Agenda, decisions and minutes

At this point, members are asked to declare any personal or prejudicial interests 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. None were declared.

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

Annex A to Agenda Item 9 (Procurement of a Replacement Financial Management System) on the grounds that it contains information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information).  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 the following:

Annex A to Agenda Item 9 (Procurement of a Replacement Financial Management System – Minute 58 refers) on the grounds that it contained information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information). This information was 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 meeting of the Executive Member for Corporate Services and Advisory Panel held on 11 December 2007.

At this point in the meeting members of the public who have registered their wish to speak regarding an item on the agenda or an issue within the Executive Member’s remit can do so.  The deadline for registering is Monday 28 January 2008, at 5.00 pm.

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

This report provides an outline of the business currently scheduled for meetings of the Executive Member for Corporate Services and Advisory Panel (EMAP) during the forthcoming year.

Advice of the Advisory Panel

That the Executive Member be advised:

(i)           That the future content of agendas for Corporate Services EMAP meetings be noted.

(ii)         That items on the following subjects be brought to future meetings at an appropriate time:

a)                       The future of the Guildhall

b)                       Funding methods for IT programmes.

Decision of the Executive Member

RESOLVED:That the advice of the Advisory Panel be accepted and endorsed.

REASON:In accordance with Members’ request for updated information about the workload of future Corporate Services EMAP meetings.

Members considered a report which provided an early indication of the business to be scheduled for meetings of the Executive Member for Corporate Services and Advisory Panel (EMAP) during the forthcoming year.

Items were listed under the EMAP meetings to be held from January to December 2008.  Dates for the meetings from May onwards would not be confirmed until publication of the Corporate Diary for the 2008/09 Municipal Year.  However, it was assumed that they would be similar to the dates scheduled for the current year.

Members were invited to suggest any further items they might wish to be brought to future meetings.

Advice of the Advisory Panel

That the Executive Member be advised:

(i)           To note the future content of agendas for Corporate Services EMAP meetings.

(ii)         To request that items on the following subjects be brought to future meetings at an appropriate time:¹

a)                       The future of the Guildhall

b)                       Funding methods for IT programmes.

Decision of the Executive Member

RESOLVED: That the advice of the Advisory Panel be accepted and endorsed.

REASON:      In accordance with Members’ request for updated information about the workload of future Corporate Services EMAP meetings.

This report presents the 2008/09 budget proposals for the Resources Directorate, including the Directorate Service Plans.

Advice of the Advisory Panel

That the Executive Member be advised to:

(i)         Note the budget proposals for savings and growth, the areas for consultation in the revenue budget and the capital proposals, as contained in the report and annexes, and refer them to the Executive for consideration, together with Member’s comments as indicated above.

(ii)        Note the proposals within the service plans in Annex 7 for monitoring of progress.

Decision of the Executive Member

RESOLVED:That the advice of the Advisory Panel be accepted and endorsed.

REASONS:(i) As part of the consultation for the 2008/09 budget setting process.

                        (ii) As part of the service planning process across the Council.

Members considered a report which presented the 2008/09 budget proposals for the Resources Directorate, including the Directorate Service Plans.

The report included:

·        the revenue budget for 2007/08 (Annex 1) to show the existing budgets

·        the budget adjusted and rolled forward from 2007/08 into 2008/09

·        the provisional allocation of pay and price increases for the portfolio

·        officer proposals for budget service pressure costs and savings options for the portfolio area (Annexes 2 and 3)

·        fees and charges proposals (Annex 4)

·        the existing approved capital programme (Annex 5)

·        options for new capital schemes (Annex 6)

·        Directorate Service Plans (Annex 7).

Members were asked for their comments or alternative suggestions on the proposals shown in Annexes 2, 3, 4 and 6.  They expressed concern at the proposal to delete a post within Internal Audit / Fraud (RESH 2 in Annex 3), particularly in view of its potential effect on the future CPA score in this area.

The Labour Group Members reserved their position on the budget proposals.

Advice of the Advisory Panel

That the Executive Member be advised to:

(i)         Note the budget proposals for savings and growth, the areas for consultation in the revenue budget and the capital proposals, as contained in the report and annexes, and refer them to the Executive for consideration, together with Member’s comments as indicated above.¹

(ii)        Note the proposals within the service plans in Annex 7 for monitoring of progress.

Decision of the Executive Member

RESOLVED: That the advice of the Advisory Panel be accepted and endorsed.

REASONS:    (i)         As part of the consultation for the 2008/09 budget setting process.

                        (ii)        As part of the service planning process across the Council.

This report provides an initial draft of the first Directorate Plan for Resources for Members to comment on. The final plan will be brought for Member approval in March 2008 following a period of consultation. The Plan is designed to cover a 3 year timescale which is appropriate given the key dates around the Hungate Offices and the Easy@York programme for which the Directorate is responsible.

