Agenda and draft minutes

Minute of the meeting of 28 April 2016 to be approved and signed by the Chairman. (Copy attached).

1.1       There had been circulated copies of the Minute of 28 April 2016.

            DECISION

            NOTED for signature by the Chairman.

1.2       With reference to paragraph 7.4 of the Minute of the meeting of 24 March 2016, Councillor Cockburn confirmed that he had discussed with Councillors Smith and Turnbull following their attendance at the Timber Transport annual conference and whether there were any subsequent recommendations which the Scrutiny Committee might consider.  Councillor Cockburn advised that Councillors Smith and Turnbull, in their involvement with the voluntary partnership known as the Timber Transport Forum, had been looking into various issues related to the extraction of timber and movements of Timber Transport.  This included damage to roads and road infrastructure, which had been the subject of the original discussion by the Scrutiny Committee.  Local Authority road networks provided access to much of the forested timber resource and timber transport contributed to damage to roads and road infrastructure such as verges, ditches, drains and laybys; specifically, damage was caused by timber transport practices, truck and tyre types, unsuitable road types and materials, and stacked timber.  The Timber Transport Forum had stated that it was "delivering solutions for a growing UK harvest", whilst also acknowledging that "developing the necessary infrastructure for timber transport in Great Britain is not easy".  As the volume of timber produced each year from British forests was forecast to rise from the current 9 million cubic metres to 12 million cubic metres by 2020, there would be a resultant growing burden on the Council's road network and there were sections of the road network that were not suitable for heavy timber transportation.  It was noted that the timber industry contributed both to the local economy and to providing local employment.  At the same time, it was recognised that the Council could not sustain damage to the road network indefinitely and that solutions must be investigated to balance the benefits and problems being encountered.  A number of solutions were discussed, one of which was the option to make a case for recovering damages from forestry companies under Section 96 of the Roads (Scotland) Act 1984.  Further discussion followed and Members noted the similarities with wind turbine traffic issues and the way in which these were dealt with at the Planning Application stage.  Members agreed that a review be carried out to consider the impact of third party use on the Local Authority's road network, eg by timber transportation and wind turbine transportation.

            DECISION

            AGREED that a Scrutiny Review be carried out to consider the impact of third party use on the Local Authority's road network, eg by timber transportation and wind turbine transportation.

Update on subjects included in the future Scrutiny Review Programme. (Copy attached).

2.1       With reference to paragraph 5 of the Minute of 28 April 2016, there had been circulated copies of the updated list of subjects which Scrutiny Committee had been asked to review and which included the source of the request, the stage the process had reached and the date, if identified, of the Scrutiny meeting at which the information would be presented.  In addition, Members were also asked to consider further subjects for inclusion on this list for presentation at future meetings of the Committee.  When deciding whether subjects would be reviewed by the Scrutiny Committee, Members required a clear indication from the initiator of the request as to which aspects of the subject they wished to be reviewed.  This would enable the Committee to determine whether the subject was appropriate for consideration.

2.2       The Clerk to the Council explained the current status of the reviews listed and Members discussed a number of the items on the timetable.  The Corporate Transformation and Services Director explained that a report was being prepared on artificial sports pitches for discussion by the Executive Committee and suggested that any decision on carrying out a Scrutiny review on the use of such pitches should be deferred until after that report had been considered.  In terms of the request to review community consultation using the example of the siting of the Peebles 3G pitch, Mr Dickson explained that at the point the request was made Victoria Park had been the selected site.  Matters had now moved on with the Executive Committee decisions in May and June to withdraw the planning application for Victoria Park and carry out further consultation prior to a further decision on how the 3G pitch could be progressed in Peebles.  As discussion on the scope, timing and consultation process was ongoing in relation to the location of a 3G pitch in Peebles and, with a new public consultation exercise planned following best practice outlined in the Council’s community engagement toolkit, Members agreed that the review would not now be appropriate.  With regard to other subjects, it was agreed that presentations would be made to the Committee on: Review of Bridges Assets in October 2016; Drugs and Alcohol Strategy in November 2016; and Implications of the Community Empowerment Act on the Council early in 2017.  It was further agreed that the Information Governance Board be requested to give a presentation to Scrutiny on Policies and Procedures for Protective Marking of documents and the Management of Information, particularly confidential matters.  The Committee also noted that a private briefing would be arranged for Elected Members with an update on Home Schooling on a date in September/October still to be agreed. 

DECISION

AGREED the list of subjects for review by Scrutiny Committee as amended and appended to this Minute at Appendix 1.

Final report of the Scrutiny Committee Working Group on the Great Tapestry of Scotland: A Review of the Process in respect of Decision-Making.

(To follow).

