Agenda and minutes

To note the attendance at this meeting of any duly appointed Reserve Members.

Reserve Members may attend meetings:-

(i)                 to take the place of an ordinary Member for whom they are a reserve;

(ii)               where the ordinary Member will be absent for the whole of the meeting; and

(iii)             the meeting notes at the start of the meeting at the item ‘Reserves’ that the Reserve Member is or will be attending as a reserve;

(iv)              if a Reserve Member whose intention to attend has been noted arrives after the commencement of the meeting, then that Reserve Member can only act as a Member from the start of the next item of business on the agenda after his/her arrival.

RESOLVED:  To note the attendance at this meeting of the following duly appointed Reserve Member:-

To receive declarations of disclosable pecuniary or non pecuniary interests, arising from business to be transacted at this meeting, from:

(a)               all Members of the Sub-Committee;

(b)               all other Members present.

RESOLVED:  To note that the following interests were declared:

Agenda Item 10 – Corporate Equalities Objectives

Councillor Sue Anderson declared a non-pecuniary interest in that her son was a NEET (not in Employment or Education or Training) and was in receipt of Adult Social Care from Harrow and of care from Mental Health Services at the Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust.  She would remain in the room whilst the matter was considered and voted upon.

Agenda Item 8 - Procurement Strategy Update; Agenda Item 9 - Business Continuity Update; Agenda Item 13 – ICT Service        

Councillor Graham Henson declared a non-pecuniary interest in that he had been the relevant Portfolio Holder when the above projects had been initiated and agreed.  He would remain in the room whilst the matters were considered and voted upon.

To appoint a Vice-Chair for the 2013/14 Municipal Year.

RESOLVED:  That Councillor Anthony Seymour be appointed the Vice?Chairman of the Sub-Committee for the 2013/14 Municipal Year.

That the minutes of the meeting held on 30 September 2013 be taken as read and signed as a correct record.

RESOLVED:  That the minutes of the meeting held on 30 September 2013 be taken as read and signed as a correct record.

To receive questions (if any) from local residents/organisations under the provisions of Committee Procedure Rule 17 (Part 4B of the Constitution).

RESOLVED:  To note that no public questions were put, or petitions received.

To receive any references from Council and/or other Committees or Panels.

RESOLVED: To note that no References were received.

Report of the Corporate Director of Resources.

The Sub-Committee received a report of the Corporate Director of Resources, which set out a position statement following the first 6 weeks of implementation of the revised Commercial, Contracts and Procurement Division structure and the programme of work to the end of the current financial year.

The Divisional Director, Commercial, Contracts & Procurement advised that:

·                    the Service had been operating with a number of interim members of staff for a number of years and that a revised structure and programme of work had been implemented and work was underway to fill all posts with permanent full-time staff as quickly as possible.  It was intended that the new structure would be in place by January 2014;

·                    a £500k procurement savings target, to be achieved by March 2014 had been identified;

·                    a number of savings, efficiencies and income generation measures were being investigated and implemented as appropriate and included the following:

-                      establishing a trading organisation for the Council;

-                      greater exploitation of assets;

-                      improvement and rationalisation of systems, tools and processes related to the procurement function;

-                      re-writing of the Contract Procurement Rules;

-                      a category management approach to all third party spend;

-                      development of a commercial strategy;

-                      implementation of a Tollgate system for large value contracts, which would have a pre-analysis process and ensure good governance and early engagement with Directorates;

-                      improved use of the existing contracts register as an effective planning tool;

-                      better contract management to ensure that consistent standards and identified benefits were realised.

A Member stated that the Procurement Strategy Board had been set up to ensure contracts were value for money and asked how the Council’s agenda for ethical procurement and its equality objectives would feed into this.  The Divisional Director advised that Harrow had a good record in this area and officers had a good awareness of issues related to sustainability, equalities, using local businesses and providers and this culture was well embedded across the Council.  He added that contracts should be awarded to SMEs in an open and transparent manner and contract yields should look at benefits in the round.  There was some flexibility in the Council’s current procurement rules as dispensations were permitted.  It was important that officers worked closely with Finance officers to evaluate the overall benefit of a contract to both the Council and the Community.

