Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillor Nick Carter and Councillor Kieron Mallon.

Cabinet noted the apologies from Councillor Zoe Patrick, who had been intending to speak at the meeting but was unwell.

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 17 July 2012 (CA3) and to receive information arising from them.

The minutes of the meeting held on 17 July 2012  were approved and signed subject to the following correction:

Minute 80/12 - The declaration of interest was amended to read ‘in respect of Item 6’ rather than ‘Item 7’.

Any county councillor may, by giving notice to the Proper Officer by 9 am two working days before the meeting, ask a question on any matter in respect of the Cabinet’s delegated powers.

The number of questions which may be asked by any councillor at any one meeting is limited to two (or one question with notice and a supplementary question at the meeting) and the time for questions will be limited to 30 minutes in total. As with questions at Council, any questions which remain unanswered at the end of this item will receive a written response.

Questions submitted prior to the agenda being despatched are shown below and will be the subject of a response from the appropriate Cabinet Member or such other councillor or officer as is determined by the Cabinet Member, and shall not be the subject of further debate at this meeting. Questions received after the despatch of the agenda, but before the deadline, will be shown on the Schedule of Addenda circulated at the meeting, together with any written response which is available at that time.

Councillor Roz Smith had given notice of the following question to Councillor Hilary Hibbert-Biles:

“What is the current status of the Kidlington Waste Site Project and any financial implications for the council?”

Councillor Hilary Hibbert-Biles replied:

“As stated at Full Council we are currently reviewing the responses to the Joint Municipal Waste Management Strategy. These responses will help inform the implementation plan for the Household Waste Recycling Centre Strategy.

We are looking into alternatives to the Kidlington site and will keep you informed of any decisions. Where amendments to the implementation plan have financial implications these will be considered as part of the annual budget setting process

The County Council’s Household Waste Recycling Strategy was agreed in April 2011.  The principles underpinning that Strategy remain valid.  Implementation of the Strategy is on-going.  Progress with implementing the Strategy is monitored on a regular basis.  The need for changes to the implementation plan for the Strategy will be kept under review.”

Supplementary: Councillor Roz Smith queried whether the new reserve for minerals and waste recommended for creation elsewhere on today’s agenda was sufficient. Councillor Hibbert-Biles replied that it was a little early to know but that was what was being worked towards.

Councillor Zoe Patrick had given notice of the following question to Councillor Nick Carter:

“Would the Cabinet Member for Business & Communications agree that it would be a good idea to include the web page link for each of the Oxfordshire Partnerships in the partnerships report to Council or elsewhere?”

In Councillor Carter’s absence Councillor Ian Hudspeth replied:

“Yes in future we will include all the web page links for each of the Oxfordshire Partnerships in the Full Partnership Report to Council.  

We are aware of this issue with content on the Oxfordshire Partnership website and as stated on the website all the content is currently under review as the partnerships scope has changed. We appreciate the current situation is not ideal and we rely on our partners to keep all the information up to date as a number now have their independent websites. We will endeavour to work with our partners to make sure meeting papers are accessible. 

We are also currently reviewing partnership  pages on the intranet and the Oxfordshire County Council public website to make it easier for people to navigate to the correct partnership pages to find the agendas, minutes, supporting papers and upcoming meeting dates.”

The following requests to address the meeting had been agreed:

Item 6 – Councillor Janet Godden, local Councillor

Item 8 -  Councillor Roz Smith, Shadow Cabinet Member for Finance

Cabinet Member: Education

Forward Plan Ref: 2012/089

Contact: Diane Cameron, School Organisation Officer Tel: (01865) 816445

Report by Director for Children’s Services (CA6).

At the request of the Local Authority, Botley School admitted an additional class (15 places) of F1 (Reception) class pupils in September 2010 to meet demand for pupil places within Oxford city. Demand for pupil places across Oxford city has risen very sharply and the expectation is that the rise in pupil numbers will be sustained. Similarly, the West Oxford partnership of schools, of which Botley School is a member, lies both within and on the outskirts of Oxford itself and is experiencing very high demand for places. Plans for additional housing within the school’s catchment area are included  in the draft Vale of White Horse  Local Plan, and the district’s current housing projections indicate over 500 homes are expected to be built in the area over the next six years, with significant developments already approved or underway.

The proposal to expand Botley School to 2 forms of entry is one part of the county council's strategy to meet the need for primary school places in Oxford and its immediate surrounds.     .

Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to approve the publication of a statutory notice for the expansion of Botley School, Oxford.

Cabinet considered a report detailing a proposal to expand Botley School to 2 forms of entry as one part of the county council's strategy to meet the need for primary school places in Oxford and its immediate surrounds.

Councillor Janet Godden, speaking as a local Councillor supported the proposed expansion, commended the School for the way it had coped with the influx of young people so far and urged the provision of permanent buildings rather than temporary ones. She also referred to the problem of taxied children and Councillor Melinda Tilley, Cabinet Member for Education replied that she was investigating and hoped to resolve the problem.

Councillor Tilley in introducing the report highlighted the need for the additional places.

Cabinet in agreeing the recommendation indicated that their expectation was for the provision of permanent buildings should the expansion go ahead and that they would expect to be updated if following assessment of all the options a temporary solution was proposed.

RESOLVED: to approve the publication of a statutory notice for the expansion of Botley School, Oxford.

Cabinet Member: Education

Forward Plan Ref: 2012/105

Contact: Allyson Milward, Academies Manager Tel: (01865) 816447

Report by Director for Children’s Services (CA7).

In the next five years the authority is likely to have to procure a number of new schools due to planned housing growth.  The Education Act 2011 determined that all new schools should be academies or Free schools unless no sponsor can be found by the authority or DfE.  Existing legislation which deals with the creation of new maintained schools is no longer applicable to the Authority's decision making process.  The authority has embraced the idea of academies and seeks to identify the best provision it can for school places in Oxfordshire.

The purpose of this report is to set out procedures which will allow the authority to identify preferred providers, by agreement with the Secretary of State, to open new academies or free schools for the benefit of local communities.  The DfE has recently issued guidance on procedures for local authorities in this matter and the proposed system to be used by the County Council based upon this guidance, along with the outcome of consultation with interested parties, is set out in the report. 

Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to approve the process to identify academy and free school providers for new schools in Oxfordshire. 

Cabinet considered a report that set out procedures to allow the authority to identify preferred providers, by agreement with the Secretary of State, to open new academies or free schools for the benefit of local communities in line with The Education Act 2011 which had determined that all new schools should be academies or Free schools unless no sponsor could be found by the authority or Department for Education (DfE). The DfE has recently issued guidance on procedures for local authorities in this matter and the proposed system to be used by the County Council based upon this guidance, along with the outcome of consultation with interested parties, was set out in the report. 

RESOLVED:             to approve the process to identify academy and free school providers for new schools in Oxfordshire.

Cabinet Member: Finance

Forward Plan Ref: 2012/064

Contact: Kathy Wilcox, Principal Financial Manager Tel: (01865) 323981

Report by Assistant Chief Executive & Chief Finance Officer (CA8).

This report focuses on the delivery of the Directorate Business Strategies which were agreed as part of the Service and Resource Planning Process for 2012/13 – 2016/17.  Parts 1 and 2 include projections for revenue, reserves and balances as at the end of July 2012.   The Capital monitoring is included at Part 3.  

The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to:

(a)               note the report;

(b)              approve the virement requests set out in Annex 2a;

(c)               Agree the transfer of the LACSEG refund to the Efficiency Reserve as set out in paragraph 23;

(d)              Agree the creation of new reserves as set out in Annex 3b;

(e)               Agree the change of use of the Learning Disabilities underspend from 2011/12 as set out in paragraph 29;

(f)                 Agree the bad debt write off as set out in paragraph 25;

(g)              note the updated Treasury Management lending list at Annex 7;

(h)              Approve the changes to the Capital Programme in Annex 8c.

Cabinet considered a report that focused on the delivery of the Directorate Business Strategies which were agreed as part of the Service and Resource Planning Process for 2012/13 – 2016/17.  Parts 1 and 2 included projections for revenue, reserves and balances as at the end of July 2012.   The Capital monitoring was included at Part 3.  

Councillor Roz Smith, Shadow Cabinet Member for Finance, expressed concern at the level of underspend. In particular she highlighted the underspend in the Chief Executive’s Office which was partially due to staff vacancies. The turnover of staff seemed quite high and she queried whether this had been explored. She also queried the creation of the new earmarked reserves; she felt that they had not heard detailed reasons for their creatiob and the Liberal Democrat Group was of the view that earmarked reserves were already too high.

Kathy Wilcox, introduced the contents of the report.

