Agenda and minutes

The members had before them:

A.    The Agenda papers (previously circulated);

B.    1 question submitted to the Assistant Director for Legal and Governance (previously circulated); and

C.   The Minutes of the meeting held on 16 January 2020 (previously circulated).

To receive apologies and invite any councillor to declare any interest in any of the items on the agenda.

Apologies for absence were received from Mrs J A Brunner, Dr C Hotham, Mr P McDonald, Mr J A D O’Donnell and Mr C B Taylor.

Mr M E Jenkins declared an interest in Agenda item 5 – Labour budget amendment 1 as a Trustee of Worcester Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB)

Ms C M Stalker declared an interest in Agenda item 5 – Labour budget amendment 1 as a Trustee of Worcester CAB

Ms S A Webb declared an interest in Agenda item 5 – Labour budget amendment 1 as a Trustee of Bromsgrove CAB

Ms R L Dent declared an interest in Agenda item 5 – Labour budget amendment 1 as a Trustee of Bromsgrove CAB

Mr A I Hardman declared an interest in Agenda item 6 – Notice of Motion 1 as his son was a Member of Bristol Car Club

To allow a member of the public to present a petition, or ask a question relating to the functions of the Council, or to make a comment on any matter on the agenda.

Members of the public wishing to take part should notify the Assistant Director for Legal and Governance 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 12 February 2020). Further details are available on the Council’s website. Enquiries can also be made through the telephone number/e-mail address listed below.

Mrs Clements made a comment and asked a question about the provision of free school transport to Upton upon Severn pupils when the Hanley Road is flooded.

Mrs E A Eyre presented a petition on behalf of local residents requesting restrictive single yellow lines along Morris Road and Averill Close, Broadway to prevent parking problems.

The Chairman thanked Mrs Clements and Mrs Eyre for their contribution and said they would receive a written response from the relevant Cabinet Member.

To approve as a correct record and authorise the signing of the Minutes of the meeting held on 16 January 2020 (previously circulated electronically).

RESOLVED that the Minutes of the meeting held on 16 January 2020 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

To receive any announcements to be made by the Chairman.

Noted.

To consider the reports of the Cabinet and to receive answers to any questions asked on those reports as follows:

a)    Reports of Cabinet – Matters which require a decision (Yellow pages); and

b)    Report of Cabinet – Summary of decisions taken (White pages).

The Council had before it a detailed report on the 2020/21 Draft Budget and Medium-Term Financial Plan Update 2020-22, which Cabinet had considered on 30 January 2020 and which the Leader of the Council and the Cabinet were recommending for adoption by the Council.

All Councillors had received or had access to the full report and Appendices considered by the Cabinet on 30 January 2020.

The Leader introduced the report and moved the recommendation as set out in paragraph 1 of the report; this was seconded by Mr A I Hardman. The Leader explained that the budget sought to: 1) protect the most vulnerable members of society by investing a further £18m into Children’s and Adult Social Care to meet demand-led pressures; 2) respond to the public’s top priorities – road/pavement improvements, tackling congestion and improving public transport; and 3) support a growing economy with investment in infrastructure and the environment including investment in green energy, a switch to LED lighting, planting of 150k trees, and flood mitigation measures. All these themes underpinned the Council’s Corporate Plan “Shaping Worcestershire for the Future”.

Underpinning the budget was a substantial increase in income from a rising Council Tax base benefitting from the development of new homes and businesses. A Council Tax increase was proposed which amounted to a pound a week on a Band D property. These sources of income would generate £15m. Council Tax in this county would remain one of the lowest for comparable county councils in the country. The Government was providing an additional £8.9m for social care in the form of grants and £8.7m to tackle SEND pressures which recognised the demand-led pressures facing councils.

The availability of additional resources had led to the lowest saving and reform programme of under £10m for a number of years. It meant that a small amount of extra resources could be set aside for a Finance Risk Reserve to meet specific in-year budget pressures to avoid dipping into ordinary reserves.

The additional funding would be deployed to meet the Adult Social Care needs of an aging population, help people live independent lives and address the demand from working age disability clients. There would be a £4.5m increase in the Children’s Social Care budget to provide services to vulnerable children, support the Council’s improvement plan to be a ‘good’ Council and meet the needs of home to school transport. Over 3 years, £30m had been invested in Adult Social Care and £20m in Children’s Social Care.

The budget included £12m for resurfacing roads, £8m for pavement improvements, doubled the budget for cutting congestion and an additional £200k for public transport. The Council was working with the LEP to invest in physical and digital infrastructure and to enable more homes and businesses to be created leading to a higher skilled and better paid workforce. £300k was proposed for the business case to upgrade the rail line to London. The Council was maintaining its commitment to the environment with £2m in the next 2  ...  view the full minutes text for item 2179.

The Leader of the Council reported the following topics and questions were asked on them:

·         Scrutiny Report: Quality Assurance of Care and Nursing Homes

·         Annual Update to the School Organisation Plan 2019

·         School Admission Arrangements for Community and Voluntary Controlled Schools for 2021/22, Co-ordinated Admissions Schemes 2021/22 and Fair Access Protocol for Worcestershire Schools

·         Responding to Change of Age Range requests from Maintained Community Schools or Change of Age Range Consultations from other types of Schools

·         New Primary School Alternative Provision for Kidderminster

·         Review of Delivery Model for Medical Education Provision

·         Rural Connected Communities – West Mercia 5G Project.

