Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received on behalf of Councillor Louise Chapman.

To confirm the minutes of the meetings held on 20 and 27 July and 10 August 2010 July(CA3) and to receive for information any matters arising therefrom.

The minutes of the meetings held on 20 and 27 July and 10 August 2010 were approved and signed.

Any county councillor may, by giving notice to the Proper Officer by 9 am on the working day 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 Richard Stevens had given notice of the following question to the Leader:

“1.        Recent research reveals that over 40% of GP's believe that the proposed changes contained in the Health White Paper (Liberating the NHS) will lead to a postcode lottery, with services to patients becoming more varied.  The research also shows that over 70% of GPs believe the changes will lead to much greater private sector involvement in the NHS.  Given these statistics, can the Leader of the Council explain why his government is only consulting on the implementation of these changes and not the actual changes themselves?”

Councillor Mitchell replied:

“These figures are taken from a small survey of 300 GPs, compared to over 40,000 GPs in England.  From the Government's own discussions with GPs around the country, it is clear that many are enthusiastic about the reforms. Indeed, 92% of GP practices are already part of practice-based commissioning groups, a policy actively espoused by the Labour Government and our proposals for GP-led commissioning simply build upon these.

The actual changes which the Government is undertaking are consistent with the Coalition agreement: a strong local voice for patients through democratic representation and the devolution of commissioning responsibilities to GPs.  The reforms the coalition government has announced are simply the most cost-effective way of achieving these changes and that is why the government is consulting on how to implement them. The proposals are to be included in the proposed Health Bill and will therefore be subject to Parliament’s approval.”

Councillor Liz Brighouse, OBE  had given notice of the following question to the Leader:

“2.        On Tuesday 14^th September Council agreed two motions concerning support for the most disadvantaged.  In order to ensure the poorest people in the county are not disproportionately affected by the fiscal policies of the government, will the Cabinet assess each policy change required in relation to its impact on poverty?”

Councillor Mitchell replied:

“The Cabinet will most certainly be assessing the impact of public spending cuts on all of our residents and, particularly, on the most disadvantaged.  However, "poverty" can be defined in many ways and is not necessarily synonymous with disadvantage.   The Cabinet will be concentrating on assessing the impact of potential decisions on all categories of disadvantaged people throughout its budget deliberations and providing an evidence base for this.”

Supplementary: Councillor Brighouse referred to news today of cuts to children’s projects across Oxfordshire. She asked that in looking at issues of deprivation consideration also be given to rural isolation. Given that the funding was in budgets she queried how much further the cuts would go and how many more projects would be affected?

Councillor Mitchell replied that the current government cuts were 25% compared to 20% envisaged by the previous government and were the price for years of structural imbalance to bring spending into line with income. Public Sector Borrowing had hit a record high in August 2010. Rural deprivation would be one of the factors considered in action taken.

Councillor  ...  view the full minutes text for item 95/10

The following requests to address the meeting had been agreed:

Cabinet Member: Finance & Property

Forward Plan Ref: 2010/077

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

Report by Assistant Chief Executive & Chief Finance Officer (CA 6).

Monthly financial report on revenue and capital spending against budget allocations, including virements between budget heads.

The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to:

(a)                                       note the report and approve the virements as set out in annex 2a;

(b)              agree the creation of the Customer Services Reserve and transfer of £1.000m to that reserve and the transfer of £1.000m to transfer of £1.000m to Efficiency Reserve as set out in paragraph 51;

(c)               approve the Supplementary Estimate requests as set out in paragraph 56;

(d)              agree that the Unringfenced AIDS/HIV Grant can be used to fund Supporting People service as set out in paragraph 27;

(e)               agree the transfer of impairment losses in relation to Landsbanki to the County fund as set out in paragraphs 64 to 67;

(f)                 note that £0.6m of Council funding for the day centre element of the Banbury Day Centre project has been released from the moratorium agreed as part of the Capital Programme Review as set out in paragraph 80; and

(g)              agree to take up prudential borrowing to meet commitments in respect of deferred interest loans as set out in paragraph 81.

Cabinet considered the monthly financial report (CA6) on revenue and capital spending against budget allocations, including virements between budget heads.

Councillor Armitage, Shadow Cabinet Member for Finance & Property referred to the alarmist language contained in paragraphs 30 and 32 and expressed the hope that the position as expressed by the Directorates would turn out to be less severe than reported, as was often the case at this time of the year. He referred to the usual annex relating to Shared Services that was not in the report. Whilst understanding why this was the case he hoped that it would be included in future reports.

Ms Philpotts sought clarification over the reference to Dean Pit in Annex 6 commenting that the costing was unclear and seeking assurance that the decision would not be pre-empted. The Cabinet Member for Growth & Infrastructure replied that the scheme was currently held in the capital moratorium and he was well aware of the planning stipulation about a replacement.

