint external contracts, shared knowledge and resources, and significantly reduced staffing costs.

?For the Vale it has been vital in helping to ensure a much brighter future financially than anyone would have predicted just a few years ago. We are now much more geared to work on areas, such as SVUK and Abbey Shopping Centre, that will benefit our residents for a long time to come.?

All councils nominated for the ?Council of the Year? award will be visited by members of the LGC Awards judging panel in January. The winners will be announced at the LGC Awards on Wednesday 14 March in London.

Brief history of South and Vale shared working:

2005 ? Councils enter joint contract with Capita to provide financial services
2008 – following the success of the initial financial services joint working, the two councils took the decision to share operations, with a shared chief executive appointed in the summer, and directors and service heads in place by February 2009.
April 2009 ? work begins on new service area structures
April 2010 ? shared terms and conditions agreed for staff
April 2010 – department managers appointed to new shared positions and begin working on new team structures
Summer 2010 ? majority of teams begin restructure
December 2011 – the vast majority of staff working jointly in shared teams across South and Vale, with most most services having been integrated.

Each council has retained its own distinctive identity and, in certain key areas, offer different levels of service to their residents, reflecting both corporate priorities and different financial bases.

As well as the Capita contract, South and Vale now also have a joint contract with Biffa to provide waste services. This is proving very successful with recycling rates regularly the highest in the country. Within the next three years joint contracts for grounds maintenance and leisure management will also be in place as existing contracts end. The savings made by the two councils from joint working now comfortably exceed