He outlined the cautious approach referring to section 4.5 of the report in relative to savings in 2011/2012. The savings were agreed by Chief Officers, Mr. Green, the project managers and the Director of Finance (Ian Coleman).
The program could be accelerated, but they didn’t want to overstate the benefits. They had made sure there was no double counting as a result of the EVR (Early Voluntary Redundancy). They were following good project management protocols and the papers for the next Board meeting were an inch thick. 4.8 showed they were making sure deadlines were met of the business as usual projects. 4.9 detailed the efforts to make sure there was no double counting as a result of the EVR. He thought they had found a delivery mechanism that works. There was oversight of individual projects.
At this point, 6.30pm Cllr Kearney arrived (late). Mr. Green continued by saying they were expanding the program. 4.9.6 outlined the strategic importance of the change program. Each have risks and a risk register. The oversight was provided by the Strategic Change Office and there was an overall risk register with oversight provided by the Strategic Change Board. There was quality assurance and it was an evolving process which was being constantly reviewed. There would be some “bumps along the way”. It was not realistic to say that every project will deliver every penny of savings.