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Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee - Friday 5 September 2025 10.30 am, NEW
September 5, 2025 View on council websiteSummary
The Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee for Hosted Services was scheduled to meet on 5 September 2025 to discuss the disaggregation of hosted services between Cumberland Council and Westmorland and Furness Council. The committee was also expected to review its work programme and consider a report on the disaggregation of the Occupational Health Service.
HR Occupational Team Disaggregation
The committee was scheduled to consider a report from the Director of Enabler Services on the disaggregation of the Hosted Occupational Health Service.
The report noted that Westmorland and Furness Council currently hosts the countywide Occupational Health service, providing services to Westmorland and Furness Council, Cumberland Council, and Cumbria Fire & Rescue Service. Services provided include pre-employment checks, manager health referrals, ill health retirement reviews, health surveillance checks, employee wellbeing support, and Hepatitis B vaccinations. The service also contracts externally provided services including counselling, physiotherapy services, and advice from independent medical practitioners.
The report included data on the volume of appointments undertaken for each of the three authorities:
| Total no. of appointments | April | May | June | July | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Jan | Feb | March | Totals | % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cumberland | 385 | 481 | 508 | 497 | 446 | 439 | 471 | 447 | 305 | 429 | 421 | 558 | 5387 | 44.3% |
| W&F | 283 | 354 | 381 | 430 | 374 | 306 | 453 | 389 | 312 | 428 | 387 | 484 | 4581 | 37.7% |
| Fire | 93 | 194 | 133 | 154 | 158 | 137 | 267 | 210 | 165 | 204 | 204 | 280 | 2199 | 18.1% |
| 12167 |
The total cost for operating the Hosted Occupational Health Service was reported as £836,000 per annum, including £610,000 for staffing costs (11 employees and a contracted Occupational Health Physician) and £226,000 for professional services and consumables.
The report noted that the Joint Executive Committee had previously approved an extension to the disaggregation date to 31 March 2026, to allow both authorities greater time to assess their Occupational Health Service strategy.
The proposed future service delivery models for each authority were noted as:
- Westmorland & Furness Council: Continue to provide an in-house Occupational Health Service specifically for W&F employees.
- Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service: Develop an in-house Occupational Health provision in preparation for 1 April 2026, also exploring a shared occupational health management function with Cumbria Constabulary over the next two to three years.
- Cumberland Council: Continue to consider all options, including an external market or partnership solution.
The report also raised concerns about the scarcity of Occupational Health professionals, nurses, and advisors, and the risk of inadequate resources, skills, and capacity if all three authorities opt to progress their own in-house Occupational Health Service.
The report included a timeline of key dates and next steps for the disaggregation process, including TU engagement, staff engagement, allocation decisions, TUPE transfer letters, and staff transfer.
Programme of Proposed Disaggregation
The committee was scheduled to receive an update regarding progress against the proposed disaggregation programme for hosted services in Westmorland and Furness Council and Cumberland Council.
The report noted that the Joint Executive Committee is responsible for the oversight and management of the hosted services, including the development and implementation of disaggregation plans.
Since the previous report to the Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 6 June 2025, the Human Resources (HR) Payroll Administration: Payroll and HR Administration Service disaggregated on 31 July 2025.
