Agenda, decisions and draft minutes
Venue: Council Chamber, County Hall, Ruthin
Media
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POINT OF NOTICE Councillor Richard Mainon was pleased to congratulate the Communications and Marketing Team on winning a Gold Chartered Institute of Public Relations Award. The award recognised excellence in public relations and communications and Councillor Mainon paid tribute to the dedication of the team, particularly with regard to the snow communications, in ensuring clear messages and efforts to communicate topics. The Leader passed on Cabinet’s congratulations to the team on their well-deserved success. Additional documents: |
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APOLOGIES Additional documents: Decision: There were no apologies. Minutes: There were no apologies. |
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DECLARATION OF INTERESTS PDF 116 KB Members to declare any personal or prejudicial interests in any business identified to be considered at this meeting. Additional documents: Decision: Councillor Huw Hilditch-Roberts declared a personal interest
in Agenda Item 8: Schools ICT Network Contract Framework because he was a
Governor and Parent Minutes: Councillor Huw Hilditch-Roberts declared a personal interest in Agenda Item 8: Schools ICT Network Contract Framework because he was a Governor and Parent |
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URGENT MATTERS Notice of
items which, in the opinion of the Chair, should be considered at the meeting
as a matter of urgency pursuant to Section 100B(4) of the
Local Government Act 1972. Additional documents: Decision: No urgent matters had been raised. Minutes: No urgent matters had been raised. |
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To receive the minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on 25 September 2018 (copy enclosed). Additional documents: Decision: RESOLVED that the minutes
of the meeting held on 25 September 2018 be approved as a correct record and
signed by the Leader. Minutes: The minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on 25 September 2018 were submitted. Matters Arising – Page 12, Minute Item 12: Gypsy and Traveller Site Provision – Councillor Peter Scott asked Cabinet to change their decision with regard to the proposal to locate the sites at Green-gates Farm East, St. Asaph and find an alternative site given the groundswell of local opposition to the proposal. The Leader referred to the comprehensive debate on the subject taking into account work scrutiny had undertaken and confirmed that the decision would stand. The Head of Legal, HR and Democratic Services clarified that Cabinet had made its decision on 15 October 2018 following a call in of the previous decision and there was no further internal process to change that decision. Those sites would now be the subject of pre-planning consultation and members of the public and others would be able to contribute to that debate as part of the statutory planning process. RESOLVED that the minutes
of the meeting held on 25 September 2018 be approved as a correct record and
signed by the Leader. |
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COLLABORATIVE PROCUREMENT UNIT PDF 133 KB To consider a report by Councillor Julian Thompson-Hill, Lead Member for Finance, Performance and Strategic Assets (copy enclosed) seeking Cabinet approval to continue the existing collaborative procurement arrangement with Flintshire County Council for a further three years. Additional documents: Decision: RESOLVED that Cabinet – (a) agrees to enter into a further three year
Service Level Agreement with Flintshire County Council for the hosting by
Denbighshire County Council of a collaborative procurement service to operate
across the counties of Denbighshire and Flintshire, and (b) that the Head of Legal, HR and Democratic
Services has authority to finalise and enter into an appropriate form of
agreement with Flintshire County Council. Minutes: Councillor
Julian Thompson-Hill presented the report seeking Cabinet approval to continue
the existing collaborative procurement arrangement with Flintshire County
Council for a further three years. He introduced
the Legal and Procurement Operations Manager who had been in post since
September 2017. Cabinet
had approved a merger with Flintshire County Council in May 2014 to create a
Collaborative Procurement Unit hosted by Denbighshire as employer in order to
realise a number of benefits including efficiencies and economies of scale,
improving capacity and resilience, and to maximise relationships with
suppliers. The agreement ended in July
2017 and the Head of Legal Services had agreed an extension of the arrangement
to enable a joint audit to be commissioned which was reported to Corporate
Governance Committee in June 2018.
