Contact: Jenny Heath , Best Value Project Manager, ext 7403

1 Purpose

1.1 The purpose of this report is to:

· seek Member approval of the scoping report for the cross-cutting review of Catering

· agree the level of Member involvement with the review and how to achieve it.

2 Background

2.1 This review is part of year 2 of the five-year programme of reviews, amended and agreed by the Best Value and Performance Sub-Committee on 9 October 2000.

2.2 The attached scoping report is presented in three elements:

2.3 Experience with Year 1 Best Value reviews highlights the importance of ensuring the scope of the review is clearly defined, in order to focus on the key issues, which are most likely to lead to service improvements. This has proved more complex with cross-cutting reviews where there is no currently defined service boundaries and where review team members are drawn from a number of disciplines and have to adjust to differing priorities or perspectives. While this work has now been carried out, there has been a consequent impact on gathering the baseline information on current performance and on developing the best ways to address the key issues.

2.4 The County Council elections pose a further potential hazard to the review timetable and it is, therefore, proposed to seek approval `in principle' for the review at this meeting, so that it might proceed as planned within the current financial year. This will be followed by an early progress report to the Panel to fill any gaps in the baseline information in the Service Specification or to refine the approaches to Consultation, Comparison, Competition and Challenge.

3 Challenging the Scoping Report

3.1 Before approving the scoping report for the service review, the Panel must challenge it to ensure that it:

· Meets national and local requirements

· Will address the concerns of the community and members

· Includes appropriate mechanisms for Member involvement

A checklist is attached to help Members with this.

4 Scoping the Review

4.1 Members will also need to consider the scope of the review, for example, by asking:

· Is it clear which services are included within the review and which are not?

· Have the boundaries with other reviews been established, as well as crosscutting issues with other Hampshire County Council reviews and those of other Best Value authorities in Hampshire?

Recommendations

1 That the scope of the cross-cutting review of Catering be agreed as covering:

· Services to arrange or provide catering and advice on nutrition.

2 That the review will focus on the following strategic issue areas:

i) The strategy for provision: appropriate to customer needs and operational considerations; involving internal and private sector providers

ii) best practice framework of policies and standards

iii) management of catering across the county council and making the best use of specialist skills

iv) staff issues relating to recruitment, retention and training

v) service locations and equipment

vi) procurement

while being informed by reviews of specific service areas.

3 That the approach to the review outlined in the project brief and the timetable provided in the project plan be approved

4 That arrangements be agreed for Member involvement when progress with the review is reported, accepting that invitations to specific workshops may be issued prior to a formal Panel meeting.

Section 100 D - Local Government Act 1972 - background papers

The following documents disclose facts or matters on which this report, or an important part of it, is based and has been relied upon to a material extent in the preparation of this report. N.B. the list excludes:

1 Published works

2 Documents which disclose exempt or confidential information as defined in the Act,

NONE.