Agenda item

To consider the decisions made by the Executive at their meeting held on 25 June 2015 in relation to the above item, which has been called in by Councillors D’Agorne, Craghill and Kramm in accordance with the Council’s Constitution.  A cover report is attached setting out the reasons for the call-in and the remit and powers of the Corporate & Scrutiny Management Policy & Scrutiny Committee (Calling-In) in relation to the call-in, together with the original report and the decisions of the Executive.

Members received a report which asked them to consider the decisions made by the Executive on 25 June 2015, in relation to procurement of security service as a corporate contract, including exploration of the possibility of outsourcing the Council’s current in-house CCTV monitoring service.

Details of the Executive’s decision were attached at Annex A to the report and the original report of the Assistant Directors of Finance , Asset Management & Procurement and Transport Highways and Fleet to the Executive, attached at Annex B.

The original decision had been called in by Councillors D’Agorne, Craghill and Kramm on the following grounds:

·        Full details of the scope of the Council buildings to be included have not been provided eg. does this include schools and community centres?

·        No details of the scale of the extension of the contract from West Offices to all Council buildings have been provided ie how many posts will be affected and by how much will the value of the contract increase?

·        There is no mention of the Council’s commitment to protect the Living Wage for all staff and whether or not retention of the Living Wage will be required as part of the new contract.

·        Regarding the option to include the CCTV operations centre in the contract, there is no evidence of consultation with Safer York Partnership, the Police or the unions prior to this decision, nor any assessment of the impact on public confidence from the city’s CCTV cameras being managed and run by a private operator.

·        There is no recognition that services such as the Mansion House are specialised with a special importance to the city and rely on experienced specialist staff.

Councillor Craghill addressed the meeting on behalf of the group of Calling In members. She highlighted their principal concerns as the lack of consultation, particularly with the Unions on the Council’s key CCTV service, the lack of detail of the Council buildings included as part of the procurement  eg Hostels, Schools, Community Centres and payment of the Living Wage.

The Executive Leader, spoke in response to the points made for the call-in of the decision. He pointed out that the procurement would not include schools, community centres or Mansion House staff and that whilst discussions were still in the early stages, any staff affected by the changes would be transferred with TUPE protection . He also confirmed the Council’s commitment to pay the Living Wage and to undertake full consultation with all concerned. 

Members questioned details of the consultation undertaken and public confidence in the outsourcing of the CCTV operations centre and the affect on relationships with other organisations.

The Assistant Director, Finance, Property and Procurement and Assistant Director for Transport, Highways and Fleet provided further information in answer to Members questions and in support of the Executive’s decision. In particular they highlighted that the proposals were an extension of the current service, that the CCTV function would continue to be run by the City of York Council and that no concerns had been raised by partners.

Officers also confirmed that the existing security staff were registered with the Security Industry Authority and that an additional note which provided additional information in relation to the service and the procurement would be forwarded to Members for their information.

Following further lengthy discussion it was

Resolved:           That Option A be approved and that the decision of the Executive be confirmed.

Reason:              To enable the called-in matter to be dealt with efficiently and in accordance with the requirements of the Council’s Constitution.