Agenda and minutes

The Chair varied the order of business as shown on the agenda and the Minute reflects the order in which the items were considered at the meeting.

Consider Minute of the Meeting held on 20 September 2022 for approval and signature by the Chair.  (Copy attached.)

There had been circulated copies of the Minute of the Meeting held on 20 September 2022.

DECISION

AGREED to approve the Minute for approval and signature by the Chair.

Consider presentation on performance of Live Borders provision agreement.

2.1       There had been circulated copies of a report by Director Resilient Communities that presented key information in regard to the Live Borders contract for the first two quarters of the 2022-23 financial year and provided Elected Members with key information on the governance of the contract, updated information on the delivery of the commissioned services and key performance information.  Live Borders had previously presented performance information to the Executive Committee on a 6-monthly basis.  Live Borders would now present to the External Services/Providers Monitoring Group following changes to the SBC Scheme of Administration.  The meeting of the External Services/Providers Monitoring Group was the first opportunity for Live Borders performance information to be presented to the group and was also an opportunity to discuss the KPI performance report format contained in Appendix 1 of the report, and the group’s expectations for future reporting.  The Director Resilient Communities highlighted challenges that were impacting the sport, leisure and cultural sector which included the impact of Covid-19, the rise of energy costs and the cost of living crisis, and that the Joint Officers Group were considering those challenges and were looking at options to mitigate those factors.

2.2       The Director Resilient Communities introduced Mr Jackson, Chief Executive of Live Borders, to present the report who advised that Live Borders faced a number of challenges and pressures related to the Covid-19 pandemic, inflation and the cost of energy.  Participation level tracking was showing a rate of between 80-90% of pre-Covid-19 participation levels with variations across the business with health and fitness having showed a rate of approximately 80% and swimming showed rates in the high-90% level.  It had been difficult to make meaningful comparisons across KPIs where some indicators were above target levels and some had fallen behind.

2.3       Concern was raised by the Chair whether it was overoptimistic of the service to expect that many of the RAG indicators showing as red would move to green when the cost of living crisis would continue while also moving into a period of bad weather.  Mr Jackson advised that this had been raised at a recent Live Borders Board meeting.  It was explained that the approaching quarter three and four periods were strongest for Live Borders in terms of sporting participation.  With regards to the shift required on other targets, the Board would undertake to reflect that the shift projections were as accurate as possible.  Target KSI 1b for culture visits was requested to be reviewed as it had been difficult to explain the trend against the target which showed an upward trend although the rate remained at half of the target rate.  KSI 3 Learn to Swim Memberships was subject to the status of Peebles Swimming Pool which was closed for business.  KSI 4 Memberships was anticipated to move to green alongside KSI 6 Health Referrals which had shown success in the undertaking of the referrals programme which had previously been paused for six weeks.  Mr Jackson advised that he would prepare a paragraph  ...  view the full minutes text for item 2.

Consider report by Director Strategic Commissioning and Partnerships.  (Copy attached.)

3.1       With reference to paragraph 2 of the Meeting held on 20 September 2022, there had been circulated copies of a report by Director Strategic Commissioning and Partnerships that presented key information with respect to the CGI contract for the first three quarters of 2022 and key updates on performance to date.  The report provided Elected Members with key information on the governance of the contract, updated information on the transformation programme delivered with CGI including the Social Work Pathfinder transformation programme, key performance information with respect to the service delivery of the contract and a note of key issues associated with contract management, which included change requests signed in the quarter and Impact Assessment status.  Powerpoint presentation slides which accompanied the report were circulated to members which provided further detailed information on each of the areas of the report.  The Director Strategic Commissioning and Partnerships introduced the report and highlighted key aspects.  With regards to key projects, there were a number of projects that were marked ‘red’ or ‘amber’.  This was explained as being due to a number of third party pressures which included work with an external provider on cabling and infrastructure on various projects.  There had also been problems with firewalls which prevented upgrades being undertaken.  There was one missed performance target regarding customer satisfaction and work was being implemented to address this. WiFi issues in Jedburgh High School were being addressed and cabling work was underway to remedy this.

3.2       Mr John Wordsworth-Goodram presented the slides which highlighted key information from the report.  It was confirmed that the issues experienced with Lync calls failing in the Galashiels office were resolved and that information was included within the report on action on recruitment in the Scottish Borders region.  A number of boards met to take forward the joint goal of the Scottish Borders to be the smartest rural region in the UK.  The meetings of those governance boards continued to meet and that minutes were taken of those meetings.  Mr Wordsworth-Goodram confirmed that partners continued to work as a team on imperatives related to the Transformation programme.

