Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillor Robert Evans.  Apologies for lateness were received from Councillor Angela Wilkins.

There were no declarations of interest.

In accordance with the Council’s Constitution, questions that are not specific to reports on the agenda must have been received in writing 10 working days before the date of the meeting. 

Questions specifically on reports on the agenda should be received within two working days of the normal publication date of the agenda.  Please ensure that questions specifically on reports on the agenda are received by the Democratic Services Team by 5pm on Friday 12^th November 2021.

No questions were received.

The minutes of the meeting held on 13 October 2021, were agreed, and signed as a correct record.

Report CSD21131

The report dealt with the Committee’s business management including the proposed work plan for the remainder of the year.

The Chairman reported that the 5 Year Biggin Hill Airport NAP review had been deferred until the January 2022 meeting as it had proved necessary to engage external counsel to ensure that certain legal questions could be fully dealt with to enable formal consideration of the NAP.

The Vice-Chairman sought two additional volunteers for the Housing and Capital Finance Task and Finish Group.

In response to a question from the Chairman, the Director of Finance confirmed that the national spending review had not included any specific funding for the impact of Covid in 2022/23.  Going forward, Budget Monitoring Reports would include information on the ongoing impact of Covid and more detailed information would be provided in the draft budget report.

The Committee noted that the revised post-Brexit procurement legislation had not been included in the Parliamentary timetable until 2023.

RESOLVED: That the report be noted.

The Committee noted the Forward Plan of Key Decisions covering the period October 2021 to January 2022. 

Portfolio Holder decisions for pre-decision scrutiny.

The Committee considered the following reports where the Resources, Contracts and Commissioning Portfolio Holder was recommended to take a decision:

Report FSD21067

The report summarised treasury management activity during the second quarter of 2021/22 and included a mid-year review of the Treasury Management Strategy Statement and Annual Investment Strategy.  The report ensured that the Council was implementing best practice in accordance with the CIPFA Code of Practice for Treasury Management.  Investments as at 30 September 2021 totalled £427.6m (£373.3m at 30 September 2020) and there was no external borrowing.

In opening the discussion, the Chairman confirmed that he was supportive of the recommendations relating to Sovereign Bonds.

In response to a question from the Chairman concerning variations in the counterparty limits for different banks, the Director of Finance explained that previous assumptions had been made around risks however this was something that was reviewed on an annual basis.

Members discussed the number of investments with banks with a connection to the Middle East, noting that investments were approaching £55-£60m which was a significant sum invested in one geographical area (although it amounted to 15% of overall investments).  The Director of Finance recognised the concerns being raised and explained that controls were in place around FCA regulation, rather than the countries themselves.  Resources were managed through the UK and controls were in the UK although Officers would be happy to review the investments.

RESOLVED: That the Portfolio Holder be recommended to:

1. Note the Treasury Management performance for the second quarter of 2021/22;

2. Agree the amendment to the Council’s Treasury Management Strategy Statement allowing investment in Sovereign Bonds (Sterling denominated only and subject to a maximum duration of three years with a total exposure of no more than £25m); and

3. Recommend that Council approve the 2021/22 prudential indicators as set out in Appendix 4.

Report FSD21064

The report advised Members of the Insurance Fund position as at 31^st March 2021 and presented statistics relating to insurance claims for the last two years. In 2020/21, the total Fund value decreased from £4.396m to £4.383m.  A mid-year review of the Fund had also been carried out and at this stage, it was estimated that the final fund value as at 31^st March 2022 would increase to approximately £4.413m.  The position would continue to be monitored throughout the year. 

In response to a question from the Chairman, the Insurance and Risk Manager confirmed that the Council’s Insurance Services had moved over to LB Sutton on 1 April 2020, and since the move claims handling performance had been good.  In relation to whether there was an expectation that the balance would increase, the Insurance and Risk Manager explained that whilst there may be fewer claims, they may be of a higher value or one claim with a significant value.

In response to a question, the Insurance and Risk Manager explained that Employer’s Liability cover was in place for any personal injury claims submitted by employees but there was no cover for liability arising from Employment Tribunals or settlement costs.  The Employer’s Liability Policy simply covered personal injury to employees and did not cover staff working from home.  The Committee noted that there had been no claims for personal injury in the last year and where staff had any issues with arrangements for  working at home there was clear guidance that these should be raised with line managers in the first instance.  The Portfolio Holder for Resources, Commissioning and Contracts Management confirmed that he had spoken with the Director for Human Resources, Customer Services and Public Affairs who had provided assurances that clear policies were in place for arrangements for working at home.

