Local democracy

Agenda, decisions and minutes

Venue: Committee Room 1 - City Hall, Bradford. View directions

Items
No. Item

1.

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:

In the interest of transparency Councillor Green declared a personal interest in that he was employed by a recipient of Welfare Advice funding (Minute 6).  He confirmed that he did not receive any funding from those contracts and remained in the meeting during discussions and voting on that item. 

 

ACTION: Interim City Solicitor

 

2.

MINUTES

Recommended –

 

That the minutes of the meeting held on 10 March 2022 be signed as a correct record (previously circulated).

 

(Jane Lythgow – 01274 432270 / Yusuf Patel - 01274 434579)

 

Minutes:

Resolved –

 

That the minutes of the meeting held on 10 March 2022 be signed as a correct record.

 

Action: Interim City Solicitor

3.

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. 

 

(Jane Lythgow – 01274 43270 / Yusuf Patel - 01274 434579)

 

Minutes:

There were no appeals submitted by the public to review decisions to restrict documents.

 

4.

REFERRALS TO THE OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY COMMITTEE

The following referral has been made to this Committee up to and including the date of publication of this agenda.

 

AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION - CONTRACT STANDING ORDERS AND FINANCIAL REGULATIONS - Previous reference: Minute 57 Governance and Audit Committee (2021/22)

 

The Governance and Audit Committee, at its meeting on 21 April 2022, whilst discussing amendments to the Constitution – Contract Standing Orders and Financial Regulations, resolved, amongst other things:

 

(1)  That the Social Value Procurement Policy be referred to the Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee for consideration when the policy is reviewed.

 

The Committee is asked to note the referral listed above and decide how it wishes to proceed, for example by incorporating the item into the work programme, requesting that it be subject to more detailed examination, or refer it to an appropriate Working Group/Committee.

 

(Jane Lythgow – 01274 432270 / Mustansir Butt – 01274 432574)

 

Minutes:

The following referral has been made to this Committee up to and including the date of publication of this agenda.

 

AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION - CONTRACT STANDING ORDERS AND FINANCIAL REGULATIONS

(Previous reference: Minute 57 Governance and Audit Committee -2021/22)

 

The Governance and Audit Committee, at its meeting on 21 April 2022, whilst discussing amendments to the Constitution – Contract Standing Orders and Financial Regulations, resolved, amongst other things:

(1)  That the Social Value Procurement Policy be referred to the Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee for consideration when the policy is reviewed.

The Committee was asked to note the referral listed above and decide how it wished to proceed, for example by incorporating the item into the work programme, requesting that it be subject to more detailed examination, or refer it to an appropriate Working Group/Committee.

 

Resolved –

 

The Committee agreed that the Social Value Procurement Policy be considered, when the policy is reviewed.

 

(Mustansir Butt 07582 101597)

5.

COUNCILLOR CALL FOR ACTION - ANTI-SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR IN THE BRADFORD 2 AND BRADFORD 10 AREAS

Members are reminded that any Member may refer any local government matter to the relevant Overview & Scrutiny Committee.  In considering whether to refer a matter, the Member must have regard to any guidance issued by the Secretary of State.

 

A Call for Action been received from a Member regarding anti-social behaviour in the BD2 and BD10 areas as detailed below:

 

“Following a number of incidents of antisocial behaviour and vandalism in the Eccleshill ward over the past year. I am now requesting that you take steps to implement a Councillors Call to Action as set out in the Councils Constitution.

 

With Bus services, Swimming Pool, businesses and residents in the BD2 and 10 areas regularly subjected to vandalism, anti-social behaviour and threats of violence. There has been little impact from interventions from the Police and other agencies to date. 

 

Previous multi agency meetings have failed to bring everyone together and months on from the last such meeting the problems persist today.

 

Residents are suffering from regular withdrawals of services and reputational damage as a result of the behaviour of a small minority. I believe that there is no other choice left than to take this step”.

 

The request does comply with constitutional requirements (Part3E Paragraph 4).

 

The Member will be invited to attend the meeting to make representations as to why it would appropriate for the Overview & Scrutiny Committee to exercise its functions in relation to the matter.

 

The Committee is requested to consider and determine the request for an inquiry and if it determines to exercise its functions in relation to the matter refer it to the appropriate Overview & Scrutiny Committee.  In this case that would mean retaining the matter itself as the Corporate Overview & Scrutiny Committee considers all Safer and Stronger Communities matters.

 

Members are requested to consider and determine the request for an inquiry into anti-social behaviour in the Bradford 2 and Bradford 10 areas of the District.

Minutes:

Members were reminded that any Member may refer any local government matter to the relevant Overview & Scrutiny Committee.  In considering whether to refer a matter, the Member must have regard to any guidance issued by the Secretary of State.

