Meeting documents

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To Members of the Cabinet

Notice of a Meeting of the Cabinet

Tuesday 21 February 2006 at 2.00 pm

County Hall, Oxford

Derek Bishop
Head of Democratic Services

Contact officer: Kath Coldwell (Tel: 01865 815902; E-mail)

Membership

Decisions taken at the meeting will become effective at the end of the working day on 1 March 2006 unless called in by that date for review by the appropriate Scrutiny Committee.

Copies of this Notice, Agenda and supporting papers are circulated to all Members of the County Council.

AGENDA

Addenda

1. Apologies for Absence
   
   
2. Declarations of Interest – see guidance note
   
   
3. Minutes

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 7 February 2006 (CA3) and to receive for information any matters arising therefrom.

4. Petitions and Public Address
   
   (See Addenda)
   
   
5. Financial Monitoring

Cabinet Member: Finance
Forward Plan Ref: 2005/169
Contact: Sadie Slater, Financial Manager, Mike Petty, Principal Financial Manager (01865 815989/815622)

Report by Head of Finance & Procurement (CA5).

This report covers the period up to the end of December 2005 for revenue and capital. The consolidated forecast to date shows a balance of £12.187m. This is an increase of £0.431m since the previous report and is made up of a net reduction of £0.711m in the forecast Directorate overspend offset by calls on balances of £0.280m. The overall Directorate position is now forecast to be an overspend of £0.625m. Action Plans are in place to address expenditure pressures and it remains likely that the position will continue to improve as the year goes on.

For the remainder of the financial year the budgets of the two realigned Directorates will continue to be treated for financial reporting purposes as if the realignment had not taken place, although from 1 January management responsibility for some areas of those budgets has changed. In this report, therefore, the ‘Learning & Culture’ and ‘Social & Health Care’ groupings are retained. However, from the next monthly monitoring report a summary of the position for the realigned directorates will be included as an Annex.

The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to:

(a) note the report;

(b) approve the adjustments to the capital programme as shown at paragraph 49.

6. Performance Management

Cabinet Member: Change Management
Forward Plan Ref: 2005/115
Contact: Paul Edwards, Corporate Performance Manager (01865 815307)

Report by County Council Management Team (CA6).

This quarterly report is for our performance to date for 2005/06.

Performance against Oxfordshire Plan 2005/6 priorities has improved from the position reported in quarter 2. The number of priorities reported as on target has increased and the number unlikely to achieve target has reduced.

The 3-year Local Public Service Agreement between the Council and the Government identifies 12 areas in which performance is to be stretched beyond normal expectations. Overall performance can be summarised as follows: 7 are on track to receive reward grant (100% of reward grant in 3 cases); for 2 it is unsure at this stage whether they will achieve 60% of the target threshold; and 3 are showing improvement but will not achieve the 60% reward grant threshold.

There are 115 Best Value Performance Indicators for which we are required to report for 2005/06 and which have targets associated with them. The Audit Commission has reported that nationally last year, the 'best' performance against targets was in the mid-50%'s. Currently, we are on track to achieve targets for 57% of BVPIs.

The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to note the report.

7. Shared Service Centre

Cabinet Member: Change Management
Forward Plan Ref: 2005/207
Contact: David Lines/Sue Hunt, Business Development (01865 810150/816036)

Report by Director for Resources and the Chief Executive (CA7).

On 22 July 2005 the Cabinet approved progression to Stage Two of work on a Shared Services model for support services in Oxfordshire County Council, which broadly would entail moving the majority of HR, finance and procurement activities from across the organisation into one Shared Services Centre, with minimal services in these functions remaining in Directorates.

Stage Two of the work is now complete. The research findings from this stage support the hypothesis that a Shared Services model will have significant financial and operational benefits for the Council. It illustrates significant potential efficiency savings (i.e. doing the same things in a more efficient and effective way) and an opportunity for delivering value for money to the people of Oxfordshire. The efficiency savings Shared Services offers are high. Cumulative savings in the region of £27.1m are achievable over an eight-year period, with annual gross efficiency savings of £4m from year four onwards. This equates to an annual recurring net saving of £2.4m. Full pay back will be achieved by year five of the programme.

The report summarises these findings in more detail, describing the results of investigation and consultation, the proposed model, the resources required and associated risks. It concludes that adopting the Shared Services model can achieve not only financial but substantial operational benefits. These will not be achieved with ease and Shared Services represents an ambitious change programme for the Council. However the risks involved will be managed through effective programme management, the monitoring of implementation by CCMT and the Change Management Board and by sufficiently funding the programme to proceed.

The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED:

(a) on the basis of the Business Case and the proposed cost benefits and risks as outlined in the report, to authorise the full implementation of the Shared Services proposals;

(b) to approve the creation of a new Head of Service post for the Head of Shared Services, and authorise recruitment to this position immediately;

(c) to agree the release of appropriate funds to support the implementation programme as described in the report, subject to a project appraisal for the necessary capital expenditure being brought to the Cabinet for approval prior to the commitment of capital expenditure;

(d) to authorise officers to pursue negotiations for the acquisition of accommodation for the Shared Services Centre;

(e) to advise the Corporate Governance Scrutiny Committee as to the intended implementation of Shared Services to enable the Committee to review and advise on elements of the programme as it sees relevant.

