Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillors Reid and Pogonowski.  

 

Councillor Smart attended as Deputy Leader.  

Members are asked to declare at this stage any interests that they may have in an item shown on this agenda. If any member of the Committee is unsure whether or not they should declare an interest on a particular matter, they should seek advice from the Head of Legal Services before the meeting. 

 

Councillor	Item	Interest
Brown	12/28/SR	Personal: Executive Member of the LGBT Liberal Democrat Group

 

None  

The minutes of the meetings held on 16 January 2012 and 3 February 2012 were approved and signed as a correct record.

Matter for Decision: The supply and installation of solar thermal panels on selected Council properties to secure a guaranteed income through energy bill savings and heat tariff as part of the Government’s national Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI).

 

Decision of the Executive Councillor:

 

The Deputy Leader resolved to:

 

Financial recommendations:

 

        i.            Approve commencement of the Solar Thermal Project, included in the Council’s Capital Plan - C2966, Installation of solar thermal panels and/or energy efficiency measures on non-housing Council properties (General Fund).

 

The total capital cost of the project is £140,000. The revenue savings from the project are estimated at £15,000 per annum (savings proposal S2967) and these have been included in the revenue budget from 2013/14 onwards.

 

Procurement recommendations:

 

      ii.            Approve the procurement and installation of solar thermal panels and other necessary equipment under the Planned Maintenance Framework.

 

Subject to:

 

The permission of the Executive Councillor and Director of Resources being sought prior to proceeding if the quotation or tender sum exceeds the estimated contract value by more than 15%.

 

Reasons for the Decision: As set out in the officer’s report

 

Any alternative options considered and rejected: N/A

 

Scrutiny Considerations

 

N/A

Matter for Decision: The City Council has consulted on a new Single Equality Scheme that sets out how the organisation would challenge discrimination and promote equal opportunity in all aspects of its work over the next three years. The Executive Council is asked to approve the new scheme.

 

Decision of the Executive Councillor:

 

The Deputy Leader resolved to:

 

        i.            Approve the new Single Equality Scheme 2012 – 2015.

 

Reasons for the Decision: As set out in the officer’s report

 

Any alternative options considered and rejected: N/A

 

Scrutiny Considerations

 

The committee received a report from the Strategy Officer.

 

The committee made the following comments on the report:

 

        i.            Congratulated officers on the work around sexual orientation and transgender/gender reassignment. 

 

In response to member’s questions the Strategy Officer, the Director of Resources and the Chief Executive confirmed the following:

 

        i.            The percentage of the City Council’s workforce from Black and Minority Ethnic (BAME) communities currently stood at just over 7% (after a recent rise to 7.5%). The percentage of the workforce that had a disability currently stood at 4.1%. Work would continue through the Single Equalities Scheme Action Plan to meet the proposed targets of 8.5% and 4.5% respectively.

      ii.            Work continued with the Papworth Trust to identify potential job opportunities for disabled people and encourage the Trust’s disabled clients to apply for suitable positions at the City Council.

    iii.            The Council’s policy is to prioritise staff in the redevelopment pool for vacancies. This would impact on the number of new employees who come into the organisation and how quickly representation from target groups changes.

   iv.            As a result of the revised Accommodation Strategy council buildings would be more accessible for disabled people.

     v.            The City Council would undertake a recruitment survey with BAME community groups in Cambridge, and was considering the most effective options for doing this.

   vi.            Regular workforce monitoring was undertaken to monitor the proportion of minority employees at the different pay bands, including the proportion of candidates from minority communities progressing through the various stages of the recruitment process.

 vii.            Officers recognised that the Chinese community was underrepresented and the recruitment survey would aim to specifically capture this data.

viii.            The City Council organises open evenings for prospective Councillors and has a dedicated ‘Would you like to be a Councillor?’ page on its website. Political groups also played an important role in encouraging more BAME and disabled people to stand as Councillors.

 

The Scrutiny Committee considered and approved the recommendations by 5 votes to 0.

 

The Deputy Leader approved the recommendations.

 

 

 

 

Matter for Decision: To consider the City Council becoming a corporate member of the Greater Cambridge Greater Peterborough Enterprise Partnership (LEP) as part of its incorporation as a company limited by guarantee.

 

Decision of the Executive Councillor:

 

The Deputy Leader resolved to:

 

        i.            Agree the principle of the City Council becoming a corporate member of the LEP and to ask the Chief Executive to finalise the arrangements with the LEP Board.

