The East Kent Services Committee met to discuss the service contract between the new service company PartnershipOne and the three councils involved in the East Kent Services shared service arrangement. It was agreed to approve the contract and allow it to run for seven years, with a break clause after two years. The committee also agreed to delegate responsibility for operating the contract to PartnershipOne.

PartnershipOne service contract

This item was on the agenda because at its last meeting the committee agreed to set up PartnershipOne, a Local Authority Trading Company (LATCo)¹, to deliver Revenues, Benefits and Customer services to Canterbury City Council, Dover District Council and Thanet District Council. PartnershipOne will take over these services from the existing provider Civica in February 2025. The committee needed to approve the contract between the three councils and PartnershipOne for the delivery of the services.

The committee was asked to approve a seven-year contract for the services, with a break clause after two years. This would allow the three councils to review the performance of PartnershipOne before committing to a longer-term contract.

The service contract covers a seven year period with a break clause at year two, allowing the three councils as clients, to review performance and assess service viability moving forward. This will allow PartnershipOne to embed and stabilise operations in year one.

— Approval of the service contract between PartnershipOne and Canterbury City Council Dover District Council and Thanet District Council

The new contract is largely based on the previous contract with Civica, with some minor amendments. This includes a commitment to no redundancies as part of the TUPE² process to transfer staff from Civica to PartnershipOne.

Broadly speaking the service contract is essentially a lift and shift of the previous Civica contract, but key areas have been updated to reflect updated legislation, a closer relationship due to PartnershipOne being a council owned entity and to strengthen the contract where previous weaknesses have been identified.

— Approval of the service contract between PartnershipOne and Canterbury City Council Dover District Council and Thanet District Council

The committee also agreed to delegate the council's powers to PartnershipOne so that the company can legally provide the services on the council's behalf. The meeting papers state that this is common practice.

The Committee has already received delegations from the councils to exercise the powers and functions of the councils under Part ll of the Deregulation and Contracting Out Act 1994 and the orders and regulations made under it. The Committee is asked to resolve that PartnershipOne Limited is authorised to exercise the powers and functions of the councils in relation to the services being transferred.

— Approval of the service contract between PartnershipOne and Canterbury City Council Dover District Council and Thanet District Council