Policy And Resources Committee - 08/03/2021

At a MEETING of the POLICY AND RESOURCES COMMITTEE held remotely on 8th March, 2021.

Present:-

Lord Provost Ian BORTHWICK

BAILIES

COUNCILLORS

Councillor John ALEXANDER, Convener, in the Chair.

The minute of meeting of this Committee of 4th March, 2021 was held as read.

Unless marked thus * all items stand delegated.

I DECLARATION OF INTEREST

There were no declarations of interest.

II CONSOLIDATION OF THE SCOTTISH LOCAL GOVERNMENT LIVING WAGE

There was submitted Report No 107-2021 by the Executive Director of Corporate Services informing the Committee on work undertaken in conjunction with the trade unions to redesign the Council Pay and Grading Structure and seeking the agreement of the Committee to work with the trade unions to implement the revised Pay and Grading Structure, which fully embedded the Scottish Local Government Living Wage (SLGLW).

The Committee:-

(i) agreed to implement the revised Pay and Grading Structure detailed in Appendix 1 to the report, with effect from 1st April, 2021;

(ii) agreed to authorise the Head of People (formally the Head of Human Resources and Business Support), to reach agreement with the trade unions on appropriate assimilation arrangements to map employees across the revised structure;

(iii) noted the financial implications for the Council outlined in section 3 of the report;

(iv) noted that an independent Equality Impact Assessment had been undertaken by an equality specialist and was published and available separately (reference Section 5 of the report);

(v) noted that the annual review of the Living Wage rate and its implications for the new Pay and Grading Structure would be applied from 1st April each year but implemented at the same time as any new pay award.

III TREASURY POLICY STATEMENT 2021/2022

On a reference to Article XV of the minute of meeting of this Committee of 7th December, 2020, there was submitted Report No 57-2021 by the Executive Director of Corporate Services revising the Councils Treasury Policy Statement which was intended to govern all borrowing and lending transactions carried out by the Council.

The Committee approved the policies and procedures laid out in the Treasury Policy Statement 2021/2022 appended to the report.

IV TREASURY MANAGEMENT STRATEGY 2021/2022

On a reference to Article XVI of the minute of meeting of this Committee of 7th December, 2020, there was submitted Report No 58-2021 by the Executive Director of Corporate Services introducing the Dundee City Council Treasury Management Strategy Statement and Annual Investment Strategy for 2021/2022, the preparation of which was a requirement of the Council's Treasury Policy Statement and the CIPFA Code of Practice on Treasury Management.

The Committee:-

(i) noted that in terms of the Treasury Policy Statement, the Executive Director of Corporate Services was obliged to present the annual Treasury Management Strategy at the start of each financial year; and

(ii) approved the strategy proposed by the Executive Director of Corporate Services for 2021/2022 as set out in the "Treasury Management Strategy 2021/2022" appended to the report.

V PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK

On references to Article III of the minute of meeting of this Committee of 20th August, 2018 and Article IV of the minute of meeting of Dundee City Council of 16th November, 2020, there was submitted Report No 66-2021 by the Chief Executive presenting the Councils revised Performance Management Framework (PMF) for 2021/2024. The framework had been reviewed to address the recommendations from the Best Value Assurance Report (BVAR).

The Committee:-

(i) agreed the revised framework attached to the report as Appendix 1; and

(ii) remitted the Council Management Team to launch and deploy the framework across Council services.

VI DUNDEE PARTNERSHIP COMMUNITY REGENERATION FUNDING FOR 2021/2022

There was submitted Report No 95-2021 by the Chief Executive proposing the funding allocation to the Dundee Partnership Community Regeneration Fund (DPCRF) for financial year 2021/2022.

The Committee:-

(i) agreed the funding allocation for Coldside, East End, Lochee, Maryfield, North East and Strathmartine as set out in section 5 of the report;

(ii) agreed to increase the Broughty Ferry and West End allocations each by 10,000, with the 20,000 required be funded from contingencies in 2021/2022 and provision to be made in the revenue estimates for future years; and

(iii) noted how funding had been utilised during the pandemic in section 6 of the report.

As an amendment, Councillor Murray moved that there be no increase to the Broughty Ferry and West End allocations, but failed to find a seconder, whereupon they asked for their dissent to be recorded.

It was reported that the Convener had agreed that the undernoted item be considered as a matter of urgency in terms of Standing Order No 17(b) in view of the timescales involved.

VII AWARD OF CONTRACTS FOR SUPPLY OF CUSTOMER MANAGEMENT SYSTEM AND CARD BUREAU SERVICES FOR THE NATIONALENTITLEMENT CARD SCHEME

There was submitted Report No 94-2021 by the Chief Executive seeking approval for the award of contracts for the supply of a Customer Management System and Card and Bureau Services for the National Entitlement Card Scheme, managed by Dundee City Council NEC Programme Office on behalf of all 32 Scottish Councils.

The Committee:-

(i) noted the evaluation outcomes and agreed the contracts for:

(a) the Customer Management System from SmartCitizen Ltd for a period of four years, initially with optional extensions of 2 x 1 year; and

(b) the Card and Bureau Services from Euclid Ltd for a period of four years initially with optional extensions of 2 x 1 year.

John ALEXANDER, Convener.