Agenda and minutes

Venue: Committee Room One, County Offices, Newland, Lincoln LN1 1YL

Contact: Andrea Brown  Democratic Services Officer

Items
No. Item

10.

Apologies for Absence/Replacement Members

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor M Brookes.

 

It was reported that, under the Local Government (Committee and Political Groups) Regulations 1990, Councillor B Adams had been appointed as replacement member for Councillor M Brookes, for this meeting only.

11.

Declarations of Members' Interests

Minutes:

There were no declarations of Members' interests at this point of the proceedings, however, Councillor Mrs K Cook asked the Board to note that she was a Governor of Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, which was referred to in item 8 (Commercialisation and Commissioning Strategies) and item 10 (Review of Financial Performance 2017/18) of the agenda pack.

12.

Minutes of the Meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board held on 24 May 2018 pdf icon PDF 144 KB

Minutes:

RESOLVED

 

          That the minutes of the previous meeting, held on 24 May 2018, be agreed and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

13.

Announcements by the Chairman, Executive Councillor for Resources and Communications and Chief Officers

Minutes:

The Chairman attended the Executive at its meeting on 5 June 2018 and reported that Councillor Mrs A M Newton had presented the final report and recommendations from the Street Lighting Review.  The Executive supported, in principle, the five recommendations of the Scrutiny Review and had requested that Councillor B Young, Executive Councillor for Community Safety and People Management, respond to the report by 5 September 2018.  The Board would consider the response from Councillor Young at its meeting in September.

 

Members were reminded that an IMT Engagement Session would be held after the meeting at 3.00pm.  The Chairman encouraged Members to attend to ensure that their own view on the future of the IMT service be provided. 

 

There were no announcements from the Executive Councillor for Community Safety and People Management, Executive Support Councillor for Resources and Communications or Chief Officers.

14.

Consideration of Call-Ins

Minutes:

No Call-Ins had been received.

15.

Consideration of Councillor Calls for Action

Minutes:

No Councillor Calls for Action had been received.

16.

Corporate Support Services - Re-provision: Payroll Progress Report pdf icon PDF 244 KB

(To receive a report from Andrew McLean (Chief Commissioning Officer) which provides an update on progress for the potential transition of the Council's Payroll/HR Admin services and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system (BWON) to Hoople Ltd, via a shared service agreement with Herefordshire Council)

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Consideration was given to a report by the Executive Director of Children's Services, which provided an update on progress for the potential transition of the Council's Payroll/HR Admin Services and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system (BWON) to Hoople Ltd, via a shared service agreement with Herefordshire Council.

 

Andrew McLean, Chief Commissioning Officer, introduced the report and gave a presentation to Members on the current position.  The presentation covered the following:-

1.    Payroll/HR Admin support & ERP System Update – Workshops;

2.    Due Diligence;

a.    Analysis Toolkit

                                          i.    Strategic Categories;

                                        ii.    Diligence Tests;

                                       iii.    Ongoing Reviews; and

                                       iv.    Rating Improvement throughout transition phase;

3.    Programme Plan;

a.    Category Breakdown; and

b.    Dovetail with Hoople's transition plan; and

4.    Questions?

 

Jason Davenport, External Payroll Adviser to the Council, explained that scenario testing had been undertaken on payroll, particularly in relation to retained firefighters.  The results of the testing had been solid and Hoople had given a demonstration of how that area of payroll would be delivered within the system.  A meeting had also taken place with the Chief Fire Officer and LFR Area Manager to identify any potential issues.  The Chief Fire Officer had indicated his confidence in the approach taken so far based on the information provided.

