Agenda and minutes

None

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 three working days before the meeting (in this case Monday 19 October 2020).  Further details are available on the Council's website.  Enquiries can also be made through the telephone number/e-mail address listed below.

1.     Sandra Rohan Kickham spoke about item 6 - Council Provided Day Services for Adults with a Learning Disability. She spoke about services available before Covid 19 and the challenges for service users and parent/carers during Covid 19. She was concerned about the Council’s model of only providing day services if the external market could not provide the service and hoped that service users, parents and carers would be involved in the review.

2.     Andrew Lyon spoke about item 7 - County Council Net Zero Carbon Plan. He asked that the County Council focus all its plans and policies on achieving Countywide CO2 equivalent emission reductions by 50% by 2030, as in the LEP report, rather than just following the County Council Net Zero Carbon Plan.

3.     Christopher Cooke spoke about item 7 - County Council Net Zero Carbon Plan.  He was encouraged that the Council recognised the need to take more ambitious action; that Worcestershire would have high-quality energy efficient housing stock and a robust, diverse energy infrastructure. He wished to know what mechanism would be used to track progress and what community education the Council intended to put in place to promote and encourage householders to insulate their properties? He also encouraged WCC to lobby MPs to support The Community Energy Revolution.

4.     Phillip Oliver spoke about item 7 - County Council Net Zero Carbon Plan

He felt that retrofitting Carbon Capture and Storage to EnviRecover waste incinerator was vital for the WCC net zero plan to succeed  but as there was a possibility that CCS technology would be found to not be a viable option at some future date, was the council reviewing alternative options such as moving to waste treatment producing less carbon emissions?

5.      Dr Johnny Birks spoke about item 7 - County Council Net Zero Carbon Plan. He asked whether the Cabinet would use its influence to enable WCC to join the majority of other Local Authorities in declaring a Climate Crisis?

6.     Pam McCarthy spoke about item 7 - County Council Net Zero Carbon Plan. She questioned:

1)      Will our WCC, launch and maintain, a hard hitting publicity campaign to inform and educate Worcestershire’s residents and businesses about the Climate crisis and the transformative action required to address it.

2)      Will our Council not restrict itself to those areas only of its direct responsibilities but instead give a strategic lead to all authorities, institutions, businesses and individuals

3)      Will our Council be bold, creative and urgent in leading all to a net zero future.

7.     Ronnie Lee had sent a submission regarding item 7 - County Council Net Zero Carbon Plan. The Democratic Governance and Scrutiny Manager read out his submission in which he asked whether in view of the large contribution to the climate crisis made by animal farming, what were the County Council’s plans to encourage a switch to a plant diet or to discourage the consumption of animal products, both in premises over which it has control and amongst  ...  view the full minutes text for item 1997.

The Minutes of the meeting of 24 September 2020 have been previously circulated

The minutes of the previous meeting were confirmed as a correct record and would be signed by the Chairman.

The Cabinet considered a report to agree actions to progress the A38 Bromsgrove Route Enhancement Programme. The Cabinet Member with Responsibility for Economy and Infrastructure introduced the report. He mentioned that there could be some compulsory land purchase, but he hoped that would not be necessary. The A38 was part of the Major Roads Network with the scheme having a high benefit for cost ratio and support from the Department for Transport.

He noted that scheme F was not decided yet and further engagement would take place. The idea of a Bromsgrove Western By-pass was not supported by the Council as it would blight a large area of land and would cost a lot of money.

Other Cabinet Members and Members from outside the Cabinet supported the Enhancement Programme and were pleased that there would be further consultation over Scheme F. Other positive benefits were the encouragement of active travel and bringing more money and jobs to Worcestershire.

The Leader of the Labour Group asked if Scheme E was robust enough to cope with the increased traffic due to the new houses being built and suggested yellow boxes would be required. The Cabinet Member promised a written answer.

Cabinet:

(a)  noted the overall concept of the A38 Bromsgrove Route Enhancement Programme and progress made to date;

(b)  supported the continued progress of the programme and notes the further work required to finalise the project deliverables, especially in terms of planning strategy, securing funding and land acquisitions;

(c)  approved the further development and submission of an Outline Business Case (OBC) to the Department of Transport (DfT) during 2021 including the schemes described within the report;

(d)  authorised the Strategic Director for Economy and Infrastructure to undertake public engagement regarding Scheme F if required following further review;

(e)  delegated authority to the Strategic Director of Economy and Infrastructure, in consultation with the Cabinet Member with Responsibility for Economy and Infrastructure, to finalise and award the contract(s) and other necessary agreements to deliver the A38 BREP proposals including the Priority Scheme;

