Source: https://cds.bromley.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=116&MId=6327&Ver=4
Timestamp: 2019-09-23 06:46:53
Document Index: 199563651

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 1', 'ART 1', 'art 2', 'art 2', 'art 2', 'ART 2']

Agenda for Executive, Resources and Contracts Policy Development and Scrutiny Committee on Tuesday 8 January 2019, 7.00 pm
Tuesday 8 January 2019 7.00 pm
Apologies for absence were received from Cllr Mary Cooke, Cllr David Cartwright, Cllr Angela Wilkins, and Cllr Stephen Wells. Cllr Harris attended as substitute for Cllr Cooke.
Cllr Will Harmer submitted apologies for lateness.
Cllr Simon Fawthrop and Cllr Will Harmer both declared interests as employees of BT.
In relation to Item 17 on the PDS agenda, Cllr Rutherford declared a pecuniary interest in respect of Royal Mail and left the meeting during consideration of the Mail Services contract.
In accordance with the Council’s Constitution, questions to the Chairman of this Committee must be received in writing 4 working days before the date of the meeting and must relate to the work of the scrutiny committee. Please ensure questions are received by the Democratic Services Team by 5pm on 2nd January 2019.
MINUTES OF THE EXECUTIVE AND RESOURCES PDS COMMITTEE MEETINGs HELD ON 22 NOVEMBER 2018 AND 11 DECEMBER 2018 (EXCLUDING EXEMPT ITEMS) PDF 154 KB
Minutes , 11/12/2018 Executive, Resources and Contracts Policy Development and Scrutiny Committee , item 93. PDF 64 KB
The minutes of the meetings held on 22nd November 2018 and 11th December 2018, were agreed and signed as a correct record.
MATTERS ARISING AND WORK PROGRAMME PDF 82 KB
Report CSD19001
The Director of Corporate Services was reminded that the Committee had requested a briefing note regarding the rules around and constraints on the use of the electoral register in relation to cross referencing empty properties.
Appendix A - Chief Executive's Risk Register - Gross 'High' (Red) Risks Extract , item 95. HTM 2 KB View as PDF (95./2) 94 KB
Appendix B - Commissioning Risk Register - Gross 'High' (Red) Risks Extract , item 95. HTM 2 KB View as PDF (95./3) 83 KB
Appendix C - Finance Risk Register - Gross 'High' (Red) Risks Extract , item 95. HTM 2 KB View as PDF (95./4) 94 KB
Report FSD19002
The Committee considered a report which provided Members with the most recent Risk Registers for the areas falling under the Committee’s remit. Members noted that issues around financial risks were addressed in the Budget Report within the Executive Agenda.
Referring to the effective governance and management of contracts, the Chairman questioned whether training was being further rolled out. In response, the Director of Finance confirmed that the Assistant Director of Governance and Contracts was currently overseeing the roll out of training. The Committee requested that the Assistant Director of Governance and Contracts provide an update of when the risk in light of the existing controls in place to mitigate the risk may be moved to ‘Amber’ or ‘Green’.
Action Point 22: That the Assistant Director of Governance and Contracts provide an update of when the risk in light of the existing controls in place to mitigate the risk may be moved to ‘Amber’ or ‘Green’.
Members noted that within Appendix B of the report, any reference to the Commissioning Board wold need to be amended in relation to the Council’s Transformation Agenda. A Member sought and received assurances that the commissioning of services would continue once the process of service redesign had taken place.
The Vice-Chairman noted that in relation to the Pension Fund investment pools would be a significant risk to the Council going forward. The Director of Finance confirmed that the risk rating would be evaluated once all the issues had been considered.
FORWARD PLAN OF KEY DECISIONS PDF 75 KB
The Committee noted the Forward Plan of Key Decisions covering the period January 2019-April 2019.
In accordance with the Council’s Constitution, questions to the Resources, Contracts and Commissioning Portfolio Holder must be received in writing 4 working days before the date of the meeting and must relate to the work of the Portfolio. Please ensure questions are received by the Democratic Services Team by 5pm on 2nd January 2019.
RESOURCES, CONTRACTS & COMMISSIONING PORTFOLIO - PRE-DECISION SCRUTINY
The Committee considered the following report(s) where the Resources Portfolio Holder was recommended to take a decision.
