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Items
No. |
Item |
1. |
Election of Chairman
Minutes:
Mr M Balfour proposed and Mr M J Vye seconded
that Mr M J Angell be elected Chairman of the Select Committee.
RESOLVED that Mr M J
Angell be elected Chairman of the Committee.
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2. |
Commissioning and Procurement Topic Review PDF 78 KB
Minutes:
(1) The Chairman
introduced the report that had been circulated with the agenda
which set out proposed Terms of Reference, scope and general
approach to the review included suggested witnesses either for
written or oral evidence.
(2) The Committee
discussed the proposed Terms of Reference and scope of the review
and made the following points:
- Mr Baldock wished it to be noted
that he did not agree with the assumption in paragraph 1.1 of the
report that commissioning was the only response to the statement
that “Public Services are changing as previous
models of service delivery are no longer affordable in a time of
reductions in public spending, future significant increase in
demand for services and increased public expectation about quality
of services.”
- Mr Cowan emphasised
the need to look at the voluntary sector and its issues in
relations to commissioning of services, whilst acknowledging their
hard work he questioned how far it was possible to provide services
with volunteers.
- Mr Baldock proposed
that the Terms of Reference be amended to include reference to
giving consideration to what steps were taken to protect services
if the provider failed to fulfil their contractual
obligations. This on being put to the
vote was lost. It was pointed out that
this was covered within the scope of the review.
- Reference was made to
the importance of Members of the Select Committee being aware of
the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012, which would come into
force on 31 January 2014.
- The Chairman drew the
Committees attention to the importance of Members of the Committee
not approaching individual providers involved in any ongoing
tendering/procurement process to provide Kent services as this was
prohibited in procurement law.
- Members expressed
their individual perceptions of Commissioning within the public
sector and there was a general discussion on the scope of the
review.
- It was suggested that
the Committee should also receive evidence from other Local
Authorities who have had experience of commissioning
services.
- Mr Vye circulated a
note from the “Third Sector Commissioning” conference
that he had attended on 26 November 2013.
- Reference was made to
the recently commissioned Children’s and Adults Mental Health
Service (CAMHS) which was being provided by Sussex County
Council. It was noted that there was an
item on this service at the meeting of the Health Overview and
Scrutiny Committee on Friday 31 January 2014.
- The importance of
robust contract monitoring was emphasised.
- The value of
flexibility in commissioning was mentioned.
- It was confirmed that
witnesses would be asked to share their experiences of barriers to
commissioning as part of their evidence and that evidence would be
sought from those who had been unsuccessful in the commissioning
process.
- The importance of
considering Best Value, including social value as part of the
commissioning process was raised.
- It was mentioned that
all County Councillors could have a role in informally monitoring
contracts in their area and providing valuable feedback. Also
reference was made to the changing role of Councillors as part of
the ...
view the full minutes text for item 2.
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