Agenda, decisions and minutes

Decision: That the minutes of the Executive Cabinet meeting held on 15 June 2023 be confirmed as a correct record for signature by the Executive Leader.

Members are reminded of their responsibility to declare any pecuniary interest in respect of matters contained in this agenda.

If you have a pecuniary interest you must withdraw from the meeting. Normally you should leave the room before the business starts to be discussed. You do, however, have the same right to speak as a member of the public and may remain in the room to enable you to exercise that right and then leave immediately. In either case you must not seek to improperly influence a decision on the matter.

There were no declarations of any interests.

Members of the public who have requested the opportunity to ask a question(s) on an item(s) on the agenda will have three minutes to put their question(s) to the respective Executive Member(s).  Each member of the public will be allowed to ask one short supplementary question. 

There were no public questions.

To receive and consider the report of the Director of Change and Delivery.

That the report be noted.

Councillor Peter Wilson, Executive Member for Resources presented the report of the Director of Change and Delivery which provides an update on the performance of the council’s key partnership arrangements.

The key partnerships performance report is produced in accordance with the requirements of the council’s key contracts and partnership framework. Members noted that overall, the performance of all key partnerships is strong, and the financial assessment of the partnerships are positive with the financial standing of all key partnerships monitored.

New contracts have been included in the reporting for the Key Contracts and Partnerships framework for the first time in 2023/24. Objectives have been set for 2023/25 and an update on progress will be brought against these in July 2024.

Members requested an update on Brinscall Baths and a potential opening date and discussed the reporting of council-owned limited companies going forward.

Decision:

That the report be noted.

Reasons for recommendations:

To ensure effective monitoring of the council’s key contracts and partnerships.

Other options considered and rejected:

No other options have been considered as this report is for information only.

To receive and consider the report of the Director of Customer and Digital.

1.    To agree a direct award to GOSS through a compliant procurement framework, only if favourable commercial terms can be agreed including transparency on future costs for a period of up to 5 years from July 2024, for a joint GOSS iCM platform with South Ribble Council.

2.    In the absence of the above i.e., not obtaining favourable commercial terms directly with GOSS, the council will undertake a full market procurement exercise which will include open-source software currently being explored.

3.    To approve the delegation of the outcome and final sign off for either recommendation (a) or (b) to the Leader of the Council and Executive Member (Resources).

Councillor Peter Wilson, Executive Member for Resources presented the report of the Director of Customer and Digital which seeks agreement on the future for Chorley Council’s Content Management System (CMS).

Members noted that GOSS is the CMS system that is used to manage and modify content on several council owned websites. The current contract with GOSS is a shared contract with South Ribble Council, using separate instances to manage each councils’ different websites.

Discussions with GOSS have highlighted that the council should expect a significant cost increase upon contract renewal in July 2023. However, GOSS have suggested that more attractive pricing would be available if the councils had a shared iCM administrator and production environment.

A one-year contract extension until July 2024 with GOSS has been agreed via Executive Member Decision whilst further negotiations take place. Members welcomed this approach to achieve the best value and supported that the council will undertake a full market procurement exercise if favourable commercial terms cannot be achieved.

Decision:

1.    To agree a direct award to GOSS through a compliant procurement framework, only if favourable commercial terms can be agreed including transparency on future costs for a period of up to 5 years from July 2024, for a joint GOSS iCM platform with South Ribble Council.

2.    In the absence of the above i.e., not obtaining favourable commercial terms directly with GOSS, the council will undertake a full market procurement exercise which will include open-source software currently being explored.

3.    To approve the delegation of the outcome and final sign off for either recommendation (a) or (b) to the Leader of the Council and Executive Member (Resources).

Reasons for recommendations:

To ensure that the council maintains and develops its online presence and delivery of online services to residents.

Other options considered and rejected:

Other options to be considered are detailed within the report.

To consider the exclusion of the press and public for the following items of business on the ground that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972.

By Virtue of Paragraph 3: Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information)

Condition:

Information is not exempt if it is required to be registered under-

The Companies Act 1985

The Friendly Societies Act 1974

The Friendly Societies Act 1992

The Industrial and Provident Societies Acts 1965 to 1978

The Building Societies Act 1986 (recorded in the public file of any building society, within the meaning of the Act)

The Charities Act 1993

Information is exempt to the extent that, in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

Information is not exempt if it relates to proposed development for which the local planning authority may grant itself planning permission pursuant to Regulation 3 of the Town & Country Planning General Regulations 1992(a).

