Agenda and minutes

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting.

The Chair drew attention to the emergency evacuation procedure.

Councillor Warrington sent her apologies.

Councillor Hughes sent his apologies and was substituted by Councillor Blackburn

Councillor Singleton sent his apologies and was substituted by Councillor Hounsell

Councillor MacFie sent his apologies.

At this point in the meeting declarations of interest are received from Members in any of the agenda items under consideration at the meeting. Members are asked to indicate:

(a) The agenda item number in which they have an interest to declare.

(b) The nature of their interest.

(c) Whether their interest is a disclosable pecuniary interest or an other interest,  (as defined in Part 2, A and B of the Code of Conduct and Rules for Registration of Interests)

Any Member who needs to clarify any matters relating to the declaration of interests is recommended to seek advice from the Council’s Monitoring Officeror a member of his staff before the meeting to expedite dealing with the item during the meeting.

There was none.

David Redgewell sent a statement to the Panel regarding transport issues.

The Panel confirmed the minutes of the previous meeting as a true record and they were duly signed by the Chair.

The Cabinet Member will update the Panel on any relevant issues. Panel members may ask questions on the update provided.

The Cabinet Member for Adults and Council House Building, Councillor Tom Davies gave an update to the Panel which covered the following:

·  The outturn for the last financial year shows £4million ahead of budget. This is being utilized for two reserve funds (Park and Ride contract and Energy Inflation Risk Reserve Account).

·  The first quarter of this year trends identified are: broadly tracking on budget except for a £2.3million overspend in Children’s Services. There will be a report to Informal Cabinet in August.

·  Treasury Management Report is being reported to Cabinet – all as expected.

Panel Members asked the following questions:

Councillor Duguid asked for reassurance regarding inflation. The Cabinet Member explained that when the budget was prepared in December, the prevailing rate of inflation was high, although not as high as now. He reassured the Panel that this had been considered and factored in.

Councillor Furse asked the following questions (Cabinet member response shown in italics):

·  Savings in staff costs (staff in the planning department in particular) are not always good news due to the resultant pressures on remaining staff. The Cabinet Member explained that the budget was in place for staffing and there is no intention to save money in this area – the issue if the difficultly in recruitment.

·  The car parking income is good but the Council’s ambition is to have less cars in the city centre to reduce the impact on air quality. The Cabinet Member explained that levels had come up quicker than expected.

·  Can we think of clever solutions to save energy eg. Traffic lights use. The Cabinet member explained that more are being changed to LED lights which hopefully reduces energy costs.

Jeff Wring, Service Director One West, introduced the report.

Panel Member made the following points and asked the following questions:

Councillor Hodge asked about the risks involved in staff retention and recruitment (workforce resilience). She stated that the workforce had undergone a huge change with the move to ‘work from home’ and hybrid working. This will have had an impact, some departments still do not know how they will work. The officer explained that offices have now reopened so things should be a bit more settled. There are ‘hard to fill’ posts in any organisation. The officer explained that a risk receives focus if it is medium or high, it only comes off the risk register if it is low.

Councillor Blackburn asked at what point do we acknowledge that we are no longer a premier league employer? People leave for other jobs in the industry and this should be reflected in the risk register. The officer explained that BANES is a good employer, there is good feedback. A lot of people may be moving to work from home jobs for companies in London, there has been a lot of movement but this will settle down. People do value work life balance and value doing jobs that ‘give back’.

Councillor Blackburn asked about the staffing costs regarding the ‘ring of steel’ manned barriers and also how much people are being put off cycling in the centre. The officer stated that he did not have a detailed answer and that this was part of a wider conversation.

Councillor Hounsell stated that there are only 2 enforcement officers in BANES which impacts on remaining staff. He asked if we head hunted staff. The officer explained that traditional recruitment is rare now, we use social media, LinkedIn and careers fairs.

Councillor Duguid commented that the information is not as stark as when you have the numbers, it is missing quantification. The officer stated that this was a good point but that this was only part of the puzzle.

