Agenda and minutes

The Members had before them:

1. The Agenda papers (previously circulated)

2. The Minutes of the meeting of the Cabinet held on 18 June 2015 (previously circulated)

3. The written submission of Mr P A Tuthill in relation to Agenda item 6.

(A copy of documents A and C will be attached to the signed Minutes).

There were no apologies. 

Mr M L Bayliss, Mr S E Geraghty and Mrs L C Hodgson declared interests in Agenda Item 10 as cabinet members at Worcester City Council, and Mrs L C Hodgson declared an interest in Agenda item 4 through her connection with Heart of Worcestershire College.

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 July

2015). 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 held on 18 June 2015 have been previously circulated.

RESOLVED:  that the Minutes of the Cabinet held on 18 June 2015 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

The Cabinet considered a report on preventing child sexual exploitation (CSE) in Worcestershire and the work led by the Worcestershire Safeguarding Children Board (WSCB).  The details were set out in the report and its appendices.

Diana Fulbrook, the independent chair of the WSCB, presented the strategy and action plan to Cabinet.  She highlighted the importance of preventing child sexual exploitation and highlighted the work of the WSCB in spearheading a strategy with four overarching priorities: prevention and education, recognition and identification, intervention and support, and pursue and disrupt.  Whilst agencies in Worcestershire were fairly well ahead on protecting children there was a need to improve further on prevention and other elements.  The complexity of the issue was demonstrated in the detailed action plan.

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

(a) The Cabinet Member with Responsibility for Children and Families stressed that whilst CSE was not a major problem in Worcestershire, the Council, the WSCB and partners were not complacent about the issue and must be constantly vigilant.  Whilst it was a community safety and partnership effort to prevent CSE, the County Council's leadership role was vital.

(b) It was important to support the strategic principles that CSE is child abuse and a crime and that agencies should not fear speaking out about it.  Another member of the Cabinet stated that it was vital that the Council did not become another Rotherham or Rochdale and the report should be fully supported.

(c) As a governor of the Heart of Worcestershire College, the Cabinet Member for Localism and Communities noted the importance of Further Education establishments being involved and welcomed the appointment of a new Further Education representative on the WSCB.

(d) The Worcestershire Regulatory Service had worked with taxi drivers to recognise CSE and the District Councils were engaged in this.

(e) The detailed comments from the Children and Families Overview and Scrutiny Panel were helpful and had been taken on board in the action plan.

RESOLVED: that Cabinet

(a) notes the work led by the Worcestershire Safeguarding Children Board to tackle Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE);

(b) fully supports and accepts as its own principles the four points set out in paragraph 10 of the report drawn from Louise Casey’s report ‘Reflections on Child Sexual Exploitation;

(c) endorses the definition adopted by Worcestershire Safeguarding Children Board of CSE that is set out in paragraph 4 of the report and commonly used nationally; and

(d) notes the Scrutiny comments at Appendix 3 and endorses the strategy and action plan available electronically as Appendices 1 and 2 to the report.

The Cabinet considered the Youth Justice Plan for 2015/16.  The details were set out in the report and its appendices.

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

(a) The Cabinet Member with Responsibility for Children and Families introduced the report and made particular reference to the fact that, although there was a good track record of performance in the Youth Offending Service, it was right to have a robust plan for the Service to enable young people to be helped to make a positive contribution to society and to protect society.

(b) The number of new entrants into the youth justice system in Worcestershire had fallen dramatically and was now considerably lower than West Mercia as a whole and the England average.  It was important to build on the success of the previous year's plan.

RESOLVED: that the West Mercia Youth Justice Plan 2015/16 be endorsed for approval by Council.

The Cabinet considered proposals for the development of a new school facility on the Malvern Vale site.  The details were set out in the report and its appendices.

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

(a) The Cabinet Member with Responsibility for Children and Families introduced the report and made particular reference to the Council's statutory responsibility to ensure there were enough school places in the county. 

(b) Following consultation, in February 2015 Cabinet had considered options to address the need for places in the Malvern area in both the short and long term. It was estimated there would be a 40 space shortfall in the long term.

(c) The proposal was to support Option 2, to expand Somers Park Primary School into a three form entry school, with a new one form entry build on the Malvern Vale site. 

(d) The local community, including local Members, had been consulted and there was support for this proposal.

(e) Cllr P A Tuthill, a local Member, had sent in a written submission in support of the proposal as he was unable to attend the meeting, which was read out to the meeting.

(f) It was important for the Council to get the infrastructure right in preparation for the emerging South Worcestershire Development Plan.

(g) This was a tight and ambitious plan and swift responses would be needed from the Education Funding Agency; the local MP was keen to pick this up with the Department for Education.

