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ANGUS COUNCIL
MINUTE of MEETING of the FINANCE AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY COMMITTEE held in The Meffan, Forfar on Tuesday 31 August 1999 at 4.20 pm.
Present: Councillors ALEX KING, ALISTAIR GRAY, STEPHEN LESLIE, IAN MACKINTOSH, BILL MIDDLETON, GLENNIS MIDDLETON, PETER MURPHY, ROB MURRAY, ROBERT MYLES, PETER NIELD, BILL ROBERTON and DAVID SELFRIDGE.
Apology: An apology for absence was intimated on behalf of Councillor BRIAN MILNE.
Councillor KING, Convener, in the Chair.
1. MINUTE OF PREVIOUS MEETING
The minute of meeting of this Committee held on 15 June 1999 was approved as a correct record and signed by the Convener.
2. HOUSING CAPITAL PROGRAMME HRA BLOCK 1999/2000
With reference to Article 4 of the minute of meeting of this Committee of 15 June 1999, there was submitted Report No 816/99 by the Director of Finance setting out the position on the HRA Housing Capital Programme as at 31 July 1999. The Report indicated that expenditure was generally on track to achieve the programme with the total Capital Budget adjusted from £6.237m to £6.108m as a result of additional costs in respect of gas maintenance.
The Committee agreed to note the figures presented in respect of 1999/2000.
3. REVENUE MONITORING STATEMENT
With reference to Article 4 of the minute of meeting of this Committee of 22 April 1999, there was submitted Report No 872/99 by the Director of Finance on the actual revenue expenditure incurred and income received in respect of the Council's Departments, as well as the Police, Fire and Valuation Joint Boards for the period 1 April 1999 to 31 July 1999.
The Committee agreed to note the contents of the Report.
4. CAPITAL MONITORING COMPOSITE CAPITAL PROGRAMME 1998/99
With reference to Article 5 of the minute of meeting of this Committee of 15 June 1999, there was submitted Report No 873/99 by the Director of Finance advising members of the capital expenditure incurred for the period from 1 April 1999 to 31 July 1999 and measuring projected capital expenditure for the year against available capital resources for the year. The Report indicated that the Composite Programme capital expenditure projections had fallen short of available resources and a meeting of the Capital Budget Sub-Group was planned at an early date to review the position on the programme and address issues relating to the projected underspend.
The Committee agreed:-
(i) to note the position as at 31 July 1999, on the Composite Capital Programme, as per the accompanying monitoring statement;
(ii) to note the planned meeting of the Capital Budget Sub-Group to review the position on the Composite Capital Programme to address issues relating to the projected underspend, possible further slippage on projects and resources potentially available over the forthcoming financial year; and
(iii) to note that projections of the year end position would be ongoing and brought forward, on a regular basis, to future Committees.
5. RENEWAL AND REPAIR FUNDS POSITION AT 31 JULY 1999
With reference to Article 8 of the minute of meeting of this Committee of 15 June 1999, there was submitted Report No 874/99 by the Director of Finance detailing the financial position of the Renewal and Repair Funds for Property, Roads, Print and Information Technology. The Report indicated that all agreed commitments for 1999/2000 had been included.
The Committee agreed to note the contents of the Report.
6. ANNUAL ACCOUNTS MONTROSE LINKS TRUST YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 1999
With reference to Article 10 of the minute of meeting of this Committee of 1 September 1998, there was submitted Report No 875/99 by the Director of Finance detailing the audited Annual Accounts of the Montrose Links Trust, for the year ended 31 March 1999. The Report indicated that, following negotiations between the Council and Montrose Links Trust, it was proposed to enter into a lease for the control, management and maintenance of the Montrose Golf Courses as opposed to the renewal of a Minute of Agreement. Provisional terms and conditions had been drafted and a meeting between representatives of Angus Council and Montrose Links Trust had been arranged for 9 September 1999 with a view to concluding negotiations in relation to the lease.
