Agenda and minutes

To consider any appeals in accordance with Procedure Rule 25* of the Access to Information Procedure Rules (in the event of an Appeal the press and public will be excluded).

(* In accordance with Procedure Rule 25, notice of an appeal must be received in writing by the Head of Governance Services at least 24 hours before the meeting).

There were no appeals against the refusal on inspection of documents.

1  To highlight reports or appendices which officers have identified as containing exempt information, and where officers consider that the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information, for the reasons outlined in the report.

2  To consider whether or not to accept the officers recommendation in respect of the above information.

3  If so, to formally pass the following resolution:-

RESOLVED – That the press and public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following parts of the agenda designated as containing exempt information on the grounds that it is likely, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings, that if members of the press and public were present there would be disclosure to them of exempt information, as follows:

  No exempt items have been identified.

RESOLVED – That, in accordance with Regulation 4 of The Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Meetings and Access to Information) (England) Regulations 2012, the public or press be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following parts of the agenda designated as exempt from publication on the grounds that it is likely, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings, that if members of the public or press were present there would be disclosure to them of exempt information so designated as follows:-

(A) That appendix 5 to the report entitled, ‘Procurement and Commercial Services Update’, referred to in Minute No.  be designated as being exempt from publication in accordance with paragraph 10.4(3) of Schedule 12A (3) of the Local Government Act 1972 and considered in private on the grounds that this appendix contains information relating to the financial and business affairs of the Council. It is considered that the release of such information would, or would be likely to prejudice the Council’s commercial interests. It is therefore considered that the public interest in maintaining the exemption from publication outweighs the public interest in disclosing this information at this point in time.

To identify items which have been admitted to the agenda by the Chair for consideration.

(The special circumstances shall be specified in the minutes.)

There are no late items.

To disclose or draw attention to any interests in accordance with Leeds City Council’s ‘Councillor Code of Conduct’.

 No declarations of interests were made at the meeting.

To receive any apologies for absence and notification of substitutes.

Apologies were received from Councillors S Firth and P Carlill.

Councillor Barry Anderson attended the meeting as substitute for Councillor Firth.

To confirm as a correct record, the minutes of the meeting held on 16 January 2023

RESOLVED – To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 16^th January 2023, as a correct record.

The Principal Scrutiny Adviser provided the following updates:

Minute 78 - Consultation and Mass Communication

Annual report on consultation and Team Planner a potential work item for 2023/24. Members requested further information on how the Voice and Influence Team communicate with children, parents and carers – information now provided by email.

Minute 81 - Proposed Budget for 2023/24 and Provisional Budgets for 2024/25 and 2025/26

Composite budget report from scrutiny now published and discussed at Executive Board. This will be part of the papers considered at full Council on Wednesday 22^nd February.

Minute 82 – Work Programme

Still trying to arrange an EDI Working group date suitable for board members and an update will be provided later in the week.

To receive a report from the Head of Democratic Services providing details of the LGA Corporate Peer Challenge carried out in November 2022, the action plan established in response to the 15 recommendations that were made and the input of scrutiny into the Council’s overall LGA Peer Challenge response.

The Head of Democratic Services presented a report for Members’ consideration on the Scrutiny approach to LGA Corporate Peer Challenge.

In December 2022 the Executive Board, as part of its consideration of the LGA Corporate Peer Challenge findings, recommended that the Peer Challenge report and its recommendations should be referred to scrutiny for further consideration, this report is designed to initiate that process.

Whilst the findings from the Peer Challenge are relevant to all scrutiny boards it is the remit of Strategy and Resources Board that covers the Council’s corporate planning and policy development services and is therefore considered to be the most appropriate for this work item. However, to ensure that all Boards are represented the Chairs from the four other Scrutiny Boards had been invited to attend the meeting.

The Chair welcomed Judith Hurcombe, the LGA Peer Challenge Team Manager to the meeting.

In attendance for this item were:

·  Neil Evans - Director of Resources

·  Mariana Pexton - Chief Officer Strategy and Improvement (soon to be new Director of Resources)

·  Alex McEwan-Hannant - Head of Corporate Support

·  Judith Hurcombe - LGA Peer Challenge Team Manager

·  Cllr James Lewis - Leader of Council

·  Cllr Coupar - Executive Member for Resources

·  Cllr Barry Anderson - Chair of Scrutiny Board Environment, Housing and Communities

·  Cllr Abigail Marshall-Katung - Chair of Scrutiny Board Adults, Health and Active Lifestyles

Judith Hurcombe addressed the Scrutiny Board and provided the following information:

·  LGA Peer Challenges happen every 4 to 5 years. They are at a time chosen by the council with the process being the same for all councils. A timetable is developed, position statements provided by the Council, and these along with the inspection visit itself are used to make an assessment against the LGA Framework.

·  Early in November, the team arrived on the Monday evening with the team being formally welcomed and left on the Friday morning. The team speak to Members, officers, stakeholders and partners. The team then provide feedback on their findings and quickly produce a report which is published. An action plan is produced in response to recommendations and was provided to members as part of the agenda pack.

