Issue - meetings

ORDERED that Executive:

1.    Approve in principle the emerging target operating model;

2.    Approve the continued development and refinement of the proposed target operating model and its intended direction of travel.

AGREED that Executive notes the next steps required to implement the target operating model and develop supporting operational strategies.

The Mayor submitted a report for Executive consideration. The report sought to articulate how the activity of the organisation would be aligned to ensure an integrated and cohesive approach. The report also expressed the Council’s ambitions for its future within a target operating model for Middlesbrough which would support improved outcomes and financial stability.

The report sought Executive support for the principles of the model and consent to continue with its development, enabling the Council to reset and outlined the intended approach in developing the supporting strategies which would support transformation of the Council and bring the target operating model to life.

The model was linked to the Council Plan which set out the Council’s ambitions across 2024-27 as well as outlining the Mayor’s vision for Middlesbrough and the Council’s four key priorities. Those priorities were detailed in the report. The vision for Middlesbrough was a thriving, healthier, safer, and more ambitious place where people wanted to live, work, invest and visit. The Council would support residents to live fulfilling lives, to ensure that Middlesbrough’s communities thrived.

In the Council Plan 2024-27, the Mayor set out his ambition to recover, reset and deliver for the people of Middlesbrough and so the four priorities of the Council Plan 2024-27 focussed on the future wellbeing of Middlesbrough’s communities, and which also provided a crucial foundation for the Councils’ Transformation Programme.

The Council’s values were at the heart of everything the Council did. They were a critical element of its strategy to create a brighter future for Middlesbrough, and the foundation for how the Council operated, interacted, and made decisions.

From creative ideas, to working collaboratively within the organisation and with external agencies, to being passionate about doing things better - we can make a real difference to the people and place we serve.

The proposed operating model was illustrated in the report and further detailed in Appendix 1. It would guide how Council operations would be further defined to both enable the delivery of the Council’s ‘Recover, Reset, Deliver’ Transformation Programme, as well as determine its future target operating state, as focus shifted to continuous improvement and an improved organisational culture through its four layered approach.

Although not unique, Middlesbrough Council had experienced significant and protracted funding cuts from Central Government, with a 46% drop in one decade alone, whilst demand on services coupled with costs for their delivery had risen exponentially.

This pressure had driven the Council’s need to modernise the way it delivered services and engaged with the community. New approaches, utilising emerging technologies, were required to reduce costs and improve outcomes for residents to ensure that services were sustainable and that balanced budgets were achieved into the long term.

ORDERED that Executive:

1.    Approve in principle the emerging target operating model;

2.    Approve the continued development and refinement of the proposed target operating model and its intended direction of travel.

AGREED that Executive notes the next steps required to implement the target operating model and develop supporting operational strategies.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 43