Meeting documents
Cabinet
Tuesday, 20 November 2007
To Members of the CabinetNotice of a Meeting of the Cabinet
Tuesday 20 November 2007 at 2.00 pm
County Hall, Oxford
Joanna Simons Chief Executive
November 2007
Contact officer: Steven Howell Tel: 01865 815463 E-mail: steven.howell@oxfordshire.gov.uk
Membership
The Agenda is attached. Decisions taken at the meeting will become effective at the end of the working day on 28 November 2007 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. Date of next meeting: 18 December 2007
AGENDA(Addenda)
1. Apologies for Absence
2. Declarations of Interest – see guidance note 3. Minutes
To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 16 October 2007 (CA3) and to receive for information any matters arising therefrom.
4. Petitions and Public
Address
5. Financial Monitoring
Cabinet Member: Finance Forward Plan Ref: 2007/172 Contact: Stephanie Skivington, Strategic Finance Manager/Mike Petty, Strategic Financial Planning Manager (01865 815426/815622)
Report
by Assistant Chief Executive & Chief Finance Office (CA5). (CA5 - Annexes 1 - 6 - download as .pdf file) (CA5 - Annex 7 - download as .pdf file) (CA5 - Annex 8 - download as .pdf file)
The report sets out the Council’s forecast financial position for the 2007/08 financial year based on actual figures to the end of September 2007.
The in-year overspend for the Directorates is predicted to be £1.655m a reduction of £0.642m from August. This excludes the City Schools reorganisation overspend of £1.957m (repayment planned over a number of years) and the Schools Transport days variation of -£0.320m. An underspend is also reported on the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) of £1.144m.
Supplementary estimates totalling £0.955m are requested in the report associated with costs incurred as a result of the July floods. Allowing for this and balances are £20.2m at the end of September. This gives an overall consolidated balances forecast for the year-end of £18.894m.
The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to:
(a) note the report;
(b) approve the virements as set out in Annex 2a;
(c) approve the supplementary estimates as set out in Annex 2c; and
(d) approve the changes to the Capital Programme as set out in paragraphs 54 to 62.
6. Outcome of Formal Consultations on Proposals to Close Peers School to Enable it to Become an Academy
Cabinet Member: Schools Improvement Forward Plan Ref: 2007/175 Contact: Michael Mill, Strategic Manager (01865 816458), Shannon Moore Assistant Head: Learning & Achievement, Educational Effectiveness Service (01865 428084)
Report by Director for Children, Young People & Families (CA6).
The Cabinet approved the issue of statutory notices for the closure of Peers School at its meeting in September. This report details the outcome of this formal consultation and outlines who has been sent the statutory information and notified of the publication.
The Cabinet is making a decision whether to proceed with the closure and is doing so under the guidelines in the Education & Inspections Act 2006. The report outlines the guidance from the Government that decision makers must have regard to when reaching a decision and the statutory information providing the background information is provided as an Annex, which is available in the Members' Resource Centre. The report also outlines the decisions that can be made within the appropriate legislative background.
An Outline Business Case will be submitted to the Cabinet in January 2008, so that all financial and legal issues relating to the establishment of an Academy to replace Peers School can be taken into account.
The Children’s Services Scrutiny Committee considered the report at its meeting on 30 October and it agreed to advise the Cabinet that it would wish the County Council to express a preference for a stakeholder governing body to be put in place should agreement be given for an Academy to be established.
Given that the Committee has considered this item, under Rule 16(j)(i) of the Scrutiny Procedure Rules in the Council’s Constitution (reproduced below), the decision of the Cabinet on this item will not be subject to Call-In.
The foregoing provisions of this Rule shall not apply to any decision of the Cabinet where the Scrutiny Committee has already made observations to the Cabinet on the basis of substantially the same report and/or other information or advice as that on which the Cabinet’s decision is based and the Cabinet has had regard to those observations in taking the decision.