CAPITAL PROGRAMME MONITORING - 2ND QUARTER 2018/19 PDF 78 KB
CAPMON080119-ERC Appendix , item 98a HTM 2 KB View as PDF (98a/2) 77 KB
Report FSD19003
The Committee considered a report summarising the current position on capital expenditure and receipts following approval of the revised Capital Programme for the four year period 2018/19 to 2021/22 by the Executive on 28th November 2018.
REOLVED: that the Portfolio Holder be recommended to note and conform the changes agreed by the Executive on 28th November 2018.
The Committee considered the following reports on the Part 1 agenda for the meeting of the Executive on 16th January 2019:
6. DRAFT BUDGET AND UPDATE ON COUNCIL’S FINANCIAL STRATEGY 2020/23
The Committee considered a report seeking the approval of the initial draft 2019/20 Budget including the full year effect of changes agreed as part of the 2018/19 Council Tax report including savings approved during the year with the resultant impact on the Council’s medium term “budget gap”. The report also provided details of the final year of the four year Local Government Financial settlement (2016/17 to 2019/20), the impact of the Chancellor’s Autumn Budget 2018 and the Provisional Local Government Financial Settlement 2019/20.
The Committee discussed whether, in light of Central Government’s decision to move towards the CPI inflation measure, it would be more sensible to move away from RPIx and focus more on a CPI inflationary measure when awarding contracts. The Director of Finance confirmed that where possible the Council was moving towards a CPI measure, unless there was a strong business case otherwise.
The Chairman of the Education, Children and Families Select Committee emphasised that the Select Committee had produced two reports in relation to the budget for the Children, Education and Families Portfolio. The Chairman of the Select Committee sought assurances that the recommendations would be taken on board as part of the budget setting process.
The Director of Finance reported that whilst the Council was financially well placed, debt free and had some reserves it was important that consideration was given to developing a financial plan for 4 years’ time which evaluated all options.
In response to a question from the Chairman, the Director of Finance confirmed that following the letting of contracts, responsibility for contract management was now being transferred back to Departments and this was reflected in the propose budget for commissioning and procurement. Whilst there were no changes in the numbers of staff within commissioning and procurement, the Committee noted that as part of the wider review of staff savings the structure of all departments would need to be reviewed.
The Director of Finance reported that the increase in the ECS Repairs and Maintenance Budget reflected fire risk issues and the additional funding was to ensure that the Council was meeting its obligations. The wider issues around the Grenfell Tower fire had highlighted that there was more work to be done around fire risk assessments.
The Chairman of the Education, Children and Families Select Committee reported that the Children’s Service Improvement Governance Board had identified issues in relation to the quality of staff accommodation. The Director of Finance confirmed that the proposal was to develop the Well Bar into a comfortable break out area for staff.
In response to a question, the Director of Finance confirmed that in relation to concessionary fare, usage information was used to determine the allocation for the Borough once use of the Mayor of London’s Freedom Passes had been discounted.
RESOLVED: That the Executive ... view the full minutes text for item 99.
The Portfolio Holder for Resources, Contracts and Commissioning, Cllr Graham Arthur, addressed the Committee highlighting that at the start of the year, 2019 promised to be an exciting year of significant change. The successful outcome of the Ofsted Inspection of Children’s Services had rightly provided a boost to Staff and Members across the organisation.
On 16th January 2019, the Executive would approve the 2019/20 budget and four year financial forecast. The report to the Executive also identified the three major financial challenges facing the Council which were: homelessness, learning disabilities, and adults social care.
Within the Portfolio, the increased workload in the Legal Service would need to be monitored.
Whilst the budget for 2019/20 was effectively balanced, the medium term budget deficit would need to be addressed.
Three areas of growth pressure that had been identified were: homelessness, learning disabilities, and adults social care.
8 years ago the Council had undertaken a core service review which had identified statutory, desirable and discretionary services. This had saved operating costs of £9m per year. However, as a result of achieving these early savings the Council was now very efficient and opportunities for savings were much more limited.
The recent sale of the Old Town Hall had brought in some additional revenue.
There would need to be a major overhaul of working practices in property in order to address increases in demand in relation to temporary accommodation.
