Return to AgendaITEM CA3
CABINET
MINUTES of the meeting held on 25 November 2008 commencing at 2.00 pm and finishing at 3.42 pm
Present:
Voting Members: Councillor Keith R Mitchell CBE – in the chair
Councillor Roger Belson Councillor Louise Chapman Councillor Jim Couchman Councillor Mrs J. Heathcoat Councillor Ian Hudspeth Councillor David Robertson Councillor C.H. Shouler Councillor Melinda Tilley Councillor Michael Waine
Other Members in Councillor Zoe Patrick (for Agenda Items 5 and 9) Attendance: Councillor Jenny Hannaby (for Agenda Item 8) Councillor Jean Fooks (for Agenda Item 10)
Officers:
Whole of meeting: Assistant Chief Executive (Strategy), S. Whitehead (Legal & Democratic Services).
Part of meeting:
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.
113/08 DECLARATION OF INTEREST
Councillor Michael Waine declared a personal interest in Agenda Item 11 on secondary education provision in Bicester as a local authority governor of Cooper School and associate governor of Bicester Community College.
114/08 MINUTES
The Minutes of the meeting held on 21 October 2008 were approved and signed.
115/08 FINANCIAL MONITORING (Agenda Item 5)
The Cabinet considered a report (CA5) that set out the Council’s forecast financial position for the 2008/09 financial year based on six months of actuals to the end of September 2008. It included projections for revenue, balances, reserves and capital. The report set out explanations where the forecast outturn was significantly different from the budget with action plans to recover the position where appropriate.
The in-year underspend for Directorates was forecast to be -£0.627m. The year-end forecast of general balances was £21.421m. After taking into account the forecast Directorate outturn, the consolidated revenue balances forecast was £22.048m.
The projected in-year commitment on capital was estimated at £100.9m, compared with the October capital programme of £100.7m, a variation of £0.2m. Actual expenditure to the end of September was £30.1m, 29.8% of projected spend.
The Cabinet Member for Finance, responding to a query from Councillor Zoe Patrick, speaking as the Leader of the Opposition, indicated that the budget position for Shared Services was set out in Annexes 1d and 1f. There would be development work leading to further savings so that the estimated savings would be made, if later than originally envisaged.
The Assistant Chief Executive & Chief Finance Officer referred to the Pre Budget Report by the Chancellor, where it was announced that VAT was to be cut from 17.5% to 15% from 1 December 2008. She flagged concern at the additional work particularly as changes to VAT were to be reversed in January 2010 cutting across a financial year. There would be consideration of that fact in the report next month on the review of charges for 2009/10. Cabinet noted that there would be reprinting costs and costs in staff time involved in making the changes. The changes would result in a relatively small saving for users of services. Cabinet considered additional recommendations on this matter as set out in the schedule of addenda.
RESOLVED: to:
(a) note the report; and
(b) approve the virements as set out in Annex 2a
(c) note that the Government has decreased the effective rate of VAT for our standard rated charges with effect from 1st December 2008;
(d) agree that new schedules of fees and charges be produced as soon as possible, to reflect the reduced level of VAT and that the revised charges be applied from 1st December; and
(e) express concerns at the amount of work this change will require for our business, especially as the period for which the decrease applies will cut across the following financial year, and would require two differing rates to be set for next year and to note that this will be considered further when the Review of Charges is brought to the next meeting in December.
116/08 COGGES MANOR FARM MUSEUM (Agenda Item 6)
The Cabinet considered a report (CA6) initiated by the Fundamental Service Review of Cogges Manor Farm Museum in 2007 and the subsequent decision of the Council to reduce funding for the museum over a three-year period.
The Deputy Leader emphasised that the 3 options before the Cabinet were the best that could be achieved and that the final decision lay with the Council. Cabinet noted that some of the costs could be set against the costs of mothballing the facility.
The Cabinet noted with thanks the efforts of officers and commended the way in which they had listened to the views of the community.
RESOLVED: to:
(a) instruct officers to establish a new charitable trust to manage Cogges Manor Farm Museum (including employment of staff and service delivery). That trust to be tasked with developing and implementing the vision of the Cogges Community Enterprise Group.
