Agenda and minutes

An apology for absence was received from Councillor B Adams. It was reported that, under Regulation 13 of the Local Government Committee and Political Groups) Regulation 1990, Councillor S P Roe was replacing Councillor B Adams for this meeting only.

Apologies for absence were also received from Councillors Mrs A M Newton and E W Strengiel, and from the Reverend P A Johnson (Church Representative), Mrs M Machin (Added Member) and Andrew Crookham – Executive Director - Resources.

None received.

RESOLVED:

That minutes of the meeting held on 25 February 2021 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman. 

Chairman's Announcements

The Chairman reported that he had attended a meeting of the Executive on the 2^nd March and presented the comments from the Board on the Revenue and Capital Budget Monitoring reports and the Performance report for Quarter 3. In relation to the Quarter 3 Performance comments, he had mentioned the Board's concerns with the fixmystreet app. It was highlighted that work was continuing on aligning the coding used by the Council's system to the coding used by fixmystreet to improve the quality of information available to the public, and that a new app would be made available to councillors over the coming months, with specific information on highway repairs and similar activities in their local division. In relation to the capital budget monitoring report, he had mentioned about the role of scrutiny committees in monitoring substantial capital schemes. The Leader of the Council had highlighted that he looked forward to the involvement of scrutiny committees in monitoring large capital schemes in the new Council term, and that future reports to the Board and Executive would identify where and when schemes had been reported to the relevant scrutiny committee.

In relation to the Councillor Call for Action that had been considered at the January Board meeting, he confirmed that the Highways and Transport Scrutiny Committee had agreed at its meeting on the 8^th March that further investigation was required and had requested that more information be presented at a future meeting.

The Environment and Economy Scrutiny Committee had identified Farming and Support to Farmers as a possible topic for a scrutiny review. The Committee had set up a working group to identify the key lines of enquiry for including in the scoping for a potential review. The scoping would be considered by this Board after the May elections.

He reported that this meeting would be the last meeting of the Board for this Council term as it was planned to cancel the April meeting due to the close proximity to the May elections.

Record of thanks

The Chairman thanked members and officers for their hard work over the last four years and for their contributions to the work of the valuable scrutiny function of the Council. He paid particular tribute to the 'added members' who served the Board as unpaid representatives.

None received.

None received.

(To consider a report from Justin Brown, Assistant Director – Growth, on the Developer Contributions Scrutiny Review - Executive Response and Action Plan)

Consideration was given to a report from the Assistant Director – Growth, on the Developer Contributions Scrutiny Review - Executive Response and Action Plan. On 05 January 2021 the Executive received a report on Developer Contributions, which had been prepared by Scrutiny Panel A, on behalf of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board. The Board was invited to receive the Executive's response to the report and to agree a plan to monitor and scrutinise the implementation of the agreed recommendations.

The recommendations as outlined previously at the December meeting of the Board were as follows:-

Recommendation 1

That Lincolnshire County Council continue to oppose those aspects of the 'Planning for the future' White Paper which would limit the Council's ability to ensure that new developments had as little impact as possible on existing residents, communities, and businesses.

Recommendation 2

That officers continue to work with developers, building a strong relationship so that developers continue to see Lincolnshire County Council as a partner with whom to engage and whose priorities should be adhered to, whatever recommendations were made through new legislation next year.

Recommendation 3

That the Council establish a strategic approach to requesting, co-ordinating, and monitoring Developer Contributions. The Executive Councillor for Commercial and Environmental Management and the Executive Councillor for Economy and Place should work with the Head of Development Management in its establishment.

Recommendation 4

On those occasions where a scheme could not viably fulfil all requests for Developer Contributions, then the Executive should decide which schemes should be prioritised using a published escalation process. The Executive Councillor for Commercial and Environmental Management and the Executive Councillor for Economy and Place should work with the Head of Development Management in its establishment.

Recommendation 5

An Infrastructure Funding Statement should be produced annually by the Executive in line with the requirements in the Community Infrastructure Levy Regulations 2019.

Recommendation 6

That the Executive approve the implementation of the Councillor Engagement Action Plan outlined in the report.

The Executive had endorsed all the recommendations and the principles that would be adopted in delivering the action plan which were outlined as follows:

Leadership statement – a clear statement to be prepared, and communicated to partners, setting out the Council's ambitions for the county's future and focusing on corporate priorities for the future, such as access to services across the whole of the area, and the achievement of low carbon targets.