 

Reasons for the Decision: As set out in the officer’s report

 

Any alternative options considered and rejected: N/A

 

Scrutiny Considerations

 

The committee received a report from the Chief Executive.

 

The committee made the following comments on the report:

 

        i.            Raised concern that, due to its geographical boundaries, the LEP could not be classed as a ‘local’ body.

 

In response to member’s questions the Chief Executive confirmed the following:

 

        i.            The Leader of Cambridge City Council had been elected as a Board member of the LEP by the other local authority members. This was a personal appointment and the City Council did not have a place on the Board as a right. 

      ii.            An Investment Sub-Group (consisting of 3 local authority members and 2 private sector members) made recommendations to the LEP on how to spend public money.

    iii.            Whilst the Leader of Cambridge City Council continued to push for greater openness and transparency, the LEP did not currently hold its meetings in public. Meeting papers were however published on their website.

   iv.            The City Council currently contributed £8000 per annum to the LEP but this would be reviewed through the annual budget process.

     v.            The Board had a private sector majority in line with Government’s policy aims for LEP’s.

 

The Chief Executive agreed to email committee members with details of the term of office for Board members of LEP.

 

The Scrutiny Committee considered and approved the recommendations by 5 votes to 0.

 

The Deputy Leader approved the recommendations.

 

 

Matter for Decision: Purchase and deployment of an upgraded ICT desktop environment for all staff, including replacement of up to 500 PC’s.

 

Decision of the Executive Councillor:

 

The Executive Councillor for Customer Services and Resources resolved to:

Financial recommendations:

 

        i.            Approve the commencement of this scheme, which is already included in the Council’s Capital & Revenue Project Plan (SC541 Corporate PC Replacement Programme and PR020 ICT Infrastructure Programme).

 

The total cost of the project is £700,000, funded from IT Infrastructure Replacement R&R fund, IT Software Replacement R&R fund and Departmental PC replacement R&R. There are no ongoing revenue implications arising from the project.

                         

This will be combined into one project with work already approved for the upgrade of MS Office, making a total project cost of £990,000.

 

Procurement recommendations:

 

      ii.            Approve the carrying out and completion of the procurement of hardware and software to support upgrades to ICT desktops, including upgrades to Windows and PC’s replacements.

 

Subject to:

 

The permission of the Director of Resources being sought prior to proceeding if the quotation or tender sum exceeds the estimated contract. The permission from the Executive Councillor being sought before proceeding if the value exceeds the estimated contract by more than 15%.

 

Reasons for the Decision: As set out in the officer’s report

 

Any alternative options considered and rejected: N/A

 

Scrutiny Considerations

 

The committee received a report from the ICT Client Manager.

 

In response to member’s questions the ICT Client Manager and the Director of Resources confirmed the following:

 

        i.            50% of the PC’s currently located at the Guildhall were over 5 years old.

      ii.            A number of PC’s across the City Council were between 9 and 10 years old, with one identified as over 11 years old.

    iii.            The project would aim to move all machines over to Windows 7 as soon as possible.

   iv.            A more structured approach to the provision and replacement of PC’s would better suit the needs of the organisation.

     v.            The majority of the 500 replacement units would be thin client desktop devices.

   vi.            As upgrades could now be performed centrally it was envisaged that the replacement units would last for up to 10 years.

 vii.            As part of the Corporate Change Programme and new HR Policies the City Council would be looking to encourage more flexible working across locations.

 

The ICT Client Manager agreed to email committee members with details of how the £700,000 would be split between upgrades and replacements.

 

The ICT Client Manager agreed to investigate an issue raised by a Councillor regarding the level of service provided by Serco. 

 

The Scrutiny Committee considered and approved the recommendations by 5 votes to 0.

 

The Executive for Customer Services and Resources approved the recommendations.

 

Matter for Decision: The purchase and installation of an automatic payment machine at Mandela House.

 

Decision of the Executive Councillor:

 

The Executive Councillor for Customer Services and Resources resolved to:

Financial recommendations:

 

        i.            Approve the commencement of this scheme, which is already included in the Council’s Capital & Revenue Project Plan (SC335).

 

The estimated total cost of the project is £17,300, funded from the Technology Investment Fund. The revenue costs of the project are £2,000 for 2012/13 onwards and will be met from the Customer Service revenue budget. (00094).