A Member asked what the current position on the £500k procurement savings target was.  The Divisional Director advised that he was not able to confirm this at the moment.  He was seeking clarity regarding cashable and non-cashable savings and was working closely with the Finance Business Partners to identify what savings had been achieved to date.  He undertook to provide a further report to the Sub-Committee regarding the position on the savings target.

A Member asked to know the process for renewing and/or re-tendering contracts.  The Divisional Director advised that the central contracts register would enable pre-planning and would flag up contracts that were due to expire.  It was important  ...  view the full minutes text for item 156.

Report of the Corporate Director of Resources.

RESOLVED:  That Agenda item 9, ‘Business Continuity Update’ be deferred and a revised report entitled ‘Business Continuity and IT Disaster Recovery’, be submitted at the next meeting of the Sub-Committee on 21 January 2014.  This was because the report submitted did not encompass all of the issues that had been previously requested by Members.

Report of the Divisional Director of Strategic Commissioning.

The Sub-Committee received a report of the Divisional Director of Strategic Commissioning which provided an update on progress against the Council’s Equality Objectives which had been adopted by Cabinet in April 2012 and progress against the Excellent Level of the Equality Framework for Local Government (EFLG).

An officer stated that the Equality Act 2010 introduced a range of rights, powers and obligations and imposed a new Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) on public authorities in the exercise of their functions.  The Council’s performance in this area was evaluated through a series of existing performance scorecards and this data was set out in detail in the appendices to the report.  Updated versions of this report would be submitted annually to the Sub-Committee.

A Member asked how equalities objectives were aligned with the budget-setting process.  The Divisional Director of Strategic Commissioning advised that provided a strong evidence-base.  He added that the overall effectiveness of carrying out an EqIA on the budget-setting process would need to be reviewed and incorporated appropriately.

The Member queried the fact that the percentage of adults in contact with secondary mental health services, living independently with our without support had increased but was not within targets set and had been RAG rated as Red. He added that this issue had been flagged up as a priority at the February budget-setting meeting. An officer advised that although this objective was rated Red, Harrow compared well with neighbouring authorities and other authorities in London.  Mental health services in Harrow were provided by Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust.  A robust monitoring process was in place and the Council would continue to monitor and improve performance in this area.  She added that there were no issues related to Mental Health currently identified in the Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) and no areas of growth had been identified.  She undertook to circulate more detailed information regarding this to Members of the Sub?Committee.

The Member asked why data from the SAP system had been used to compile data regarding the increase in the proportion of disabled employees working at the Council.  He added that recent staff surveys had flagged up a higher proportion of disabled staff than identified by the SAP system.  The Divisional Director advised that the staff survey did not have a hundred percent completion rate, whereas the SAP system accurately reflected all staff.  In his view, it was important staff should feel comfortable about revealing their disability status, which was the reason for using SAP data.

Referring to the X16 Work experience and job readiness programme, which was aimed at 16-25 year-old clients who were not in employment or education or training (NEETs), and in receipt of services from Harrow Children and Families Service, the Chair asked why those aged over 18 years of age would be in receipt of services from the Children and Families Service.  An officer advised that young people identified as having a learning disability or those leaving the care system were entitled  ...  view the full minutes text for item 158.

To resolve that the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business, on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of confidential information in breach of an obligation of confidence, or of exempt information as defined in Part I of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972:

RESOLVED:  That, in accordance with Part I of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following item for the reason set out below:

Report of the Director of Customer Services and Business Transformation.

The Sub-Committee received a report of the Director of Customer Services and Business Transformation which set out the current position with regard to the IT service, which had been outsourced to Capita in November 2010.

A Member asked about the ITO Transformation Programme.  An officer advised that the programme included things such as rolling out the Citrix platform which would enable the use of thin client devices, faster logging in, increased data security and the roll out the of the Mobile and Flexible Working programme.

RESOLVED:  That the report be noted.