 

The Chairman paused the presentation to allow Members the opportunity to ask questions in relation to Due Diligence, during which the following points were noted:-

·       It was acknowledged that insourcing would be one form of contingency should the work with Hoople not progress.  However, it was explained, that the contingency areas would be to carry out an insourcing exercise or to continue the service with Serco.  As a result, no specific insourcing model had been developed;

·       In relation to Ref. No. 009 "What measurers do Hoople have in place for Business Continuity……….", the Board was advised that continuity plans had been requested from Hoople hence the MoSCoW rating of S.  Officers had reviewed past performance, track record, undertaken testing and read reviews but had not yet seen business continuity plans for other customers.  Hoople would, therefore, have the opportunity to build those into the contract over the coming months;

·       Ref. No. 013 "Dialogue with existing customers, including schools………" – the Board was advised that the Section 151 officer at Rutland County Council had been consulted who confirmed that the approach taken had been supported with best practice and that the whole service was being provisioned on his behalf;

·       Ref No. 029 "The location and proximity of Herefordshire to Lincolnshire for both operational and staffing aspects" – concern was noted at the ability both to recruit staff, with the required skills, to retain staff and the intention of Hoople to have a physical presence in Lincolnshire.  It was explained that there was ongoing dialogue with Hoople in relation to staffing and any opportunity for a local base.  It had also been identified that, at least during the transition period, there would be physical representation from Hoople in Lincolnshire;

·       It was suggested that the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 16.

17.

Commissioning and Commercialisation Strategies pdf icon PDF 270 KB

(To receive a report from Sophie Reeve (Chief Commercial Officer) which invites the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board to consider a report on the Commissioning and Commercialisation Strategies, prior to consideration by the Executive on 3 July 2018)

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Consideration was given to a report by the Executive Director of Finance and Public Protection which invited the Board to consider a report on the Commissioning and Commercialisation Strategies, prior to the consideration by the Executive on 3 July 2018.

 

Sophie Reeve, Chief Commercial Officer, introduced the report which would ask the Executive to approve the content of the Commissioning Strategies as presented at Appendix B and the Commercialisations Strategy at Appendix D.

 

The Board considered the report in two sections, the first section taken was Commissioning.  It was explained that LCC was a commissioning council and, within the Business Plan, the defined purpose was to include commissioning for outcomes based on the needs of the community. 

 

In 2017, further work was undertaken to simplify commissioning and to review Member involvement so that senior members had early sight of proposed outcomes, services and how they might best be delivered.  This work resulted in a 'Minimum requirements for Commissioning Strategies and Plans' which commissioners followed.  The document was included in the report at Appendix A and it was further explained that although the strategies and plans had minimum requirements, how they were met was not prescribed.

 

The Board was asked to note that the Commissioning Strategies for Adult Care and Community Wellbeing; and Public Protection and Communities had not yet been through the scrutiny process.

                                                 

During discussion, the following points were noted:-

·       It was agreed that the Commissioning Highlight Report did not best reflect the performance as it only reported if a target had been achieved or failed.  For example, if a target was 70%, it reached 69% but this had improved from the previous report, it would still be reported as failed.  It was agreed that future reports would indicate the direction of travel to give the Board a fuller picture;

·       Confirmation was given that quality assurance was fully explored before any contract was awarded.  In terms of value for money, the commercial terms of a contract would need to be considered at the same time as the contract itself;

·       The intent was to make the process more transparent and inclusive of Members given the increased amount of contracting within the Authority;

·       The Commissioning Strategy was a high level document and procurement would be done at a much lower level.  It was reported, however, that an amendment clause could be included in the contract to enable flexibility should requirements change;

·       A suggestion was made that a summary document, which concisely explained how and why decisions in relation to contracts had been made, be produced.  This would then assist Members in the future, following elections, to understand why decisions had been taken.  It was agreed that this could be included as part of the wider commercialisation;

·       An error was reported on page 82 of the agenda pack.  The achievement target for "Closing the Gap Early Years Foundation Stage Profile" was 19% but the actual performance was 20% and reported as 'achieved'.  In this particular case, a smaller percentage was required, therefore  ...  view the full minutes text for item 17.

18.

Access to the Public Sector Network pdf icon PDF 271 KB

(To receive a report by John Wickens (Chief Digital Officer) which provides information on the Access to the Public Sector Network, to be considered by the Executive on 3 July 2018)

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Consideration was given to a report by the Executive Director of Environment and Economy which provided information on the Access to the Public Sector Network, to be considered by the Executive on 3 July 2018.

 

John Wickens, Chief Digital Officer, introduced the report which set out the options for securing continued access to the Public Sector Network and sought approval to secure such access through an extension to the existing contractual arrangements procured and delivered through the East Midland Public Sector Network companies.