(f)    approved the acquisition of land required to deliver the A38 BREP proposals, and delegates authority to the Strategic Director of Commercial and Change and the Strategic Director of Economy and Infrastructure, in consultation with the Cabinet Member with Responsibility for Economy and Infrastructure to agree the extent of land and rights to be acquired;

(g)  should it not be possible to acquire all the land by negotiation, authorised the acquisition of necessary land and rights over land through the making of Compulsory Purchase Orders (CPO) and authorises the Strategic Director of Commercial and Change and the Strategic Director of Economy and Infrastructure, in consultation with the Cabinet Member with Responsibility for Economy and Infrastructure, to finalise the details and make such a CPO including any compulsory acquisition of rights required for the programme, and authorised the Strategic Director of Commercial and Change to approve any Statement of Reasons in relation to the land, that must accompany any CPO submitted for the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 1999.

The Cabinet Member with Responsibility for Highways introduced the report which asked Cabinet to approve actions to progress the implementation of four schemes within the Reducing Congestion Programme. The Cabinet Member pointed out that congestion was the greatest concern picked up in the Viewpoint Survey and the Council was taking action. He noted that there would be some land acquisition with the Upton Scheme.

Increasing population and economic activity meant that there was an increasing demand on highways so road capacity needed to be increased. All the funding was in place for the reducing congestion projects. Other forms of transport as subsidies for buses or community transport continued to be encouraged.

During the discussion the following points were made:

·  Addressing the issues at Hoobrook in Kidderminster was long overdue but would be great for residents. Upton and Eckington residents would be pleased about the Upton improvements

·  The proposed actions fitted well with the walking and cycling agenda and the County Council were thanked for the investment in Bromsgrove

·  Members from outside the Cabinet said that the improvements would be wonderful for Upton, Malvern and Pershore although a rationalisation of speed limits should take place and there were concerns that no traffic lights were being planned for Wilden Lane in Kidderminster.

Cabinet:

(a)  noted progress on the four named schemes in the report within the Reducing Congestion Programme and endorsed the actions taken to date;

(b)  approved the continuation of activities to progress their implementation;

(c)  authorised the purchase of land necessary to complete the A38 Upton Roundabout Scheme (shown in red on the plan at Appendix 2) and delegated authority to the Strategic Director of Commercial and Change and Strategic Director of Economy and Infrastructure in consultation with the Cabinet Member with Responsibility for Highways to revise the extent of the land required to deliver the Scheme if necessary;

(d)  should it not be possible to acquire all the land by negotiation, authorised the acquisition of necessary land and rights over land through the making of a Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) and authorises the Strategic Director of Commercial and Change and Strategic Director of Economy and Infrastructure, in consultation with the Cabinet Member with Responsibility for Highways, to finalise the details and make such a CPO including any compulsory acquisition of rights required, and authorises the Strategic Director of Economy and Infrastructure and the Strategic Director of Commercial and Change to approve any Statement of Reasons in relation to the land, that must accompany any CPO submitted for the confirmation to the Secretary of State for Transport, and noted that this will be approved prior to making of the CPO;

(e)  delegated the award of contracts and agreements required for the schemes to the Strategic Director of Economy and Infrastructure in consultation with the Cabinet Member with Responsibility for Highways; and

(f)    approved expenditure in line with funds allocated to the Reducing Congestion Programme in the Capital Programme.

The Cabinet Member with Responsibility for Adult Services introduced the report which outlined the commencement of a review of day opportunities for people with a learning disability and explained that a further report would be brought back to Cabinet on the conclusion of the review setting out options for long term delivery of community-based day opportunities.

The Cabinet Member also gave an update on the current situation and highlighted that the two sorts of day services; Resource Centres and Connect Centres should be considered separately. He paid tribute to the staff who had continued to support service users while the centres had been closed due to Covid-19. Speak Easy Now assisted in engaging with Service Users and it was found that people wanted the Resource Centres to re-open after lockdown and they all did apart from one which had suffered flood damage. It had not been possible to open Connect Centres as they were co-located. Usually the Council would not supply a service which was available in the external market but that does not apply to Connect Centres.

Other Cabinet Members added their congratulations to the work done by staff in day centres. Following questions from Members outside the Cabinet the Cabinet Member responded that support had been offered to the Service Users who had previously attended the centre which could not open due to flood damage; and that the approach to consultation had been previously agreed but a further round of consultation would not be ruled out.

