RESOLVED:               That Councillor D Sage be elected Chairperson of the Catalogue Supplies Service Joint Committee for the forthcoming year.

(Councillor D Sage – Chairperson in the Chair)

RESOLVED:               That the election of the Vice-Chairperson of the Catalogue Supplies Service Joint Committee be deferred to the next meeting of the Committee.

To receive apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from the following Members for the reasons so stated:

            Councillor B Jones                  -           Other Council Business         

Councillor B Stephens            -           Other Council Business

Councillor P Williams              -           Other Council Business

To receive declarations of personal and prejudicial interest (if any) from Members/Officers in accordance with the provisions of the Members’ Code of Conduct adopted by Council from 1^st September 2008.

None.

To receive the minutes of a meeting of the Catalogue Supplies Service Joint Committee held on the 30 January 2014.

RESOLVED:         That the minutes of the meeting of the Catalogue Supplies Service Joint Committee of 30 January 2014 were approved as a true and accurate record.

The Finance Manager – Technical & Corporate presented the unaudited Statement of Accounts for the financial year ended 31 March 2014 which in accordance with the Regulations must be signed and dated by the Joint Committee by 30 June 2014 that they present a true and fair view.  She stated that the accounts will be placed on public deposit and be subject to audit by KPMG, the auditors appointed for the Joint Committee by the Wales Audit Office and once audited would need to be approved at the next meeting of the Joint Committee by 30 September 2014.

The Finance Manager – Technical & Corporate informed the Joint Committee that the accounts show a net surplus of £176k, which included an adjustment in respect of holiday entitlements.  The accumulated usable reserve is £1.008m at 31 March 2014 compared to £833k in the preceding year.  The financial position as at 31 March 2014 (excluding holiday accruals) showed a surplus of £176k in the year. 

The Finance Manager – Technical & Corporate explained the reasons for the significant variations from budget and confirmed that the casting total for gross expenditure in the Comprehensive Income and Expenditure Statement would be amended during the external audit of the accounts.

In response to a question from the Joint Committee the Corporate Procurement Manager stated that it was intended not to fill the vacant posts.

RESOLVED:               That the Joint Committee noted the unaudited Statement of Accounts for 2013-14.

The Corporate Procurement Manager presented a report to apprise Members of the service trading and operational performance during the year to date.

He reported on the value of sales turnover for the last financial year measured against the sales target together with a comparison for the same period in the previous year, which had seen turnover increasing against both target and on the in the previous financial year.  This was attributable to the continuation of project work and undertaken by the majority of local authorities, an increase in business from Cardiff Council due to the forthcoming closure of Cardiff Supplies and an increase in turnover from the Flying Start initiative.  A trading surplus of £176k was attained in 2013-14 increasing overall surpluses of the Service to £1,005,000.  He stated that the first two months trading period had provided a positive outcome with growth to target, reflecting the late Easter holiday period, while June / July were historically the most demanding from the schools sector.         

He reported on a comparison of budget against projected spend as at 31 May 2014, which had seen expenditure during the first two months being generally as anticipated, with exceptions of a decrease in  employees due to decreased staff/increased agency costs and an increase in supply/services due to re-costing of annual external audit fees.  The accumulated reserves for the service were £1,005,000 as at 31 March 2014, which were projected to increase to £1,114,000 gross at 31 March 2015, reflecting expected trading performance during the year.  The Corporate Procurement Manager informed the Committee that the majority of the additional business picked up by the Catalogue Supplies Service was from Cardiff Council and a further contract for janitorial services had recently been secured.  The Business Operations Manager also informed the Committee that a number of contracts had been picked up by Gwalia Housing Society with the possibility of additional contracts being entered into.

            The Corporate Procurement Manager reported on the performance against the service performance indicators in relation to product availability; stockholding value and debt management compared to the same period in the previous year.  He informed the Committee that stockholding had increased due to the new business which had been picked up and was at 12.4 weeks (£681k).  Debt management had increased, however a Member of staff had now been dedicated to chasing up debts.  He outlined the order breakdown by value banding in 2014/15 and there was a move to shift to higher value orders.

            The Head of Procurement of Caerphilly County Borough Council questioned the high value of the stockholding and stated that there was a need to avoid it becoming old stock and for stock levels to be kept as lean as possible.  The Business Operations Manager informed the Joint Committee that a review of stockholding was undertaken regularly and the price of slow moving stock was reduced.  He stated that due to the closure of Cardiff Supplies, the Joint Supplies Service took advantage of purchasing stock at lower costs.

            The Head of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 59.

To consider any other urgent item(s) of business in respect of which notice has been given in accordance with Part 4 (paragraph 4) of the Council Procedure Rules and which the person presiding at the meeting is of the opinion should by reason of special circumstances be transacted at the meeting as a matter of urgency.

The report relating to the following item is not for publication as it contains exempt information as defined in Paragraph 14 of Part 4 and Paragraph 21 of  Part 5 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 as amended by the Local Government (Access to Information)(Variation) (Wales) Order 2007.

If following the application of the public interest test the Joint Committee resolves pursuant to the Act to consider this item in private, the public will be excluded from the meeting during such consideration. 

RESOLVED:   That under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 as amended by the Local Government (Access to Information) (Variation)(Wales) Order 2007 that the public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following item as the report contained exempt information as defined by Paragraph 14 of Part 4 and Paragraph 21 of Part 5 of Schedule 12A of the Act.

                                               Following the application of the public interest test it was resolved that pursuant to the Act referred to above to consider the confidential report of the Officer Group in private with the public excluded from the meeting as it was considered that in the circumstances the public interest in maintaining this exemption outweighed the public interest in disclosing the information because of the prejudice disclosure would cause to the individuals concerned by virtue of Paragraph 14 of Part 4 and Paragraph 21 of Part 5 of Schedule 12A of the Act.

Please note that lunch will be provided on conclusion of the meeting.

Please Note:

Due to the current building works in progress at the Civic Offices, there will be not parking available for the meeting, and therefore Members are requested to park in the Rhiw Multi-Storey car park.  This car park is a pay and display car park for which a ticket will need to be purchased.