Agenda, decisions and minutes

There were no apologies for absence.

To note any urgent items of business which the Chairman has consented to being considered under the provisions of Section 100(B) 4(b) of the Local Government Act 1972.

There were no urgent items of business.

Members should declare the existence and nature of any Disclosable Pecuniary Interest and Non Statutory Interest as defined by the Members’ Code of Conduct in respect of:

a)  any business on the agenda

b)  any urgent additional items to be considered

c)  any matters arising out of those items

and if appropriate, withdraw from the meeting at the relevant time.

There were no declarations of interest.

To consider the minutes of the last meeting held on 15^th April 2024.

Moved by Councillor Duncan McGregor and seconded by Councillor Mary Dooley

RESOLVED that the Minutes of an Executive meeting held on 15^th April 2024 be approved as a true and correct record.

RESOLVED that quarterly outturns against the Council Ambition 2020-2024 targets be noted.

Executive considered a detailed report, presented by the Portfolio Holder for Corporate Performance and Governance, which provided the Quarter 4 (January 2024 to March 2024) outturns for the Council’s Ambition targets 2020-2024.

The report concluded the performance reporting under the Council Plan 2020-2024, and reporting under the new Council Plan 2024-2028, would commence from Quarter 1 (April 2024 to June 2024/25).

Out of the 25 targets, 16 (64%) had been achieved, 1 (4%) had not been achieved and 8 (32%) had achieved their outturns previously.

The target which had not been achieved related to ENV.03: Achieve a combined recycling and composting rate of 43% by March 2024. The introduction of food waste collection in green bins along with garden waste had commenced in 2014 but had never been popular with households who had preferred to continue placing food waste in black bins due to hygiene concerns, and further, that biodegradable food waste bags were not accepted at the IVC (In-Vessel-Composting) treatment facility. Therefore, increased diversion of compostable, i.e. food waste from black bins, was not realised and had held back the Council’s performance.

The report noted that the Environment Act 2021, required all English councils to implement separate weekly collection of food waste from households from 1st April 2026, to achieve a combined recycling rate of 65% by 2035, and this target had been set within the Council’s new plan 2024-2028.

The Strategic Director of Services advised Members that arrangements were currently being made for food waste collection and a report would be considered at Council on 22^nd May 2024, in relation to a budget for procuring vehicles. It was anticipated that if 50% of food waste in black bins could be captured it should drive the Council’s recycling performance up between 55% and 60%.

In response to a Member’s query, the Strategic Director of Services advised that the new food waste collection bin was a lockable 25 litre container, which could be kept indoors or outdoors and would be collected on a weekly basis.

Members noted that a public education awareness campaign in relation to the new food waste collection bin would need to be carried out. The Monitoring Officer advised Members that Customer Services Scrutiny Committee had recently undertaken a review on improving communication with residents regarding recycling awareness and use of correct bins and would be recommending an action plan to reduce contamination. A report would be presented to future Executive meeting.

Moved by Councillor Sandra Peake and seconded by Councillor Duncan McGregor

RESOLVED that the quarterly outturns against the Council Ambition 2020-2024 targets be noted.

Reasons for Recommendation

This was an information report to keep Members informed of progress against the Council Ambition targets noting achievements and any areas of concern.

Alternative Options and Reasons for Rejection

Not applicable to this report as providing an overview of performance against agreed targets.

RESOLVED that 1) a three-year Microsoft licence contract be awarded,

2) delegated power be granted to the Chief Executive Officer to select the preferred supplier following the procurement exercise.

Executive considered a detailed report, presented by the Portfolio Holder for Resources, which sought Members’ approval to take out a three-year contract to supply Microsoft Licences.

The current Microsoft Licence contract would expire in June 2024. A tender process, following procurement rules using a procurement framework, would be completed during April and May 2024 to select a new Microsoft 365 partner to supply Licenses for the Authority. The approximate value of the contract would be £280,000 split annually over the three years and would take advantage of Microsoft’s special discounted prices provided to government organisations, which would be released during April.

Moved by Councillor Clive Moesby and seconded by Councillor Duncan McGregor

RESOLVED that: 1) a three-year Microsoft licence contract be awarded,

2)    delegated power be granted to the Chief Executive Officer to select the preferred supplier following the procurement exercise.

Reasons for Recommendation

The Authority relied on Microsoft software to continue to provide services to carry out its Council plan.

