Agendas, Meetings and Minutes - Agenda and minutes

Agenda and minutes

Venue: County Hall, Worcester

Contact: Samantha Morris  Scrutiny Co-ordinator

Media

Items
No. Item

1243.

Apologies and Welcome

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Apologies were received from Councillor Mike Rouse and Paul Robinson (Chief Executive).

1244.

Declaration of Interest and of any Party Whip

Additional documents:

Minutes:

None.

1245.

Public Participation

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 25 April 2022).  Further details are available on the Council's website.  Enquiries can also be made through the telephone number/e-mail address listed in this agenda and on the website.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

None.

1246.

Confirmation of the Minutes of the Previous Meeting

(previously circulated)

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Minutes of the Meeting held on 20 March 2022 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

 

1247.

Corporate Plan pdf icon PDF 227 KB

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Minutes:

The Board received a report on the development of the refreshed Corporate Plan 2022-27. 

 

The Leader of the Council introduced the report, highlighting that the four key themes of Open for Business, Children and Families, the Environment and Health and Wellbeing remained the same as the previous plan.  Each section of the Plan had been updated and One Worcestershire was embedded throughout the document.

 

During the discussion, the following main points were made:

 

·         The Leader advised that although there had been no formal consultation, the Cabinet Members and Directors had reviewed the current priorities. Further discussions would take place with District Councils and there would also be some resident roadshows in the community to discuss the Plan after publication.

·         The Council was working with the Worcestershire Local Enterprise Partnership (WLEP) to increase the focus on higher skilled and better paid jobs in Worcestershire to increase Gross Value Added (GVA).

·         There would be a continued focus on key industrial developments in Worcestershire eg the Shrub Hill Quarter which had been identified as a possibility for large scale growth.

·         A Member questioned whether there had been any risk analysis on the delivery of the key areas in light of the replacement of the European Fund and the delegation of UK Shared Prosperity Fund to District Councils. The Leader explained that this was a challenge, as resources would reduce and it would be important to work with District Councils to support businesses. In addition, the Open for Business Fund could also provide support.

·         The refreshed Plan had been written following discussion with the Council’s Senior Leadership Team, Cabinet Members, Officers in Business Support, Research and Intelligence and other relevant partners.

·         Minor tweaks could be made to the Plan, however material changes would not be appropriate at this stage of its development.

·         The reference to One Worcestershire was about how all partners worked together to deliver a shared ‘Vison’.

·         Although child and adolescent mental health wasn’t specified as an individual priority, it was incumbent in the Health and Wellbeing priority vision and objectives.

·         A Member questioned how the voice of the children and families had been included in the development of Plan. The Leader confirmed that there would be opportunities through service delivery for this to happen.

·         In response to the request for clarification that the measure relating to ‘Our Children’s Services rated Good by Ofsted’ related to all Children’s Services, the Leader confirmed that the measure was written with the four yearly Ofsted Inspection of Children’s Social Care Services in mind. However, given the importance of all Children’s Services being rated as ‘Good’ by Ofsted, further thought would be given to expanding the measure.

·         In response to the suggestion that the Children and Families measure stating that at least four out of five schools should be rated ‘Good’ or ‘Outstanding’ by Ofsted should be a more ambitious target as 4 out of 5 schools were already rated ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’. The Leader acknowledged the sentiment of the point made but explained that schools  ...  view the full minutes text for item 1247.

1248.

Update on the Worcestershire Response to Invasion of Ukraine pdf icon PDF 434 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Board considered an update in respect of Worcestershire’s Response to the invasion of Ukraine.

 

At its last meeting on 23 March, the Board considered the 24 March Cabinet Report about the Worcestershire Response to the Invasion of Ukraine. Following which the Chairman of OSPB attended Cabinet on 24 March to present the Board’s comments.

 

The Assistant Director for Communities introduced the Report, highlighting that the County Council, District Councils and partners had unanimously pledged to do all they could to support families and individuals arriving in Worcestershire from Ukraine as part of the Homes for Ukraine Scheme and the Ukraine Family Scheme. People arriving from Ukraine would be able to live and work in the UK for up to three years, access healthcare, benefits, employment support, education, and English language tuition. Most guests would be women, children and older people, as able-bodied men aged 18 to 60 were not generally being allowed to leave Ukraine at present.