3.3       The Social Work Pathfinder Programme was confirmed as being in delivery having commenced on 5 October 2022.  The Pathfinder programme focused on Social Work with a view to:

·                provide mobile technology to enable front line staff to capture data to populate the system when they meet with clients which would remove the need for note taking, dictation, transcription and data entry to Mosaic;

·                revise business processes to capture accurate data to allow the service to improve efficiency and make more informed decisions on further improvements; and,

·                develop a performance dashboard to provide Directors with the information they need to manage their service.

3.4       Project teams were in place working across the project workstreams.  Mr Wordsworth-Goodram highlighted the timeline of the Pathfinder programme which was progressing as planned.  The Digital Customer Access project had concluded.  Internet Migration project was due to conclude by the end of November 2022.  Mr  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

Consider report by Chief Officer Roads.  (Copy attached.)

4.1       With regards to paragraph 3 of the Minute of the Meeting held on 20 September 2022, there had been circulated copies of a report by Chief Officer Roads that provided a summary on the performance of SBc Contracts for the financial year 2022-23 up to 30 September.  In regards to road surfacing activity to 30 September 2022 SBc Contracts successfully completed 12 Surface Dressing Patching sites, 5 Carriageway Patching sites, 7 Screed sites, 3 Capital Resurfacing schemes and 2 contracts for private clients.  With specific regard to surface dressing, SBc Contracts had applied treatment to 124,580m2 across the network. At 6 sites, deemed as high stress, there was further applied treatment with a Secure Chip application.  Works at Chirnside Bridge, Ross High School and Eddleston Cycleway were successfully completed.  There were contracts which had extended beyond the financial years.  In 2022-23 there were 12 sites which remained active and which commenced in 2021-22, and since April 2022 works had commenced on 62 new sites, 8 of which remained active.  Good weather in summer 2022 helped with road resurfacing programmes and with performance on other contracts.  Successful programmes highlighted were:

·                Completion and opening of the Inspire Academy Building at Tweedbank;

·                Delivery of the 20mph speed limit programme;

·                Completion of three replacements culverts at Fernihurst, Billhope and Letham;

·                New pedestrian crossings at Duns and Peebles;

·                Repairs to 12 damaged bridges;

·                Significant rural road relining across the Borders; and,

·                6 projects to repair flood damage across the Borders.

4.2       For the four months to 30 September repairs had been completed using the Pothole Pro on 10 sites on the A-Class network which repaired 522 potholes which amounted to 2,064m2 of asphalt.  The Chief Officer Roads advised that the deployment of the Pothole Pro was believed to have helped the Council meet its obligations to repair the roads in a timely manner, and whilst the Pothole Pro was only one technique and approach to what was an integrated management regime, the Pothole Pro would be important as the permanent nature of the repairs it made would help with efficiency, and improve the road user experience, whilst also allowing reductions to be made in the SBC fleet.  Initial enquiries had been made with Education and Lifelong Learning into promoting careers opportunities within the service and whilst there were no immediate opportunities, future opportunities would be sought to promote the service as a career choice.  Approaches to succession and people management would continue to be in line with SBC programmes.  Members discussed the report and recognised the positive impact the Pothole Pro had on pothole repair work.

DECISION

NOTED the performance of SBc Contracts for the 2nd quarter of 2022-23.

Before proceeding with the private business, the following motion should be approved:-

“That under Section 50A(4) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in the relevant paragraphs of Part 1 of Schedule 7A to the aforementioned Act.”

DECISION

AGREED under Section 50A(4) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 to exclude the public from the meeting during consideration of the business detailed in the Appendix to this Minute on the grounds that it involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 8 of Part I of Schedule 7A to the Act.

Consider Private Section of the Minute of the Meeting held on 20 September 2022 for approval and signature by the Chairman.  (Copy attached.)

Members considered the Private Section of the Minute of the Meeting held on 20 September 2022.

Consider report by Director Strategic Commissioning and Partnerships.  (Copy attached.)

Members considered the report by Director Strategic Commissioning and Partnerships.

Consider report by Chief Officer Roads.  (Copy attached.)

Members considered the report by Chief Officer Roads.