Whilst the audit report had been critical it was largely historical and
many of the issues raised had been resolved following the appointment of the
Legal and Procurement Operations Manager who had also provided stability for
the unit. An action plan had been
developed and Cabinet was advised of measures to improve outstanding governance
issues and encourage corporate and political buy-in to the service which
included strengthening reporting, scrutiny and monitoring arrangements;
alignment of the procurement strategy of both Councils, and embedding
collaborative procurement within the culture of both Councils across all
services and at political level. It was
noted that continued delivery of the service had been achieved despite having
only one quarter of the employees per £1m of spend recommended by Welsh
Government and Wales Audit Office. The
unit consisted of highly trained officers working with services to ensure
procurement was involved at a much earlier stage leading to services being more
familiar with requirements. Councillor
Thompson-Hill acknowledged that more work was required but positive progress
had been made with tangible benefits delivered.
In response to questions Councillor Thompson-Hill and the Head of Legal,
HR and Democratic Services – ·
confirmed that Internal Audit would produce a
follow up report detailing progress against the action plan for submission to
Corporate Governance Committee in January.
The action plan included target dates for completion later in the year
which would result in a further follow up report to Corporate Governance
Committee to ensure full compliance and completion of the action plan following
which future monitoring arrangements for the unit would be agreed ·
clarified the Cabinet decision in respect of
the options for delivering the enforcement of environmental crime together with
the involvement of the Collaborative Procurement Unit within that process – at
the last Joint Procurement Board meeting Flintshire colleagues had been
amenable to future discussions on the possibility of regional or sub-regional
collaboration ·
advised there was no criticism in the report
relating to the size of the unit or number of employees but the focus was on
ensuring all services considered collaborative procurement at the outset with
detailed actions to deliver that aim ·
explained that in considering future savings
realised, whilst some savings were easy to quantify other procurement savings
proved difficult to determine and work was ongoing as to how to deliver that
detail for the purposes of future scrutiny and monitoring ·
clarified the role of the Corporate
Governance Committee in ensuring correct processes were in place and delivery
of the action plan and highlighted the need to ensure an appropriate mechanism
for future monitoring and scrutiny of savings and performance by scrutiny
committee · advised that in terms of procurement strategies a suite of key performance indicators had been agreed with both Councils although some figures for the excellence threshold differed in order to reflect the Councils’ different aims and objectives; there were also ... view the full minutes text for item 5. |
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To consider a report by Councillor Julian Thompson-Hill, Lead Member for Finance, Performance and Strategic Assets (copy enclosed) detailing the latest financial position and progress against the agreed budget strategy. Additional documents:
Decision: RESOLVED that Cabinet – (a) note the budgets
set for 2018/19 and progress against the agreed budget strategy, and (b) note and agree
the use of reserves, underspends carried forward and the release of
contingencies in order to help mitigate the overall budget pressures that the
Council is facing. Minutes: Councillor Julian Thompson-Hill presented the
report detailing the latest financial position and progress against the agreed
budget strategy. He provided a summary
of the Council’s financial position as follows – ·
the net revenue
budget for 2018/19 was £194.418m (£189.252m in 2017/18) ·
an
overspend of £1.164m was forecast for service and corporate budgets ·
detailed
agreed savings and efficiencies worth £4.6m including those which had already
been achieved with the assumption that all service efficiencies/savings would
be delivered – any exceptions would be reported to Cabinet if required ·
highlighted
current risks and variances relating to individual service areas, and ·
provided a general
update on the Housing Revenue Account, Housing Capital Plan and the Capital
Plan (including the Corporate Plan element). Debate focused on the level of overspend on
service budgets and concerns in that regard given the movement of projected
outturn figures. Cabinet was asked to
agree the use of reserves, underspends carried forward, and the release of
contingencies to help fund the service overspends. The Chief Executive explained that the
figures had been largely driven by demand pressures which could not have been
foreseen and she would be working with senior leadership colleagues on
potential short term in-year measures to reduce the overspend with any wider
impact of those measures being in full consultation with Lead Members. Highways and Environmental Services was
currently projected to overspend by £728k (£98k reported in September) and the
main points of debate referred to – ·
School Transport – despite an additional £300k
allocation following operation of the revised transport policy additional
