Agenda, decisions and minutes

There were no apologies for absence.

Councillor D McNally, Executive Councillor for Waste and Trading Standards, declared an interest in agenda item 9 – Lincolnshire Minerals and Waste Local Plan: Issues and Options for Updating the document, as it affected land owned by Councill McNally, which was specified on his Disclosable Pecuniary Interest (DPI) form.  Councillor McNally advised that he would leave the meeting for consideration of this item of business.

There were no announcements by the Leader or members of the Executive.

RESOLVED

          That the minutes of the meeting held on 5 April 2022 be signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

(To receive a report by the Executive Director – Adult Care and Community Wellbeing which seeks approval to procure a new contract for Lincolnshire Community Equipment Services)

1.    That approval be given to procurement to deliver a contract to be awarded to a single provider of a county-wide community equipment service including wheelchair provision, and the potential for Disabled Facilities Grant items such as stairlifts, to be incorporated into the catalogue of equipment, for an initial period of up to five years with the possibility of a further five-year extension.

2.    That approval be given to  the de-coupling of telecare from the current community equipment services contract and the re-procurement from 1 April 2023 of a separate, interim two-year, like for like telecare contract, with the intention of procuring a wider Technically Enabled Care (TEC) solution, to be in place by 1 April 2025.

3.    That authority be delegated to the Executive Director of Adult Care & Community Wellbeing in consultation with the Executive Councillor for Adult Care and Public Health, to determine the final form of the contract/s and to approve the award of the contract/s and the entering into of the contract/s and other legal documentation necessary to give effect to the above decisions.

The Executive Councillor for Adult Care and Public Health introduced a report which set out the need to procure a new contract for the Lincolnshire Community Equipment Service (LCES).  This was a jointly commissioned service between the Council and Lincolnshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), and it was noted that the contract had been in place since April 2016.

The Assistant Director – Early Intervention and Prevention outlined the current service summary and advised that it was an all-age service providing equipment (including Telecare) on loan to help meet the health and social care needs of people with long term conditions and disabilities.   It was a statutory duty to provide this equipment where someone had been assessed as having a statutory need.  It was also highlighted that this was a critical factor in helping people to remain more independent and in their own homes as well as assisting with hospital discharge.

The Chairman of the Adults and Community Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee presented the comments of the Scrutiny Committee following its consideration of this item at its meeting on 6 April 2022.  The Executive was advised that the Committee fully supported all the recommendations.  In particular, the Committee had highlighted the benefits of seven day working and the joint working with the NHS.  The Committee acknowledged the potential budget pressures but felt that most of these had been covered and mitigated by the report.  Another area that the Committee highlighted as important was the recycling aspect of the contract and strongly supported the recycling arrangements.  It was commented that the use of Household Waste Recycling Centres was a good opportunity and more use could be made of them, by allowing people to drop items off at any time.  In conclusion, it was reported that the Scrutiny Committee fully supported the recommendations and would like to see the use of Household Waste Recycling Centres promoted as well as additional attention paid to hospital discharge.

During discussion by the Executive, the following was noted:

·       In terms of the recycling, this applied to a variety of items from walking sticks to high-cost specialised equipment.  The provider would be incentivised to collect and maintain equipment.

·       It was noted that there was flexibility built into the contract in relation to hospital discharge, which had supported extra demand at the acute sites. For example, the equipment service had expanded from six to seven days a week and performance in terms of delivery times were very good.

·       Incentivising the recycling aspect of the contract rather than paying a guaranteed management fee would place Lincolnshire in a strong position in comparison with other areas nationally.

·       The Executive was supportive of the need for equipment to be recycled and reused as much as possible, as there had been instances of residential homes keeping hold of specialised equipment provided for a particular resident after they had passed away.

·       Clarification was sought regarding the non-recurrent funding which had been used to support the cost increase.  Officers advised that this referred to funding provided  ...  view the full minutes text for item 84.

(To receive a report by the Executive Director – Resources which seeks approval for the mix of insourced and outsourced services as part of the future delivery of IMT services)

1.    That the future IMT services design and sourcing approach be approved as follows:

a)    The implementation of a multi-supplier IMT service delivery model involving external suppliers who are specialists in specific areas of IMT service delivery, supplemented by some in-house delivery.

b)    The outsourcing of the following IMT services to external suppliers:

                                          i.         Support Desk and Operations (including end user device management and device security services)

                                         ii.         Managed Cloud Services and Enhanced Security Services

c)    The insourcing of the following IMT services:

                                          i.         Service Integration and Management (SIaM

                                         ii.         Application Support

                                        iii.         VIP Support

                                       iv.         Technical Operations (data centres)

                                         v.         Vendor and Licence Management

2.    That the carrying out of the necessary procurement processes to secure the services of external suppliers referred to in 1b be approved.