 

A Call for Action was received from a Member regarding anti-social behaviour in the BD2 and BD10 areas as detailed below:

 

Following a number of incidents of antisocial behaviour and vandalism in the Eccleshill ward over the past year. I am now requesting that you take steps to implement a Councillors Call to Action as set out in the Councils Constitution.

 

With Bus services, Swimming Pool, businesses and residents in the BD2 and 10 areas regularly subjected to vandalism, anti-social behaviour and threats of violence. There has been little impact from interventions from the Police and other agencies to date. 

 

Previous multi agency meetings have failed to bring everyone together and months on from the last such meeting the problems persist today.

 

Residents are suffering from regular withdrawals of services and reputational damage as a result of the behaviour of a small minority. I believe that there is no other choice left than to take this step.

 

It was confirmed that the request did comply with constitutional requirements (Part3E Paragraph 4).

 

The Member attended the meeting and made representations as to why it would appropriate for the Overview & Scrutiny Committee to exercise its functions in relation to the matter. 

 

His presentation to Members detailed quotations and references from members of the public and the police and included that residents were afraid to go out in the area in the evenings; that they were fearful that their properties and vehicles would be broken into or vandalised; they worried about their children travelling to school in that location and they felt stressed and fearful in the area.

 

The Councillor referred to buses being attacked; assaults on the local swimming pool staff; businesses being vandalised, including a food bank; intimidating behaviour in the street; drug use; and bad driving.  It was stressed that the anti-social behaviour had resulted in no go areas for residents and that the situation was wearing and miserable for people living in that location.

 

It was reported that over 50% of calls to West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service had been as a result of anti-social behaviour and in the previous two days two cars had been set alight and rolled the slope onto a residential property.  Buses had been cancelled and re-routed on numerous occasions; taxis refused to service the area; youth activities had been withdrawn and unaccompanied children were banned from the local swimming pool.  The impact on residents was reported with 39% of residents suffering personally from the withdrawal of services; stress and fear was experienced by people living in the area and almost 20% of those surveyed had talked about wanting to move away. 

 

It was acknowledged that anti-social behaviour was not new in the Bradford district or unique to the area under discussion, however, statistics  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

6.

WELFARE ADVICE SERVICES ACROSS THE DISTRICT - PROCUREMENT OF A CONTRACT OVER £2M IN VALUE pdf icon PDF 467 KB

Members will be aware that contracts with a total estimated value and above must be reported to the relevant Overview and Scrutiny Committee.  Reports must be provided at an early stage of the process once a draft procurement strategy and specifications have been developed for consideration by Members.

 

The report of the Director of Public Health, (Document “A”) outlines, for Members’ information, existing Welfare Advice services across the district as funded by Bradford Council; details current delivery systems and recommends that a new procurement process is instigated to identify future service options and needs.

 

Recommended –

 

That the contents of Document “A” be noted and the release of the contract for procurement under the Council’s standing orders be agreed.

(Sarah Possingham – 07582 100244)

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Members were reminded that contracts with a total estimated value of £2 million and above must be reported to the relevant Overview and Scrutiny Committee.  Reports must be provided at an early stage of the process once a draft procurement strategy and specifications have been developed for consideration by Members.

 

The report of the Director of Public Health, (Document “A”) outlined, for Members’ information, existing Welfare Advice services across the district as funded by Bradford Council; detailed current delivery systems and recommended that a new procurement process was instigated to identify future service options and needs.

 

The report revealed that commissioned Welfare Advise services in Bradford were delivered through five separate contracts. Four were constituency based (Shipley and Keighley were combined) and one was for people with long term and/or complex health conditions. There were four lead providers who employed a combination of sub-contractors and/or partners to support service delivery. These were;

Bradford and Airedale Citizens Advice Bureau and the Law Centre, Equality Together, Family Action and St Vincent De Paul/CHAS.  Full details of the providers were appended to the report.

 

Members were advised that the service was commissioned in 2016/17 for a period of 4 years plus one. In 2020/21, due to COVID, contracts were extended by one year to end on the March 31st 2023. A new commissioning process had started to identify and source future services. 

It was explained that Transformation Pilots had been commenced with a consultancy firm in 2018/19 to explore demand in respect of commissioned Welfare vice service and the relationship between those and those of the Council’s own Customer Contacts service.  The results of those pilots were detailed in Document “A”.  Details of a further three pilots starting shortly and to test the assumptions made were also contained in the report.

 

The report revealed that there may be the facility to extend the existing contracts for a further 3-6 months to allow time for a more robust new procurement process to be delivered and for the outcome of transformation pilots to be evaluated. 

 

Responses to a public survey and stakeholder event were reported.  The survey had received 450 returns and showed there was a keen interest in the services for the future.

