Agenda and draft minutes

Consideration was given to the minutes of the previous meeting held on 15^th April, 2013.

Resolved:-  That the minutes of the meeting held on 15^th April, 2013 be approved as a correct record.

Consideration was given to a report presented by Phil Howe, Director of Human Resources, which provided information regarding the introduction of a Mobile Phone/Tablet salary sacrifice scheme.

Employees could save between 30 to 50% off the price of a smart phone or Tablet-type device when accompanied with 24 months line rental, dependant on their personal tax rate.  There were restrictions placed on tablet-type devices that could be purchased under such schemes as HMRC provisions required that they must be more akin to mobile communication equipment rather than computing devices.

Mobile phone salary sacrifice schemes do not affect the level of pensionable pay for employees who were members of the Local Government Pension or Teacher Pension Schemes.  This would make the scheme more attractive to employees and unlike some of the salary sacrifice schemes allowed 3,000 employees on teaching terms and conditions of employment to participate. 

The Council would save money on employer National Insurance contributions on the amount of salary sacrificed, currently 10.4% or 13.8% depending whether the employee was in the pension scheme or not.  If 100 employees, 1% of the workforce, joined the scheme National Insurance savings were expected to be around £5,000 per annum. 

The introduction of a scheme would also increase the number of employees with devices which could be used under the Council’s Bring Your Own Device (BOYD) policy.  

Resolved:-  (1)  That the introduction of a salary sacrifice scheme for mobile phones and Tablet Devices be supported.

(2)  That an appropriate interim provider be identified whilst a formal procurement exercise is undertaken on a national framework agreement.

Consideration was given to a report presented by Jacqueline Collins, Director of Legal and Democratic Services, which detailed how the Council’s Standing Orders placed a limit of £500,000 on the total amount value of contracts that may be placed by officers.

For the financial year 2012/13 this limit was exceeded by the Director of Human Resources. This was due to the significant value of vehicles nominally purchased by the Council on behalf of employees, under the salary sacrifice scheme.

The Council’s Standing Orders had been revised and approved at the Annual Council Meeting in order to provide assurance that orders were being placed in an authorised manner.

Resolved:-  That the additional expenditure for the year 2012/13 and the position, which had been rectified by an amendment to the Council’s Standing Orders at the Annual Council Meeting on the 17th May, 2013, be noted.

Consideration was given to a report presented by Richard Copley, Corporate ICT Manager, which sought approval to invoke Standing Order 35, which permitted exemption from normal Contract Standing Orders. This was to allow Oxford Computer Group, to undertake the upgrade of the Microsoft Live@edu school email service provision to the replacement Microsoft Office 365 service.

Microsoft have announced that they would discontinue the Live@edu service in July 2013 and replace it with their new ‘Office 365 for Schools’ service.  This change would mean that Oxford Computer Group would be required to re-write their integration platform such that the integration between RGfL and Live@edu be removed and replaced with integration between RGfL and Office 365.

As Oxford Computer Group implemented, managed and maintained the existing Live@edu service for the Council they were the only supplier able to upgrade service. No other feasible alternatives existed and the cost for any other organisation to develop an interface would be substantially in excess of the price quoted and the development, testing and implementation processes would cause disruption to users during the transition period.

Resolved:-  That the contract for the upgrading of the school’s email system and associated re-integration with Rotherham Grid for Learning be exempt from the provisions of Standing Order 47.6.3 (requirement to invite at least three written quotations for contracts with a value of between £20k and £50k) and the contract be awarded to Oxford Computer Group.

Consideration was given to a report presented by Sue Wilson, Performance and Quality Manager, which summarised the performance by the Resources Directorate against current measures and key service delivery issues across the areas of:-

·                Commissioning, Policy and Performance.

·                Financial Services.

·                Human Resources and Payroll.

·                Internal Audit and Asset Management.

·                Legal and Democratic Services.

A summary of the key points was provided in relation to each of the areas.

It was also noted that the structure of the future reports would change given the transfer of some services into other Directorates and that in future the report will be simplified to include only areas of good performance and those areas where there is a cause for concern.

Resolved:-  That the report be received and the performance noted.

(a)       Phil Howe, Director of Human Resources,  reported on a number of issues including:-

·           The changes in reporting lines and structure for the former Resources Directorate.

·           The forthcoming regional meeting on the National Pay Award.

·           The visit to Islington to enquire on their methodology to introduce the Living Wage within the Council and associated contractors.

(b)       Jacqueline Collins, Director of Legal and Democratic Services, confirmed the release of the report on child sexual exploitation.

(c)       Richard Copley, Corporate ICT Manager, gave an update on the current position with regards to new technology and the product by Microsoft which would be subject to rigorous testing.

Concerns relating to the use of the Good for Good Reader app would be investigated.

(d)       Stuart Booth, Director of Finance, confirmed that the Revenue Outturn report for 2012/13 would be submitted to the Cabinet on the 19^th June, 2013.

-       Monday, 8^th July, 2013, at 9.30 a.m.

Resolved:-  That the next meeting take place on Thursday, 11^th July, 2013 at 9.30 a.m. and not Monday, 8^th July, 2013 as originally advertised.