3.    That authority be delegated to the Executive Director responsible for Commercial, in consultation with the Executive Councillor for Highways, Transport and IT, to take all necessary decisions and steps to progress the in-sourcings referred to in 1c and to progress the procurements referred to in 2 up to and including the award of contracts.

The Executive Councillor for Highways, Transport and IT introduced a report which sought a decision on the best way forward for the future delivery of IMT services as well as approval from the Executive for the mix of insourced and outsourced services as part of the future model of delivery and authority to commence a procurement for the proposed approach.  It was reported that this was a move to a different model of procurement which recognised the changes to the market and demonstrated a radical shift towards cloud technology.

The Assistant Director IMT & Enterprise Architecture guided the Executive through the report and advised that a review of the services and a soft market engagement had allowed for a simplification of the contract with fewer providers than initially expected due to an ability to combine services, with specialist providers being used to provide specialist services.

The Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board presented the comments of the Board following its consideration of this item at its meeting on 28 April 2022.  The Executive was advised that the Board unanimously supported the recommendations, however some of the key points highlighted during the discussion included the importance of good governance to avoid the duplication of could services; recognition of the improved security that accompanied cloud systems; support for the procurement exercise which would be designed to enable the Council to create a range of options and procure specialisms independently when required; the possibility of recruitment challenges was also highlighted, however, this was not seen as a substantial risk.  It was also highlighted that it had been requested that a report on the governance arrangements should be brought back to the Board before the Service Integration and Management (SIaM) service was fully developed.

During discussion by the Executive, the following points were noted:

·       It was queried whether there were risks in relation to not being able to recruit and retain the staff that were needed.  It was acknowledged that there could be issues as the authority moved through the contract, however, there was a plan in place to ensure that the Council was seen as an employer of choice, and an attraction and retention framework was being developed.  It was also noted that in the medium term, the use of cloud services would remove the requirement for specialist technical staff.

·       An additional issue was there were a number of unsupported IT systems which were within individual service areas, and information was being sought from IMT and service areas around the risks to the Council of leaving these systems unsupported.  The task was to reduce the number of individual bespoke systems and move to more resilient systems.  However, it was noted that this work was in its very early stages and it was hoped that there could be a direction of travel by the end of summer 2022.

·       Reassurance was sought regarding resilience in the event that one of the large technology companies (Google/Amazon/Microsoft) went down, and the Executive was advised that these  ...  view the full minutes text for item 85.

(To receive a report by the Executive Director of Children’s Services which makes recommendations for the longer-term model and commissioning arrangements for the Holiday Activities and Food Programme in Lincolnshire from Summer 2022 onwards)

1.    That the recommended delivery model for HAF from Summer 2022 onwards be approved.

2.    That the establishment of an Open Select List (OSL) to commission third party providers to support the delivery of the HAF programme in Lincolnshire from Summer 2022 for up to at least three years, be approved.

3.    That the direct award of grants to third party providers who apply and meet the criteria via the OSL be approved.

4.    That the direct award of grants to schools and academies, early years settings and District Councils that operate leisure facilities that apply and meet the criteria from Summer 2022 and during the years where HAF grant funding is made available from the Government, be approved.

5.    That authority be delegated to the Executive Director of Children’s Services, in consultation with the Executive Councillor for Children’s Services, Community Safety and Procurement, to take all decisions necessary, where required, in relation to the conducting the OSL and the awarding and entering into grants.

The Executive received a report which detailed the pilot programme of the Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme which was funded by Government and rolled out to all upper unitary authorities in 2021.  Through the Spending Review, the Government confirmed that the HAF programme would be funded for at least a further three years.  The report set out recommendations for the longer-term model and commissioning arrangements for the HAF Programme in Lincolnshire from Summer 2022 onwards.

The Head of Service – Children’s Strategic Commissioning was in attendance and presented the report to the Executive advising that the Council’s grant allocation for the 2022/23 financial year was £2,638,890.  It was highlighted that providers would need to apply to the County Council for a grant, and there would be criteria which would apply.

The Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board presented the comments of the Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee following its consideration of this item at its meeting on 22 April 2022.  Some of the main points highlighted by the Committee included the importance of the recognition on the focus on children entitled to free school meals, and there was a need to ensure that the most disadvantaged children would benefit from this programme.  It was expected that that not all of those eligible would take up the offer.  It was suggested that all councillors should be briefed on the provision that was available in their area.  The proposal was welcomed unanimously.

During discussion by the Executive, the following was noted:

·       There were now more providers coming on stream, so there should be more places around the county for the next school holiday.

·       The Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee had requested that information about where this programme could be accessed was shared with all councillors.

·       Local providers were encouraged to come forward to apply for the programme and local councillors to visit those providers to get a feel for what was being provided in their local area.

