To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting of the Customer and Central Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 16 January 2012 and to note actions taken since that meeting.

RESOLVED

That the minutes of the meeting of the Customer and Central Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 27 February 2012 be confirmed and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

To receive from Members any declarations and the nature thereof in relation to:-

(a)    personal interests in any agenda item

(b)    personal and prejudicial interests in any agenda item

(c)     any political whip in relation to any agenda item.

To receive any announcements from the Chairman and any matters of communication.

The Chairman had no announcements.

To receive petitions from members of the public in accordance with the Public Participation Procedure as set out in Annex 2 of Part A4 of the Constitution.

No petitions were received from members of the public in accordance with the Public Participation Procedure as set out in Part D2 of the Constitution.

To receive any questions, statements or deputations from members of the public in accordance with the Public Participation Procedure as set out in Annex 1 of part A4 of the Constitution.

No questions, statements or deputations were received from members of the public in accordance with the Public Participation Procedure as set out in Annex 1 of Part A4 of the Constitution.

To consider any decision of the Executive referred to this Committee for review  in accordance with Procedure Rule 10.10 of Part D2. 

The Panel was advised that no decisions of the Executive had been referred to the Panel under the Call-in Procedures set out in Appendix “A” to Rule No. S18 of the Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rules.

To consider any items referred to the Committee at the request of a Member under Procedure Rule 3.1 of Part D2 of the Constitution.

No items were referred to the Committee for consideration at the request of a Member under Procedure Rule 3.1 of Part D2 of the Constitution.

To receive a brief verbal update from the Deputy Leader & Executive Member for Corporate Resources.

The Deputy Leader and Executive Member for Corporate Resources provided the Committee with an update on current activities pertaining to his portfolio, which covered the following issues:-

·               The plain English guide to the Localism Bill, which had recently been circulated to all Members;

·               Approval of the Council’s 2012/13 Budget at full Council;

·               The current forecast regarding the 2011/12 budget;

·               The commencement of two major projects, Channel Shift and SAP Optimisation, both of which would be subject to progress reports to future meetings; and

·               The Council’s continuing work with Town & Parish Councils with regard to the devolution of services, where appetite existed.

To receive a presentation regarding the broad direction for procurement at Central Bedfordshire Council.

The Interim Head of Procurement delivered a presentation, which provided the Committee with details of the Council’s procurement review and priorities. Specifically, the presentation covered:-

·        A summary of the current position;

·        Data and analysis regarding addressable spend;

·        A snapshot of high value suppliers;

·        Agreed objectives going forward;

·        Recommendations regarding the Target Operating Model;

·        An analysis of the category cycle;

·        Category management;

·        Supplier relationship management;

·        Procedures and compliance;

·        Structure, resources and capability;

·        Use of systems and management information; and

·        Procurement priorities going forward.

Members of the Committee raised a number of queries during the presentation regarding the following issues, which were addressed by the Executive Member and officers in attendance:-

·        The Procurement Team’s visibility of all procurement activity within the Council and the structure of accountability with regard to procurement practice within service directorates;

·        The need to ensure ICT contracts in particular delivered value for money and were supported by robust business cases;

·        The possibility of researching different models of procurement to include independent review of contract management;

·        The need to tailor the procurement process to accommodate localism and the potential increasing prevalence/use of social enterprises and the voluntary and community sector in the delivery of services in the future; and

·        The extent of any “use it or lose it” culture within the Council. In this regard, the Interim Head of Procurement assured Members that he had not encountered any such culture since the start of his tenure.

In conclusion, the Committee thanked the Interim Head of Procurement for an informative presentation, and requested that an electronic copy be circulated to Members, and that a progress report be received in six months. Cllr D Bowater (Chairman of the Audit Committee), who was in also attendance for the meeting, requested that a similar presentation be made to his Audit Committee in the near future.

RECOMMENDATION:

That the presentation be noted and that a progress report be submitted to the Committee in 6 months.

To consider the findings and recommendations of the Task Force established to review the Let’s Talk Together meetings.

(Please note this report is to follow)

The Deputy Executive Member for Corporate Resources presented his report, which summarised the Member Task Force review of the Let’s Talk Together (LTT) meetings, run by the Central Bedfordshire Together Partnership. The report looked at actual delivery, attendance levels and outcomes to date and analysed the role of the meetings in the context of local and national policy, as well as feedback from partners. The report concluded with a number of options as well as a specific recommendation for future delivery frequency and format for consideration by the Committee.

Members of the Committee discussed the contents of the report in detail and made a number of comments and observations regarding the following issues:

·        The poor attendance by members of the public;

·        The fact that members of the public have many other opportunities to meet with ward councillors (e.g. at Town Committees & Councillor Surgeries) and that the Council regularly engages with its residents regarding specific consultations (e.g. the budget);

·        An acknowledgement that issue based meetings were more popular than the non-specific LTT format;

·        The need to consider LTT participation at Town & Parish Council Annual General Meetings (AGMs) in addition to attendance at major events such as festivals, fairs and fetes, etc;

·        The need for the Police and other partners to take a lead on face to face engagement;

·        The importance of the Council actively seeking out the public (i.e. at major events) rather than expecting the public to come to it (i.e. at LTT meetings); and

·        The fact that the Council is actively encouraging residents to help themselves via for instance website self service, which perhaps reduces the need for LTT meetings.

At the end of the debate, the Committee stated a preference for LTT meetings to “piggyback” existing major community events and Town & Parish Council AGMs, supplemented by a “rapid response” team to deliver ad hoc meetings when important and topical local issues arose.

RECOMMENDATION:

That the Central Bedfordshire Together partnership be advised that this Committee would prefer future LTT meetings to “piggyback” existing major community events and Town & Parish Council AGMs, supplemented by a “rapid response” team to deliver ad hoc meetings when important and topical local issues arose.

The report provides Members with details of the currently drafted Committee work programme and the latest Executive Forward Plan.

The Committee considered its current work programme and the latest Executive Forward Plan.

RESOLVED

1. That the Committee’s Work Programme be noted; and
2. That the reports relating to the ICT Framework and Housing & Council Tax Benefit Processing be rescheduled for the 19 June meeting.