Venue: Microsoft Teams
Contact: Miss C Tuohy (0116 305 5483). Email: cat.tuohy@leics.gov.uk
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Appointment of Chairman. Cllr. P. Butlin has been nominated to be Chairman for the municipal year ending April 2022. Minutes: RESOLVED: Cllr. P. Butlin was
appointed Chairman for the municipal year ending April 2022. Cllr P. Butlin in the
Chair. |
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Chairman's Announcements. Minutes: Cllr P. Butlin in
the Chair. Chairman’s
Announcements The Chairman
thanked Cllr Mark Howell for his work as Chair of the Management Committee for
the period May 2020 to May 2021. During his period of office Cllr Howell had
overseen the following:- • A safe and flexible working
environment for ESPO its staff, customers and stakeholders in unprecedented
circumstances. • The participation of ESPO in
national government policy discussions in relation to PPE and the supply chain
as well as supporting local storage and distribution of PPE for member
authorities and customers. • ESPO undertaking the chair of
a new national Professional Buying Organisation (PBO) forum. • Achievement of a trading
surplus of £4.6million despite the difficult circumstances, meaning only a 17%
fall in Member rebate despite large periods of school closures. • ESPO Trading Ltd returning a
£50,000 profit after only its second full year of trading. • ESPO’s procurement services
achieving a record rebate of £8.3million • Significant progress on
various business initiatives including successful implementation of an updated
single website and trading platform and planning underway for a second
warehousing site. • The launch of ESPO’s new reward scheme for
schools, the My School Fund In partnership with the Sainsburys., Over 1,000
schools were already signed up. Members of the Committee echoed the Chairman’s
comments and thanks. RESOLVED: That a letter be
sent to Cllr Howell setting out the Committee’s thanks. |
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Appointment of Vice-Chairman. Minutes: Cllr. S. Clancy was appointed Vice-Chairman for the municipal year ending April 2022. |
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Minutes of the meeting held on 17 March 2021. PDF 233 KB Minutes: The minutes of the
meeting held on 17 March 2021 were taken as read, confirmed and signed. |
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To advise of any items that the Chairman has decided to take as urgent elsewhere on the agenda. Minutes: There were no
urgent items for consideration. |
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Declarations of interests in respect of items on this agenda. Minutes: 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. |
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Items referred by the Finance and Audit Subcommittee. There are no specific
items referred. The issues considered by the Subcommittee are covered in items 7
and 11 which appear elsewhere on the
agenda. Minutes: There were two items
referred by the Finance and Audit Subcommittee covered in Agenda Item 7 the
Internal Audit Annual Report 2020-21 (Minute 8) and Agenda 13 the Draft Outturn
2020-21 (Minute 14). |
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Internal Audit Service - Annual Report 2020/21. PDF 244 KB Additional documents:
Minutes: The Committee received a report of the Consortium
Treasurer on the Internal Audit Report 2020/21. A copy of the report marked ‘Agenda Item
7’ is filed with these minutes. The Committee noted that the ESPO Senior Management
Team met regularly with the Consortium Treasurer and
the Head of Internal Audit (HoIAS) at Leicestershire
County Council to review the findings of audits. Members were assured that
any high assurance recommendations would be shared with them and reported
to the Management Committee. Members were pleased to note that the completed audits
gave positive opinions on all three components of the ‘control environment’
i.e. the framework of governance, risk management and control. One audit returned a partial assurance rating which
related to credit control. The HoIAS was
confident, having spoken to senior managers, that the issue was well understood and work was already underway to mitigate the
risk. Members were pleased to note that all other assurance audits undertaken
returned ‘substantial assurance’, the top rating possible The Committee was advised that the Finance and Audit
Subcommittee had considered the report at its meeting on May 2021 and supported
approval of the report. RESOLVED: That the Annual
Internal Audit Report be approved. |
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Grove Park Modification - Future Ways of Working. PDF 304 KB Minutes: The Committee
considered a report of the Director which provided information regarding future
ways of working at Grove Park. A copy of the report,
marked ‘Agenda Item 8’ is filed with these minutes. RESOLVED: That the Committee
note support the report. |
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Director's Progress update. PDF 372 KB Additional documents:
Minutes: The Committee considered a report of the
Director which provided an update on actions and progress made since the
previous meeting held on 17 March 2021. A copy of the report, marked ‘Agenda
Item 9’, is filed with these minutes. Arising from the discussion the following
points arose:- i.
Members were pleased
to see that call wait time for customers was eight seconds, well within the 30
second target. Members noted that ESPO’s Feefo score,
an independent customer feedback service, had fallen slightly which mirrored
the introduction of the new website. The score had since increased to usual
high levels as improvements were made following feedback and as customers got
used to the new system. ii.
Across the sector
there were issues with recruitment and retention of procurement staff. ESPO
would continue to monitor the situation and work to attract staff, retain them
and sustain output. iii.
ESPO provided data
on a quarterly basis to the British Educational Supplies Association (BESA).