Cabinet:

(a)  Noted the current day opportunity offer for people with a learning disability following changes made in consequence of Covid-19 pandemic;

(b)  Approved commencement of a review of day opportunities for people with a learning disability which will take account of learning in response to the challenges presented by Covid-19, to ensure the offer is equitable in accordance with assessed eligible need, promotes independence and meets individual outcomes in the most efficient and cost effective way;

(c)  Agreed to receive a report before April 2021 to update on the outcome of the review detailing the identified options for the delivery of building-based day services; which support individuals with high/complex needs; and

(d)  Agreed to receive a further report in Summer 2021 on the conclusion of the review detailing the identified options for long-term delivery of community-based day opportunities.

The Cabinet Member with responsibility for Environment introduced the report regarding the Council’s Net Zero Carbon Plan, he highlighted a range of points:

·  The Council had begun to improve energy efficiency as long ago as 2005 and were moving towards a complete culture change by considering homes, transport, waste and how children are educated on the subject. They were not just reacting to recent claims of a climate crisis

·  Joint Impact Assessments were carried out to ensure that actions do not have a negative impact on the County’s carbon footprint

·  The Local Enterprise Partnership, with Council funding, had enabled a 50% reduction in carbon emissions since 2005

·  Warmer Worcestershire had looked at energy efficiency in homes and reduced domestic energy bills. Energy efficiency in public buildings was also being addressed.

Other Cabinet members commented that the Council was made up of a range of voices with wide experiences and they were looking at a two-pronged action; reducing carbon emissions and working on a mitigation strategy. Actions had begun back in 1993 and had continued in all areas of the County.

Members from outside the Cabinet commented that they could not see why the Cabinet were so concerned about using the word ‘emergency’ as in climate emergency and it was felt that it was better to be ambitious with a date for being carbon neutral. It was agreed that actions that had been taken were wonderful, but some projects needed to be revisited such as looking at the possibility of using the heat generated from waste at Hartlebury. A councillor mentioned that they believed electric vehicles were not a long-term solution due to the metals in batteries being transported.

The Leader summed up that the Council had set its ambition and had set up a market place which would allow relevant tech to come forward. The Council had the Environment as one of its key themes in the Corporate Plan and had set an achievable plan.

Cabinet:

(a)       approved the proposed Net Zero Carbon Plan; and

(b)      agreed that an annual progress report and updated plan be returned to Cabinet for approval in 2021.

The Leader, who has responsibility for Finance, introduced the report which noted current progress with Covid-19 response and recovery and considered proposed revisions to the Council’s capital programme. He explained that over the summer as the infection rate had fallen services had been re-introduced but with infections now rising again the County Council’s response was being stepped up. Tribute was paid to Dr Kathryn Cobain who was working with Partners such as District Councils, schools and the LEP. The Council’s response was looking at the economic effects of Covid along with the health effects. An economic task force was looking to see where the support offered by the Government needed to be augmented.

The Leader also paid tribute to schools who had worked hard to enable students to be able to return and were having to manage the on-going situation. Important work had been done with the LEP to signpost people to advice, and social care had worked to support and protect the most vulnerable. Covid was having a financial impact but the Council were taking the view that they would take whatever measures were necessary.

Cabinet Members made the following comments:

·  The Cabinet Member for Adult Services noted that the Council was well prepared, with stocks of PPE being delivered direct to Care Homes and the restriction on visits to care homes had been reviewed and visits were now being allowed

·  Tributes were paid to the Director of Public Health and her team and all partners in the health economy who had stepped up to respond to the situation. Also the IT professionals who enabled so many people to work remotely and 18 new digital services had been set up

·  School staff were praised for enabling education to continue as we learn to live with Covid. Various schools had bubbles which had collapsed but Head Teachers were being supported by the Local Outbreak Response Team

·  Library Staff were praised for stepping in and helping out with Here to Help and also providing a digital offer from libraries and Registration?

·  A Member from outside the Cabinet echoed the congratulations to staff but was worried about all the people who had been furloughed and the high number of unemployed young people. She commented that it was good that carers would now only be working in one care home but recognised that that could cause additional staffing problems for the care homes

·  In response to questions, the Cabinet Member for Health and Well-being said he was not sure GPs would wish to be more involved in the test and trace system and assured the meeting that test centres would be set up in each district. It was agreed that misleading information on the internet was not helpful and all messages should come through Public Health

·  The Cabinet Member for Adult Services clarified that care workers would be tested weekly and tests would be delivered to their homes and Government Funding had been provided to ensure care workers only worked in one place  ...  view the full minutes text for item 2003.