Best Value and Corporate Services Committee

Monday 7 February 2005 at 3.00 pm

Present:  Councillors Blair, Hill, Hunter, McCabe, McCormick (P), Moran, Nimmo, Stewart and White.

Chair:  Councillor White presided. 

In attendance:  Chief Executive, Director of Corporate Services, Interim Head of ICT Services, Head of Personnel Services, Head of Legal Services and Managing Solicitor (Litigation/Advice).

Present also:  Mr D Richardson, Audit Scotland.

Apologies:  Councillor McCormick (M).

The following paragraphs are submitted for information only, having been dealt with under the powers delegated to the Committee.

It was agreed in terms of Section 50(A)(4) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 as amended, that the public and press be excluded from the meeting for the following item on the grounds that the business involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraphs 6, 8 and 9 of Part I of Schedule 7(A) of the Act.

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Future Provision of ICT Services

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There was submitted (1) a report dated 26 January 2005 by the Director of Corporate Services presenting the ICT Evaluation Team Report, outlining the tendering exercise approved in 2004, following the Committee’s decision to deliver the future ICT Service through a partnership approach with a private sector ICT provider and recommending that the future provision of ICT Services be delivered in partnership with Vivista Ltd.  The report also provided information obtained on models used by other authorities, as requested by the Committee in June 2004 (para 440 refers);  and (2) a submission dated February 2005 by UNISON.

The Director of Corporate Services outlined the background to the exercise and highlighted the Evaluation Team conclusions which reflected Best Value criteria.  The Chief Executive advised that in terms of Best Value the report made clear that it was not perceived that Best Value would be achieved by retaining the services in-house.  The Committee received Mr J Gallacher and Mr R Taggart, UNISON, along with Mr J Kelly, an employee in ICT Services.  Mr Gallacher and Mr Taggart then spoke to their submission.

Councillor McCabe asked a number of questions, a list of which forms an appendix to this minute, and detailed responses were given by the Officers.

The Chief Executive emphasised that the Committee must consider their duty of Best Value and that when considering opportunities for improvement, a fair and open approach must be taken when evaluating alternative forms of service delivery from whatever the sector and that current policies and approaches must be challenged explicitly and justified if retained.  The Head of Legal Services as Monitoring Officer advised that the Council must demonstrate Best Value in terms of its Statutory Duty.

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Following discussion Councillor White moved:

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(1)      that no contract be issued to a private ICT provider and that the Council address the areas of concern identified in reports to Committees as a matter of urgency and maintain an in-house ICT Service for the provision of ICT Services and support activities within Inverclyde Council;

(2)      that the ICT function be reorganised to bring services and facilities up to comparable private sector standards and to meet the needs of the services within Inverclyde Council and that:-

(a)      employees within ICT Services remain in post;

(b)      the position of Head of Service be re-advertised and filled as a matter of urgency;

(c)      two new management posts to focus on operations and deliverability of services be created and filled so minimising the need for ongoing consultancy support within ICT;

(d)      the ICT Service be allowed to position temps/specialists on an as required basis to support key project management deadlines during a transition period estimated to be between nine to twelve months;  and

(3)      that the matter be remitted to the Policy & Strategy Committee to endorse the decision in terms of the amended Policy and agree to allocate an additional £99,882 one-off cost of transition and transformation to be funded from reserves.

As an amendment Councillor McCabe moved that the Committee continue consideration of the matter to a further meeting and that a further report be submitted detailing the responses to the questions submitted and formally exploring the further options of a public partnership arrangement and that the report also include the advice given by the Chief Executive and the Monitoring Officer on the duty of Best Value.  On a vote 3 Members voted for the amendment and 6 for the motion which was declared carried.

Decided:

(1)      that no contract be issued to a private ICT provider and that the Council address the areas of concern identified in reports to Committees as a matter of urgency and maintain an in-house ICT Service for the provision of ICT Services and support activities within Inverclyde Council;

(2)      that the ICT function be reorganised to bring services and facilities up to comparable private sector standards and to meet the needs of the services within Inverclyde Council and that:-

(a)      employees within ICT Services remain in post;

(b)      the position of Head of Service be re-advertised and filled as a matter of urgency;

(c)      two new management posts to focus on operations and deliverability of services be created and filled so minimising the need for ongoing consultancy support within ICT;

(d)      the ICT Service be allowed to position temps/specialists on an as required basis to support key project management deadlines during a transition period estimated to be between nine to twelve months;  and

(3)      that the matter be remitted to the Policy & Strategy Committee to endorse the decision in terms of the amended Policy and agree to allocate an additional £99,882 one-off cost of transition and transformation to be funded from reserves.