Source: https://cds.bromley.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=116&MId=6653&Ver=4
Timestamp: 2020-07-08 02:02:39
Document Index: 4799136

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Agenda for Executive, Resources and Contracts Policy Development and Scrutiny Committee on Wednesday 20 November 2019, 7.00 pm
Wednesday 20 November 2019 7.00 pm
To Follow Agenda PDF 980 KB
Portfolio Holder Update PDF 98 KB
Apologies were received from Councillors Harmer, Cartwright and Rutherford. Councillors Terry, Pierce and Onslow attended as their respective substitutes.
Item 13 – Risk Management: Councillor Fawthrop declared an interest as an employee of British Telecom. He also declared that his wife was an employee in the Council’s HR Department providing training to staff.
Questions specifically on reports on the agenda should be received within two working days of the normal publication date of the agenda. Please ensure that questions specifically on reports on the agenda are received by the Democratic Services Team by 5pm on Thursday 14th November 2019.
MINUTES OF THE EXECUTIVE AND RESOURCES PDS COMMITTEE MEETING HELD ON 9 OCTOBER 2019 (EXCLUDING EXEMPT ITEMS) PDF 128 KB
The third bullet point on page 12 was amended to read:- ‘The Chief Executive was not aware of any plans to merge London boroughs and have 5 ‘Super Boroughs’.’
Subject to the addition of the above amendment, the Minutes of the meeting held on 9th October 2019 were agreed, and signed as a correct record.
MATTERS OUTSTANDING AND WORK PROGRAMME PDF 163 KB
Report CSD19164
FORWARD PLAN OF KEY DECISIONS PDF 129 KB
The Committee noted the Forward Plan of Key Decisions covering the period November 2019-February 2020.
In response to a question from Councillor Benington on the Executive’s consideration of the Council Tax report, the Director of Finance confirmed that meetings with Local Residents’ Associations were scheduled to take place over the next two weeks.
TREASURY MANAGEMENT - QUARTER 2 PERFORMANCE 2019/20 & MID-YEAR REVIEW PDF 266 KB
View the background to item 90a
Quarter 2 Monitoring 2019-20 Annex A - Mid-year review , item 90a PDF 193 KB
Report FSD19103
The Committee considered a summary of treasury management activity during the second quarter of 2019/20. The report also included a Mid-Year Review of the Treasury Management Strategy Statement and Annual Investment Strategy and ensured that the Council was implementing best practice in accordance with the CIPFA Code of Practice for Treasury Management. Investments as at 30th September 2019 totalled £346m and there was no outstanding external borrowing. For information and comparison, the balance of investments stood at £331.8m as at 30th June 2019, £311.6m as at 31st March 2019, and, at the time of writing the report (11th November 2019) it stood at £365.7m.
Members were advised that the budgeted income was £3.3m and the report referred to additional income of £500k projected for the current year.
In regard to paragraph 3.4.5, Councillor Mellor congratulated the Director of Finance on the recovery of £4,985k (leaving a balance of just 2%), following the administration of the Heritable Bank.
The Project Beckenham Loan continued to generate income at a rate of 6%. However, the property was now vacant and the developer had repaid £1m with £1.3m still outstanding.
RESOLVED: That the Portfolio Holder be recommended to:-
1. note the Treasury Management performance for the second quarter of 2019/20; and
2. recommend that Council approves the 2019/20 prudential indicators as set out in Annex B1.
Members of the Committee are requested to bring their copy of the agenda for the Executive meeting on 27 November 2019
The Committee considered the following reports on the Part 1 agenda for the meeting of the Executive on 27 November 2019
Report FSD19102
The Committee considered a report which provided the second budget monitoring position for 2019/20 based on expenditure and activity levels up to the end of September 2019.
Referring to the £2m overspend, the Chairman emphasised the need for continuous efforts to be made to stay within budget. The Director of Finance confirmed that the principle to contain costs was ever present and there needed to be justification and management action in place to mitigate against any overspends recognising that in some cases the overspend fell outside the Council’s direct control.
The report identified expenditure pressures which could have an impact on future years, particularly in the areas of Adult Care and Children’s Social Care. Additional Government funding was expected next year however, these areas would still remain under pressure.
Where an overspend was the result of activity, the Council would need to be satisfied there was still enough value for money in that activity to support any additional spend.
Councillor Tickner queried the request for a further £25k to cover business rate charges, one of which was in a BID area. The Director of Finance agreed to confirm with Councillor Tickner who would be responsible for paying this.
Discussion turned to the impact of the election on the local government settlement for 2020/21. The Director of Finance advised that the statutory deadline for agreeing Council Tax was 11 March. It was not clear when the final settlement would be known which could impact on the dates and arrangements for the final decisions to be made by Members.
