Councillor Brenda Durno (Angus Council) and Councillor Ruairi Kelly (Glasgow City 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 Executive Sub-committee held on 21 February 2025.

DECIDED: That the Minute be approved.

There was submitted a joint revenue budget monitoring report by the Treasurer and the Chief Executive of Scotland Excel for the period to 31 January 2025. 

The report advised that at the end of period 11, Scotland Excel was projecting a £0.327 million underspend by year-end in its core activities and an increase of £1.062 million in project reserves. 

DECIDED: That the report be noted.

There was submitted a report by the Treasurer relative to the Annual Audit Plan 2024/25 for Scotland Excel which outlined Azets planned activities during the audit of the 2024/25 Annual Accounts, a copy of which was appended to the report.

The report intimated that the Audit Plan outlined the responsibilities of Scotland Excel and Azets; the assessment of key challenges and risks; and the approach and timetable for completion of the audit. The report advised that the statutory deadline for the approval of the audited accounts for 2024/25 was 30 September 2025 and that the Annual Audit Report was planned to be reported to the meeting of the Executive Sub-committee scheduled to be held on 19 September 2025.

The report advised that the proposed audit fee was indicated at £12,370 for the current financial year.

R Lister, Director, Azets, presented the Audit Plan to members. 

DECIDED: 

(a) That the Annual Audit Plan 2024/25 by Azets, appended to the report, be noted; and

(b) That the proposed audit fee of £12,370 be approved.

There was submitted a report by the Chief Executive of Scotland Excel relative to the award of a third-generation renewal framework for Demolition and Deconstruction Works for a period of 48 months from the commencement date. It was noted that the previous framework expired on 31 July 2024 and that subject to approval, it was intended that the renewal framework would commence in April 2025. 

The report summarised the outcome of the procurement process which contained four lots, as detailed in Table 1 of the report. The framework had been advertised with a value of up to £17 million per annum, totalling an estimated spend of £68 million over the maximum four-year period of the framework. Appendix 1 to the report detailed the participation, spend and savings summary for those participating in the framework. 

Tender responses had been received from 26 contractors and a summary of the offers received and the scoring achieved by the recommended tenderers was detailed in Appendix 2 to the report. 

Based on the evaluation undertaken, and in line with the advertised criteria and weightings set out in the report, it was recommended that a multi-contractor framework arrangement be awarded to 19 contractors, as outlined in Appendix 2 to the report, subject to satisfactory conclusion of insurance checks. 

The report highlighted a clause in the framework which gives councils discretion to determine whether to provide for a limitation on liability when establishing a call-off contract (“Work Order”). The clause provided that the level of limitation should be set at no less than the amount of insurance cover that the contractor must maintain under the framework contract.

The report detailed the approach taken by suppliers in relation to fair work practices and their position on the payment of the Real Living Wage together with the other benefits that would be achieved through the framework. The report intimated that, in accordance with Scotland Excel’s established contract segmentation tool, the framework had been classified as class B. 

It was noted that for lot 4 only, an updated Appendix 2 would be circulated to correctly reflect the evaluation outcome. This did not change the recommendations within the report, but some scores and relative placings for particular Council areas within lot 4 had been adjusted from the original report circulated to members. For ease of reference, the changes are shown highlighted in the updated Appendix 2 and affected six tenderers overall. The issue arose because one of the scored questions in the technical section, worth four marks, was not correctly attributed to those Council areas. There were no other changes to the recommendations for award.

DECIDED: That the award of the framework agreement for Demolition and Deconstruction Works, as detailed in the amended Appendix 2, be approved.

There was submitted a report by the Chief Executive of Scotland Excel relative to the award of a fifth-generation renewal framework for the Supply Only and Supply and Distribution of Groceries and Provisions for a period of 48 months. It was noted that subject to approval, it was intended that the framework would commence on 1 May 2025. 

The report summarised the outcome of the procurement process which contained six lots, as detailed in Table 1 of the report. The framework had been advertised with a value of up to £40 million per annum, totalling an estimated spend of £160 million over the maximum four-year period of the framework. Appendix 1 to the report detailed the participation, spend and savings summary for those participating in the framework. 