The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to: either,
(a) reject the proposal for the closure of Peers School on 31 August 2008; or
(b) approve the proposal to close Peers School on 31 August 2008, conditional on the making of an agreement under Section 482(1) of the 1996 Act for the establishment of an Academy, where the proposal in question provides for all of the pupils currently at the school which is the subject of the proposals to transfer to the Academy and set a date by which the condition should be met.
7. Oxford – London Road Corridor Scheme and Summertown Shopping Area Street Environmental Scheme
Cabinet Member: Transport Forward Plan Ref: 2007/233 Contact: Mike Collins, Principal Engineer - Transport Project Implementation (01865 815877)
Report by Head of Transport (CA7).
The London Road Corridor scheme (Pullens Lane – Osler Road) and the Summertown shopping area street environmental scheme are included in the Oxfordshire County Councils Local Transport Programme for 2006-2011.
Both schemes have been the subject of public consultation exercises and the design developed to a stage where a more detailed cost estimate has now been produced.
The Financial Procedure Rules in the Council’s constitution require a detailed project appraisal for all capital projects that exceed £1,000,000 to be submitted to Cabinet for approval.
This report seeks approval to the Detailed Project Appraisals for the above schemes.
The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to:
(a) approve Project Appraisal H188 for the London Road Corridor (Pullens Lane to Osler Road) scheme; and,
(b) approve Project Appraisal H187 for the Summertown Shopping Area Environmental Scheme.
8. Flooding in Oxfordshire 2007
Cabinet Member: Community Safety Forward Plan Ref: 2007/222 Contact: John Parry, Director for Community Safety & Chief Fire Officer (01865 855205)
Report by Director for Community Safety & Support Services/Chief Fire Officer (CA8).
The purpose of the report is to identify the strategic learning points that arose from the multi-agency emergency response to the flooding in Oxfordshire in July 2007.
Beginning on Friday 20 July 2007 and continuing throughout the weekend, torrential rain and flash flooding occurred in many areas with, in some cases, evacuation of residents being required. Thirty agencies were involved during the period of the flooding and the identified learning points from those groups and their debriefs have been incorporated into this report with the objective of determining common themes and seeking shared solutions to improve future responses to major incidents.
The learning points are broken down into Command and Control; Communication; and Pre-Planning issues.
The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to:
(a) note the report and acknowledge the contribution of all the agencies involved; and
(b) task the Head of Fire & Rescue Service Delivery and Emergency Planning to table the development and action plan for collective emergency response improvement through the Thames Valley Local Resilience Forum.
9. Service & Resource Planning 2008/09 – 2012/13
Cabinet Member: Finance Forward Plan Ref: 2007/186 Contact: Lorna Baxter, Principal Financial Planning Manager (01865 816087), Paul Edwards, Corporate Performance Manager (01865 815307)
Report by Chief Executive, Assistant Chief Executive & Chief Finance Officer (CA9).
This report is the second in a series on the service and resource planning process for 2008/09 to 2012/13. The report sets out the main issues from the 2007 Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) and, where it can be ascertained, the impact on Oxfordshire. The report also provides the latest information available on capital resources available for Schools over the CSR period.
The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to:
(a) note the report;
(b) consider, as part of the Service and Resource Planning process for 2008/09, exploring the possibility of a scheme for Supplementary Business Rates in Oxfordshire; and
(c) consider, as part of the Service and Resource Planning process for 2008/09, how they would address the implications of the unannounced schools capital allocations for 2008/09 to 2010/11 being received through supported borrowing.
10. Asset Management Plan and
Capital Strategy for 2008/09 to 2012/13
Cabinet Member: Finance Forward Plan Ref: 2007/225 Contact: Mark Tailby, Team Leader, Strategic Asset Management, Property Services (01865 816012)
The Corporate Asset Management Plan (AMP) and the Capital Strategy (CS) have been updated for the period 2008/09 – 20012/13. These documents are an important part of the overall planning framework for the Council. The final versions will go to Council for approval alongside the Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) on 12 February 2008. They are attached as (CA10) Annex 1 (download as .doc file) and (CA10) Annex 2 (download as .doc file).