The Committee agreed to note the 1998/99 Annual Accounts of the Montrose Links Trust, a copy of which was appended to the Report.
7. STRATEGIC REVIEW OF SPECIAL FUNDS
The Committee agreed to defer consideration of this matter to the Policy and Resources Committee meeting on 7 September 1999.
8. ANGUS COUNCIL FINANCIAL PLAN 1999-2002 POLICY STATEMENT
There was submitted Report No 885/99 by the Director of Finance seeking approval of the proposed Financial Plan 1999-2002 Policy Statement for Angus Council.
The Report indicated that the Scottish Executive had recently written to all Councils inviting them to submit a formal Policy Statement on their capital expenditure intentions for financial years 1999/2000 to 2001/2002. These Policy Statements were part of an information gathering exercise to allow the Executive to evaluate and report to Ministers on the Comprehensive Spending Review decisions. The Policy Statement as attached to the Report had been put forward for the Committee's approval but, due to the timescales necessary for submission, the Policy Statement had been submitted to the Scottish Executive with the proviso that it was in draft form, pending consideration by elected members.
The Committee, for its interest, agreed:-
(i) to note the contents of the Report;
(ii) to approve the Financial Plan 1999/2002 Policy Statement as attached at Appendix 1 to the Report; and
(iii) to note that the Policy Statement had been submitted in draft form to the Scottish Executive.
9. PREPARATION OF THE 1999/2003 FINANCIAL PLAN AND 2000/2001 GENERAL FUND CAPITAL BUDGET
There was submitted Report No 877/99 by the Director of Finance apprising members of the main stages in the Financial Plan process and seeking approval of the proposed approach to the preparation of the 1999/2003 Financial Plan and the 2000/2001 General Fund Capital Budget. A copy of the indicative timetable for the 1999/2003 Financial Plan process was attached at Appendix A to the Report.
The Committee, for its interest, agreed:-
(i) to note the contents of the Report; and
(ii) to approve the approach to the Financial Plan preparation process as set out in Section 5 of the Report.
10. ANTI-FRAUD AND CORRUPTION POLICIES
There was submitted Report No 878/99 by the Director of Finance proposing a general anti-fraud and corruption strategy for the Council together with a series of linked supporting policies including a charter for the Internal Audit Section within the Finance Department.
The Report indicated that it was important that the Council was seen to be aware of the potential for fraud, impropriety, etc and to ensure that a robust strategy existed for prevention, detection and investigation. Adopting an anti-fraud strategy, underpinned by the various policies and operational procedures contained in the Report, would provide a risk management approach to mitigate risks to the Council's reputation and to protect the public pound.
The Committee agreed:-
(i) to adopt the general anti-fraud and corruption strategy detailed in Appendix 1;
(ii) to adopt the Fraud Whistleblowing policy in relation to third parties as detailed in Appendix II;
(iii) to note that wider Whistleblowing policy issues would be developed and a further Report be brought forward;
(iv) to note that a Whistleblowing policy, in relation to Council employees, was to be drafted and that it would be the subject of consultation with the trade unions;
(v) to set up a freephone fraud telephone hotline within the Internal Audit Section;
(vi) to approve the Charter for the Internal Audit Section (as detailed in Appendix III) and the policy in relation to fraud and defalcation (as detailed in Appendix IV);
(vii) to approve, in principle, a scheme of Data Matching; and
(viii) to approve a Data Matching Code of Practice (as detailed in Appendix V) and a Prosecution Policy (as detailed in Appendix VI).
11. SUPPLEMENTARY FUNDING PROVISION FOR ATTIC ACCESS ALTERATIONS TO NON-HOUSING COUNCIL BUILDINGS PHASE 2
With reference to Article 20 of the minute of meeting of the Personnel and Property Services Committee of 31 August 1999, there was submitted Report No 845/99 by the Director of Property Services seeking approval for the provision of supplementary funding from the Property Renewal and Repair Fund to allow the second phase of alterations to attic access points in non-housing Council buildings.