In relation to the Council equipment used by staff when they were working from home, the Committee noted that in the event of a fire at an employee’s home any investigation of a claim would look at legal liability and from an insurance perspective the Council had adequate cover.  Members asked for information regarding the arrangements for PAT Testing staff laptops and it was agreed that a response from the IT Department would be sought following the meeting.

The Committee noted that there were currently risks around anything that could have been attributed to Covid, whether directly or indirectly.  Other areas of potential risk were claims associated with Highways and Trees.

In response to a question from the Chairman, the Insurance and Risk Manager confirmed that it was normal for local authorities to balance cost and risk by taking a high excess in order to reduce the premium and this level of self-insurance was reviewed at every tender.

RESOLVED: That the Portfolio Holder be recommended to note the report.

The Leader of the Council, Councillor Colin Smith, attended the meeting to respond to questions from the Committee.  Councillor Smith gave a brief introduction highlighting the following issues:

·  Two new Directors had recently joined the Council.  The review of succession planning was ongoing and remained a corporate priority.

·  The new Corporate Plan – Making Bromley Even Better – had been finalised.

·  The 2021/22 staff pay award had been implemented in a timely manner in April 2021.

·  The Council’s Loneliness Strategy had been launched and would soon be having a positive multi-generational impact across the Borough.

·  Preparations were underway for next year’s budget.

·  A number of housing schemes had recently been launched.

·  The tree planting programme was underway.

·  The Electric Vehicle Strategy was moving forward and the Open Spaces Strategy had been considered at the Environment and Community Services PDS Committee on 17 November 2021.

·  Good progress was being made in the Adult Care and Health Portfolio and the Council had a nationally recognised Hospital Discharge Strategy.

·  The pandemic was a long way from being over and the Leader urged all those who were eligible to take up the offer of a vaccine and for all Members to keep hammering that message home at every opportunity possible.

Councillor Smith then responded to questions, making the following comments:

·  The Loneliness Strategy straddled both the Adult Care and Health Portfolio and the Children, Education and Families Portfolio.  Programmes would be developed led by the Executive Assistant to the Leader who was working closely with the relevant Portfolio Holders and PDS Chairmen.  The Committee noted that Members of the Children, Education and Families PDS Committee had been invited to the Adult Care and Health PDS Committee meeting the following week to engage in the discussion around the Loneliness Strategy.

·  The Leader confirmed that there was no intention sell parks, although it was acknowledged that the initial wording of the draft Open Spaces Strategy may have been clumsy and led to confusion.  In terms of the differing response rates to consultations, the Leader suggested that difference could be attributed to levels of interest for specific issues across the Borough as well as the ways in which different consultations were publicised.

·  The Council’s Communications Team had been further enhanced and a new member of staff had joined the team.  Work was underway to improve communications across the Council.

·  In relation to the Afghan refugee issue, there had been a pan-London hiatus, although there was an understanding across London that the families needed to be evenly spread across the 32 boroughs. Significant numbers of families remained in hotel accommodation as there was a basic shortage of available housing and a decision from Government was still awaited in terms of locating families outside London.

·  Discussions with the Government continued around fairer funding and the need for a three-year settlement.

·  The Committee noted that the Leader had been nominated as the Conservative Lead for homelessness/rough sleeping reduction at London Councils and had accepted the role until next  ...  view the full minutes text for item 58.

Members of the Committee are requested to bring their copy of the agenda for the Executive meeting on 24 November 2021.

The Committee considered the following reports on the Part 1 agenda for the meeting of the Executive on 24 November 2021:

(5)  BUDGET MONITORING 2021/22

  Report FSD21075

The report provided the second budget monitoring position for 2021/22 based on expenditure and activity levels up to the end of September 2021. The report also highlighted any significant variations which would impact on future years as well as any early warnings that could impact on the final year end position. This report also provided an update on the Covid grant position.

In opening the discussion, the Chairman noted that most of the forecast overspend was concentrated in the Children, Educations and Families portfolio. Members noted that whilst there were some early signs of a return to normal there remained challenges in terms of the budget and mitigations would need to be put in place.  SEN Transport and SEN provision remained key areas of national concern and would require a great deal of attention and work at both Officer and Member Level.  One of the key challenges was that these were statutory obligations and this to some extent limited the mitigations that could be put in place.

