Agenda, decisions and minutes

There were no apologies.

There were no declarations of interest.

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 19 January 2021 (CA3) and to receive information arising from them.

The minutes of the meeting held on 19 January 2021 were approved.

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.

The questions and answers are attached as an Annex to the minutes.

This Cabinet meeting will be held virtually in order to conform with current guidelines regarding social distancing. Normally requests to speak at this public meeting are required by 9 am on the day preceding the published date of the meeting. However, during the current situation and to facilitate these new arrangements we are asking that requests to speak are submitted by no later than 9am four working days before the meeting i.e. 9 am on 17 February 2021. Requests to speak should be sent to colm.ocaomhanaigh@oxfordshire.gov.uk together with a written statement of your presentation to ensure that if the technology fails then your views can still be taken into account. A written copy of your statement can be provided no later than 9 am 2 working days before the meeting.

Where a meeting is held virtually and the addressee is unable to participate virtually their written submission will be accepted.

Written submissions should be no longer than 1 A4 sheet.

The following requests to address the meeting had been agreed by the Chairman:

Item 6 – Business Management and Monitoring Report: Councillor Liz Brighouse, Opposition Leader; Councillor Glynis Phillips, Shadow Cabinet Member for Finance.

Item 7 – Workforce Report and Staffing Data: Councillor Emma Turnbull, Shadow Cabinet Member for Education & Cultural Services

Item 8 – Recommissioning of Adult Homeless Pathway: Councillor Sobia Afridi, Shadow Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care.

Cabinet Member: Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Finance

Forward Plan Ref: 2020/126

Contact: Louise Tustian, Head of Insight & Corporate Programmes Tel: 07741 607452/Hannah Doney, Head of Corporate Finance Tel: 07584 174654

Report by Corporate Director Customers & Organisational Development and Director of Finance.

This report sets out Oxfordshire County Council’s (OCC’s) progress towards Corporate Plan priorities for 2020/21 – December2020.

The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to

a)            note this month’s business management and monitoring report;

b)           approve virement set out in Annex C-2b relating to the Rough Sleeping; Drugs and Alcohol Grant Scheme and note the virements set out in Annex C-2c;

c)            approve the bad debt write-offs set out in AnnexC;

d)           note the allocations of the Contain Outbreak Management Fund as set out in Annex C-5c.

Cabinet had before them a report setting out Oxfordshire County Council’s (OCC’s) progress towards Corporate Plan priorities for 2020/21 at December 2020.

Councillor Liz Brighouse, Opposition Leader, thanked the administration for supporting amendments to the budget proposed by the Labour Party in relation to young people with mental health problems and added that she was very impressed with the work done by Children, Education and Families to support these young people.

Councillor Brighouse advocated a more holistic approach to these issues.  She noted that 50% of Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) were not completed within 5 months and asked if the right children were getting access to EHCPs or if some might only be temporarily distressed for example.

Councillor Brighouse also referred to long waiting times for access to CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service) and stated that the outcomes were not clear to the Council.  She accepted that it was a national problem but believed that Oxfordshire could set an exemplary standard.

Councillor Brighouse asked that consideration be given to using funds for EHCPs and CAMHS differently – for example ensuring that there was a mental health professional in every secondary school to provide support there.

Councillor Glynis Phillips, Shadow Cabinet Member for Finance, noted that the highways public satisfaction survey had shown that 50% of people in Oxfordshire were not satisfied with the overall situation.  The Performance Scrutiny Committee would need to examine where there was room for improvement.

Councillor Phillips welcomed the funding for youth services noting that the evidence showed that youth workers get to know families and can often provide advice before problems escalate.  These issues were reflected in the Risk Register which showed the highest risks related to the demand for services for vulnerable children.

Councillor Phillips noted the in-year overspend of £11.5m in the High Needs Dedicated Schools Grant and asked for more detail on the plans to bring this into line with its operating budget.  Increasing demand and reducing budgets were leading to an unsustainable situation – even given the innovative approaches being identified and implemented by staff.

Councillor Phillips welcomed the government’s announcement of a comprehensive review of children’s social care but noted that there was no completion date.  She hoped that the Chancellor would announce an increase in the early intervention grant to provide sufficient resources while this review takes place.

