Annemarie O’Donnell, Chief Executive (Glasgow City Council) and Sandra Black, Chief Executive (Renfrewshire Council). 

Angela Scott, Chief Executive (Aberdeen City Council) and Cleland Sneddon (Argyll & Bute Council).

Margo Williamson, Chief Executive (Angus Council) and Steve Grimmond, Chief Executive (Fife Council).

Sandra Black, Chair, presided.

J Welsh, Director, H Carr Head of Strategic Procurement, S Brannagan, Head of Customer and Business Services, J McKerrall, Strategic Programme Manager and L Richard, Strategic Procurement Manager (all Scotland Excel); and K Graham, Head of Corporate Governance (Clerk) and R Devine, Senior Committee Services Officer (both Renfrewshire Council).

Stuart Ritchie, Director of Corporate and Housing Services (Falkirk Council).

Angela Scott, Chief Executive (Aberdeen City Council) left the meeting during consideration of the following item of business.

There were no conflicts of interest intimated prior to the commencement of the meeting.

There was submitted the Minute of the meeting of the Chief Executive Officers Management Group (CEOMG) held on 19 November 2018.

DECIDED: That the Minute be approved.

S Brannagan, Head of Customer and Business Services, gave a presentation to the Group in relation to Scotland Excel’s consultancy work with Aberdeen City; Fife and East Renfrewshire Councils.  Reference was made to the scope and nature of the respective projects, the goals to be achieved, resources utilised, the position prior to commencement of the project, the current position and the anticipated future position.  The approaches employed by Councils and their implications were discussed.  It was proposed that the knowledge and experience gained by undertaking the consultancy work be shared to facilitate adoption by others. It was noted that further updates regarding the consultancy work would be submitted to future meetings of the Group.

DECIDED: That the presentation be noted.

J Welsh, Director, gave a presentation to the Group in relation to the Scottish Government funded projects of Care and Support and the Affordable Housing Projects.

The presentation contained information in relation to Care and Support development work, the current position; the work being undertaken to progress the projects together with information on what stakeholders had identified and indicated was important to them.  Reference was made during discussion to the challenges associated with development of the National Framework, anticipated benefits to communities and capacity for future provision.

In relation to the Affordable Housing Projects, the presentation provided background information on the Affordable Housing Procurement Commercial Improvement Programme (PCIP), an overview of the PCIP Programme, it’s aims and the anticipated benefits; together with information on how the sector had performed identifying good practice and areas for improvement; and future cation.  It was agreed that the information be shared with wider forums.

DECIDED: That the presentation be noted.

H Carr, Head of Strategic Procurement, gave a presentation to the Group in relation to potential ‘other’ income streams for Scotland Excel which included strategic partnerships with the Scottish Local Government Digital Partnership and the SEEMiS Group.  Reference was made to projects being progressed with City Property and Cycling Scotland and the new build housing tender which was currently out to tender with a value of £1.5 billion and was scheduled to commence during August 2019.  

There followed discussion in connection with the challenges which had resulted in the strategic partnerships not having progressed as expected, the service agreements entered into, benefits, and their future shape and focus. The potential risk of duplication of effort and activity was noted.

DECIDED: That the presentation be noted.

There was submitted a briefing note by the Director of Scotland Excel providing an update on Scotland Excel’s engagement with the Local Government Digital Office and SEEMiS Group.

The note detailed the background to the establishment of Scotland Excel, outlined the services provided to members and advised that the organisation had been working with other shared service partners to provide commercial support across a range of projects. Specific detail was provided in respect of the Digital Office project and the SEEMiS project. 

The Group was advised that (i) Scotland Excel had seconded a member of staff to the Digital Office to provide procurement advice, guidance and support where this was required. Information was provided in relation to foundation projects, supplier engagement, the ‘Delivering on Digital’ event, social care, information gathering, collaboration with Scottish Government and CoSLA/Scottish Government Management Consultancy work; and (ii) Scotland Excel had supported SEEMiS with procurement projects with a value of almost £2 million and had enabled savings of £547,000 for members.  Appendix 1 of the note summarised the value of the work undertaken to date. Current projects included phase 1 of the next generation SEEMiS; a new Early Learning and Childcare Management Information System; a text messaging facility; and a new data hosting facility. Future projects included the procurement projects for an Early Learning and Childcare MIS platform and System Integrator which would be concluded by mid-2019 followed by phase 2 of the next generation school platform and a refresh of the platform’s text messaging facilities. It was noted that the SEEMiS management team were keen to continue working in collaboration with Scotland Excel to support these projects.

DECIDED: That the Director would continue to examine and identify more strategic opportunities with SEEMiS and the Digital Office and provide regular updates to this Group.

J McKerrall, Strategic Programme Manager, gave a presentation to the Group which provided an overview of activity undertaken by Scotland Excel in relation to the expansion of early learning and Childcare, following publication of the ‘National Standard’ and ‘Funding Follows the Child’ approaches, advised of progress achieved to date, detailed the key themes and identified challenges and the next steps.

During discussion mention was made to challenges associated with payment of the living wage in some areas, the requirement to balance national policy and local decisions and the desirability of standardisation of service provision at a high level. 

DECIDED: That the presentation be noted.

L Richard, Strategic Procurement Manager gave a presentation to the Group on Brexit.

The presentation detailed the current position and potential future options/scenarios, advised of collaborative actions taken by Scotland Excel and estimated impacts on food prices of a no-deal scenario, outlined contingency planning arrangements and highlighted required policy interventions.  Mention was made during discussion to the recently published Government White Paper entitled “Economic Assessment for Business and Trade of a No-Deal Exit on 29 March 2019”, the perceived lack of contingency arrangements put in place by the retail sector and the position in terms of suppliers claiming ‘force majeure’ in respect of fulfilling existing contracts.

DECIDED: That the presentation be noted.

There was submitted a report by the Director of Scotland Excel providing an update on key developments within Scotland Excel since the meeting of the Group held on 19 November 2018.

The report provided information in relation to work with the Local Government Digital Office on the Social Care System; information gathering, collaboration with the Scottish Government; the Scottish Government projects on affordable housing, care and support services, care home services for older people, and early learning and childcare; the Scotland Excel Academy; together with updates on the contract plan and contracts approved since September 2018 and new associate members.

During discussion reference was made to the position in terms of Care Home Services for Older People and, in particular, the risk of dispute resulting from the impasse reached in respect of the benchmark for capital value and percentage return. The desirability of using appropriate language to inform the general public of the position was highlighted and it was agreed that appropriate arrangements be made in this connection. 

DECIDED: That the report be noted.

DECIDED: That it be noted that the next meeting of the CEOMG would be held at 10.00 am on 15 May 2019 in Scotland Excel Meeting Room 1, Renfrewshire House, Cotton Street, Paisley.