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.

Councillor Healey declared a personal non-prejudicial interest in agenda items 4 (Future Agenda for Corporate Services EMAP) and 5 (Resources Directorate Year End Performance and Financial Outturn – 2006/07) as an employee in the IT industry.

Councillor Pierce declared a personal non-prejudicial interest in agenda item 6 (Information Management Annual Report 2006/07) as he had requested information from the Council under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act on three occasions.

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting of the Executive Member for Corporate Services and Advisory Panel held on 20 March 2007.

RESOLVED:             That the minutes of the meeting of the Executive Member for Corporate Services and Advisory Panel held of 20 March 2007 be approved and signed by the Chair and the Executive Member 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 an issue within the Executive Member’s remit can do so.  The deadline for registering is Thursday 7 June 2007, at 5.00 pm.

It was reported that there had been no registrations to speak at the meeting 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 during the forthcoming year, June 2007 – April 2008. 

(i)           That the future content of agendas and frequency of Executive Member for Corporate Services and Advisory Panel meetings be noted and it be agreed that the meeting scheduled for 30 October 2007 be cancelled.

Members received a report which provided an outline of the business currently scheduled for meetings of the Executive Member for Corporate Services and Advisory Panel during the forthcoming year, June 2007 – April 2008. 

The Director of Resources reported that the Audit & Risk Management Medium Term Business Plan 2007/08-2009/10 (item 9 in Annex 1) was no longer required as it would be picked up in the service plans and that the Directorate Training Programme Final Proposals (item 10 in Annex 1) was also no longer required.  He also proposed that the Financial Management System (FMS) Project Update Report (item 16 in Annex 1) be replaced with a presentation to the July meeting, to allow Members to have input prior to the tendering process, and that the October meeting be cancelled.

Members noted that the Corporate Procurement Policy was also pending for consideration and would provisionally be programmed for the July meeting.

Members commented that the December and January meetings had light agendas, but that there were still several months for other business to become necessary for those meetings.

Advice of the Advisory Panel

That the Executive Member be advised:

(i)           That the future content of agendas, as amended above, and frequency of Executive Member for Corporate Services and Advisory Panel meetings be noted and it be agreed that the meeting scheduled for 30 October 2007 be cancelled.

Decision of the Executive Member

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

REASON:There may not be sufficient business to sustain six further full Executive Member for Corporate Services and Advisory Panel meetings.

This report combines performance and financial information for the Resources Directorate for 2006/07. The performance element covers key and Council Plan indicators and projects, and the financial aspect deals with capital, revenue and Treasury Management variances.

(i)           That the year end financial situation be noted;

(ii)     That the improvement in performance achievements and comments on these be noted;

(iii)    That the carry forward request be agreed to go forward to the Executive for approval;

(iv)    That the accounting approach of using revenue reserves for dealing with the Property Trading account be recommended to the Executive for approval.

Members received a report which combined performance and financial information for the Resources Directorate for 2006/07. The performance element covered key and Council Plan indicators and projects, and the financial aspect dealt with capital, revenue and Treasury Management variances.

The Director of Resources reported that improvements had been made in almost all performance indicators, including key staff indicators relating to sickness and appraisals. 

The net expenditure for the Directorate was £3,053k compared to a budget of £4,922k, which represented a total underspend of £1,869k.  This was a variance of 3.1% compared to the gross budget of £60,122k.  Paragraph 88 of the report set out a number of requests for carry forwards due to slippage in projects primarily within Information Technology & Telecommunications (IT&T) and Financial Services.

The Director of Resources advised Members that the key challenges for the future involved the delivery of major projects, such as easy@york, the administrative accommodation project and job evaluation, and addressing areas where there were still performance problems.

The Assistant Director (Property Services) provided an update on progress with the administrative accommodation project and answered Members’ questions.  He advised that a programme of consultation with Members and officers for the next 6 months was currently being developed.

With regards to the Customer First statistics for telephone calls, Members highlighted the need for improved indicators of the customer experience when contacting the Council and the Assistant Director (Public Services) confirmed that this was under consideration.  In relation to the COLI68 indicator, Members suggested that the indicator should be split to separate urgent and outstanding repairs.  The Assistant Director (Property Services) advised that the indicator had now been changed by the government and would be reported in more detail in future.

Members suggested that a report regarding the Yorkshire Purchasing Organisation (YPO) and the Council’s relationship with it should be brought to a future meeting and the Director of Resources confirmed that this would be scheduled for September.