Councillor Judith Heathcoat introduced the report which showed that the Council continued to perform strongly despite the challenges posed by COVID-19.  There were 14 RAG rating indicators showing Green, 12 showing Amber and none showing Red.  There were no score changes in the Leadership Risks.  Along with the Workforce and Staffing report which was also on this agenda, this report highlighted the hard work that the Council’s teams continue to undertake during these challenging times.

Councillor Heathcoat noted in particular a number of areas of work in her own portfolio including the work of the Trading Standards team in tackling scams, the Safe and Well visits which  ...  view the full minutes text for item 17/21

Cabinet Member: Deputy Leader of the Council

Forward Plan Ref: 2020/127

Contact: Sarah Currell, HR Manager – Business Systems Tel: 07867 467793

Report by Director of Human Resources (CA7).

Quarterly staffing report providing details of key people numbers and analysis of main changes since the previous report.

The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to note the report.

Cabinet considered a report that provided an update on key HR activities during Quarter 3 (1st October – 31st December 2020) along with a refreshed workforce profile and absence data including COVID related absence data.

Councillor Emma Turnbull, Shadow Cabinet Member for Education & Cultural Services welcomed the report and especially the provision of information on protected characteristics such as ethnicity and disability.  She hoped that the growing numbers of agency staff being used reflected the short term pressures of the pandemic and not a longer term preference.

Councillor Turnbull called for the employment of more apprentices by the Council which should provide leadership as a major public sector employer.  It was likely that the business community would have fewer opportunities for apprentices in the wake of the pandemic which risked locking school leavers out of employment opportunities – especially those from disadvantaged areas.  She welcomed the fact that a strategy had been put in place with reports due in late spring/early summer.

Councillor Judith Heathcoat introduced the report which she said showed again how staff had responded to the challenges of the pandemic in working from home where possible and ensuring the continuation of services.  Staff had been provided with whatever equipment was needed to work safely and comfortably from home.  A new Display Screen Equipment self-assessment had been developed and staff were signposted to where assistance was available.

Councillor Heathcoat noted the commitment to an increased focus on apprenticeships in line with the Corporate Plan passed by Council earlier in the month.

Councillor Ian Corkin welcomed the provision on data related to equality, diversity and inclusion.  He looked forward to seeing the first report on ethnicity pay gap, noting that it took time to extract the information from the data systems.

RESOLVED: to note the report.

Cabinet Member: Adult Social Care & Public Health

Forward Plan Ref: 2020/158

Contact: Sarah Roberts, Commissioning Manager Tel: 07720 805979

Report by Assistant Director Housing & Social Care Commissioning (CA8).

To inform Cabinet that we are going out to the market to recommission services to support people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness including rough sleepers.

The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to agree the proposed approach to commissioning services to support homeless adults and adults at risk of homelessness in Oxfordshire.

Cabinet considered a report setting out how the partnership of six Oxfordshire councils and the Clinical Commissioning Group intended to recommission services to support people who were homeless or at risk of homelessness including rough sleepers.

Councillor Sobia Afridi, Shadow Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care, welcomed the report and the partnership working involved in this process.  She asked that the contract should ensure adequate high quality emergency and temporary accommodation for adults with mental health issues.  She had received reports that the current provider had turned people away on the basis of being too high a risk.

Councillor Lawrie Stratford introduced the report and expressed concern that more people may become at risk of homelessness as a result of the pandemic.  He emphasised the importance of the partnership with the district and city councils who had responsibility for housing, ensuring that this was linked with the County Council’s related responsibility for wellbeing.  There was a determination that together they could resolve the challenge.

Councillor Stratford concurred with comments made earlier in the meeting by Councillors Afridi and Brighouse about the importance of access to mental health professionals.

Gillian Douglas, Assistant Director Housing and Social Care Commissioning,  added that a county-wide strategy for homelessness, that reflected the importance of health, social care and mental health, was currently out to consultation and she encouraged everyone to access it on the council’s website.

The Chairman noted that this alliance also included Oxfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group and stressed the importance of getting people into a home of their own rather than temporary housing.

RESOLVED: to agree the proposed approach to commissioning services to support homeless adults and adults at risk of homelessness in Oxfordshire.

Cabinet Member: All

Contact Officer: Sue Whitehead, Principal Committee Officer Tel: 07393 001213

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 CA9.  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.