Councillor Brian Robinson, Cabinet Member for an Efficient Council, to present report F.71, outlining the current status of the GO Shared Services Programme and proposed funding for the project.

All members are invited to attend an update on the GO Project at 4.30 pm (prior to the cabinet meeting) in the Council Chamber.

Leader of the Council, Councillor Peter Amos, welcomed Robert Wood, Programme Manager for the GO Project, to the meeting.

Councillor Brian Robinson, Cabinet Member for an Efficient Council, referred members to report F.71 before giving an update on the progress of the GO Shared Services Programme. Councillor Robinson confirmed that the membership of the programme had reduced to four authorities comprising; Forest of Dean District Council, Cheltenham Borough Council, Cotswold District Council and West Oxfordshire District Council. Councillor Robinson said that the other three authorities had felt unable to continue with the proposals and had withdrawn from the programme but that the four remaining authorities were keen to proceed.

To respond to the changes in membership, Councillor Robinson said that it had been necessary to undertake a re-procurement exercise and review the impact that the changes might have on funding requirements. (The details of the procurement exercise are outlined in Annex D to the report). Councillor Robinson confirmed that the total capital investment for the Forest of Dean equated to approximately £346,000, with projected total revenue savings of approximately £94,000 per annum. It was noted that Cheltenham Borough Council had agreed to take a larger share of the investment costs due to the proportionate number of services it provided.

Councillor Robinson referred briefly to some of the alternative options that had been considered, the outcomes of which had all concluded that the GO Programme was the best way forward. Councillor Robinson believed that the Forest of Dean and West Oxfordshire would be the first authorities go live with the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) IT system in the autumn of 2011, followed by the other two authorities in 2012.

Councillor Patrick Molyneux, Cabinet Member for Economic Regeneration and Tourism, referred to the large financial commitment the council was having to make and questioned the timing of the investment in light of the announcement of the government’s comprehensive spending review in October 2010. Councillor Robinson acknowledged Councillor Molyneux’s concern but said that, irrespective of the outcome of the spending review, it would be necessary to move forward as quickly as possible to benefit from the anticipated savings.

Councillor Robinson read out the recommendations in full and cabinet members,

RESOLVED to: -

a)     Approve the GO Programme business case and appendices

b)     Approve the GO Programme moving to implementation phase I

c)      Approve the financial plan and revenue and capital requirements of the GO programme business case and agree to commit the necessary funding for the project as summarised in paragraph 3.13 of report F.71

d)     Delegate authority to the s151 officer, in consultation with the Head of Paid Service and the Cabinet Member for Efficient Council for Forest of Dean District Council, to enter into the following agreements on terms approved by the Solicitor to the Council: -

(i)                 GO Programme Collaboration Agreement

(ii)               S101 Agreement for the Support and Hosting Centre of Excellence

(iii)             ERP System supply contract

e)     Nominate the Cabinet Member for an Efficient Council as the member representative to the GO Programme Strategic Partnership Management Board (SPMB).