Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Chris Pierce and Councillor Russell Mellor.

There were no declarations of interest.

In accordance with the Council’s Constitution, questions to the Chairman of this Sub-Committee must be received in writing 4 working days before the date of the meeting.  Therefore please ensure questions are received by the Democratic Services Team by 5pm on Wednesday 5^th April 2017.

No questions had been received.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 9^th February 2017 be confirmed, subject to the addition of the word “substantial” before “additional works” in minute 48, Manorfields/Orchard and Shipman Contract.

The Corporate Contracts Register is circulated under separate cover.

The Sub-Committee considered the latest version of the Corporate Contracts Register. This was now in a new format, having been generated from the Contracts Database for the first time, and included only contracts with a total contract value greater than £200k flagged as red or amber.

It was explained that more contracts were flagged as red or amber now, as the flag was automatically generated by the system and could not be overridden. For example a contract nearing its end would be flagged as red, even though a replacement contract was correctly in place. There were still a number of such caveats which needed to be taken into account while the system was being developed and populated. Further work included adding a risk indicator linked to the Internal Audit Risk Register, and the addition of details of waivers. The system was still on course to be fully operational by September.

The Chairman urged that the Contracts Register should be considered by the next cycle of PDS Committee meetings, and that it should not just be an information item – Democratic Services would ensure that this was on each agenda.  The Register would go through the Commissioning Board and the Corporate Leadership Team (CLT) before being submitted to PDS Committees.

The Chairman congratulated the officers involved in developing the contracts database system.

RESOLVED that the latest Contracts Register be noted, and that all PDS Committees be requested to consider their element of the Register at their next meetings.

Report CSD17053

The Sub-Committee considered its work programme for the five scheduled meetings in 2017/18. There were already three issues flagged for future consideration – the follow-up Internal Audit report on Waivers, Exit Strategies and CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services). It was confirmed that a report on the new Commissioning Directorate was expected for the next meeting. In addition, the Sub-Committee asked for a report on processes around services being commissioned for the first time – it was suggested that this could include a list of examples and information about setting up frameworks for other authorities to join Bromley contracts. It was likely that Audit Sub-Committee would continue to be a source of issues relating to contracts that needed consideration.  

The Chairman urged Members to let him know about any other issues that could be added to the work programme.

RESOLVED that the work programme be updated in line with the comments set out above.

RESOLVED that the Press and public be excluded during consideration of the item 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 summary

refers to matters

involving exempt information

The report concerned issues arising from Audit Sub-Committee’s meeting on 4^th April 2017 – the Sub-Committee decided to defer consideration to its next meeting on 13^th June 2017.