 

Unless steps were taken to extend existing arrangements the Council would need to take alternative steps to ensure access to the Public Sector Network.  Due to the values involved, this would require a procurement process to be undertaken and it was anticipated this would be particularly complex.  Specialist legal input would be required to ensure that the resulting contract took account of all communications, regulatory requirements and dealt with the risk associated with the transfer of equipment.

 

In the medium term, many central Government applications and systems would remain on the PSN network and the Council's preferred model was to secure access to those services, and the Internet, via the same service provider.  This was to ensure best value for the broad range of services which the Council required, including webhosting, email services, office collaboration, HR systems and other generic "cloud" service, whilst not becoming reliant on Internet connectivity and associated risks.

 

It was noted that Lincolnshire schools had been included within the main EMPSN Services contract with KCom and were currently funded centrally via the Dedicated Schools Budget.  This had significant advantages in aggregating demand and smoothing the impacts of rurality on prices should schools be left to procure alone.  This had been the principle purpose for other councils which was why they did not deem this to be an infrastructure provider.

 

The Board agreed that the current arrangements offered good value for money and that the proposals included within the report were a good outcome.

 

RESOLVED

 

          That the recommendations to the Executive, as set out within the report, be supported.

19.

Review of Financial Performance 2017/18 pdf icon PDF 280 KB

(To receive a report by David Forbes (County Finance Officer) which describes the Council's financial performance for 2017/18 and makes proposals for the carry forward of over and under spendings into the current financial year.  The report and comments of the Board will be presented to the Executive on 3 July 2018)

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Consideration was given to a report by the Executive Director of Finance and Public Protection which described the Council's financial performance for 2017/18 and made proposals for the carry forward of over and under spending into the current financial year.  The report and comments of the Board were to be considered by the Executive on 3 July 2018.

 

David Forbes, County Finance Officer, introduced the report and highlighted key areas for the Board's attention:-

·       Two Key Financial Performance Measures had not been met – Capital Receipts which was £3.97m short of its £8m target; and Internal Control which had one system – payroll – that had received a 'low assurance' rating for the year;

·       Over the four commissioning strategies (Readiness for School; Learn and Achieve; Readiness for Adult Life; and Children are Safe and Healthy), Children's Services had underspent by £0.948m;

·       Adult Care & Community Wellbeing had underspent by £1.483m;

·       There had been an underspend on the corporate provision for the national living wage of £9m as it was possible to meet this cost by using the Better Care Fund (BCF) within adult care.  This revenue underspend had been partly offset against the overspend, which was nearly £4m, to fund the shortfall in order to meet the £8m capital receipts;

·       The capital outturn for 2017/18 was noted – net capital expenditure was £53.087m which was £26.751m (33.5%) less than planned;

·       It was reported that the accounts were to be closed by the end of May this year rather than the end of July 2018;

·       It was confirmed that there were no issues in relation to Prudential Indicators;

·       The Council had planned to use £8.000m of flexible capital receipts in 2017/18 to fund transformation projects which would generate ongoing revenue savings to the authority.  However, this generated £3.970m less receipts than expected which was mainly as a result of the challenges faced when marketing properties.  The shortfall in the capital receipts targets needed to be funded from the revenue budget under current legislation regarding the flexible use of capital receipts;

·       It was explained that all under and overspendings on service revenue budgets of up to 1% would be carried forward without exception.  In line with previous years, Executive Directors had provided details of how they planned to use the 1% carry forward. It was confirmed that Executive Directors had delegated authority to approve the use of any 1% underspend in conjunction with the relevant Portfolio Holder; and

·       It was proposed to add the remaining allocation of £18.665m underspend to the Financial Volatility Reserve.  The Council's budget strategy envisaged adding an approximate £20m as part of the 2017/18 outturn finalisation.  It was explained that this would mean the financial volatility reserve would be £51m in the current year and current projects of £6.5m to be used to balance the budget and to use £21m in 2019/20 to do the same.

 

The Chairman thanked officers for a clear and concise report and presentation and invited Members to ask questions, during which the following points  ...  view the full minutes text for item 19.

20.

