Council-owned firm is on track

A service company owned by the South and East Lincolnshire Councils Partnership is fit for purpose.

Leader of South Holland council Nick Worth said a recent peer review which highlighted a number of issues, had been of benefit.
Public Sector Partnership Services Ltd (PSPS) provides a range of services to the partnership, including human resources and finance.
It was highlighted in the review, and issues were raised about communication and reliability.
But a number of problems were being caused by a new computer system bedding-in and the highlighted issues are being dealt with, said Mr Worth.
“There have been some processes and they have some new software which has a lot more benefits and we will be getting the right quarterly reports,” said Mr Worth.
The issue was discussed at a meeting of South Holland District Council’s Cabinet on Tuesday evening.
“Recruitment was an issue but we have now employed people who have local government experience,” said Mr Worth, speaking before the meeting.
“The £1m ‘not forecast’ deficit reported in the review was actually £842,000, but we are in a good financial position,” he added.
Financial pressures the council has faced over the last year or so include contracts for shelter for homeless people, and the rising costs of energy.
“We have very solid reserves and we are in a good position to manage balances for the medium term financial plan.
“The peer review shows that we need more details about the medium term. There are always opportunities to work and we can make savings,” he said.
One recent example was procuring a mobile phone deal for the partnership which saw a saving of £240,000 because of the economy of scale.
Mr Worth said there would be other chances to use the purchasing power of the partnership to drive down costs.
He said that with a relatively new cabinet in place, along with a new leader – it was a good time to take a look towards the future, even if forecasting was made more difficult by a year-on-year budget announcement from central government.
“It used to be that councils were given a budget for up to four years, which made planning ahead a lot easier. Not we are only getting a year at a time, so it’s more difficult to look ahead,” he said.
“We have a healthy Housing Revenue Account and are building affordable houses.”
The council has retained its own housing stock, and there are no plans on the cards for that situation to change.
“It makes a big difference,” added Mr Worth.