The following services have been successfully disaggregated since the programme commenced on 1 April 2023:
| Hosted service | Host authority | Proposed disaggregation date (as per IAA) | Actual disaggregation date (achieved) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Global Resettlement Team | Cumberland | 30 September 2023 | 30 September 2023 |
| School Organisation and Admissions | Westmorland and Furness | 30 September 2023 | 30 September 2023 |
| Customer Service Team (former County Service Centre) | Westmorland and Furness | 31 October 2023 | 31 October 2023 |
| Human Resources / Organisational Development (HR/OD) Centralised Resourcing | Westmorland and Furness | 31 March 2025 | 31 October 2023 |
| HR/OD Pay and Reward and Pension Advisor | Westmorland and Furness | 31 March 2025 | 31 October 2023 |
| HR/OD Organisational Development and Workforce Training | Cumberland | 31 March 2025 | 31 October 2023 |
| Children's Services - Improvement / Quality Assurance | Cumberland | 31 March 2024 | 30 September 2023 |
| Children's Services - Integration and Partnerships | Cumberland | 31 March 2024 | 31 October 2023 |
| Children's Services - Local Authority | Cumberland | 31 March 2024 | 31 December 2023 |
| Designated Officer (LADO) | Cumberland | 31 March 2024 | 31 March 2024 |
| Public Health – Education Infection and Prevention and Control Team | Cumberland | 31 March 2025 | 31 March 2024 |
| Public Libraries – Operational Leadership and Delivery Lead, and Culture and outreach management | Cumberland | 31 March 2025 | 31 March 2024 |
| Former County HR/OD – Social Work Academy | Cumberland | 31 March 2025 | 31 March 2024 |
| Independent Placement Team | Westmorland and Furness | No date stated | 31 March 2024 |
| Finance – former county Insurance Team | Westmorland and Furness | 31 March 2024 | 31 March 2024 |
| Digital Innovation and Customer Experience | Westmorland and Furness | 30 September 2024 | 31 March 2024 |
| Economic Programmes - Accountable Body Assurance | Westmorland and Furness | 31 March 2024 | 31 March 2024 |
| Human Resources (HR) Payroll Administration: Recruitment and DBS | Cumberland | 31 March 2025 | 30 April 2024 |
| County ICT: Family Information Service | Cumberland | At least 31 March 2025 | 31 July 2024 |
| Apprenticeship Service (Workforce planning and resourcing) | Westmorland and Furness | 31 March 2025 | 30 September 2024 |
| Adults Urgent Care Team | Cumberland | 31 March 2024 | 30 September 2024 |
| Family Group Conferencing Service | Cumberland | This service was part of the long hosting arrangement for Residential Edge of Care | 31 October 2024 |
| Finance – Core Financial Systems (Banking and Control Team) | Cumberland | 31 March 2025 | 31 December 2024 |
| Finance – Purchase to Pay/Accounts Payable/Account Receivable | Cumberland | 31 March 2025 | 31 March 2025 |
| Finance – School's Finance Team | Westmorland and Furness | 31 March 2025 | 31 March 2025 |
| Registration Service | Cumberland | 31 March 2026 | 31 March 2025 |
| Human Resources (HR) Payroll Administration: Payroll and HR Administration Services | Cumberland | 31 March 2025 | 31 July 2025 |
The table below details services that are due to disaggregate.
| Hosted service | Description of service | Host authority | Current forecast disaggregation date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Human Resources (HR) Occupational Health | Human Resources Occupational Health Service providing occupational health and wellbeing support to all employees across each new authority. | Westmorland and Furness | 31 March 2026 |
| Finance – Core Financial Systems (Financial Systems Team that provides support to the E5 system) | Provides support and maintenance of core financial systems for the combination of new systems and operation of sovereign County Council systems. | Cumberland | 31 March 2026 at the latest, in line with the separation of the systems. |
| Apprenticeship Service (Apprenticeship Levy) | Managing and reporting on the Apprenticeship Levy and allocation of funds/apprenticeships for all authorities via the government's Digital Apprenticeship Service. Managing and administering all associated apprenticeship funding. | Westmorland and Furness | 31 March 2026 |
| County ICT | Services included are ICT Service Desk, Field Engineering, ICT Service Support, Applications & Data, Infrastructure, ICT Programme Management Office, Information and Cyber Security, ICT Systems Support Teams. | Cumberland | At least 31 March 2025 |
The following services are currently hosted under a long-term arrangement between Cumberland Council and Westmorland and Furness Council:
| Hosted service | Description of service | Host authority |
|---|---|---|
| Active Cumbria | Its purpose focuses on 'Improving Lives through Physical Activity', working with partner organisations, networks, and systems across Cumbria to support the achievement of a range of outcomes through increased levels of physical | Cumberland |
| activity in communities. | ||
| Active Travel | Active Travel for Schools monitors the delivery of the annual Bikeability training contract and supports schools to adopt active travel alternatives. The Active Travel Social Prescribing Pilot Programme provides cycling and walking interventions and improvements in Carlisle and Barrow-in-Furness as part of a social prescribing offer. | Cumberland |
| Adoption | Four teams in Cumbria providing statutory adoption services: Adoption Recruitment and Support Team, Adoption Support, Panels and Permanence Team and Children's Adoption team. | Cumberland |