(h) It was an elegant solution with local community buy-in.

RESOLVED: that Cabinet

(a) notes the progress of the review and considers the options outlined for Malvern Vale as detailed in the feasibility work undertaken;

(b) supports option 2, the expansion of Somers Park Primary School, as this option expands an already popular and outstanding school and potentially offers best value to the Council; and

(c) the Director of Children's Services is authorised to progress option 2 further and implement it as part of the approved Capital Investment programme in meeting the need for pupil places going forward, irrespective of whether a bid to the Education Funding Agency (EFA) is successful, in line with the County Council's policy position of supporting academies, but with the contingency that any successful EFA funding is used to offset the cost to the Council.

The Cabinet considered a report on the Public Health Ring-Fenced Grant (PHRFG).  The details were set out in the report and its appendices.

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

(a) The Cabinet Member with Responsibility for Health and Well-being introduced the report, which had been submitted following the Treasury's announcement on 11 June 2015 that the government intended to reduce the national PHRFG by £200m in 2015/16.  Whilst understanding the need for national budget savings, it was unfortunate and exceptionally difficult for the Council to manage in-year reductions.

(b) Cabinet were being asked to approve initial proposals for savings, not the final decisions. Before any final decision was taken on those proposals there would be a detailed review of prevention spend, and discussions as needed with providers and partners.

(c) The biggest impact was spelt out in paragraphs 31, 35, 36 and 37 of the report, affecting Domestic Abuse, Homeless and Housing Related Support services.  Cabinet would recall that £1.8m of the PHRFG had been used to supplement these services when the Supporting People funding had been reduced.  Current contracts with providers were due to end on 31 March 2016 and the initial proposals were to cease much of this funding.

(d) The plan was to manage reductions incrementally and in a measured way.  The Council was planning for a 12.5% reduction in grant, but would not make these reductions in 2015/16; this year savings would be found from the Public Health reserves.

(e) The Cabinet Member stressed that there would be discussions with providers and partners, including health and district councils.  It was important to avoid shunting responsibility to other partners, and to work together in the re-commissioning of services; there had already been meetings with housing related providers and housing officers in district councils and the proposals would be discussed by the Health and Well-being Board in September.  It was important to start these discussions as soon as possible.

(f) West Mercia Police would be consulted as there was a need to be satisfied that the Council was continuing to uphold its statutory duties under Section 17 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998. 

(g) It was important that any reduction did not impact on the Council by increasing demand for social care.  The Council would give due regard to its obligations under the Equality Act 2010 and ensure it was meeting its other statutory duties.

(h) This was an unfortunate situation which had come as an unwelcome surprise and the Cabinet Member would ask local MPs to lobby the government. 

(i) The government was running a four week consultation on the proposals and it was important for the Council to input into that.  The anticipated reduction for Worcestershire, of 12.5%, was large compared to similar shire counties – the average grant reduction nationally was 7%.

(j) The anticipated grant reduction would have an inevitable impact on current services.  The Council had to actively manage the situation and so needed to start the appropriate  ...  view the full minutes text for item 1674.

The Cabinet considered an update on the Corporate and Transformation Risk Registers.  The details were set out in the report and its appendix.

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

(a) The Cabinet Member with Responsibility for Transformation and Commissioning introduced the report and highlighted the importance to good governance of strong and effective management processes including reviewing and understanding risks.  Actions being taken to mitigate risks were set out in the report.

(b) Most of the risks had remained at the same level, three had reduced in risk and one – in relation to Children's Social Care delivering savings - had increased.

(c) The information was being presented in a more visual way to help bring the data to life.

(d) A member asked whether actions taken to reduce the risk of failing to deliver a major project had been successful in light of the problems with the Ketch roundabout.  It was noted the Council had an ambitious programme of major projects and therefore there was the potential for one project to go off track.  There was a major project programme board to ensure the right skills were in place to manage projects and there would be a review to learn lessons from the Ketch roundabout.

(e) An opposition member asked whether the risk of demographic changes increasing demand for services had remained red due to major shifts in population that could not have been foreseen from the census.  It was noted that the census gave raw data which needed to be interpreted to understand how the demography would impact on demand for Council services.  The risk register highlighted the need for this analysis to be done

(f) There were significant demographic changes in relation to an increase in the number of older people.  Health and Social Care Service planning took the changing demography into account; the Council was planning to support more over 65s at home by promoting independence, and to provide greater support for the complex needs of over 85 year olds.  Technology would be a key part of delivering this.  It was essential to have the demographic data but services needed to be flexible and responsive.