To exclude the public and press.

Decision: To exclude the press and public for the following items of business on the grounds they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972.

To receive and consider the report of the Director of Change and Delivery.

This item was considered earlier in the meeting.

To receive and consider the report of the Director of Customer and Digital.

This item was considered earlier in the meeting.

To receive and consider the report of the Chief Executive and Director of Customer and Digital.

1.    To approve the award of contract to Civica Property Management (CPM) via a direct award utilising the Crown Commercial Services Framework on a five-year contract term.

2.    To note the requirement for the creation of two new temporary shared posts within the Commercial Services directorate to support data validation, data capture, data entry and overall adoption of the Property and Assets Management system.

Councillor Peter Wilson, Executive Member for Resources presented the confidential report of the Chief Executive and Director of Customer and Digital which updates Members on the requirement for a Property and Assets Management system, seeks approval to award the contract, and advises Members on the additional resourcing required to support the adoption of the system.

Decision:

1.    To approve the award of contract to Civica Property Management (CPM) via a direct award utilising the Crown Commercial Services Framework on a five-year contract term.

2.    To note the requirement for the creation of two new temporary shared posts within the Commercial Services directorate to support data validation, data capture, data entry and overall adoption of the Property and Assets Management system.

Reasons for recommendations:

1.    Chorley Council and South Ribble Borough Council Property and Assets teams now operate within the Shared Service model.

2.    To make further improvements in the efficiency and effectiveness of the service across both Councils there is a clear need to introduce a property asset management solution. Currently each authority operates with a series of stand alone databases, utilising different systems of records management. The benefits of a single property management system are detailed later in this report.

3.    A report to both Chorley Council and South Ribble Borough Council Executive Cabinet meetings in November 2022 sought approval of the procurement routes for numerous ICT software solutions, including the procurement route for a Property and Assets Management system.

4.    Included in this report was the procurement of Civica Property Management (previously known as Technology Forge) with procuring the solution via a direct award approved at the cabinet meeting.

5.    Discussions have now taken place with Crown Commercial Services (CCS) regarding a direct award utilising their framework. CCS have confirmed that a direct award via their framework is permissible and a compliant route to market due to the software being intrinsically linked as Technology Forge, which is now known as Civica Property Management already in use at Chorley Council.

Other options considered and rejected:

1.    A further competitive procurement exercise was considered but rejected. This was rejected as Technology Forge (now known as Civica Property Management) is already in use at Chorley Council. Time is of the essence with a direct award saving time on the procurement of a Property and Assets Management system.

2.    A specification document and a series of questions have been sent to Civica Property Management to ensure the solution meets both Councils requirements. The responses were acceptable, and there is confidence that the solution allows for best value to be achieved in line with Contract Procedure Rules via a direct award to Civica Property Management

3.    The current financial system used at both Councils is a Civica product. With the Property and Assets system also being a Civica product this allows for more simplified integration between the two systems. Should the Council procure an alternative property and asset management system there would be additional costs associated with integrating with our financial system. As  ...  view the full minutes text for item 23.EC.15

To receive and consider the report of the Chief Executive.

That the terms provisionally agreed for the grant of a new lease are approved and the Director of Governance be authorised to complete the legal formalities in accordance with these terms.

Councillor Peter Wilson, Executive Member for Resources presented the confidential report of the Chief Executive which seeks Members authorisation for the grant of a new lease of Units 1 and 2 Flat Iron Parade to a new Tenant, Domino’s Pizza UK & Ireland Limited subject to terms provisionally agreed by the Council’s Consultant Surveyor.

Decision:

That the terms provisionally agreed for the grant of a new lease are approved and the Director of Governance be authorised to complete the legal formalities in accordance with these terms.

Reasons for recommendations:

Following a recent marketing exercise the proposed terms have been provisionally agreed and recommended by the Council’s Retail Consultants and reflect current market conditions within the Market Walk Centre in line with other leases which have been recently agreed / completed. This proposal is also seen as a good opportunity to attract another national multiple retailer into the Market Walk Shopping Centre.    

Other options considered and rejected:

An offer to lease was also received from the Vaccination Centre who currently

occupy Unit 13 Market Walk on licence but the current offer is seen as a better offer in terms of the proposed use being more compatible with the prominent location of this unit and an improved financial offer.