Agenda and minutes

None.

None.

Last meeting held on 09 January 2024 (for confirmation)

The Committee agreed the minutes of the meeting held on 09 January 2024 as a correct record and they were signed by the Chair.

Report of Corporate Director for Communities, Environment and Resident Services

Andrew Smith, Assistant Fleet Manager, presented the report, and stated the following:

a)  the Fleet and Depot Operations Service is seeking permission to renew and replace its existing framework for the supply and delivery of both internal combustion engine and ULEV light commercial vehicles up to a maximum gross vehicle weight of 7,500kg;

b)  the report is not seeking a commitment to spend during the framework’s lifetime, just approval to provide a compliant solution for if a vehicle is required to support service delivery;

c)  the framework will be accessible by all other public sector bodies and the service specification of the framework will allow for supply and maintenance;

d)  the framework will also allow contracting parties, including Nottingham City Council, to purchase light commercial vehicles from various suppliers to enable them to fulfil replacement needs when necessary;

e)  the vehicles to be purchased throughout the lifetime of the framework will include those that are used to deliver statutory services across the registered users of the framework;

f)  a rebate of 1% is payable to Nottingham City Council for all purchases made under the terms of the framework to cover all costs incurred in the management of the framework and the procurement process.

Resolved to

(1)  to approve the undertaking of a procurement process to establish a framework for the outright purchase of Light Commercial Vehicles that all UK public sector contracting authorities can access;

(2)  delegate authority to the Corporate Director for Communities, Environment and Resident Services to:

(a)  enter into the initial light commercial vehicle framework;

(b)  sign all call-off orders under the terms of the framework.

Reasons for recommendations

a)  establishing a Framework Agreement provides the Council, and any other user of the framework, a compliant mechanism to source Light Commercial Vehicles.  Under the terms of the framework, the user can establish ‘call-off’ agreements for their specific requirement;

b)  the framework offers two call-off methods:

o  direct award to the highest ranked provider in each of the three lots;

o  mini competitions inviting all suppliers under the chosen lot to bid;

c)  there are benefits and considerations with either approach, these can be considered at the point of demand;

d)  the framework will consist of 3 lots. A framework agreement will be awarded to up to four suppliers per lot, suppliers can bid for one or more lots:

o  Lot 1 - light commercials up to a maximum GVW of 3,500kg;

o  Lot 2 - light commercials between 3,501kg GVW to 7,500kg GVW;

o  Lot 3 – pick-up trucks: 4x2 and 4x4 types;

e)  the structure of the framework considers not only any future fleet requirements, but those of other Council departments (Greenspace, Housing Services, etc);

f)  individual or multiple vehicles can be bought under the terms of the framework;

g)  the rebate payable by users of the framework will be (on average) 0.5% lower than third party framework and nationally accessible by all public sector contracting bodies;

h)  under the terms of any framework, there is  ...  view the full minutes text for item 61.

Report of Corporate Director for Growth and City Development

Mark Jenkins, Head of Traffic and Flood Risk Management, presented the report, and stated the following:

a)  Yunex provides the Council with fixed ANPR enforcement devices which activate when a vehicle passes through a trigger point and records a video pack for evidential review;

b)  all suppliers in this market operate a ‘one stop shop’ or ‘closed system’ for enforcement to meet Department for Transport (DfT) licencing requirements. This means only they or their accredited engineering provider can work on their whole system, maintaining the integrity of the system to preserve the DfT certification;

c)  the Yunex proposal is to fix costs for 3 years of maintenance and the essential modification of 19 devices that currently communicate using 3G technology, which the government intends to phase out in 2024, meaning these units will no longer communicate with the system;

d)  the proposal also includes a move to a hosted review/fault management platform to improve efficiency in data management and evidence processing;

e)  moving to a hosted platform, and taking the software off council servers, where the platform currently resides, will aid data management and security, and improve operational efficiency as Yunex will no longer have to apply to the Council’s IT team for access to the server to fix an issue affecting the system;

f)  upgrading to a hosted platform will also ensure data integrity, removing the risk of evidence packs or encryption keys being lost when we have server issues;

g)  the upgrade will also lessen the workload on NCC’s IT department, and of MTE colleagues reporting faults etc, freeing them up to concentrate on further efficiency and performance improvements.

