Agenda and minutes

To receive any disclosures of interest from councillors in accordance with the Council’s Code of Conduct for members.

There were none.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 01 July as a correct record.

The minutes of the meeting held on 1 July 2021 were agreed as a correct record.

To note the Capital Monitoring Report 2021/22 Q1 June 2021.

Paul Taylor, Chief Accountant, presented the capital monitoring report for the period 1 April to 30 June 2021.  He advised that references to Covid-19 in the documents related to supply issues and delays resulting from the pandemic.

Paul welcomed feedback on the report and advised that he intended to use infographics and images in future to make the report more accessible.

The Committee resolved to note the report.

To note the Revenue Monitoring Report and the full outturn for 2021/22 and the full variances as at 30 June 2021 by cost centre as reported in Appendix C1 of the report.

Paul Taylor, Chief Accountant, presented the revenue monitoring report which provided a summary of the forecast outturn position for the financial year 2021-22 as at 30 June 2021.  The report showed a projected net under recovery of £128k.  Significant variances included a projected underspend of £95k as a result of unfilled staff vacancies, but an overspend of £107k due to additional consultants fees for the High Street recovery plan and reaching a settlement with KPMG in respect of the 2016/17 audit and value for money fees. A one-off payment had been received for the transfer of Land Charges to HM Land Registry to cover income which would have been received during the year.

Councillor Bateson requested a breakdown of the £107k for additional fees and the Chief Accountant agreed to send the details to Committee members after the meeting. 

Councillor Madams congratulated the Chief Finance Officer and the finance team for the strong, healthy financial position of the Council and the Committee endorsed that view.

The Committee resolved to note the report.

To review and approve the proposed Corporate Procurement Strategy, Policies and Procedures and agree that these should be implemented accordingly.

Hilary Gillies, Corporate Procurement Manager, outlined the proposed strategy which aimed to ensure the Council achieved value for money, whilst considering local suppliers and the wider local economy to encourage economic recovery within the borough.  The revised procedures would improve the social, economic and environmental impact of the Council’s procurement activities.

Hilary Gillies advised that as a result of a change in contract standing orders from July 2021 any procurement of £5,000 or less had to be sourced from local suppliers.  The Committee requested that data recording the number of local companies that benefited from this new process was kept.  A further suggestion was made that the threshold should be increased from £5,00 to £10,000 and it was agreed to consider this at the next meeting of the Committee in order to allow the Corporate Procurement Manager time to consider and report on this proposal.  Any change would require a recommendation to Council for adoption as changes to Contract Standing Orders fell within their remit.

Alternative options considered and rejected by the Committee:

1.    Do nothing

2.    Approve the documents with suggested amendments

The Committee resolved to approve the proposed Corporate Procurement Strategy, Policies and Procedures and that these should be implemented accordingly.

Reason for decision:

The Corporate Procurement Strategy, Policy and Procedures provide strategic intentions and guidance for all of Spelthorne’s procurement activity, linked to the revised Contract Standing Orders, approved by Council on 15 July.

The documents will support the delivery of improved value for money, enable local economic recovery and provide enhanced contract compliance through our procured contracts, whilst also addressing actions recommended by the Internal Audit.

To approve the replacement of ICT storage and backup target infrastructure as per Option 2 of the Report  and give delegated power to the Group Head of Commissioning and Transformation to appoint a supplier once all the prices have been returned.

Alistair Corkish, ICT Manager, advised that the Storage Area Network (SAN) and back-up devices were past their end of shelf life and required replacement.  A 12 month extension to the support contract was in place until April 2022 but with a lower level of support.   Alternative replacement options had been explored, but moving to the Cloud was significantly more expensive and an on premise solution was considered the most cost-effective.

The Committee sought reassurance that the current system was as secure as possible and was advised that the devices were very secure.  Any new system would not be top of the range but considered a good standard.

The IT team were thanked for the help and support they provided to members.

Alternative options considered and rejected by the Committee:

1.    To do nothing

2.    Move the backend infrastructure to the Cloud.

3.    Relocate the hardware estate to a third-party data centre

4.    VDI Cloud Offering

5.    Software as a Service (SaaS) solution

The Committee resolved to approve the replacement of the ICT Storage as per the preferred option and backup target infrastructure and gave delegated power to the Group Head of Commissioning and Transformation to appoint a supplier once all the prices have been returned.

Reason for decision:

The Storage Area Network (SAN) and backup target devices are approaching 6 years old. The support and maintenance had already been extended for 12 months until April 2022. The devices are past end of life.

To note the steps taken to implement the Polling Station review and to ensure a COVID-19 secure election took place.

Victoria Statham, Monitoring Officer, reported on the process followed to ensure safe Covid secure elections took place during the pandemic and how changes in polling station locations were communicated.  

A risk assessment had been conducted of each polling station to ensure they had suitable entrance and exit points and were sufficiently large to allow social distancing.  It had been necessary to change some locations to ensure that it was considered safe for staff, public and candidates.  Any changes to locations were publicised using all forms of media.

There had also been a drive to encourage people to vote by post which had been successful.

The Committee resolved to note the steps taken to implement the Polling Station review and to ensure a Covid secure election took place.

To consider the Forward Plan for committee business.

It was agreed that the forward plan would be circulated to members separately for comment as the incorrect plan had been included in the agenda papers.

To consider any business deemed as urgent by the chair.

There was none.