Minutes for Cabinet Procurement Committee meeting, Jul 14 2009, 5.00PM official page

Apologies for absence were received from Mayor Pipe, Cllr Alcock, Chris Hudson and Belinda Black

There were no declaration of interest

3.1  Committee Work Programme – Forward Procurement Plan Briefing Note with Appendix 1

Contact Juliet Okwuraiwe – 020 8356 3675

3.2  Hackney Procurement Board – Notes of the meeting held on 9 June 2009

3.1  Committee Work Programme – Forward Procurement Plan briefing note with Appendix 1

NOTED that the following items were on the Forward Procurement Plan as red items:

a.  Hackney Downs School – Sports Big Lottery Fund

The Big Lottery Fund had extended the funding for this project until April 2010.  The outcome of the public enquiry should be made available at the end of July 2009.  All the Contractors had agreed to hold their prices although they had all come in over budget.  The consultants were working with them to reduce the costs.

b.  Dalston Library Fit Out

Officers confirmed that this project was on course for them to present a Review Point 2 report to Cabinet Procurement Committee (CPC) in October 2009. 

c.  Telecare and Telehealth

This issue had been reported upon at the Hackney Procurement Board (HPB) meeting on 7 July 2009.  Telehealth was part of a project managed by the Primary Care Trust.  Telecare consisted of 3 separate contracts 2 of which were due to expire in March 2010 the other in November 2010.  Officers were in discussion with the Legal Department to extend the contracts for one year to tie in with the new arrangements under Personalisation.  A Review Point 5 report would be presented to HPB in September 2009.  A Review Point 2 report would be presented in December 2009 with regard to the reprocurement of the service unless there was a problem with the extension of the contracts.

d.  Parking - Management Information Software Replacement

It was reported that this item had been changed to amber.  It would change to green once all the outstanding issues had been resolved.

3.2   Hackney Procurement Board – notes of the meeting held on 9 June 2009 were noted.

This report details the revised “two contract” procurement strategy adopted since the approval of the Review Point 2 report submitted to Cabinet Procurement Committee in October 2008 regarding the procurement of the works for the Clissold Park and House Restoration Project.

Deirdre Worrell introduced the report as set out.  She explained that Officers had agreed to change to a ‘two contract’ procurement strategy.  This would produce a saving on project costs of between £50k and £200k.  In answering a question from the Chair Deirdre Worrell confirmed that this would not affect the timescale of the project and that contractorss were on course to be on site by January 2010. 

In reply to a question from the Chair Deirdre Worrell stated that advice had not been sought from Officers at the Learning Trust or other Directories to which the Chair informed Officers they should do in future, to seek all possible experience available to build into Project Management Teams.  The Chair requested that Chris Hudson be asked to produce a report that would inform Officers across the organisation that this needed to be done and how the process should be followed to ensure that lessons learnt were not repeated.

ACTION CHRIS HUDSON 

In reply to a question from Mike Robson Deirdre Worrell confirmed that site boundaries had been clearly defined and that the project was to be closely monitored to mitigate any risks of claims by the contractors.

RESOLVED to note the revised “two contract” procurement strategy adopted since the approval of the Review Point 2 report submitted to Cabinet Procurement Committee in October 2008.

This report sets out the progress of the Community Services Assessment and Care Management Service’s [the Service] ongoing contract management of the Integrated Community Equipment Service [ICES]. 

Janice Wightman introduced the report as set out.  She read out the expenditure information as detailed in paragraph 4.1 of the report and stated that it was expected that the budget for 2009/10 would have an underspend of approximately £2k. 

In answering a question from Councillor Laing Janice Wightman confirmed that the target from ordering the equipment to installation was 28 days (although Hackney was achieving this 95% of the time within 7 working days) and that all assessments had to be made within 28 days of request.

Councillor Laing stated that he would have liked the information with regard to which ethnic groups in the Borough were and were not accessing the service, to have been included in the report.

RESOLVED to note the performance of the current contract since the previous Review Point 5 report.

The report sets out the Procurement Strategy for Adult Social Care and Supporting People in Community Services, both over the short and medium term; and in the longer term taking into account both the impact of the Transformation of Adult Social Care through Personalisation, and other impending pressures on the service.

Stefanie Seff introduced the report as set out.  In answering questions from members Officers confirmed that Community Services were currently undergoing a restructuring process to ensure a more generic approach to procurement.  This would mean that individual officers would be responsible for contracts from beginning to end and contract management/monitoring would be more stringent.  New ways of working had already been introduced and it was expected that, after staff consultation, the new structure would be in place by January 2010 with advice and brokerage services included.  A contracts register had been established. Members requested that Chris Hudson identify why more than one contracts register appeared to be in use and report back on what steps were being taken to consolidate on one register.

ACTION: CHRIS HUDSON

Officers confirmed that they were working with other Local Authorities and partners to deliver increased value for money services through Personalisation and other impending pressures on the service.

RESOLVED to note the contents of the report and the associated procurement strategy for Social Care and Supporting People within Community Services.

The report sets out details of performance of the Connexions Information Advice and Guidance services by the current provider, and details of overspend.

Alan Wood introduced the report as set out. Officers agreed to Members requested that for future report a traffic light system of red amber and green be used for the key performance indicators.  They also agreed to provide Members with further information on work being done with vulnerable young people splitting this information into the separate groups.

ACTION: ALAN WOOD

In reply to a question from the Chair Alan Wood confirmed that the targets were set nationally but that this represented higher achievement for Hackney as the Borough’s need was much higher than National need.

RESOLVED the report was noted.

The report requests approval to progress with the procurement of new short break services for disabled children and young people, for award in January 2010 and commencement in April 2010

Alan Wood introduced the report as set out.  In answering questions from Members he confirmed that this would be a flexible scheme and would not just be family based; Legal advise was being sought but it was thought that eligibility of the scheme would be for those in receipt of Disability Living Allowance although in some cases this may not be necessary.  Clear resource control would need to be in place.  It was hoped that the existence of the scheme would be publicised widely but that expectations would have to be managed carefully.

Ian Williams stated that expectation management of this project would be key as there was no certainty from the Government that the enhanced funding would be made available from March 2011.

RESOLVED to agree to progress the procurement of new short break services for disabled children and young people in Hackney, to start in April 2010, with a total annual value of £1,164,804.72.

The report makes detailed recommendations for all voluntary sector contracts currently in place.