Agenda, decisions and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Mrs W Bowkett and Councillor Mrs P A Bradwell OBE.

Apologies were also noted from Glen Garrod, Executive Director – Adult Care and Community Wellbeing.

There were no declarations of interest at this point in the meeting.

The Chief Executive provided an update in relation to the situation with Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) in Lincolnshire.  Surveys had been carried out on all LCC maintained schools.  No RAAC had been identified in any of the LCC maintained schools.  The outcome of surveys for academies were still awaited from the DfE, but these outcomes were expected shortly.

RESOLVED

That the minutes of the meeting held on 4 July 2023 be signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

(To receive a report by the Executive Director – Resources, which sets out the need for the Council to re-commission its social care financial management system contract from January 2024)

1.    That the commissioning of Abacus as the Council’s social care finance management system be approved.

2.    That the contracting for the system through the addition of Abacus as a module into the Call-Off Contract between the Council and the Access Group dated 9 February 2023 via a change control process under the contract be approved.

3.    That the contracting, by the Council, for Abacus for an additional four years (until January 2028) with options to extend for two further periods of one year each, be approved.

4.    That authority be delegated to the Deputy Chief Executive and Executive Director of Resources, in consultation with the Executive Councillor for Resources, Communication and Commissioning, to take all decisions necessary to commission the system including determining the final form and approving the entering into of the contract change control.

Consideration was given to a report which sought approval for the re-commissioning of the Council’s social care financial management system contract from January 2024.  In January 2023, the Council entered into a Crown Commercial Services Call-Off Contract with The Access Group for the Mosaic system under the CCS Data and Application Solutions framework.  The Call-Off contract provided for additional modules to be purchased which would then form part of the same contract, one of which was the Abacus application.

The Executive was advised that 4,500 payments were made through the Abacus system by residents every week.  It was noted that developments of the Abacus application were ongoing by the Access Group, so there may be opportunities for further integration in the future.

It was highlighted that approval of the recommendations would see the costs fixed for four years.

Councillor T J N Smith, Vice-Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board was in attendance to present the comments of the Board following its consideration of this item at its meeting on 24 August 2023.  The Board had queried what other options were available, and had supported the recommendations to the Executive.

During discussion by the Executive, the following was noted:

·       Clarification was sought in relation to recommendation 2, and officers advised that this would allow the Council to ‘call-off’ the contract if there was a need to increase functionality.

·       In relation to future developments within IT, officers advised that the contract could be reviewed each year so that modules could either be added or removed.

RESOLVED

1.    That the commissioning of Abacus as the Council’s social care finance management system be approved.

2.    That the contracting for the system through the addition of Abacus as a module into the Call-Off Contract between the Council and the Access Group dated 9 February 2023 via a change control process under the contract be approved.

3.    That the contracting, by the Council, for Abacus for an additional four years (until January 2028) with options to extend for two further periods of one year each, be approved.

4.    That authority be delegated to the Deputy Chief Executive and Executive Director of Resources, in consultation with the Executive Councillor for Resources, Communications and Commissioning, to take all decisions necessary to commission the system including determining the final form and approving the entering into of the contract change control.

(To receive a report by the Executive Director – Resources which presents the Lincolnshire Agricultural Sector Support Scrutiny Review final report prepared by Scrutiny Panel B, for consideration, and invites the Executive to make arrangements to respond to the report within two months)

1.    That the Lincolnshire Agriculture Sector Support Scrutiny Review final report be received.

2.    That arrangements be made to respond to the report within two months, and that the Executive Councillor for Economic Development, Environment and Planning:

a)    Indicates in the response which recommendations have been accepted; and

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

The Executive Councillor for Economic Development, Environment and Planning introduced the Final Report of the Lincolnshire Agricultural Sector Support Scrutiny Review.  He commented that the agricultural sector had long been the foundation of Lincolnshire’s economy.  This was a very detailed an in depth report and commended the time and energy that officers and members had dedicated to this important topic.  It was also noted that there had been significant contributions from partners.

Councillor G Taylor, Chairman of Scrutiny Panel B, presented the report to the Executive and summarised how the Panel came to the conclusions that informed its recommendations.  Over the 14 months of the review, the Panel considered a range of topics/themes which included Lincolnshire farmed area data; national policy context; skills, training and employment opportunities; trading standards intelligence; technology, robotics and practical applications; a roundtable discussion on Mental Health issues; and the role of the UK Food Valley and the Lincolnshire Food Enterprise Zone.  The final report was considered by the Environment and Economy Scrutiny Committee at its meeting on 30 May 2023, and it was unanimously supported.  The comments of the Committee were included within the report.

During discussion by the Executive, the following was noted:

·       Councillor Taylor and the Scrutiny Panel were thanked for their work on this review and it was commended as a very informative piece of work.

·       This was a very timely and welcome report, as there were massive changes taking place in the sector including an influx of technology and changes to subsidy regimes.

