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Agenda and minutes

Venue: The Council Chamber, County Hall, Rhadyr, Usk, NP15 1GA

Items
No. Item

1.

Declarations of Interest

Minutes:

No declarations of interest were made.

2.

Procurement: Scrutiny of a performance report on Procurement and the Council's strategic direction

Minutes:

The Chief Officer, Resources provided a presentation entitled “Delivering the initial phase of the Procurement Strategy – A Case for Investment” to convey the substance of a report for Cabinet.  Following the presentation, comments and questions were invited:

 

-       A Member suggested that independent assessment would be beneficial, and also that there should only be reports following notable change to save Officer time and assist progress.  It was also suggested that everyone should have a target to encourage better efficiency and responded that arbitrary targets won’t achieve ownership by departments.  Instead, by working with the local authority partner to gain a good level of insight and data will lead to well-informed targets to enable Chief Officers to be challenged.  Responsibility will be transferred to the Head of Transformation for phase 1. Additional resource and expertise will be brought in on an informed basis based on outcomes after the 3 month period.

-       Members praised the thorough and measured presentation.  Concern about cultural shift was expressed seeking a tighter bond between Enterprise and Procurement.  It was stressed that a pathway of training and feedback of information is key. 

-       In response to a question, it was explained that the change will be “sold” to staff by starting early with good data to produce a better understanding of future procurement work.  The importance of working with staff, training and engaging with suppliers was agreed as key.

Text Box: Committee Conclusions: The Chair summed up that the Select Committee has explored the cultural change associated with the new Procurement Strategy and had considered who will drive it in the future referring to the need for independent assessment . Members commended the measured and informed approach. The Select Committee was assured that the early engagement of staff would be an important step in introducing the new strategy The Chief Officer, Resources was thanked for his presentation. The Select Committee Members looked forward to progress and requested an update on in April.

 

 

 

 

 

3.

Outdoor Education: Scrutiny of the service re-provision proposals. pdf icon PDF 141 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Purpose:

1. To consider the dissolution of the Gwent Outdoor Education Service partnership for which the Council is the lead partner, working with Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council (BGCBC), Newport City Council (NCC) and Torfaen County Borough Council (TCBC) further to the withdrawal of partner subsidy.

2. To consider the closure of the Talybont Site, returning the site to Newport City Council for disposal, and subsequently to consider the associated staff redundancies if suitable redeployment cannot be found.

3. To engage Select Committee Members in initial ideas on future opportunities for service delivery and to receive a presentation from the Service with a view to return when detailed plans are complete.

 

Key Issues:

1. Gwent Outdoor Education Service (GOES) has three residential centres at Hilston Park near Monmouth, Gilwern and Talybont (in Powys). The Council operates and manages GOES on behalf of the partner authorities i.e. BGCBC, NCC and TCBC, the Council own the Hilston Park and Gilwern sites whilst NCC own the Talybont centre.  The service currently provides around 20,000 visitor days annually, the vast majority being residential school groups from South East Wales.

2. Post local government reorganisation in 1996, the joint service was supported by annual subsidies from the four Local Authority partners. NCC, in 2013 withdrew from the Shared Service Agreement and subsidy arrangements due to financial reasons. In 2016, TCBC decided to apply a tapering reduction in subsidy for 2016/17 reducing to nil subsidy in 2017/18. BGCBC also reduced their subsidy and are considering withdrawal.

3.  Since 2013/14 the Service made a small profit until 2017/18 when income levels dropped slightly. This does not include the cost of building maintenance, grounds maintenance or insurances.  If included in the costs of delivering the service, it has operated at a deficit for four of the last five years. A net overspend of £50,000 is predicted for 2018/19.  Reasonable income has been maintained and future operation needs to be reviewed.  The Shared Service Agreement needs to be ended and subject to approval, this will be terminated from 31st March 2019.

4. Hilston and Gilwern sites are owned by the Council and will remain with the Authority. Talybont will be returned to NCC. The return of the Talybont site to NCC will result in the loss of two posts at Talybont and subsequently, redundancy costs. The Agreement states that if the host authority has to make a redundancy payment, the Authorities should make a fair and reasonable contribution but it is anticipated that this be met from the service budget.

5. There will be new possibilities for service design and delivery particularly if the proposed new Alternative Delivery Model, MonLife, is approved by Council in 2019.  Efforts will be concentrated on two Council owned sites by reviewing staff structures, improving efficiency, increasing income and identifying potential new markets.

 

Member Scrutiny

 

Following a presentation from the Head of Tourism, Leisure, Culture and Youth and Gwent Outdoor Education Centre Officers, questions were invited from Select Committee Members:

 

-       Given  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

4.

To confirm the date and time of the next meeting as Thursday 10th January 2019 at 10.00am

Minutes:

Members’ Seminar on Brexit: 15th January 2019, 2.00pm.  The Scrutiny Manager has circulated some information to all Members to assist development of questions.

 

A series of Local Development Plan workshops have been arranged as follows:

 

1. 22nd January 2019 at 2.00pm – Vision and future economies workshop

2. Members seminar: 28th January 10.00am – To discuss potential candidate sites

3. 25th March 2019 at 10.00am: Workshop on Planning Policy Wales v.10 and its implications.

 

The Chair, Vice Chair, Scrutiny Manager and Head of Planning and Place will meet to prepare for the above workshops to ensure there is clear purpose and clear outcomes.

 

In discussing infrastructure and the removal of the tolls on the Severn Bridge, the Chair agreed to chase progress on publication of the Weltag Stage 1 report on the Chepstow Transport Study.