Agenda item

Purpose:  To receive a report on the findings of the scrutiny work carried out on the Council’s transfer of the CCTV Control Room Function to the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead.  To receive, discuss and agree recommendations for forwarding to the Executive.

Councillor Dave Goff declared an interest in Agenda Item 10, but reported that, as his interest was personal and not prejudicial, he determined to remain to take part in the debate and vote on the matter.

The Commission considered a report (Agenda Item 10) concerning the transfer of the West Berkshire Council CCTV control room to the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead.  Ian Priestley (Chief Internal Auditor) introduced the report that summarised the findings of the scrutiny work carried out by the Commission on 9^th June 2011.  Those findings had been discussed and reviewed at a meeting between with Councillors Brian Bedwell (Chairman), Jeff Brooks (Vice chairman) and the Chief Internal auditor.  A set of five suggested recommendations had been drawn as outlined on page 114 of the agenda papers for the Commission to agree for forwarding to the Executive.

Councillor Brian Bedwell expressed his concern regarding a press release issued by Councillor David Rendel following the Commission’s meeting on the 9^th June 2011.   He was of the view that at best the press release was misleading and that making politically motivated statements had no part to play in the scrutiny process.  Returning to the report’s recommendation he stated that the work carried out by the Commission on the CCTV project was an excellent example of what can be achieved.

Councillor Jeff Brooks supported the five recommendations as listed on page 114 of the agenda papers and endorsed the view that the Commission had completed an effective review of the project which was exactly what scrutiny was all about.  Councillor Brooks proposed two minor changes (shown in bold type) to recommendations 3 and 5, so that they should read as:

3.      Risk Registers used on projects should consider the implications of projects being delayed and / or failing, and outline the measures that would be taken to maintain existing services until solutions can be found. This would have highlighted the risks posed by the winter weather caused by the delay in starting the project.

5.      Where a service / system is not classed as being business critical then consideration should be given to shutting down the service / system for a period before “shifting” to the new service / system in order to minimise cost and facilitate the shift. Alternatively where a service / system is considered to be business critical then a fully costed proposal to ensure business continuity should be included within the project plan.

Councillor Quentin Webb asked if any meeting had been scheduled with BT.  It was confirmed that a meeting took place yesterday.

Councillor David Rendel asked for a written report on the BT meeting.  Councillor Rendel wanted an addition made to recommendation 2 that would penalise tenders from companies who’s terms and conditions did not allow for penalty clauses to be included in contractual arrangements.

Councillor Brian Bedwell stated that he thought there was no need to modify recommendation 2. 

Councillors Brian Bedwell and Jeff Brooks proposed and seconded that the 5 recommendations including the modification to the wording to recommendations 3 and 5 documented above. 

At the vote the proposal was carried.

RESOLVED that:

The Commission agreed to take the CCTV report recommendations forward to the Executive.