Councillor Alex McLellan and Councillor Sandra Macdonald (Aberdeen City Council), Councillor Alastair Forsyth (Aberdeenshire Council), Councillor Reeni Kennedy-Boyle (Argyll and Bute Council), Councillor Mandy Watt (City of Edinburgh Council), Councillor Ellen Forson (Clackmannanshire Council), Councillor Heather Anderson (Dundee City Council), Councillor Altany Craik (Fife Council), Councillor Michael McPake (North Lanarkshire Council), Councillor John Shaw (for lateness) (Renfrewshire Council),  Councillor Chris Cullen (South Ayrshire Council) and Councillor Rachel Nunn (Stirling Council).

 

There were no declarations of interest or transparency statements intimated prior to the commencement of the meeting.

 

There was submitted the Minute of the meeting of the Joint Committee held on 8 December 2023.

DECIDED: That the Minute be approved.

There were submitted the Minutes of the meetings of the Executive Sub-committee held on 8 December 2023 and 26 January, 16 February, 15 March, 19 April and 17 May 2024.

DECIDED: That the Minutes be approved.

The Chief Executive of Scotland Excel gave a presentation to members providing updates under the categories of delivering value; priorities; and reshaping Scotland Excel.

In relation to delivering value, the Chief Executive provided an update on the national savings projects, savings related work, the work being undertaken in relation to the Chief Executives Transformation Programme, the matters SOLACE had requested Scotland Excel work on, framework utilisation which included information on the link between framework utilisation and member savings and the focus on growth of utilisation. 

In relation to priorities, the Chief Executive provided an overview of the ongoing work in relation to Social Care and budgetary pressures, the next steps for 2024/25 in relation to Net Zero, flexible procurement and Scotland Excel’s Academy.

In relation to reshaping Scotland Excel, the Chief Executive provided an update on workforce planning; framework segmentation and the commercial ‘DNA’ curve.

DECIDED: That the presentation be noted.

There was submitted a report by the Treasurer relative to Scotland Excel’s Unaudited Annual Accounts for 2023/24, a copy of which was appended to the report. 

The report intimated that the Annual Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2024 would be submitted to Azets in advance of the statutory deadline of 30 June 2024. The accounts indicated that Scotland Excel’s core activities resulted in an underspend of £79.8k in 2023/24 compared to a budgeted break-even position and that projects returned a surplus of income over expenditure of £629.8k. This resulted in a combined balance of £709.6k which had been added to usable reserves, which were committed for use as outlined in Note 4 of the Annual Accounts.

The report advised that the management commentary within the accounts provided an overview of Scotland Excel’s performance during 2023/24 along with risk information and the outlook for the future. 

DECIDED: 

(a) That the Unaudited Annual Accounts and budgetary outturn position for 2023/24 be noted; and

(b) That the Annual Governance Statement be approved.

There was submitted a report by the Chief Executive of Scotland Excel providing an update on the Operating Plan 2023/24, a copy of which was appended to the report.

The report intimated that the new five-year Corporate Strategy had been approved at the meeting of the Joint Committee held on 9 December 2022. The Strategy was supported by Annual Operating Plans and the report provided an update on operating plan activity between 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024.

The report highlighted that, since approval of the Operating Plan, senior local authority stakeholders had indicated that one of the corporate goals, the drive for efficiency to support the financial sustainability of local public service, should be prioritised during 2023/24 and Scotland Excel had established a dedicated team to manage this work. 

The report noted that progress reports were produced quarterly to track Scotland Excel’s activity against Operating Plan commitments and at the end of each quarter reports were submitted to the Executive Sub-committee. 

The report summarised the progress made against Operating Plan commitments and used a ‘traffic light’ symbol to provide a guide to the status of each activity.

DECIDED: That Scotland Excel’s progress in delivering the actions contained within the Operating Plan 2023/24 be noted.

There was submitted a report by the Chief Executive of Scotland Excel relative to Scotland Excel’s Annual Procurement Report, a copy of which was appended to the report. 

The report intimated that the Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 (the Act) worked alongside procurement regulations to provide a national legislative framework for sustainable public procurement and supported Scotland’s economic growth through improved procurement practice. The Act focussed on a small number of general duties on contracting authorities regarding their procurement activities and some specific measures aimed at promoting good, transparent and consistent practice. 

The report advised that since the introduction of the Act, public bodies with an estimated procurement spend of £5 million or more required to publish an annual procurement strategy, or a published revision of the previous strategy, and an annual procurement report. Scotland Excel was not obligated to produce an annual report, it was prepared and submitted on a voluntary basis providing evidence of good practice carried out through collaboration in Scotland’s public sector.  

The report further advised that Annual Procurement Reports were expected to be published as soon as reasonably practicable after the end of the financial year, which for Scotland Excel was 31 March, and should be relevant and proportionate, provide transparency of purchasing activities, and address all matters contained in the organisation’s procurement strategy.

