To receive any apologies for absence.

Councillor Churchill sent apologies.

In accordance with the Members’ Code of Conduct, Members are requested to declare any interests orally at the start of the meeting and again immediately before consideration of the matter. Members are reminded to specify the agenda item number to which it refers and the nature of the interest being declared.

There were no declarations of interest.

To approve the minutes of the Finance and Performance Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 5 February 2013 – attached.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 5 February 2013 be received and approved and the Chairman be authorised to sign them.

This report gives details of the Council’s forward procurement activity for the three years from April 2013 to March 2016.

The Assistant Director for Commissioning, Corporate Policy and Strategy was present for this item.

Councillor Miller suggested that a working group of between three and five members be commissioned, which was tasked with contributing to the Total Facilities Management project.  Expressions of interest were sought and it was agreed that the membership be confirmed as soon as possible, outside of the meeting.

It was reported that there was a published list of contracts that the council had awarded.  The Assistant Director agreed to circulate a link to this information.

Concerns were raised about how members were consulted regarding the discontinuing of services.  Examples such as “Dads Unlimited” and the sexual health clinic at Heatham House were cited, where they were of high community value, but low cost.  It was noted that the sexual health clinic at Heatham House was discussed at the previous night’s Education and Children’s Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee.  The Assistant Director agreed to review how information was sent to members in instances such as this.

The presentation of Appendix A to the report was discussed.  It was agreed that it would be useful for more information to be provided on which overview and scrutiny committee had responsibility for monitoring each item, or which Cabinet Member was leading on them.  The Assistant Director said that it may also be useful for members if they were provided with a list of contracts that had been awarded in the previous year.

There was a discussion about how much information is published, particularly around contract specifications, prior to each contract being awarded.  It was mentioned by a councillor that a balance had to be struck between the resource available to publish large amounts of information into the public domain and the value of the contracts themselves.  The Assistant Director stated that there was not the resource to publish this level of information.  Members did however welcome the additional level of detail provided to them on this occasion.

It was agreed that the committee would look at the communications and ICT contracts at a more appropriate time.  Members also requested that those contracts being provided jointly with other authorities be highlighted in future procurement reports.

RESOLVED that:

1. A working group of between three and five members be set up to review the Total Facilities Management project.
2. Members of the working group be confirmed with the Senior Scrutiny Officer at the earliest opportunity.
3. The following procurement items be placed on the committee’s work programme:

·         ICT contract.

·         Communications contract.

This report provides an update to the Committee on the Council’s performance in the third quarter of 2012/13 in relation to key performance indicators and programme/projects reported against Corporate Priorities.  It focuses specifically on the areas which have not met targets for the last two quarters.

The Assistant Director for Commissioning, Corporate Policy and Strategy was present for this item.

The staff sickness figure was discussed, with particular emphasis placed on whether the figure given contained information on former employees, or just current staff.  The Assistant Director confirmed that the recording method used was the same as that previously, so individuals no longer employed by the council were included in the figure.  It was noted that managers and Human Resources were working to reduce staff sickness.  The Assistant Director agreed to provide details of the sickness level for current staff in the next quarter’s performance report.

Richmond Housing Partnership was now sourcing accommodation in neighbouring authority areas.  The Assistant Director said that she would need to look at Richmond Housing Partnership’s development programme to be able confirm whether they were obtaining recognition for their own developments.

It was agreed that a more informative commentary could be provided, which explained the reasons for some of the trends observed in the report.  The Assistant Director said that she would circulate information on the reasons for the Twickenham Regeneration project being amber on cost.

RESOLVED that the report be noted.

This report provides an update on advertising on our public website.

The Director of Finance and Corporate Services was present for this item.

The Director stated that the web advertising project always had a modest income target.  There had been a minimal amount of work involved in launching web advertising because its introduction to the website was a simple task and a company experienced in advertising on local government websites had been commissioned.  The Director agreed to provide more information to committee members on how the contract with the supplier worked.  It was confirmed that web advertising was to remain a small scale project.

A member suggested that targeting local businesses may increase the levels of income generated from this project.  There was however concern raised by other members about the potential for damage to the Council’s reputation should visitors to the website interpret advertisements as endorsements.

There was discussion about outdoor advertising.  It was agreed that the Chairman and Vice-Chairman would discuss this item with officers at the next agenda planning session, with a view to requesting a report about outside advertising for a future committee meeting.

RESOLVED that the report be noted.

This report provides a summary of the new Serco contract now in place for the provision of ICT services to the Council.

The Director of Finance and Corporate Services and the Head of ICT were present for this item.

It was reported that the new contract was currently in its fifth month and was on target to deliver the desired level of savings.  The Head of ICT said that he believed there was a marked improvement in the quality of service currently being provided by SERCO.  He added that none of the councils Richmond upon Thames were entering into shared arrangements with had ICT support contracts with SERCO.

There was discussion about the provision of members’ ICT.  It was reported that this could probably now be provided through the SERCO contract, although it was likely to cost more and some flexibility achieved in the current arrangement may be lost.

The Head of ICT said that although there was now more certainty over the Council’s future ICT needs, it remained unclear exactly how many staff / services the Council may have in 3 years’ time and how they may be organised.

RESOLVED that:

1.      The report be noted.

2.      A follow up report on ICT arrangements be received in Spring 2014.

This report provides an update on the shared legal service with the London Borough of Merton as requested by the committee at its meeting on 5 December 2012.

The Director of Finance and Corporate Services, the Head of Shared Legal Services and the Head of ICT were present for this item.

The Head of Shared Legal Services reported that the service was operating effectively and was now exploring expansion to include the London Borough of Sutton and the Royal Borough of Kingston.  The expanded service was to operate from October 2013, with the London Borough of Sutton and the Royal Borough of Kingston retaining their own Monitoring Officers.

There was discussion around the provision of ICT and the ease of access to each council’s system for shared service staff.  The Head of ICT confirmed that there was work taking place between boroughs to enable greater ease of access to systems for shared service staff.

Officers were congratulated on the work they had done to make the shared legal service a success.

RESOLVED that:

1.      The report be noted.

2.      That an update report be received at an appropriate time in the future.

This report gives details of the proposed work programme.

RESOLVED that the work programme be noted, subject to the changes that had been made during the meeting.