Agenda and minutes

- guidance note opposite

Councillor David Turner declared a personal interest in Item 8 relating to the Big Society Fund as a member of Chalgrove Parish Council.

Councillor Mitchell declared a personal interest in Item 10 relating to the proposed expansion of the Warriner School as a former governor of Warriner School;

Councillor Mallon declared a personal interest in Item 10 relating to the proposed expansion of the Warriner School as a trustee of Banbury School Trust.

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 6 February 2012 (CA3 (to be circulated separately)) and to receive information arising from them.

The minutes of the meetings held on 17 January 2012 and 6 February 2012 were approved and signed.

Any county councillor may, by giving notice to the Proper Officer by 9 am two working days before the meeting, ask a question on any matter in respect of the Cabinet’s delegated powers.

The number of questions which may be asked by any councillor at any one meeting is limited to two (or one question with notice and a supplementary question at the meeting) and the time for questions will be limited to 30 minutes in total. As with questions at Council, any questions which remain unanswered at the end of this item will receive a written response.

Questions submitted prior to the agenda being despatched are shown below and will be the subject of a response from the appropriate Cabinet Member or such other councillor or officer as is determined by the Cabinet Member, and shall not be the subject of further debate at this meeting. Questions received after the despatch of the agenda, but before the deadline, will be shown on the Schedule of Addenda circulated at the meeting, together with any written response which is available at that time.

Councillor John Tanner had given notice of the following question to the Cabinet Member for Schools Improvement:

“Could the Cabinet member explain why she is pressuring excellent, locally well-regarded and improving primary schools, such as Larkrise in my own Isis division, to take on academy status, when it damages the morale of staff and parents and there is no firm evidence that academy status will improve standards for children?”

Councillor Melinda Tilley replied:

“Today’s report confirms the Council’s absolute commitment to improve educational outcomes for children. It also says we wish to encourage a dialogue about how Academies might be part of our approach to improve those educational outcomes. This is a discussion that we want to have with all schools; however, it is of particular relevance to schools which are not reaching the required national standards.

Larkrise School is one such school. It is a school which was below the national floor standards in 20010-11. The Fisher Family Trust Value Added reports for the school show that last year it was performing below the level expected for similar schools (i.e. after allowing for their free school meal population, ethnicity, English as an additional language, special educational needs and pupil mobility).

The children of Oxfordshire have one chance to get an education. The education they receive impacts upon their life chances. This Cabinet will not stand by and allow continued under performance. We do not dispute the hard work of a great many individuals to ensure that schools like Larkrise are caring and supportive environments in which children are happy and safe. However, we believe that any school which has the best interests of its children at heart, will want to ask whether or not there is more they can do to improve their educational attainment. Our view is that these schools should ask whether or not becoming a sponsored academy might lead to the step-change that has not yet been achieved.”

Supplementary Question: Councillor Tanner thanked the Cabinet Member for the response and welcomed the recognition of the hard work being undertaken and that the response referred only to consideration being given to academy status. He asked what evidence the Cabinet Member could supply to him that supported the likelihood that conversion to an academy benefits a school?

Councillor Tilley replied that evidence available on the Department for Education website showed that academies progressed twice as fast as schools that were not.

Two further questions put by Councillor Tanner were not allowed under the rules relating to questions by Councillors at Cabinet and it was agreed that Councillor Tanner pursue these questions with the Cabinet Member outside the meeting.

The following requests to address the meeting had been agreed:

Item 7 Speaking as local members:

Councillor Hannaby (Refurbishment of October Club kitchen and toilets)

Councillor David Turner (Connecting the B480 Parishes)

Councillor Brighouse (Thrive Barton)

Councillor Wilmshurst (Chinnor Youth Centre)

Councillor Janet Godden (Dean Court Community Centre and Cumnor Parish MUGA (multi-use games area) Project

Item 10 – Dr Dr. Annabel Kay, Principal of The Warriner School in Bloxham

Item 12 – Councillor M. Altaf-Khan, Shadow Cabinet Member for Schools Improvement

Cabinet Member: Finance & Property

Forward Plan Ref: 2011/173

Contact: Kathy Wilcox, Principal Financial Manager Tel: (01865) 323981

Report by Assistant Chief Executive & Chief Finance Officer (CA6).