 

A Member believed that a response of 450 across the district was meaningless and suggested that future consultations should be adequately resources. 

 

He felt it was difficult to consider alternative options from the information in the report and he questioned in there were potential economies of scale by reducing the five contracts.   In response it was confirmed that this was possible as there were four lead providers for the contracts but that could have a negative impact and smaller organisations could be lost.  City Centre services were welcomed but people did want locally based services. In previous years there had been over 20 contracts and, therefore, higher management costs. 

 

It was explained that anti-poverty groups were speaking to people with lived experience and were currently pulling together their  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

7.

ALCOHOL AND DRUG SERVICES ACROSS THE DISTRICT - PROCUREMENT OF A CONTRACT OVER £2M IN VALUE pdf icon PDF 934 KB

As Members are aware contracts with a total estimated value and above must be reported to the relevant Overview and Scrutiny Committee.  Reports must be provided at an early stage of the process once a draft procurement strategy and specification have been developed for consideration by Members.

 

The report of the Director of Public Health, (Document “B”) outlines, for Members’ information, the position of Alcohol and/or Drug services in the district the intention to commission those services under section 7.2.1 (Part 3G) of the Council’s standing orders in relation to contracts of over £2million in value. 

 

Recommended –

 

That the contents of Document “B” be noted and the release of the contract for procurement under the Council’s standing orders be agreed.

(Sarah Possingham – 07582 100244)

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Members were aware that contracts with a total estimated value of £2 million and above must be reported to the relevant Overview and Scrutiny Committee.  Reports must be provided at an early stage of the process once a draft procurement strategy and specification had been developed for consideration by Members.

 

The report of the Director of Public Health, (Document “B”) outlined, for Members’ information, the position of Alcohol and/or Drug services in the district and the intention to commission those services under section 7.2.1 (Part 3G) of the Council’s standing orders in relation to contracts of over £2million in value.

 

The report revealed that Alcohol and/or Drug services in the Bradford district were last procured in 2016/17 as one integrated contract. The contract was awarded to Change, Grow, Live (CGL), a national organisation. To deliver the contract, CGL employed two local agencies, The Bridge Project and Project 6 as sub-contractors, who complemented CGL’s clinically based services, offering a range of recovery options and activities, community based support options and specific services for carers and/or significant others.

 

The new contract would be awarded to one provider with sub providers delivering local support.  Officers were working with partners in the Clinical Commissioning Group and across relevant Council departments to identify future service needs and create appropriate commissioning systems to re-source provision to meet that need.

 

It was reported that the Council had investment from the Public Health Grant of approximately £5 million into Alcohol and / or Drug Services.  New funding had been granted by the Office of Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) of £9,228,611 as Supplementary Grant for the next three years to 2025.    The Council had also successfully bid from the Rough Sleepers Drug and Alcohol Treatment Grant (RSDATG) a sum of £461,090.50 annually to 2025. 

 

The total investment proposed for the services to 1 April 2025 was £7.2 million annually which meant the service would be in a much better financial position and could procure a good service for the people of the district.

 

Services forming part of the contract were reported in Document “B”.   The number of people in alcohol and drug misuse treatment in Bradford during 2021-22 was reported as 3559.  A breakdown of opiate, non-opiate and non-opiate and alcohol clients was provided.  It was reported that 27% of those using opiates and non-opiates were reported as living with a child under 18; whilst the number for people using services for alcohol and living with a child under 18 was 33%. 

 

It was explained that detailed consultation work had commenced including focus groups; surveys; GP consultation and stakeholder events and had provided important feedback. Document “B” informed Members what was intended to be procured.  Members were informed that alcohol and drug services included treatment based and recovery services and there was a need to buy a whole service encompassing recovery models.  Appended to the report was the Substance Misuse Services Review and Needs Assessment at 31 October 2021 and provided a detailed account of a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

8.

END USER COMPUTER EQUIPMENT - PROCUREMENT OF A CONTRACT OVER £2M IN VALUE pdf icon PDF 320 KB

As Members are aware contracts with a total estimated value and above must be reported to the relevant Overview and Scrutiny Committee.  Reports must be provided at an early stage of the process once a draft procurement strategy and specification have been developed for consideration by Members.

 

The report of the Director of Finance, (Document “C”) is provided to advise Members of the forthcoming procurement exercise for the supply of End User Computing equipment with a value in excess of £2 million.  Members are advised of the intention to commission those services under section 7.2.1 (Part 3G) of the Council’s standing orders prior to the commencement of the procurement process.

 

Recommended -

 

That the contents of Document “C”, including the intention to proceed to an Open Tender for the appointment of an End User Computing provider be noted, and the release of the contract for procurement under the Council’s standing orders be agreed.

