The Scrutiny Board (Strategy and Resources) of Leeds City Council meeting on 09 December 2024 was scheduled to receive reports on a range of topics, including the performance of the Council’s traded services, the in-year financial position and updates on the People Strategy and Procurement Strategy. It was also scheduled to consider the Scrutiny Board’s work programme for the 2024/25 municipal year. Note that this is only a summary of what was scheduled to be discussed at the meeting. It does not tell us what was actually discussed, or whether any decisions were actually made.

Civic Enterprise Leeds

The Board was scheduled to receive a report from the Interim Assistant Chief Executive Finance, Traded & Resources on Civic Enterprise Leeds (CEL), focussing on catering and cleaning services offered by the Council.

The report pack included an update on CEL’s school catering, cleaning and Meals at Home services. The report states that CEL provides cleaning services to 80 schools and 4 SILC sites¹, with a projected income of £4.2 million for 2024/25. In terms of school catering, the report highlights that Catering Leeds serves “just under 29,000 meals a day to 165 primary schools” and is operating with a projected overspend of £3.855 million for 2024/25. This figure includes the subsidy the service receives from the Council, which the Catering Review is seeking to significantly reduce over the next 3 to 5 years. The report acknowledges that school budgets are under pressure, and that CEL is working with schools to increase take-up of school meals. The report also details the Meals at Home service which delivers meals to “some of the city’s most vulnerable citizens.” According to the report, the service has seen an increase in the number of customers from 513 in October 2023 to 594 in October 2024, despite increased charges. The report concludes by detailing some of the challenges and opportunities ahead for the service.

SILC stands for ‘Specialist Inclusive Learning Centre’. SILCs are centres that cater to children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and/or Autistic Spectrum Condition (ASC).

Leeds City Council People Strategy

The Board was scheduled to receive a report on the Leeds City Council People Strategy. The report pack included a report setting out details on the Council’s new People Strategy as an item for pre-decision scrutiny.

The report pack includes a progress update on the Council’s People Strategy. The Council’s People Strategy was originally launched in 2020. The report pack includes a draft of a new People and Culture Strategy for 2025-2030, that was scheduled to be published in Spring 2025. The report pack states that:

The People Strategy supports the Best City Ambition and Organisational Plan, describing our vision to be “The Best Place to Work”, and with the mission to offer the best employee experience, the best leaders and managers working within a values driven organisation.

The report pack states that the strategy has been reviewed in light of the Council’s new Organisational Plan, workforce data, and feedback from employees. The report pack details a number of proposed changes to the strategy and suggests that the new strategy should place a greater emphasis on:

Workforce Planning and Organisation Design. How we will address the changing role, shape and size of the council and its services, to make sure we have the right people with the right skills in place. A new emphasis on well-designed roles, workforce flexibility and deployment could be included in the refreshed Strategy.

The report pack also recommends that the strategy be renamed as the People and Culture Strategy 2025-2030.

Procurement Strategy 2025-2030

The Board was scheduled to receive a report from the Interim Assistant Chief Executive Finance, Traded and Resources on the Council’s new procurement strategy, setting out progress to date and next key steps.

The report pack includes an update on the Council’s new Procurement Strategy. It states that a review of the existing strategy had taken place, and that a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis of the procurement team had been undertaken. It states that the new Procurement Strategy was scheduled to be rolled out in May-June 2025.

Work Programme

The Board was scheduled to consider the Scrutiny Board’s work programme for the 2024/25 municipal year.

The report pack included the latest version of the work programme. It also included the minutes from two recent meetings of the Executive Board held on 16 October and 20 November 2024. The Board was scheduled to consider the minutes, note their contents, and consider whether any issues raised warranted further scrutiny. The report highlights that the work programme is flexible and can be adapted throughout the year.

The meeting was also scheduled to consider a number of other issues that are less significant to the public, including a report on the performance of CEL.