In recognising the value of reviewing service delivery on an ongoing basis, Port Phillip Council recently appointed former Victorian State Auditor-General, Ches Baragwanath, and chair of the Women’s and Children’s Metropolitan Health Service Board, Helen Davison, to a rolling three year ‘sustainable value’ review of all of its services.
Port Phillip Mayor, Julian Hill, stressed that the review was not a cost cutting or tendering exercise.
“Compulsory Competitive Tendering or as some called it, Compulsive Competitive Tendering, is gone,” he said.
“We want to ensure that our services are continuously improving, relevant to the needs of the community and that they deliver value for money.
“The review will examine where the gaps are and how best to bridge them. We have named our ‘Best Value’ process ‘Sustainable Value’, which means a triple bottom line of community, environment and organisation, not just the lowest dollar cost for services.
“This is a consultative process and we will be consulting the community and our own staff during the reviews.
“Some of the first services up for review include planning enforcement, libraries and property and regulatory services.
“We are delighted to have such highly regarded people as Ches Baragwanath and Helen Davison as independent chairs of the review.” Councillor Hill said two chairs have been appointed as there are 34 separate reviews to be undertaken over three years.
“It is impossible for one person to deal with such a volume of work,” he said.
“They both will ensure that the review has been systematically and comprehensively conducted as well as provide objective, high quality advice on the future directions of the particular service under the review.”
Councillor Hill said that each review panel will also include an independent expert in the field, a councillor and a general manager from a different area.
The review will meet the requirements of the State Government’s ‘Best Value’ legislation and the enterprise bargaining agreement currently in place, as well as supporting the service improvement and organisational sustainability objectives contained within the council’s corporate plan.
Councillor Hill said that this week’s Council meeting had deferred the formal adoption of the service review manual, pending further work to be undertaken on it over the next month. The draft manual has been forwarded to the Government as an interim response to its ‘Best Value’ legislation.
For further information contact Carmel Shute on (03) 9209 6163 or visit Council’s webpage at www.portphillip.vic.gov.au