3.1       The Chairman explained that the request for this review had been submitted by Ettrick and Yarrow Community Council and was pleased to welcome its Chairman, Mr Gordon Harrison, to the meeting.  There had been circulated copies of the report by the Scrutiny Working Group on The Great Tapestry of Scotland: A Review of the Process in respect of decision making.   Councillor Mountford chaired the Working Group and was in attendance to deliver the report.  He began by explaining that the purpose of the Working Group was not to review the decisions about the Tapestry but to examine the decision-making process in respect of the Great Tapestry of Scotland Project and to ascertain if there were any lessons to be learned for future projects.

3.2       Councillor Mountford reported that the Working Group, having reviewed all the information requested, concluded that the details provided to Members in reports – based on the information that was available at the time - was sufficient to allow Members to make their decisions on the Great Tapestry of Scotland.  Areas which could have enhanced the information in these reports were included in the Working Group's recommendations as detailed in Appendix 2 to the Minute.  The Working Group had found it extremely useful to have been able to review both the timeline for the Great Tapestry of Scotland Project in retrospect alongside the work carried out by Officers and Consultants and bring this together into one document.  In terms of lessons learned from this Project, the Working Group made six recommendations included in their report which it was hoped would serve to enhance transparency and communications in future.

3.3       Members then discussed the report in detail.  Recommendation 1 noted that it would be helpful if, before a concept/idea proceeded to the project stage, that all material conversations between Members and Officers were summarised and noted whilst also acknowledging that some information might not be in the public domain.  Members also considered that the Council should look at ways to engage with and improve public consultation, providing more information which it was hoped would help to avoid misinformation and misunderstandings in the early stages of future projects.  Further discussion followed in relation to the Tapestry location being linked to the Borders Railway line.

3.4       The Chairman then invited Mr Harrison to speak. Mr Harrison explained that the Community Council had raised this matter on behalf of the people in the Ettrick and Yarrow area and represented their views and concerns about the process and subsequent decisions in relation to the Great Tapestry of Scotland.  He then circulated a note which listed the sections of the Working Group's report where the Community Council were requesting further clarification.  With regard to when a detailed Business Case had been requested by Council, the Transformation and Services Director explained that an outline business case had been presented to Council on 29 May 2014 and Council had then given authority for a more detailed business case to be prepared to allow  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

Briefing Note by Procurement and Payment Services Manager.

(Copy attached).

4.1       Councillor Cockburn sought advice on whether he should declare an interest in the following item of business in terms of Section 5 of the Councillors' Code of Conduct.  Following discussion, Councillor Cockburn decided that he would not declare such interest at this time.

4.2       With reference to paragraph 5 of the Minute of 28 April 2016, there had been circulated copies of a Briefing Note by the Procurement and Payment Services Manager on the Council’s Commissioning Arrangements with the Voluntary and Third Sector.  The Procurement and Payment Services Manager, Ms Dickson and the Contracting Manager Social Work, Mr Livingston were in attendance to present the briefing note and provide additional information as required.  Ms Dickson advised that Scottish Borders Council had a long standing commitment to support the voluntary and Third Sectors  (referred to as Third Sector) with approximately 23% of the overall procurement spend being on Social Care services that were commissioned by the Council and delivered by the Third Sector.  The briefing explained that ‘Ready for Business’, an LLP funded by the Scottish Government, had published an independent report in July 2014 entitled "Purchasing from the Third Sector in Scotland".  This report explored the level and pattern of procurement with Third Sector suppliers during 2012/13 and provided an analysis of public procurement spending across all Scottish Local Authorities.  Data from that publication had been used in the briefing note and the data showed that, while there was a similar proportion of Third Sector suppliers to the study average, Scottish Borders Council spent a significantly higher proportion (23%) of its overall external third party spend with those suppliers than the 18% average across all local authority.  Figures also demonstrated that Scottish Borders spent over 50% (£13.25m) with local suppliers.  The briefing note provided further statistics in relation to the value of Third Sector contracts and it was noted that during 2014/15, Brothers of Charity (Scotland), Eildon Housing Association, Streets Ahead Borders, Ark Housing Association, Community Integrated Care and the Richmond Fellowship each delivered services in excess of £1m annually.

4.3       Discussion followed and Ms Dickson advised that Third Sector suppliers such as Brothers of Charity had developed and diversified the services they provided within the area of learning disability and were now looking at options in areas such as home care.  Members asked how increasing budgetary pressures affected contracts with the Third Sector and Ms Dickson confirmed that efficiencies were considered and built into contract values.  Ms Dickson also explained that it was not always possible to procure all required services from locally based suppliers and noted that the differential between private and public provision continued to decrease.  Further examples of Third Sector engagement were detailed.  Live Borders was an Integrated Trust that provided culture, sport and leisure services across the Scottish Borders on behalf of the Council and a contract spanning 20 years had recently been awarded at a value of circa £121m.  The Borders Green Team was a social enterprise which provided employment and training  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

The next meeting is scheduled to be held on Thursday, 22 September 2016.

The next meeting of the Scrutiny Committee would take place on Thursday, 22 September 2016.

            DECISION

            NOTED.