Agenda, decisions and minutes

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Contact: Cheryl Evans  Democratic Services Officer

Items
No. Item

24.

Apologies for Absence

Minutes:

The Leader of Council welcomed everyone to the meeting and wished everyone a Happy Lincolnshire Day.

 

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Mrs P A Bradwell OBE and E J Poll.

 

It was noted that Carolyn Nice (Assistant Director – Adult Frailty and Long Term Conditions) was attending the meeting on behalf of Glen Garrod (Executive Director – Adult Care and Community Wellbeing).

25.

Declarations of Councillors' Interests

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest.

26.

Announcements by the Leader, Executive Councillors and Executive Directors

Minutes:

The Leader of the Council referred to the debate at the meeting of the County Council on 17 May 2019 concerning climate change and advised that consideration was being given to possible actions the Council could implement to reduce its carbon footprint, one being the reduction of the use of paper. 

 

Furthermore, it was advised that the agenda and reports for meetings of the Executive would be circulated only in an electronic format, with councillors and officers expected to make effective use of the technological options available.  The Leader advised that this was the first paperless meeting of the Executive.  

27.

Minutes of the Meeting of the Executive held on 3 September 2019 pdf icon PDF 183 KB

Minutes:

RESOLVED

 

That the minutes of the meeting held on 3 September 2019 be signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

28.

Capital Budget Monitoring Report 2019/20 pdf icon PDF 174 KB

(To receive a report from the Executive Director – Resources, which provides an update on capital spending compared with budgets for the financial year which started on 1 April 2019)

Additional documents:

Decision:

Minutes:

Consideration was given to a report from the Executive Director – Resources, which updated on capital spending compared with budgets for the financial year which started on 1 April 2019.

 

The Assistant Director – Strategic Finance presented the report to the Executive and in doing so highlighted that the tables in the report detailed the actual expenditure and any grants and contributions for the first five months of the financial year to 31 August 2019, along with the projections for spending and a comparison of the projections against the approved budgets. 

 

It was advised that the net capital spending was projected to be £47.824m less than the budget at the end of the financial year; and gross capital spending was projected to be £56.625m less than the budget at the end of the financial year.

 

The report had shown that there was likely to be significant slippage in the 2019/20 Capital Programme.

 

The Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board advised that the Board had considered the report at its meeting on 26 September 2019 and had agreed to note the current position of the capital budget. The comments of the Board were circulated prior to the meeting. 

 

It was highlighted that the Board had questioned the slippage in the 2019/20 Capital Programme and highlighted the need to ensure effective budget profiling across the life of schemes/projects. 

 

The Board had recommended the need for a defined programme of work for the IMT capital projects in order to ensure the required outcomes were delivered. Officers confirmed that additional assurance on the IMT capital projects would be included as part of the January 2020 capital budget monitoring report.

 

During the discussion, the following points were noted: -

 

·         Officers confirmed that the capital programme comprised schemes which often span a number of financial years and could be challenging to profile over multiple years.  However, officers would continue to improve the way in which schemes were profiled, with an aim of factoring in any potential delays.

·         It was highlighted that the capital budgets for IMT were towards the middle to late stages of the project and that the underspend, as detailed in the report, was expected to reduce as the project progressed.  Officers confirmed that a better awareness of IMT requirements had been achieved and would be reflected in future budget setting. 

·         The Holbeach Food Enterprise Zone was discussed and it was advised that there were issues with the power supply to the site.  Officers at the County Council were liaising with Western Power to try and address the issue.  Furthermore, it was highlighted that there was a similar issue at Teal Park, Lincoln.  It was suggested that the issue of power supply could be an area of consideration by the relevant scrutiny committee. 

 

RESOLVED

 

That the current position on the capital budget be noted.

29.

Revenue Budget Monitoring Report 2019/20 pdf icon PDF 438 KB

(To receive a report from the Executive Director – Resources, which provides an update on revenue spending compared with budgets for the financial year which started on 1 April 2019)

Additional documents:

Decision:

Minutes:

Consideration was given to a report from the Executive Director – Resources, which provided an update on revenue spending compared with budgets for the financial year which started on 1 April 2019.

 

The Assistant Director – Strategic Finance presented the report and advised that the tables in the report showed the actual income and expenditure for the financial year to 31 August 2019, along with the forecasts for spending and a comparison of the forecasts against the approved budgets.