8. Local Transport Plan 2006-11
   
   (See also Addenda)
   

Cabinet Member: Transport
Forward Plan Ref: 2005/168
Contact: Roger O'Neill, Principal Planning Officer (01865 815659)

Report by Head of Transport (CA8).

The Local Transport Plan (LTP) is a document which the County Council, as a local transport authority, is required to produce at least every 5 years. Guidance on the Plan is produced by the Government. The County Council’s existing Local Transport Plan, approved in June 2000, runs until March 2006 and a Provisional Plan for the 2006-11 period was submitted to Government in July 2005. This Report outlines the comments received on the Provisional Plan, both from Government and from consultation, and outlines the changes that it is proposed will be made for the final submission to be made at the end of March 2006. The report also outlines the capital settlement for 2006/07 and the revised Financial Planning Guidelines for the whole LTP period (2006/07-2010/11).

The Local Transport Plan is one of the strategic plans which comprises the Council’s Budget & Policy Framework and therefore must be approved by Council. A draft version of the Local Transport Plan and Bus Strategy has been considered by a panel of the Environment & Economy Scrutiny Committee and their comments are listed in Annex 10. The drafts are now circulated to Cabinet Members only, but copies are in the Members’ Resource Centre and are on public deposit. Revised versions taking into account the Cabinet’s decisions at this meeting will be circulated to all members for the 4 April Council meeting.


The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to:

(a) RECOMMEND the Council to approve the draft final Local Transport Plan, including the Bus Strategy, for submission to the Department for Transport, subject to the inclusion of changes in the text as agreed by the Director for Environment & Economy in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Transport;

(b) authorise the Director to send the Local Transport Plan, as amended in accordance with (a) above, to the Department for Transport by 31 March 2006 on the basis that it remains subject to approval by the Council on 4 April;

(c) delete the protected lines for those schemes which are not to be included within the Local Transport Strategy, namely:

- Woodstock Bypass
- Burford Bypass
- Tiddington Bypass
- Shilton Dip Bypass

(d) approve the Air Quality Action Plan for Central Oxford, subject to its also being approved by Oxford City Council.

 

9. Rights of Way Improvement Plan

Cabinet Member: Sustainable Development
Forward Plan Ref: 2005/212
Contact: Keith Wheal, Countrywide Services Manager (01865 810202)

Report by Head of Sustainable Development (CA9) (download as .doc file).

Section 60 of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 requires local highway authorities to prepare and publish a rights of way improvement plan (RoWIP) by November 2007. The report presents a summary of the RoWIP’s production and scope, which has been linked to the second Local Transport Plan timetable.

The plan is divided into two parts. Part one, the statement of action, sets out the vision and aims for the RoWIP. Part two contains a summary of the assessment of need and an analysis of the extent to which local rights of way meet the present and likely future needs of the public.

The preparation of a RoWIP is a statutory duty but there is currently no duty on the authority to implement the plan. Achieving the plan’s ambitions will depend on the amount of funding and support that can be successfully obtained from internal and external sources.

The main partner in preparing the plan has been the Oxfordshire Countryside Access Forum (OCAF) and the Forum will play an important advisory role in identifying sources of potential funding and the prioritisation and delivery of the plan’s ambitions. OCAF advice to the County Council regarding the RoWIP is included with the report.

The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to:

(a) note the Oxfordshire Countryside Access Forum’s specific advice; and

(b) adopt the Rights of Way Improvement Plan for the period 2006-2011.

10. Review of Housing Supply and Planning Gain

Cabinet Member: Sustainable Development
Forward Plan Ref: 2005/216
Contact: Fiona Mullins, Planning Officer (01865 810434)

Report by Head of Sustainable Development (CA10) (download as .doc file).

On 5 December 2005 the government announced a package of measures as part of its response to Kate Barker’s Review of Housing Supply. As part of this response, the government is consulting on two policy documents which have considerable implications for the planning system:

· a draft Planning Policy Statement 3 (PPS3) Housing; and

· a proposed Planning Gain Supplement.

This report suggests a County Council response to these consultations. The planning policy statement for housing emphasises the need for the planning system to respond to the housing market. The market is one important factor in planning for housing growth. However, without sufficient regard to other considerations this emphasis could jeopardise delivery of sustainable communities, overburden infrastructure and create resource and environmental problems. The government is relying too heavily on house building to solve affordability problems. Requirements to provide housing in areas of high demand could undermine the protection of green belts.

The proposed Planning Gain Supplement is a levy that would be collected by HM Revenue and Customs and would be implemented together with scaled back planning obligations. The government’s stated principles of streamlining and increasing infrastructure funding are welcome. However, it is not clear that the proposed system could deliver the amount of funding that is required for both local and strategic infrastructure, how much of the funding would be returned to the local level, and whether the new system would work effectively.

The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to:

(a) endorse the response set out in paragraph 11 and Annex 2 on draft Planning Policy Statement 3 (Housing);

(b) endorse the response set out in paragraph 16 and Annex 3 on the proposed Planning Gain Supplement;

and agree that they should be sent to the Government as the County Council’s response to the consultation papers subject to authorising the Head of Sustainable Development to carry out any minor editing that may be necessary before submission

11. Forward Plan and Future Business
    
    (See also Addenda)
    

February 2006

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