The new contract would be completed following the Authority’s procurement tender process and would be awarded via a procurement framework. By entering into a three year agreement, the prices were fixed and enabled the Authority to get discounted prices on the government’s new Digital Transformation Arrangement (DTA) which would be released in April 2024.

Alternative Options and Reasons for Rejection

Look at alternative software suppliers. Many of the major business applications would only work with Microsoft products so was not a viable alternative.

RESOLVED that 1) a three-year contract for a new WAN data connection contract with an optional 2-year extension be awarded,

2) delegated power be granted to the Chief Executive Officer to select the preferred supplier following the procurement exercise.

Executive considered a detailed report, presented by the Portfolio Holder for Resources, which sought Members’ approval to sign a three-year contract, with an optional two year extension contract, to renew the wide area network (WAN) data connections.

Wide area network (WAN) data connection links provided network connectivity to the Council offices and outlying offices. The current contract was due for renewal. A tender process would be completed, following procurement rules using a procurement framework, during April and May, to select a provider.

New connections usually had a minimum three year term and include installation costs. The approximate value of the contract over three years would be £80,000. If extended for an additional two years it would be approximately £133,000 in total. The Authority would be billed annually, quarterly, or monthly.

Moved by Councillor Clive Moesby and seconded by Councillor Duncan McGregor

RESOLVED that: 1) a three-year contract for a new WAN data connection contract with an optional 2-year extension be awarded,

2)    delegated power be granted to the Chief Executive Officer to select the preferred supplier following the procurement exercise.

Reasons for Recommendation

Renewing the contract was likely to reduce the cost of the connections.

The procurement would request to renew three authorities’ connections at once which usually makes the contract more attractive to suppliers, usually securing a better price for the Authority.

The new contract would be completed following the Authority’s procurement tender process and would be awarded via a procurement framework.

By entering into a three year agreement, the prices were fixed and did not increase yearly.

Alternative Options and Reasons for Rejection

Continue with the current supplier, however, this would not provide any cost reductions to the Council and would continue to increase yearly.

To move:-

“That under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended), the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in the stated Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act and it is not in the public interest for that to be revealed.” [The category of exempt information is stated after each item].

Moved by Councillor Duncan McGregor and seconded by Councillor Steve Fritchley

RESOLVED that under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended), the public be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business on the grounds that it involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in the stated Paragraph of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act and it is not in the public interest for that to be revealed.

RESOLVED that 1) subject to Council approval for allocation of a budget, the procurement of a specialist supplier to undertake a 100% stock condition survey of the Council's Housing Revenue Account Dwelling Stock, be approved,

2) following consideration and approval of a budget allocation by Council, a further report be provided to Executive outlining the results of the procurement exercise, together with full details of actual costs in to approve the award of contract.

Executive considered a detailed report, presented by the Portfolio Holder for Housing, which provided information and options for consideration relating to the requirement to carry out a full 100% stock condition survey of the Council’s dwelling stock. The report also requested approval to commence a procurement exercise to undertake the survey.

Moved by Councillor Sandra Peake and seconded by Councillor Mary Dooley

RESOLVED that :1) subject to Council approval for allocation of a budget, the procurement of a specialist supplier to undertake a 100% stock condition survey of the Council's Housing Revenue Account Dwelling Stock, be approved,

2)    following consideration and approval of a budget allocation by Council, a further report be provided to Executive outlining the results of the procurement exercise, together with full details of actual costs in to approve the award of contract.

Reasons for Recommendation

A comprehensive stock condition survey was needed to ensure that the Council could meet the Safety and Quality Consumer Standard, and provide accurate information about the Council’s housing stock. This would also allow the Council to assess the overall condition of its Housing Revenue Account (HRA) dwelling stock in an objective and evidence-led way, providing information that could be used to plan future investment and maintenance programmes to ensure that properties were maintained in good condition with optimal use of resources.

Alternative Options and Reasons for Rejection

The Council’s Housing Stock Management Group, had expressed a preference for option 1, given the availability of qualified surveyors to undertake the surveys in-house was low and presented increased risk of their retention on a 12 month contract when market demand for their skill set would be high given other stock holding local authorities would also be undertaking stock condition surveys.

To do nothing would mean the Council was relying on out of date and inaccurate data, we would be in breach of the Regulator for Social Housing Consumer Standards and as well as not having informed data to delivery planned improvements to homes, the Council would risk having homes which did not meet decent homes standards, which fell below required EPC levels and unlimited fines from the Regulator.