 

It was reported that the total revenue spending was forecast to be £5.017m less than the total budget; general reserves at the year-end would be within the 2.5% to 3.5% range, but this assumed that some of the forecast underspend would be moved to earmarked reserves to avoid general reserves being above 3.5% of the total budget; savings built into the 2019/20 revenue budget were forecast to be delivered with the exception of the £0.100m saving relating to the Coroners Service (page 26 of the agenda pack refers); and following assessment, the Council's financial resilience remained strong.

 

The Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board advised that on 26 September 2019, the Board had considered the Revenue Budget Monitoring Report 2019/20 and had agreed to note the current position on the revenue budget. The Board's comments were circulated in advance of the meeting.

 

The Board had challenged the level of impact on IMT services as a result of the on-going infrastructure issues and had queried whether the estimated budget had been allocated without a full awareness of the requirements or a defined programme of work for IMT service improvements.  Further to the discussion under Minute 29, detailed work had been undertaken to identify the Council's IMT requirements, which would be reflected in future budget setting.

 

The significant on-going work to modernise technology and overall IT performance was welcomed by the Executive and the Board.

 

RESOLVED

 

That the current position on the revenue budget be noted.

30.

Final Report from the Roundabout Sponsorship and Advertising Scrutiny Review pdf icon PDF 56 KB

(To receive a report from the Executive Director – Resources, which invites the Executive to receive the scrutiny review report and make arrangements for responding to the report by 1 December 2019)

Additional documents:

Decision:

(1)  That the Roundabout Sponsorship and Advertising Scrutiny Review final report be noted.

 

(2)  That arrangements be made to respond to the report within two months:

 

(a)  to indicate in the response which recommendations have been accepted; and

 

(b)  where recommendations are accepted, to bring forward an action plan for their implementation.

Minutes:

Consideration was given to a report from the Executive Director – Resources, which presented the Final Report from the Roundabout Sponsorship and Advertising Scrutiny Review.

 

The Chairman of the Roundabout Sponsorship and Advertising Scrutiny Panel presented the report and in doing so advised that the report had been considered and supported by the Highways and Transport Scrutiny Committee at its meeting on 15 July 2019.  The comments of the scrutiny committee were detailed on page 47 of the agenda pack.

 

The Scrutiny Panel's report made a total of four recommendations to the Executive which were detailed on pages 51-52 of the agenda pack.

 

The Panel had been established in March 2018 to review the current policy dealing with the sponsorship of roundabouts; to develop the policy to enable effective management of roundabout sponsorship and advertising in Lincolnshire; and to consider the economic and commercialisation opportunities.

 

The Panel had examined the current guidance and data regarding the suitability of roundabouts in each district for sponsorship and advertising.  It had approached each of the district councils to find out what the current situation is with roundabout sponsorship across Lincolnshire. The Panel had discovered that currently only Boston Borough Council and City of Lincoln Council had sponsorship schemes in place.

 

The Panel was proposing that the County Council explored a countywide sponsorship scheme to cover those areas of the county where no other council scheme existed, but provided discretion to those district councils with a current sponsorship scheme to continue operating as they were. 

 

The Executive expressed a desire for a countywide policy to avoid any confusion and to remove any inconsistencies across the county. The Executive requested the Executive Councillor for Highways, Transport and IT to make arrangements to respond to the report within two months indicating which recommendations had been accepted and to bring forward an action plan for implementation.

 

It was also highlighted that there was a need for co-ordination between the planning authorities and the Road Safety Partnership to ensure the sizes of the signs were deemed safe.

 

RESOLVED

 

(1)  That the Roundabout Sponsorship and Advertising Scrutiny Review final report be noted.

 

(2)  That arrangements be made to respond to the report within two months:

 

(a)  to indicate in the response which recommendations have been accepted; and

 

(b)  where recommendations are accepted, to bring forward an action plan for their implementation.

31.

Housing Related Support Services pdf icon PDF 264 KB

(To receive a report from the Executive Director – Adult Care and Community Wellbeing, which invites the Executive to approve the commissioning of a housing related Support service, and the undertaking of procurement to establish a contract, to be awarded to a single provider of a countywide service effective from 1 July 2020)

Additional documents:

Decision:

(1)  That approval be given to the commissioning of a housing related Support service, and the undertaking of procurement to establish a contract, to be awarded to a single provider of a countywide service effective from 1 July 2020.