·  The team had noted that the council’s values are lived and breathed by the Council and recognised by its partners. High level objectives are delivered on the ground which is good for partner organisations who are contributing to shared goals and ambitions.

·  The Council was found to benefit from a stable political leadership. Initiatives such as Child Friendly City and Net Zero by 2030 were obvious and visible priorities that can be seen throughout the organisation.

·  The Council was found to have good working relationships with partner organisations and the work with anchor organisations is particularly valuable. It was noted there was more work that could be done in relation to locality working.

·  The budget gap and funding reductions were also noted as a challenge felt both in Leeds and across the local government sector.

Cllr Lewis, Leader of Council  ...  view the full minutes text for item 91.

To receive a report from the Director of Resources on Civic Enterprise Leeds (CEL) a service that has recently moved into the remit of the Board. This focuses on an outline of services, key areas of focus and the journey so far on its road to commercialisation.

The report of the Director of Resources provided Strategy and Resources Scrutiny Board with an introduction and update on Civic Enterprise Leeds (CEL) outlining its activities and key areas of focus along with its journey so far on its road to commercialisation.

Attending the meeting for this item were:

·  Neil Evans - Director of Resources

·  Mariana Pexton - Chief Officer Strategy and Improvement

·  Mandy Snaith - Deputy CO CEL & Head of Catering & Fleet

·  Richard Jackson - Head of Passengers, Cleaning and Facilities Management

·  Craig Simpson - Head of Leeds Building Services

·  Mohammed Afzal - Commercial Operational Manager

·  Cllr Coupar - Executive Member for Resources

The Chair welcomed the officers to this Scrutiny Board noting that they had recently moved into the remit of the Strategy and Resources Scrutiny Board.

The Scrutiny Board were provided with the following information:

·  Civic Enterprise Leeds (CEL) sits within the Resources Directorate with a head count of 3,496 and is comprised of the following services:

o  Cleaning and Facilities Management

o  Corporate Property Management

o  Passenger Transport

o  Catering

o  Fleet Services

o  Leeds Building Services

·  CEL has a total staffing budget of £69.5 million for the year 2021/22 and total staffing costs at the year-end were £66 million. It has a gross expenditure budget of £147.8 million and income budget of £141.2 million leaving a net managed budget of £6.6 million.

·  During the pandemic the vast majority of CEL staff were needed to carry out their frontline roles such as transporting vulnerable children to schools, cleaning of schools and care homes, Meals at Home Deliveries, Fire Safety Checks in flats, and repairs in council houses. During this time CEL also delivered other vital services to keep the city safe, some beyond what would normally be expected such as building a temporary mortuary, managing the PPE Hub facility, carry out Covid response cleans in LCC buildings and schools.

·  Members were provided with a brief overview of all the service areas provided by CEL which included staffing and services they provide and was set out in the submitted report.

·  CEL have been successful in tendering work for services such as window cleaning in Doncaster, Barnsley and for the South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue and to homeowners through the PRESTO service.

Responding to questions from Members the Board was provided with the following information:

·  It was noted that whilst the use of routing technology had increased but it was still difficult to deliver services as efficiently as they would like. The routing technology could be used to track jobs to allow smarter dispatch to ensure health and safety and increase productivity. However, negotiations were still ongoing with trade unions about the use of this technology. Key issues that the technology could address include speeding, idling, harsh breaking, productivity and location of missing vehicles with a focus on measures that would save the authority money. The Board noted the possibility of a further update on this at a future meeting.

·  CEL would like to use more SMEs for  ...  view the full minutes text for item 92.

To consider a report from the Director of Resources providing an update on the Council’s Procurement and Commercial Services. This follows consideration in previous municipal years and focuses on social value in procurement, effective contract management, the potential for savings and delivery of value for money, performance and the board’s interest in payment of corporation tax.

The report of the Director of Resources provided an update as to progress made in relation to the P2P Review and delivering the P2P Action Plan. A copy of the P2P Action Plan and summary of progress to date in relation to all elements was attached at Appendix 1 of the submitted report. The report also brought to Members’ attention the work underway to develop a Council-wide best practice approach to contract management, proposals to further develop opportunities for delivery of additional social value in procurement and examples of savings/avoided costs in relation to external spend.

In attendance for this item were:

·  Neil Evans - Director of Resources

·  Cllr Coupar - Executive Member for Resources

·  Mariana Pexton - Chief Officer Strategy and Improvement

·  Kieron Dennett - Head of Procurement and Commercial Services

·  Tony Bailey - Group Procurement Manager

The Head of procurement and Commercial Services presented this report which provided an update on the progress to delivery of the P2P Action Plan. The Action Plan was developed as part of the Core Transformation Programme which is looking at improving efficiencies across all the Councils processes and systems related to the procurement lifecycle.

It was noted that there was a summary in the appendix of all P2P actions and the progress made.

