Contact: Neil Jones Extension: 6180

1. Goal

1.1 To complete a Best Value Review of the County Council's catering services by the end of December 2001.

2. Objectives of the Review

2.1 To review strategic cross-cutting issues in the organisation and provision of catering services and to make recommendations in the following areas:

· the strategy for the provision of catering services, including the involvement of both in-house and private sector providers.

· a best practice framework of policies and standards against which services can in future be delivered and managed

· opportunities to join-up the management of services (at a strategic or operational level) or to extend co-operation across the County Council and make the most effective use of specialist skills.

· staff issues relating to recruitment, retention and training

· issues linked to service locations and equipment

· procurement

3. Scope

3.1 The remit of the review is shown in summary form in Appendix One.

4. Approach

4.1 The review will concentrate on the strategic cross-cutting issues that are relevant to the provision of catering services across the Council. Work at a detailed level within each area of service will be necessary to support the review, but this work will be aimed at the issues listed above in section two (Objectives) and will not take the form of multiple full scale Best Value reviews. This approach is consistent with the Council's move towards fewer, more strategic reviews and with guidance from the Audit Commission.

4.2 The Review Team will draw on the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) model to examine current performance in these cross-cutting areas and to develop options for change. In support of this, relevant performance indicators and benchmarks will be identified and compared with other organisations and other models of service delivery.

4.3 The review will seek to exploit existing peer networks, such as the Local Authority Catering Association, the South West Education Client Group, the Advisory Body for Social Services Catering and the Central Buying Consortium, as sources of challenge and comparison for the existing arrangements.

4.4 The review will also consider the current and potential impact of the Council's catering services on the delivery of the equalities, e-government and sustainable development strategies. Links to the County Council's crime and disorder agenda are indirect and this area of policy is not planned to be a significant feature of the review.

4.5 An outline approach to the 4 C's of Best Value is shown in Appendix Two.

4.6 Progress will be reported to the Policy and Resources Best Value Review Panel as a whole, but it is anticipated that a number of members will wish to be engaged with the Review Team in key stages of the review.

5. Constraints

5.1 The review will start in June 2001 and should be completed by the end of

December 2001.

5.2 Within Social Services Catering has been closely associated with care provision and this feature, combined with a framework of devolved financial management, may have an implication for the availability of standard management information in a common format.

5.3 It is not intended to complete a detailed `nuts and bolts' review of all the Council's catering services.

6. Dependencies

6.1 The Council's catering services are predominantly provided to paying customers who are free to exercise personal choice irrespective of the model of provision or the provider. Where this is not the case, catering is often closely aligned to the delivery of other services (residential care) or involves other organisations (Meals on Wheels). The successful introduction of change may, therefore, be dependent on the strength of relationships with customers and on wider service policies and priorities.

7. Resource requirements

7.1 The proposed core membership of the review team is as follows:

Project Manager N. Jones, Head of Business Services

Project Leader R. Keil, Head of Contracts

Corporate BV Team J. Heath

Staff Representative J. Backhouse

Team Members:

R. Hodson Deputy Head QPM, Social Services

A. Pugh QPM Officer, Social Services

N. Hill Project Manager¸ Education

A. Cosgrove Catering Support Team Manager, PBRS

A. Nominee Recreation & Heritage (to be confirmed)

G. Medcalf Director Hampshire Caterers, PBRS

M. Lay Quality Manager PBRS

K. Davies Business Development Manager, PBRS

S. Lapham Finance Manager, (CT/PBRS)

7.2 In addition to the above, it is anticipated that the Best Value Review Panel (Policy and Resources) will nominate a member or members to participate at key stages in the review process. A wider group of staff will also be called upon to contribute to the review as is necessary. This is particularly the case in Social Services where the headquarters managers participating in the review will manage input from both area and unit based personnel.

7.3 The team plans to seek external input when challenging the current arrangements, but any use of fee charging consultants will be limited. Other costs will be incurred in the comparison and consultation activities, but the time contributed by members of the Review Team will be absorbed by departments. The estimated commitment of staff to this review is some 90 days.

8. Project Plan

A project plan detailing the key milestones and timetable for the review has also been prepared.

BV/0501B

Appendix Two

BEST VALUE REVIEW OF CATERING