Venue: Council Chamber - City Hall, Bradford. View directions
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ALTERNATE MEMBERS (Standing Order 34) The City Solicitor will report the names of alternate Members who are attending the meeting in place of appointed Members.
Minutes: Councillor Griffiths for Councillor J Sunderland. |
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DISCLOSURES OF INTEREST (Members Code of Conduct - Part 4A of the Constitution)
To receive disclosures of interests from members and co-opted members on matters to be considered at the meeting. The disclosure must include the nature of the interest.
An interest must also be disclosed in the meeting when it becomes apparent to the member during the meeting.
Notes:
(1) Members may remain in the meeting and take part fully in discussion and voting unless the interest is a disclosable pecuniary interest or an interest which the Member feels would call into question their compliance with the wider principles set out in the Code of Conduct. Disclosable pecuniary interests relate to the Member concerned or their spouse/partner.
(2) Members in arrears of Council Tax by more than two months must not vote in decisions on, or which might affect, budget calculations, and must disclose at the meeting that this restriction applies to them. A failure to comply with these requirements is a criminal offence under section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992.
(3) Members are also welcome to disclose interests which are not disclosable pecuniary interests but which they consider should be made in the interest of clarity.
(4) Officers must disclose interests in accordance with Council Standing Order 44.
Minutes: There were no disclosures of interest in matters under discussion. |
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INSPECTION OF REPORTS AND BACKGROUND PAPERS (Access to Information Procedure Rules – Part 3B of the Constitution)
Reports and background papers for agenda items may be inspected by contacting the person shown after each agenda item. Certain reports and background papers may be restricted.
Any request to remove the restriction on a report or background paper should be made to the relevant Strategic Director or Assistant Director whose name is shown on the front page of the report.
If that request is refused, there is a right of appeal to this meeting.
Please contact the officer shown below in advance of the meeting if you wish to appeal.
(Yusuf Patel - 01274 434579)
Minutes: No request to remove the restriction on a report or background paper was made. |
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REFERRALS TO THE OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY COMMITTEE No referrals were made at the time of the publication of the agenda.
Minutes: There were no referrals to the Committee. |
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Network Infrastructure Development for Bradford District The Strategic Director Corporate Services will submit a report (Document “I”) which informs the Corporate O&S Committee of the intention to go to market to procure a network infrastructure partner to deliver full fibre gigabit network infrastructure for the Council and the Bradford Learning Network (BLN) and obtain scrutiny and any suggestions on the proposals. The procurement will achieve significant social value by way of increased investment in gigabit connectivity for large parts of Bradford and can be delivered within existing expenditure levels. No capital funds or additional revenue is sought.
Recommended –
The O&S Committee is asked to note and consider the recommended option 3 set out in Document “I”, to procure a network infrastructure provider for 20 years and a network services provider will be procured on a 3 to 5-year contract. The Strategic Director Corporate Resources in conjunction with Director of Finance & IT to appoint a provider, subject to the cost being within existing budget provision.
(Paul Wilson - 07812 490703) Minutes: Officers from Bradford Council, informed Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee Councillors that they would be going to market to procure a network infrastructure partner for 20 years to deliver full fibre gigabit network infrastructure for the Council and the Bradford Learning Network, (BLN).
Members also learned that this would also deliver significant social value, that would otherwise be “left behind”, for some years using inadequate broadband. Members were keen to explore what the wider benefits of this work would be and to also ensure that Bradford Council was not taking any unnecessary risks.
Bradford Council officer’s members that the wider benefits would support the business requirements so that Bradford can compete with sectors across the country and that the project would be delivered within budget, whilst also making cost savings.
Moreover, officers also highlighted that successful organisations would be able to secure savings in the long term and that they would also be looking to stimulate areas across the Bradford district, that may have otherwise been left behind.
Member enquired about the length of the contract being 20 years, as Information Technology is developing fast. As well as this member also felt that more detail should have been included in the report and by doing this, the authority would be investing in a “motorway”, for the nest 20 years.
Furthermore, members were also keen to understand how this could be maximised for disadvantaged communities across the District and access to Information Technology.
In response, officers highlighted to members that they would need to work with communities across the District, to look at affordability and that there were a number of options that they were considering at developing with the infrastructure partners.
In response, officers informed members that 20 years was the normal length of such contracts and that’s there was no new technology on the horizon. Moreover, benchmarking would be incorporate into the contract to ensure that best value is achieved.
Resolved –
(1) That the comments raised by members be considered as part of this procurement exercise.
(2) This Committee requests that officers share the findings of the soft market testing exercise with members of this Committee.
(Paul Wilson – 07812 490703) |
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VOLUNTARY COMMUNITY AND ENTERPRISE SECTOR (VCSE) INFRASTRUCTURE PROCUREMENT STRATEGY The Strategic Director Place will submit a report (Document “J”) which advises of the forthcoming procurement of a combined VCSE contract for services with a value in excess of £2 million in line with the requirements of Contracts Standing Orders (CSO 7.2.1) prior to the commencement of the procurement process.
Recommended –
That the Overview & Scrutiny Committee consider and comment on the forthcoming procurement of a combined VCSE contract.
(Ian Day - 01274 433507)
Additional documents:
Minutes: Officers from the Department of Place informed Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee members of the forthcoming procurement of a combined Voluntary Community Sector Enterprise (VCSE) Infrastructure Procurement Strategy.
Members learned that this was a combined VCSE grant with a value in excess of £2million, in line with the requirements of Contracts Standing Orders (CSO 7.2.1) and members were being informed of this, prior to the commencement of the procurement process.
Members of the Committee were of the view that this was a more informed and detailed report, in comparison to the report that had been presented at the last meeting of Corporate Overview and Scrutiny on Thursday 16 September 2021.
Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee members were keen to understand how the performance and value for money aspects of this procurement activity would be monitored.
In response, Bradford Council officers stated that there would be quarterly meetings to monitor the performance and value for money aspects.
Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee members were very keen to keep an overview of this and for the performance against the contract to be included in the Stronger Communities updates to this Committee.
Resolved –
This Committee requests that the performance against the contract be included in the Stronger Communities update to this Committee.
(Ian Day – 01274 433507) |
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