Meeting documents

Venue: Mezzanine Rooms 1 & 2, County Hall, Aylesbury

Contact: Rachel Bennett 

Note: Please note that this meeting will be webcast - please use the "Webcasts" menu link 

Media

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Items
No. Item

1.

Apologies for Absence

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Apologies were received from Lin Hazell, Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing.  Ms Mallen, Deputy Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing was also unable to attend.  Mr M Tett, Leader invited Ms G Quinton, Executive Director for Communities, Health and Adult Social Care to present on behalf of the Cabinet Member under item 3. 

 

Deputy Cabinet Member Mrs A Cranmer was in attendance.

 

2.

Declarations of Interest

Additional documents:

Minutes:

There were none.

 

3.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 185 KB

Of the meeting of the Cabinet held on 4 March 2019 to be agreed as an accurate record and signed by the Chairman.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

RESOLVED:  The minutes of the meeting held on 4 March 2019 were AGREED as an accurate record and signed by the Chairman.

 

4.

Hot Topics

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Minutes:

Cabinet Member for Planning and Environment highlighted that there was one week until the introduction of charges at Household Waste Recycling Centres, the closure of the site at Bledlow and closure of Chesham, Burnham and Rabans Lane on Wednesdays and Thursdays.  Mr Chapple stated there was a need to charge for non-statutory waste in order to keep other sites open.  He reiterated that there would still be no charge for normal rubbish and normal green waste and that charges related to DIY and wood items.  There had been a strong communications campaign which would continue. 

 

Cabinet Member for Children’s Services highlighted an adoption information event in Chesham on 2 April and a fostering information event in Aylesbury on 10 April.  There would be other events throughout the year and information could be found on the website.

Fostering: https://www.buckscc.gov.uk/services/care-for-children-and-families/fostering/fostering-information-event/

Adoption: https://www.buckscc.gov.uk/services/care-for-children-and-families/adoption/becoming-an-adoptive-parent/

 

Mr Whyte thanked Mr Brown, Cabinet Member for Community Engagement and Public Health for attending the recent event at Buckingham Library to celebrate its 70th year.  Both Mr Whyte and Mr Brown remarked that the event was excellent.

 

Cabinet Member for Resources congratulated staff on the recent Digital Public Service Innovation of the Year nomination as part of the Digital Leaders Top 100 Awards, for the Council’s new online reporting tool Fix My Street.

5.

Question Time

This provides an opportunity for Members to ask questions to Cabinet Members

Additional documents:

Minutes:

There were none.

 

6.

Forward Plan for Cabinet and Cabinet Members pdf icon PDF 94 KB

For Cabinet to consider the Forward Plan

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Minutes:

RESOLVED: Cabinet NOTED the report.

7.

Cabinet Member Decisions pdf icon PDF 202 KB

To note progress with Cabinet Member Decisions

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Minutes:

RESOLVED: Cabinet NOTED the report.

8.

Select Committee Work Programme & Inquiry Work Programme pdf icon PDF 278 KB

For Cabinet to consider the Select Committee Work Programme

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Minutes:

RESOLVED: Cabinet NOTED the report.

9.

Q3 2018/19 Performance Report pdf icon PDF 176 KB

Cabinet are asked to:

1.    Come to a view on how the organisation is performing

2.    Take action to improve performance where necessary

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Cabinet received a summary report, scorecard and detailed measures for each of their portfolio areas and were asked to update on those areas that were being flagged as red.

 

The Leader

  • There were no red statuses to report in The Leader portfolio. 
  • % of new floor space developed in enterprise zones relative to projected amount in plan (performance measure) – an error in dates was highlighted, Fit out is due to complete by December 2019 should have read December 2018.
  • Mr Tett highlighted the achievements of three successful enterprise zones in the north of the county and stated that Silverstone was exceeding all expectations.  Mr Tett congratulated the Local Enterprise Partnership on their work.

 

Cabinet Member for Community Engagement and Public Health

  • Number of clients screened by Live Well Stay Well was highlighted as a success.
  • Red - % receiving an NHS Health Check of those who were offered an NHS Health Check – there had been some resistance by GPs to complete as questioned their value.  The Council were offering the NHS support in order to achieve targets.
  • Red - % of successful drug treatment completions of those in treatment – improvement actions were in place.  It was a particular area of concern as impacts were widespread.
  • Red - Total number of visitors to Bucks County Museum – this was due to better weather in October 2018 resulting in less people using the facility.

 

Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing – Ms G Quinton, Executive Director for Communities, Health and Adult Social Care provided an update

  • Adult Social Care was currently going through a Transformation Programme.
  • Admissions of older people (65+) into residential and nursing care was highlighted as an area of success.  There had been an improvement due to the Transformation Programme having had an impact.  Ms Quinton stated that although the numbers were dropping costs were not, due to the complex needs of clients.
  • Red – Delayed transfers of care from hospital– this was a key national indicator and in comparison to other areas, Buckinghamshire were performing well and were amongst the best performing in the South East region.  It was noted that it was a stretching target and improvements had already been made since the last report was published.
  • Red - % Adult Social Care clients receiving an annual review – Ms Quinton stated that the numbers tended to improve as the year progressed.  There was currently a significant shortage of social workers to carry out the assessments.  It was noted that there was a plan to create a bespoke team to carry out the assessments.  Mr Tett stated that this was a particular area of concern and asked that any support required be highlighted to Cabinet.
  • Red - % of people re-abled with an outcome of Independence – Ms Quinton highlighted that at the beginning of the year it was 35% (now 41.5%) so on an upward trend.  There had been a significant improvement in processes which included sign posting to a broader range of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

10.

