Agenda and minutes

The Members had before them:

A.    The Agenda Papers (previously circulated); and

B.    The Minutes of the meeting of the Cabinet held on 19 May 2016 (previously circulated).

A copy of document A will be attached to the signed Minutes.

Mr S E Geraghty declared an Other Disclosable Interest in Agenda item 6 as a member of the Local Enterprise Partnership which was contributing to the funding of the scheme.

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 15 June 2016).  Further details are available on the Council's website.  Enquiries can also be made through the telephone number/e-mail address listed below.

None.

The Minutes of the meeting of 19 May 2016 have been previously circulated

RESOLVED that the Minutes of the meeting held on 19 May 2016 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

The Cabinet considered the findings of the Scrutiny Report on Increasing Physical Activity in Worcestershire. The details were set out in the report.

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

·         The Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Performance Board introduced the Scrutiny report and commented that its main focus had been on policy development and in particular how things could be done differently to improve service provision. Some scrutiny work had been undertaken on the Olympic legacy and it was felt that a legacy had been achieved but not always in an obvious or visible way. The Task Group had looked at the National Walking Strategy and felt that the Council had an important role to encourage activity and prevent obesity. The Task Group had had valuable conversations with representatives from the London Borough of Camden and Suffolk County Council. It was recognised that the Council did not have responsibility for certain recommendations and therefore suggestions had been made where appropriate. It was requested that Cabinet Members reconsider their initial response to the members' divisional fund relating to the use of the fund for physical activity drawing on the support and advice of the Sports Partnership. The Council should encourage employees to be physically active and members should take a lead role

·         The Vice-Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Performance Board welcomed the recognition by the Health and Well-being Board that physical activity was a major issue. The Task Group had been impressed with the work of the London Borough of Camden in changing levels of physical activity and as a result an improved relationship with work. The natural environment was available and free for everyone to use. The Government's approach had changed from funding large venues to encourage participation in everyday activities. The biggest challenge was to encourage adolescents to take part in physical activity

·         The Cabinet Member for Health and Well-being thanked the OSPB for its report. He was generally supportive of the report. He considered that individual members had a better understanding of what was appropriate to spend in their local division and therefore the recommended 10% spend of Divisional Funds on physical activity was not accepted. It was also unnecessary to have a dedicated communications officer as existing communications staff would be able to respond accordingly. He was surprised that there was very little in the report about people acting on their own initiative to walk or cycle

·         It was important to encourage parents to take responsibility for their children's fitness as well as for themselves. Prevention was the key issue in tackling obesity

·         There were a number of different health walks, a park run and a Riverside walk to encourage people to take physical exercise. There were also local successful sportswomen in the county that provided good role models for the public

·         It was not possible to separate eating healthily from physical activity as both needed to work in tandem to have an impact on people's lives

·         It was up to the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 1732.

The Cabinet considered the delivery and funding of the Worcestershire Parkway Regional Interchange Railway Station. The details were set out in the report.

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

·         The Cabinet Member for Economy, Skills and Infrastructure introduced the report and commented that this was an impartial initiative to promote links in and out of the county, and increased employment. There had been a problem with the acquisition of the land, which had required a compulsory purchase order, had now been resolved. However the projected start date of the scheme had had to be put back until March 2018. The project was being financed through a number of different sources including the Local Enterprise Partnership. It was anticipated that income would be sourced from the use of the car park by the train operating companies. The Council would charge a fixed rate to these companies for the use of the car park. The advantage of this arrangement was that it would encourage the operating companies to promote the use of the station and increase income 

·         The Leader of the Council underlined the importance of the project for the whole of the county and it was particularly welcomed by the business community. The difference in journey times would be significant particularly for cross-country journeys. 

RESOLVED: that

a)    the delivery of the Worcestershire Parkway Regional Interchange Railway Station as shown on the attached plan be approved (Appendix 1) at an anticipated final cost not exceeding that set out in the attached Finance Report (Appendix 2);

b)    funding the scheme through funds allocated by Worcestershire Local Transport Board, borrowing and existing resources as set out in the attached Finance Report be approved (Appendix 2);

c)    the exempt Finance Report be noted (Appendix 2) and the virement proposed therein be agreed (and the Director of Economy and Infrastructure be authorised in consultation with the Leader to finalise the source of the virement from within existing resources) and Council be recommended to approve the addition to the Capital Programme set out in that Finance Report  and that the capital cash limits are updated accordingly;

d)    the Finance Report be endorsed (Appendix 2) and that the scheme can be funded from a combination of external grant funding, capital funding and from the income received through fares and car park charges be noted;

e)    the decision on the award of a Design and Build contract and any enabling work contracts that are necessary for the delivery of the scheme be delegated to the Director of Economy and Infrastructure in consultation with the Cabinet Member with Responsibility for Economy, Skills and Infrastructure; and

f)     the proposed commercial agreements with the rail industry set out in Appendices 2 and 3 be noted, and the negotiation of all final terms and conditions necessary to complete the scheme be delegated to the Director of Economy and Infrastructure in consultation with the Director of Commercial and Change where appropriate, and authorisation to the Director of Commercial and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 1733.

The Cabinet considered the future plans for delivering effective prevention services for Children and Young People including optimising the use of Children's Centre Buildings. The details were set out in the report.

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

·         The Cabinet Member for Children and Families introduced the report and commented that it was recommended that the Council work with Early Help providers and public health nursing services to transform service provision and move towards a new integrated approach. The Council faced significant financial challenges in the future which would mean that the service would need to work with providers to deliver services in a more cost effective way with continued focus on improving outcomes for children, particularly those in greatest need. Some current services might end or need delivering differently. However, it was not intended to close any Children's Centres but rather identify different uses for the buildings and therefore it was proposed that consultation arrangements be commenced where significant changes were proposed and the Council would continue to listen to the public and users. Some services might cease generally but continue in high need areas, with particular regard to NEET issues 

·         There would not be any County Council redundancies but there might be an impact on provider organisations but every attempt would be made to minimise that impact. The Early Help contracts had reduced to £4.5m and were expected to reduce to £3m by 2017/18. The use of a reserve from the Early Intervention Grant had helped protect services but would be exhausted in this financial year. An amendment was proposed that further consideration be given to a change of use of Brookside Children's Centre at Comberton Primary School – Wyre Forest and a formal decision be taken only following consultation  

·         The Cabinet Member for Health and Well-being emphasised that the significant proposals were only going out for consultation at this stage. It was encouraging that informal feedback from schools regarding the change of use of the buildings was positive as it would provide greater flexibility in the use of the buildings by schools. The service would change in the future and therefore it was important to target particular young people in need rather than across the board

·         The Chairman of the Children and Families Overview and Scrutiny Panel welcomed the opportunity for the Panel to meet the relevant Cabinet members at a future scrutiny meeting in July 2016

·         It was important to use the funding envelope and resources available to target the most needy and vulnerable children in society

·         For the proposals to be a success, it was vital that head teachers and governing bodies were fully informed of the proposals in their school given their leading role

·         The local member from outside the Cabinet welcomed the amendment to include Comberton Primary School in the consultation arrangements. There had been progress in tackling the number of NEETs and RONIs and it was important that these proposals did not impact on progress made to date.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 1734.