The Committee, for its interest, agreed:-
(i) to note the requirement for further alterations to be carried out in non-housing Council buildings;
(ii) to approve the bid for supplementary funding in the sum of £55,000 from the Property Renewal and Repair Fund for Phase 2 of the alterations programme; and
(iii) to instruct the Director of Property Services to progress the Phase 2 alterations immediately and submit a further Report next year for Phase 3 of the programme.
12. CAPITAL PROJECT APPRAISAL
SOUTHMUIR PRIMARY SCHOOL/WEBSTER'S HIGH SCHOOL
With reference to Article 6 of the minute of meeting of the Education Committee of 24 August 1999 and Article 22 of the minute of meeting of the Personnel and Property Services Committee of 31 August 1999, there was submitted Joint Report No 804/99 by the Director of Education and the Director of Property Services detailing the requirement to extend Webster's High School and replace Southmuir Primary School.
The Report indicated that major problems identified in Southmuir Primary School concerned the use of temporary hutted accommodation which were presently used for five primary classes and the staffroom. In relation to Webster's High School, four classrooms were located in temporary inadequate accommodation separate from the main building. The Report set out in detail the preferred solutions in relation to both schools and the capital costs involved.
The Committee, for its interest, agreed:-
(i) to approve the replacement of Southmuir Primary School and the extension to Webster's High School, at an estimated cost of £2,850,000 at outturn prices;
(ii) to note that the amended cost and phasing detailed in the Report, would be reflected in the revised Capital Programme for 1999/2000 and beyond;
(iii) to note that the Director of Property Services, in consultation with the Director of Education and the Director of Finance, was investigating potential alternative funding mechanisms, in relation to the provision of energy for the building;
(iv) to note the overall proposed funding package; and
(v) to approve the preparation and issue of tender documents.
13. PROPERTY RENEWAL AND REPAIR FUND
FUNDING ARRANGEMENTS AND PROGRAMME OF URGENT REPAIRS PHASE 8
With reference to Article 21 of the minute of meeting of the Personnel and Property Services Committee of 31 August 1999 and to Article 25 of the minute of meeting of this Committee of 15 June 1999, there was submitted Report No 846/99 by the Director of Property Services advising the Committee of the eighth phase of budgetary provision from the Property Renewal and Repair Fund and detailing the programme of urgent repairs to be undertaken. The programme of urgent repairs, as detailed in the Appendix to the Report, had been prepared following detailed consideration of the five year costed and prioritised programme of planned maintenance work, and identification of those projects which required to be urgently undertaken but whose costs could not be contained within the respective client Departments’ Revenue Property Maintenance Budget for the current year.
The Committee, for its interest, agreed:-
(i) to approve the provision of £453,350 from the Property Renewal and Repair Fund for the execution of urgent property repairs; and
(ii) to note and approve the programme of urgent repairs being undertaken by the Director of Property Services, in agreement with the Director of Finance, based upon the funding arrangements detailed in the Report.
14. PROPERTY RENEWAL AND REPAIR FUND
FUNDING TO REPLACE THE EXISTING EAST LOAD BEARING SLEEPER FENCE WITH A NEW LOAD BEARING BOUNDARY WALL AT THE MART BUILDING
With reference to Article 23 of the minute of meeting of the Personnel and Property Services Committee of 31 August 1999, there was submitted Report No 847/99 by the Director of Property Services advising the Committee of the estimated cost of the replacement of the existing east boundary fence at the Mart Building, Market Street, Forfar. The work comprised the removal of the existing sleeper fence and excavation of the earth embankment, to allow the construction of a proprietary interlocking concrete block retaining wall.
The Committee, for its interest, agreed:-
(i) to approve the provision of £29,000 from the Property Renewal and Repair Fund for the replacement of the east boundary fence; and
(ii) to instruct the Director of Property Services to progress these urgent works.
