Agenda and minutes

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

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

To consider excluding the press and public from the meeting during consideration of Annex D to agenda item 8 (Procurement of a Replacement Social Care IT System), on the grounds it contains information relating to the financial affairs of particular persons, which 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 D to agenda item 8 (Procurement of a Replacement Social Care IT System), on the grounds that it contains information relating to the financial affairs of particular persons, which 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 2 May 2006.

RESOLVED:             That the minutes of the Executive meeting held on 2 May 2006 be approved and signed by the Chair as a correct record, subject to the last sentence of the third paragraph under Minute 210 (Possible Sites for the Relocation of Arc Light) being amended to read as follows:

“A full set of consultation responses had also been circulated to each Executive Member, with the exception of Cllrs Macdonald and Reid”.

At this point in the meeting, members of the public who registered their wish to speak regarding an item on the agenda or an issue within the Executive’s remit can do so.  The deadline for registering is 10:00 am on Monday 15 May 2006.

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

To receive an update on those items which are currently listed on the Executive Forward Plan.

Members received and noted an updated list of items currently scheduled on the Executive Forward Plan.

This report presents for approval the draft Corporate Strategy for 2006-9 and describes how the Strategy will link to, and re-shape, annual Council plans.

Members considered a report which presented the Council’s draft Corporate Strategy for the period 2006-2009 and described how it would link to, and re-shape, annual Council Plans.

It was noted that, although the draft Strategy was welcomed, it would need to be further refined, so as to reduce the use of jargon, incorporate more customer satisfaction measures and introduce more focused wording.  It was suggested that a more “user friendly” version might also be produced, incorporating a simpler format and additional use of photos and diagrams.

Having considered the advice of the Shadow Executive, it was

RESOLVED:             That the adoption of the Strategy and Plan be deferred to a future meeting.

REASON:                  To allow Officers to further refine the content, format and performance measures included in the document.

This report presents the findings of the consultation exercise for the introduction of Traffic Regulation Orders (TRO’s) to prohibit parking on the ftr bus route along Challoners Road, Cornlands Road, Eason View and Tudor Road, and seeks approval to implement the TROs.

Members considered a report which presented the findings of the consultation exercise for the introduction of Traffic Regulation Orders (TROs) to prohibit parking on the ftr bus route along Challoners Road, Cornlands Road, Eason View and Tudor Road. 

The TROs had been advertised in accordance with statutory process and a letter outlining the scheme had been delivered to all properties with frontages directly affected by the proposals.  Plans showing the location of the TROs were attached as Annex A to the report and responses to consultation were summarised in Annex B.  The latter included 5 objections from residents of Cornlands Road, 11 from residents of Eason View and 4 from residents of Tudor Road.  All the objections related to the loss of parking provision and would be dealt with by providing off-street parking where possible.  No objections had been received in respect of Challoners Road, where off-street parking had recently been provided by means of dropped vehicle crossings.  Total costs of implementing the proposals, including additional dropped crossings, would be £17,500.

Members thanked Officers for the work they had done with First York to ensure delivery of the ftr service in time for the planned launch.  It was noted that, despite some teething problems, the service had achieved 80% route and bus reliability during its first two days of operation and had been improving every day since.  It was expected to be successful in encouraging more people to travel by bus rather than car, thus addressing the problem of traffic congestion and making it less likely that a congestion charge would need to be introduced in York in the future.

RESOLVED:             That the implementation of the Traffic Regulation Orders, as outlined in the report and Annex A, be approved and that off-street parking be provided where appropriate.

REASON:                  To minimise delays to the ftr service caused by vehicles parked along the route and to ensure the smooth running of the service.

This report seeks approval to move forward on contract negotiations with Deloitte/Corelogic for a new adult social care IT system, and to extend the current contract with Careworks to provide a full IT system for Children’s Services.

Members considered a report which sought approval to move forward on contract negotiations with Deloitte / Corelogic for a new adult social care IT system, and to extend the current contract with Careworks to provide a full IT system for Children’s Services.

The procurement of a new social care system had been agreed by Members through the IT Development Plan for 2005/06, with updated costing supplied in the IT Plan for 2006/07.  At that time an integrated system for both Children’s and Adults’ services had been envisaged.  However, Children’s Services had since been offered the chance to participate in a national pilot for development of an “Integrated Children’s System”, known as RAISE and provided by Careworks.  That system was now delivering positive results.  Furthermore, Children’s Services were no longer an integral part of Community Services within the Council but now formed part of the new Learning, Culture and Children’s directorate. Two options were therefore presented:

Option 1 – procure an integrated system for Adults’ and Children’s services;

Option 2 – develop separate systems for Adults’ and Children’s services.  This was the recommended option.

A procurement exercise had been carried out in accordance with Prince2 principles.  The result of the evaluation of bids was that Deloitte would be the preferred supplier either of an integrated system, or of an Adults’ system under Option 2.  This option, with Careworks continuing to provide the Children’s system, was recommended because it would require less time and resources, prevent duplication of effort, reduce the need for staff re-training and could be linked to the Youth Offending team system, thus making savings of about £20k.  There would still be a need for communication between the Adults’ and Children’s systems, to ensure continuity.

Additional information, highlighting the benefits for customers and council taxpayers of the proposed replacement systems, was circulated at the meeting.  Members stressed the need for proper and regular monitoring of the system, to ensure that it delivered the expected efficiency savings and achieved success in respect of key customer satisfaction measures as well as customer response times.

Having considered the advice of the Shadow Executive, it was

RESOLVED:             That contract negotiations be pursued with Deloitte, and with Careworks, to purchase separate systems for Adults’ and Children’s services, as outlined in Option 2 in paragraph 30 of the report.

REASONS:                This will reflect the changing agenda for the different customer groups and can be achieved within the overall expected price for both areas of service. It will  ensure that the investment in time, and commitment from children’s services into the pilot system is not lost and that the requirements of both business areas are best met.

It will provide Adult’s and Children’s services with high quality, flexible and dynamic information systems, that will be able to respond to changing statutory requirements at a known cost.