Data was anonymised and allowed ESPO to measure its performance, from which it
was apparent that ESPO’s market share was growing. iv.
Outside of
Government agencies, ESPO was one of the largest public sector procurers. A
significant unknown concerned forthcoming changes to public procurement. ESPO would
continue ensure its role as a professional buying organisation was maintained,
as it was expected customers would continue to value ESPO and its focus on
compliance. v.
There continued to
be issues with supply chains across sectors. Members were assured that ESPO’s
item availability remained robust achieving 97.5% which reflected its forward
thinking to bring stock in early. This was aided by the new website which
allowed ESPO to be far more dynamic and provide information on availability and
alternative products to its customers. vi.
ESPO recognised the
sector wide inflationary pressures. It’s terms and conditions within the
catalogue provide final pricing based on dynamic online pricing and not the
printed page; although every effort is made to hold prices for customers. ESPO
had financially planned for a disruptive trading year and would reflect trading
risks in future planning. ESPO ensured
it was competitive with market prices and had the systems in place to do best
by the consumer. Furthermore, it continued to look at supply chains to ensure a
variety of sourcing as to not be dependent on single companies and countries. vii.
Regarding the United
Kingdom’s Exit from the European Union ESPO had ascertained from work
undertaken that most members of staff were not adversely impacted. RESOLVED: That
the progress report be noted. |
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Date of Next Meeting. The next meeting of the Committee is scheduled to take place on Wednesday 15 September at 10.30 am as a attended meeting. Minutes: It was noted that the next
meeting of the Committee would be held on 15 September as an attended meeting. |
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Exclusion of the Press and Public. The public are likely to be excluded during consideration of the
remaining items in accordance with Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government
Act 1972 (Exempt Information). Minutes: RESOLVED: That under Section 100 (A)
(iv) of the Local Government Act 1972 the public be excluded from the meeting
for the remaining 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. |
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Director's Supplementary Report. Minutes: 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 12’, 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). Arising
from the discussion the following points were noted:- i.
ESPO did not receive
individual customer data as part of the My School Fund initiative. ii.
A report would be
brought to the Committee on climate change and changing preferences and the
financial challenges regarding environmentally friendly substitutes for certain
items. iii.
ESPO had undertaken
various ‘sprints’ to adapt the new website in line with feedback to ensure it
was as customer friendly as possible. As a result ESPO
had seen the proportion of sales through the website increase. RESOLVED: That
the report and supplementary information now provided be noted. |
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Draft Outturn 2020/21. Minutes: The Committee considered an
exempt joint report of the Director and Consortium Treasurer concerning the
draft Outturn 2020/21. A copy of the report, marked
‘Agenda Item 9’, 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 were pleased to note the
performance of ESPO, despite the pressures from COVID-19. The Committee was advised that the Finance
and Audit Subcommittee had considered and recommended the report for approval
at its meeting on 20 May 2021. RESOLVED: a)
That the report be noted. b)
That a sum of £400,000 be allocated to Building Reserves in line with
previous years. c)
That the provisional budget for 2021/22 be
approved. |
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Operation of the Contract Procedure Rules. Minutes: The Committee
considered an exempt joint report of the Director, the purpose of which was to
set out an update to Public Procurement Rules. A copy of the
report, marked ‘Agenda Item 10’ 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
Director informed Members that there had been no exceptions to the Contract
Procedure rules, only advanced authorisation for frameworks on a case by case
basis. Members were assured that any extensions were not to the full term and
mostly of three or four months duration in order to
ensure continuity of service to customers. ESPO would continue to monitor its
suppliers. Members
were pleased to see that rebates had held up well and there had been no issues
with obtaining rebates. Members
noted that ESPO were awaiting the expected Procurement Bill and would report
back on the impact and changes that would need to be made to the contract
procedure rules. RESOLVED That the content of the report on the operation of the contract procedure rules between 1 July 2018 and 31 May 2021 be noted |
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LGA Truck Cartel Litigation. 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). Members noted that the
Management Committee had agreed to participate in the Local Government
Association’s Truck Cartel Litigation in June 2020, in which the Legal Advisor
to the Servicing Authority had set out the possible risks to, as well as
possible settlement return. It was also
noted that Lincolnshire had not been supportive. After a detailed discussion it
was agreed to wait on further information from the LGA following the Servicing
Authorities departure from the LGA. RESOLVED: That the Committee be updated on further
information from the LGA regarding this matter. |
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Website Update. There will be a presentation for this item. Minutes: The Committee considered an exempt presentation of the
Director the purpose of which was to update Members in relation to the new
Website. A copy of the report. Marked ‘Agenda Item 16’, 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). RESOLVED: That the presentation be noted. |
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My School Fund Presentation. There will be a presentation for this item. Minutes: The Committee considered an exempt presentation of the
Director the purpose of which was to update Members in relation to ‘My School
Fund’. A copy of the presentation marked ‘Agenda Item 17’, is filed with these
minutes. The exempt presentation 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). RESOLVED: That the
presentation be noted and that ESPO provide Members and Councils with a
briefing note on the initiative. |