 

(Dominic Barnes-Browne – 07812 486694)

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The report of the Director of Finance, (Document “C”) was provided to advise Members of the forthcoming procurement exercise for the supply of End User Computing equipment with a value in excess of £2 million.  Members were advised of the intention to commission those services under section 7.2.1 (Part 3G) of the Council’s standing orders prior to the commencement of the procurement process.

 

The report revealed that the existing contract was with Bechtle Direct Ltd which would end in October 2022.

 

The procurement would be to appoint a suitably experienced and qualified provider to supply EUC Equipment. The contract would be for a 4-year term with 2 x 12 month extensions. That would include products such as Desktops, Workstations, Laptops, Tablets and Monitors.

 

The procurement process would be conducted in line with the requirements of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 via an open tender process. An open tender had been chosen to ensure the Council could appoint a provider who could meet all of its requirements.

 

Following presentation of Document “C” Members reported that two years previously one of the Trade Unions had reported that the Council had procured two hundred tablets which were not fit for purpose.  The Director explained that this was before he was in post but understood that those devices were to be utilised by Social Workers but were not compatible with the systems required.  Members questioned if they could be utilised by others or given to support children in the district.

 

In response it was reported that an exercise was being conducted to retrieve those devices which is was believed were in storage.  Following comments that the service should know where those tablets were located and suggestions that they could reduce the cost of the procurement process under discussion, it was reported that those devices would not be appropriate for that contract.  It was agreed to investigate that issue further and report back to Members on that subject.

 

A Member questioned what would happen with the devices when located and it was reported that they were not in Britannia House and had been delivered to Children’s Services when purchased.  It was agreed that spare equipment should not be located with a service and unused.  Discussions were being held with Children’s Services and Members would be informed of progress.

 

It was questioned if the costs in the contract would be fixed or liable to rise once the agreement had been made.  It was explained that the contract would include a price for devices but if there were significant market changes prices could rise. Prices would be checked across the market and if they were not consistent with the provider the contract would not be progressed.  The contract was not merely cost based and price was 65% of the evaluation.  How quickly the contractor could provide equipment was also a consideration as there were equipment component supply issues.

 

Members asked if the agreement reached would allow for the Council to look elsewhere if significant cost  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

9.

DRAFT WORK PROGRAMME pdf icon PDF 202 KB

The Chair of the Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee will submit a report (Document “D”) which includes proposed items for the Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee DRAFT work programme for 2022/23.  The Committee is asked to consider which items it wishes to include in the work programme.

 

Recommended –

 

(1)       Members consider and comment on the areas of work to be carried forward into this municipal year.

 

(2)       That Members consider any detailed scrutiny reviews that they may wish to conduct.

 

(3)       That the work plan for the committee be approved.

 

(Mustansir Butt - 01274 432574)

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chair of the Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee submitted a report (Document “D”) which included proposed items for the Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee DRAFT work programme for 2022/23.  The Committee was asked to consider which items it wished to include in the work programme.

 

It was acknowledged that the Councillor Call for Action would be added to the work programme as an informal item.

 

A Member referred to a request for a report made nine months previously which had not been scheduled for discussion.  Members at the meeting on 14 October 2021 had requested that a report be presented in February 2022, in relation to the Stonewall Quality Standard and the process and costs associated with that standard.

 

The Overview and Scrutiny Lead explained that the issue would be included in a report on the delivery of outcomes against the equality action plan scheduled to be discussed on13 October 2022. 

 

A Member stressed that the Committee had voted unanimously, in October 2021, that a report on the specific issue of the Stonewall Quality Standard, be presented in February 2022.  It was felt that it was not for officers to decide to ignore those requests and unacceptable that it was over nine months since that request had been made. 

 

It was noted that all three resolutions from that issue had not been actioned.

 

Resolved –

 

Members amended and approved the 2022-23 Work Programme.

 

(Mustansir Butt – 07582 101597)

 

 

10.

DATES OF FUTURE MEETINGS

Members are asked to note the schedule of meetings for the Committee for the remainder of the municipal year 2022-23.  The meetings will be held at 1700 hours on the following dates:

 

21 July 2022

15 September 2022

13 October 2022

10 November 2022

8 December 2022

12 January 2023

9 February 2023

9 March 2023

6 April 2023

(Mustansir Butt - 01274 432574)

 

 

Minutes:

 

 

Members were asked to note the schedule of meetings for the Committee for the remainder of the municipal year 2022-23.  The meetings would be held at 1700 hours on the following dates:

 

21 July 2022

15 September 2022

13 October 2022

10 November 2022

8 December 2022

12 January 2023

9 February 2023

9 March 2023

6 April 2023

 

Resolved –

 

The Committee agreed the dates of future meetings.

 

(Mustansir Butt – 07582 101597)