 

(2)  That approval be given to the commissioning of services to provide two domestic abuse refuges, and the undertaking of procurement to establish a contract(s), to be awarded to a single provider of service at each refuge site, effective from 1 July 2020.

 

(3)  That approval be given to the commissioning of a mental health crisis houses service funded by Lincolnshire Clinical Commissioning Groupsto be awarded to a single provider of the service, effective from 1 July 2020.

 

(4)  That the Executive Director - Adult Care and Community Wellbeing be delegated authority, in consultation with the Executive Councillor for Adult Care, Health and Children's Services, to determine the final form of the service; the procurement and the contract; the award of the contract; and entering into the contract, and any other legal documentation necessary to give effect to the above decisions.

Minutes:

NOTE: As the reports for Minute Items 31 – Housing Related Support Services and 32 – Commissioning of Supported Accommodation: Children's Services as they were interlinked, it was agreed that the discussion for both items would be combined, with the decisions being taken separately.

 

Housing Related Support Services for Adults

 

The Director of Public Health; the Chief Commissioning Officer; and the Commercial and Procurement Manager - People Services presented information relating to the Housing Related Support Services for adults.  The contracts comprised of:

 

·       Emergency accommodation based support.

·       Non-emergency accommodation based support.

·       Floating support (not linked to designated accommodation).

·       Rough sleeper outreach.

 

The services worked together to form a structured model of support for people who were currently homeless or at risk of losing their home. 

 

The Council had also commissioned the following services, linked to housing, which were packaged together with housing related support services when they were last commissioned in 2015:

 

·       Two domestic abuse refuges.

·       Mental health crisis houses.

 

With the exception of the floating support and rough sleeper outreach elements, which were due to conclude on 31 March 2021, the above contracts were due to end on 30 June 2020, and as a consequence decisions would need to be made about the future commissioning of the services. 

 

The report presented the case for re-commissioning a reconfigured housing related support service for adults in Lincolnshire.

 

The proposed service access pathway had been redesigned to ensure that district councils' housing and homelessness reduction duties, as specified in the report, were considered first, with Lincolnshire County Council-commissioned housing related support being used only by those who met the revised eligibility. The revised eligibility was detailed on page 115 of the agenda pack and the referral process was illustrated in Appendix A to the report. It was confirmed that the County Council had been working closely with the district council in developing the proposals.

 

Commissioning of Supported Accommodation: Children's Services

 

The Children's Services Commissioning Manager presented information on the re-commissioning of the Children's Services Youth Housing Service and the overall Supported Accommodation offer for young people. 

 

The new proposed model, as set out in Appendix A to the report, would operate in a similar way to current arrangements, using a single gateway as the referral mechanism with support continuing to be commissioned across three main hubs – Boston, Grantham/Sleaford, and Lincoln/Gainsborough. There would be no change to the age of the eligible cohort.

 

The Executive was asked to approve the proposal to procure the new service model through an open competitive tender with an indicative budget of £1.613m.  It was also recommended that a contract be awarded for five years (3+ a maximum of 2 years extension), commencing on 1 July 2020.

 

The Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board advised that the Adults and Community Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee had agreed to support the four recommendations in the Executive report, which would deliver a reconfigured housing related support service for adults in Lincolnshire.  The comments of the Committee were detailed on  ...  view the full minutes text for item 31.

32.

Commissioning of Supported Accommodation: Children's Services pdf icon PDF 344 KB

(To receive a report from the Interim Director – Children's Services, which invites the Executive to consider information on the re-commissioning of the Children's Services Youth Housing Service and the overall Supported Accommodation offer for young people)

Additional documents:

Decision:

(1)  That approval be given to the proposed model, as detailed in Section 3 of the Commissioning Plan (Appendix A).

 

(2)  That approval be given to the procurement of a new Youth Housing Service through an open competitive tender from 1 July 2020 for a contract term of three years plus the option of extending for a further two years.

 

(3)  That the Executive Director for Children's Services be delegated authority, in consultation with the Executive Councillor for Adult Care, Health and Children's Services, to take all decisions necessary to conduct the procurement process up to and including the award and entering into of the contract.