(b) instruct officers to draw up a legal agreement between the Trust and Council, for a minimum of three years (from 2010), detailing what is expected from both organisations. The Council will remain the owner of the heritage asset (land, buildings and collections).
(c) recommend to Council in setting its budget the allocation of additional financial support to the Trust for 2010/11 (£80,000 in addition to the existing subsidy of £80,000) and 2011/12 (£160,000).
(d) include an allocation of £150,000 in its recommended capital programme as matching funding towards the necessary capital work at Cogges in support of an application for external funding in 2010/11.
117/08 TRANSPORT CAPITAL PROGRAMME REVIEW (Agenda Item 7)
The 2008/09 Transport Capital Programme was agreed by Cabinet in March 2008, along with a provisional programme for future years.
Cabinet considered a report (CA7) that provided a review of progress to date on the 2008/09 Transport Capital Programme and identified actions as necessary to deliver against stated objectives. It also provided a forward view of the 2009/10 Capital Programme to ensure continuity of work across financial years. The Cabinet considered revised versions of Annex 4 and 5 as set out in the schedule of addenda. Annex 4 contained amended information in relation to the current end of year estimate. Annex 5 contained updated information on the Transport Improvements Programme 2008/09 – 2010/11.
The Cabinet Member for Transport highlighted the planned programme assessments and also spending on drainage following the flooding. He stressed that all assessments were listed in a transparent way but that it was a rolling programme that could alter as further assessments were carried out.
Responding to comments from the Leader, officers agreed to investigate the scope for making the list of planned programme assessments more widely available for Members throughout the year.
RESOLVED: to:
(a) approve the updated 2008/09 expenditure programme and actions as set out in this report; and (b) approve the forward programme to enable early starts programming to be actioned on the 09/10 work schemes.
118/08 PLANNING FOR SPACES FOR GYPSIES, TRAVELLERS AND TRAVELLING SHOWPEOPLE – PARTIAL REVIEW OF THE DRAFT SOUTH EAST PLAN (Agenda Item 8)
The South East England Regional Assembly (SEERA) was consulting on a partial review of the draft South East Plan to identify the number of spaces needed for Gypsies and Travellers and Travelling Showpeople and the number of spaces to be provided in each district council area by 2016. The Cabinet considered a report (CA8) that outlined the options for the provision of spaces that SEERA were consulting on and made recommendations on which options the County Council should support.
Councillor Jenny Hannaby, speaking as the Cabinet Member for Sustainable Development outlined that the opposition group preferred Option A for both the number and distribution of pitches for Gypsies and Travellers and plots for Travelling Showpeople. She felt that expanding existing sites was the best way forward.
RESOLVED: to:
(a) endorse this report as the Council’s formal response to SEERA’s consultation;
(b) endorse Option B as this Council’s preferred option for the number and distribution of pitches for Gypsies and Travellers;
(c) endorse Option A as this Council’s preferred option for the number and distribution of plots for Travelling Showpeople;
(d) advise SEERA to undertake or commission research to help inform the discussion about the number and distribution of transit sites.
119/08 SERVICE & RESOURCE PLANNING REPORT FOR 2009/10 - 2013/14 (Agenda Item 9)
The Cabinet considered a report (CA9) that was the second in a series on the service and resource planning process for 2009/10 to 2013/14, providing councillors with information on the budget issues for 2009/10 and the medium term. The report provided the latest predictions on the funding available in 2009/10 and over the medium term and highlighted the key issues for 2009/10 and beyond.
The Cabinet considered a supplementary report relating to the significant impact of changes to the medium term plan of the November base rate reduction to 3%. The report set out an estimate of the impact with the latest available information, but given the uncertainty of interest rate projections proposed that this be kept under review. It also made proposals on how this should be incorporated into the Medium Term Financial Plan and contained amended recommendations. Councillor Zoe Patrick, speaking as Leader of the Opposition, referred to recommendation (c) noting that LAGBI funding was to be agreed by Council. The Cabinet Member for Finance confirmed that the funding was agreed by Council and would be included in the budget papers.