Tender responses had been received from 10 suppliers and a summary of the offers received and the scoring achieved by the recommended tenderers was detailed in Appendix 2 to the report. 

Based on the evaluation undertaken, and in line with the advertised criteria and weightings set out in the report, it was recommended that a multi-supplier framework arrangement be awarded to 10 suppliers, as outlined in Appendix 2 to the report, subject to satisfactory conclusion of insurance checks and any ongoing clarifications. 

The report detailed the approach taken by suppliers in relation to fair work practices and their position on the payment of the Real Living Wage together with the other benefits that would be achieved through the framework. The report intimated that, in accordance with Scotland Excel’s established contract segmentation tool, the framework had been classified as class B. 

DECIDED: That the award of the framework agreement for Supply Only and Supply and Distribution of Groceries and Provisions, as detailed in Appendix 2 to the report, be approved.

There was submitted a report by the Chief Executive of Scotland Excel advising that Horsecross Arts Limited had applied to become an associate member of Scotland Excel. 

The report provided details of the organisation and the legislative position in relation to the application.

DECIDED: That the application by Horsecross Arts Limited to become an associate member of Scotland Excel, with no annual membership fee, be approved, subject to completion and signing of the agreement documentation.

There was submitted a report by the Chief Executive of Scotland Excel advising that NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde had applied to become an associate member of Scotland Excel. 

The report provided details of the organisation and the legislative position in relation to the application.

DECIDED: That the application by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde to become an associate member of Scotland Excel, with no annual membership fee, be approved, subject to completion and signing of the agreement documentation.

There was submitted a report by the Chief Executive of Scotland Excel advising that Scottish Forestry had applied to become an associate member of Scotland Excel. 

The report provided details of the organisation and the legislative position in relation to the application.

DECIDED: That the application by Scottish Forestry to become an associate member of Scotland Excel, with an annual membership fee of £550, be approved, subject to completion and signing of the agreement documentation.

There was submitted a report by the Chief Executive of Scotland Excel advising that The National Galleries of Scotland had applied to become an associate member of Scotland Excel. 

The report provided details of the organisation and the legislative position in relation to the application.

DECIDED: That the application by The National Galleries of Scotland to become an associate member of Scotland Excel, with no annual membership fee, be approved, subject to completion and signing of the agreement documentation.

There was submitted a report by the Chief Executive of Scotland Excel relative to the proposed Risk Register Template, a copy of which was appended to the report.

The report intimated that the template would summarise the risk profile of the organisation, developments to identified risks, summarise control actions taken by Scotland Excel and outline notable developments to Scotland Excel’s risk environment.

The report provided detail in relation to Scotland Excel’s Risk Strategy 2025/28 and the Risk Register Template.

DECIDED: That the proposed Risk Register Template be noted.

There was submitted a report by the Chief Executive of Scotland Excel relative to the development of a Partnership Strategy, an identified action within the current Operating Plan, which would outline a proactive approach to building relationships with valued stakeholders delivering positive outcomes for Scotland Excel and mitigating risk in relation to these stakeholders.

The report provided detail in relation to the background to this Partnership Strategy; the Power and Influence Matrix; partner identification and the next steps.

DECIDED: That the Partnership Strategy development approach be noted.

There was submitted a report by the Chief Executive of Scotland Excel relative to supporting employee attendance and highlighting the absence rate in the organisation and the support mechanisms implemented to support staff members. 

The report intimated that Scotland Excel worked to an absence rate of below 4% which aligned with partner organisations, supported good practice and demonstrated the ongoing commitment to absence management as a key efficiency target. 

The report provided detail on the latest absence details for the 12-month period to January 2025 in which the rate of absence across the organisation had been maintained below the 4% target together with an overview of the supporting attendance initiatives implemented by the organisation.

DECIDED: That the contents of the report be noted.

DECIDED: That it be noted that the next meeting of the Executive Sub-committee would be held remotely on MS Teams at 9.30 am on 25 April 2025.