London Borough of Bexley and Kent County Council The Partnership Sharon Birch Registration and Nationality Manager, KCC Dave Easton Members’ Services Manager, LBB

The Background How did this all come about?  History  Early 2009 GRO Annual Inspection – Poor!  Late 2009 GRO Annual Inspection – Good!, but …  Outside Agency – Northgate Kendrick Ash  Additional resources urgently required!

Why Kent County Council?  LBB looked around at what models were available locally  KCC – Already modernised its own service to great effect  Respected by GRO as a Market Leader in the field  KCC Offered so much in terms of expertise, Customer satisfaction, front and back offices processes and its own financial performance

Staff and Public Consultations  1 st Public Consultation – Early 2011  Challenge was to set a ‘Go-Live’ date!!  1 st Permanent Staff Consultation – September 2011  Monthly from that point onwards  2 nd Public Consultation – Christmas 2011  Sessional Staff Consultation – January 2012  Staff concerns – Lessons learnt

How the Agreement operates!  Legal Agreement  Legal Departments worked closely together  GRO Approved  Service Level Agreement  Essential document  List of practicalities – Who cuts the grass and cleans the windows?  Governance Board  Not day-to-day management of the service  An oversight role ensuring the service meets KPIs

The Financial Model  How the Financial Model works  50/50 Split of net profit  Start up Costs

We’re up and running!  Staff – Their journey  Monthly Governance Board meetings  The official planned launch  Workshop at Manor House, Sidcup  All are welcome!