Return to Agenda
ITEM CA3
CABINET
MINUTES of the meeting held on
|
Agenda Item
|
Officer Attending
|
5
|
K. Bell (Finance &
Procurement)
|
6
|
K. Bell (Finance &
Procurement)
|
10
|
S. Scane (Finance &
Procurement)
|
7
|
P. Edwards (Corporate
Performance)
|
8
|
S. Munn (Human Resources)
|
9
|
P. James (Partnerships)
|
11
|
M. Mill & J. Morris
(Children, Young People & Families)
|
13
|
J. Johnson (Children,
Young People & Families)
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14
|
M. Tailby (Environment
& Economy)
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15
|
M. Tailby (Environment
& Economy)
|
16E
|
M. Tailby (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.
71/07
APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
Apologies
for absence were received from Councillors Ian Hudspeth and Jim Couchman.
72/07
MINUTES
The Minutes of the meeting
held on
73/07
PETITIONS AND PUBLIC ADDRESS
The following requests to address the meeting had
been agreed:-
Request from
|
Agenda Item
|
Andy Burns (Audit Commission)
|
10.
Annual Audit & inspection Letter
|
June Awty (KPMG)
|
10.
Annual Audit & inspection Letter
|
David Brett (KPMG)
|
10.
Annual Audit & inspection Letter
|
Councillor Bill Melotti (Vale of White Horse
District Council)
|
11.
Provision of Additional Secondary School Pupil Places in Wantage, Grove and
Surrounding Villages
|
Councillor James McGee (Vale of White Horse
District Council)
|
11.
Provision of Additional Secondary School Pupil Places in Wantage, Grove and
Surrounding Villages
|
Item 11 – Provision of
Councillor Bill Melotti (Vale of White Horse District Council)
Councillor Melotti spoke as
a Local Member of Vale of White Horse District Council. He addressed each
option in turn. Speaking to parents prior to elections he had found that Option
A was the most popular, as it provided the most choice. He felt that this
Option would cause too much disruption to King Alfred’s school and did not
favour option B because it would create one very large school. Therefore, he
felt that Option C was the most sensible.
Councillor James McGee (Vale
of White Horse District Council)
Councillor McGee spoke as a
Local Member of Vale of White Horse District Council. He felt that out of the 3
options, Option C was the most viable because it gave parents a choice.
Although Option A was appealing, he felt that this was not a sensible option
because of the possible legal challenges and the disruption to King Alfred’s.
74/07
PROVISIONAL 2006/07 REVENUE AND CAPITAL
OUTTURN
(Agenda
Item 5)
The Cabinet
considered a report (CA5) which presented the provisional outturn for revenue
(Part 1) and capital (Part 2) for the 2006/07 financial year.
Councillor
Alan Armitage, speaking as shadow Cabinet Member for Finance, viewed the
surplus resulting from parking charges as unpopular amongst his constituency
and requested to know how it was to be spent.
In response,
Councillor David Robinson drew Councillor Amitage’s attention to the Forward
Plan, which outlined the surplus’ use for Park and Ride facilities.
RESOLVED: to:
(a)
note the provisional revenue and capital
outturn;
(b)
approve the Directorate carry-forwards,
including the virement of carried forward underspends to other budget heads in
2006/07;
(c)
approve the use of balances to meet the overspend of £0.009m on non-domestic
rates;
(d)
approve the use of balances to meet £0.037m
overspend on the Coroners Service;
(e)
agree that the surplus in the On-Street
Parking Account at the end of the 2006/07 financial year, so far as not applied
to particular eligible purposes in accordance with Section 55(4) of the Road
Traffic Regulation Act 1984, be carried forward in the account to the 2007/08
financial year and,
(f)
rescind the approval given to the formation of a £1.0m provision from the Strategic
Measures surplus in respect of debt restructuring.