Informed analysis of development - a commitment to improve and strengthen the way that departments across the whole of the Council advise the Executive on the cumulative impact of development on the corporate ambitions of the Council; local ward members to be supported in demonstrating how developments might impact on their area.

Strategy for securing developer contributions – based on the leadership statement and the analysis of proposed development, LCC would establish a clear position on the contributions it would require from any development. This would be a whole Council position and it would be clearly and proactively communicated to local  ...  view the full minutes text for item 104.

(To consider a report from Sophie Reeve, Assistant Director, Commercial, on the Draft One Council Commissioning Framework 2021-2024, which is being presented to the Executive on 7 April 2021. The views of the Board will be reported to the Executive as part of its consideration of this item)

Consideration was given to a report from the Assistant Director, Commercial -on the Draft One Council Commissioning Framework 2021-2024, which was being presented to the Executive on 7 April 2021. The views of the Board would be reported to the Executive as part of its consideration of this item.

The Board was asked to consider the report and to determine whether it supported the recommendation to the Executive which was to approve the One Council Commissioning Framework, as set out in Appendix A of the report. The Framework had been developed following extensive engagement with officers across the Council and feedback from the Corporate Leadership Team (CLT) and senior members.

The report proposed that the Council had an opportunity to set out its ambition for commissioning, enabling the fulfilment of the expectations of communities through delivering the Corporate Plan. The One Council Commissioning Framework outlined the Council's definition of commissioning and the vision, aim and principles. The report outlined the principles which would underpin the commissioning processes and what was meant by commissioning.

Members discussed the report, and during the discussion the following points were noted:

·         Current commissioning activity of other Local Authorities had been examined. The Local Authorities had been chosen because they had recently reviewed their approach to commissioning and were Croydon Council; Kingston Council; Buckinghamshire County Council; Birmingham City Council; and Gateshead Council. Of the Local Authorities contacted, all five were still using the commissioning cycle; all of these were keen to be evidence based, such as having data to inform decision making and, where appropriate, consultation with service recipients and providers. Some had focused on a commercial approach to commissioning, particularly in relation to contract management and skilling up officers to carry out commissioning effectively. Consideration was also given to the right balance of contract enforcement and contract development with key suppliers.

·         Developing skills for the workforce was work in progress. Part of the proposal included the creation of a Commissioning Hub with a small additional resource. The Commissioning Hub would carry out an analysis of skills required to produce effective commissioning. This would result in some development and training that could be implemented across the Council. Identifying existing skills within the Council would be undertaken at a later date, as the focus first was on identifying the skills and expertise that were necessary for delivering the new commissioning framework.

·         In relation to the six principles in the commissioning framework there was no hierarchy with regards to priority. A commissioning wheel would be used to identify all the tasks that would form part of the commissioning process and reflect the principles. Tasks would also reflect that commissioning had to take into account budget and policy frameworks for example as well as any statutory requirements. As a result, the six principles might be constrained at times depending on certain circumstances.

·         The Board was pleased to see the focus on working with residents. Central to the development of the commissioning tasks would be a needs analysis of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 105.

(To consider an update report from Sophie Reeve, Assistant Director, Commercial, and Arnd Hobohm, Serco Contract Manager, on the Performance of the Corporate Support Services Contract)

Consideration was given to an update report from the Assistant Director, Commercial, and the Serco Contract Manager, on the Performance of the Corporate Support Services Contract. The report provided an update of Serco's performance against contractual Key Performance Indicators (KPI's) specified in the Corporate Support Services Contract between October 2020 and February 2021. The last report to the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board was on 29 October 2020.

The report highlighted that the general picture had continued to be one of good performance overall during the review period and the majority of KPIs were being delivered at and above the Target Service Level. The number of KPIs in mitigation specifically as a result of Covid-19 had fallen to just one (IMT KPI 14 - end user device patching) in January and February. The Customer Service Centre had continued to be under significant pressure, showing some sharp increases in abandoned call rates towards the end of 2020. However, the situation had been much improved in January and February, and Serco deployed additional resource in response to the continuing high call handling times in the Care and Wellbeing Hub and also no longer required Council support. The dedicated Covid-19 line established at the start of the crisis continued to operate, and after a quiet summer last year, had seen significant activity in November and January, and also in February for outbound calls.