This report sets out the forecast position for each Directorate.  This includes the delivery of the Directorate Business Strategies which were agreed as part of the Service and Resource Planning Process for 2011/12 – 2015/16.   Parts 1 and 2 include projections for revenue, reserves and balances as at the end of December 2011.  The Capital monitoring is included at Part 3. 

The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to:

a)        note the report and approve the virements as set out in Annex 2a;

b)        Agree the creation of the new reserves as set out in paragraph 43 to 46; and

c)         Approve the new schemes and budget changes set out in Annex 9c.

Cabinet considered a report that set out the forecast position for each Directorate.  This included the delivery of the Directorate Business Strategies which were agreed as part of the Service and Resource Planning Process for 2011/12 – 2015/16.   Parts 1 and 2 included projections for revenue, reserves and balances as at the end of December 2011.  The Capital monitoring was included at Part 3. 

The Cabinet Member for Finance & Property in moving the recommendations detailed the Directorate positions set out in the report and referred to proposals for the new reserves. He outlined the position with redundancie and highlighted the virements requested.

RESOLVED:            to:

a)         note the report and approve the virements as set out in Annex 2a;

b)         Agree the creation of the new reserves as set out in paragraph 43 to 46; and

c)         Approve the new schemes and budget changes set out in Annex 9c.

Cabinet Member: Police & Policy Co-Ordination

Forward Plan Ref: 2011/176

Contact: Alexandra Bailey, Senior Performance & Improvement Manager Tel: (01865) 816384, Ben Threadgold, Senior Policy & Performance Officer Tel: (01865) 328219

Report by Senior Performance & Improvement Manager (CA 7).

The Big Society Fund was launched in February 2011.  Applications are being considered in four waves during 2011/2012.  The first and second waves were considered by Cabinet in July and October 2011.  Applications to the third wave closed on 30 November 2011.

The report:

1. details the bids we have received including service and councillors' comments

2. asks Cabinet to consider bids to the Big Society Fund and recommends which bids to fund.

The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to

(a)       Approve those bids which meet the assessment criteria

Cabinet considered bids to the Big Society Fund from the third wave of applications.

Councillor Janet Godden spoke in support of the two bids for Dean Court namely the bid for Dean Court Community Centre and the Cumnor Parish MUGA (multi-use games area) Project. She welcomed the recommendation to support the Community Centre in what was a deprived area. The second bid for the re-use of the abandoned sports area had been less successful and she believed that this was due to a lack of clarity in the bid. She gave information on the use by football clubs and other uses. She expressed disappointment that she had been unable to comment before the recommendations came to Cabinet and asked that they be allowed to redo and bring back the bid.

Councillor Hannaby spoke in support of the bid for the refurbishment of October Club kitchen and toilets arguing that the bid did meet the criteria although accepting that there was only so much that could be done to make a bid for kitchens and toilets innovative. She had not realised that there was a problem with the bid and commented that the bidders were unused to the process. The bid had had to be made quickly in order to meet the deadline. She would be grateful for any assistance the Cabinet felt able to provide but if they felt more work was necessary then she was happy to work with the community.

Councillor Brighouse spoke in support of the Thrive Barton bid expressing her disappointment that it was not to be funded. There was excellent new youth provision in the area thanks to the Play Barton Grant but the hub and satellite work had not happened. The bid was very much about local people working hard to make a difference in their community and had come about because of the numbers of children needing support. She referred to the work of the Barton Youth Partnership together with the police to address issues on the estate. Whilst not asking the Cabinet to change the recommendation today she hoped that they would look again at the area and in particular referred to the interest already shown by the Cabinet Member for Children, Education and Families.

Councillor David Turner spoke in support of the project to connect the B480 Parishes and welcomed the recommendation to support the bid.

Councillor Wilmshurst spoke in support of the bid by Chinnor Youth Centre. He accepted that the paper submitted was lacking in detail and supplied additional information on cost, on funding from the Parish Council, the Centre’s location and current support and plans for the future. He commented that he did not believe that the bid should be in category 3 but having read the summary he understood why it was.

The Cabinet Member for Police and Policy Co0ordination responded to the comments made commenting that bids needed Councillor approval before submission and Councillors could then get involved in the process. He agreed that some of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 25/12

Cabinet Member: Safer & Stronger Communities

Forward Plan Ref: 2011/175

Contact: David Etheridge, Chief Fire Officer Tel: (01865) 855206; Colin Thomas, Acting Deputy Chief Fire Officer Tel: (01865) 855206

Report by Chief Fire Officer (CA8).

The Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 requires the Secretary of State to prepare a Fire and Rescue National Framework to which Fire Authorities must have regard when discharging their functions. The 2008-11 Framework requires each Fire and Rescue Authority to produce a publicly available IRMP. The report proposes a number of projects to be included within the Fire Authority’s IRMP for the fiscal year 2012-13.

The proposals in the report were agreed in their entirety by the Delegated Cabinet Member for Safer and Stronger Communities,  Councillor Judith Heathcoat, on 17th October 2011.

The proposals were also presented to the Safer & Stronger Communities Scrutiny Committee on 7th November 2011 and are to be considered on 13th February 2012.

The agreed proposals within this Action Plan 2012-13 have been subjected to full internal & external consultation for a period of 12 weeks. Cabinet is  therefore invited to comment on the proposed Action Plan, consultation responses & management responses to the consultation responses.

The proposals for the 2012 - 2013 Action Plan are as follows:

Project 1: Business Continuity Review

Responsible Manager: Area Manager – Business & Improvement

Project 2: Recruitment & Advancement Review

Responsible Manager: Area Manager – Service Support

Project 3: Road Traffic Casualty Reduction

Responsible Manager: Area Manager - Safety

Project 4: Olympics 2012 Pre-Planning

Responsible Manager: Area Manager – Operations & Resilience

Project 5: Retained Duty System (RDS) Availability Review

Responsible Manager: Area Manager – Operations & Resilience

Project 6: Operational Assurance Framework

Responsible Manager: Area Manager – Projects

Project 7: Data Sharing to Improve the Safeguarding of Vulnerable Adults & Children

Responsible Manager: Area Manager – Safety

Project 8: Review of Incident Command, Baseline Worst Case Operational Scenario Planning Assumptions.

Responsible Manager: Area Manager – Operations and Resilience

Project 9: Improving Fire Control Resilience

Responsible Manager; Deputy Chief Fire Officer

Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to agree that all of the project proposals within this report are accepted by Cabinet and adopted in the final version of the IRMP Action Plan 2012-13.

The Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 requires the Secretary of State to prepare a Fire and Rescue National Framework to which Fire Authorities must have regard when discharging their functions. The 2008-11 Framework requires each Fire and Rescue Authority to produce a publicly available IRMP. The report considered by Cabinet proposed a number of projects to be included within the Fire Authority’s IRMP for the fiscal year 2012-13 and Cabinet commented on the proposed Action Plan, consultation responses & management responses to the consultation responses.

The Cabinet Member for Safer & Stronger Communities in introducing the contents of the report drew attention to a consultation response received after the deadline for responses. The response expressed concerns at the levels of retained duty fire fighters and over the future of the Carterton fire station. Referring to the report itself she noted that many of the projects were interconnected such as projects 2 and 5. She highlighted projects 3 and 7 that reflected the fully corporate and integrated nature of the Service. The Chief Fire Officer added that the large majority of the responses had been supportive. The consultation had been extensive and they would provide a public response to all consultation responses received.

RESOLVED:             to agree that all of the project proposals detailed within the report and listed below are accepted by Cabinet and adopted in the final version of the IRMP Action Plan 2012-13:

Project 1: Business Continuity Review

Project 2: Recruitment & Advancement Review

Project 3: Road Traffic Casualty Reduction

Project 4: Olympics 2012 Pre-Planning

Project 5: Retained Duty System (RDS) Availability Review

Project 6: Operational Assurance Framework

Project 7: Data Sharing to Improve the Safeguarding of Vulnerable Adults & Children

Project 8: Review of Incident Command, Baseline Worst Case Operational Scenario Planning Assumptions.

Project 9: Improving Fire Control Resilience

Cabinet Member: Schools Improvement

Forward Plan Ref: 2011/164

Contact: Barbara Chillman, Principal Officer – School Organisation & Planning Tel: (01865) 816459

Report by Interim Director for Children, Education & Families (CA9).

In recent years Oxford has experienced a significant and sustained rise in primary pupil numbers. To meet this demand, in 2008 an additional 105 primary school places across the city were agreed; in 2009 a further 245 additional primary school places were created, and in 2010 another 238 additional places were created. Looking to the future, significant additional housing is included in Oxford City Council's Core Strategy, which will, in turn, lead to increased pupil numbers across the city. The proposal to expand Orchard Meadow Primary School is one part of the county council's strategy to meet the need for primary school places in Oxford. Several other schools across Oxford are also planned for expansion over the next few years.