The report further intimated that the Act required Scottish Ministers to publish an annual report on procurement activity in Scotland providing an overview of public procurement activity informed by the individual annual procurement reports published by contracting authorities in Scotland. Annual procurement reports were expected to be published no later than six-months following the end of the contracting authority’s financial year and Scotland Excel’s annual procurement report required to be published no later than the end of September 2024, subject to approval by the Joint Committee. The Scotland Excel Annual Procurement Report would then be considered along with those of other public bodies subject to this requirement and included in the overview when Scottish Ministers produced the national report.

DECIDED:
 
(a) That the content of the report be noted; and

(b) That publication of the Annual Procurement Report, as appended to the report, be approved for submission to the Scottish Government by 30 September 2024. 

There was submitted a report by the Chief Executive of Scotland Excel providing an update on the results of the work undertaken by Scotland Excel to support Councils with the Procurement Commercial Improvement Programme (PCIP), the maturity model to assess Scottish public sector procurement performance in a common format.

The report intimated that the PCIP Pulse Check assessment programme offered a new approach to further support the sector and focussed on the policies and procedures driving procurement performance and the results they delivered. An assessment model had been developed which offered a reduced question set and streamlined process for organisations whilst still assessing and supporting current procurement priorities. This hybrid model allowed for greater flexibility and consisted of a blended question set that could be tailored by the assessing centre of expertise to the organisation and the sectoral context. 

The report advised that Scotland Excel had worked with colleagues within Scottish Government and in conjunction with other public sector centres of expertise to consider the assessment route for 2023/24. Assessments had been completed and detailed reporting to each Council was underway. Appendix 1 to the report detailed those Councils that had undertaken an assessment. 

DECIDED: That Scotland Excel’s progress in supporting sectoral assessment and community benefits be noted.

There was submitted a report by the Chief Executive of Scotland Excel providing an update on the Strategic Risk Register maintained to assess threats and risks that might impact on the delivery of Scotland Excel’s strategic objectives and to identify controls that were in place to mitigate these risks. A copy of the Strategic Risk Register was appended to the report.

The report intimated that the Strategic Risk Register had been developed using methodology set out in the Strategic Risk Strategy approved by the Joint Committee in December 2022. Currently there were 12 strategic risks ranging in assessed risk score from 6 to 20 and a summary of key elements in relation to each identified risk was detailed in the Register.

The report advised that over the next six months, Scotland Excel would review the existing processes for monitoring, reporting and managing the Strategic Risk Register and the proposed revised approach would be reported to the Joint Committee in December 2024.

DECIDED: That the Strategic Risk Register be noted. 

There was submitted a report by the Chief Executive of Scotland Excel relative to staff absence rates, special leave given to staff and hospitality granted by the organisation for the 2023/24 financial year.

The report intimated that the Joint Committee had agreed that Scotland Excel work to an absence rate of below 4% and that this target aligned Scotland Excel with partner organisations, supported good practice in this area and demonstrated the ongoing commitment to absence management as a key efficiency target.

The report advised that during 2023/24, the average sickness rate per full time equivalent member of staff had been 5.7 days. In total, 596.5 sickness leave days had been reported across all staff during 2022/23 representing an average sickness absence rate of 2.5%. 

The report further advised that, in addition to actively supporting members of staff absent through ill health, Scotland Excel continued to implement positive early intervention practices to maintain employee attendance and support to members of staff who might be experiencing difficulties whilst remaining at work; recognised that positive mental health amongst staff members was an area that should be actively supported and encouraged and, in addition to actively promoting good mental health practices and initiatives, had 24 staff from across all operational areas and grades who had trained as accredited Mental Health First Aiders; had implemented a Mental Health at Work Commitment Action Plan, a comprehensive tool for adopting best practice in promoting and maintaining positive mental health within the organisation; and was implementing a programme of awareness and support for those who might be experiencing difficulties through menopause.

The report indicated that in terms of the Scheme of Delegation, the Chief Executive had authority to permit any member of staff to absent themselves occasionally and temporarily during business hours and also to approve the provision of reasonable hospitality to a maximum of £1,000 in relation to any one occasion. Further detail in relation to requests for special leave and hospitality were provided in sections 4 and 5 of the report. 

DECIDED: That the contents of the report be noted.

 

 

 

 

 

Under reference to item 11 of the Minute of the meeting of this Joint Committee held on 8 December 2023, there was submitted a report by the Clerk relative to a change in the membership of Scotland Excel’s Chief Executive Officers Management Group (CEOMG).

The report intimated that since the last meeting of the Joint Committee, Annemarie O’Donnell had retired as Chief Executive of Glasgow City Council. The SOLACE Executive had sought nominations for a replacement member and a nomination had been received from Paul Manning, Chief Executive of South Lanarkshire Council.

The report advised that the CEOMG comprised six Chief Executives from the member authorities with the Chief Executive of Renfrewshire Council being a standing member as Renfrewshire Council was the lead authority. The other five members of the group were appointed annually by the Joint Committee although membership could be renewed.

DECIDED:

(a) That it be noted that Annemarie O’Donnell had retired as Chief Executive of Glasgow City Council;

(b) That it be agreed that Paul Manning be appointed as a member of the CEOMG until December 2024; and

(c) That it be noted that membership of the CEOMG would again be reviewed in December 2024.

DECIDED: That it be noted that the next meeting of the Joint Committee would be held at 10.45 am on 6 December 2024