15. REPAIRS TO LIFT INSTALLATIONS NEW REGULATIONS
With reference to Article 24 of the minute of meeting of the Personnel and Property Services Committee of 31 August 1999, there was submitted Report No 848/99 by the Director of Property Services seeking approval for the provision of supplementary funding from the Property Renewal and Repair Fund to allow the first phase of repair and renewal of lifts in non-housing properties. The Report indicated that the introduction of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 and the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 had resulted in changes to the standards established for lift maintenance and safety.
The Committee, for its interest, agreed:-
(i) to note the requirement for the repair and renewal of lifts in non-housing properties;
(ii) to approve the bid for supplementary funding in the sum of £44,000 from the Property Renewal and Repair Fund for Phase 1 of the Repair and Renewal Programme; and
(iii) to instruct the Director of Property Services to progress the repairs and renewals immediately and submit a further Report detailing the later phases of the programme.
Councillors Glennis Middleton and Bill Roberton declared an interest in the following item and took no part in the consideration thereof.
16. PROPOSED DISPOSAL OF LAND AT CLIFF HOUSE, ERADOUR GARDENS, ARBROATH
With reference to Article 9 of the minute of meeting of the Social Work Committee of 17 August 1999 and to Article 19 of the minute of meeting of the Personnel and Property Services Committee of 31 August 1999, there was submitted Joint Report No 783/99 by the Director of Social Work and the Director of Property Services advising the Committee of the provisional terms and conditions for the disposal of a site at Cliff House, Edradour Gardens, Arbroath to Angus Community Care Charitable Trust for the construction of a supported housing project and proposals for the development of the balance of the Cliff House site.
The Committee, for its interest, agreed:-
(i) to the disposal of a site measuring 0.46 hectares or thereby at Cliff House, Edradour Gardens, Arbroath to Angus Community Care Charitable Trust on the provisional terms and conditions outlined in the Report;
(ii) to the demolition of Cliff House and all associated buildings on the site, with work being funded from the Social Work Department’s allocation of the Angus Council Repair and Renewal Fund; and
(iii) to the development of proposals for a therapeutic garden on the balance of the Cliff House site and the bringing forward of a Report regarding this at a future date.
17. BUSINESS CONTINUITY STANDBY SERVER FACILITY
With reference to Article 20 of the minute of meeting of this Committee of 20 October 1998, there was submitted Report No 867/99 by the Director of Information Technology regarding proposals for the provision of a standby server facility for the purpose of disaster recovery of a major computer system in a business continuity critical situation. The Report outlined the proposals to procure a Sun server of sufficient capacity to accommodate the largest of the software applications requiring disaster recovery facilities.
The Committee agreed to approve the procurement, installation, configuration and support of a standby server at a cost of £41,144 from Computa Limited under the terms of Financial Regulation 14.1.3.f.
18. YEAR 2000 IT CONTINGENCY PLAN
With reference to Article 23 of the minute of meeting of this Committee of 15 June 1999, there was submitted Report No 868/99 by the Director of Information Technology advising the Committee of the position regarding IT systems identified for preparation of Year 2000 Contingency Plans.
The Report indicated that the target date for completion and testing of the Year 2000 Contingency Plan was 30 September 1999. A number of actions remained to be carried out and these were detailed in the Report. It was emphasised that a sustained effort would be required by all Departments to complete the tasks in hand by the due date.
The Committee agreed:-
(i) to note the position regarding IT systems identified for the preparation of Year 2000 Contingency Plans; and
(ii) to approve the actions and timescale for completion of the plan by 30 September 1999, and the prioritised response list detailed in the Report.
19. DEPARTMENT OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SERVICE PLAN 1999-2001
With reference to Article 13 of the minute of meeting of this Committee of 13 September 1998, there was submitted Report No 869/99 by the Director of Information Technology advising of the updating of his Departmental Service Plan.