 

The situation was changing on a daily basis. At the date of this meeting, there were 267 host properties, 652 guests of which approximately 50% were children in respect of the Homes for Ukraine Scheme.

 

During the discussion, the following main points were made:

 

·         In response to a question about whether there were any current concerns about the situation, the Assistant Director advised that at the current time there was uncertainty about the level of need, health, skills, education and longer term housing requirements of the guests.

·         A small number of guests had moved in with hosts and Disclosure Barring Service (DBS) and housing checks were outstanding.

·         There were government guidelines in respect of housing checks, which were essentially common sense.

·         The number of guests that Worcestershire would receive was accessed from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities database.

·         There was a Welcome Group approach for guests arriving in Worcestershire, which included the Here2Help Service.

·         If a sponsor didn’t wish to accept the £300 ‘thank you’ payment, the Council would be advised.

·         The Assistant Director was unsure how many guests were in the Ukraine Family Scheme but thought that the numbers were unlikely to exceed those of the Local Sponsorship Scheme.

·         In response to the Chairman’s question about how many guests were likely to be children, the Assistant Director advised that it was unknown at this stage.  The Chairman asked for a rough calculation and was advised with caution that hypothetically, it could be up to 3000.

·         To ensure that guests were not exploited, it was confirmed that the same support would be provided to guests as afforded to UK citizens including DBS checks, access to benefits, doctors and schools.

·         It was envisaged that the school places needed would be made available in the district areas where guests were living, however this couldn’t be confirmed until the level of demand was known. 

·         Applying for a school place would be the same process for guests as Worcestershire residents. In response to a Member’s suggestion that this approach was inappropriate, the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 1248.

1249.

Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee Scrutiny Task Group Report on Ambulance Hospital Handover Delays pdf icon PDF 138 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chairman of the Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee (HOSC) introduced the Scrutiny Task Group Report on Ambulance Hospital Handover Delays. The Report had been considered by HOSC at its meeting on 9 March and a further update would be provided at its meeting on 9 May.

 

During the discussion, the following main points were made:

 

·         A number of the recommendations made in the report had already been implemented by Health partners.

·         Recommendation 1 – Discharge of Medically Fit Patients by 10am was considered to be the most important recommendation.  Discharging patients who were medically fit for discharge earlier in the day would free up much needed bed space and improve patient flow.

·         It was suggested that the demand for hospital services was outstripping the supply.

·         A Member suggested that more use could be made of the Community First Responders who could often be quickly on scene to provide support.

·         It was confirmed that since the time of writing the report, improvements had been made to the 111 Service.

·         It was questioned whether the Emergency Department would carry out a mental health assessment in the case of a mental health crisis – the Chairman of HOSC agreed to seek a response to this question.

 

1250.

Member Update, Work Programme and Cabinet Forward Plan pdf icon PDF 142 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Board discussed the Member Update, Work Programme and Cabinet Forward Plan.

 

Member Update

 

Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) Task Group (TG) – Cllr Daisley updated the Board on the progress of the TG.  Members were starting to identify some emerging themes and had met with a young person.

 

Education Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) – the membership for this TG was in the process of being identified.

 

Developer Funded Highways Infrastructure Scrutiny Task Group – Cllr Adams updated the Board on the progress of this TG which it was envisaged would be able to report to the Board in September.

 

Crime and Disorder: Cllr Udall advised the Board that he had been focussing on rural, animal and environmental crime and was in the process of gathering data and would report back to the Board in due course.

 

Work Programme

 

To ensure a full discussion of the Work Programme at the May Scrutiny Panels, the Chairman suggested that it should be the first item on the Agenda.

 

It was agreed that following the recent unsuccessful Worcestershire bid to secure government funding to improve bus networks, the Board wished to discuss the current position and the plans for the Worcestershire Bus Improvement Strategy going forward at the 25 May meeting.