 

Procurement recommendations:

 

      ii.            Approve the invitation and evaluation of quotations and award of contract for the Automatic Payment Machines’ hardware and related software plus annual maintenance for the project.

 

Subject to:

 

The permission of the Executive Councillor and the Director of Resources being sought prior to proceeding if the tender sum exceeds the estimated contract value by more than 15%. 

 

Reasons for the Decision: As set out in the officer’s report

 

Any alternative options considered and rejected: N/A

 

Scrutiny Considerations

 

The committee received a report from the Head of Customer Services.

 

In response to member’s questions the Head of Customer Services confirmed the following:

 

        i.            Whilst the likely usage of the new payment machines was not yet known, they had been very successful in other local authority areas.

      ii.            The information kiosks currently located in the Area Housing Offices could easily be converted to payment machines if the service proved successful.

 

The Scrutiny Committee considered and approved the recommendations by 8 votes to 0 (unanimously).

 

The Executive for Customer Services and Resources approved the recommendations.

 

 

 

Matter for Decision: The purchase and installation of five Touch Screen Information Kiosks at locations to be confirmed.

 

Decision of the Executive Councillor:

 

The Executive Councillor for Customer Services and Resources resolved to:

Financial recommendations:  

 

        i.            Approve the commencement of this scheme, which is already included in the Council’s Capital & Revenue Project Plan (SC538).

 

The total cost of the project is £25,000, funded from Reserves. The revenue costs of the project are £6,000 for 2012/13 onwards and will be met from the Customer Service revenue budget. (00094).

 

Procurement recommendations:

 

      ii.            Approve the invitation and evaluation of tenders and award of contract of the Touch Screen Information kiosks hardware and related software plus annual maintenance for the project.

 

Subject to:

 

The permission of the Executive Councillor and the Director of Resources being sought prior to proceeding if the tender sum exceeds the estimated contract value by more than 15%. 

 

Reasons for the Decision: As set out in the officer’s report

 

Any alternative options considered and rejected: N/A

 

Scrutiny Considerations

 

The committee received a report from the Head of Customer Services.

 

In response to member’s questions the Head of Customer Services confirmed the following:

 

        i.            The revenue costs of the project would be £6000 for 2012/13 onwards and would be met from the Customer Service revenue budget.

      ii.            The design and location of the information kiosks would ensure privacy for those using the telephone/video elements.

 

The Scrutiny Committee considered and approved the recommendations by 8 votes to 0 (unanimously).

 

The Executive for Customer Services and Resources approved the recommendations.

 

Matter for Decision: Purchase and Installation of an additional interview room and desk in the reception area of the Customer Service Centre.

 

Decision of the Executive Councillor:

 

The Executive Councillor for Customer Services and Resources resolved to:

 

Financial recommendations:

 

        i.            Approve the commencement of this scheme, which is already included in the Council’s Capital & Revenue Project Plan (SC537).

 

The total cost of the project is £25,000, funded from Reserves. There are no revenue costs arising from the project.

 

Procurement recommendations:

 

      ii.            Approve the invitation and evaluation of quotations and award of contract of an additional interview room and desk in the reception area of the Customer Service Centre.

 

Subject to:

 

The permission of the Executive Councillor and the Director of Resources being sought prior to proceeding if the quotation sum exceeds the estimated contract value by more than 15%.

 

Reasons for the Decision: As set out in the officer’s report

 

Any alternative options considered and rejected: N/A

 

Scrutiny Considerations

 

The committee received a report from the Head of Customer Services.

 

In response to member’s questions the Head of Customer Services confirmed the following:

 

        i.            The works would allow greater flexibility for the Customer Service Centre to provide Post Office related services. Discussions were ongoing with local authorities already provided these services and visits to Chelmsford and Reading were being planned.

 

The Scrutiny Committee considered and approved the recommendations by 8votes to 0 (unanimously).

 

The Executive for Customer Services and Resources approved the recommendations.

 

Matter for Decision: Write off of debt deemed irrecoverable.

 

Decision of the Executive Councillor:

 

The Executive Councillor for Customer Services and Resources resolved to:

 

        i.            Approve the debt write off deemed irrecoverable as shown in the exempt Appendix ‘A’ to the officer’s report.

 

Reasons for the Decision: As set out in the officer’s report

 

Any alternative options considered and rejected: N/A

 

Scrutiny Considerations

 

N/A