Agenda and minutes

Jules Sebelin – Nottingham Community and Voluntary Sector Representative.

None.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 10 July 2018

The minutes of the meeting held on 10 July 2018 were confirmed as a true record and signed by the Chair.

Verbal update from Community and Voluntary Sector Representative

An update document was submitted by Jules Sebelin Business Manager at Nottingham Community and Voluntary Services and is appended to these minutes.

RESOLVED to note the content of the update document

Report of the Corporate Director for Strategy & Resources

Simon Salmon, Head of Service (IT) presented a report on the Purchase of Microsoft Licences to the Sub Committee. During discussion it was highlighted that Microsoft are altering the costs of licenses as well as altering discounts previously available. This has led the Council to pursue a three year “locked in” price for licences up to 2021/22.

RESOLVED to:

(1)  Delegate authority to the Head of Service (IT) to enter into contracts up to the value of £1,300,000 per annum using an approved established procurement framework to purchase software licences from financial years 2019/20 to 2021/22;

(2)  Authorise the Head of Services (IT) to enter into discussion with Microsoft and their product supplier to obtain the opportunity to committee in advance to the procurement of software licences for financial years 2019/20 to 2021/22during the financial year 2018/19;

(3)  Approve allocation of funding from the IT Efficiency Fund for the three year period 2019/20 to 2021/22 to purchase Microsoft software licences.

Reasons for decision

(1)  The software licensing agreement is due to expire in Jun 2019 and needs to be renewed to allow continued use of licensed products.

(2)  Microsoft are planning to increase prices of their licences from the beginning of October 2018 and this will coincide with a change to the discounts previously offered to government bodies.

(3)  If Nottingham City Council can commit early to purchasing the licenses it may be able to “lock in” current pricing levels.

(4)  The Council undertook a third party audit in 2018 to establish the current need for licences.

Other options considered

There is the option to move away from Microsoft products and use alternative software. This has been trialled in the past within the Council and raised issues around compatibility, added cost and impacted negatively on the workforce. There would be significant cost associated with a change from Microsoft software and so for this reason this option was rejected.

The other option considered was to do nothing. The Council rely heavily on Microsoft software for the delivery of services to citizens. Without the software services provided to citizens would be impacted and the ability to work with partner organisations would be disrupted. The Council cannot meet statutory duties without the software and would be acting illegally if it were to use the software without licences. It is for these reasons that this option was rejected.

Report of the Corporate Director of Commercial & Operations

Wayne Buxton, Head of Energy Services presented a report on the Procurement to manage the Household Waste & Recycling Centre.

RESOLVED to:

(1)  Approve the undertaking of an EU compliant procurement for this service. This option allows the authority to fulfil both statutory obligations and secure the continued operation of the facility

(2)  Further delegate authority to the Director of Energy Waste and Highways, to award the contract to the successful bidder, in conjunction with legal and procurement colleagues’ advice.

Reasons for decision

(1)  The Council has a statutory duty to provide a place where residents may deposit their household waste which should be open at reasonable timed including at least on period on a Saturday or a Sunday. The location of the facilities and their opening hours is determined by the Council.

(2)  By entering into a competitive tendering exercise it enables the Council to ensure value for money.

(3)  Provision of accessible services ensures high levels of recycling and diversion of waste from landfill.

Other options considered

The option to insource the waste and recycling centre activity was considered. This may be possible in the longer term however it is likely to be more costly in the short term. For this reason this option was rejected.

The other option considered is to do nothing. This option was rejected outright as the Council have a statutory duty to provide the services. 

Report of the Portfolio Holder for Housing and Planning

Lucy Lee, Head of Customer Services presented a report on the Tender for Mortuary Services Contract during discussion it was highlighted that Nottingham City Council run the Coronial service for city as well as for the County, costs are shared between the authorities;

RESOLVED to:

(1)  Approve the undertaking of a competitive procurement process for the re-tender of the Mortuary Services contract as outlined above;

(2)  Delegate authority to the Director of HR & Customer to approve the outcome and award of the contract to the successful tenderer following the procurement  process; the initial term of the contract will be 3 years with the option to extend for a further 2 years;

(3)  Approve expenditure detailed in the exempt appendix following a competitive tender exercises;

(4)  Approve the extension and expenditure associated with the existing contract until March 2019;

(5)  Grant dispensation from Financial Regulations 3.29 and Contract Procedure Rule 5.1.2 (operational reasons) with regards to the contract extension until April 2019;

Reasons for decision

(1)  The Local Authority is legally obliged to provide mortuary and post mortem services as required by HM Coroner. A competitive tender process will ensure a good quality and value for money provider is procured.

