Agenda and minutes

The Chairman advised that he intended to consider the Total Facilities Management item (Item 9 on the agenda) in the exempt part of the meeting as the consideration of this item was likely to involve the disclosure of exempt information.

To receive apologies for absence and notification of any substitutes present

Apologies for absence were received from Mrs Dean, Mr Chard and Mrs Crabtree. Mr Homewood and Mr Cooke attended as substitutes for Mr Chard and Mrs Crabtree respectively.

Mr J McInroy proposed that Mr A Marsh be elected as the Vice-Chairman of the Cabinet Committee, Mr P Barrington-King seconded.

Agreed without a vote

To receive any declarations of interest made by Members in relation to any matter on the agenda.  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 consider and approve the minutes as a correct record.

Resolved that the minutes of the meetings held on 8 March 2017 and 25 May 2017 are correctly recorded and that they be signed by the Chairman.

To consider and approve the minutes as a correct record.

Resolved that the minutes of the meeting held on 21 February 2017 be noted.

To receive and note a report that shows progress made against targets for Key Performance Indicators

Richard Fitzgerald (Business Intelligence Manager), Rebecca Spore (Director of Infrastructure), Ben Watts (General Counsel) and Amanda Beer (Corporate Director Engagement, Organisation Design & Development, Strategic and Corporate Services) were in attendance for this item.

(1)  Mr Fitzgerald introduced the Strategic and Corporate Services year-end report and the key performance indicators, the indicators and targets discussed were set out at the beginning of the year through the annual business plan and were aligned either to the priorities for the year or as core business. The results in the report summarised the indicators in the dashboard for the last financial year. Although there were areas that could be improved, Mr Fitzgerald commented on the overall excellent result and confirmed that the majority of indicators were on or ahead of target.

(2)  Ms Spore referred to the Capital Receipts target and confirmed that the target for the last financial year was significantly higher than the preceding year. The balancing figure required to fund the capital programme was £50 million and a programme had been introduced to seek potential disposal. £17.8 million of assets had been disposed of during last financial year but there was a financial shortfall. A number of sites had been taken to market and both conditional and unconditional offers received. Conditional offers were taken in consultation with Finance as they represented better value for the County Council. After the discussion with Finance, a bridging mechanism had been agreed to allow the Capital Programme to be funded. There had been issues with planning processes for some sites where appeals had been pursued which caused delays in terms of delivery.

(3)  Mr Hotson undertook to consider the suggestion of a three-year rolling programme for the Property Capital Programme.

(4)  In relation to GL03 Data Protection Act Subject Access requests, Mr Watts confirmed that although the target had not been met for a number of years, the target mark would not change. He explained that Data Protection Act Subject Access requests could include requests by care leavers who may have left care a long time ago and therefore have paper records which were time consuming to provide. He acknowledged that this indicator could be improved if more resources were allocated but it was agreed not to change this. However, there was an improvement in performance from 80% in the previous year to 82% this year. He emphasised that the team continued to work hard and deal with the difficult circumstances and challenges well.

a)    In response to a question about the Data Protection Act Subject Access requests timescale, Mr Watts confirmed that the requirement was to respond to requests within 40 calendar days.

b)    A Member suggested that a performance indicator should be included in the Dashboard which set out the compliance with mandatory Data Protection and Information and Governance training for Officers. Mr Hotson also confirmed that the suggestion would be taken on board.

c)    A Member commented on the unrecorded net receipts for the last financial year and suggested new ways in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

To note the provisional outturn for revenue and capital for 2016-17

Andy Wood (Corporate Director of Finance, Strategic and Corporate Services) was in attendance for this item.

1)    Mr Wood introduced the report and explained that the over-spend of £11 million at October 2016 had decreased to £8 million in December 2016 and that delivering an under-spend had proved to be challenging.

2)    Mr Simmonds reminded Members that for 17 consecutive years, an under-spend had been delivered and that the budget issues had not prevented the directorates from keeping front line services in place.

a)    Mr Wood undertook to provide Mr Bird with a full list of the variations on the Financing budget line to the 2016-2017 budget.

b)    A Member commented on the current street lighting fixtures and asked why the majority of concrete posts still awaiting replacement were in the Thanet area. Mr Wood and Miss Carey explained that this programme was still being rolled out and the works were being prioritised within the whole County Council budget.

3)    Resolved that the provisional outturn for revenue and capital for 2016-2017 be noted.

The Cabinet Committee is asked to endorse Covenant work to date, commit to priorities going forward and to champion the Covenant across the county.  Individual Members are also invited to engage locally in Covenant efforts

Debra Exall (Strategic Relationships Adviser) was in attendance for this item.

