Shared Services

Visit the Shared Services website.

27 April 2010

We are very excited to share with you some new developments in our HR team.  For more details please see the HR Team page.

30 November 2009

In response to a question about car parking in Watford, Tricia Taylor writes ...

"There are 32 colleagues transferring to the the town hall from Three Rivers. Consultation with staff about car parking started on Friday 27th November.  Staff who are subsequently issued with a car park pass are not guaranteed a car parking space, as is currently the position at TRDC.

Also, in order to accommodate the anticipated demand for car parking, Watford Council are purchasing additional car parking spaces in the town centre. This means that the overall cost of car parking will increase, and TRDC colleagues moving to the town hall will be expected to pay the additional cost on top of the £324 which TRDC has said it will re-imburse its current staff for 36 months."

27 November 2009

As part of the implementation of Shared Services, boxes have been packed and as of Monday 30 November, the majority of Three Rivers’ Revs and Bens staff will be located on 2nd floor of the New Annexe at Watford Town Hall. The Document Processing Team will be located on 3rd floor of the New Annexe ... more

16 November 2009

ICT

As part of the implementation of Shared Services, Watford’s ICT service has moved to Three Rivers House. As of Monday 16th November, the majority of Watford’s ICT staff will be working from Three Rivers House, alongside their Three Rivers colleagues.

This move is a key stage in our implementation of a joint service for Three Rivers and Watford and gets us one step closer to our objective of delivering a highly efficient and valued service to our customers.

We want to ensure this transition is as smooth as possible, so until we notify you otherwise, you should continue to liaise with the same staff you do now on IT related matters. Below are some details which will provide you with more information on how to contact us.

Who has moved?
All staff who are in ICT (our Head of ICT, Business Manager, IT & Contracts Manager, Infrastructure, Application, Business and Web Analysts) will now be based in Three Rivers House. Three Rivers staff should continue to ring 7272 for the Helpdesk. However, Watford staff should continue to ring 77 or email ICTHelpdesk@watford.gov.uk if they wish to log a call with the Helpdesk.

If you want to call someone in ICT: The attached document provides you with details of new telephone numbers for ICT colleagues. The new contact details will also be available on the directory from Monday 16 October, when you should start using the new numbers.

ICT Extension Numbers DOWNLOAD

Any direct calls to old telephone extensions for staff who are moving will automatically be re-directed to their new extension at Three Rivers. If the Watford CSC gets any external callers for ICT, they will put the call through to Three Rivers.

If you want to email someone in ICT: The email addresses will remain the same and ICT colleagues will be accessing their emails and outlook diaries as they do currently i.e. Three Rivers staff will keep their Three Rivers e-mail address and Watford staff will continue to use their Watford e-mail addresses

If you want to post something for ICT from Watford: Please use the internal mail service at Watford addressed to the relevant person in ICT. All internal mail received in the post room by 9.30 am will be couriered to Three Rivers the same morning. For any other urgent items, please use the fax (number listed in the attachment).

If you want to meet someone in ICT: Our aim is to continue to meet with our customers where there is a need to do so. Meetings will continue to be arranged directly via email/outlook but will need to be planned in advance. We will also continue to participate in regular meetings which are already set up.

We appreciate your patience during this transition. If you have any queries, please contact me on 01923 727441.

Avni Patel
Shared Services Head of ICT

Previous updates ...

3 November 2009

Human Resources (HR)
(including Health and Safety, Organisational Development and Payroll)

With effect from 10 November 2009, the Three Rivers HR team will join their HR colleagues from Watford and will be based on the 3rd floor of the Town Hall Annex in Watford.

This information is provided for the benefit of all our customers wherever they are based.

Hours of operation:
9am - 5pm (as a minimum) Monday to Friday

For customers based in Rickmansworth (including WBC employees)
There will continue to be a Human Resources presence at Three Rivers House. Either an HR Adviser or an HR Business Partner will be available between the hours of 8.30am to 3pm Monday to Friday. They will be based in the Chief Executive’s corridor, in the first office on the left as you approach from the main stairs of Three Rivers House.

This will be the new location for the Three Rivers payroll tray (for overtime, mileage claims etc.) If you are a Watford employee based in Rickmansworth you can also drop off claims etc. for WBC payroll here if you wish.

