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.

Minute of the meeting held on 29 November 2022 to be noted.  (Copy attached.)

There had been circulated copies of the Minute of the Meeting held on 29 November 2022.

DECISION

AGREED to approve the Minute for signature by the Chair.

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

3.1     There had been circulated a report by Jen Holland, Director Strategic Commissioning & Partnerships.  This report presented key information with respect to the CGI contract for the full year 2022 and key updates on performance to date. It provides Elected Members with key information on the governance of the contract, updated information on the transformation programme being delivered with CGI including the recently approved 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, including change requests signed in the quarter and Impact Assessment status. This report was designed to be read in conjunction with the appended slide presentation, which provided further detailed information on each of the aforementioned areas.  Meetings of the various groups that oversee the contract including this quarterly meeting of the ESPMG were highlighted. These were all “green” during Q1 Q2 Q3 and Q4 to end December 2022. 

3.2       Mr John Wordsworth-Goodram presented the slides which highlighted key information from the report.  With reference to the paragraph 3.3 of the Minute of 29 November 2022, a Transformation Status update on the Social Work Pathfinder Programme was summarised.  Project Teams were in place across the workforce and full progress updates were to be provided to this committee. The Digital Transformation Board met fortnightly to monitor progress.  The plan was in the delivery phase and was due to be completed by August 2023, with a complete timeline of the Pathfinder programme provided in the slide deck.  An overview of the Transformation Roadmap was provided and work had been carried out by the Council Management Team to prioritise all current proposals for transformation works based on a detailed list of principles and outcomes. All future digital proposals were be considered through this process to ensure strategic alignment and allocation of resources. 

3.3       A summary of key projects concerned with ‘Applications’ and ‘Infrastructure’ and their current status was provided.  Each of the projects has been RAG assessed and commentary had been provided against each status.  With regards Applications, two projects had been completed since the last report. Two projects were on hold - Tech Forge Cloud and Legal EDMS - with two projects currently Amber both delayed, one due to connectivity issues with CGI currently working to progress and one due to HLD delays.  In relation to Infrastructure, of the eleven projects detailed, three had completed since the last report, two were RAG assessed as green, four projects were amber and two projects were RED. The two red project were projects impacted by third party supplier pressures with Paton Street near completion with works prioritised between SBC and CGI. Of the four projects with an amber status the Mac Book deployment was delayed due to the firewall works and was now progressing, of the Primary WAN 36 of the 43 sites were now surveyed by BT with the remaining seven sites pending, the Lync decommissioning had four of eight changes implemented with the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

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

Members considered the report by Director Strategic Commissioning and Partnerships.

Consider report by Director Infrastructure and Environment.  (Copy attached.)

Members considered the report by Director Infrastructure and Environment.

Private section of the Minute of the meeting held on 9 November 2022 to be noted.  (Copy attached.) 

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

DECISION:

AGREED the minute.

The meeting resumed at 14:50pm.

Consider Overview and Q3 Performance Reports.  (Attached.)

8.1     There had been circulated a presentation by Ewan Jackson, Chief Executive Live Borders the purpose of which was to inform members of the charity’s vision, mission, purpose and values. An overview of the services offered and associated location map of their 60+ venues was provided and comprised gyms/fitness centres, swimming pools, sports pitches/halls, libraries, museums, visitor attractions, town halls and community centres across the region.  The six strategic goals for 2018-2023 were outlined: expand participation levels; grow earned income; develop new funding streams; great customer service; ensure the charity is sustainable; and nurture employees and instil pride in their role.  Delivery of these strategic goals had been adversely affected by the pandemic, the cost of living crisis and a significant increase in energy costs.  The 2022/23 operating context was one of continued recovery from the impact of Covid-19 with a focus on revenue generation and programming for the future.  Performance was monitored via a number of Key Strategic Indicators (KSI) which aligned to the Strategic Goals.  These were detailed in the Service Provision Arrangement (SPA) between Live Borders and Scottish Borders Council and were reported on a quarterly basis together with the Financial KSIs.  As agreed with SBC, KSIs 7 and 17 were no longer reported.

8.2     Live Borders had a number of key external partners with whom services were developed to serve the communities; sportscotland; Creative Scotland; SOSE; Scottish Borders College among others. A number of these partners not only provided funding but also supported the delivery and improvement of existing services and the development of new ones.

8.3     Governance of Live Borders was provided by the combination of the Board of Trustees/Directors and by the Service Provision Agreement (SPA) held with SBC which consisted of meetings attended by both parties, and additional SBC sub-committee meetings at which Live Borders were attendees. An interim structure had been put in place at the end of September 2022 following the departures of Director of Business Services, Director of Operations and Director of Commercial Services.  A permanent structure was to be in place from April1 2023 and comprised of Chief Executive Officer with responsibility for the three Sports, Culture and Communities clusters, Chief Operating Officer and Strategic Programmes Manager.

8.4     A summary of each service was provided with an overview of each one and their key achievements, deliverables and statistics: leisure centres and swimming pools; sports development; sports events and festivals; museums, galleries and archives; Jim Clark Motorsport Museum; libraries; Active Schools; Health Development; Creative Communities; Town Halls; Community Centres; Heart of Hawick; and the Great Tapestry of Scotland (GTOS).

8.5     Mr Jackson proposed to bring a Briefing Note back to the Monitoring Group which outlined the operational performances across libraries, cultural locations and swimming pools in detail at the end of the financial year, and thus provided a full year of information to be considered.

8.6     There had been circulated copies of Performance Indicators & Trends for Quarter 3 FY2022/23.  The financial year 2022/23 was the first year of delivery of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

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 paragraph 6 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.

Quarterly performance update report.  (Attached.)

          Members considered copies of the report Great Tapestry of Scotland (GTOS) Quarterly Update, the purpose of which was to provide an update on press coverage during the previous quarter and GTOS development activity for the next quarter. 

DECISION:

NOTED the update.

Consider additional meetings for the Group to allow sufficient time to consider each subject:

·         Tuesday 23 May 2023 @ 10am (SB Contracts)

·         Tuesday 30 May 2023 @ 2pm (CGI) – this meeting is already in the calendar

·         Tuesday 6 June 2023 @ 2pm (Live Borders)

The additional meetings were scheduled as follows:

• SB Contracts, Tuesday 23 May, 10am
• CGI, Tuesday 30 May, 2pm
• Live Borders, Tuesday 6 June, 2pm

DECISION:

NOTED the dates of the additional meetings.