RESOLVED: That the Executive be recommended to:-
2. note that a projected net overspend on services of £1,578k is forecast based on information as at September 2019;
4. note a projected variation of £281k debit from investment income as detailed in sections 3.5 and 3.6 of the report;
5. note a projected increase to the General Fund balance of £814k as detailed in section 3.3 of the report;
6. note the full year cost pressures of £5.2m as detailed in section 3.4 of the report;
7. note the return of £37k to the 2019/20 Central Contingency relating to the Exchequer contract inflation as detailed in paragraph 3.2.2 of the report;
8. note the return of £40k to the 2019/20 Central Contingency relating to the Mortuary contract as detailed in para. 3.2.2;
9. note the return of £91k to the 2019/20 Central Contingency relating to the Exchequer contract as detailed in paragraph 3.2.2 of the report;
10. agree to the release of £217k credit from the 2019/20 Central Contingency relating to savings allocated to the review of staffing as detailed in paragraph 3.2.3 of the report;
11. agree to the release of £42k from the 2019/20 Central ... view the full minutes text for item 91.
SCRUTINY OF THE PORTFOLIO HOLDER FOR RESOURCES, COMMISSIONING AND CONTRACTS MANAGEMENT PDF 74 KB
The Portfolio Holder for Resources, Commissioning and Contracts Management, Councillor Graham Arthur, attended the meeting to respond to questions from the Committee. The Portfolio Holder had circulated a written update for the Committee prior to the meeting. Councillor Arthur responded to questions, making the following comments –
· In regard to the Exchequer Contract, the £12m initial investment made by the contractor related to digitalisation work and technology within customer services. This was an invest to save initiative which would result in some benefit to other boroughs but would ultimately provide Bromley with the wider advantages that come with digitalisation.
· In relation to budget overspend, there was concern that nationally, there appeared to be a significant amount of spare money. As a result, there was a danger that the public may think that the Council had plenty of funds available thereby increasing their expectation. This assumption was wrong; the Council still had financial issues. There was a need for greater awareness on what the Council can do and it was important to keep within spending limits.
· The Bromley Staff Conference took place on 19 November with a second session scheduled for 21 November. The conference centred around transformation, with a repeated theme about driving up services with sufficient finances.
· A meeting between the Portfolio Holder and the Director of Corporate Services regarding additional signage/lighting etc. for polling stations during the coming General Election would shortly take place.
· Options to change and simplify the Council’s procurement process would be reviewed in the future.
· The Council’s Legal Team had successfully defended a challenge to the London Plan.
· The Assistant Director, Governance and Contracts was taking a more pragmatic and flexible view in the way the procurement system operated, in particular the length of time taken from start to finish. It was hoped that a review of the system would attract more tenders.
The Chairman thanked Councillor Arthur for his contribution.
TFM CONTRACT REPORT PDF 190 KB
Part 1 Appendix 1 Amey Report , item 93. PDF 461 KB
Part 1 Appendix 2 C&W Savings Overview , item 93. PDF 274 KB
Report DRR19/061
The Committee received an update on the Facilities Management offering by Amey Plc in respect of performance from January to September 2019 together with a detailed review of the approach Cushman and Wakefield had applied in relation to their targeted £1m savings from the TFM Contract. The Chairman welcomed Mr Darren Nolan and Mr Mike Alder to the meeting who attended on behalf of Amey Plc and Cushman and Wakefield respectively.
This item was further considered under the accompanying Part 2 report (Item 18).
RISK MANAGEMENT PDF 139 KB
Appendix A - Risk Assessment Guidance , item 94. PDF 55 KB
AppendixBCorporateServicesRiskRegister , item 94. PDF 193 KB
AppendixCFinanceRiskRegister , item 94. PDF 181 KB
AppendixDHumanResourcesandCustomerServicesRiskRegister , item 94. PDF 140 KB
AppendixECorporateRiskRegister , item 94. PDF 192 KB
Report FSD19099
The Committee considered the current iteration of the Corporate Risk Register together with those for the Corporate Services, Finance, Human Resources and Customer Services departments.
Councillor Wilkins requested an update on the current position in regard to the Finance Risk Register (Ref 5 on page 65 of the report). The Director of Finance reported that this related to part of the scheduled transformation work and an update on the statutory review would be incorporated within the transformation plans which would be considered early in the new calendar year. He confirmed that scrutiny of the arrangements would be considered by the ERC PDS Committee.
EXEMPT MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON 9 OCTOBER 2019
The Part 2 (exempt) minutes of the meeting held on 9th October 2019 were agreed, and signed as a correct record.
The Committee considered the following reports on the Part 2 agenda for the meeting of the Executive on 27th November 2019:
(25) PROVISION OF HOUSING AT WEST WICKHAM LIBRARY AND STATION ROAD CAR PARK, WEST WICKHAM (PART 1)
Report DRR19/054
Members also considered additional confidential information set out in the Part 2 (Exempt) report and made recommendations to the Committee.
The Committee considered the Part 2 (exempt from publication) review of the Council’s Investment Property Portfolio.
TFM CONTRACT REPORT PART 2 INFORMATION
Report DRR 19/061
Members considered confidential information accompanying the Part 1 report at Item 12.