Agenda, decisions and minutes

The agenda and reports associated with this minute can be found here

Please note that if any changes are made to this minute at the point of approval, these will be outlined in the subsequent minute and this document will not be retrospectively altered.

There were no items of urgent business.

The Convener proposed that the Committee consider items 10.1 (Demolition of Torry Academy and Kincorth Academy – Exempt Appendix), 10.2 (CareFirst Contract Extension), 10.3 (Extension to Domestic Gas Servicing and Maintenance Contract), 10.4 (Occupational Health Provision) and 10.5 (‘Being Digital’ Technology Procurement) with the press and public excluded.

The Committee resolved:-

in terms of Section 50(A)(4) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, to exclude the press and public from the meeting during consideration of items 10.1, 10.2, 10.3, 10.4 and 10.5 so as to avoid disclosure of exempt information of the classes described in paragraph 8 (article 15), paragraph 8 (article 16) paragraph 8 (article 17) paragraph 9 (article 18) and paragraph 8 (article 19) of Schedule 7(A) of the Act.

The following declaration was intimated at this stage:

Councillor Yuill declared an interest in item 9.4 (Schoolhill Public Realm Enhancement) by virtue of him being a Council appointed member of Robert Gordon’s College Board of Governors. He considered that the nature of his interest required him to leave the meeting for consideration of this item.

There were no requests for deputation.

The Committee had before it the minute of its meeting of 30 April 2018 for approval.

The Committee resolved:

to approve the minute as a correct record.

The Committee had before it the committee business planner as prepared by the Chief Officer – Governance.

The Committee resolved:

(i)               to note that item 4 (Procurement workplans) and 7 (ESCo) had been delayed to the next meeting of the Committee on 13 September 2018;

(ii)             to agree to remove item 5 (Development of Models for Civic Leadership and Engagement) and to note that any future proposals would be presented to the appropriate Committee for consideration;

(iii)            to agree to remove item 6 (Construction Charter);

(iv)            to agree to remove items 9 and 10 (Review of Sports Organisations – Long Terms Future Viability and Sport Aberdeen Contract) and to note that both aspects would be reported as part of the report on the best way forward for sport in Aberdeen to be submitted to the Committee at its next meeting as per the Council decision; and

(v)             to otherwise note the content of the business planner.

There were no Notices of Motion.

There were no referrals.

The Committee had before it a report by the Director of Commissioning which provided an overview of current arrangements for engaging and consulting with customers and citizens and made recommendations to further develop this as part of the commissioning approach.

The report recommended:-

That the Committee –

(a)       note the intention that a key principle of the commissioning approach would be the involvement of our citizens;

(b)       instruct the Director of Commissioning to undertake an audit and review of existing methods and activity of customer and citizen engagement and report back to the Committee with recommendations which:-

·                     proposed a planned and co-ordinated approach to future engagement and consultation, ensuring that this meets the needs of both the Council and customers and citizens;

·                    identified and spread best practice; and

·                    demonstrated how this would inform future commissioning; and

(c)        instruct the Director of Commissioning to take forward a joint review, including Council, civic and partner representatives to explore civic representation and involvement, to address the questions detailed at paragraph 3.4.17 of the report.

The Committee resolved:

to approve the recommendations.

With reference to article 8 of the minute of the meeting of the Capital Programme Committee of 23 May 2018, the Committee had before it a report by the Director of Resources which presented commissioning proposals in respect of the project and sought approval for the implementation of the proposed procurement.

The report recommended:-

That the Committee –

(a)       authorise the required procurement exercise(s) for improvements in, and around, Heathryfold Park and Auchmill Wood, up to the value of the grant allocation from Scottish Natural Heritage; and

(b)       approve the required procurement exercise so as to facilitate the preparation of Active Travel plans for the schools within this Locality.

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the recommendations.

With reference to article 7 of the minute of the meeting of the Capital Programme Committee of 23 May 2018, the Committee had before it a report by the Director of Resources which presented commissioning proposals in respect of the project and sought approval for the implementation of the proposed procurement.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee –

(a)             approve the appointment of Aberdeen Heat and Power to design, build and maintain this installation on behalf of the Council (with an estimated design and build contract value of £606,000, and with an estimated heat supply and maintenance contract value of £61,513 per annum) and delegate authority to the Head of Commercial and Procurement Services to enter into a legal agreement with Aberdeen Heat and Power Company Ltd for this; and

(b)             approve the establishment of an agreement between the Council and Bon Accord Care, so that the Council became the heat supplier to Balnagask House (with an estimated heat supply and maintenance contract value of £14,150 per annum) and delegate authority to the Head of Commercial and Procurement Services to enter into a legal agreement with Bon Accord Care Ltd for this.

