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ITEM CA3

CABINET – 20 SEPTEMBER 2005

Minutes of the Meeting commencing at 2.00 pm and finishing at 4.35 pm

Present:

The Cabinet considered the matters, reports and recommendations contained or referred to in the agenda for the meeting, together with a schedule of addenda tabled at the meeting, and decided as set out below. Except insofar as otherwise specified, the reasons for the decisions are contained in the agenda, reports and schedule, copies of which are attached to the signed Minutes.

187/05. MINUTES

The Minutes of the meeting held on 6 September 2005 were approved and signed.

188/05. FINANCIAL MONITORING

(Agenda Item 5)

The Cabinet considered a report (CA5) which covered the period up to the end of July 2005 for revenue and capital, together with a supplementary report, circulated with the Addenda.

Councillor Shouler commented that in his view there was no conflict between the Fairer Charging scheme and the Corporate Charging Policy. He pointed out that the increases would only affect those whose personal resources exceeded the threshold whereby they were liable to pay the full charges, and that the charging structure complied with government guidance. In relation to the removal of parking charges at Park & Ride sites, the loss of income would be contained within the County Council’s parking account. Although there was currently a surplus in the parking account there were legal constraints as to how this money could be spent.

Councillor Chapman reported that she was liaising with the Head of the Youth Service regarding the budget position of the Service in the context of the Youth Green Paper and that no decisions had yet been made. She also referred to the Service and Financial Planning report (CA6) which recommended the Cabinet to approve the allocation of £0.1m per annum within the capital programme from 2006/07 to 2008/09 to provide grants for community youth facilities, subject to Cabinet approval of an appropriate scheme.

Councillor Seale endorsed Councillor Shouler’s comments with regard to the increase in the Fairer Charging rate for full cost payers. He stated that this had been staggered in order to prevent a sudden large increase in charges. He pointed out that the service costs were highly volatile and referred to the increased revenue resources required as a result of the decisions not to close the residential care homes at Spencer Court, Woodstock and Castle View, Chipping Norton.

RESOLVED: to:

1. note the report;
2. request the Director for Learning & Culture to bring forward a comprehensive action plan to recover and contain expenditure pressures within the Directorate to accompany the next financial monitoring report;
3. request the Director for Social & Health Care to bring forward a comprehensive action plan to recover and contain expenditure pressures within the Directorate and the Older People and Physical Disabilities Pooled Budget to accompany the next financial monitoring report;
4. approve an increase of 6% in the full cost rate for Fairer Charging income;
5. RECOMMEND the Council to approve a permanent virement within the Chief Executive’s Office of £55,300 from the Grants Budget to the Equalities & Social Inclusion budget;
6. authorise the Head of Finance & Procurement to appoint at least one external manager to manage a proportion of the Council’s surplus cash balances;
7. agree a supplementary estimate of £0.250m to reinstate the 2005/06 telecommunications procurement savings allocation to Directorate budgets;
8. agree the adjustments to the capital programme as shown at paragraph 48 and incorporated in the updated Capital Programme booklet;
9. note the changes in staffing as at 30 June 2005.
   
   189/05. SERVICE AND FINANCIAL PLANNING 2006/07 – 2010/11

(Agenda Item 6)

The Cabinet considered a report (CA6) which was the first in a series that would inform members on the service and financial planning process and issues for 2006/07 and the medium term.

The Head of Finance & Procurement reported that the Government had announced postponement of Council Tax revaluation to enable the issue to be included in the remit of the Lyons inquiry into local government funding.

RESOLVED: to:

1. note the report;
2. approve the updated Financial Strategy 2006/07 to 2008/09 as set out in Annex 1 to the report, subject to the amendment of the fourth bullet point in paragraph 1.1.10 to read ‘…restoring our balances to a level at 2% and uprate the scale of our current Innovation Fund...’;
3. approve the CCMT budget management proposals set out in the report;
4. approve the funding of loans to Foster Carers, Kinship Carers and Adopters through Prudential Borrowing;
5. approve the allocation of £0.1m per annum within the capital programme from 2006/07 to 2008/09 to provide grants for community youth facilities, subject to Cabinet approval of an appropriate scheme.
   
   

190/05. OXFORDSHIRE LOCAL AREA AGREEMENT

(Agenda Item 7)

The Cabinet considered the draft outline submission (CA7) for the Oxfordshire Local Area Agreement (LAA) which would be sent to the Government Office for the South East.

Councillor Chapman emphasised that feedback from children and young people had highlighted the importance to them of increasing the availability of "more things which are fun to do". In her view, the document focussed too extensively on academic achievement without considering the importance of providing enjoyable activities for young people.