2017/18 Council Business Plan Quarter 4 pdf icon PDF 274 KB

(To receive a report by Jasmine Sodhi (Performance and Equalities Manager) which presents the Council Business Plan performance indicators which fall within the remit of the Board and which are reported on an annual basis.  The report and views of the Board will be presented to the Executive on 3 July 2018)

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Consideration was given to a report by the Executive Director of Finance and Public Protection on the 2017/18 Council Business Plan Quarter 4 which would also be considered by the Executive on 3 July 2018.  The report also presented the Council Business Plan performance indicators which were within the remit of the Board and presented on an annual basis.

 

Jasmine Sodhi, Performance and Equalities Manager, introduced the report and advised that all 17 commissioning strategies were reported in Quarter 4. 

 

The following four commissioning strategies had performed really well, with all measures reported in Q4 achieved:-

·       Children are safe and health;

·       Safeguarding adults;

·       Sustaining and growing business and the economy; and

·       Sustaining and developing prosperity through infrastructure.

 

The following ten commissioning strategies performed well and all, except one measure, reported in Q4 achieved the target:-

·       Adult Frailty, long term conditions and physical disability;

·       Community resilience and assets;

·       How we effectively target our resources;

·       Learn and achieve;

·       Readiness for Adult Life;

·       Readiness for School;

·       Specialist adult services; and

·       Wellbeing.

 

The following three commissioning strategies continued to show mixed performance:-

·       Carers;

·       Protecting the Public; and

·       Protecting and sustaining the environment.

 

The Board was given a presentation of the infographics and was referred to Appendix 1 A to the report.

 

Members were invited to ask questions, during which the following points were noted:-

·       The report indicated that the contract with the Lincolnshire Research Observatory (LRO) was to come to an end in 2019 and that Wordpress would be the new platform to host the Council Business Plan performance data from Quarter 1 2018/19.  One Member expressed concern that this was one of the most widely used platforms in the world and one which was the most widely attacked.  Reassurance was sought that the system was secure;

·       Page 223 of the report indicated that the Public Services Network connection compliance was non-compliant and assurance was sought that the information presented in the report at minute number 18 of these minutes was full and correct; and

·       Page 211 of the report noted that there had been an increase in 'primary fires' during the same period last year.  Although this appeared to be a national trend, Members requested that more comparative information be provided.

 

The Chairman thanked Members for their comments and summarised the comments to be passed to the Executive for their consideration:-

·       The Board recommended that appropriate IT security measures were in place in relation to the move of the Performance Data from the Lincolnshire Research Observatory (LRO) to Wordpress from Q1 2018/19.  This was due to Wordpress being a worldwide platform and one which had been, reportedly, widely attacked;

·       The Board highlighted the increase of 51 primary fires as an area of concern and recommended that this be explored further; and

·       The Board highlighted concern in the performance of the Public Services Network connection compliance and highlighted the need for maintaining compliance as part of the new agreement to continue with these arrangements.

 

RESOLVED

1.    That the recommendations to the Executive as set  ...  view the full minutes text for item 20.

21.

Treasury Management Annual Report 2017/18 pdf icon PDF 563 KB

(To receive a report by Karen Tonge (Treasury Manager) which details the results of the Council's treasury management activities for the financial year 2017/18.  The report also compares this activity to the Treasury Management Strategy for 2017/18 approved by the Executive Councillor for Finance on 20 March 2017)

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Consideration was given to a report by the Executive Director of Finance and Public Protection which detailed the results of the Council's treasury management activities for the financial year 2017/18.  The report also compared the activity to the Treasury Management Strategy for 2017/18 which was approved by the Executive Portfolio for Finance on 20 March 2017.

 

Karen Tonge, Treasury Manager, introduced the report and particularly noted that investment had seen an above average performance given the risk taken.  It was explained that the overall credit outlook for banking sector had improved during 2017/18.

 

No external borrowing had been taken during 2017/18, supported by the fact that long term borrowing rates were lower than at the turn of the year.  The level of internal borrowing was at a sustainable level.  It was agreed that temporary borrowing to cover liquidity was a sensible approach in the current climate.

 

Members indicated that they were pleased with the report and complimented the team on outperforming the benchmarking.

 

RESOLVED

 

          That the content of the Treasury Management Annual Report 2017/18 be supported.

22.

