Agenda and minutes

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Members of the public wishing to take part should notify the Head of Legal and Democratic Services in writing or by e-mail indicating both the nature and content of their proposed participation no later than 9.00am on the working day before the meeting (in this case Wednesday 28 March 2018).  Further details are available on the Council's website.  Enquiries can also be made through the telephone number/e-mail address listed below.

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The Minutes of the meeting of 8 February 2018 have been previously circulated

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 8 February 2018 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

The Cabinet considered the Business Case for developing a Wholly Owned Company as the Children's Social Care Services Alternative Delivery Model (ADM). The details were set out in the report and its appendices and were presented by the Cabinet Member for Children and Families.  The alternative option of a Strategic Partnership with another Local Authority had been considered but the proposals had not satisfied the DfE's requirement for operational independence.

The Cabinet Member for Children and Families pointed out that Children's Social Care was improving at an unexpected rate and this was due to the hard work put in by the Director of Children, Families and Communities and her Officers. At the point of transfer to the Company there would be a positive platform for improvements for Children to be able to continue.  The scope was set out in the report.  The ADM would not provide financial savings, but that was not the aim.

In seconding, the Cabinet Member for Education and Skills said that the business case explained that the Company would be able to continue to drive improvement for all the Looked After Children in the Council's care and it was important that staff felt valued and supported and that there were sufficient numbers of them to be able to carry out the service improvements. There was more work to be done, especially around finance, but we were moving in the right directions and he endorsed the development of the Wholly Owned Company.

In the ensuing discussion, the following main points were made:

·         Cabinet Members acknowledged that this was a very important decision which was about improving the services for the most vulnerable children in the County

·         Cabinet Members recognised the dedication and hard work of the Cabinet Member for Children and Families and the Officers within Children Services, and Scrutiny. They had seen the enthusiasm of staff who would be moving to the new company under the ADM and they were committed to the improvement journey

·         The Scrutiny Panel Chairman pointed out that it was ironic that by next April the service which would be handed over to the ADM would be a good service or on the way there. She voiced a number of concerns:

o   whether the current government could hold future governments to the agreement to fund irrecoverable VAT

o   what would happen if the Wholly Owned Company needed more funding than anticipated as presumably the Council would be liable for the extra amount as the Council remains responsible for the service

o   whether there would be sufficient oversight of the Company. There needed to be detailed KPIs along with a clear understanding of which services would be moved to the company and which would remain with the Council and there needed to be oversight of both

·         In response the Leader pointed out that such details would be included in the implementation plan for Children's Services. The Council were assured that they could work under the sound assumption that they would be no worse  ...  view the full minutes text for item 1839.