Councillor Charles Buchan (Aberdeenshire Council); Provost Norman A Macdonald (Comhairle Nan Eilean Siar); Bailie Norman MacLeod (Glasgow City Council); Councillor Paul Di Mascio (North Lanarkshire Council); Councillor John Shaw (Renfrewshire Council); and Councillor Amanda Westlake (Shetland Islands Council).

Councillor Stephen Thompson (Dumfries and Galloway Council).

Councillor Shaw, Convener, presided.

J Welsh, Director, H Carr, Head of Strategic Procurement, S Brannagan, Head of Customer & Business Services, G Sutherland, Senior Procurement Specialist, Z Brawn, Senior Procurement Specialist, and R Green, Procurement Co-ordinator (all Scotland Excel); E Currie, Senior Committee Services Officer, K O’Neill, Assistant Democratic Services Officer, and M Ball, Principal Accountant (Management Accounting) (all Renfrewshire Council); and M Ferris and S Afzal (both Audit Scotland).

In terms of Standing Order 12, the Convener intimated that he proposed to alter the order of business to facilitate the conduct of the meeting by considering item 3(b) of the agenda before item 3(a) of the agenda.

There was submitted the Minute of the meeting of the Executive Sub-committee held on 24 August 2018.

DECIDED: That the Minute be approved.

There was submitted a joint revenue budget monitoring report by the Treasurer and the Director of Scotland Excel for the period 1 April to 17 August 2018.  

The report intimated that gross expenditure was £6,000 under budget and income was currently breakeven which resulted in a net underspend of £6,000.  

DECIDED: That the report be noted.

Under reference to item 4 of the Minute of the meeting of this Joint Committee held on 29 June 2018 there was submitted a joint report by the Treasurer and Director of Scotland Excel relative to the audited annual accounts for the Joint Committee for 2017/18.  

The report intimated that in accordance with the Local Authority Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2014 the audited accounts must be approved for signature by the Joint Committee no later than 30 September each year.  Following approval, the audited accounts would be signed by the Director of Scotland Excel, Convener and Treasurer.  The report detailed the main changes from the unaudited to the audited accounts.  

The audited annual accounts had been amended to reflect changes identified during the audit by Audit Scotland in the Annual Audit Report 2017/18 and an amended set of audited annual accounts had been issued to members of the Executive Sub-committee.  It was proposed that paragraph 4 of page 11 of the audited accounts 2017/18, as amended, be deleted.  This was agreed.

Under reference to item 4 of the Minute of the meeting of this Joint Committee held on 29 June 2018 there was submitted a report by Audit Scotland relative to the Annual Audit Report 2017/18 for the Joint Board.

The report intimated that the audit certificate issued by Audit Scotland provided an unqualified opinion that the annual accounts present a true and fair view of the financial position of the Joint Committee as at 31 March 2018, in accordance with the accounting policies detailed in the accounts.

Amendments to the wording in relation to paragraph 40 of Part 2 of the report and follow up action point 2 of Appendix 1 to the report were proposed and agreed. M Ferris, Audit Scotland advised that these amendments would appear in the final Annual Audit Report 2017/18.

 

Audit Scotland had amended their covering letter for the Annual Audit Report 2017/18 and an amended letter had been issued to members of the Executive Sub-committee.  

DECIDED: 

(a) That the report and amendments to the wording in paragraph 40 and follow up action point 2 of Appendix 1 be noted; and

(b) That the audited accounts 2017/18, as amended, be approved for signature by the Director of Scotland Excel, Convener and Treasurer.

There was submitted a report by the Director of Scotland Excel relative to the award of a renewal framework agreement for asbestos surveys, removal and disposals and analytical services which would be effective from 1 November 2018 until 31 October 2020, with an option to extend for up to 24 months to 31 October 2022. 

The Convener intimated that the Director of Scotland Excel had withdrawn this report.

DECIDED: That it be noted that the report had been withdrawn.

There was submitted a report by the Director of Scotland Excel relative to the award of the first national collaborative framework for gas boiler maintenance which would be effective from 22 October 2018 until 13 September 2020, with an option to extend for up to two years until 13 September 2022.

The report intimated that the framework provided councils and associate members with a mechanism to procure a contractor to carry out annual servicing, maintenance and ad-hoc repairs of gas boilers across their housing stock. The framework would support councils in delivering against Scotland’s National Outcomes and ensure gas boilers were efficient and working economically, reducing fuel emissions and increasing energy efficiency within the housing sector.

The level of spend was anticipated to be in the region of £10 million per annum, increasing as current contractual arrangements expired.  It was noted that eight councils had confirmed their intention to participate in the framework with an additional two councils considering their options.  Six associate members had also confirmed their intention to participate in the framework.

Tender responses had been received from 12 suppliers.  One supplier failed to submit a commercial response and as such this bid was non-compliant.

Based on the criteria and scoring methodology set out within the tender document, a full evaluation of the 11 compliant offers had been completed and Appendix 3 to the report detailed the scoring achieved by each bidder.

Based on the evaluation undertaken to secure best value, capacity and coverage it was recommended that a multi-supplier framework agreement be awarded to nine suppliers across the 37 geographical areas as outlined in Appendix 3 to the report.

