Agenda and minutes

The minutes of the meeting held on 26^th November were taken as read, confirmed, and signed.

The Chair advised that he had not been notified of any urgent items for consideration.

The Chairman invited members who wished to do so to declare any interest in respect of items on the agenda for the meeting.

No declarations were made.

The Committee considered to a report of the Director which provided an update of the actions and progress made since the previous Committee held on 26^th November 2018. A copy of the report, marked ‘Agenda Item 5’, is filed with these minutes.

Arising from discussion the following points were noted:

i)             Call abandonment had improved significantly and stood at 3.8% against a target of 3%. Following difficulties earlier in the year the schools affected had been contacted and offered a discount. The recent Feefo ratings showed that ESPO was still in the Gold Category suggesting the impact had been marginal;

ii)            The majority of the 56 product lines not immediately available were bespoke one-off items. Where unavailability affected ‘lead items’ there was a weekly review and action taken to address the problem.

RESOLVED:

a)    That the report and information provided be noted;

b)    That the outstanding high importance audit recommendation relating to MSTAR2 be now deemed to be dealt with and closed.

The public are likely to be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following items of business in accordance with the provisions of Section 100 (A) (4) of the Local Government act 1972.

RESOLVED

That under Section 100 (A) (iv) of the Local Government Act 1972 the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that it will involve the disclosure of exempt information as defined in the Act and that in all of the circumstances the public interest in maintaining the exception outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

·                 Supplementary Director’s Update

·                 Forecast Outturn 2018/19 and draft MTFS 2019-2023.

The Committee received an exempt report from the Director which set out further supplementary information regarding the Director’s Progress Update. A copy of the exempt report, marked ‘Agenda Item 7’, is filed with these minutes.

 The exempt report was not for publication as it contained information relating to the financial business affairs of a particular person (including the authority holding that information).

In response to questions members were advised as follows:-

i)             Constituent authorities were able to access the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply training alongside ESPO staff. Currently Warwickshire have a member of staff on the course;

ii)            A Revised PID for the Website Project was being prepared and would be circulated to members. Recognising the significance of the website project it was intended to bring reports at each key milestone in the project so that the Management Committee would have the opportunity to consider and agree proposals.

RESOLVED

That the report and supplementary information now provided be noted.

The Committee considered an exempt joint report of the Director and Consortium Treasurer concerning the forecast outturn for 2018/19 and the Medium Term Financial Strategy 2019 - 2023. A copy of the report, marked ‘Agenda Item 8’, is filed with these minutes.

The exempt report was not for publication as it contained information relating to the financial or business affairs of a particular person (including the authority holding that information).

The Committee was advised that the Finance and Audit Subcommittee had considered the report at its meeting on 6^th February and its recommendations are set out in the report.

RESOLVED

a)    That the projected surplus of £4.7million for 2018/19 be noted and that it be agreed that should the projected surplus increase at outturn, that additional sum be earmarked to support the development of the ESPO E-Commerce  Platform and IT Team;

b)    That the draft MTFS for the period 2019 -2023 be approved;

c)    That the proposed Capital Programme for 2019/2020 be approved.

The next meeting of the Committee is scheduled to take place on ***** at *****am at ********.

It was noted that the next meeting of the Committee would be held 19^th June 2018 at 10.30am at County Hall, Glenfield.