Orchard Meadow Primary School’s Admission Number was until recently 30. However the school has worked with the county council to admit over this number for the last few years, to meet growth in demand for pupil places in Blackbird Leys.  From September 2011 the Admission Number rose to 45, which more accurately reflects the actual intake of pupils into the Reception (F1) class each year.  Demand for pupil places across Oxford city has risen and future plans for the regeneration of Blackbird Leys could include up to 1000 additional homes: therefore the expectation is that the rise in pupil numbers will be sustained.

As a result, the proposal is to expand Orchard Meadow Primary School to become a 2 form entry school with an Admission Number of 60. This would bring the number of children on roll at the school up to possibly 420 children (excluding the Nursery).  

A decision is required, following the completion of a public consultation and consideration of the responses to it, on whether to proceed to publish a statutory notice relating to the proposed expansion of Orchard Meadow Primary School.  

The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to approve the publication of a statutory notice for the expansion of Orchard Meadow Primary School, Oxford.

Cabinet considered a report on a proposal to expand Orchard Meadow Primary School to become a 2 form entry school with an Admission Number of 60 as one part of the county council's strategy to meet the need for primary school places in Oxford. The report included the outcome of a public consultation and consideration of the responses to it.

RESOLVED:             to approve the publication of a statutory notice for the expansion of Orchard Meadow Primary School, Oxford.

Cabinet Member: School Improvement

Forward Plan Ref: 2011/211

Contact: Allyson Milward, Pupil Place Planning Service Manager – School Organisation & Planning Tel: (01865) 816447

Report by Interim Director for Children, Education & Families (CA10).

The governors of The Warriner School in Bloxham propose to establish a Sixth Form in order to offer post-16 education.  The proposal is that 30 pupils would be admitted into Sixth Form in the first year and the number would increase in phases in order that existing staff may be trained or experienced staff recruited.

The governing body has completed a public consultation period on the proposal and this report summarises the responses received.  The governors now wish to proceed to Stage Two, publishing a statutory notice.

The Cabinet is required to decide whether to support the governing body's wish to publish a statutory notice.

The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to support the governing body of The Warriner School, Bloxham by approving the publication of a statutory notice to extend the age range of the school and establish a Sixth Form.

Cabinet considered a report on the proposals by the governors of The Warriner School in Bloxham to establish a Sixth Form in order to offer post-16 education.  The report sets out the results of the public consultation and summarises the responses received. 

Dr Kay, Principal of The Warriner School spoke in support of the proposals to establish a sixth form. She referred to the duty of care to meet the needs of students and to the high numbers of students going outside the County for a sixth form education. Of the current Year 10 cohort up to 80% had expressed a preference to stay on at Warriner School. Responding to a query from Councillor Couchman about their plans in terms of conversion to an academy Dr Kay replied that the School was keeping a watching brief and had made no application.

The Cabinet Member for Schools Improvement in moving the recommendations indicated her support for the proposals.

RESOLVED:             to support the governing body of The Warriner School, Bloxham by approving the publication of a statutory notice to extend the age range of the school and establish a Sixth Form.

Cabinet Member: Deputy Leader

Forward Plan Ref: 2011/174

Contact: Sue Corrigan, Strategic HR Manager Tel: (01865) 810280

Report by Head of Human Resources (CA11).

This report gives an update on activity since 31 March 2011.  It gives details of the agreed establishment figure at 31 December 2011 in terms of Full Time Equivalents, together with the staffing position at 31 December 2011. These are also shown by directorate in Appendix 1. In addition, the report provides information on vacancies and the cost of posts being covered by agency staff.

The report also tracks progress on staffing numbers since 1 April 2010 as we implement our Business Strategy.

The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to:

(a) note the report;

(b)  confirm that the Establishment Review continues to meet the Cabinet’s requirements in reporting and managing staffing numbers.

Cabinet considered a report that gave an update on activity since 31 March 2011.  It gave details of the agreed establishment figure at 31 December 2011 in terms of Full Time Equivalents, together with the staffing position at 31 December 2011. These were shown by directorate in Appendix 1. In addition, the report provided information on vacancies and the cost of posts being covered by agency staff.

The report also tracked progress on staffing numbers since 1 April 2010 as we implement our Business Strategy.

The Deputy leader highlighted the continued reduction in establishment numbers and full time equivalents.