Councillor Charles Shouler, Cabinet Member for Finance commented that as a returning Cabinet Member with responsibility for Finance he found the financial position stable with spending largely on track and reserves healthy and adequate. This highlighted the benefit of the reporting process. Careful monitoring gave control over the budget and associated spending and early action could be taken where necessary. Annex 3b gave full details on the reserves to be created but Councillor Smith could discuss it further with himself or officers should she wish.

RESOLVED:             to:

(a)               note the report;

(b)               approve the virement requests set out in Annex 2a;

(c)               Agree the transfer of the LACSEG refund to the Efficiency Reserve as set out in paragraph 23;

(d)               Agree the creation of new reserves as set out in Annex 3b;

(e)               Agree the change of use of the Learning Disabilities underspend from 2011/12 as set out in paragraph 29;

(f)                 Agree the bad debt write off as set out in paragraph 25;

(g)               note the updated Treasury Management lending list at Annex 7;

(h)               Approve the changes to the Capital Programme in Annex 8c.

Cabinet Member: Finance

Forward Plan Ref: 2012/065

Contact: Lorna Baxter, Assistant Chief Finance Officer Tel: (01865) 323971

Report by Assistant Chief Executive & Chief Finance Officer (CA9).

This report is the first in a series on the Service & Resource Planning process for 2013/14 to 2016/17, providing councillors with information on budget issues for 2013/14 and the medium term.  The report presents the known and potential financial issues for 2013/14 and beyond which impact on the existing Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP), the assumptions on which the current MTFP is based and proposes a process for Service & Resource Planning for 2013/14 including a timetable of events.

Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to:

(a)              Note the report;

(b)              Approve the Service and Resource Planning process for 2013/14.

Cabinet received the first in a series of reports on the Service & Resource Planning process for 2013/14 to 2016/17. The report provided councillors with information on budget issues for 2013/14 and the medium term and presented the known and potential financial issues for 2013/14and beyond. The report  proposed a process for Service & Resource Planning for 2013/14 including a timetable of events.

Following discussion on key issues and the likely timetable for information from Government it was:

RESOLVED:             to:

(a)               note the report;

(b)               approve the Service and Resource Planning process for 2013/14.

Cabinet Member: Deputy Leader

Forward Plan Ref: 2012/066

Contact: Sue Corrigan, Strategic HR Manager Tel: (01865) 810280

Report by Head of Human Resources (CA10).

This report gives an update on staffing numbers and related activity during the period 1 April 2012 to 30 June 2012.  It gives details of the agreed staffing numbers and establishment at 30 June 2012 in terms of Full Time Equivalents.  These are also shown by directorate in Appendix 1. In addition, the report provides information on vacancies and the cost of posts being covered by agency staff.

The report also tracks progress on staffing numbers since 1 April 2010 as we implement our Business Strategy.

The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to:

(a)       note the report;

(b)       confirm that the Staffing Report meets the Cabinet’s requirements in reporting and managing staffing numbers.

Cabinet received a report that gave an update on staffing numbers and related activity during the period 1 April 2012 to 30 June 2012.  It detailed the agreed staffing numbers and establishment at 30 June 2012 in terms of Full Time Equivalents.  In addition, the report provided information on vacancies and the cost of posts being covered by agency staff. The report also tracked progress on staffing numbers since 1 April 2010.

RESOLVED:                      to:

(a)       note the report; and

(b)       confirm that the Staffing Report meets the Cabinet’s requirements in reporting and managing staffing numbers.

Cabinet Member: All

Contact Officer: Sue Whitehead, Committee Services Manager (01865 810262)

The Cabinet Procedure Rules provide that the business of each meeting at the Cabinet is to include “updating of the Forward Plan and proposals for business to be conducted at the following meeting”.   Items from the Forward Plan for the immediately forthcoming meetings of the Cabinet appear in the Schedule at CA11.  This includes any updated information relating to the business for those meetings that has already been identified for inclusion in the next Forward Plan update.

The Schedule is for noting, but Cabinet Members may also wish to take this opportunity to identify any further changes they would wish to be incorporated in the next Forward Plan update.

The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to note the items currently identified for forthcoming meetings.

The Cabinet considered a list of items for the immediately forthcoming meetings of the Cabinet together with changes and additions set out in the schedule of addenda.

RESOLVED:            to note the items currently identified for forthcoming meetings.