Councillor Waine echoed Councillor Chapman’s comments in relation to the schools curriculum which in his view should be more broadly based and not limited to a narrow academic range.

RESOLVED: subject to any further amendments agreed by the Leader of the Council in the light of feedback from the Public Service Board, to approve the draft outline submission to be made to the Government Office for the South East.

191/05. OXFORDSHIRE COMPACT FUNDING CODE - SUPPLEMENTARY GUIDANCE TO THE OXFORDSHIRE COMPACT WITH THE COMMUNITY AND VOLUNTARY SECTOR IN OXFORDSHIRE

(Agenda Item 8)

The Cabinet considered a report (CA8) on the Funding Code proposed as supplementary guidance for the purpose of the Compact with the Community and Voluntary Sector in Oxfordshire.

RESOLVED: to:

1. endorse the Funding Code and authorise its signature on behalf of the County Council;
2. ask all Directorates and Heads of Service who had responsibility for funding and grant arrangements with the voluntary and community sector in Oxfordshire to ensure that all existing, new and planned funding procedures were compliant with the Funding Code;
3. agree that the Communities Team in the Chief Executives’ Office should promote the Funding Code and liaise with Directorates on its implementation and monitoring.
   
   192/05. INTEGRATION OF ADULT MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES

(Agenda Item 9)

The Cabinet considered a report (CA9) on work which had been undertaken over the last 3 years by the County Council, Oxfordshire Mental Healthcare NHS Trust and the Oxfordshire PCTs to develop improved joint working and to move towards a fully integrated mental health service for adults of working age.

RESOLVED:

1. to endorse the completion of work to create a fully integrated Mental Health Service for adults of working age through:-
1. a Section 31 Agreement with Cherwell Vale PCT and its successor organisation as lead commissioner of Mental Health Services, supported by a pooled budget;
2. a Section 31 Agreement with Oxfordshire Mental Healthcare NHS Trust and its successor organisation for integrated service provision supported by a pooled budget;
2. that both agreements run from April 2006 on an ongoing basis, with a 5 year review period;
3. that the secondment of staff to the respective organisations continue from 1 November 2005 and thereafter to the successor organisations, for the duration of these agreements;
4. that the agreements incorporate appropriate delegation of any or all of the health-related functions of the Council as specified in Regulation 6 of the NHS Bodies and Local Authorities Partnership Arrangements Regulations 2000; and
5. that the terms of the agreements be to the satisfaction of the Director for Social & Health Care and the Solicitor to the Council following consultation with the Cabinet Member for Health & Community Services.
   
   193/05. COMMISSIONING A PATIENT-LED NHS

(Agenda Item 10)

The Cabinet considered a report (CA10) responding to a request from the Chief Executive of the Thames Valley Strategic Health Authority for preliminary views on proposed changes in the way NHS services were provided both within Oxfordshire and more widely.

Councillor Seale commented that, in his view, reconfiguration to one PCT for the whole of Oxfordshire would be beneficial in terms of both costs and service provision.

RESOLVED: to:

1. endorse the view that one PCT would more adequately meet the health needs of Oxfordshire, whilst reserving the Cabinet’s final position for the formal consultation process after November;
2. authorise the Chief Executive and the Director for Social & Health Care to work with the Chief Executive of the Strategic Health Authority to support him in his efforts to reconfigure PCTs in Oxfordshire.
   
   194/05. FAIR TRADE AND THE USE OF LOCAL PRODUCE

RESOLVED: to:

1. approve setting up a contract, in line with standard procurement policy, for purchasing fairly traded tea, coffee and sugar for meetings, which could be used by all County Council sites;
2. approve development of a list of approved suppliers for catering for meetings and events, as outlined in paragraph 21 of the report, in line with the Council’s corporate procurement strategy, to include specified criteria for selection, for example, locally sourced produce, fairly traded goods and use of crockery rather than disposable plates;
3. authorise an investigation into the current running costs and use of vending machines cross County Council sites and the feasibility of installing fairly traded hot drinks machines and ‘green machines’ (vending machines supplying fairly traded/organic products) in place of traditional vendors;
4. endorse the proposals for a publicity campaign to raise awareness of the Council’s use of fairly traded and local produce as outlined in paragraph 23 of the report;
5. support the continued introduction of local produce into school meals where economic and supply considerations permit.
   
   195/05. ADULT LEARNING DEVELOPMENT

(Agenda Item 12)

The Cabinet considered a report (CA12) outlining proposals for the negotiation with the local Learning & Skills Council of contracts for the provision of adult learning services in Oxfordshire for the three year period 2005/06 to 2007/08.

Councillor Godden, as Shadow Cabinet Member for Health & Community Services, emphasised the importance of monitoring additional learning support for people with a disability and expressed regret that Oxfordshire appeared to have lost some opportunities for gaining additional funding in this area.

