The BOPLASS Way

How does it work?

BOPLASS works through advisory groups made up of representatives of the different councils interested in a particular service. Each group is service specific; the participants initially decide the scope of the project and the desired outcomes and work collaboratively to achieve them. This enables us to benefit from the expert knowledge of staff and involve them in the process.

BOPLASS assists with facilitation and also provides a legal entity, representative of all the councils, able to enter into contracts and agreements with the councils and/or external suppliers. An important requirement for BOPLASS is that it adds value to the process.

The exact form of the agreements will depend on the particular service and BOPLASS has some options to customize arrangements to get the best solution.

The exact form of the agreements will depend on the particular service and BOPLASS has some options to customize arrangements to get the best solution.

These include:

Facilitation - BOPLASS assist with negotiations and arranges for direct charges back to Councils

Shared cost - an agreement with the supplier as to specification, support and prices etc with a supporting agreement from involved Councils as to payment. BOPLASS pays the supplier and invoices councils for their share on an agreed basis

Shared equity – where there is a specific need to recognise individual equity of Councils owning a share of an asset BOPLASS can set up a specific shareholding arrangement for shares called “B” shares. These are non voting shares which recognise the capital value of the asset and shares can be apportioned on the basis of each Council’s contribution.

Subsidiary Company - in the case of a significant activity requiring particular governance skills and/or involvement of joint venture partners, a subsidiary company could be set up. This is likely to be the least favoured option unless there is significant justification.

Who pays?

It is essentially a user pays system, the BOPLASS Board of Directors were determined that the company should not just become an ongoing charge on Councils. Councils pay for their involvement in the services developed under the BOPLASS umbrella. Councils are also contributing services “in kind” to help get the organisation underway.

Currently the annual membership levy for an advisory group is based on size and is:

What sort of services are we talking about?

Initially BOPLASS will concentrate on corporate services but can look at other procurement options. The Statement of Intent for 2009/10 identified the following initiatives:

• GIS
• Aerial photography
• Joint procurement
• Library Management and Information services
• Joint software support
• After Hours services
• Internal audit/ Business Excellence
• Facilitation of regional broad band services in the start up or incubation phase

The Activity groups have already considered:

• Insurance services
• Office Supplies and Stationery
• Internal Audit/Business Excellence
• Information Management.-Objective licensing
• IT Management – various issues
• Combined ESRI GIS Licencing
• Resource allocation software for vehicle management
• After Hours Telephone Services

Other new projects include:

• Council Regional Network Platform –Ultrafast Broadband between Councils using a 1Gbps leased network between councils

What is the approval process?

The initial approach can come from any Council.

The directors will consider whether the proposed project is one that BOPLASS can support. 

The advisory committee will investigate and where appropriate prepare an implementation plan.
 
The final Proposal has to be signed off by each Council wishing to participate and by the BOPLASS directors.