Members discussed the report, and during the discussion the following points were noted:

·         The general picture was of a 'good' performance, taking into account the circumstances and including the impact of the pandemic. The Chairman expressed the aim of achieving an improvement from 'good' performance to 'excellent' in the future.

·         It was noted that there were areas which had been challenging and where performance could have been better and these had been reflected on i.e. 'high abandonment' rates regarding IT support in the areas of children's and adult services. Serco had responded well to the Covid-19 pandemic and supported the Council well during this period to respond speedily to changing needs.

·         Mentoring for care leavers would be a regular activity for the remainder of the Serco contract, following a successful pilot with Barnardos.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted and it be recorded that the Board was satisfied with the performance of the Corporate Support Services Contract.

(To consider an update report from Sophie Reeve, Assistant Director, Commercial, and John Wickens, Assistant Director - IMT and Enterprise Architecture, on theCorporate Support Services Review (CSSR) - Update and Emerging Draft IMT Model)

Consideration was given to an update report and presentation from the Executive Director - Commercial, Assistant Director - Commercial, and the Assistant Director – IMT and Enterprise Architecture, on the Corporate Support Services Review (CSSR) - Update and Emerging Draft IMT Model.

The Corporate Support Services Review (CSSR) Project had been established as part of the Council's Transformation Programme to support informed decision making around the future delivery of services in the current Corporate Support Services Contract with Serco. The contract would reach its natural conclusion in March 2024, as further extensions were not possible beyond then, and as such the Council needed to have alternative arrangements in place for 1 April 2024 at the latest. The intention was to report progress to the Board at regular intervals to coincide with the existing quarterly updates on the performance of the existing corporate support services contract. The report was the second of such reports and dealt with the emerging model for future IMT services. Briefing slides attached to the report built on the presentation provided to the Board on 17 December 2020, which had explored the high level design for future IMT services and the main drivers and principles for the new IMT model.

Members discussed the report, and during the discussion the following points were noted:

·         Any new working practices and solutions would need to be embedded within the Council's processes. It was noted that 'off the shelf' solutions would be introduced where appropriate and MS Teams was given as a recent example.

·         Some services would become more Digital due to public demand and there would also be changes over time as innovation in IT developed.

·         The main challenges going forward would be with service integration and management, particularly the risks in changing suppliers and managing the relationship between parties. This was a well understood challenge in IT.

·         It was important to exploit the advantages of any new processes. Where change was inevitable it needed to benefit users and customers. Some changes were difficult to predict for the future so it was important to maintain agility.

RESOLVED:

1)    That the report and presentation be noted;

2)    That the feedback provided and outlined above on the emerging draft IMT model be taken into consideration by officers as the work progressed.

(To consider an update report from Allison Kapethanasis, ICT Business Relationship and User Engagement Manager, and Donna Fryer, Head of Portfolio and Resources, on IMT Services – User Engagement and Project Portfolio)

Consideration was given to an update report from the Assistant Director – IMT and Enterprise Architecture, and the Head of Portfolio and Resources, on IMT Services – User Engagement and Project Portfolio. The report updated the Board on the function and recent activities of the IMT User Engagement Team and progress against projects currently being commissioned through IMT since its previous report to the Board in September 2020.

Members discussed the report, and during the discussion the following points were noted:

·                     As the pace of technology changed and transformation increased, it was noticeable that the IMT Department was not always able to ensure colleagues were up to date with how the changes could improve the way they worked on a day-to-day basis. All departments would need to manage and use IT to improve their own processes and performance, manage risk and ensure costs were reduced to maximise the benefits of new IT systems.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted and it be recorded that the Board had reviewed the function and recent activities of the IMT User Engagement Team, and the progress of highlighted projects commissioned through IMT.

(To consider a progress report from David Coleman, Chief Legal Officer, on the establishment of the Legal Services Company)

Consideration was given to a progress report from the Chief Legal Officer, on the establishment of the Legal Services Company.