RESOLVED: to:
(a) note the report;
(b) note the submission of the accelerated expression of interest for Building Schools for the Future and the associated cost;
(c) approve the use of LABGI funding for economic development purposes; and
(d) build into the Medium Term Financial Plan the latest estimates for the impact of the reduction in interest as set out in paragraph 6;
(e) request of officers that, given the uncertainty in the financial markets, these figures are kept under review and reported back to future meetings of Cabinet; and
(f) ask Corporate Governance Scrutiny Committee to:
(i) meet before the December round of Scrutiny Committees in order to put forward suggestions on how the pressures might be relieved across the total budget, i.e. across Directorate boundaries; (ii) forward such suggestions to the appropriate Scrutiny Committees; and, (iii) report back to Cabinet, for consideration at its meeting in January, the outcome of the consideration by the Scrutiny Committees.
120/08 CORPORATE PARENTING – ROLE OF OCC (SECOND OF TWICE YEARLY REPORT) (Agenda Item 10)
The Cabinet considered a report (CA10) which was the second of regular six-monthly reports to Cabinet and Council on its role as legal "Corporate Parent" to the children and young people Looked After by the Council, and those Leaving Care to live independently.
The report addressed Council-wide improvements in Corporate Parenting, including enhanced accountability for this highly vulnerable group. It also reported on the progress and challenges posed in caring for the County's most vulnerable young people.
Councillor Jean Fooks, speaking as Shadow Cabinet Member for Children, Young People & Families, welcomed the report. She noted that the Council was doing more listening to young people in their care. She referred to a visit to Thornbury House, which had highlighted the amount of work that was needed and stressed the need to move quickly on this provision. The Cabinet Member for Children, Young People & Families though unable to guarantee that it could be speeded up gave assurances that the Council was committed to delivery of the scheme as soon as possible.
In introducing the performance and outcomes detailed in the report the Cabinet Member paid tribute to the skill of social workers doing a difficult and harrowing job.
RESOLVED: to:
(a) continue to support the Corporate Parenting Strategy, especially by committing personally to the Pledge;
(b) note the information on outcomes for our Looked After Children, and the service performance measures
121/08 SECONDARY EDUCATION PROVISION IN BICESTER (Agenda item 11)
The Cabinet considered a report (CA11) that outlined the work begun as a result of a previous decision of the Cabinet on 24 June 2008 to approve the continued strategic assessment and development of the strategic brief for the 14+ learning centre; and to look at the legal status of the proposed new institution and the framework for governance and finances. The report gave options for future provision.
The Cabinet Member for Schools Improvement advised Cabinet Members of the contents of a letter from Bicester Community College, The Cooper School and Oxford and Cherwell Valley College that expressed concern at the decision not to go ahead with a loose confederation. He added that a response had been sent that referred to the need for strong governance, with a strong management structure and clear accountability and pastoral care.
During discussion Cabinet highlighted that the 6th form provision would be collaborative with Bicester Community College and considered the meaning of ‘popular and successful’ as set out in the report. It could include judgements on what OFSTED had to say, that the school would be over subscribed and had a trend of improvement over a significant period of time and was above the County average.
RESOLVED: to:
(a) instruct officers to carry out further work on the two options for providing additional secondary school places in Bicester and to bring this work back to Cabinet by November 2009, or sooner if housing development recommences and the provision of new places becomes more urgent.
(b) approve the publication, at the start of January 2009, of statutory notices to take forward the proposal to extend the age range at The Cooper School, Bicester from 11-16 to 11-19 PROVIDED the necessary capital resources have been identified as available for the delivery of the project by the planned date of publication.
122/08 FORWARD PLAN AND FUTURE BUSINESS(Agenda item 12)
The Cabinet considered a list of items (CA12) for the immediately forthcoming meetings of the Cabinet and the amended forward plan as detailed in the schedule of addenda.
RESOLVED: to note the items currently identified for forthcoming meetings.
................................................................................... in the Chair
Date of signing.................................................................. 2008
|