Agenda and minutes

None.

None.

Minutes of the meeting held on 9 October 2019, for confirmation

The Committee confirmed the minutes of the meeting held on 9 October 2019 as a correct record and they were signed by the Chair.

Report of the Strategic Director of Finance (Nottingham City Council) and the Director of Corporate Resources (Leicestershire County Council)

Jill Turner, EMSS Business Development Manager, presented a report on proposed changes to the arrangements for the EMSS Operational Board, to ensure that EMSS has effective governance arrangements as laid down in the Partnership Agreement. The following points were discussed:

(a)  the purpose of the Board is to enable senior officers to meet on a quarterly basis, ahead of the meeting of the Joint Committee, to review progress against the Strategic Business Plan and Objectives; review and report on performance monitoring; receive the draft Business Plan strategies, budgets and investment plans before they are submitted for approval by the Joint Committee; and review and report on the strategic risks;

(b)  unfortunately, the content of a given Board meeting is not always relevant to all members of senior staff and finding times when all members are available at the same time can be difficult. To ensure that meetings take place and result in productive decision-making, it is now proposed to invite only those officers required for the specific business of each Board agenda, rather than to invite all the regular members of the Board to every meeting. The EMSS’ Finance Business Partner will always be in attendance, but support from HR, ICT and Audit is not always required;

(c)  under the new arrangements, the presence of any Board member invited to a meeting is felt to be necessary to its business, and the expectation is that they will attend;

(d)  the Committee advised that good management processes should be in place for the revised way of meeting for the Board, to ensure that all officers required to conduct its business effectively are invited to the meetings.

Resolved to approve the amended Operational Board composition, as set out in Appendix C to the report.

·  Reasons for the decision

To ensure that EMSS has effective governance arrangements as laid down in the Partnership Agreement.

·  Other options considered

To make no further changes: The current arrangements are not effective in meeting the requirements of the Partnership Agreement. Minor changes to the meeting format have not resulted in improved attendance and it is the Sponsors’ view that the proposals described will deliver the robust governance required.

The Chair presented the proposed work programme for the 2019/20 municipal year, which was agreed.

To consider excluding the public from the meeting during consideration of the remaining items in accordance with Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972, under Schedule 12A, Part 1, Paragraph 3, on the basis that, having regard to all the circumstances, the public interest in maintaining an exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

Resolved to exclude the public from the meeting during consideration of the remaining item in accordance with Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972, under Schedule 12A, Part 1, Paragraph 3, on the basis that, having regard to all the circumstances, the public interest in maintaining an exemption outweighed the public interest in disclosing the information.

Exempt Minutes of the meeting held on 9 October 2019, for confirmation

The Committee confirmed the exempt minutes of the meeting held on 9 October 2019 as a correct record and they were signed by the Chair.

Jill Turner, EMSS Business Development Manager, gave a presentation on the EMSS current operating model.

The Committee noted the presentation.

Report of the Strategic Director of Finance (Nottingham City Council) and the Director of Corporate Resources (Leicestershire County Council)

Lucy Littlefair, Head of EMSS, presented a report on the financial performance of EMSS and the Oracle/ICT spend for the 2019/20 financial year, and the draft budget and Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) for EMSS for 2020/21.

The Committee noted the report.