On 7 January 2020 the Executive had approved the final documentation underpinning the establishment of a company wholly owned by the County Council with the object of the company being licensed by the Solicitors Regulation Authority for the purpose of providing legal advice and services. The proposal had been considered by the Board at its meeting on 19 December 2019. The rationale for the company was to enable Legal Services Lincolnshire to continue to provide services to its partner Councils when they delivered services through new structures such as companies without risk of it acting contrary to the requirements of the Solicitors Regulation Authority as the professional regulator. The proposal would also allow Legal Services  Lincolnshire to provide services more widely in the future as opportunities arose and capacity allowed.

The company had been established and had issued an application to the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). The application was under consideration and the company was in contact with the SRA and responding to the queries raised. The company would continue to develop its internal business and professional practices so that it was ready to provide services from the date on which it was licensed by the SRA. It was currently estimated that this would be before 30 April 2021. The Board would be kept informed of any imminent developments on this by email and would receive a review report to a future Board meeting.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted and a review report be brought to a future meeting of the Board.

(Councillor H Marfleet gave his apologies for the reminder of the meeting)

(To consider an update report from Michelle Andrews, Assistant Director –  Corporate Recovery, on Covid-19)

Consideration was given to an update report from the Assistant Director – Corporate Recovery, on Covid-19. The report provided an overview of the work by the Local Resilience Forum (LRF), partners and Lincolnshire County Council (LCC) to manage Lincolnshire's response to the Covid-19 pandemic since the last report presented to the Board on the 25 February 2021.

The report highlighted the key data as of 15 March in relation to tests carried out, details of the testing programme, the number of cases, deaths and vaccinations carried out (by age group) and the public health measures introduced to mitigate the transmission of Covid-19. The national roadmap had been released on the 22^nd February 2021, and presented the way in which the restrictions would be lifted and gave the earliest dates at which these measures would be reviewed and applied. The three-stage approach, developed for Lincolnshire's recovery journey, was at that point unable to confirm dates as this would be driven at a national level. However, in order to help local services to plan for recovery, Lincolnshire set out the approach that would be taken. This was set out in the report against the steps in which the restrictions would be eased nationally to aid understanding of how the two would be implemented.

In addition to this, Lincolnshire would develop a local road map which would set out the key areas that would be an important part of the recovery in the next 12 months. This would be a public facing document which would aim to give information and assurance to residents, that there was a plan in place to support the recovery from the pandemic. The local road map would set out from April 2021 – March 2022 the reasonable expected scenario in the following sectors: health, care, education, business and economy, community, events management, compliance, engagement and enforcement and public sector finance. Staff from these areas had been asked to contribute to the road map and to provide key milestones that were expected to be achieved. This would enable the County to recover from the pandemic and ensure that the appropriate foundations were in place.

After March 2021, the next scrutiny committee meetings would not be held until June due to the elections on 6 May 2021. There were a number of options for how the scrutiny function could operate during this time, which mirrored the approaches taken during the early days of the first national lockdown when committee meetings could not be held. This could include providing briefing papers to members by email with an invitation to ask questions to officers or provide feedback. In relation to formal decisions that need to be taken during this period, the report for the decision could be circulated by email to members with an invitation to submit comments, which would then be collated by the scrutiny officer for passing on to the decision maker for consideration prior to their decision.

Members discussed the report, and during the discussion the following  ...  view the full minutes text for item 110.

(To consider an update report from Stuart Wright, Contract Manager, Commercial Property on the performance of the Property Services Contract with VINCI Facilities Partnership Limited (VFPL) at the end of the fifth year of the contract with an interim update on year six)

Consideration was given to an update report from the Contract Manager, Commercial Property on the performance of the Property Services Contract with VINCI Facilities Partnership Limited (VFPL) at the end of the fifth year of the contract with an interim update on year six.

It was noted that the Council would be moving towards a managed workspace model. The majority of the Council office space would be bookable managed workspace, apart from a few services which included a dedicated Members area and a Democratic Services hub.

RESOLVED:

 That the report be noted and it be recorded that the Board was reassured on the performance of the Property Services Contract for Year five.

(To receive a report which enables the Board to note the content of its work programme for the coming year)

Members were advised that this item was for information only. It was noted that the June meeting should receive an update report on Covid-19.

The Chairman thanked members and officers once again for their work over the last four years.

Members paid tribute to the Chairman and how he had chaired the meeting consistently and fairly and had encouraged a collegiate atmosphere to the scrutiny function.

RESOLVED:

That the work programme be noted.