The Boundary Commission would be undertaking a review of Member numbers. The Portfolio Holder noted that over the last 10 years the Council had gone through many changes yet the Councillor and Staffing Structure had largely remained unchanged and this needed to be reviewed and a process of transformation was required.
The Portfolio Holder concluded his presentation by affirming that the Council was well placed for what promised to be a very successful year.
In response to questions from Members, the Portfolio Holder made the following points:
Benefits of approximately £6m per year had been generated by the Mears Scheme. Under the programme the Council had acquired 400 properties which were let to tenants for 2 years. This meant that it was still classified as temporary accommodation. A discussion now needed to take place around those tenants whose tenancies were coming to an end. Consideration needed to be given to the next steps, such as selling the properties to the tenants on a shared ownership basis. The Portfolio Holder confirmed that this would not impact the pension scheme as the Council would always look to retain 400 properties If a second iteration of the scheme were to be embarked upon consideration would need to be given to the new model as it was unlikely that there would be a need to gift it to the pension fund.
The Portfolio Holder acknowledged that Artificial Intelligence was something to which the Council needed to give more consideration. Whilst some staff had basic knowledge it was likely that in order to pursue the use of Artificial Intelligence the ... view the full minutes text for item 100.
CONTRACTS REGISTER AND CONTRACTS DATABASE UPDATE PDF 160 KB
Contract Register Report - 50k Portfolio Filtered - Resources Commissioning and Contract Management - PART 1.p , item 101. PDF 146 KB
Report CEO18006
At the start of the meeting the Committee had received a presentation from officers which outlined the functionality of the Council’s Contracts Database.
The Committee considered an extract from November 2018’s Contracts Register. The Committee also receive a detailed update on the contracts register within Part 2 of the agenda.
Members noted that once the extension to the Mail Services Contract had been agreed there would be a further report and Gateway review. The Head of Performance and Corporate Projects confirmed that the flag on the contract should have been removed when the next cycle of the Contracts Register was presented to the Committee.
Members noted that whilst the Commissioning Board was not currently operating, reports were still being reviewed and signed off through the commissioning process.
In response to a question, the Head of Performance and Corporate Projects explained that factors such as the results of soft market testing and discussions with colleagues in procurement and legal determined the duration of a contract.
REVIEW OF CONTRACTS AND COMMISSIONING SUB-COMMITTEE TERMS OF REFERENCE PDF 52 KB
The Chairman noted that as a result of the Council’s transformation agenda the Committee had requested a review of the terms of reference of the Contracts and Commissioning Sub-Committee. Councillor Marlow had reviewed the terms of reference and had made a number of suggested changes. The Chairman requested that following the meeting the proposed changes be circulated to the Members of the Committee for review.
A Member expressed concern that it had recently been drawn to his attention that Officers were being called to the Contracts and Commissioning Sub-Committee in relation to the performance of contracts. It was noted that there was nothing in the Sub-Committee terms of reference which allocated responsibility to the Sub-Committee to scrutinise the performance of contracts. It was agreed that there was a need to clearly emphasise that scrutiny of the performance of contracts was the responsibility of PDS Committees. The Chairman stressed that there was a need to ensure that the Sub-Committee focused on the key strategic issues.
The Leader of the Council noted that there was a need for some form of rationalisation in order to ensure that a great deal of time and effort was saved. The Portfolio Holder for Resources, Contracts and Commissioning highlighted that the Reablement Contract had been presented at five Committees. Members questioned whether this was a good use of Officer and Member time. It was suggested that each PDS Committee should be questioning the value that was being added by any additional scrutiny.
RESOLVED: That following the meeting proposed changes to the Terms of Reference of the Contracts and Commissioning Sub-Committee be circulated.
EXEMPT MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON 11 DECEMBER 2018
The Part 2 (exempt) minutes of the meeting held on 11th December 2018, were agreed and signed as an accurate record.
The Committee considered the following reports on the Part 2 agenda for the meeting of the Executive on 16th January 2019:
12. AWARD OF CONTRACT FOR CCTV MONITORING AND MAINTENANCE (PART 2)
The Committee noted the report and made recommendations to the Executive.
15. GATEWAY 1 REPORT - PROCUREMENT OF LEASE CARS AND LIGHT COMMERCIAL VEHICLES
Report ES19002