Meeting documents

Cabinet is asked to approve the six-week consultation on the future of Thrift Farm, and note approval of final decision by the Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing.

Lin Hazel, Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing introduced the report and highlighted the following:

• Thrift farm had been running since the 1980s and currently faced a number of challenges which included financial, accessibility and health and safety risks.
• The report set out a number of proposals which included to do nothing, identify an alternative provider or to decommission the service.
• The decision to put forward alternative proposals had not been taken lightly and she understood the concerns of service users.
• A number of organisations had already been approached to take on the site on but no official business plans had been received to date.
• Cabinet were being asked to approve a six-week consultation on the future of Thrift Farm, and to note approval of the final decision to be taken by the Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing.

Mr Tett highlighted that a large number of representations had been received in objection to the closure of the service which had all been considered by Cabinet Members.  Mr Tett highlighted the difficult financial position of the County Council having lost all revenue support grants from central government, one of only two county councils in the country to have done so.  This had resulted in the council making difficult decisions in order to balance the budget going forward.

Mr Tett stated that a number of valuable points had been made by service users and that he would be very supportive in keeping the service running if able to do so.  Mr Tett reiterated that the report included in the pack asked for Cabinet to agree the start of a six week consultation and that no decision had yet been made on the future of the facility.  Feedback had suggested that six weeks was not long enough, therefore Mr Tett proposed that the consultation be extended to eight weeks with the option of extending further if further work was required on potential options.  Mr Tett also proposed that the final decision was to be taken by Cabinet.  Mr Tett also asked that as much financial information to be shared, within confidential remit. 

Mr Tett stated his disappointment in the response from Milton Keynes senior leadership.  He said that comments made in the press attributed to the Deputy Leader of Milton Keynes council were inappropriate, inaccurate and irresponsible.  Mr Tett urged the leadership at Milton Keynes Council to disassociate itself with those comments.

It was noted that Milton Keynes Council had been approached on a number of occasions and that they had commented on some aspects including purchase of the land, however it had been made clear that Buckinghamshire County Council did not have plans to sell the land. 

Cabinet raised and discussed the following points:

• All Cabinet Members supported the proposal to extend the consultation to eight weeks to ensure appropriate consideration could be given to all options.
• Mr Chilver, Cabinet Member for Resources stated that he would be unable to support the recommendation to Cabinet and highlighted the following concerns:
  • Length of consultation.
  • He would want to be assured that all options had been objectively considered.
  • He would want income generation potential of the site to be explored.
  • The option of applying for Charity status and be open to more charitable funding.
  • Concerns about the distance to alternative placements should Thrift Farm close and the need to consider the quality and appropriateness of those placements.
• Mr Whyte, Cabinet Member for Children’s Services, supported the concerns raised by Mr Chilver and supported the extension of the consultation period and supported the consultation findings to be reported back to Cabinet.  Mr Whyte also stated that more needed to be done to engage with organisations that would potentially be interested in taking on the site.
• Mr Appleyard, Cabinet Member for Education and Skills stated that the farm currently provided work experience for 69 people and that the report was not clear on how we would support those individuals going forward.  Mr Appleyard also raised the additional pressure that could be put on carers if the facility were to close and stated that the report was vague on how their needs would be met.
• Mr Shaw, Cabinet Member for Transportation urged organisations that would be interested in taking the site on to get in contact with the County Council.

Ms G Quinton, Executive Director for Communities, Health and Adult Social Care attended the meeting to respond to Members questions and highlighted the following:

• The financial position of Thrift Farm was included in the report which included income.  Ms Quinton stated that staff had been very proactive in exploring options to generate more income with the support of the County Council.
• Carter Jonas, external advisor, had completed an evaluation of the site and estimated between £500k and £2m depending on lease arrangements would be required to bring it back to and maintain at an appropriate quality.
• The council had been proactive in seeking alternative providers and the opportunity was on the South East Procurement Portal to invite more interested organisations to come forward.  Ms Quinton had stated that recent publicity had created more interest in the farm which was welcomed.

Mr Tett stated that officers had done a great job and the focus now needed to be on what other opportunities could be explored to ensure the farm was kept open but relieve the financial pressure on the County Council.

Recommendation

Cabinet was asked to approve the six-week consultation on the future of Thrift Farm, and note approval of final decision by the Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing.

The Leader put forward the following amendments to the recommendation:

1. The consultation should run for a minimum of eight weeks

2. Approval for final decision to be brought back to Cabinet

RESOLVED: Cabinet AGREED the above amendments, 7 in favour and 1 abstention.