Agenda and minutes

To receive comments or views from members of the public at the Committee’s discretion.

Mr Worth made reference to an issue he had raised at a previous meeting in relation to car parking signage and enforcement in Market Place, Grantham. A member of the Committee also referred to comments he had received. As the issue did not fall within the remit of the district Council, it was suggested Mr Worth should make his complaint directly to Lincolnshire County Council. Contact details would be supplied by officers.

The Committee to be notified of any substitute members.

The Committee was notified that Councillor Ian Stokes would be substituting for Councillor Mrs Kaberry-Brown for this meeting only.

An apology for absence was received from Councillor Cosham.

Members are asked to disclose any interests in matters for consideration at the meeting.

No interests were disclosed.

                                                                                                            (Enclosure)

The action notes from the meeting on 20 August 2013 were noted.

CCTV

At its last meeting, the Committee received a summary of a countywide CCTV project led by Superintendent Vickers. He explained that Procurement Lincolnshire would work in conjunction with the districts to procure new equipment, ensuring that any new purchases were on compatible platforms. Any cost-benefit analysis would be carried out by the relevant district council officers.

Defibrillators

Further to the committee’s recommendation about the introduction of defibrillators, a piece of work had been carried out which assessed insurance and risk from an organisational perspective. Officers worked with LIVES to develop a recommendation that 5 defibrillators should be placed in Council premises across the district. Work was underway to identify budget to fund defibrillator provision.

Members were informed that defibrillators would be placed within the Council’s buildings where they could not be tampered with. Several members expressed strong concerns that defibrillators should be publicly accessible with 24-hour access. Reference was made to community schemes across the district where defibrillators were available on-street. The Committee was reminded that the remit of the working group was to consider provision for the authority’s staff and customers. To support staff, training would be provided on the use of defibrillators and making an initial risk assessment. Officers would be made aware of the location of defibrillators.

Report number PPMO05 by the Head of People, Projects and Performance.

Enclosures:

The Council’s Performance Management Officer presented report number PPMO05 on the 2012/13 annual report: ‘celebrating our success’. The report was designed to inform Councillors and members of the public about the Council’s performance as well as progress against its projects. Heads of Service were present at the meeting to answer any questions raised by Councillors.

Projects highlighted within the report included:

·         Olympic torch relay

·         Gravity Fields Festival 2012

·         A district-wide recycling education campaign

·         Wherry’s Lane and Bourne Core Area

·         Southern Quadrant, Grantham

·         Green flag status for Wyndham Park, Grantham

·         Local Authority Mortgage Scheme

·         Bourne Community Access Point

Improvement plans had been drawn up to augment performance in respect of sickness absence and planning targets. Officers reported that attendance had improved and that as they started to receive reports for 2013/14, Members would notice improved end-to-end times in the determination of planning applications.

The authority had seen an increase in the number of people in receipt of benefits. The weekly average wage had remained stable an there had been a positive increase in the percentage of people who were economically active.

Members were informed that the Council had not met targets on the level of CO2 emissions because of additional heating required throughout the drawn-out winter in 2012/13. This was reflected across the Council’s estate and the leisure centres.

Levels of household waste sent for reuse, recycling and composting had fallen below target. It was hoped that a district-wide education campaign would increase performance. Targeted campaigns would also be rolled-out following a detailed audit of the waste in the areas from which a high proportion of contaminated recycling was collected.

Members were invited to ask questions and make comments.

One member asked how income raised through the green bin service was used to support broader clean-up activity. Officers said they would supply this information directly. Reference was also made to street-cleaning in Bourne; an appropriate solution that provided a high quality product would be identified.

Action Point

·         Information to be supplied on distribution of income from the green waste scheme to conduct broader environmental clean-up work

·         Identify a street-cleaning solution for Bourne

A further question was asked on the number of reports regarding fly-tipping following increases in the cost of skip hire. It was suggested that this should be monitored on an ongoing basis. Officers hoped that high profile publicity of any successful enforcement action would help act as a deterrent.

Officers advised members that they hoped shops at Wherry’s Lane, Bourne, would be available for tenants by the end of December 2013. Reference was also made to changes in car parking arrangements as a result of the development. Five public parking spaces would be lost to residential properties however consideration was being given to whether contractors could use them in the short-term.

Councillors suggested earlier advertising of Gravity Fields 2014 across the district to optimise opportunities for individuals from South Kesteven to attend events. The contribution of community groups to the success of the festival in 2012 was acknowledged.

Members  ...  view the full minutes text for item 29.

Enclosure:

The Committee noted the report submitted by the Head of Procurement Lincolnshire which gave a brief update on the recommendations made by the Committee in its scrutiny review of the service. A Procurement Advisor from Procurement Lincolnshire attended the meeting to answer any questions. Issues arising from the recommendations made by the Committee would be considered at a meeting of the Procurement Advisory Board in November 2013.

Members were informed that a Procurement Lincolnshire working group had made recommendations (based on the Committee’s review) on revisions to the way in which savings were calculated. It was proposed that three different savings would be recorded: those achieved using the Chartered Institution of Purchasing Supply definition, savings related to process and cost avoidance, and non-monetary benefits (including apprenticeships and opportunities for the long-term unemployed). When calculating savings a confidence rating would be applied to each contract. This would form part of the methodology for calculating the baseline against which savings would be measured. Baselines and savings were signed-off on behalf of the Council by the Head of Finance.

Members were informed that targets going forward would be more challenging; the new target-setting arrangements were applied for calculating 2013/14 savings.

The Committee was advised that district council officers’ engagement and participation had improved since the scrutiny review was issued.

The recommendations made by the Committee in relation to Procurement Lincolnshire’s Governance arrangements would also be considered at the Procurement Advisory Board in November 2013.

Members discussed the update and recognised that Procurement Lincolnshire had accepted its recommendation in relation to target-setting. Councillors also referred to the time the Committee had had to wait for a response and that consideration of final recommendations would not be completed until November, which was two years after the review started.

Brief comments were made relating to the savings methodology. While members did not challenge Procurement Lincolnshire’s achievements, they felt strongly that altering the savings methodology from a cumulative model would help Procurement Lincolnshire accurately demonstrate their success. Reporting the information in a different way would remove any potential for giving a misleading impression of savings achieved by the service.

Members noted that baselines were calculated for each contract and were interested in receiving further information on the methodology.

Further concerns were expressed about Procurement Lincolnshire’s governance arrangements. The consensus of the committee was that the board which included elected members (Strategic Procurement Board) should have responsibility for signing-off decisions made by the officer-only Procurement Advisory Board. They particularly felt that the recommendations put forward by the Committee should have been considered by the group that contained elected members. There was also some criticism that the decisions on how savings would be calculated would be considered by the officer-only board without consultation with the Strategic Procurement Board. The Committee acknowledged the professionalism and specialist knowledge held by officers but felt that they were making decisions which would be more appropriately made by Councillors.

Committee members were informed that at meetings of the Strategic Procurement Board district council interests  ...  view the full minutes text for item 30.

Enclosure:

The work programme, which was circulated with the agenda, was noted.

The Committee’s Chairman informed members that he had attended a meeting of the Welland and Deeping Internal Drainage Board. Members discussed the governance arrangements of the internal drainage board. One Councillor, who represented the council on another internal drainage board, explained the rationale behind the composition of the boards.

The Council’s representative on the Elsea Park board informed members that work had commenced on the new primary school.

The meeting was closed at 12:06pm.