Agenda, decisions and minutes

At this point, Members are asked to declare any personal or prejudicial interest they may have in the business on this agenda.

Members were invited to declare at this point in the meeting any personal or prejudicial interests they might have in the business on the agenda.  No interests were declared.

To consider the exclusion of the press and public from the meeting during consideration of the following:

Annex 1 to Agenda Item 8 (Report on the Award of the School Meals Catering Contract), on the grounds that it contains information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person.  This information is classed as exempt under paragraph 3 of Schedule 12A to Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972 (as revised by The Local Government (Access to Information) (Variation) Order 2006).

RESOLVED: That the press and public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of Annex 1 to agenda item 8 (Report on the Award of the School Meals Catering Contract), on the grounds that it contains information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person.  This information is classed as exempt under paragraph 3 of Schedule 12A to Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972 (as revised by The Local Government (Access to Information) (Variation) Order 2006).

To approve and sign the minutes of the Executive meeting held on 13 April 2010.

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the Executive meeting held on 13 April 2010 be approved and signed by the Chair as a correct record.

At this point in the meeting, members of the public who have registered their wish to speak regarding an item on the agenda or a matter within the Executive’s remit can do so.  The deadline for registering is 5:00 pm on Monday 26 April 2010.

It was reported that there had been no registrations to speak at the meeting under the Council’s Public Participation Scheme.

With the consent of the Chair Ben Drake, of UNISON, addressed the meeting with regard to agenda item 8 (Report on the Award of the School Meals Catering Contract), on behalf of staff employed by the current providers, North Yorkshire County Council.  He voiced an objection in principle to the out-sourcing of a public sector service and sought reassurances that, if the service were to be outsourced, TUPE regulations would be fully applied to ensure protection of pay and conditions for existing staff as well as the retention of their pension rights.

To receive details of those items that are listed on the Forward Plan for the next two Executive meetings.

Members received and noted details of those items listed on the Forward Plan for the next two Executive meetings at the time the agenda was published.

This report asks Members to approve the revised milestones for the year 2010-11, which represent the short term element of the Council’s 2009-2012 Corporate Strategy.

RESOLVED: That consideration of this item be deferred to a future meeting.

REASON:      To enable dialogue to take place with individual Executive Members and to allow time for the preparation of historic and out-turn figures.

Members received a report which sought approval for the revised milestones for the year 2010-11, representing the short term element of the Council’s 2009-2012 Corporate Strategy.

The Corporate Strategy had been agreed by Executive on 31 March 2009.  It consisted of two elements; commitments (what the Council aimed to achieve by 2012) and milestones (actions for the year ahead towards achieving the commitments).  The milestones had been revised to take account of potential budgetary implications and the eighth theme of the Strategy – Effective Organisation – had been updated to replace a separate improvement plan.  The revised milestones were attached at Annex 1 to the report.

RESOLVED: That consideration of this item be deferred to a future meeting.¹

REASON:      To enable dialogue to take place with individual Executive Members and to allow time for the preparation of historic and out-turn figures.

This report introduces a new Sub-regional Housing Allocations Policy and seeks approval to adopt this policy, with effect from the introduction of a new choice based lettings scheme, for the allocation of the City of York Council’s housing stock, planned for Autumn 2010.  

RESOLVED: (i)         That the policy for the allocation of City of York Council housing stock, attached at Annex 1 to the report, be approved, with effect from the introduction of a full choice based lettings scheme later in 2010.

                        (ii)        That authority be delegated to the Head of Housing Services to make minor amendments to the policy which do not fundamentally alter the core principles of the policy itself.

REASON:      To ensure that the Council has an effective allocations policy and to ensure that opportunities for improvements in customer service and organisational efficiencies are maximised.

                        (iii)       That performance of the policy be reported to the Executive Member for Housing & Adult Social Services on a quarterly basis.

REASON:      To ensure fairness of operation.

Members considered a report which introduced a new Sub-regional Housing Allocations Policy and sought approval to adopt the policy with effect from the introduction of a new choice-based lettings (CBL) scheme for the allocation of the Council’s housing stock.

Following agreement in 2007 to be part of a sub-regional approach to CBL, City of York Council, together with other regional authorities, had successfully bid for funding (£217k) to develop and implement an sub-regional CBL scheme.  Over the past 12 months a project board chaired by York’s Head of Housing had led the development of a proposed new policy.  Consultation on the policy had taken place with applicants on the housing waiting list, Executive Members and RSL Board Members.  Approval was now sought to adopt the policy, attached as Annex 1 to the report, with effect from the introduction of a full CBL scheme later in the year. 

Members stressed the need to ensure that the policy operated in a way that would benefit York residents.  Officers confirmed that it had the support of the Federation of Residents Associations.

Having noted the comments of the Labour Group spokespersons on this item, it was

RESOLVED: (i)         That the policy for the allocation of City of York Council housing stock, attached at Annex 1 to the report, be approved, with effect from the introduction of a full choice based lettings scheme later in 2010.¹

                        (ii)        That authority be delegated to the Head of Housing Services to make minor amendments to the policy which do not fundamentally alter the core principles of the policy itself.

REASON:      To ensure that the Council has an effective allocations policy and to ensure that opportunities for improvements in customer service and organisational efficiencies are maximised.

                        (iii)       That performance of the policy be reported to the Executive Member for Housing & Adult Social Services on a quarterly basis. ²

REASON:      To ensure fairness of operation.

This report provides details of the procurement process for the school meals catering contract and seeks approval to award the contract to the highest scoring bidder, ISS Facility Services – Education.

RESOLVED: That the school meals contract be awarded to the top scoring bidder, ISS Facility Services – Education.

REASON:      In accordance with the results of the bid evaluation process.

Members considered a report which provided details of the procurement process for the Council’s school meals catering contract and sought approval to award the contract to the highest scoring bidder.

The previous contract had expired on 31 March 2010.  To allow continuity, a Service Level Agreement was currently in place for North Yorkshire County Caterers to provide the service until the end of the summer term.  Six companies had been invited to tender following the pre-qualification questionnaire process.  Tenders had been evaluated in accordance with the CIPFA Standard Deviation Model and three companies had been shortlisted as a result. 

Details of the evaluation were set out in exempt Annex 1 to the report.  It was recommended that the contract be awarded to the top scoring bidder, ISS Facility Services – Education, as they had shown a consistently higher quality than the others throughout the process, despite being more expensive than the second placed bidder.  The evaluation process had clearly stated that cost would account for 60% of the total score and quality the remaining 40%.

In response to the comments made by the UNISON representative on this item, Officers confirmed the Council’s commitment to ensuring that TUPE regulations were fully complied with and that the need to do so had been made clear in the original invitation to tender.  With reference to comments made by the Labour Group spokespersons, it was confirmed that sustainability, local sourcing of food and good nutrition had been taken into account in the quality evaluation.

RESOLVED: That the school meals contract be awarded to the top scoring bidder, ISS Facility Services – Education. ¹

REASON:      In accordance with the results of the bid evaluation process.