1)    Mr Long updated the Committee on the successful cross-border bid between Kent and neighbouring counties. The £321,000 awarded would be used across Kent, Surrey, Sussex and Hampshire to train front line staff to meet the needs of armed forces personnel and their families, develop a smart phone app to make it easier for members of the armed forces to find appropriate support and guidance and establish a network of career coaches to help those making the transition to civilian life.

2)    In response to a question about partnership working with the armed forces champions, Ms Exall stated that she works closely with other districts and borough councils. Every district and borough had a Councillor who was allocated as their armed forces champion. The districts and boroughs also had supporting officers with whom Ms Exall met regularly.

a)    Members commented on the scheduled closure in 2027 of The Queens Ghurka Engineers based in Maidstone and asked for further clarification and reassurance on this decision. Mr Long and Ms Exall confirmed that they were aware of the issues and that they were currently in conversation with councils in London regarding the placement of homeless families.

b)    A Member asked whether the cadets for the Army, Navy, Airforce and Royal Marines were part of the Armed Forces covenant programme. Mr Long confirmed that, although the cadets had been specifically excluded from the national Covenant initially, pressure was being brought to bear about this across the country. The Kent & Medway Civilian Military Partnership Board’s terms of reference and action plan included the cadets from all four services, as everybody should contribute to promoting and supporting the cadets.

3)    Resolved that:

a)    The Covenant work to date be endorsed;

b)    A commitment given to the priorities going forward;

c)    The Covenant be championed by the Committee across the County;

d)    Local Members be invited to engage locally in Covenant efforts.

To consider and agree a work programme for 2017/18

Resolved that the work programme for 2017-18 be noted subject to the inclusion of Data Protection and the Kent County Council website.

To note the current performance of the TFM contractors and assurance from the Policy and Resources Property Sub Committee

Rebecca Spore (Director of Infrastructure) and Karen Ripley (Property Commissioning Team) were in attendance for this item.

1)    Ms Spore introduced the report which updated the Committee on the performance of the Total Facilities Management (TFM) Contracts - Mid Kent with Amey, West Kent with Skanska, and East Kent with Kier, as reviewed by the Property Sub Committee in February 2017.  The report provided Members with assurance that management and monitoring of the three TFM contracts were in place.

2)    Mr Hotson, Cabinet Member for Corporate and Democratic Services, Ms Spore and Ms Ripley answered detailed questions from Members in relation to the contract generally and performance specifically.

3)    Officers undertook to arrange a briefing for Members on the role of GEN2.

4)    RESOLVED that the current performance of the TFM contractors and assurance from the Property Sub Committee be noted.

Resolved that under Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972 the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act.

To receive a report on the option to implement a new service delivery model for the Business Services Centre through the creation of an arm’s length trading vehicle

Rebecca Spore (Director of Infrastructure) and Mark Scott (Business Services Centre Transformation Director)were in attendance for this item.

1)    Ms Spore introduced the report, illustrated by a PowerPoint presentation, on the option to implement a new service delivery model for the Business Services Centre through the creation of an arm’s length trading vehicle from which KCC would commission transactional Finance, HR and ICT services. 

2)    Mr Hotson, Ms Spore and Mr Scott answered questions from Members on the presentation and detail of the proposal.  It was confirmed that the Committee would have the opportunity to comment further on the proposal at their next meeting, prior to a final decision being taken.

3)    It was suggested that Members might find it helpful to visit Commercial Services to show how KCC traded companies operated, in conjunction with the briefing on BSC and GEN2 mentioned in the previous item. Officers were requested to arrange a Member's briefing on KCC's trading companies before the next Committee Meeting in September.

4)    Resolved that:

(a)  The current progress be noted and the recommendation to proceed in the creation of a trading structure for the Business Services Centre be endorsed.

(b)   The continued development of the implementation plans which include the establishment of shadow governance, contractual and trading arrangements in line with the implementation plan with associated spend as outlined in section 5 and 7.2 in the report be noted.

(c)  It be noted that further updates will be provided to the Policy and Resources Cabinet Committee and the Commissioning Advisory Board with a final decision to be taken in the Autumn to proceed with the launch date in the first financial quarter of 2018/19.

To receive an update on the ICT security status, and the threats the Authority faces

Rebecca Spore (Director of Infrastructure) and Michael Lloyd (Head of Technology Commissioning & Strategy)were in attendance for this item.

1)    Mr Lloyd introduced a report which updated the Committee on the security status, the threats faced by the Authority and how these were being addressed.

2)    Mr Lloyd answered questions from Members. It was suggested that an item on the integration of ICT platforms be included in the work programme for this Committee.

3)    The Committee recorded their thanks to ICT for their work in this dynamic environment.

4)    Resolved that the report be noted.