One of the first decisions made when introducing Programme & Project Management into the Council was to develop a board that would be the driving force behind any key changes within the Council.

This board is made up of the most senior management officers who have the authority to make key decisions on significant funding and change. This board was named "Strategic Programme Board".

It was the responsibility of the Strategic Programme Board (SPB) to ensure that the key Programmes & Projects undertaken (Strategic Programme (see download)) are aligned to the Council's overall strategy, ensuring delivery of the overriding aims and objectives identified within the Corporate Plan.

 
SPB Membership

SPB is made up of members of the Corporate Management Team (CMT) and the Strategic Programme Manager (Jeremy Stephens) and chaired by the Chief Executive, acting as Strategic Programme Director. At the beginning of each year, this board proposes the Strategic Programme of programmes/projects to be carried out for that year via a policy conference with cabinet members..

The board meet on the last wednesday of every month to review the progress on each programme/project within the Strategic Programme. Its membership also includes the lead officers of the various programmes (usually members of the Corporate Management Team).

The Strategic Programme Office (SPO) are responsible for gathering all the required information from the various programmes/projects to present at the meeting. Action logs are used to record and assign tasks and monitor/review actions against due dates.

These action logs are then circulated to all relevant staff who have an interest in the meeting. Any key decisions which were resolved at the meeting are cascaded to the relevant staff members.

 
Project Assurance

Every Programme and Project listed within the Strategic Programme is subject to assurance checks regarding progress on the Councils Programme & Project Management methodology.

These checks are undertaken by the Council's  Business Assurance Team . Findings from each report are fed back to SPB on a regular basis.