The Cabinet Member for Finance & Property highlighted a number of particular concerns relating to pooled budgets for Social & Community Services and to the overspend position for Children, Young People & Families.

RESOLVED              to:

(a)               note the report and approve the virements as set out in annex 2a;

(b)               agree the creation of the Customer Services Reserve and transfer of £1.000m to that reserve and the transfer of £1.000m to transfer of £1.000m to Efficiency Reserve as set out in paragraph 51;

(c)               approve the Supplementary Estimate requests as set out in paragraph 56;

(d)               agree that the Unringfenced AIDS/HIV Grant can be used to fund Supporting People service as set out in paragraph 27;

(e)               agree the transfer of impairment losses in relation to Landsbanki to the County fund as set out in paragraphs 64 to 67;

(f)                 note that £0.6m of Council funding for the day centre element of the Banbury Day Centre project has been released from the moratorium agreed as part of the Capital Programme Review as set out in paragraph 80; and

(g)               agree to take up prudential borrowing to meet commitments in respect of deferred interest loans as set out in paragraph 81

.

Cabinet Member: Finance & Property

Forward Plan Ref: 2010/078

Contact: Lorna Baxter, Assistant Head of Finance Tel: (01865) 323971

Report by Assistant Chief Executive & Chief Finance Officer (CA7).

This report is the second in the series for reports on the Service & Resource Planning process for 2011/12 - 2015/16 and will culminate in the Council setting a budget requirement for the authority and an amount of Council Tax for 2011/12 in February 2011.

This report provides an update on information available pertaining to the Business Strategy; the budget for 2011/12 and the medium term; and proposes a process for Service & Resource Planning for 2011/12 including a timetable of events. 

The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to:

(a)               approve the Service and Resource Planning process for 2011/12, noting the integration of Capital and the Asset Strategy;

(b)              endorse the distribution and phasing of the total savings targets between Directorates and support services in paragraph 28;

(c)               note the decision of Council on 14 September 2010 on the date for the budget setting meeting of Council.

Cabinet considered the second in the series of reports (CA7) on the Service & Resource Planning process for 2011/12 - 2015/16 that will culminate in the Council setting a budget requirement for the authority and an amount of Council Tax for 2011/12 in February 2011.

Councillor Armitage queried recommendation (c) commenting that no decision had been made at Council but it had been subsequently dealt with.

RESOLVED:                        to:

(a)               approve the Service and Resource Planning process for 2011/12, noting the integration of Capital and the Asset Strategy;

(b)               endorse the distribution and phasing of the total savings targets between Directorates and support services in paragraph 28;

(c)               note the decision on the date for the budget setting meeting of Council.

Cabinet Member: Leader, Adult Services

Forward Plan Ref: 2010/140

Contact: John Jackson, Director for Social & Community Services, Tel: (01865) 323574

Report by Director for Social & Community Services.

The recent White Paper and other related consultation papers set out a whole series of radical proposals for change to the NHS. The White Paper is now out for consultation with responses required by 11 October 2010. The proposals can be grouped together under three main headings:

Adult Social Care –  A report by the Director of Social & Community Services entitled ‘Health White Paper’ is attached at CA8a).

Public Health

A report by the Director of Public Health is attached at CA8(b).

Implications for Oxfordshire County Council and the Implementation of the Proposals – to include the implications for the Oxfordshire Joint Health Overview & Scrutiny Committee and for the Health & Well Being Partnership Board – current and future. A report by the Health Scrutiny Advisor is attached at CA8(c).

Cabinet Members are asked to give their comments on the ideas set out in this report.

Cabinet considered a report (CA8) on the proposed response to the recent White Paper that is out for consultation with responses required by 11 October 2010.

Councillor Hannaby, Shadow Cabinet Member for Adult Services thanked officers for their efforts and commented that the Liberal Democrats supported the proposals in principle. The principles of putting people first and accountability were welcome. She supported the comments of the Scrutiny Committees and particularly supported the continuation of the Joint Health Overview & Scrutiny Committee and the final point made by the Adult Services Scrutiny Committee.

The Cabinet Member for Adult Services introduced the report and supporting papers and drew attention to the options outlined on page 157. He supported the comments relating to separating the commissioning and scrutiny functions. Concerns around GP commissioning would be included in the response. Generally the proposals did provide an opportunity if the County including partners engaged early and took a holistic approach. The Director of Social & Community Services indicated that there had been a great deal of cross party agreement.

RESOLVED:             to note the report of the Director for Social & Community Services and that the comments made be taken into account in the final response.

Cabinet Member: Growth & Infrastructure

Forward Plan Ref: 2010/070

Contact: Joanne Fellows, Project Manager, Local Transport Plan Tel: (01865) 815546

Report by Head of Transport (CA9).

