City Governance Committee - 10/06/2024

At a MEETING of the CITY GOVERNANCE COMMITTEE held remotely on 10th June, 2024.

Present:-

BAILIES

COUNCILLORS

Councillor John ALEXANDER, Convener, in the Chair.

The minute of meeting of this Committee of 13th May, 2024 was held as read.

Unless marked thus * all items stand delegated.

I DECLARATION OF INTEREST

There were no declarations of interest.

II LOCAL GOVERNMENT BENCHMARKING FRAMEWORK PERFORMANCE INDICATORS 2022/2023

There was submitted Report No 93-2024 by the Chief Executive, advising the Committee of the performance of Dundee City Council, for the financial year 2022/2023, as defined by the performance indicators compiled by the Improvement Service for the Local Government Benchmark Framework (LGBF). It also aligned to the priorities as set out in the Council Plan 2022/2027 and described the Councils performance in relation to our comparator authorities (ie LGBF Family Group).

The Committee agreed:-

(i) to note the results contained in this report;

(ii) to remit the report to the Scrutiny Committee for further consideration; and

(iii) to remit the Council Leadership Team to review the selected areas of improvement in Section 6.

III RISK MANAGEMENT ANNUAL REPORT

There was submitted Report No 154-2024 by the Executive Director of Corporate Services, presenting to the Committee:-

(i) the annual report of Risk Management; and

(ii) the review of the risks in the Councils Corporate Risk Register.

The Committee agreed:-

(i) to note the content of the report; and

(ii) to remit the report to the Scrutiny Committee for further consideration.

IV USE OF REGULATION OF INVESTIGATORY POWERS (SCOTLAND) ACT 2000 AND REGULATION OFINVESTIGATORY POWERS ACT 2000

There was submitted Report No 148-2024 by the Executive Director of Corporate Services, advising the Committee of the use made by the Council of the powers under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers (Scotland) Act 2000 and the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 from 1st April, 2023 to 30th April, 2024.

The Committee agreed:-

(i) to note the use which the Council has made of powers contained in the Regulation of Investigatory Powers (Scotland) Act 2000 and in related powers contained in the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 between 1st April, 2023 to 30th April, 2024 as detailed in Appendix 1 to the report; and

(ii) to approve the Council's continued proportionate use of the powers, where necessary, in the areas of crime prevention and detection or preventing disorder, in the interests of public safety and for the purpose of protecting public health. In particular, the Council agreed to continue to use the powers to prevent and detect anti-social behaviour.

V AWARD OF TENDER FOR SCOTTISH CITIES ALLIANCE FOR THE PROVISION OF PUBLIC RELATIONSAND COMMUNICATIONS SUPPORT

There was submitted Report No 164-2024 by the Chief Executive, asking the Committee to approve the appointment of Stripe Communications on behalf of the Scottish Cities Alliance (the Alliance) following the completion of a tendering process undertaken with the approval of the Alliance partners and in accordance with the Alliances own governance arrangements.

The Committee agreed:-

(i) to note steps taken by the Alliance Team to progress the procurement of Public Relations and Communications Support for the Alliances Investment Promotion Programme to date in discussion with Dundee City Council procurement and in accordance with the Alliances own governance arrangements;

(ii) to delegate to the Head of Chief Executives Service to finalise arrangements for the appointment of Stripe Communications for the provision of Public Relations and Communications Support for the Alliances Investment Promotion Programme; and

(iii) to delegate authority to the Chief Executive to make all future tender awards which relate solely to the work of the Scottish Cities Alliance, provided they have no financial implications for Dundee City Council.

VI CORPORATE PROCUREMENT STRATEGY 2024/2027

There was submitted Report No 156-2024 by the Executive Director of Corporate Services, presenting the Committee with the Corporate Procurement Strategy for the next three years, for review and approval.

The Committee agreed:-

(i) to approve the adoption of the Procurement Strategy for 2024/2027;

(ii) to note the continuation of the structures and good practice points introduced in the 2023/2024 Procurement Strategy, and agree the addition of new initiatives on Community Wealth Building (increasing spend with local suppliers) and Climate Change (reducing scope 3 emissions);

(iii) to note that the Procurement Strategy would be published on the Councils website; and

(iv) to note that the spend data contained in the strategy was based on 2022/2023 financial year. These would be updated in the strategy document as soon as the analysis of the 2023/2024 spend was available.

VII PUBLICLY ACCESSIBLE DEFIBRILLATORS

There was submitted Report No 96-2024 by the Executive Director of Corporate Services, updating Committee on work done to assess the distribution of publicly accessible defibrillators across Dundee and to recommend ways in which the Council could continue to support the installation of, and sharing of information about, defibrillators within Dundees communities.

The Committee agreed:-

(i) to note the work carried out to date and agreed, in principle, that communities across Dundee should receive support and guidance to ensure that an equitable distribution of publicly accessible defibrillators was in place;

(ii) to provide guidance on the maintenance of defibrillators to host organisations and encourage them to register their publicly accessible defibrillators on CIRCUIT;

(iii) that this data set be included on the Council's GIS mapping system; and

(iv) that, a publicly accessible defibrillator unit should be installed in City Square, for the benefit of Dundee residents, visitors, and employees.

VIII SCOTTISH WELFARE FUND - FLOORCOVERING FRAMEWORK EXTENSION

There was submitted Report No 157-2024 by the Executive Director of Corporate Services, seeking approval for the extension of the multi-supplier framework contract for carpets and vinyl flooring supplying the Councils Scottish Welfare Fund until 31st May, 2025. This would allow time for a tendering process to be carried out.

The Committee agreed:-

(i) to extend the contract for the Councils supply of carpets and vinyl flooring to the Scottish Welfare Fund until 31st May, 2025; and

(ii) to note that this would allow time for a tendering process to be carried out.

IX MULTI-FUNCTIONAL DEVICES CONTRACT TRANSITION (TAYSIDE PARTNERS)

There was submitted Report No 155-2024 by the Executive Director of Corporate Services, seeking approval for the tendering for the print management services across the Council and partner organisations. A sourcing strategy had been developed for this exercise.

The Committee agreed:-

(i) to note that prior to October, 2024, all services would review their requirements for the use of multi-functional devices and rationalise these accordingly;

(ii) to approve the commencing of a procurement exercise in respect of the project described, based on the sourcing strategy summarised in the report;

(iii) to note the intention to extend the current contract to allow time for partners to complete a full review of the number of machines under lease before a new tender was issued, and to allow for a smooth transition potentially to a new provider;

(iv) to note the outcome of the tendering process would be submitted to City Governance Committee for final approval in due course; and

(v) to note that the Council would continue to investigate ways of mitigating any harm to the environment and additional CO2 emissions created in the transition to a new contract and disposal of the existing machines.

John ALEXANDER, Convener.