| Adult Learning | Delivers the Adult Education programme to the community across Cumbria. The service delivers courses to adults age 19+ across a broad curriculum, from non qualification-based courses, up to Level 2 GCSE. The service also delivers education provision to a cohort of High Needs learners and a small proportion of 16-18 provision to individuals not funded through study programmes in Schools and Colleges. | Westmorland and Furness |
| Archive Service | Collects, preserves and facilitates access to the written heritage of Cumbria. The service is delivered through the four Archive Centres in Barrow, Carlisle, Kendal and Whitehaven. Each Centre manages collections relating to a historic part of Cumbria. The service provides online information about its holdings, facilities and activities. | Cumberland |
| Children's Emergency | Provides statutory child in need/in need of | Westmorland |
| Duty Team | protection on an emergency basis under | and Furness |
| Commons Registration | Statutory function covering all the county including the national parks. | Cumberland |
| Digital Infrastructure / Connecting Cumbria | Delivers the Digital Infrastructure Strategy: Connecting Cumbria 2020-2025 which seeks to improve fixed line broadband and mobile connectivity on a Cumbria wide basis. | Cumberland |
| Emergency Planning and Resilience | Provides emergency planning services covering key statutory and discretionary duties including preparing, responding and recovering from emergencies. | Westmorland and Furness |
| Fostering | The service recruits, trains, and supports foster carers and staying put/homestay providers to care for children who are or have been looked after by the local authority. | Cumberland |
| Historic Environment | Provides archaeological advice to the planning authorities as required by the National Planning Policy Framework and maintains the Historic Environment Record as a statutory duty under the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act (2023). | Westmorland and Furness |
| Public Libraries Back Office & Stock Management, and Library Services for Schools (LSS) | Public Library Service provides core back office stock management, systems, applications and performance. Library Service for Schools supports schools in Cumbria with resources to support curriculum teaching and reading. | Cumberland |
| County Records Management | Manages paper records, maintaining Retention Schedule, providing Records Management policies, guidance, and advice to staff. | Cumberland |
| Residential and Edge of Care Homes | The service delivers six residential homes providing care to children; and a Family Group Conferencing Service that works with family networks to facilitate their own plans to meet children's safety and care needs. The Emotional Health and Wellbeing team is a countywide team providing support to Children Looked After, Children on the edge of care and care leavers who have additional complex needs in relation to their emotional health and wellbeing. The team provide support to parents/carers, direct work with children and consultation and training to other stakeholders across Cumberland and Westmorland and Furness. | Cumberland |
| Waste Disposal | Provides Cumbria wide management of waste disposal services and ancillary contracts. This covers waste data, waste contract compliance and waste reduction. | Cumberland |
Committee Update and Work Programme
The committee was scheduled to consider a report from the Strategic Policy and Scrutiny Advisor providing an overview of the committee's work programme.
The report set out that the Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee will seek at their meetings to:
- develop a forward work programme of activities
- review or scrutinise decisions made, or other action taken by the Joint Executive Committee
- seek reassurance and consider whether the Functions and Services are operating in accordance with the Service Strategies, including the budgets and any implementation plans for disaggregation and continuing service provision
- identification of barriers to progress, best practice and possible improvements
- hold the Joint Executive Committee to account by providing critical challenge to ensure that it provides the high-level strategic direction for the implementation of the Service Strategies.
The report also included a table listing resolutions from previous meetings that required following up:
| Mtg date | Item | Resolution | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 21.10.24 | Programme for Proposed Disaggregation | That details of the shared arrangements in respect of waste be circulated to members. | Pending |
| 02.12.24 | Programme for Proposed Disaggregation | That an update on the disaggregation of the HR Occupational Team be provided. | Complete – item added to the Work Programme |
| 02.12.24 | Programme for Proposed Disaggregation | That a review of the hosted services following the publication of the Devolution White Paper be conducted when possible. | Complete – item added to the Work Programme |
| 15.04.25 | Hosted Waste Disposal Contract and Service and Waste Inter Authority Agreement | An update on Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs) within Cumbria and potential improvements which could be made to address issues raised, such as access, health and safety and data available. | Complete – item added to the Work Programme |
| 15.04.25 | Connecting Cumbria | The Programme Director Connecting Cumbria provide the Committee with data on the number of telephone poles erected within Cumbria as part of the Project Gigabit Programme | Pending |
The report included the Westmorland and Furness Council Forward Plan of Key Decisions and the Cumberland Forward Plan of Key Decisions.
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