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I.       
Note and endorse the Guildford and Waverley Partnership Vision
statement in Appendix 1;

   
II.       
Note the progress made to date with regards to the Guildford and
Waverley collaboration initiative as set out in Appendix 2 and
section 7;

  
III.       
Adopt the proposed Transformation and Collaboration Programme set
out at Appendix 3;

 
IV.       
Approve a project to explore the potential benefits of co-locating
Guildford Borough Council and Waverley Borough Council staff within
shared premises or single HQ, resourced separately from this
Transformation and Collaboration Programme, and receive a report
for consideration with an options appraisal and
recommendations;

   
V.       
Approve a project to explore a single shared officer structure
between Guildford Borough Council and Waverley Borough Council,
resourced through the initial Transformation and Collaboration
budget allocations, and receive a report for consideration with an
options appraisal and recommendations;

 
VI.       
Agree the additional resources as set out in section 10 of this
report (£100,000 of revenue and £100,000 of capital.
For Guildford Borough Council this will be funded from flexible use
of capital receipts and the Finance Recovery Reserve. For Waverley
Borough Council this will be funded from the invest to save
reserve) to support the initial start-up of this programme and note
how the revenue funding will be spent to secure officer support as
set out within Appendix 4;

 VII.       
Note that the initial benefits realisation work with the joint
Executive Heads of Service has been carried out by the
Organisational Development and Finance Teams, with a rough order of
magnitude for savings through collaboration projects at
£700,000 but that this figure is expected to increase over
time as the detail of more plans is developed;

VIII.       
Note that the required level of funding to support the delivery of
the programme in the longer term cannot be made available at this
time, necessitating a phased and prioritised approach in the first
instance (focusing more on staff terms and conditions and immediate
savings opportunities and less on the broader and more complex
questions of the operating model for both authorities);

 
IX.       
Request that consideration be given in February 2024 to how the
broader programme can be fully funded and taken forward when the
budgets of both Councils are agreed (and adopting a revised
programme structure in line with that increased level of funding at
that time);  

   
X.       
Approve the principle of the Guildford Borough Council and Waverley
Borough Council Executives working in partnership on matters
relating to the Transformation and Collaboration Programme;

 
XI.       
Approve the principle of Simultaneous Executive Meetings (SEMs) for
the Executives of Guildford Borough Council and Waverley Borough
Council to consider matters relating to the Transformation and
Collaboration Programme;

 XII.       
Delegate authority to the Joint Executive Head of Legal and
Democratic Services to schedule regular meetings, as required,
simultaneously of the Guildford Borough Council and Waverley
Borough Council Executives, in consultation with the Leaders of
both Councils, and

XIII.       
Invite Overview and Scrutiny Committees to scrutinise and comment
upon the draft options appraisals, the recommendations and the
costs and savings before these are finalised and brought back to
the Executive for further consideration.