·       It was important to recognise the huge financial investment that had been made in this sector over the past few years.

·       It was noted that the debate which took place at the Environment and Economy Scrutiny Committee was substantial and the Committee’s comments were included within the report.

·       In terms of mental health, it was noted that the Council had provided grants in previous years, and it continued to promote that work.  It was also highlighted that that the Council had an agreement to work with the University of Lincoln, and one of the key themes being explored was mental health.  This work had also been picked up through the Integrated Care Board.

·       A discussion took place regarding the need for a position statement in relation to Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP) applications in Lincolnshire and clarity about land use.  There were currently 14 NSIP applications in progress for Lincolnshire, which collectively would use a large amount of agricultural land.  The important role that Lincolnshire played both nationally and internationally in relation to food production was emphasised.

·       There was a need for progress with automation to move faster than it currently was due to the skills and workforce issues that Lincolnshire had.  The County Council needed to be the organisation to help businesses to move forward.

·       There was a need for clarity of the message around farming and food security, and it was suggested that this was a debate which could be had in Lincolnshire.  There was a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 21.

(To receive a report from the Executive Director – Resources which presents and overview of performance against the Corporate Plan as at 30 June 2023)

That the performance for Quarter 1 2023-24 as at 30 June 2023 be noted.

An overview of the performance against the Corporate Plan as at 30 June 2023 was introduced by the Head of Corporate Performance, and she reported that of the 38 key activities to be reported in Quarter 1, all were progressing as planned.

In terms of the key indicators that could be reported in this quarter, it was noted 78% were meeting or exceeding the ambition that was set, of these, three had exceeded the ambition, 15 achieved the ambition, and five did not achieve the ambition.

It was highlighted that there had been a slight change in the definition of one indicator, from measuring percentage of superfast broadband coverage to measuring ultrafast broadband coverage.

It was reported that all contextual measures were rated as ‘green’.

In terms of the five indicators not achieving ambition, this was due to a number of factors.  In terms of the “percentage of children in care living within a family environment” this was being affected by the increased number of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children who were placed in a different type of accommodation.  In relation to the “Recycling at County Council owned Household Waste Recycling Centres” this was due to less waste being presented.

Councillor T J N Smith, Vice-Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board was in attendance to present the comments of the Board following its consideration of this report at its meeting on 24 August 2023 and reported that the Board was supportive of the recommendation in the report.  It was highlighted that the Board had expressed frustration with some of the contextual measures as there were some that the Council did not have control over, e.g. “Percentage of schools judged ‘Good’ or ‘Outstanding’”.

A query was raised in relation to the change in measure from ‘super fast’ to ‘ultra fast’ broadband, and it was noted that there was no longer a roll-out of ‘super fast’ broadband as this had been superseded by ‘ultra fast’ broadband.  It was highlighted that the County was currently performing very well, with the target set at 57%, but actual performance was now at 58.2%.

RESOLVED

That the performance for Quarter 1 2023-24 as at 30 June 2023 be noted.

(To receive a report from the Executive Director – Resources which invites the Executive to note the current position on the revenue budget)

That the current position on the revenue budget be noted.

A report by the Executive Director – Resources on Revenue Budget Monitoring 2023/23 (Quarter 1) was received which provided an update on revenue spending compared with budgets for the 2023/24 financial year which started on 1 April 2023.  The report provided an overview of the financial position for revenue and was supported by detailed information within the appendices.

The Assistant Director – Finance presented the report and advised that the table on p.275 of the agenda pack provided more information on the variances in each area.  An underspend of £1.3m was forecasted.

It was also noted that cost pressures had been offset by a reduction in insurance premiums.

RESOLVED

That the current position on the revenue budget be noted.

(To receive a report from the Executive Director – Resources which invites the Executive to note the current position on the capital programme)

That the position of the capital programme be noted.

Consideration was given to a report presented by the Assistant Director – Finance on Capital Budget Monitoring 2023/24 – Quarter 1.  The report provided an update on capital investment compared with budgets for the 2023/24 financial year which started on 1 April 2023.

The Assistant Director – Finance advised that no variances were forecasted at the moment.  However, some of the phasings of projects needed to be updated and the outcomes of this would be reported in Quarter 2.  It was reported that the narrative in the report highlighted any risks on construction of projects.

The Vice-Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board presented the comments following the Board’s consideration of this report at its meeting on 24 August 2023.  The Board unanimously supported the recommendation to the Executive but also suggested that it considered supplementing the funding for drainage investigations either from the Development Fund or any unallocated funding streams.  It was noted that there had been additional investment in drainage investigations, but there was a need to balance this against the other requirements of the Council.  Officers advised that there was an update on Development Fund projects on page 282 of the agenda pack, and there was already money put aside for investigation works.

RESOLVED

That the position of the capital programme be noted.