There will be a presentation on this item at the meeting.

Richard Howroyd, Head of Strategic Procurement & Commissioning, introduced the item and gave a presentation which covered the following:

·  Strategic Procurement – updates today

·  Procurement Commissioning and Strategy

·  A reminder – What do we spend our money on?

·  Procurement Risks – State of the Market

·  Investing in People – Changes to the Team

·  Carbon Net Zero

·  Modern slavery/labour issues

·  Social Value

·  Contract Management

·  New Requirements – Contracts pipeline

·  Review and update of processes

·  Fit for purpose information (internal)

·  Fit for purpose information (external)

·  Going forward

·  Strategic Procurement Team

Panel members made the following points and asked the following questions:

Councillor Furse referred to the vacancy of ‘Contracts Manager Resources’ and stated that, since the shift to commissioning, contracts management as become a skill in its own right. The officer explained that a lot of effort goes into training, central government is helping with this.

There will be a presentation on this item at the meeting.

Tim Richens, Managing Director Aequus Group gave a presentation to the Panel which covered the following:

Andy Rothery, Chief Finance Officer (Section 151), and Simon Martin, Director of Regeneration and Housing, were also present to answer questions.

·  Background

·  2020/21 Accounts

·  Company Restructuring (1)

·  Company Restructuring (2)

·  Business Plan 2021/22 to 2023/24

·  Key Achievements – March 2021

·  Future Delivery Focus

·  Climate Emergency

·  Financial Returns and Dependencies

·  Governance and Resourcing

·  Delivery and Decision Making (1, 2 & 3)

·  Company Performance 2021/22

·  Company Updates – 2022-23

Panel Member made the following points and asked the following questions:

Councillor Blackburn asked, regarding the 40 rental properties, how many void properties have been repurposed and brought back on to the market. He commented that this is what ADL had been set up to do. The officer confirmed that all 40 properties had been brought back into use and explained that these are properties that were originally transferred under LSVT.  After 15 years and only as they became vacant, they are then returned to the Council, most are in a poor condition and need to be refurbished/repurposed. He stated that ADL was set up to repurpose these ex-Curo properties. Councillor Furse explained that properties were in a poor condition and were coming back to BANES and sold back on to the market/private sector – there was a feeling that this was a loss of social properties, that is the history.

Councillor Blackburn referred to 117 Newbridge Hill and asked how comfortable the officer was that there was value for money regarding these units. The officer replied that any underspend is returned to the Council as overage. He explained that the Gross Profit of £350K before tax will contribute towards Shareholder dividend payments delivering the Council’s £1M income target from Aequus

Councillor Blackburn asked how South Gloucestershire became involved in this as the original aim was to provide local properties. The officer explained that the business plan is approved by the shareholder (BANES), South Gloucestershire was brought in with the agreement of the shareholder. The Board of Aequus are responsible for running a successful business, the link with South Gloucestershire provides diversity and sustainability and means we are not reliant on a single source of development sites. Andy Rothery, Chief Finance Officer (Section 151), added that ADL, as a limited company, is a tradable entity and well placed to fulfil this activity which benefits our neighbours and ourselves.

In response to a query from Councillor Blackburn, the officer explained that a number of local partners had approached Aequus to discuss potential developments but the partnership with South Gloucestershire developed which has afforded economies of scale/knowledge and delivery. No other partnerships are being worked on at the moment.

In response to a query from Councillor Duguid, the officer explained that all development profits on the South Gloucestershire site come to Aequus (and ultimately its shareholder BANES), South Gloucestershire gets the land value and a 50% share of any overage.

Councillor Blackburn asked what lessons had been learned regarding Sladebrook  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11.

This report presents the latest workplan for the Panel. Any suggestions for further items or amendments to the current programme will be logged and scheduled in consultation with the Panel’s Chair and supporting officers.

The Panel noted the future workplan.