Agenda item

Note: If any Member seeks further clarity, or wishes to raise issues regarding any future Executive agenda item, please contact Member Services before 5.00pm on Monday, 6 November 2017 to ensure that the lead Executive Member(s) and lead officer(s) are aware of this request in advance of the meeting. 

Requests have already been made for the following future items to be raised at this meeting:

(a)  Formation of a Community Lottery for South Hams & West Devon (Darren); and

(b)  IT Procurement Options – Verbal Update (Mike).

O&S.67/17      

The Panel was presented with the most recently published Executive Forward Plan.  In accordance with Procedure Rules, a request had been made for the Panel to formally consider the following agenda items:

(i)      Formation of a Community Lottery for South Hams and West Devon

The Panel considered a report that set out the proposal to implement a joint local community lottery scheme to benefit the residents of South Hams and West Devon.

In discussion, the following points were raised:-

(a)    For clarity, the Leader of Council had confirmed that, whilst most joint working with West Devon Borough Council had discontinued until further notice, the proposal to form a Community Lottery Scheme would not be affected.  Whilst the proposals included provision to share the set-up costs, it was recognised that the lottery schemes themselves would be wholly separate;

(b)    Without wishing to be presumptuous, it was noted that discussions had yet to take place with the Voluntary Sector to ascertain the extent of potential interest in the scheme.  As a potential indicator, it was noted that Torbay Council had implemented a similar scheme earlier this year, which was predicted to generate £42,000 for good causes and, to date, had seen over 100 groups sign up;

(c)    The Panel acknowledged that any decisions relating to existing Partnership funding contributions would be a matter for the Council to determine during the draft Budget setting process;

(d)    A Member expressed his concerns at the close linkages between this process and gambling and did not feel that the Council’s reputation would be enhanced through the implementation of such a scheme.  To counter this view, it was recognised that the presented agenda report did outline a number of mitigating measures to combat any potential for problem gambling;

(e)    It was noted that the overall intention of the scheme was to help local good causes that may be struggling for income to survive;

(f)      Before the views of the Panel were considered by the Executive, it was agreed that officers would circulate to Members a list of useful websites that were of relevance to the proposal;

(g)    Some of the experiences from Aylesbury Vale District Council (AVDC) were shared with the Panel and it was acknowledged that the scheme at that authority was working successfully.  Furthermore, the representative from AVDC stressed that it was in the interests of the good causes to promote the scheme and players had the ability to specifically choose which causes their monies supported;

(h)    In highlighting the view that the country was suffering from ‘lottery fatigue’, a Member queried the projected ticket sales and whether or not this figure was realistic.  In reply, it was confirmed that the figures were based upon up to 3% of the potential player population (those who were aged over 16 years old) in the South Hams and West Devon purchasing a ticket;

(i)      Officers informed that the actual set up costs of the scheme would equate to £13,000 (to be shared equally between the Council and West Devon Borough Council).

It was then:

(ii)    IT Procurement Options – Verbal Update

Officers advised that the current IT contract with Civica was approaching its conclusion and, in line with technological advancements, it was now necessary to consider all possible alternatives for a future IT solution.

In debate, it was felt that the lessons that had been learned from the current IT contract were particularly important.  The previous lack of Member involvement had already been identified as one lesson that had been learned and assurances were given that the upcoming procurement exercise would address this previous shortcoming.

In conclusion, the Panel asked that it be given the opportunity to consider, in the future, a report that outlined the lessons that had been learned from the current contractual arrangements.