·       It was acknowledged that improvements needed to be made to existing booking system to provide information on where places were available, and the new booking system would make it easier to book, as well as enabling people to check their eligibility for the programme

·       It was commented that the Programme had been well advertised in one area, however, the booking options needed to be more visible.  It was suggested whether schools would be able to issue some information on this a few weeks before the end of the summer term.  It was noted that the summer activities programme would be shared in advance and work with the Communications Team would also take place.

·       It was queried how it would be ensured that those people/families who would benefit most from this programme would be able to find out about it.  It was noted that the roles of schools would be pivotal, so they would be able to encourage families to attend, however, it was acknowledged that some parents would still choose  ...  view the full minutes text for item 86.

(To receive a report from the Executive Director – Resources which seeks approval for the proposed procurement route for the provision of Microsoft software and services)

1.    That the direct award of a one-year contract, via the CCS RM6194 Back Office Software (BOS) Framework Agreement, to the incumbent reseller Softcat, for the provision of Microsoft services and software, be approved; and

2.    That authority be delegated to the Executive Director – Resources, in consultation with the Executive Councillor for Highways, Transport and IT to take all decisions necessary to carry out the procurement up to and including the award of contract.

The Assistant Director – IMT and Enterprise Architect introduced a report which set out the proposed procurement route for the provision of Microsoft software and services.

The Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board presented the comments of the Board following its consideration of the report at its meeting on 26 April 2022.  Queries had been raised regarding the need to award the contract for only one year, however, the Board accepted the reason for this course of action and welcomed the savings that had been made.

RESOLVED

1.    That the direct award of a one-year contract, via the CCS RM6194 Back Office Software (BOS) Framework Agreement, to the incumbent reseller Softcat, for the provision of Microsoft services and software, be approved; and

2.    That authority be delegated to the Executive Director – Resources, in consultation with the Executive Councillor for Highways, Transport and IT to take all decisions necessary to carry out the procurement up to and including the award of contract.

(To receive a report by the Executive Director – Place which invites the Executive to consider and approve the Issues and Options document of the Lincolnshire Minerals and Waste Plan)

1.    That subject to any amendments made pursuant to paragraph 2 below, the Issues and Options document attached at Appendix A and the Proposed Site Selection Methodology attached at Appendix B to the report for public consultation for a period of at least six weeks commencing in June 2022, be approved.

2.    That the Head of Planning be authorised to make any non-material amendments to the said Issues and Options document and said Proposed Site Selection Methodology that are necessary to meet the County Council’s accessibility requirements for publication on its website; and

3.    That the carrying out of a “Call for Sites” process alongside the consultation be approved.

(NOTE: 11.49 am - Councillor D McNally left the meeting for consideration of this item of business)

The Executive Councillor for Economic Development, Environment and Planning introduced a report which outlined the issues and options for updating the adopted Lincolnshire Minerals and Waste Local Plan to ensure that its policies remained relevant and effective.  The document attached to the report at Appendix A, the Issues and Options Document, represented the first stage of this process, and subject to the approval of the Executive would subsequently be published for public consultation.

The Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board presented the comments made by the Environment and Economy Scrutiny Committee following its consideration of this item at its meeting on 12 April 2022.  Some of the points highlighted by the scrutiny committee included the importance of proper consideration of local views as part of the consultation, the updating of the Plan was welcomed and the Committee commended its usefulness as a tool to the planning system.  Concerns were also raised regarding mineral workings, and the need for them to be assessed within the existing Core Policies.  The Committee also suggested that consideration should be given to the location of recycling facilities near to smaller settlements as well as the more urban areas.

During discussion by the Executive, the following points were raised:

·       Clarification was sought on how far public views could be taken into account.  Members were advised that whilst the plan would need to conform with national policies, there was still scope for the public to influence the development of the plan, for example in the selection of sites for future mineral working and in the restoration/afteruse of such sites.  It would, however, be a challenge to balance public expectations.

·       Queries were raised over the current approach of restoring quarries without the importation of inert waste to raise the land levels. Members were advised that only limited amounts of inert waste were generated in Lincolnshire and that the county already had sufficient inert landfill capacity for the proposed plan period. The current policy approach was therefore to encourage low level restoration to allow sites to be restored promptly.

·       It was reported that there were a number of requirements to balance when considering restoration, including the need to protect high-grade agricultural land, the need to create priority habitats, and the potential to provide benefits to the local communities, such as public access.  These would be matters which would be discussed with local communities.

·       Queries were raised regarding options for the restoration of former quarry sites into environmental attractions or for recreational use.  Members were advised that whilst there was a view that an economic use of restored sites could have benefits, these types of schemes were not always welcomed by local communities.  Any future development activity would normally need to be considered by the appropriate district council as it fell outside of the remit of the minerals and waste local plan.

RESOLVED

1.    That subject to any amendments  ...  view the full minutes text for item 88.