Minutes:

RESOLVED

 

(1)  That approval be given to the proposed model, as detailed in Section 3 of the Commissioning Plan (Appendix A).

 

(2)  That approval be given to the procurement of a new Youth Housing Service through an open competitive tender from 1 July 2020 for a contract term of three years plus the option of extending for a further two years.

 

(3)  That the Executive Director for Children's Services be delegated authority, in consultation with the Executive Councillor for Adult Care, Health and Children's Services, to take all decisions necessary to conduct the procurement process up to and including the award and entering into of the contract.

33.

Highways 2020 Contract Award Decision pdf icon PDF 318 KB

(To receive a report from the Executive Director – Place, which presents the results of the Highways 2020 Procurement, describing the process adopted and the solutions arising)

Additional documents:

Decision:

That the Executive:

 

(1)  Notes the progress made and the outcome of the final tender evaluation.

 

(2)  Approves the award of and decides to award a contract for the delivery of:-

 

a)    Highway Works to Balfour Beatty Group Ltd;

b)    Traffic Signals to Colas Ltd; and

c)    Professional Services to WSP UK Ltd.

 

(3)  Authorises the Executive Director - Place to notify all bidders in the procurement of the Council's decision to award contracts as set out in recommendation 2 above.

 

(4)  Authorises the Executive Director - Place to appoint Balfour Beatty Group Ltd, Colas Ltd and WSP UK Ltd as the Preferred Bidder in respect of the contract for Highway Works, Traffic Signals and Professional Services respectively.

 

(5)  Delegates to the Executive Director - Place authority to approve the final form and the entering into of all contract and other legal documentation necessary to give effect to the above decisions.

Minutes:

Consideration was given to a report from the Executive Director – Place, which presented the results of the Highways 2020 Procurement, described the process adopted and the solutions arising.

 

It was advised that as the discussion of this item may result in the disclosure of information that was either prohibited by, or under an enactment, or related to the business affairs of bidders in a confidential procurement provided to the Council.  Any questions relating to the confidential Appendices A, B and C would be considered in private session.

 

The Executive was requested to consider and approve the award of a contract to:

 

Lot 1 (Highway Works) – Balfour Beatty Group Ltd

Lot 2 (Traffic Signals) – Colas Ltd

Lot 3 (Professional Services) – WSP UK Ltd

 

The Senior Project Leader and the Assistant Director – Highways advised that the Council had undergone a thorough and comprehensive procurement that had delivered a final tender for each lot offering the most economically advantageous tender to the Council.

 

The submitted tenders for each lot had been rigorously evaluated against the Council's published scoring methodology and criteria and the recommended contractors were those that had scored highest in that evaluation process.  No other combination of contractors could be awarded the contracts without breach of the Council's procurement obligations.

 

The final tender would enable the Council to deliver an affordable service through a delivery model that would provide the most efficient and effective mechanism for delivering the Highway Service in Lincolnshire. 

 

The Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board advised that the Highways and Transport Scrutiny Committee had considered the Executive report on 16 September 2019 and unanimously supported the recommendations to the Executive.  The comments of the Committee were circulated in advance of the meeting.

 

In response to a question, the Executive was advised that the current levels of service would be maintained as part of the end of the current contract and during the mobilisation of the new arrangements.  It had been agreed that the Highways 2020 Project Board would continue to meet during the mobilisation of the contract to ensure a smooth transition. 

 

NOTE: At this stage in the meeting, the Executive moved into confidential session.  Officers responded to the questions raised, following which the Executive moved back into open session.

 

RESOLVED

 

That the Executive:

 

(1)  Notes the progress made and the outcome of the final tender evaluation.

 

(2)  Approves the award of and decides to award a contract for the delivery of:-

 

a)    Highway Works to Balfour Beatty Group Ltd;

b)    Traffic Signals to Colas Ltd; and

c)    Professional Services to WSP UK Ltd.

 

(3)  Authorises the Executive Director - Place to notify all bidders in the procurement of the Council's decision to award contracts as set out in recommendation 2 above.

 

(4)  Authorises the Executive Director - Place to appoint Balfour Beatty Group Ltd, Colas Ltd and WSP UK Ltd as the Preferred Bidder in respect of the contract for Highway Works, Traffic Signals and Professional Services respectively.

 

(5)  ...  view the full minutes text for item 33.

 

 
 
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