75/07
FINANCIAL MONITORING
(Agenda
Item 6)
The Cabinet considered a
report (CA6) which covered the period ended
Councillor Alan Armitage, speaking as shadow
Cabinet Member for Finance, expressed concern that any delays in Project Link
would adversely impact on the timetable for delivery of Shared Services. He asked that the monitoring and scrutiny of
Project Link, SAP and Shared Services be better co-ordinated bearing in mind
the interdependencies.
RESOLVED: to:
(a)
note the report;
(b)
approve the non-repayable supplementary
estimate of £0.152m requested by the Director of Children, Young People &
Families;
(c)
approve the permanent virements from Social
& Community Services to Community Safety of £0.046m and from Community
Safety to Social & Community Services of £0.024m;
(d)
approve the permanent internal virement of
£1.376m within Corporate Core;
(e)
approve the permanent virement of £2.733m
from all directorates to Shared Services;
(f)
approve the permanent virement of £0.335m
from all directorates to Corporate HR;
(g)
approve the temporary virement of £0.255m
from Corporate Core to Social & Community Services and
(h)
approve the permanent virement of £0.056m from Social & Community Services to
Corporate Core.
76/07
ANNUAL AUDIT & INSPECTION LETTER 2005/06
(Agenda
Item 10)
The Cabinet considered a
report (CA10) the Annual Audit & Inspection Letter 2005/06 issued by The
Audit Commission. The letter represents a summary of the Auditors’ work and key
findings relating to the financial year 2005/06. The timing of the letter is later this year
than previously due to a review of the Fire Service Use of Resources assessment.
Councillor Alan Armitage,
speaking as shadow Cabinet Member for Finance, indicated that he had spoken to
the Director of Social & Community Services before the meeting and resolved
his initial query.
Councillor David Robertson
and Councillor Judith Heathcoat thanked the representatives from the Audit
Commission & KPMG for the report and for attending the meeting.
RESOLVED: to:
(a)
receive the Annual Audit and Inspection Letter 2005/06;
(b)
invite
individual Cabinet Members to pursue
with the appropriate Directors the respective Recommendations in the Letter; and,
(c)
note
that the Audit Committee on
(i)
receive the Letter
and note any comments from the Audit Commission/KPMG;
(ii)
refer sections of the letter to scrutiny committees as appropriate; and,
(iii)
refer the Letter to the
Scrutiny Co-ordinating Group to help develop work planning for 2007/08 onwards.
77/07
PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT
(Agenda
Item 7)
The Cabinet considered a
quarterly report by the County Council Management Team (CA7) showing
performance against the key targets contained in the Council's Balanced
Scorecard at the end of the fourth quarter of 2006/7. Performance at the end of the fourth quarter
was encouraging, showing green traffic lights for over 75% of indicators where
information was available.
RESOLVED: to note the report.
78/07
ESTABLISHMENT MONITORING
(Agenda
Item 8)
The
Cabinet considered a report (CA8) that gave an update on activity since the
implementation of the new Establishment Review and associated Recruitment
Approval process on
RESOLVED: to:
(a)
note the report; and,
(b)
confirm that the Establishment Review continued to meet
requirements in reporting and managing staffing numbers.
79/07
OXFORDSHIRE LOCAL AREA AGREEMENT ANNUAL
REVIEW
(Agenda
Item 9)
The Cabinet considered a
report (CA9) on Oxfordshire's Local Area Agreement (LAA) which was signed in
March 2006 for delivery from April 2006 to March 2009.
Councillor Zoé Patrick,
speaking as Leader of the Opposition viewed the LAA as being forced upon the
Council by Government and expressed concern that although elected Councillors
played little part, they were held accountable. She recognised that some targets were not being met and hoped that these
targets would continue to be monitored closely.
Councillor David Robertson responded that all targets would be monitored closely and partnership working would continue.
RESOLVED: to endorse the Local Area
Agreement self assessment report and note progress against outcomes in the
first year of delivery.