The purpose of this report is to seek approval to undertake public consultation on the draft third Local Transport Plan 2011 – 2030 (LTP3).

Oxfordshire County Council has a statutory requirement to produce a new Local Transport Plan (LTP) by April 2011.  This will be Oxfordshire's third Local Transport Plan (LTP3) and will cover the period from 2011 to 2030.  LTP3 will be a blueprint for all transport development across the county, not just the publicly funded elements. 

The background against which the Plan is being developed is changing fast.  It is important for the Plan to reflect the current economic climate whilst not losing sight of the longer term aspirations for Oxfordshire.  It is important that the County Council has an agreed LTP in order to facilitate the delivery of (and respond to) development and enable the delivery of priority transport schemes when funding becomes available.

The purpose of this report is to seek approval of the draft LTP3 in order to undertake public consultation, which we have a legal obligation to undertake during the development of the Plan.  The draft Plan builds on five previous rounds of stakeholder consultation and the previous approvals given by Cabinet over the last year.

The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to approve the draft Local Transport Plan for consultation, noting the information contained in the draft SEA Environmental Report.

Cabinet considered a report (CA9) that sought approval to undertake public consultation on the draft third Local Transport Plan 2011 – 2030 (LTP3).

The Cabinet Member for Growth & Infrastructure thanked everyone involved in the production of the draft Plan. He emphasised that it was a long tern strategy and that there was a need to be realistic about what was possible in the current financial climate.

Councillor Hudspeth responded to questions:

1.                      Asked  how the Plan would take account of changes to the way in which housing numbers were determined, Councillor Hudspeth indicated that the plan already took some account of the Local Development Framework and as numbers were confirmed these would be worked into the Plan.

2.                      Given limited funding the County would be very strong in their discussions with developer to ensure that the necessary infrastructure to support development was provided.

3.                      He explained the process for including the proposals that were being taken forward as set out on page 176 of the report. He stressed the long term nature of the Plan.

The Cabinet Member for Transport added that the Plan was a living document that would be changed and changed again to respond to current circumstances.

RESOLVED:                        to approve the draft Local Transport Plan for consultation, noting the information contained in the draft SEA Environmental Report.

Cabinet Member: Deputy Leader

Forward Plan Ref: 2010/088

Contact: Alexandra Bailey, Corporate Performance & Review Manager Tel: (01865) 816384

Report by County Council Management Team (CA12).

This paper contains a report on Oxfordshire County Council’s Corporate Performance for the first quarter of 2010/11 (Q1). It consists of a progress report against our Corporate Balanced Scorecard and our Corporate Risk Register where performance and/or risks have been given a proposed RAG-rating of red, and in some cases amber (where performance is below expectation, where there are high risks involved, or where CCMT attention is otherwise required).  A one page summary of the Q1 performance against the Corporate Balanced Scorecard is attached at Appendix 1. 

Cabinet considered a report (CA11) on Oxfordshire County Council’s Corporate Performance for the first quarter of 2010/11 (Q1).

Councillor Patrick, Leader of the Opposition expressed disappointment at the level of detail in the current report but thanked officers for providing the extra detail when she had requested it. She looked forward to the next report including more information.

The Deputy Leader replied that a performance management culture was being developed that would focus on fewer but meaningful targets. The Cabinet would receive the top level of information and he fully expected the next report to provide more information but not to return to the format of previous reports.

RESOLVED:                        to note the contents of the report.

Cabinet Member: Deputy Leader

Forward Plan Ref: 2010/089

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

Report by Head of Human Resources (CA13).

This report gives an update on activity since 31 March 2010.  It gives details of the agreed establishment figure at 30 June 2010 in terms of Full Time Equivalents, together with the detailed staffing position at 30 June 2010. These are shown in the report by directorate and service area.

The report also provides information on current activity and in addition there is information on grant funded posts and those vacancies which are being covered by agency staff and at what cost.

The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to:

(a) note the report;

(b) confirm that the Establishment Review continues to meet the Cabinet’s requirements in reporting and managing staffing numbers.

Cabinet considered a report (CA11) that gaves an update on activity since 31 March 2010.  It gaves details of the agreed establishment figure at 30 June 2010 in terms of Full Time Equivalents, together with the detailed staffing position at 30 June 2010.

Councillor Patrick, Leader of the Opposition expressed concern that there had been no meeting of the Joint Employees Consultative Committee for some time. She also commented that the spending on advertisements was still quite high. The Deputy Leader noted the comments about the Joint Consultative Committee and gave an assurance that a great deal of consultation was still taking place. He commended the decrease that there had been in the cost of advertising with greater use of the web site.

RESOLVED: to:

(a)       note the report;

(b)       confirm that the Establishment Review continues to meet 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 CA.  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 (CA) 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.