Scrutiny Committee Work Programmes pdf icon PDF 456 KB

(To receive a report which sets out the work programmes of the Environment and Economy Scrutiny Committee; Highways and Transport Scrutiny Committee; and the Flood and Water Management Scrutiny Committee in accordance with the Board's agreed programme)

Minutes:

The Board considered the work programmes of three scrutiny committees where the following points were noted:-

 

Environment and Economy Scrutiny Committee

 

Councillor B M Dobson, Chairman of the Environment and Economy Scrutiny Committee introduced the work programme and highlighted the following items which had been considered by the Committee since the last update to the Board:-

·       Team Lincolnshire;

·       Rural Broadband Provision;

·       Hotel Strategy; and

·       Joint Municipal Waste Management Strategy (JMWMS)

 

Councillor Dobson updated the Board on progress in the following areas:-

·       The Middle Rasen Flood Prevention Scheme

The scheme involved enlargement of the drains to twice the diameter of the current drains in order to prevent flooding of houses in the area.  This would quadruple the amount of water being diverted.  Following discussion, the Committee had agreed to approve the scheme in principle whilst awaiting the outcome of the public consultation.

·       Broadband Provision;

Since the meeting, the Committee had received an update on the current and future state of superfast broadband coverage.  Overall, there was currently 93.5% coverage which was to be extended to 97%.  The Committee requested that a letter be sent to MPs who represented poorly served areas to request that they encourage improved connectivity.

·       Hotel Investment and Visitor Economy Action Plan;

It had been noted by the Committee that there were shortages of accommodation in several areas and that investors were considering how to develop boutique type hotels.  The Committee felt that District Councils needed to be more involved in identifying land for hotels.  The Committee also requested further information on the commercial realities of hotel development to the promotion of the conversion or building of premises to accommodate visitors in a suitable environment by involving Team Lincolnshire to promote the County.

 

Councillor Dobson continued by highlighting to the Board the following items which would be considered by the Committee in the coming months:-

·       Anglian Water's Resources Management Plan

The Committee would be considering a report in the future on the possibility of creating a large reservoir to meet the future demands of the county.  It was proposed that the reservoir be created in the south of the county.

·       Greater Lincolnshire Industrial Strategy

This report would allow the Committee to debate the steps which the Greater Lincolnshire LEP (GLLEP) had taken so far in production of the strategy to address the 'productivity gap'.  The intention would be to identify and promote the Unique Selling Points of the county.

·       Exporting

The Committee was to receive a report on the possibility of Government funding for hosting a Going Global event; engagement with businesses to increase international trade; furthering language training with support for early stage exporters; and access to specialist advisors in food, manufacturing and renewables.

 

There were no comments or questions from the Board on the work programme for the Environment and Economy Scrutiny Committee.

 

Highways and Transport Scrutiny Committee

 

Highways and Transport Scrutiny Committee Member, Councillor Mrs J Brockway, introduced the work programme on behalf of the Chairman of the Highways and Transport Scrutiny Committee.  The following  ...  view the full minutes text for item 22.

23.

Overview and Scrutiny Management Board Work Programme pdf icon PDF 492 KB

(To receive a report which enables the Board to consider and comment on the content of its work programme for the coming year to ensure that scrutiny activity is focussed where it can be of greatest benefit)

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Board was provided with an opportunity to consider its own work programme.

 

The Head of Democratic Services and Statutory Scrutiny Officer confirmed that the next meeting of the Board would be on Thursday 30 August 2018 at 10.00am and that there would be no meeting in July 2018.

 

It was also reported that the response from Councillor B Young, Executive Councillor for Community Safety and People Management, to the Street Lighting Scrutiny Review would be added to the work programme for the meeting scheduled for September 2018.

 

During discussion, it was noted that an update on the Future Model for Heritage Services would be considered by the Public Protection and Communities Scrutiny Committee in September 2018 followed by the Executive in October 2018.

 

RESOLVED

 

          That the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board Work Programme, with the addition noted above, be agreed.

 

 

Before closing the meeting, the Chairman advised that Andrea Brown, Democratic Services Officer, would be leaving Lincolnshire County Council at the end of July.  He asked the Board to join him in thanking her for her support to both himself and to the Board during her time with Democratic Services.

 

 
 
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