Agenda and minutes

That the minutes of the meeting of the Cabinet held on 5 December 2016 be confirmed and signed as an accurate record of the proceedings, and that the outstanding actions be noted.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Stephen Cowan, Michael Cartwright, and Sue Macmillan.

In the absence of the Leader and the Deputy Leader the Members present selected Councillor Andrew Jones to preside the meeting.

To approve that the Council opts in to the appointing person arrangements made by Public Sector Audit Appointments (PSAA) for the appointment of external auditors.

1.    That the estimated numbers of properties for each Valuation Band as set out in the report be approved.

2.    That an estimated Collection rate of 97.5% be approved.

3.    That the Council Tax Base of 75,938 Band “D” equivalent properties be approved.

4.    To delegate authority to the Cabinet Member for Finance, in consultation with the Strategic Finance Director, to determine the business rates tax base for 2017/18.

1.1.       That the council continues with a scheme that reflects the old council tax benefit regulations as much as possible meaning no one in the borough is charged any council tax over and above what they would have been charged had the council tax benefit regulations continued.

1.2.       That a continuation of the assessment of in work Universal Credit cases as agreed in our scheme last year, be approved.

1.3.       To keep the scheme consistent with housing benefit rules it is recommend the reduction of the temporary absence rules for those travelling outside Great Britain to 4 weeks, in line with the housing benefit regulations. The same exemptions will be applied as the DWP (see appendix 1), but 26 weeks will be allowed where a resident is unable to return if they are looking after a sick relative, 52 weeks for military personnel as well as discretionary powers to maintain council tax support in other exceptional circumstances.

That the Council’s borrowing and investment activity up to the 30 September 2016, be noted.

1.    That the General Fund and Housing Revenue Account month 7 forecast revenue variances, be noted.

2.    That the action plans amounting to £1.025 million, seeking to address the General Fund gross overspend forecast of £2.074 million, be noted. All overspending departments to respond with further actions to reduce the net forecast overspend of £1.049 million.

3.    That the proposed virement requests in appendix 11, be approved.

That approval be given to waive the competition requirements contained in the Council’s Contract Standing Orders and approve a direct award of a banking services contract to the Royal Bank of Scotland Plc for a period of two years from 1^st April 2017 to the 31^st March 2019 for the notional sum of £120,000.

1.    That approval be given for the re-procurement of enforcement agents to assist in the recovery of unpaid Council Tax and Business Rates through the use of a Dynamic Purchasing System set up by the Yorkshire Purchasing Organisation (YPO).

2.    That authority be granted to waive the competition requirements contained in Contract Standing Orders and to approve to carry on the current arrangement with the existing suppliers until the 31^st March 2017 to ensure continuity of service delivery.

3.    That the cost involved in accessing the YPO’s Dynamic Purchasing System £1,500.00, be approved.

4.    That delegated authority to award the contract be given to the Strategic Finance Director in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Finance.  

1.    That approval be given for the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham to run an open tender to let a framework for a period of 4 years for the provision of a graduate placement programme.  That the framework is made available to other London councils and the City of London Corporation.

2.    If the notional contract value exceeds £5,000,000, that delegated authority be given to the Shared Services Director for Human Resources, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Finance to award the proposed framework.

3.    That delegated authority be given to the Shared Services Director for Human Resources, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Finance to award a call off contract from the framework for the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham.

4.    That delegated authority be given to the Shared Services Director for Human Resources, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Finance to enter necessary contractual arrangements to enable other London councils (as defined as part of the tender process) to access the Graduate Placement Framework, once awarded.

1.1       That ESPO Framework 3A- Advertising Solutions be utilised to run a mini competition to secure the services of a recruitment advertising provider under lot 1 of the said framework for a 2-year period with an option to extend for a further 2 periods of 12 months each.

1.2       That the Shared Services Director for Human Resources be given delegated authority, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Finance to enable any extensions of the contract as set out in para 2.1.1 following the initial 2-year period.

