Meeting documents
Cabinet
Tuesday, 18 October 2005
|
______________________________________
To Members of the Cabinet Notice of a Meeting of the CabinetTuesday 18 October 2005 at 2.00 pm County Hall, Oxford
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 26 October 2005 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
To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 20 September 2005 (CA3) and to receive for information any matters arising therefrom. Cabinet Member:
Finance Report by Head
of Finance & Procurement (CA5). This report covers the period up to the end of August 2005 for both revenue and capital. The detail for each Directorate is summarised within this report and individual reports for each Directorate are in the Members’ Resource Centre. The consolidated forecast position to date shows a balance of £10.704m. This is an increase of £0.544m since the last report and is the result of a reduction of £0.794m in the forecast Directorate overspend offset by the supplementary estimate of £0.250m agreed by the Cabinet on 20 September. Action Plans for the Learning & Culture and Social & Health Care directorates are appended to the report and it is anticipated that the forecast overspend will reduce further as a result of the management actions identified by these plans. The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to:
Cabinet Member:
Children & Young People, Health & Community Services This report presents proposals to enable the implementation of the Cabinet’s decision of 7 June to re-designate the Directors for Learning & Culture and Social & Health Care as Director of Children’s Services and Adult Social Services respectively, to be effective when the necessary organisational changes are introduced. It is proposed that the operational changes are made by 1 January 2006 and for the new realigned directorates to become fully functional in April 2006. The report outlines the response to a discussion paper setting out the proposed structure of services in the realigned directorates providing, in summary, as follows:
The re-allocation of the main budgets for services should not be a significant problem as most of them are already held at the levels described, although some disaggregation of budgets will be required where services are provided to both adults and children. Further work will be required however on the re-allocation of support service charges to the directorates against the new service definitions. A draft of the report was presented to a joint session of the Children’s Services and Health & Community Services Scrutiny Committees on 27 September. The members of the two Committees endorsed the proposals set out in the report subject to a number of specific comments. In particular they were concerned that the Cabinet should deal sensitively and sympathetically with staff concerns during the change period and the report recognises that this is an important issue in which management time and effort will need to be invested. The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to note with thanks the comments of the Scrutiny Committees and approve the proposals set out in the report for:
Cabinet Member:
Children & Young People Report by Director for Learning & Culture (CA7). On 22 June 2005, the Cabinet approved a draft outline Children & Young People’s Plan (CYPP) for consultation and further development. This report presents an updated version of the draft CYPP, which the Cabinet is asked to approve for wider consultation. The updated draft reflects feedback to date from partners, including colleagues in the directorates, Youth Offending Team, police, district councils and health services. Children and young people and parents and carers are continuing to feed into the process through district councils, sounding boards and youth fora - their engagement in the development of the CYPP is key to its success. The draft outline CYPP was presented to the Children’s Services Scrutiny Committee on 27 September and their comments have also been reflected in the updated draft. It is intended that, subject to any remaining changes to the draft Plan which may be needed in the light of feedback from workshops, Scrutiny and Cabinet, the planned wide consultation with partner agencies, other stakeholders and the public generally will commence on 1 November 2005. Further development work will take place in the light of the consultation responses which, together with the Plan in its proposed "final" form, will be brought back via the 28 February Children’s Services Scrutiny Committee to the Cabinet on 7 March, and thence to full Council for adoption on 4 April. The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED, subject to any remaining changes to the draft Plan which the Director for Learning & Culture may identify as needed in the light of feedback from the workshops, Scrutiny and Cabinet, to approve the draft Plan for consultation. Cabinet Member:
Children & Young People The Executive, on 19 April 2005, received a report from the Best Value & Audit Committee on its wide-ranging review of services for vulnerable children and young people. The review was conducted in the context of major changes in the national agenda for services for children and young people reflected in the Green Paper "Every Child Matters", the Children Act 2004 and the Government’s "Change for Children" programme. The
Children’s Services Scrutiny Committee (as successor to the Best Value
& Audit Committee) has considered a report (copied herewith (CA8)
summarising how the key recommendations in the review are being taken
forward. A number of these have been, or are being, implemented through
the realignment of the Directorates. All of the remaining recommended
actions in the Best Value Review of Children’s Services have been
incorporated in the new Children & Young People’s Plan. The main
focus of the present report is on proposals for implementing the Best
Value Review in relation to two key developments:
The Scrutiny Committee have referred the report to the Cabinet for decision, but in the case of the Children & Young People’s Strategic Board their recommendation is that approval of the draft model should be in principle only, and subject to further detailed proposals on how it is going to work being brought back to the Scrutiny Committee and Cabinet before final decisions are made. The Cabinet is accordingly RECOMMENDED to approve the proposals set out in the Best Value Review report for the development of:
for wide consultation, subject to the outcome of development work on (a) (including detailed proposals on how the Board is expected to work) being reported, together with the responses to consultations in each case, to the Scrutiny Committee and Cabinet early in the New Year.