Advice of the Advisory Panel

That the Executive Member be advised to note the draft Directorate Plan and endorse the incorporation of the suggested enhancements as detailed above.

Decision of the Executive Member

RESOLVED:That the advice of the Advisory Panel be accepted and endorsed.

REASON:      To inform further work by Officers to finalise the Plan for the next meeting.

Members considered a report which presented an initial draft of the first Directorate Plan for Resources. The final plan would be brought for Member approval in March 2008 following a period of consultation. The Plan was designed to cover a 3 year timescale which was appropriate given the key dates around the Hungate Offices and the Easy@York programme for which the Directorate was responsible.

Members were invited to provide comments on the draft Directorate Plan.  They agreed that:

• Overall, there should be a clearer focus upon ‘York specific’ issues
• The Foreword should emphasise the corporate projects that Resources was leading on
• The Directorate Priorities needed to maintain the link throughout with the overall strategic plan.

Advice of the Advisory Panel

That the Executive Member be advised to note the draft Directorate Plan and endorse the incorporation of the suggested enhancements as detailed above.¹

Decision of the Executive Member

RESOLVED: That the advice of the Advisory Panel be accepted and endorsed.

REASON:      To inform further work by Officers to finalise the Plan for the next meeting.

At the December meeting of the Executive Member for Corporate Services and Advisory Panel, Members requested a further report to establish the business case for utilising some of the in year underspend from the ITT service to purchase “green”, environmentally friendly desktop hardware to replace the Council’s oldest computer equipment. This report sets out the business case and rationale for this proposal and seeks approval to use £95k of the ITT under spend for this purpose.

Advice of the Advisory Panel

That the Executive Member be advised to approveOption 3, to use the 2007/08 underspend to purchase replacement desktop devices in-year.

Decision of the Executive Member

RESOLVED:That the advice of the Advisory Panel be accepted and endorsed.

REASON:In order to use the current year’s underspend to purchase replacement desktop devices in-year, thus reducing future investment requirements, and start to reduce the Council’s energy consumption and CO2 emissions.

Members considered a report, as requested at their last meeting, which set out the business case and rationale for the proposal to utilise some of the in-year underspend from the ITT service to purchase “green”, environmentally friendly desktop hardware to replace the Council’s oldest computer equipment.  The report sought approval to use £95k of the ITT under spend for this purpose, if the proposition was approved.

Members were presented with 3 options:

Option 1 - Purchase replacement desktop devices through the IT Development Plan bid process for 2009/10.

Option 2 -  Carry forward the 2007/08 under spend into 2008/09 and replace desk top devices as they break or become uneconomic to repair.

Option 3 - Use 2007/08 under spend to purchase replacement desktop devices in year and start to reduce the Council’s energy consumption and CO2 emissions.  This was the recommended option.

Advice of the Advisory Panel

That the Executive Member be advised to approveOption 3, to use the 2007/08 underspend to purchase replacement desktop devices in-year.¹

Decision of the Executive Member

RESOLVED: That the advice of the Advisory Panel be accepted and endorsed.

REASON:      In order to use the current year’s underspend to purchase replacement desktop devices in-year, thus reducing future investment requirements, and start to reduce the Council’s energy consumption and CO2 emissions.

This report seeks agreement to move forward with contract negotiations with the preferred supplier for a replacement financial management system.

(Please note this report is to follow)

Advice of the Advisory Panel

That the Executive Member be advised to approve the selection of Civica UK Limited as the Council’s preferred supplier for the replacement financial management system.

Decision of the Executive Member

RESOLVED:That the advice of the Advisory Panel be accepted and endorsed.

REASON:In order to ensure full business continuity and tofacilitate improvements in the way that the Council works, as set out in the Corporate Priorities.

Members considered a report which sought agreement to move forward with contract negotiations with the preferred supplier for a replacement financial management system.

The report had been brought to Members because the Project Board which evaluated the bids had recommended that the contract be awarded to Civica, whose bid had scored highest on quality but marginally lower on price than the second highest scoring bid, submitted by Agresso.  The report included a ‘Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats’ (SWOT) analysis of the two bids.  Full details of the evaluation scores were set out in exempt Annex A.

Members were presented with two options:

Option A - Award the contract to Civica UK Limited, as recommended by the Project Board;

Option B - Award the contract to Agresso Limited.

Advice of the Advisory Panel

That the Executive Member be advised to approve the selection of Civica UK Limited as the Council’s preferred supplier for the replacement financial management system.¹

Decision of the Executive Member

RESOLVED: That the advice of the Advisory Panel be accepted and endorsed.

REASON:      In order to ensure full business continuity and to facilitate improvements in the way that the Council works, as set out in the Corporate Priorities.