All other post and internal mail will continue to reach HR through the internal mail system.

How to contact us:
Existing telephone numbers for Three Rivers HR staff will continue to work through re-direction but only for a short period of time to minimise any disruption during the transition. New contact telephone numbers are published on our organisational chart (attached) and first point of contact telephone numbers are printed below. Please update your records and begin using these new telephone numbers with immediate effect.

By telephone:
In the first instance please call:

Human Resources	01923 278313 or 278230
Organisational Development	01923 278229
Health and Safety	01923 278442 (WBC)
	01923 727236 (TRDC)

By email: You can contact us by email using existing group email addresses on the internal email system at each Council: 

Watford	Human Resources Email
Three Rivers	G_Human Resources

If you are emailing us from outside of the authorities please use:

Watford	hr@watford.gov.uk
Three Rivers	hr@threerivers.gov.uk

In person: If you wish to have a meeting in person with anyone from HR this can of course be accommodated. If it is not possible to meet with you immediately, a convenient date and time will be organised.

Resource Link ‘My View’ Self Service: You can view and update your personal details including bank details and view payslips and P60's on line via the link to ‘Resourcelink My View’ on either intranet.

Payroll: Payroll services are provided by Northgate Arinso through a contract managed by HR. If you have a query about your own pay you can contact Northgate Arinso direct on:

Three Rivers employees 01454 623558
Watford employees 01454 623556

Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS): All queries relating to the LGPS should be directed to SERCO (the pension scheme administrators).

They can be contacted by telephone on 01992 555466 or email hcc.pensions@serco.com. You will need to have your National Insurance Number to hand when contacting SERCO.

The HR structure can be downloaded below

26 October 2009

Finance have moved ... 

As part of the implementation of Shared Services, Watford’s Finance service has moved to Three Rivers. Boxes are now being unpacked and as of Monday 26th October, the majority of Watford’s finance staff will be working from the first floor of Three Rivers House. The joint Fraud team is in B18 & 19 Basing House.

This move is a key stage in our implementation of a joint service with Watford and gets us one step closer to our objective of delivering a highly efficient and valued service to our customers.

We want to ensure this transition is as smooth as possible, so until we notify you otherwise, you should continue to liaise with the same staff you do now on Finance related matters. Your service accountants will also remain the same initially. Below are some details which will provide you with more information on how to contact us.

Who has moved?
 
All staff who are in Accountancy, Creditors and Fraud have moved to Three Rivers. The Internal Audit team will not move till next March.

If you want to call someone in Finance: The attached document provides you with details of new telephone extensions for colleagues who are moving. The new contact details will be available on the in 

Positions in Shared Services

There are a number of vacant posts in Shared Services which staff can apply for. These posts are being advertised internally to provide opportunities for staff to be considered for them before going out to external advert.

Visit the Shared Services website to see the current vacancies.

Shared Services Consultation on Pay & Grading

The pay and grading for Watford Borough Council and Shared Services has now been finalised and is ready for consultation with Shared Services staff at Watford and Three Rivers.   This new pay model has been developed jointly with Watford Borough Council as agreed by both authorities and the Shared Services Joint Committee.

Shared Services newsletter

• An update on pay and grading following Joint Committee   approval to proceed to consultation.   
• Three Rivers payroll system launch  
• What have Revenues & Benefits been up to? 
• ICT Project and other news  
• Who is the Joint Committee?   
• Spotlight on...  
• Office  moves 

15 July 2009

Joint Committee agrees to proposed pay model for consultation

At its meeting on Monday 13 July, the Shared Services Joint Committee approved the pay and grading model for Shared Services and the linked policies that affect how the new pay scheme is implemented. 

The consultation approach was also agreed and, based on this, it is expected that individual consultation with Shared Services staff will start around 27th July.   More details of the timetable for consultation and the approach will follow in the next couple of weeks.

17 April 2009

We invite applications for Head of ICT to drive and deliver additional shared services.  Closing date for applications 1 May 2009.

4 March 2009

The Shared Services programme has started the implementation stage.  You can download the article below on three areas of work which have gathered pace.

Shared Services Update - 4 March 2009 DOWNLOAD