RESOLVED:             to:

(a)       note the report;

(b)       confirm that the Establishment Review continues to meet the Cabinet’s requirements in reporting and managing staffing numbers.

Cabinet Member: School Improvements

Forward Plan Ref: 2012/014

Contact: Andy Roberts, Interim Deputy Director for Education & Early Intervention Tel: (01865) 815498

Report by Interim Director for Children, Education & Families (CA12).

The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to:

a)                 Confirm the Council’s future role as commissioner of outcomes, and a champion for the children and families of the county.

b)                Confirm its absolute commitment to improve educational outcomes for those children.

c)                 Clearly state the Council's support for the conversion of schools to become academies and the establishment of new forms of schools, including free schools, studio schools and university technical colleges.

d)                 Agree to conduct a time-limited piece of work to better inform a proposed Oxfordshire Academies Programme, building upon existing conversions and sponsorship arrangements to create a structured and supportive environment for school autonomy and collaboration.

e)                 Agree to establish a new Advisory Board on Education Standards to advise the Council in its role as a Commissioner of excellent outcomes in Education.

Cabinet considered a report seeking confirmation from the Cabinet on its position in respect of the conversion of schools to academies and the establishment of new forms of schools and the future role of the Council.

Councillor Altaf-Khan, Shadow Cabinet Member for Schools Improvement referred to the context of the current legislation and expressed concerns that the Local Authority was not in a position to deal with failing schools. There were a number of issues where multi-school academies could force schools in to converting without proper discussion and this would cause problems. He welcomed the move to set up an Advisory Board but suggested that a Committee would also be needed to safeguard the position of schools and stakeholders. He noted the reference to community leaders and commented that he was not sure who they would be given the very diverse nature of Oxford. He stated that each school case would need to be considered on its merits.

The Cabinet Member for Schools Improvement introduced the contents of the report referring to the commitment to improve educational outcomes and to encourage dialogue with schools. However she stressed that the Council did not have the power to force any school to become an academy. She referred to feedback from the National Union of Teachers that endorsed their opposition to academies but supported the Council’s attempts to manage the situation.

During discussion reference was made to a helpful and supportive letter from The Rt. Hon. Michael Gove MP, Secretary of State for Education. Cabinet welcomed the opportunity to set out its commitment to improving educational outcomes and its support for the academy process. The leadership role of the Council was essential and all Councilors had a role to play in raising the aspirations of people from all sections of the community.  Whilst enthusiastic, a note of caution was sounded by the Cabinet Member for Finance & Property in respect of the impact on Council finances as a result of the conversion of secondary and primary schools. A range of duties would remain to the Council and he hoped that central Government would be realistic and fair over the need to finance those duties.

RESOLVED:            to:

(a)               confirm the Council’s future role as commissioner of outcomes, and a champion for the children and families of the county;

(b)               confirm its absolute commitment to improve educational outcomes for those children;

(c)               clearly state the Council's support for the conversion of schools to become academies and the establishment of new forms of schools, including free schools, studio schools and university technical colleges;

(d)               agree to conduct a time-limited piece of work to better inform a proposed Oxfordshire Academies Programme, building upon existing conversions and sponsorship arrangements to create a structured and supportive environment for school autonomy and collaboration; and

(e)               agree to establish a new Advisory Board on Education Standards to advise the Council in its role as a Commissioner of excellent outcomes in Education.

Cabinet Member: All

Contact Officer: Sue Whitehead, Committee Services Manager (01865 810262)

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 CA13.  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.

The Cabinet considered a list of items for the immediately forthcoming meetings of the Cabinet together with changes and additions set out in the schedule of addenda. They noted in particular the additional meeting scheduled for 23 March 2012.

RESOLVED:          to note the items currently identified for forthcoming meetings.

Cabinet Member: Leader

Forward Plan Ref: 2011/157

Contact: Sue Whitehead, Committee Services Manager Tel: (01865) 810262

Report by Head of Law & Governance (CA13).

To report on a quarterly basis any executive decision taken by the Chief Executive under the specific powers and functions delegated to her under the terms of Part 7.4 of the Council’s Constitution – Paragraph 1(A)(c)(i). Item not for scrutiny call in.

RESOLVED: to note the following executive decision taken by the Chief Executive under the specific powers and functions delegated to her under the terms of Part 7.4 of the Council’s Constitution – Paragraph 1(A)(c)(i).