Advice of the Advisory Panel

That the Executive Member be advised:

(i)           That the year end financial situation be noted;

(ii)     That the improvement in performance achievements and comments on these be noted;

(iii)    That the carry forward request be agreed to go forward to the Executive for approval;

(iv)    That the accounting approach of using revenue reserves for dealing with the Property Trading account be recommended to the Executive for approval.

Decision of the Executive Member

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

REASON:In accordance with budgetary and performance monitoring procedures.

This outturn report advises Members of activity in the area of Information Management during 2006/07. It is for information and no decision is required, but members have previously requested further information about this developing area of the Council’s work and members’ views and comments are welcome.

(i)           That the report be noted.

Members received a report which advised them of activity in the area of Information Management during 2006/07.

Members queried whether the process for dealing with Freedom of Information Act requests needed to be more formal and it was suggested that response performance by directorate be included in future reports, to indicate if problems with late responses were arising in particular directorates.

Advice of the Advisory Panel

That the Executive Member be advised:

(i)           That the report be noted.

Decision of the Executive Member

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

REASON:To demonstrate continuing recognition of records and information management as a corporate function in accordance with the Records Management Code of Practice.

This report advises Members of the progress made to date on the preparation of the Corporate Procurement Strategy 2007-2010 and seeks Executive Member approval to refer the strategy to the Executive for formal consideration and approval in accordance with the requirements of the Constitution, subject to any amendments agreed by Corporate Services EMAP.

(i)           That the draft Corporate Procurement Strategy (CPS) and medium term action plan, attached to it as Annex A, be endorsed and referred to the Executive for consideration and formal approval.

Members received a report which advised them of the progress made to date on the preparation of the Corporate Procurement Strategy (CPS) 2007-2010 and sought approval to refer the Strategy to the Executive for formal consideration and approval in accordance with the requirements of the Constitution, subject to any amendments agreed by the Executive Member and Advisory Panel.

Members welcomed the draft CPS and the medium term action plan, attached as Annex A, commented on its scope and content, and suggested some minor changes to the wording of the foreword.

Advice of the Advisory Panel

That the Executive Member be advised:

(i)           That the draft Corporate Procurement Strategy (CPS) and medium term action plan, attached to it as Annex A, be endorsed and referred to the Executive for consideration and formal approval.

Decision of the Executive Member

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

REASON:To allow the draft CPS and medium term action plan to be referred to the Executive for consideration and formal approval.

This report sets out the key deliverables of the Corporate Procurement Teams (CPT) workplan for 2007/08 and reviews progress against the procurement three year action plan 2004/2007.

(i)           That the progress made against the three year action plan and national procurement strategy milestones as set out in paragraphs 6-12 of the report be noted;

(ii)     That the Corporate Procurement Team’s workplan, as set out in paragraphs 12-13 and Annex C of the report, be noted.

Members received a report which set out the key deliverables of the Corporate Procurement Team’s (CPT) workplan for 2007/08 and reviewed progress against the procurement three year action plan for 2004/2007.

Advice of the Advisory Panel

That the Executive Member be advised:

(i)           That the progress made against the three year action plan and national procurement strategy milestones as set out in paragraphs 6-12 of the report be noted;

(ii)     That the Corporate Procurement Team’s workplan, as set out in paragraphs 12-13 and Annex C of the report, be noted.

Decision of the Executive Member

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

REASON:(i) To raise awareness of the progress made to date in delivering the three year action plan;

                        (ii) To ensure the effective and efficient delivery of all procurement activities and functions across the Council, optimise scarce resources, support the delivery of the Corporate Procurement Strategy and secure full compliance with all regulatory requirements and Council policy.

The purpose of this report is to advise Members of the development of a best practice corporate procurement manual for use by practitioners across the organisation, to be issued further to the provisions of the Council’s Financial Regulations & procurement Rules.

(i)           That the Corporate Procurement Manual, circulated as Annex A of the report, be noted.

Members received a report which advised them of the development of a best practice corporate procurement manual for use by practitioners across the organisation, to be issued further to the provisions of the Council’s Financial Regulations & Procurement Rules.

Copies of the manual, which formed Annex A of the report, had been circulated to Members separately and it was also available to view on the Council’s website.

Members suggested that a note be included at the end of the manual explaining what to do if a mistake was made and also that the manual be cross-referenced with the Financial Regulations.  They also noted that Financial Regulations allowed verbal quotes to be accepted for goods and services valued between £5k and £30k and suggested that electronic quotes should be used instead.

Advice of the Advisory Panel

That the Executive Member be advised:

(i)           That the Corporate Procurement Manual, circulated as Annex A of the report, be noted.

Decision of the Executive Member

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

REASON:To provide a best practice guide to the effective management of procurement practice at the Council.