1.1.      That the Council enter a 125- year lease (of land and premises shown on the plan attached as Appendix 2) with the London Diocesan Fund (‘LDF’). The Council would receive a premium plus a rent under the proposed lease for LDF (details of which are given in the exempt part of the report comprising Appendix 1).  The Council would terminate the current tenancy at will that is in place following the tenant holding over from their previous lease expiring in 2012.

1.2.      That delegated authority be given to the Director for Building and Property Management, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Environment, Transport and Residents’ Services and the Cabinet Member for Finance, to finalise the property transaction. 

1.3.      That delegated authority be given to the to the Bi-Borough Director for Safer Neighbourhoods, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Environment, Transport and Residents’ Services and the Cabinet Member for Finance, the consideration of any comments or objections that arise from public notification of the proposed disposal, under the lease, of open space (largely comprising circulation space adjoining the property ‘Pryor’s Bank’).  (This public notification is a statutory requirement explained in clauses 4.5, 8.2 and 8.3 of this report).

1.1.          That the Commercial Director be authorised to begin the procurement process to appoint a partner to deliver debt management services to H&F through a joint venture, and in accordance with the procurement strategy at Appendix 1.

1.2.           That delegated authority be given to the Commercial Director in consultaton with the Cabinet Member for Finance to award the framework agreement to the most economically advantageous tenderer.

That a contract be awarded for the provision of School Kitchen Repair and Maintenance contract, for a period of three (3) years, with the option to extend for up to a further (2) years commencing 1^st February 2017.

Councillor Sue Fennimore noted that Clare Chamberlain, Executive Director for Children’s Services, had been awarded a CBE in the New Year Honours’ List for services to children and families. Clare Chamberlain led work on Focus on Practice, a programme to enhance the skills of children’s social workers and develop more effective help for families. This decision would continue and build on that good work.

RESOLVED

1.    That the procurement strategy, be approved.

2.    That delegated authority be granted to the Director of Family Services and Director of Commissioning in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Children and Education to award a six-year contract to a Higher Education Institution with a total value of c.£1,100,000 (c.£380,000 for each of the three potential cohorts).

3.    That the contract will be let by Hammersmith and Fulham Council and will include break clauses at two-year intervals, be noted. The contract will only continue on the basis of satisfactory performance by the Provider and continued funding from the Department for Education.

1.    That approval be given to waiver the Council’s Contract Standing Orders (CSO) 3.1 to directly award three contracts from 1^st December 2016 to 31^st March 2018 to the incumbent service providers.

2.    That approval be granted to the Executive Director of Adult Social Care in consultation with Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Health to award the three contracts to the incumbent providers as outlined in Table 1 setting out details of the services and values for the contract period.

Table 1: Contract Values

3.    That all contracts referenced in table 1 above include a break clause, which would allow the Council to terminate the agreement with 3 months’ written notice, be agreed.

1.1      That approval be given to award 2 Contracts for provision of Parking Enforcement Agent Services.

1.2      That approval be given to award the Contracts for provision of Parking Enforcement Agent Services to Marston Group Limited as primary provider and Equita Limited as the reserve provider, commencing on 1 January 2017 for a term of 5 years.

1.3      That it be noted that this is a concessions contract which is subject to the       Concession Contracts Regulations 2016 and that being a concessions contract where there are statutory recovery fees the award criteria to be used shall be primarily quality based.

The Key Decision List was noted.

That under Section 100A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public and press be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the remaining items of business on the grounds that they contain information relating to the financial or business affairs of a person (including the authority) as defined in paragraph 3 of Schedule 12A of the Act, and that the public interest in maintaining the exemption currently outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

[The following is a public summary of the exempt information under S.100C (2) of the Local Government Act 1972.  Exempt minutes exist as a separate document.]

That the exempt minutes of the meeting of the Cabinet held on 5 December 2016 be confirmed and signed as an accurate record of the proceedings, and that the outstanding actions be noted.

That the appendix be noted.

That the recommendations in the exempt part of the report, be noted.

That the recommendations in the exempt part of the report be noted.

That the appendix be noted.

That the recommendations in the exempt part of the report be noted.

That the recommendations in the exempt part of the report, be noted.