Agenda and minutes

To receive as a correct record the Minutes of the Meeting held on 2^nd July 2025 (previously circulated). 

The Minutes of the meeting held on 2^nd July, 2025 were signed by the Chair as a correct record.

There was no Urgent Business.

To receive declarations by Councillors of interests in respect of items on this Agenda. 

Councillors are reminded that, in accordance with the Localism Act 2011, they are required to declare any disclosable pecuniary interests which have not already been declared in the Council’s Register of Interests. (It is a criminal offence not to declare a disclosable pecuniary interest either in the Register or at the meeting). 

Whilst not a legal requirement, in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 9 and in the interests of clarity and transparency, Councillors should declare any disclosable pecuniary interests which they have already declared in the Register, at this point in the meeting. 

In accordance with Part B Section 2 of the Code Of Conduct, Councillors are required to declare the existence and nature of any other interests as defined in paragraphs 8(1) or 9(2) of the Code of Conduct. 

There were no Declarations of Interest.

Report of the Chief Officer – People and Policy. 

Note:  Members of Budget and Performance Panel have been invited to attend the meeting for this item. 

It was noted that all members of the Budget and Performance Panel had been invited to attend for this item. 

The Chair welcomed the Chief Officer – People and Policy and the Projects and Performance Manager to the meeting on Teams.

Members were given an overview of the Fit for Future programme. It was reported that Phase 2 of the programme was now underway.  This second phase commenced in June 2025 and introduced 13 new projects following on from Phase 1 which had started in May 2024 with many of the phase 1 projects ongoing. It was reported that Benefits Review Plans were in place for all phase 1 projects and were being created for the new Phase 2 projects. Members were advised that the purpose of these plans was to show the potential benefits and measures for each project.

The Committee was informed that the majority of the work carried out was resourced from within existing service provision, with the exception of the use of 2 Business Analysts who were used when required.

Members asked a number of questions regarding the Fit for Future programme relating mostly to the monitoring, outcomes and milestones of the projects. Information was also requested on the commercial activity of the City Council’s cafes at Williamson Park and Salt Ayre Leisure Centre. The Committee agreed that more information should be provided for the Committee at a future meeting as set out below.

It was also suggested that Chief Officers could attend to update the Committee on their specific projects including details of financial savings such as for the Customer Services BAU project.

Resolved :-

That the Committee request further information in relation to the Fit for Future Programme to include :

1.     Monitoring, milestones and outcomes of the individual projects to enable the Committee to scrutinise success and that Benefits Review Plans include the projects progress (to show future savings).

2.     Service implications, efficiencies and savings to date for each project.

3.     Specific information on the City Council’s commercial activities such as Williamson Park and Salt Ayre Leisure Centre cafes to include outturn over the last 3 years and future plans.

4.     An update on the Waste Collection Policy Implementation Group that was established to deliver the Government’s Waste Strategy.

Presentation to be provided. 

The Chair welcomed the Chief Officer - Resources and the Technical Manager – Information and Communication to the meeting.

Members were given a presentation which detailed the Copilot project that was currently being trialled by the Council. It was reported that Microsoft 365 Copilot was an AI-driven assistant integrated into the Microsoft 365 suite, created to boost productivity and support better decision-making. Copilot automated repetitive tasks and minimized manual effort, which would enable users to concentrate on more important activities and increasing overall efficiency.

The trial included up to 150 users from the Council’s Leadership Team, Cabinet Members and staff volunteers to evaluate Copilot’s impact. Workshops for Copilot Studio would take place for interested departments and two teams would be selected for deep Dives sessions to help determine where Copilot can best be used.

The Committee was informed that the project would be evaluated to assess benefits and lessons learned by 2026.

Questions were raised over the accuracy of AI, environmental concerns including data centres, offsetting risks and shared learning.

Resolved :-

That the update be noted.

The List of Forthcoming Key Decisions can be viewed here

The Forthcoming Key Decisions were noted.

City Council Commissioned Consultations can be viewed here

There were no consultations to consider.

The Chair to advise. 

The Chair advised that there had been no decisions he had been consulted on.

Report of the Chief Officer – Governance. 

The Committee considered the updated Work Programme.

Members considered the recent letter that had been circulated relating to the outcome of the recent Care Quality Commission (CQC) assessment. It was agreed that this would be added to the Committee’s Work Programme with representatives from Lancashire County Council invited to report to a future, or additional meeting of the Committee. This would be to inform of the findings of the CQC Assessment and the progress already being made, with all other members of Council invited to attend to allow them all to be briefed.

It was further agreed that the following scheduled dates of the Committee were amended :

·       15^th October move to 22^nd October 2025

·       26^th November move to 19^th November 2025

·       2^nd April move to 1^st April 2026

It was also agreed to write again to the Chief Executive of Lancashire County Council regarding Flooding in particular the Lancaster City Surface Water Management Plan,  as no response had been received.  It was also agreed that a letter be sent to the relevant County Council Cabinet Member.

Resolved :-

That the updates above be actioned.