80/07
PROVISION OF ADDITIONAL SECONDARY PUPIL
PLACES IN WANTAGE, GROVE AND SURROUNDING VILLAGES
(Agenda
Item 11)
The Cabinet considered a
report (CA11) that summarised the findings from the public consultation in
Wantage and Grove which concluded in January 2007 and recommended a way forward
to meet the future demand for secondary school places in the area.
Councillor Zoé Patrick,
speaking as Local Member, viewed option A as the preferred solution but was
aware that developers considered option B as the only deliverable option. Councillor Patrick expressed concern over Option C
not being delivered in time for large housing development planned for Grove and
the potential risk of not providing joint community facilities which are badly
needed.
Councillor Jim Moley,
speaking as a Local Member, drew the Cabinet’s attention to 2 previous MORI
polls in 2003 and 2007 which showed a strong preference for Option A. In the
past, parents had rejected option B as they considered a school with 2500 plus
students would be too big.
Councillor Iain Brown, speaking
as a Local Member, realised that Grove had been waiting for a Secondary School
for a long time and felt that Option A appears to offer the greatest amount of
choice for parents. However, this would be hugely disruptive for pupils of King
Alfred’s. Councillor Brown urged the Cabinet to choose Option C as it delivers
a new secondary school for Grove and gives choice back to parents without
disrupting education in Wantage.
Councillor
Jean Fooks, speaking on behalf of Councillor David Turner, Shadow Cabinet
Member for Schools Improvement, preferred options A or B whilst recognising the
difficulties option A may cause. She felt that it made sense for there to be two
schools of equal size and could not see how Option C was viable.
RESOLVED to:
(a)
Proceed with
Option C and provide a new 600 place 11-16 schools for Grove and retain King
Alfred’s Sports and Community College under the existing arrangements; and
(b)
authorise Officers to complete negotiations with developers
to secure a sufficient and appropriate site to meet the needs of the selected
option and any possible future expansion and report back on the potential
implications in terms of timeline and cost of the preferred option.
81/07
HEALTHY SCHOOLS SCRUTINY REVIEW
(Agenda
Item 12)
The Cabinet considered a report
(CA12) from the Children's Services Scrutiny Committee,
which agreed as part of its work programme to undertake a scrutiny review of
Healthy Schools and had appointed Councilors Mrs Anda Fitzgerald-O’Connor,
Keith Stone and Jean Fooks to the Lead Member Review Group.
Councillor Michael Waine responded to the Review’s recommendations by
stating that the national target was for all schools to be participating in the
Healthy Schools Programme by December 2009 and 75% of schools to have gained
the Healthy Schools Status. The identification of a Healthy Schools Development
Fund could provide a much needed incentive, and the Scrutiny Committee was
asked to identify the source for this funding. The move to integrated services
should better support the needs of children and young people in schools. The
parallel development of multi-agency strategies and collaborative working
should improve the quality of monitoring of the effectiveness of the support
provided. It was recommended that the Directorate write to secondary schools to
remind them of the importance of providing well maintained lavatory facilities,
in particular to secondary schools.
RESOLVED: to respond to the Scrutiny Review Report as set out
in Annex 1 (download as .doc file) to these minutes.
82/07
A REVIEW OF THE FIRST YEAR OF DELEGATING THE
STATEMENTING BUDGET
(Agenda
Item 13)
The Cabinet considered a
report (CA13) which reviewed the first year on implementing the scheme of
Special Educational Needs (SEN) delegation introduced in April 2006.
Councillor David Turner, speaking
as Shadow Cabinet Member for Schools Improvement, generally welcomed the
success of the new scheme, which appeared to be fulfilling the objectives set
out by Scrutiny. He asked why there were no Members included in the working
group that had been set up to monitor compliance with the objectives; and
suggested that a member of the Children’s Services Scrutiny Committee be
appointed to the group. He passed on concerns received from parents that some
schools were being unwelcoming due to funding problems for children with SEN
and he asked how this was being dealt with.
