To consider a report prepared in response to the recommendations made by the Strategic Monitoring Committee following the call-in of Cabinet’s decision on the acquisition of the preferred technology to replace the current client systems used within both Adult Social Care and the Children and Young People’s Directorate and the Committee’s consideration of a consolidated report on the Herefordshire Connects programme. 

THAT Cabinet approve the revised submission prepared in response to the recommendations made by the Strategic Monitoring Committee in relation to Cabinet’s decision on the acquisition of the preferred technology to replace the current client systems used within both Adult Social Care and the Children and Young People’s Directorate and the Committee’s further recommendations in relation to its consideration of this issue and its consideration of a consolidated report on the Herefordshire Connects programme.

Following the call-in of the decision made by Cabinet at its meeting on 13th December 2007 the Strategic Monitoring Committee made the following recommendations:

a)      That Cabinet should require a revised submission on the proposed replacement of the relevant client systems in the Adult Social Care and the Children and Young Peoples’ Directorates setting out clearly and quantifying all costs (including fees) whether forecast or potential.

b)      That the revised submission referred to above be extended to demonstrate clearly respective responsibilities for: the identification of potential tenderers, the technical appraisal of tenders and judgment as to compliance of the tenders.

c)      The above submission further explains and justifies the decision not to abort the tender process and explains the basis for selection of OLM as a further individual tenderer and the exclusion of OLM from the first tender list.

d)      Assurances regarding data security and transfer arrangements and compatibility with current systems (if retention is considered) should be included in the revised submission to Cabinet.

e)      Neither the totality of this decision nor its place within the context of the Herefordshire Connects project was clear.  To ensure proper, informed decision making, reports of this nature submitted to Cabinet in future should state clearly the dimensions of what is presented for approval and its place within the context of the overall project.

f)        Future reports to Cabinet requesting authorisation to proceed with a particular course of action such as an acquisition should state this explicitly in the title and should not merely be described as an update.

g)      That the Head of Legal and Democratic Services be requested to revise the format of the Decision Notice template to clarify the meaning of the entry in the template headed “urgent decision”, to make clear that this is a technical term having regard to the relevant Regulations and does not necessarily relate to the importance and urgency of a matter under consideration in practical terms.

h)      The inclusion of a second option in the Cabinet report did not approach the minimum standard of acceptable information.  If alternative options are presented in Cabinet reports fully argued consideration is necessary;  and

i)        Reports to Cabinet and all Committees should be expressed in clear, comprehensible English without jargon or unexplained abbreviations.  Any statistical or financial information must be clear and arithmetically correct.

Cabinet could choose not to adopt any of the Scrutiny Committee’s recommendations.

Alternative options to the proposed action were set out in the Cabinet report of 13^th December.  These have been expanded on in the revised submission.