pressures had been identified; the new ongoing pressures for 2018/19 amounting
to £593k were currently being discussed as part of the Medium Term Financial
Plan for 2019/20 onwards. There was some
debate as to whether this budget would be best placed in Education and
Children’s Services for greater clarity and accountability although it was an
acknowledged pressure which needed to be resolved wherever it was located. Officers explained the reasoning behind the
current position given that Education and Children’s Services carried out the
assessment process to determine eligibility of a child for school transport but
the commissioning arrangement for those eligible for school transport was
undertaken in Highways and Environmental Services because of the expertise and
skills set required for negotiating the school contracts. Officers would be meeting to discuss the main
causes of the overspend following which it may be opportune to consider where
School Transport would be best placed ·
Major Projects – this had been an issue over
recent years. The main reason for the
income shortfall related to the amount of work and re-imbursement coming from
the North and Mid Wales Trunk Road Agency (NMWTRA). It was proposed an in-year budget allocation
of £140k be released from centrally held contingencies to resolve the pressure
on an ongoing basis and a cash reserve of £159k kept to help fund the pressure
in future years be released to help fund other pressures in the service. It was clarified that the amount invested in
Denbighshire’s highway network did not necessarily relate to the amount of work
generated via NMWTRA given that highway work was also carried out by other
contractors. Councillor Brian Jones
added that budgeted income had been set too high and would be revised in the
next financial year to reflect the reduction ·
Streetscene – Councillor Brian Jones elaborated upon
the £200k cost required to remedy an issue with ‘Legacy Tips’ in order to meet
statutory requirements · Waste – the pressure in 2018/19 would be funded from the Waste Reserve and a budget pressure of £850k had been included in the Medium ... view the full minutes text for item 6. |
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CABINET FORWARD WORK PROGRAMME PDF 294 KB To receive the enclosed Cabinet Forward Work Programme and note the contents.
Additional documents: Decision: RESOLVED that Cabinet’s
Forward Work Programme be noted. Minutes: The Cabinet Forward Work Programme was
presented for consideration and the following amendments/additions were noted – ·
Rhyl
Regeneration Programme Re-launch – moved from November to the new year ·
Sustainable
Drainage Systems Approved Body (SAB) – added to December ·
Budget and
Capital Plan Reports – to be added for January/February RESOLVED that Cabinet’s Forward Work Programme be noted. |
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EXCLUSION OF PRESS AND PUBLIC RESOLVED that under Section 100A of the Local Government Act
1972, the Press and Public be excluded from the meeting for the following item
of business on the grounds that it would involve the likely disclosure of
exempt information as defined in Paragraph 13 of Part 4 of Schedule 12A of the
Act. Additional documents: |
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SCHOOLS ICT NETWORK CONTRACT FRAMEWORK To consider a confidential report by Councillor Huw Hilditch-Roberts, Lead Member for Education, Children and Young People (copy enclosed) regarding the procurement of Denbighshire schools ICT networks. Additional documents:
Decision: RESOLVED that Cabinet – (a) confirms that it has read, understood and
taken account of the Well-being Impact Assessment (Appendix 1 to the report) as
part of its consideration, and (b) agrees to the
framework in order for schools to procure ICT services from approved and
accredited suppliers. Minutes: Councillor
Huw Hilditch-Roberts presented the confidential report regarding the
procurement of Denbighshire schools ICT networks. Cabinet
was advised of schools’ intention to procure ICT services from a competitive
contract framework which would create a closed market of approved and
accredited suppliers from which schools could shop safely. Denbighshire ICT had been involved in the
process and their potential future involvement in providing services via that
framework was also clarified and further discussed. Details of the process had been included
within the report and the Lead Member and Head of Education and Children’s
Services responded to questions in that regard together with the actions to
mitigate risks identified, the different expectations and requirements between
schools and monitoring/governance arrangements going forward. It was noted that a collaborative procurement
had been considered but given the different requirements and timescales of
existing contracts no other councils had been able to take advantage of the
procurement at this stage. Cabinet
acknowledged the schools’ preference to procure ICT services via a contract
framework and recognised the benefits of that approach in terms of consistency,
quality assurance and value for money.
Consequently it was – RESOLVED that Cabinet – (a) confirms that it has read, understood and
taken account of the Well-being Impact Assessment (Appendix 1 to the report) as
part of its consideration, and (b) agrees to the framework
in order for schools to procure ICT services from approved and accredited
suppliers. The
meeting concluded at 11.40 a.m. |