Agenda item

(1) Motion by Councillor R B Parker

It was moved and seconded that:

This council notes in relation to the Serco contract for the delivery of back office services that

• since 1^st April 2015 because of the failure of Serco to deliver services as specified in the contract there have been serious operational  difficulties which have caused problems for the citizens of Lincolnshire, our Local Authority schools, organisations we trade with and which supply us with vital services,  and our staff
• as a consequence the reputation of the County Council has suffered severely because we as the local authority and as a fair trader and as a good employer have to take responsibility for the failures of our contractors
• at the end of February 2016 when the last report was received by the Value for Money Committee, 9 of the 43 Key Performance Indicators which measure the delivery of services under the contract were still not being met by Serco
• as a consequence of Serco’s failure to meet the terms of the contract, service credits amounting to just under £1.2m have  been repaid by Serco since April 2015
• at the present date there is no clear indication when all Key Performance Indicators and other projects not being met, will be met.

Accordingly this council expresses its serious dissatisfaction with the delivery of the back office services contract by Serco and resolves

• to ask the Chief Executive to begin at once a review using independent specialists to examine all aspects of the drawing up and implementation of the contract between Serco and the County Council. Three particular areas to include

1)    whether it was reasonable to expect there to be a smooth transfer of responsibilities from Mouchel  to Serco and a shift from one IT system, SAP to Agresso, at the same time – 1 April 2015 - and

2)    whether the contract as drawn up was too large for the County Council to exit from without very serious ongoing difficulties thereby restricting the council’s freedom of movement and

3)    whether Serco and the County Council had sufficient specialist staff in place in the right numbers to handle their respective responsibilities during the run-up to and from 1 April 2015

• to ask the Chief Executive to explore all options available to the County Council to bring an end to the contractual relationship between Serco and the County Council within the terms of the contract
• to bring a report back to the next full council meeting in September to enable the Council to make recommendations to the Executive.

An amendment was moved and seconded as follows:

This council continues to be concerned and disappointed by the delivery of some services by Serco and the impact this is having on

·         the citizens of Lincolnshire,

·         our Local Authority schools,

·         organisations we trade with and which supply us with vital services

·         our staff

·         operations of the County Council.

This Council acknowledges that Serco has made progress in improving service delivery and looks forward to this service delivery reaching the contracted standards.

While this Council has the contractual right to terminate the contract with Serco, it recognises that it is currently in the Council's best interest to work with Serco while they continue to put the problems right.  Serco's continued commitment to rectification, in spite of their financial losses, is valued by this Council.

Accordingly the Council resolves

·         to ask the Chief Executive to ensure that the promised review of the procurement and award of the Serco contract and the implementation of Agresso is undertaken at once using the Council's external auditors KPMG the terms of reference for the review to be agreed by the Audit Committee at its next meeting in June.

·         that the review is reported to the Audit Committee at its September meeting.

·         To ask the Chief Executive to keep under review progress to improve performance and the options available to the County Council within the terms of the contract and to consult as he considers necessary with the Recovery Group.

The mover of the original motion accepted the amendment, and this became the substantive motion.

Upon being put to the vote, the motion was carried.

(2) Motion by Councillor C Pain

It was moved and seconded that:-

In the latest government austerity cuts in the next financial year, Lincolnshire County Council will have to cut in the region of another 34.8 million pounds from their budget. This will be on top of the 150 million pounds that the Lincolnshire County Council has already cut.  We will also have to cut more council jobs.

I strongly feel that the latest austerity cuts are an inappropriate move against Lincolnshire County Council and its services. As I stand here in the council chamber our officers cannot even implement the extra 34.8 million pounds worth of savings in year two. This will mean that the County Council will become bankrupt and have to close its doors and hand the keys back to the government.

I believe that the country would be far better stopping paying the EU 355 million a week and also stopping millions of pounds of aid that we give to corrupt third world countries. This money is desperately needed here in the UK.

We cannot afford to lose more staff as this will put pressure on the remaining staff and the services we deliver. The staff should be consulted to give them a choice of losing fellow officers and workers, or the entire council staff taking a pay reduction equal to the proposed savings. This will keep the expertise and staff on hand to maintain Lincolnshire County Council services that the Lincolnshire public deserve. At the same time it will give hard working staff members job security, where they have mortgages, families and cars to run etc. I am sure they would like the security of knowing their jobs were safe. Any savings through staff leaving or retiring should be taken into account in the overall equation. This means that the salaries can be reviewed at a later date, but more importantly this assures the continuity of Lincolnshire County Council.

The false economy of these job reductions means that any proposed savings will be offset by redundancy payments and means that no short term savings will be made. Some councils have done this previously and had to replace these people afterwards, often with the same people that were made redundant in the first place.

I propose the following motion:-

Lincolnshire County Council Staff are consulted on the future savings to be made out of the LCC staff budget, and are given the option of taking a pay cut across every employee, rather than losing staff from the workforce. The findings of this consultation should be taken into account by the Head of Paid Service in determining the future structure of the workforce.

Upon being put to the vote, the motion was lost.