The report highlighted the progress made on the best council approach to contract management, proposals to embed and maximise additional social value through procurement, there was also some examples where services had delivered savings in the last twelve months. The report also provided information on the Fair Tax Mark and the Fair Tax Declaration.

In response to questions from Members the Scrutiny Board were provided with the following information:

·  Two areas of flexibility in the council’s procurement arrangements which would be beneficial to CEL:

1.  Where trading commercially to react quickly to purchase goods there was a flexibility built into the Contract Procedure Rules when they were reviewed in September 2022.

2.  A meeting later in the week will discuss CEL business with SME’s and how the Council can use them more flexibly. It was noted that the Contract Procedure Rules were in place to ensure delivering best value and that the Council has good governance and control in place, but that there is a balance in low value spend to allow for the use of SME’s and more work was required in this area.

·  In relation to contract management and delivering additional training to staff. It was noted there was a contract management module which had been developed to assist in managing contracts over £10,000 which are registered on the Council procurement platform. This had only been introduced in the last year and there was a need to train people in its use and the benefits of the system. The Board were advised that those who were using the module had given positive feedback.

·  The Governance and control through the Contract Procedure Rules provides best practice which had been noted by the LGA Peer Review on procurement a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 93.

To consider a report from the Director of Resources on Freedom of Information (FOI) / Environmental Information Regulations (EIR) requests at Leeds City Council focussing on performance against KPIs, FOI processes and the potential for the use of technology or automation to assist in service delivery. This follows consideration of an initial item on this subject in February 2022.

The report of the Director of Resources provided the Strategy and Resources Scrutiny Board with an update on the measures currently underway to improve performance against the council’s statutory obligations in relation to Freedom of Information (FOI) and Environmental Information Regulations (EIR) information rights requests.

In attendance for this item were:

·  Neil Evans - Director of Resources

·  Cllr Coupar - Executive Member for Resources

·  Mariana Pexton - Chief Officer Strategy and Improvement

·  Aaron Linden - Head of Information Management and Governance

The Head of Information Management and Governance presented the report highlighting the following key issues:

·  The pandemic affected all the local government sector in responding to requests for information. As a result, a restructure of the service had taken place.  It was note that it had been a challenge to bring together new and different ways of working following the restructure, sometimes using legacy systems and the need to train 40 people.

·  As a result of process changes performance had improved in relation to the previous year. The first phase of changes went live on the 1 July 2022, and in Q2 performance was 89.62% just short of the Council’s KPI of 90%.

·  The use of e-Discovery and Microsoft Power Apps will aim to make a more consistent approach for responses to requests and further improve performance.

·  With support from CLT the team are aiming to raise the importance of information requests by ensuring that Chief Officers are involved in this key statutory duty.

Responding to a question from the Chair the Board were provided with the following information:

·  Progress in relation to automation from an information perspective, the team are currently waiting to get into the Power App ’sprints’, however there is a delay in the ‘Current Sprint’ in relation to the data protection impact assessment. The team will start work on this as soon as possible, work is already progressing on what the team want from the automation and where it wants to be in the future. 

The Chair thanked the officer for attending.

RESOLVED - To:

a) consider the contents of this report and note the council evolving approach to information management and governance with specific regard to FOI and EIR requests, and that the implemented and future planned arrangements are and will improve the performance of the council’s responses to these requests through a dedicated programme of work.

b) Note that a review and update are taking place of the full Elected Members Information Governance (IG) Resource Document which will be completed before the end of the financial year 2022/23. This will then be provided to all Members. The Resource Document includes guidance on Members’ Access to Information which has already been updated – see Appendix 3 of the submitted report.

To consider the Scrutiny Board’s Work Programme for the 2022/23 municipal year.

The report of the Head of Democratic Services set out the 2022/23 work programme for the Scrutiny Board (Strategy & Resources) and is reflective of board member discussions to date.

The Principal Scrutiny Adviser presented the report and provided the following information:

·  In March a staff absence update report has been added to the programme to reflect discussion at the January meeting where members expressed interest in the recent performance statistics on staff absence and the planned savings to be made in the 2023/24 budget through reductions in absence.

·  An item has also been added on Voter ID to provide an update position on preparations for the requirement for ID at polling stations in May 2023.

·  The planned Equality, Diversity and Inclusion working group likely to be a March date.

RESOLVED: -To consider and discuss the Scrutiny Board’s work schedule for the 2022/23 municipal year.

The next meeting of the Board is Monday 27^th March 2023 at 10.00 am (Pre-meeting for all Board Members at 9.45 am).

To note the meeting of Scrutiny Board Strategy and Resources will be on Monday 27^th March 2023 at 10:00am (With a pre-meet for all Board Members at 9:45am)

It was noted that this would be last meeting for the Director of Resources as he was due to retire. The Chair thanked him on behalf of the Scrutiny Board for listening to the Board and providing a direct and honest approach in his responses to the Board.

He wished him well for the future and thanked him for his many years of service.