Janet Johnson, SEN Service
Manager, said that she endorsed the election of a Member to the working group.
Councillor Michael Waine
responded that the outcome of consultation would be reported back to the
Cabinet in the autumn and highlighted the decrease by 50% in the number of
statements being issued. He was aware of delays in the process but monitoring
was done via an inclusion audit and the issue of relying on statements for
finance had been addressed.
RESOLVED: to:
(a)
endorse the
continued implementation of the delegation scheme;
(b)
seek the views of
the Schools Forum on the scheme as monitored hitherto;
(c)
request a further
report to Cabinet in the autumn, in time for any changes for April 2008; and
(d)
instruct the Director for Children, Young People &
Families to re-distribute savings from central SEN staffing to schools.
83/07
EXAMINATION OF THE OXFORDSHIRE PARTNERSHIP
AND LAA SCRUTINY REVIEW
(Agenda
Item 17)
The Cabinet considered a
report (CA17), arising from the decision on 5 October 2006 of the
Corporate Governance Scrutiny Committee to agree as part of its work programme
to undertake a select committee style investigation of the Oxfordshire
Partnership and Local Area Agreement (LAA).
Councillor
Keith Mitchell set out his responses to the recommendations in the Review (a
copy of which is attached as Annex 2 (download as .pdf file) to these minutes).
Councillor Zoé Patrick,
speaking as Leader of the Opposition, supported the Scrutiny process and
expressed approval at the number of issues regarding partnership working that
it highlighted. She congratulated the Scrutiny Review team’s lead on this issue
and hoped that the Cabinet would take on board these findings and seek to learn
from them.
RESOLVED: to respond to the Scrutiny Review Report as set out
in Annex 2 to these minutes.
(Agenda
Item 18)
The Cabinet considered a
list of items (CA18) for the immediately
forthcoming meetings of the Cabinet .
RESOLVED: to note the items currently
identified for forthcoming meetings.
85/07
EXEMPT ITEMS
RESOLVED: that the public be excluded for the duration of
items 14, 15 and 16E since it is likely that if they were present during those
items that there would be disclosure of exempt information as defined in
paragraph 3 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 (Information
relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person,
including the authority holding that information: namely, the estimated value
of property in respect of which a sale is in contemplation) and since it is
considered that, in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in
maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the
information on the grounds set out in those items.
PROCEEDINGS FOLLOWING THE WITHDRAWAL OF THE PRESS AND PUBLIC
86/07
BETTER OFFICES PROGRAMME – NORTHERN AREA
(Agenda
Item 14)
The Cabinet considered a
project appraisal (CA14) relating to acquisition of a freehold site in Banbury
town centre and procurement of a new office building to consolidate staff from
10 existing Council offices.
RESOLVED: to approve the Detailed Project Appraisal R2.
87/07
BETTER OFFICES PROGRAMME – EAST OXFORD
(Agenda
Item 15)
The Cabinet considered the
Business Case (CA15) for the Better Offices Programme which required the
identification of suitable premises for an “East Oxford Hub”.
RESOLVED: to approve the Detailed Project Appraisal – R1/1.
88/07
BETTER OFFICES PROGRAMME – SOUTHERN AREA
(Agenda
Item 16E)
The Cabinet considered a report (CA16E), which resulted from the 16 January 2007 the Cabinet meeting, where it approved the business case for the Review of Property Assets (now the Better Offices Programme). The Cabinet resolved to:
(a)
agree the funding required to implement the programme, subject to a
project appraisal for the necessary capital expenditure being approved by the
Cabinet;
(b)
authorise officers to pursue negotiations for the acquisition
of additional office space in the South.
This report set out the
proposals and financial implications of acquiring this additional
accommodation. The Cabinet was then requested to approve the Project Appraisal.
RESOLVED: to approve the Detailed
Project Appraisal R3.
................................................................................... in the Chair
Date of signing.................................................................. 2007