Policy & Resources Cabinet Member – Minutes – 2 May 2013

58        (58) VIREMENTS 2012-2013 AND 2013-2014 – The Director of Policy and Resources submitted a report which sought approval for changes to the revenue and capital budgets for 2012/13 and 2013/14.

On 21 February 2012 and 19 February 2013 Council approved the revenue and capital budgets for the 2012/2013 and 2013/2014 financial years respectively.  The report gave details of virements approved by the Director of Policy and Resources under delegated powers and those that required Cabinet Member approval.

Resolved – (a) That the virements at paragraph 3.1 of the report, approved by the Director of Policy and Resources under delegated powers be noted, and (b) that the permanent virements outlined in paragraph 3.2 of the report be approved.

59        (59)  CONSULTANT USAGE – QUARTER 4 2012/2013 – The Director of Policy and Resources submitted a report to advise on the consultancy usage for the fourth quarter of 2012/2013, to highlight the consultancy usage to support major projects within North Lincolnshire and to advise on the overall effectiveness.

The protocol for managing consultancy expenditure was introduced as part of a package of cost management measures in 2011. The protocol required directorates to report their use of consultants on a quarterly basis for 2012/2013.  Following the introduction of the protocol, the council had benefited from a significant reduction in consultancy spend in the region of £1m during 2011/12.

The Director of Policy and Resources confirmed that following extensive consultation with all services, the report set out a summary of consultancy usage for quarter four 2012/2013, details of which were presented in Appendix A to the report.

Resolved – That the findings set out in the report for quarter four 2012/2013 be noted.

60        (60)  VOICE AND DATA NETWORK PROCUREMENT – The Director of Policy and Resources submitted a report seeking approval to establish a new arrangement for the delivery of schools/academies voice and data network services.

It was explained that the council’s contract for fixed voice and data services with Daisy Group Plc would expire on 31 March 2014.  The contract provided the following services: 

·         Landline connections and data/call charges

·         Fixed site to site circuits for voice and data

·         Broadband connectivity

·         ISDN/PSTN connections

The cabinet member was advised that there had been significant development in public sector voice and data contracts over the previous 18 months, including the establishment of a pan-government Public Services Network (PSN) contract through the Government Procurement Service (GPS).

By using PSN connectivity it would mean that the council had a network that met central government standards and requirements such as security assurance. 

The report identified that procurement would need to commence in April 2013 to allow sufficient time for potential migration to a new supplier.

Further details of the proposals were outlined within the report.

Resolved – (a) That the procurement be undertaken as a PSN project (Option 1) in two stages with stage 1 procurement – PSN connectivity commencing April 2013 and stage 2 – PSN services commencing November 2013 with new contracts effective from 1 April 2014, and (b) that the council formally ceases service provision from Yorkshire and Humber Grid for Learning upon expiry of the arrangement at 31 March 2014.  

Note: Reports are in Portable Document Format (PDF) and therefore require a suitable reader to view them. A reader can be downloaded free from the Adobe website (full instructions for downloading the reader are provided on the site).

Where there is no report this is because it is exempt, as it contains information which is considered to be of a confidential nature, as detailed in the Local Government (Access to Information) Act.