(2)  Extension of the existing contract allows for a continuation of services for citizens within the city and in the wider county and ensures that the Council fulfils it legal obligation.

Other options considered

The option to do nothing was rejected as this is a statutory service that the Council must provide.

Report of the Assistant Chief Executive and Corporate Director for Strategy and Resources, the Corporate Director for Children and Adults and the Director of Adult Social Care (DASS Nottingham City)

Peter Morley, Commissioning Manager, presented a report on the Tender for Accredited Homecare Providers highlighting the following points:

(a)  There will be two accredited provider contracts, one to deliver health and social care provision funded through the City Council, with other including more complex healthcare tasks that will be funded through NHS Nottingham Clinical Commissioning Group. This will enable seamless service provision through escalation of citizens individual needs;

(b)  There is due to be a recruitment drive within the city and especially on the borders of the city to recruit more people into home care carers;

RESOLVED to:

(1)  Approve maximum spend of £63.590m to establish contracts as part of a new accreditation of homecare providers based on 2018/19 rates. Approval to spend will be through the Councils scheme of delegation for Adult Care packages;

(2)  Approve a procurement process to establish a new accredited list of homecare providers with effect from 1^st April 2019 for 4+4 years; and

(3)  Delegate authority to the Head of Contracting and Procurement to award contracts in accordance with the outcome of the accreditation process and delegate authority to the Market Strategy and Development Manager to sign contracts;

Reasons for decision

(1)  On 31^st March the current list of accredited providers will expire. The tender process will ensure that a replace list of providers is available, with new providers and re-accredited providers returning to the list. This will ensure that there is a smooth transition and that services will remain available for citizens who need them.

(2)  An accredited list allows the Council to ensure that there is sufficient capacity to provide the services required. It will allow a range of providers to enter the market giving choice to citizens and allows smaller providers an opportunity to be active within the city.

(3)  There will be increased interagency  partnership working and communication with NHS clinical Commissioning group leading to a better service provision for citizens.

Other options considered

Another option considered was to have a lead operator in each area of the city with additional support providers providing support instead of the accredited list of providers proposed in the report. This model has been trialled in the city before and lead to reduced capacity and the need for spot purchase of provision in order to provide care. This increased costs and did not allow for smooth provision of services to citizens and so was rejected.

Report of the Head of Commissioning, the Head of Contracting and Procurement, the Director Public Health and the Director Community Protection

Christine Oliver, Head of Commissioning presented a report on the Crime and Drug Partnership Budget Update highlighting the following points:

(a)  The report initially came to the sub-committee in March with an anticipated budget and partner contributions. These contributions have now been confirmed and the budgets finalised;

RESOLVED to:

(1)  Approve the anticipated receipt and expenditure of the Public Health grant, Police and Crime Commissioner Grant, Nottingham City Council and partner contributions by the Crime and Drug Partnership in 2018/19 as set out in the exempt appendix to the published report; and

(2)  Delegate authority to the Head of Contacting and Procurement and Head of Commissioning to allocate anticipated funds for the above expenditure and to secure best value for Nottingham citizens as set out in the exempt appendix to the published report.

Reasons for decision

(1)  Relevant commissioning activity can continue  and contract variations can progress which will allow for continued service provision meeting identified local need.

(2)  Funding contributions from partner agencies can be allocated and utilised in an appropriate way, and in accordance with the correct legislation.

Other options considered

Another option available would be to cancel the provision of services provided by these funding streams. This would significantly impact on the Crime and Drug Partnership aims to reduce substance misuse.

To consider excluding the public from the meeting during consideration of the remaining item(s) in accordance with Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 on the basis that, having regards to all the circumstances, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

RESOLVED to exclude the public from the meeting during consideration of the remaining items in accordance with Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 on the basis that, having regard to all the circumstances, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information as defined in paragraph 3 of part 1, Schedule 12A of the Act.

Report of the Portfolio Holder for Housing and Planning

RESOLVED to note the content of the exempt appendices to the report on Tender for Mortuary Services.

Report of the Head of Commissioning, the Head of Contracting and Procurement, the Director Public Health and the Director Community Protection

RESOLVED to note the content of the exempt appendices to the report on Crime and Drugs Partnership Budget Update 2018/19.