Cabinet Member:
Children & Young People The Directors for Learning & Culture and Social & Health Care report as follows: Attached (CA9) (download as .doc file) is a paper outlining proposals for the development of Children’s Centres in Oxfordshire over the next 5 years. The proposals are consistent with the Government’s agenda for a joint approach for all key agencies working with children and families from the time before the child is born, offering the potential for parents to access the support they need, when they need it, in a local and accessible venue. The development of Children’s Centres will be closely aligned with developments for locality teams and extended schools. Centre services will need to meet the needs of their communities and will be developed in partnership with parents, carers and users of services and with local professionals and organisations working in the area. Services and resources will vary according to the needs of the area but will build on and improve existing facilities, for example family centres and nursery schools. The Children’s Services Scrutiny Committee considered a draft of the attached paper on 27 September 2005 and commented that some of the terminology used in the draft was not user friendly; that more emphasis should be given to those people who are not accessing services at present and are therefore unlikely to attend the Centres; and that the importance of creating the right atmosphere in the Centres is key to their success. The proposals have been amended to take account of these comments and greater emphasis has been placed on the links between this initiative and locality teams and extended schools. In addition the paragraphs on opportunities, risks and challenges have been expanded to give greater clarification of pressures on timescales and resources and the proposed actions to minimise risks and maximise potential benefits for positive outcomes for children and families. With the concurrence of the Cabinet Member for Children & Young People and the Leader and Deputy Leader of the Council, a consultation programme has commenced on the basis of the proposals in the paper and will continue through October and November. A summary document "Children’s Centres in Oxfordshire 2005 – 2010" which is being used for public information and discussion purposes has been circulated to members under separate cover. The outcome will be reported back to the Cabinet in the New Year. The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to:
The
Director for Learning & Culture reports as follows: The report acknowledges that more work needs to be done to validate the costs and revenue figures, including pensions and redundancy costs. DfES advice is that local authorities should consider establishing a team to drive forward the transformation of school meals. It is suggested in the report that this approach should be taken in Oxfordshire, with a Project Group, led by a suitably qualified and experienced Project Leader, to undertake the outstanding analysis and carry out further comparative work with other authorities on school meal standards and different options for managing the service. In the longer term, the aim would be to achieve a clear policy framework for whatever form and level of service it is decided to provide. The Children’s Services Scrutiny Committee referred the report to the Cabinet as the outcome of the Best Value Review, "drawing the Cabinet’s attention to: "(a) the further work which [is] urgently required to give a basis for decisions, subject to appropriate consultation with stakeholders, including secondary schools, on the future of the catering and cleaning services provided by County Facilities Management; and "(b) the importance of providing a good quality healthy meal and the need to find a way of achieving this." The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to:
Cabinet Member:
Transport Report by Head of Transport (CA11). This report gives an assessment of performance in implementing the Transport Capital Programme and forecasts that the likely outturn will closely match the intentions at the start of the year. Delivery of the programme is an important part of the Department for Transport’s assessment of the performance of the Transport service and is a factor in their decisions on future capital funding for Transport in Oxfordshire. The report concentrates almost exclusively on this year’s programme. This is because the programme for future years is being considered as part of the development of the second Local Transport Plan. The report does however look to the future in reporting on the work done to find a way of accelerating the work on Controlled Parking Zones in Oxford and concludes that earlier implementation of these is possible. The Cabinet should also be aware that the 2006/07 programme, which it approved on 7 June 2005 for inclusion in the Provisional Local Transport Plan, now needs amendment because of the likely reduction in funding expected as a result of new, formula based allocations. We shall report separately on this in the New Year, in the context of the Local Transport Plans approval process. The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED:
Cabinet Member:
Transport The
Head of Transport reports as follows: On 21 September 2005, the Environment & Economy Scrutiny Committee (as successor of the Best Value & Audit Committee for the purpose of this review) considered a follow-up report action plans prepared for each of the 13 topics (CA12). The action plans largely reflect the fact that in practice the Council’s ability to influence change outside the County Council is limited, with the most effective improvements generally coming from simple changes to working practices within the teams and with other colleagues in the organisation. The Committee agreed to:
The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to:
Cabinet Member:
Schools Improvement Report by Director for Learning & Culture and Director for Resources (CA13). On 19 April 2005 the Executive received a Learning & Culture Scrutiny Committee report on the County Music Service budget, and asked officers to consider the implications, particularly in relation to the accounting arrangements for the Service; the future funding of the Service, including the potential for increasing its income; the handling of the accrued deficit; and the future management remit of the Music Service House Committee. This was in the context of the Service having had an accumulated deficit attributed to it of £210,000 over the two years 2002/03 and 2003/04. Subsequent work has included a review by an external accountant, appointed by the Director of Resources, looking at historical accounting data to determine whether the accumulated deficit was accurate and, if so, its cause. The report summarises the outcome of this work, which showed a combination of possible causes and has led to action has been taken to avoid repetition of identified anomalies and an improved management structure. There appears to have been an in-year underspend in 2004/05 which halved the accumulated deficit, and there are early tentative indications of an underspend in 2005/06. A review of charging policy is currently being considered by the House Committee, which will also support the Director of Music in exploring new opportunities for earned income. The report includes a proposed revised constitution for the Service’s House Committee, which would give the Committee a scrutinising and consultative role, recommending overall policy for the Service and working with the Director of Music and other officers to ensure its efficient direction. The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to:
Cabinet Members:
Schools Improvement, Change Management Report by Director for Resources (CA14). The report presents draft revised policies on retirement, prepared in the light of consultations with Cabinet members, consultations in respect of the policy for teachers at the Teachers Joint Committee and informal consultations with Unison in respect of non-teachers. At the Teachers Joint Committee meeting the teacher unions said that they value the current scheme and wish to emphasise the operational disadvantages schools will face from any revised policy which makes early retirement more difficult. In particular, the unions were very concerned at the proposal to couple revised premature retirement criteria with capped budgetary provision, as this would change the scheme from one of entitlement to one of discretion. The outcome of discussions with Unison were that they wish to discuss the proposed changes to the Retirement Policy at the next Employees’ Joint Consultative Committee on 20 October 2005. Unison considers that a national strike on pensions is very likely and they believe it is not advisable to change local policy in this climate. They are seeking detailed consultations on each of the proposed changes. The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to: Cabinet Member:
Change Management Report by Head of Human Resources (CA15) (download as .doc file). The report proposes a pilot Employee Volunteering scheme, which would allow staff paid time to volunteer for community or charity work. Such a scheme would have a number of benefits both for the organisation and individual members of staff. The proposal is that, as part of their personal development plan, employees would be able to consider whether a volunteering activity in the local community, or within the County Council itself, would meet their development needs. Up to 2 days (15 hours) paid leave would need to be matched with 2 days of their own time to undertake the development activity. The time taken would have to fit with service requirements. The pilot scheme would be launched to coincide with Investors in People week (31 October - 4 November). The pilot would be open to employees in Resources and Environment & Economy directorates (approximately 900 staff). The resources required to run the scheme are expected to be minimal. The results of the pilot would be brought back to the Cabinet to decide whether to extend the scheme to the rest of the Council. From the experience of other schemes it is expected that take up would be no more than 5-10% of eligible employees i.e. 45-90 people. The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to approve the implementation of a pilot Employee Volunteering scheme as outlined in the report.
Cabinet Member:
Community Safety Report by the Director for Community Safety & Chief Fire Officer (CA16). This report provides details of the Fire & Rescue Service’s Improvement Plan, in response to the recent Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA). The Improvement Plan establishes priorities for the Authority, based on the outcome of the CPA, to develop its capacity and processes to manage and deliver service improvement. The Audit Commission formally reported its findings in July 2005. The Authority was assessed overall as "Good". The Audit Commission report acknowledges the Service as "a high performing, well managed organisation with few significant weaknesses". It cites the main barrier to the achievement of the "authority’s ambitious programme of modernisation and improvement’ as "…limited capacity and the availability of adequate funding…". Fire and Rescue Authorities are expected to review their improvement priorities and existing action plans in the light of their CPA outcomes. The report identifies a number of priorities as contributing to the Service’s overall strategy of continuous improvement, validated by the outcome of the CPA process, with an indication as to where each priority will be incorporated into the planning cycle. The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to:
Cabinet Member:
Community Safety Report by Director for Community Safety & Chief Fire Officer (CA17). The attached report proposes a number of projects to be included within the Fire & Rescue Authority’s Integrated Risk Management (IRMP) – Action Plan for 2006–07. The proposals summarise those areas where the Service’s Senior Management Team believe service improvements may be achieved. To meet the requirements of the IRMP process each proposal must be supported by robust evidence, validating both its inclusion and contribution to improved community safety and/or firefighter safety. Similarly, each proposal must be cognisant of the prevailing economic constraints. Those proposals approved by the Cabinet will be subjected to a comprehensive process of ‘risk analysis’ and offered for appropriate, internal and external, formal consultation. Feedback from the consultation process will be provided to the Cabinet, for due consideration, prior to the adoption of the final version of the Action Plan. The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED:
Cabinet Member:
All 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 CA18. 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. October 2005 |