In discussion of the report members expressed concern that the current Learning & Skills Council guidance and service specifications placed too little emphasis on learning for personal development, which was an important activity for a wide range of people. Although it was accepted that learning for work skills was important, the Cabinet felt that it should not be prioritised at the expense of other types of learning.

RESOLVED: to:

1. welcome and endorse the comments on the part of the Health & Community Services Scrutiny Committee;
2. reluctantly endorse the approach and change agenda outlined in the report in respect of the Council’s Adult Learning contracts;
3. advise the Department for Education & Skills and the Learning & Skills Council of the concern that the emphasis which was being increasingly placed in the funding of adult education on qualification-based training, especially for specific employment needs, was at the expense of lifelong learning opportunities in the community;
4. ask the Head of Adult Learning to brief staff to advise people who were denied adult learning opportunities as a result of the change of emphasis in the funding as to the reasons for this being the case.
   
   196/05. DELEGATION OF STATEMENTING BUDGET

(Agenda Item 13)

The Cabinet considered a report (CA13) which proposed formal consultation on proposals to delegate a significant amount of the statementing budget to Oxfordshire Schools.

Councillor Godden, speaking on behalf of the Shadow Cabinet Member for Schools Improvement, requested that the proposed consultation highlight the issue of challenging behaviour in schools referred to in paragraph 20 of the report; expressed concern about the risk of funding delegated to schools not being spent according to individual children’s identified needs; and stated that Councillor Turner was particularly concerned that small rural schools with high numbers of pupils with special educational needs might be penalised under the proposals.

Councillor Michael Waine responded that the informal consultation had indicated that many of the county’s primary schools had expressed concern with regard to fairness and entitlement. One way of addressing this issue would be not to delegate to primary schools or only to a certain size of school. However, some of the county’s primary schools were larger than the secondary schools. It was paramount that a fair system operated for all schools.

Mr Adams stated that Ofsted inspected SEN provision in schools and that SEN Development Programme Officers were also tasked with inspecting SEN provision in relation to school budgets. There was a specific safeguard for parents who felt a school was not adequately meeting their child’s needs in that it would remain open to them to request a formal statement.

RESOLVED: to agree to a formal consultation on the scheme outlined in paragraphs 16 to 26 of the report, including:

1. a clear explanation of the SEN Index with separation of the socio-economic element;
2. additional options for distribution of resources;
3. the proposal for total delegation to secondary schools;
4. the proposal for partial delegation to primary schools, based on size;
5. a further option for primary schools to be able to take on greater delegation than described in paragraphs 21 and 22;
6. proposals on phasing in any budget changes;
7. clear budgetary projections, to include proposed budget increases and projected central savings;
8. proposals on the delegation to all schools of funds currently allocated to Learning Units or for similar arrangements;

subject to approval by the Cabinet Member for Schools Improvement of the final terms of the consultation.

197/05. EDUCATION PROJECT APPRAISALS: CARTERTON COMMUNITY COLLEGE – NEW 6 CLASSROOM BLOCK MABEL PRICHARD SCHOOL, LITTLEMORE, OXFORD - CO-LOCATION WITH ORCHARD MEADOW PRIMARY SCHOOL

(Agenda Item 14)

The Cabinet considered a report (CA14) which presented two project appraisals for schemes within the Learning & Culture Capital Programme.

RESOLVED: to approve project appraisals ED626 and ED627.

198/05. AGENCY ARRANGEMENTS FOR MINOR HIGHWAY FUNCTIONS

(Agenda Item 15)

The Cabinet considered a report (CA15) which sought to update the existing agency arrangements for Minor Highway functions with district, town and parish councils.

Councillor Armitage made reference to the question he had raised at Council concerning the removal of chairs and tables obstructing the public highway and asked if the proposed agency arrangements could be extended to cover such obstructions.

RESOLVED: to:

1. without prejudice to specific agency arrangements between the County Council and individual councils, approve the revised framework for agency arrangements with district, town and parish councils for minor highway functions as set out in the report, the provision for removal of unauthorised signs to be extended to include other unauthorised obstructions of the highway;
2. authorise the Director for Environment & Economy to negotiate, implement and administer specific agency arrangements with individual district, town and parish councils, subject to such detailed terms as he and the Solicitor to the Council might consider appropriate in each case.
   
   

199/05. FORWARD PLAN AND FUTURE BUSINESS

• The Witney and Banbury Area Transport Guides would now be considered on 2 November;
• An additional item - consultation on proposed changes to current Regional Planning Guidance - would be brought to the 2 November meeting;
• The Race Equality Scheme and Corporate Equality Plan would now be considered on 15 November.

in the Chair

Date of signing 2005

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