To receive the report of the Assistant Director for Legal and Governance on any Notices of Motion received by him (Lilac pages).

Councillors are asked to note that any Notices of Motion must be received by the Assistant Director for Legal and Governance no later than noon on 4 February 2020.

The Council had before it a Notice of Motion standing in the names of Prof J W Raine, Mr M E Jenkins, Mrs E B Tucker, Mrs F M Oborski and Mr T A L Wells.

The Notice of Motion was moved by Prof J W Raine and seconded by Mr T A L Wells who both spoke in favour of it. 

The Motion being in relation to the exercise of an executive function then stood referred to Cabinet for a decision.

The Council had before it a Notice of Motion set out in the agenda papers standing in the names of Mr R C Lunn, Ms C M Stalker and Mr R M Udall.

The motion was moved by Mr R C Lunn and seconded by Ms C M Stalker who both spoke in favour of it, and Council agreed to deal with it on the day.

In the ensuing debate the following points were made:

·         The motion called on the Cabinet Member to prepare a report on the possibility of establishing a creche at County Hall, Worcester. A creche could be an income generator for the Council as well as benefitting Council staff and visitors to County Hall

·         The provision of a creche at County Hall would be of great benefit to staff to assist with childcare and could improve staff morale and productivity. The Council might also wish to consider the introduction of doggie day care facility

·         The Cabinet Member with responsibility for Transformation and Commissioning commented that she would always support initiatives that improved engagement with employees and encouraged good parenting. Officers had previously looked at the need for and feasibility of a creche in 2016 but she was happy to look at it again and report to Cabinet.

On being put to the vote, the motion was agreed unanimously.

RESOLVED: “This Council calls on the Cabinet Member with Responsibility to bring a report to Cabinet on the introduction of a creche and childcare facilities for employees and others located at County Hall, as a potential income generation project”

The Council had before it a Notice of Motion set out in the agenda papers standing in the names of Mrs E B Tucker, Mr M E Jenkins, Prof J W Raine, Mr T A L Wells and Mrs F M Oborski.

The motion was moved by Mr M E Jenkins and seconded by Prof J W Raine who both spoke in favour of it, and Council agreed to deal with it on the day.

The following amendment was moved by Mr A P Miller and seconded by Mrs F M Oborski and accepted as an alteration by the mover and seconder of the motion which therefore became the substantive motion:

“In 2019 this Council approved a motion calling for Worcestershire to be carbon neutral by 2050. We know that the Council is working on proposals to reduce its carbon emissions, but it is important that reducing our carbon emissions is an integral part of our plans and projects.

Therefore, when determining the viability of potential projects, we need to ensure that their Environmental Impacts are assessed and used in our decision-making process.

The Council calls on the Cabinet to ensure that for all future projects an assessment of their environmental impact is included, with this being used to assess the viability of competing schemes.”

In the ensuing debate, the following points were made:

·         The purpose of the motion was to ensure that the Council’s target to become carbon neutral by 2050 was central to every decision taken by the Council. The sooner the Council acted on reducing carbon emissions, the easier it would be to achieve this target

·         Each project should be assessed in terms of its carbon budget and how it achieved the Council’s carbon emission target not just on its financial viability. These proposals were not burdensome but did emphasise the Council’s commitment to tackling climate change

·         The Cabinet Member with responsibility for Environment highlighted the work that the Council was already undertaking to tackle climate change. The proposed amendment sought to ensure that all aspects of the Council’s work was covered.

On being put to the vote, the substantive motion was agreed unanimously.

RESOLVED “In 2019 this Council approved a motion calling for Worcestershire to be carbon neutral by 2050. We know that the Council is working on proposals to reduce its carbon emissions, but it is important that reducing our carbon emissions is an integral part of our plans and projects.

Therefore, when determining the viability of potential projects, we need to ensure that their Environmental Impacts are assessed and used in our decision-making process.

The Council calls on the Cabinet to ensure that for all future projects an assessment of their environmental impact is included, with this being used to assess the viability of competing schemes.”

To receive the report of the Chief Executive and any answers to questions on it (Cream pages).

The Chief Executive presented his report to Council which covered various topics.

The Chief Executive answered a broad range of questions from members.

The Chairman thanked the Chief Executive for his report.

To receive answers to any questions asked by Councillors (Orange pages).

(Members are reminded of the timescale adopted by Council for notice of questions. A Councillor may only ask a question if:

·         It is delivered in writing to the Assistant Director for Legal and Governance by noon on 4 February 2020 or

·         If it relates to urgent business, the Assistant Director for Legal and Governance is notified at least half an hour before the start of the meetingand the Chairman agrees the matter is urgent’.)

One question had been received by the Assistant Director for Legal and Governance and had been circulated in advance of the meeting. The answer to the question is attached in the Appendix.

To consider the report of the Pensions Committee and to receive answers to any questions asked on it (White pages).

The Committee received the report of the Pensions Committee containing a summary of the decisions taken.