ITEM CA3CABINETMINUTES of the meeting held on 21 November 2006 commencing at 2.00 pm and finishing at 3.07 pm Present: Voting
Members:
Other
Members in Attendance:
Officers: Whole of meeting: A. R. Cloke and M. Bayliss (Chief Executive’s Office).
Part of meeting: A. Couldrick, J. Phipps (Children, Young People & Families); L. Baxter, S. Scane, S. Skivington (Resources); A. Harper-Smith (Chief Executives Office); P. Day (Environment & Economy).
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.
165/06. DECLARATION OF INTERESTCouncillor John Howell declared a prejudicial interest in relation to Agenda Item 11 on the grounds that he was Chairman of Parishes Against Gravel Extraction (P.A.G.E). 166/06. MINUTESThe Minutes of the meeting held on 17 October 2006 were approved and signed. 167/06. ORDER OF BUSINESSIt was AGREED to vary the order of business as indicated in these Minutes. 168/06. EXTERNAL REVIEW OF CHILDREN’S SOCIAL CARE(Agenda Item 8) The Cabinet considered a report (CA8) on an external review of the Children’s Social Care Service (since realignment of the Early Years and Family Support Service), which was commissioned by the Director for Children, Young People and Families, in May 2006 and conducted by Tom Jones, an independent consultant. Councillor Chapman highlighted the improvements that had been made to the Service during the last eight months, particularly with regard to keeping children with their families, which indicated a shift in practice culturally. She endorsed the comments made in the written statement submitted by Councillor Fooks but commented that it was not necessary to agree the recommendations "subject to advice from the Children’s Services Scrutiny Committee" as was requested in Councillor Fooks’ statement. RESOLVED: to:
169/06. FINANCIAL MONITORING(Agenda Item 5) The Cabinet considered a report (CA5) that covered the period ended 30 September 2006 for both revenue and capital. The consolidated revenue forecast for the year-end showed a balance of £12.931m. This was made up of £15.285m general balances and a forecast Directorate overspend of £2.354m, which was in part the result of allowing for the proposed additional contribution to the Older People's Pooled Budget. Councillor Armitage, Speaking as shadow Cabinet Member for Finance, expressed concern at the forecast overspend within the Early Years and Family Support Service and urged the Cabinet to take a more cautious approach to budgetary pressures, in order to avoid such virements as outlined in the recommendations in future. Ms Skivington responded that she was confident that continued pressure on the Directorates to balance their respective budgets would result in them breaking even by year-end. RESOLVED: to:
170/06. SERVICE AND RESOURCE PLANNING 2007/08 – 2011/12(Agenda Item 6) The Cabinet considered a report (CA6) which was the second in a series that informed Members on the service and resource planning process and budget issues for 2007/08 and the medium term. The report also provided information that would lead the Council to agree a budget requirement and Council Tax level for 2007/08 in February 2007. RESOLVED: to:
(a)
note the report; and
171/06. TAKING FORWARD THE CHANGE AGENDA(Agenda Item 7) The Cabinet considered a report (CA7), which was the first Annual Report of the Change Management Board and outlined a new organisational development programme. This resulted from the consideration of a report at the Cabinet’s meeting on 15 November 2005 entitled "Taking Forward the Change Agenda". RESOLVED: to receive the first Annual Report of the Change Management Board and agree the Board’s priorities for its second year of operation. 172/06. EDUCATION PROJECT APPRAISAL – EAST OXFORD PRIMARY SCHOOL(Agenda Item 9) The Cabinet considered a joint report (CA9) by the Director for Children, Young People and Families and the Director for Social and Community Services which outlined proposals for a New Children's Centre and Adult & Community Learning Centre at East Oxford Primary School site. RESOLVED: to approve the detailed project appraisal ED 667. 173/06. DISABILITY EQUALITY SCHEME(Agenda Item 10) The Cabinet considered a report (CA10) on the Disability Equality Scheme. A draft Disability Equality Scheme was attached to the report for approval and included a statement on the ways in which disabled people had been involved in its development and the Council's process for implementing impact assessments. Councillor Couchman thanked officers for their work in completing such a detailed scheme that was in line with the Disability Discrimination Act 2005. RESOLVED: to:
175/06. MINERALS AND WASTE DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK: CORE STRATEGY(Agenda Item 11) Councillor Howell withdrew from the meeting for the duration of this item. The Cabinet considered a report (CA11) on the Core Strategy document, which formed part of the Minerals and Waste Development Framework. The Strategy set out the Council’s vision, spatial strategy and core policies for minerals and waste development in Oxfordshire over the next 20 years. RESOLVED: to:
176/06. GIFTED CHILDREN SCRUTINY REVIEW(Agenda Item 12) The Cabinet considered a Scrutiny Review (CA12) concerning Oxfordshire County Council's Gifted Children, which outlined how they were identified and how the resources allocated to them were provided. The review was undertaken by the Children's Services Scrutiny Committee. Councillors Hibbert-Biles and Tilley presented the report and thanked the Scrutiny officer involved for his clear and concise work. They urged the Cabinet to consider the creation of a full time, centrally based position with responsibility for Gifted and Talented children across the whole of Oxfordshire. They also urged that Governing Bodies be encouraged to identify Gifted Children more effectively. Councillor Waine responded to the Review’s recommendations and a copy of his response is attached at Annex 1 to the signed minutes. He responded that with regards to an Oxfordshire-wide post for Gifted and Talented Children, a new consultant would be joining the team and would lead on primary aspects. He further responded that encouragement of Governing Bodies was in hand via the provision of Governor training and the use of Governor News to keep the issue high profile. He stated that all secondary schools had Gifted and Talented registers and were being advised on how to address personalisation for the pupils registered. The current round of Inclusion Briefings had ‘More Able, Gifted and Talented’ as an item to be discussed, in which this message would be made clear. RESOLVED: to:
177/06. FORWARD PLAN AND FUTURE BUSINESS(Agenda Item 13) The Cabinet considered a list of items (CA13) for the immediately forthcoming meetings of the Cabinet. RESOLVED: to note the items currently identified for forthcoming meetings.
in the Chair Date
of signing 2006
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