While the Service Plan recorded a number of considerable achievements in the past year despite the increasing demand of service and the extensive resource implications of dealing with the so-called Millennium Bug symptom, it was essentially a forward looking document which sought to outline the plans to further the development of information technology facilities and in particular the use of such technologies to reconfigure and enhance the Council/citizen interface.
The Committee agreed:-
(i) to note the contents of the Report; and
(ii) to approve the Departmental Service Plan for Information Technology.
20. EXCLUSION OF PUBLIC AND PRESS
The Committee resolved, in terms of Standing Order 27(2) that the public and press be excluded during considering of the following Items, so as to avoid the disclosure of information which was exempt in terms of Part 1 of Schedule 7A to the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, paragraphs 1, 6, 8,9 and 14.
21. ANNUAL REPORT 1998/99 INTERNAL AUDIT
With reference to Article 7 of the minute of meeting of this Committee of 16 June 1998, there was submitted Report No 879/99 by the Director of Finance concerning the Internal Audit Report for 1998/99. The Report provided a summary of the results of each audit conducted together with a response received from Departments concerned. A number of the core financial systems of the Council had been audited during the year and proposals for the 1999/2000 financial year included systems audit of the major new systems implemented by the Council during 1998/99 including integrated benefits and housing systems.
The Committee agreed to note the contents of the Internal Audit Report for 1998/99.
22. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY TENDERS FROM 1 MARCH 1999 TO 31 JULY 1999
With reference to Article 25 of the minute of meeting of this Committee of 22 April 1999, there was submitted and noted Report No 870/99 by the Director of Information Technology advising members of the tenders which had been accepted under delegated authority during the period 1 March 1999 to 31 July 1999.
23. YEAR 2000
(a) Appointment of Consultants
With reference to Article 23 of the minute of meeting of this Committee of 15 June 1999, there was submitted Report No 871/99 by the Director of Information Technology advising the Committee of the appointment of external contractors to audit some aspects of the Council's Year 2000 preparations and the outcome of their work.
The Committee agreed:-
(i) to note the appointment of CS Rand as external contractors to audit the testing of bespoke software utilised by Social Work Department; and
(ii) to note the progress being made, based on the output of testing, in ensuring minimum disruption during the millennium period arising from the malfunction of computer software.
(b) Infrastructure Testing Appointment of Consultants
With reference to Article 23 of the minute of meeting of this Committee of 15 June 1999, there was submitted Report No 881/99 by the Director of Information Technology seeking approval to appoint external consultants to carry out certain specialist operations, as part of the Council's planned activity to prevent service delivery disruption arising from the malfunction of computer systems during the millennium period.
The Committee agreed to approve the appointment of Anite Limited to provide specialist services in respect of reconfiguring servers and desktop computers on the core Council network at an estimated cost of £15,000.
24. PROPERTY RENEWAL AND REPAIR FUND
MONIKIE COUNTRY PARK
With reference to Article 20 of the minute of meeting of the Recreation and Cultural Services Committee of 19 August 1999, and to Article 6 of the minute of meeting of the Personnel and Property Services Committee of 31 August 1999, there was submitted Joint Report No 769/99 by the Directors of Property Services and Recreation Services which detailed supplementary information on additional priority 1 work at Monikie Country Park utilising the Property Renewal and Repairs Fund.
The Committee agreed to approve expenditure of £35,000 at Monikie Country Park to provide improved accommodation at the North Lodge.
25. FAMILY SUPPORT AND EARLY INTERVENTION SERVICES
With reference to Article 3 of the minute of meeting of the Personnel and Property Services Committee of 31 August 1999, there was submitted Joint Report No 757/99 by the Director of Personnel, the Director of Social Work and the Director of Education proposing staffing developments in line with the National Childcare Strategy and Children’s Services Development Fund and indicating that the funding for this development would come from the allocations to Education and Social Work from the Government's Comprehensive Spending Review.
The Committee, for its interest, agreed to approve the development of Family Support and Early Intervention Services, as described in the Report.