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the recommendations.

DECLARATION OF INTEREST

In accordance with article 3 of this minute, Councillor Yuill left the meeting prior to consideration of the following item of business. Councillor McLellan substituted for Councillor Yuill for this item of business only.

With reference to article 9 of the minute of the meeting of the Capital Programme Committee of 23 May 2018, the Committee had before it a report by the Director of Resources which presented commissioning proposals in respect of the project and sought approval for the implementation of the proposed procurement.

The report recommended:-

That the Committee –

(a)       approve the Business Case and the budget for the proposed works;

(b)       delegate authority to the Chief Officer - Capital, following consultation with the Head of Commercial and Procurement Services, to procure the first stage public realm enhancement, including all necessary consents, licenses, orders and agreements for the area in front of Aberdeen Art Gallery subject to approval of the funding of £550,000 by the City Growth and Resources Committee on 19 June 2018;

(c)        delegate authority to the Chief Officer – Place to bring forward a comprehensive public realm enhancement design for the wider Schoolhill area as future stages of works and report to appropriate committees; and

(d)       instruct the Director of Resources to apply for appropriate external grant funding for design costs of £30,000.

The Convener, seconded by Councillor Wheeler moved:-

            That the Committee approve the recommendations contained within the report.

Councillor Nicoll, seconded by Councillor Cameron, moved as an amendment:-

That the Committee –

1.            instruct the Director of Resources to apply for appropriate external grant funding for design costs of £30,000 and to report on the outcome by way of service update to the relevant committees in early course; and

2.           instruct the Chief Officer – Place to bring forward a comprehensive public realm enhancement design for the Schoolhill area together with the relevant Business Case detailing the works to be undertaken, the projected costs to be incurred and the timeline for completion of any works required and to report back to the relevant committees in early course.  The business case should include a review of preliminary design options already prepared for the public realm enhancement of the Schoolhill area.

On a division, there voted:- for the motion (5) – the Convener, the Vice Convener and Councillors Duncan, Sellar and Wheeler; for the amendment (4) – Councillors Cameron, Flynn, McLellan and Nicoll.

The Committee resolved:-

to adopt the motion.

With reference to article 4 of the minute of the reconvened meeting of the former Finance, Policy and Resources Committee of 6 December 2017, the Committee had before it a report by the Director of Resources which provided an update on the Joint Initiative for hydrogen Vehicles across Europe (JIVE) and sought approval to procure vehicles and hydrogen supply to deliver the project.

The report recommended:-

That the Committee -

(a)             delegate authority to the Head of Commercial and Procurement Services to enter into a contract to purchase ten hydrogen fuel cell buses from the UK joint Hydrogen Fuel Cell Bus contract framework, subject to the Council entering into a commitment with a bus operator; and

(b)             instruct officers to identify the most economically advantageous option to procure a hydrogen supply and delegate authority to the Chief Officer – Capital, following consultation with the Chief Officer – Finance and the Head of Commercial and Procurement Services, to undertake a joint procurement process with Dundee City Council to appoint a supplier of hydrogen.

The Committee resolved:

to approve the recommendations.

With reference to article 6 of the minute of the meeting of the Capital Programme Committee of 23 May 2018, the Committee had before it a report by the Director of Resources which sought approval of the procurement business case and estimated expenditure for the proposed procurement process.

The report recommended:-

That the Committee approve the procurement business case including the estimated expenditure as outlined and instruct the Chief Officer – Corporate Landlord in consultation with the Head of Commercial and Procurement Services to enter into a competitive tendering process for the demolitions in accordance with the Council’s Procurement Regulations.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)        to approve the recommendation; and

(ii)       to request the Director of Resources to confirm the community access to facilities in the vicinity of the demolition site such as the playing fields and that this information be emailed to the four local members for that area.

In accordance with the decision recorded under article 2 of this minute, the following items of business were considered with the press and public excluded.

With reference to article 14 of this minute, the Committee had before it the full version of the procurement business case by the Director of Resources which contained exempt information.