It was noted that the figure in table 1 of the report in relation to technical points should read 39.9%.  An amended last page of Appendix 3 was tabled at the meeting.

DECIDED: 

(a) That it be noted that the figure in table 1 of the report in relation to technical points should read 39.9%; and

(b) That the award of the framework agreement for the domestic gas boiler maintenance, as detailed in Appendix 3 to the report, as amended, be approved.

There was submitted a report by the Director of Scotland Excel relative to the award of a framework agreement for the supply, delivery and installation of commercial catering equipment which would be effective from 1 November 2018 until 31 October 2021, with an option to extend for up to an additional 12-month period until 31 October 2022.

The report intimated that the framework provided councils with a mechanism to procure a range of gas, electric and refrigerated commercial catering equipment and summarised the outcome of the procurement process for this national framework arrangement. 

The framework had been divided into five lots as detailed in table 1 of the report and had been advertised at an estimated value of £16 million over the four-year period.  

Tender responses had been received 19 suppliers and a summary of offers received was detailed in Appendix 1 to the report.

Based on the criteria and scoring methodology set out within the tender document, a full evaluation of the compliant offers had been completed and Appendix 2 to the report detailed the scoring achieved by each bidder.

Based on the evaluation undertaken and in line with the criteria and weightings set out in the report it was recommended that a multi-supplier framework agreement be awarded to 14 suppliers across the five lots as outlined in Appendix 2 to the report.

DECIDED: That the award of the framework agreement for the supply, delivery and installation of commercial catering equipment, as detailed in Appendix 2 to the report, be approved.

There was submitted a report by the Director of Scotland Excel advising that Advice Direct Scotland, an independent member of the Scottish Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux and registered charity, had submitted an application to become an associate member of Scotland Excel.

DECIDED: That the application by Advice Direct Scotland to become an associate member of Scotland Excel, at an annual membership fee of £500, be approved subject to completion and signing of the agreement documentation.

There was submitted a report by the Director of Scotland Excel relative to Scotland Excel’s work regarding the expansion of Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) in Scottish local authorities.

The report intimated that currently every three and four-year old were entitled to 600 hours of funded childcare per year.  Local authorities used a variety of processes to ensure suitable early learning and childcare provision was available in their local area.  In October 2016 the Scottish Government launched “A Blueprint for 2020: The Expansion of Early Learning and Childcare in Scotland” which set out their vision to nearly double the entitlement to free ELC for every three and four-year old and eligible two-year olds to 1140 hours per year by 2020.

The Scottish Government formed a Service Models Working Group (SMWG) in June 2017 to develop the principles and detailed documentation for the expansion.  In particular, the SMWG had focussed on a new National Standard and a “Funding Follows the Child” approach.

In March 2018, the Scottish Government and CoSLA published “The ELC Service Model for 2020: Consultation Paper” setting out the “Funding Follows the Child” approach which sought views of the National Standard that would underpin it.  Given Scotland Excel’s strong background of working across Scottish local authorities to develop and deliver national, collaborative projects, the SMWG had commissioned Scotland Excel to develop the necessary ELC supporting guidance.

Scotland Excel had been awarded grant funding by the Scottish Government to deliver the work and the report detailed the remit and workplan of the project.  Scotland Excel would co-produce guidance with local authorities with input from provider bodies and other relevant stakeholders.  Focus Groups would be set up to identify and share best practice and develop the contents of each of the guidance documents.  Consultation with public, private and third sector providers would also be undertaken.

DECIDED: That the new project which Scotland Excel was undertaking in relation to Early Learning and Childcare be noted.

There was submitted an update report by the Director of Scotland Excel relative to the progress of the 2018/19 contract delivery plan.

The report intimated that the contract delivery plan comprised framework renewals, new developments, framework extensions and frameworks with ongoing contract management only and appendices 1 to 3 to the report provided further details.

The report highlighted that contract delivery remained active with 62 current frameworks in the Scotland Excel portfolio, nine of which were to be renewed before 31 March 2019; a further six new frameworks would be added to the contract portfolio by 31 March 2019; and a further eight frameworks on the current portfolio had extension options that were likely to be exercised in 2018/19, four of which had already been approved.  

Scotland Excel was exploring the benefits of further collaborative procurement across high spend, critical service areas of adult social care and construction and in 2018/19 would co-produce and implement a procurement strategy for care and support services; would deliver a new sourcing strategy for care home services for older people; had  released an updated prior information notice for a new build housing framework aimed to support council delivery of new affordable houses, enabling councils to attain a range of works and services; and working in partnership with the Digital Office had released a prior information notice for market engagement across a range of projects to drive digital transformation across Scotland. 

It was noted that overall, efficiencies delivered to date continued to be within the 2% to 4% forecast range.

DECIDED: That the report be noted.

Provost Bill Howatson (Aberdeenshire Council); Councillor Angus Macmillan Douglas (Angus Council); and Councillor Alister Mackinnon (Highland Council).

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

DECIDED: That it be noted that the next meeting of the Executive Sub-committee would be held at 9.45 am on 26 October 2018 in Scotland Excel Meeting Room 1, Renfrewshire House, Paisley.