The AMP sets out the Council’s current and future property asset needs that arise from the Council’s corporate and service priorities and the Council’s approach to meeting those needs. The CS sets out the County Council’s investment strategy.
The Capital Steering Group (CSG) considered the draft AMP and the CS at their meeting on 9 November 2007. On 21 December, they will consider the capital needs set out in the AMP and follow the process used for prioritisation set out in the CS, to recommend to Cabinet on 15 January 2008 the schemes to be added to the Capital Programme 2008/09 – 2012/13 as part of the service and resource planning process. This report will be considered by the Corporate Governance Scrutiny Committee on 10 January 2008.
Corporate Governance Scrutiny Committee considered the AMP and CS at their meeting on 8 November 2007. Their comments will be reported to this Cabinet as Addenda.
The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to:
(a) endorse the Corporate Asset Management Plan & Capital Strategy in the light of any advice from the Corporate Governance Scrutiny Committee; and
(b) to RECOMMEND the Corporate Asset Management Plan and the Capital Strategy to the Council.
11. Director of Public Health Annual Report – Six-Month Review
Cabinet Member: Social & Community Services Forward Plan Ref: 2007/216 Contact: Dr Jonathan McWilliam, Director of Public Health (01865 226626)
Report by Director of Public Health (CA11) (download as .doc file).
The Director of Public Health (DPH) for Oxfordshire’s first independent Annual Report on the health of the population in Oxfordshire was published as a working draft in March 2007 and was consulted on widely.
This report summarises the consultation and progress made so far and proposes further action. Consultation undertaken is summarised in Annex 1 and responses are summarised in Annex 2.
In summary, four key challenges for the public health of Oxfordshire were proposed as priorities for action, which have been widely accepted. These are:
(i) An ageing population (tackling the demographic time bomb); (ii) Breaking the cycle of deprivation in children and families; (iii) Preventing obesity, a major cause of chronic disease; and (iv) Fighting infectious disease.
Additional challenges were proposed in the consultation process for consideration. The most obvious challenge that could be investigated was the mental health of people in Oxfordshire. This will feature as a main chapter in the next DPH Annual Report.
The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to:
(a) note the 6-month review of the Director of Public Health’s Annual Report; and
(b) take account of its findings in the development of multi-agency partnerships and in the County Council’s own ongoing funding round.
12. Second Annual Report of the
Change Management Board – Taking Forward the Change Agenda
Cabinet Member: Change Management Forward Plan Ref: 2007/241 Contact: Hilary Simpson, Corporate Change Manager (01865 815487)
Report by Chief Executive & Cabinet Member for Change Management (CA12).
In November 2005, the Cabinet considered a report entitled ‘Taking Forward the Change Agenda’. It confirmed the setting up of the Change Management Board as the body responsible for overseeing the coordination of change management within the authority and agreed its terms of reference.
The Cabinet requested further reports and this request was met last year by the submission of a first Annual Report from the Board. The Board is now submitting its second Annual Report, which summarises the progress made by the Board in delivering the Council's change programme over the last year and sets out its priorities for the future.
The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to receive the second Annual Report of the Change Management Board and agree the Board’s priorities for its third year of operation, subject to any changes that the Cabinet Member for Change Management would wish to make in light of any comments by the Cabinet.
13. Effective Communication with Parents of Children with Special Educational Needs (SEN) Scrutiny Review
Cabinet Member: Schools Improvement and Children, Young People & Families Forward Plan Ref: 2007/228 Contact: Michael Chard, Scrutiny Research & Support Assistant (01865 816383)
Report by Children’s Services Scrutiny Committee (CA13) (download as .doc file).
To consider the findings and recommendations of the Children’s Services Scrutiny Committee.
The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to agree the recommendations outlined on Page 3 of the report.
14. Forward
Plan and Future Business
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