The Committee resolved:-

to note the information contained in the exempt appendix in relation to item 9.6 (Demolition of Torry Academy and Kincorth Academy) on the agenda (article 14 of this minute refers).

The Committee had before it a report by the Chief Operating Officer which sought approval to extend the existing CareFirst maintenance and support agreement until 31 March 2020.

The report recommended:-

That the Committee -

(a)       delegate authority to the Head of Commercial and Procurement, to extend the CareFirst System maintenance and support agreement on an annual basis, ending 31 March 2020; and

(b)       approve the expenditure as detailed in the report per annum in respect of the extension.

The Committee resolved:

to approve the recommendations.

The Committee had before it a report by the Director of Commissioning which sought approval for a two year extension to the Council’s existing contract for gas servicing and maintenance of domestic boilers.

The report recommended:-

That the Committee -

(a)       approve the extension of the existing contract for gas servicing and maintenance of domestic boilers with the current contractor for a maximum period of two years; and

(b)       approve the maximum total estimated expenditure for the extension as detailed in the report over the two years.

The Committee resolved:

(i)               to approve the recommendations; and

(ii)             to request the Director of Resources to advise the Committee, by way of email, when the Corporate Management Team agreed to abandon the tender process for gas servicing and maintenance of domestic boilers and why this had not been reported to the Committee which had approved the tender process on 20 September 2017.

With reference to article 17 of the minute of the reconvened meeting of the former Finance, Policy and Resources Committee of 6 December 2017, the Committee had before it a report by the Chief Officer - Governance which provided an update on the current tender exercise for occupational health provision.

The report recommended:-

That the Committee delegate authority to the Head of Commercial and Procurement to conclude a contract with the successful bidder(s) for the provision of occupational health services for an initial duration of 3 years, with the option to extend for a further period up to 24 months following completion of the current European Union (EU) tender process approved by the Finance, Policy and Resources Committee on 01 December 2017, up to the expenditure approved by the Finance, Policy and Resources Committee on 01 December 2017 owing to the committee cycles and procurement timeframes.

The Committee resolved:

to approve the recommendation.

The Committee had before it a report by the Director of Customer which sought approval to procure the solutions recommended to and approved by the Strategic Transformation Committee on 31 May 2018 to progress the “Being Digital” Strategy.

The report recommended:-

That the Committee –

(a)       delegate authority to the Chief Officer - Digital and Technology following consultation with the Head of Commercial and Procurement Services to procure the option as recommended in the Procurement Business Case at appendix 1 for the Content Management System (CMS)/Website before the current contract ends in March 2019, and to procure a new tactical solution for Community as there was no existing suitable solution within the Council as per the Procurement Business Case in Appendix 1, with a total cost of ownership of no more than the figure detailed in the report;

(b)       delegate authority to the Chief Officer - Digital and Technology following consultation with the Head of Commercial and Procurement Services to procure the option as recommended in the Procurement Business Case at appendix 1 for the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) before the end of the current contract in October 2018 and to procure an additional functionality for Bookings, Workflow and Integration as per the Procurement Business Case in Appendix 1, with a total cost of ownership of no more than the figure detailed in the report; and

(c)        delegate authority to the Chief Officer - Digital and Technology following consultation with the Head of Commercial and Procurement Services to procure a new tactical solution for Master Data Management (MDM) as per the Procurement Business Case in Appendix 1 with a total cost of ownership of no more than the figure detailed in the report.

The Convener, seconded by Councillor Sellar moved:-

            That the Committee approve the recommendations contained within the report.

Councillor Nicoll, seconded by Councillor Yuill, moved as an amendment:-

That the Committee –

1.            agree not to proceed with procurements as recommended in 2.1, 2.2 and 2.3 of the report at this time as the current procurement business cases do not provide sufficient detail to ensure that the proposed procurements provide reassurance on positive outcomes and sustainability; and

2.            agree therefore to instruct the Director of Customer to submit an updated procurement business cases to the Strategic Commissioning Committee on 13 September 2018.

On a division, there voted:- for the motion (5) – the Convener, the Vice Convener and Councillors Duncan, Sellar and Wheeler; for the amendment (4) – Councillors Cameron, Flynn, Nicoll and Yuill.

The Committee resolved:-

to adopt the motion.

-       COUNCILLOR LAING, Convener