Agenda item

A work programme for 2015/16 is attached for the Panel’s comments.

The Panel received a draft work programme for consideration which outlined the proposed content of the meetings scheduled for the year.

The Committee and Scrutiny Support Officer introduced the report and asked the Panel to consider the proposed dates and discussion items.  The Committee noted the deletion of two items on the work programme: the election of the Chair on 6 July 2015; and a review of the work programme on 19 October 2015.

Members were concerned that discussion of the ICT contract was not scheduled to take place until 24 February 2016.  Councillor Dhindsa commented that the performance of the contract to date had been poor, with many promises and commitments not met.  The Panel had hoped for some clarification on a number of action points and it was disappointing that this information was not available for the meeting.  Councillor Crout advised that a report was awaited from the ICT Client Section Head.  This would be circulated to Panel members as soon as it became available.

Councillor Joynes questioned what arrangements were in place to commission a new contract should there be a decision not to renew the contract with Capita.  Competent and qualified staff were vital to securing a sound ICT contract to meet current and future needs.  Councillor Crout commented that he had been closely involved with officers in the appointment of HQ Theatres and Veolia.  Many of these individuals were still in post and had considerable expertise in the commissioning of contracts.

The Partnerships and Performance Section Head added that in terms of the Capita contract external advisers having been brought in to support the development of the contract. In addition, the client team overseeing the ICT contract had been strengthened and there was significant skills and experience within the team.

Councillor Williams added his concerns to the late consideration of the ICT contract in the work programme.  Moreover, he suggested quarterly updates to the Panel on the agreed service level agreements to highlight in good time when and if problems arose.  Reporting should include the Council’s progress on ICT investment, where significant modernisation was required.

Councillor Silver reported that the issue of ICT had been raised at the Audit Committee on 30 June.  At this meeting, Members had been advised that senior officers would make a decision on Capita’s progress at the end of July.

The Chair added his concerns about the Capita contract and underlined the detrimental impact on officers and members of staff.  Concluding the discussion on the timing of the ICT contract in the 2015/16 work programme, he suggested that it be added to the agenda on 19 October 2015.  He noted that this would make a full agenda, alongside consideration of HQ Theatres, however the Panel agreed that both were important issues and should be considered at this meeting.  It was further agreed to keep the ICT contract on the agenda for 24 February 2016 in order to receive an update on progress.

As a point of clarification, the Chair reminded the Panel that its purpose was to hold the Mayor and the Portfolio Holders to account, as well as to examine the performance of the service providers.  Therefore, in addition to inviting the full client team to attend meetings on any given area, the Panel could invite the Mayor and relevant Portfolio Holders to its meetings.

On a separate issue, Councillor Rindl questioned the inclusion of Human Resources performance measures in the report to Panel, in addition to external bodies such as Veolia, SLM and HQ Theatres, in the OSSP’s scrutiny remit.  The Partnerships and Performance Section Head said that the decision had been taken to scrutinise Human Resources for which WBC was the lead authority. However an argument could be made for it to be included in the work programme of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee as it is not ‘outsourced’ or delivered by an external provider.

ACTION: Partnerships and Performance Section Head

• To clarify what arrangements were in place to commission a new contract should there be a decision not to renew the Capita contract.

ACTION: Committee and Scrutiny Support Officer

• To circulate the update report from the ICT Client Section Head as soon as this became available.

RESOLVED –

1.      that an additional discussion of the ICT contract take place on 19 October 2015

2.      that the work programme be approved.