Resolved to

(1)  approve the purchase of a 3-year ‘maintenance agreement’, including modifications to 19 ANPR devices and provision of a hosted server, from the current supplier (Yunex) to enable continuation of a Department for Transport compliant enforcement system that is fully certified to issue Penalty Charge Notices to motorists that contravene bus lane and other moving traffic restrictions;

(2)   note that a formal review of future ANPR purchase / maintenance arrangements will be undertaken by Procurement and Traffic colleagues, with a further report being submitted to this Committee by no later than the April 2025 meeting.

Reasons for recommendations

a)  DfT require a formal maintenance arrangement to be in place to enable the enforcement system to be fully certified. Due to the integrity of the enforcement systems, 3rd parties cannot undertake any repair or maintenance activities on these closed systems. Therefore, in line with previous years we are seeking approval to renew the maintenance contract with our current supplier.

b)  To address some essential modifications to 19 ANPR devices and improve reliability and efficiency of the server platform, we are looking to secure a 3-year maintenance arrangement (October 2023 to September 2026) which would provide ‘Best Value’ and spread these modification costs over an extended period.

c)  The costs related to this proposed 3-year maintenance proposal are fully funded through the annual PCN income and underwritten by the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 62.

Report of Corporate Director for People

Councillor Woodings, Portfolio Holder for Adult Social Care and Health, introduced the report.

Jackie Wyse, Interim Head of Service, Contracts, Quality and Personalisation, presented the report, and stated the following:

a)  as Nottingham City Council is contractually obliged to consider fee rates on an annual basis where it has a statutory duty to provide a service, the report presents proposals for fee rates in 2024/25 across Adult Social Care contracted provision;

b)  consultation will be undertaken with providers on the proposals and the responses will be fully considered prior to implementation from April 2024;

c)  the Council’s fee rates for adult social care services have historically been reviewed annually and decisions based on an established methodology for calculating inflationary increases. An evidence base for pricing was originally developed based on the UK Homecare Association model for Care at Home type services and independent review of residential care pricing. These tools have been adjusted to account for factors including the current market position, cost of living indices and Office of National Statistics data;

d)  every year, these established tools have been used to undertake analysis of the potential impact of national living wage requirements and other pressures such as cost of living, pensions, profit, and voids. Alongside these financial pressures, there are other aspects which are considered:

o  the current provider market including number of providers and quality of the market;

o  demand for social care provision arising from demographic pressures;

o  difficulty in attracting workers into the care sector due to competition from other sectors;

o  competition between Local Authorities and their ability to pay more to the market

o  the fee rate modelling process has therefore been key to support social care providers to meet NLW and other cost pressures, and to manage the social care market, whilst balancing against the Council’s other budget commitments and pressures;

e)  in December 2021, the Department of Health and Social Care announced the new Market Sustainability and Fair Cost of Care Fund, available to support local authorities to begin preparing local care markets for reform and moving towards sustainable funding for this market;

f)  local authorities were expected to use this funding for activities such as conducting a cost of care exercise; improving data on costs; strengthening capacity for market oversight; and increasing fee rates as appropriate to local circumstances;

g)  in 2023-24, Nottingham City Council received an allocation of £5.99m from this fund, which has been used to support transformational work, to complete a strength-based review, bolster staffing levels and to provide a sustainable level of funding. The Fair Cost of Care work has been completed; however, the local response rate was extremely low (mirrored nationally) and therefore the outcome was inconclusive;

h)  due to the significant budget constraints, further options have been proposed and are outlined in exempt appendix 1. Information in relation to the market context (including benchmarking) and intelligence relating to the fragility of the market, quality and provider failure that is outlined within exempt appendix 3.

Resolved  ...  view the full minutes text for item 63.

To consider excluding the public from the meeting during consideration of the remaining item 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

The Committee agreed to exclude the public from the meeting during consideration of the remaining item 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.

The Committee noted the exempt appendices.