COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF LUCAN AREA COMMITTEE

Tuesday, October 27, 2015

MOTION NO. 19

MOTION: Councillor G. O'Connell

Cathaoirleach's Business

"That the Director of Change Management update this LAC on the changes that have taken place and planned as they (may or may not) affect this LAC and to include any advice she can give on how this LAC can be part of that change and how we might give expression to "Putting People First" given that we don't have the role of a "Municipal Committee" and that a dialogue be opened with the Director in respect of this new exciting section and  function in SDCC."

REPORT:

The establishment of Municipal Districts nationally was a mechanism identified in the Putting People First (PPF) programme to replace the previous Town Council structure. Dublin was considered separately from this as the Area Committee structure already existed and there were no Town Councils to be dissolved, with the exception of Balbriggan which was replaced with an Area Committee rather than a municipal district for consistency across the region. But wider than the issue of Town Councils, the existing Area Committee structure was deemed appropriate for the following reasons:

• A major revision of local government structures in Dublin was completed in 1994 and was the culmination of a very substantial reorganisation process over a period of around 10 years.
• The 1993 legislation establishing the 3 new Dublin local authorities identified Metropolitan factors and issues specifically and placed a statutory duty on each of the four Dublin local authorities in formulating policies and preparing and carrying out functional programmes to have regard to the “metropolitan interest”, defined as the overall interests of the combined administrative areas of the authorities and their inhabitants.
• PPF further echoed this distinction, stating ‘Dublin is a special case, having regard to a range of considerations relating to demographic,spatial, organisational and governance issues which are significantly different from other areas.’
• PPF also highlights ‘The introduction of any new arrangement in Dublin that would involve the creation of an additional element of local administration and associated cost would be at variance with the approach towards rationalisation and efficiency which underpins the local government reform programme generally.

In conclusion PPF states ‘The issue of replacing town authorities does not arise in Dublin (aside from Balbriggan) as in other counties.’ This was further reinforced in the Local Government Reform Act 2014, setting out the continued operation of the Area Committee structure in the 4 Dublin local authorities as well as in Cork and Galway City Councils.

On the issue of the wider program of local government reform set out in Putting People First, the Local Government Reform Act 2014 makes legal provision for the reforms set out in PPF. Both the Act and the reform program provide for a wide range of reforms to local authority functions, structures, funding, performance and governance. Progress on the delivery of PPF is ongoing and a lot has been achieved including the development of shared services and significant savings therein, the development of a new funding model through locally raised taxes, changes to local structures and the number of representatives, the establishment of the Audit Committee on a statutory footing and the National Oversight and Audit Commission (NOAC) and workforce planning across the sector managing the reduction of 27% average across the sector. While all of the above are of interest to all elected members, of direct relevance to the Lucan area committee level include the following, as these have a direct impact in local communities:

• The development of a 5-year City/County Local and Community Plan forming a component of the overall City/County Development Plan;
• The establishment of Local Community Development Committees in place of the City and County Development Boards for planning and oversight of local and community development programmes;
• The establishment of the Local Enterprise Offices as a service of the local authority to replace the County Enterprise Boards
• The establishment of the Public Participation Network as the main mechanism for the local authority to engage across the Social Inclusion, Community and Environment pillars

These activities are all progressing well in South Dublin with the active involvement and leadership of elected members and the work of the Housing, Social and Community and the Economic, Enterprise and Tourism Development directorates.

The Directorship of Corporate Performance and Change Management incorporates the two previous departments of Corporate Services and Human Resources, and is largely tasked with supporting the organisation internally with the challenges faced in embracing such a massive programme of reform, a sample of which are set out below:

• Internal and External Communications Strategies
• Annual Service Delivery Plan
• Review of Customer Care
• Corporate Procurement Plan
• Monitoring and assessing our participation in national / regional shared services
• Business Process Improvement and Performance Analysis of Council Services, including collation and analysis of National and local service indicators
• Public Information including FOI and Data Protection
• Workforce Planning and Strategic Human Resource Management
• Employee Relations
• Payroll and ongoing liaison with MyPay, the national shared service
• Health, Safety and Welfare of staff
• Attendance Management Plan and the management of sick leave
• Meetings Administration
• Facilities Management
• Franchise - maintenance of the Electoral Register
• Internal Audit, the establishment and functioning of the Audit Committee and liaison with the newly established National Audit and Oversight Commission 

As mentioned a lot of these are more internally facing measures but over time they impact on the governance, openness, transparency and accountability of the executive to elected members and of elected members to local constituents. One such example of where this has been evidenced is the entirely new publication of an Annual Service Delivery Plan in a very visual and target driven format which was distributed to every citizen and business in the county i.e. those who pay our local taxes and charges, together with the Monthly Management Report to Council with key performance indicators in our progress across service delivery areas.

In summary, developments and progress on the most significant programme of reform in local government are ongoing both nationally across the sector and through the local leadership of South Dublin County Council across the organisation by both our staff and the elected members.

Lorna Maxwell

Director of Corporate Performance and Change Management