The Committee noted that in January 2021, the Children, Education and Families PDS Committee had established a Budget Task and Finish Group to look at budget pressures.  In addition to the issue of SEN Transport, SEN provision and the exponential increase in the number of Education Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) were regularly considered by the Committee with it being noted that Bromley was not an outlier.  The Chairman of the Children, Education and Families (CEF) PDS Committee highlighted that it took only one complex case to derail the budget and that committee received data demonstrating a sustained increase in the number of cases coming through the front door.  Members noted that continued pressure needed to be placed on the Government to deliver the proposed reforms to the national SEN Structure as the system was currently not adequately funded.  It was agreed that the recommendations from the CEF PDS Budget Task and Finish Group would be circulated to the Committee along with some benchmarking data considered by the Task and Finish Group.  A Member noted that prior to the pandemic there had been a trend in the number of looked after children and the number of EHCPs being consistently higher than the agreed budget.  The Member highlighted the need to review these historic trends and set a realistic budget.

Members noted that further detailed work was being undertaken on whether some Covid grants could be used to fund some of the increases in the cost of SEN Transport arising from the pandemic.  The next budget monitoring report would be more explicit around Covid funding.

In response to a question, the Director of Finance agreed to review the data around Section 106 contributions and provide an update following the meeting.

The Committee noted that the contingency budget provided cover for overspends and that there was always rigor  ...  view the full minutes text for item 59.

Report CSD21130

The report presented the BT/ICT contract performance report, utilising the Pan London Framework, covering the period 1 September 2020 to 30 August 2021.

The Chairman welcomed Mr Ian Withycombe and Mr Alan Gardener from BT to the meeting.

The Assistant Director for IT Services confirmed that comments around the format of the report and the use of jargon and abbreviations had been fed back to BT and would be taken on board for future reports.

In response to a question from the Chairman, the Assistant Director for IT Services explained that the decision around service credits had been taken by the pan-London Framework in consultation with LBB Officers.

The Committee noted that Bromley was not an outlier in terms of the decision not to implement the latest version of Windows (Windows 11).  Members noted that when new versions were released there were often a number of bugs and fixes that were required and it was therefore considered more appropriate to remain one version behind the latest to ensure that all the corporate IT systems were able to interact with the new operating system.

A Member highlighted the need to ensure that the communications system used by the IT Helpdesk allowed Members to return calls.  In response, the Assistant Direction confirmed that he would ensure that direct telephone lines were provided when messages were left.

In response to a question, Mr Gardener confirmed that during the period of the pandemic when new laptops were being rolled out to staff, call volumes to the help desk increase by approximately 40%.  Feedback from staff indicated that they were happy with the new devices.  Although the laptop rollout to staff was drawing to a close the service continued to work on a number of projects such as the upgrade to the servers, work on Skype for Business and Office 365.  In addition calls to the help desk remained high as staff worked from home and there were less opportunities to share knowledge and best practice in the Office.

The Committee noted that the outcome of the Review of Members’ IT would be presented in January 2022, and Members would have an opportunity to consider the range of options available prior to a decision being taken.

RESOLVED: That the report be noted.

RESOLVED that the Press and public be excluded during consideration of the items of business referred to below as 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.

The following summaries

refer to matters involving exempt information

The Part 2 (exempt) minutes of the meeting held on 13 October 2021 were agreed, and signed as a correct record.

Report CSD21129B

The report presented November 2021’s Corporate Contracts Register for consideration.  Detailed scrutiny of individual contracts was the responsibility of the six PDS Committees with ERC PDS taking an overview of the Council’s larger value (£200k+) contracts to ensure that commissioning and procurement activity was progressed in a consistent manner.  The report provided both the Council wide £200k+ register together with the £50k+ register specific to the ERC Portfolio.  The Part 2 Contracts Register included a commentary on each contract to inform of any issues or developments.

In response to a question, the Assistant Director for Governance and Contracts explained that the way in which contracts were advertised depended on the tender with there being specific requirements dependent on the value of the contract being tendered.  Local businesses were encouraged to sign up to the London tender portal, Contracts Finder and Find A Tender to receive alerts on opportunities relevant to them.  In addition, Officers should consider suitable market engagement and awareness raising prior to tender.  For lower value tenders, there are also specific policies on local engagement, including inviting (as appropriate) tenders from at least one local business.  Members noted that within the Council’s Gateway reports there was a section on market engagement.

RESOLVED: That the contracts Register be noted.