Brexit update pdf icon PDF 170 KB

Cabinet are asked to:

1.    To note and support the Council’s work with partners, businesses, and voluntary and community sector organisations to ensure the resilience and preparedness of Buckinghamshire as a place

2.    To note and support the Council’s role in supporting the roll out of the EU Settlement Scheme

3.    To note and support the Council’s ‘no deal preparations’

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Mr Tett introduced the item and stated that the County Council did not have a stance on Brexit and introduced Mr M Dias, Policy Officer, who attended the meeting to update Cabinet on the current position.  Mr Dias highlighted the following:

  • The presentation provided in the meeting agenda pack gave a summary of where the County Council was on its preparedness for Brexit.
  • The national overview had changed since the publication of the presentation.
  • Workforce analysis countywide had been undertaken.
  • There had been lobbying of government to take into account the needs of businesses and the public sector post-Brexit.
  • The second Buckinghamshire Brexit Summit had taken place on 6 March 2019.
  • Focus on EU settlement scheme rollout and providing support to EU nationals.
  • Campaign to further promote the EU Settlement Scheme started 25 Marchvia various channels which included billboards, radio, TV and social media.
  • Mr Dias went through the support the council were giving to the roll out of the scheme which included passport checking service, targeted communications and library staff ready to provide information. 
  • There was an employee and Community Leaders toolkit.
  • There had so far been 150,000 applications with none so far being rejected.
  • Mr Dias gave assurances that no deal preparations were also underway working with partners across the sector.

Mr Tett thanked Mr Dias for all his work in guiding the County Council and partners across all sectors.  He also highlighted the work with Bucks Business First (BBF) who had also done a tremendous job in getting information out to businesses.

Cabinet are asked to:

  1. To note and support the Council’s work with partners, businesses, and voluntary and community sector organisations to ensure the resilience and preparedness of Buckinghamshire as a place
  2. To note and support the Council’s role in supporting the roll out of the EU Settlement Scheme
  3. To note and support the Council’s ‘no deal preparations’

RESOLVED:  Cabinet NOTED the above recommendations.

11.

Future Legal Services pdf icon PDF 210 KB

Cabinet are asked to:

 

i.              Agree to the implementation of the proposals set out in this report.

ii.            Delegate to the Executive Director for Resources, following agreement with the       Cabinet Member for Resources, authority to execute an Inter Authority       Agreement with the district councils and take any other necessary actions to give effect to the proposals.

iii.           Revoke the current delegations to the London Borough of Harrow for the            discharge of the Council’s legal function with effect from 30 September 2019, and delegate such authority thereafter in accordance with the new legal service model, including:

a)    To delegate the discharge of the Council’s legal function to the Head of Legal & Compliance;

b)   To authorise the Head of Legal & Compliance to institute, defend or participate in any legal proceedings and sign documents on behalf of the council.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Mr J Chilver, Cabinet Member for Resources introduced the item and highlighted the following points:

  • The County Council, since 2016 had had a shared legal service with the London Borough of Harrow.
  • Notice had been given and the contract was due to end in September 2019.
  • Due to the creation of the new council in April 2020 there was an interim period between October 2019 and March 2020 where a hybrid model would be used in order to remain flexible and but provide continuity while reducing costs.
  • The County Council was working collaboratively with all 4 district councils.

Mrs S Payne, Director of Policy, Communications and Performance attended the meeting to present the report to Cabinet.  Mrs Payne highlighted the following points:

  • The options had been designed with the new unitary authority in mind, maximising early opportunities to share with district councils as there were clear benefits of avoiding duplication, retaining specialist staff and minimising any potential redundancies later.
  • The flexibility would allow the use of external provisions where appropriate.
  • Business Units would continue to have transparency on legal work and costs and the continuity of support to relevant meetings.
  • The business case set out a full range of options and due diligence had taken place.
  • Mrs Payne thanked district colleagues for their collaboration which was the first step towards integration of back office services.

Cabinet raised and discussed the following points.

  • Districts colleagues were commended for their collaborative work by Cabinet Members and it was hoped that it sent a strong message to all staff that there are big opportunities.
  • Assurances were asked for a seamless transition and Mrs Payne stated that the existing children’s team would transfer to the Council to ensure continuity.  Mr Chilver also stated that a new case management software had recently been agreed which was the same used as HBPL and would be working on the license being carried forward into the new authority.
  • Mrs Payne clarified that while option 5 was predominately in-house there would still be the option to outsource if there were the requirements for it.
  • Mrs Payne confirmed that the preferred model was intended to contain costs.

Cabinet agreed there was no need to discuss the confidential appendices.

Cabinet were asked to:

  1. Agree to the implementation of the proposals set out in this report.
  2. Delegate to the Executive Director for Resources, following agreement with the Cabinet Member for Resources, authority to execute an Inter Authority Agreement with the district councils and take any other necessary actions to give effect to the proposals.
  3. Revoke the current delegations to the London Borough of Harrow for the discharge of the Council’s legal function with effect from 30 September 2019, and delegate such authority thereafter in accordance with the new legal service model, including:

a)  To delegate the discharge of the Council’s legal function to the Head of Legal & Compliance;

b)  To authorise the Head of Legal & Compliance to institute, defend or participate in any legal proceedings and sign documents on behalf of the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11.

12.

Date of the Next Meeting

15 April 2019.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

15 April 2019.

13.

Exclusion of the Press and Public

To resolve to exclude the press and public as the following item is exempt by virtue of Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12a of the Local Government Act 1972 because it contains information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information)

Additional documents:

Minutes:

RESOLVED

 

That the press and public be excluded for the following item which is exempt by virtue of Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12a of the Local Government Act 1972 because it contains information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information)

 

14.

Future Legal Services

For Cabinet to consider confidential appendices.

Minutes:

There was no further discussion required.