RESOLVED: that Cabinet

(a) approved the latest refresh of the Corporate and Transformation Risk Registers (set out in the Appendix); and

(b) notes the red risks and mitigating actions.

The Cabinet considered the Corporate Balanced Scorecard for Quarter 4 2014/15.  The details were set out in the report and its appendix.

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

(a) The Cabinet Member with Responsibility for Transformation and Commissioning introduced the report and highlighted that it contained the key headline indicators for Cabinet to monitor. It included a range of indicators over which the Council had direct responsibility and those which reflected work with partners.

(b) Overall it was an improving picture of performance – 19 green indicators in quarter 4 compared to 17 in quarter 3 and the same number of reds. 

(c) The report contained high level summaries of the green and red indicators.  Some greens to highlight included the strong economic growth in Worcestershire, which had the second strongest growth outside London, the improvement in the number of 16-18 year olds who were in employment, education or training, and the percentage of looked after children who had been adopted.

(d) The Overview and Scrutiny Panels would also review the data.

(e) An opposition member felt that it was poor for the Council to have not achieved its own aspirational target in relation to the number of five A*-C grades in GCSE.  However, the Cabinet member responded that the Council wanted to have a stretch target for educational achievement of children and young people and had a responsibility to ensure educational standards in the county.  Worcestershire was doing better than its statistical neighbours although it was disappointing the target had not yet been reached, but the Council would continue to strive to achieve it.

(f) A member wondered whether the conundrum around low satisfaction of condition of roads whilst condition of roads improved, was related to the low satisfaction with the local areas as a place to live.  Very early responses from the most recent Viewpoint survey indicated an increase of 6% in the satisfaction with condition of roads.

(g) It was unclear why waste tonnages were increasing, but surveys were being done in Evesham and Drakes Broughton in relation to food waste in particular.  There were educational programmes which needed to be analysed to see which worked best.

RESOLVED: that Cabinet

(a) notes the good progress in the performance of the nineteen Balanced Scorecard indicators that are RAG-rated as green and notes the performance of the twelve indicators that are RAG-rated as red set out in the Appendix; and

(b) considered the detailed performance report (Appendix) for the three Balanced Scorecard indicators that are RAG-rated red and where performance  deteriorated in Quarter Four 2014/15;  the report outlines the actions that are being taken to improve performance and detail provided for two indicators that are RAG-rated green and which demonstrated positive progress in Quarter Four 2014/15.

The Cabinet considered a Resources Report.  The details were set out in the report and its appendix.

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

(a) The Cabinet Member with Responsibility for Finance introduced the report and highlighted the good news that the Council's accounts for 2014/15 had received an unqualified audit opinion from the external auditors. This supported future financial planning and enabled the Council to move forward.

(b) Good progress was being made on the very ambitious capital programme. The Cathedral Square project in Worcester would bring great benefits to the city and county and thanks should go to the partners in the project, NFU Mutual and Salmon Harvester.  It was a good example of how a relatively small amount of funding from the Council could lever in resources from others and create significant economic benefits and outputs in terms of jobs.  The project would start to repair damage done in the past to an iconic image of Worcestershire.  The archaeological dig had been of immense public interest.

(c) The Council wanted to invest more in the Energy Efficiency Spend to save Fund and bring forward more projects that would pay back and help reduce the carbon tax.

(d) It was early days to forecast spend in 2015/16 but it was looking on track.  A large percentage of FutureFit savings had already been made by May 2015; the Superfast Broadband project was slightly ahead of target, there was a provider in place for Learning and Achievement, the ground-breaking Place Partnership was well underway, and good progress was being made with Assistive Technology.

(e) The extension of the energy efficiency spend to save fund was welcomed; there had been 57 projects overall saving 395 tonnes of CO2 and there was also an educational benefit of the school projects.

(f) The Superfast Broadband roll out was now reaching very rural areas and having a significant impact on businesses.  It was important for residents to sign up to superfast broadband once their cabinet had been enabled, but there had been a good take up in the first year of around 15%. 

(g) An opposition member asked what BT's financial contribution had been to the project as it was understood it would make a contribution if there was a high take-up.  It was confirmed that BT had put in significant resources at the start of the project and there was a claw-back mechanism within the contract when take-up reached 20%.

(h)  A member asked about the criteria for solid wall insulation for houses.  It was noted that government had made £3m available as grants for solid wall insulation, which the district councils were organising and each application would be assessed on its own merits.

(i) The Council was being ambitious for the county and the benefits were starting to be seen of there being a robustly run, financially ambitious council.

RESOLVED: that

(a)  the Cabinet Member's conclusions concerning revenue budget monitoring up to 31 May 2015 be endorsed;

(b)  the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 1677.