Agenda and minutes

(Item 5 – report by Mr J Simmonds, Cabinet Member for Finance and Business Support and Mr A Wood, Corporate Director of Finance and Procurement)

Cabinet received a report of the above named Member and officer, the purpose of which was to provide the second full financial monitoring report of the 2012-13 financial year.  Mr Simmonds introduced the report to cabinet and in particular referred to the following details contained within it, pertaining to the revenue budget:

• That the main themes within the report were positive and the underspend had risen in value from £5m at the last report to £6m currently
• This figure would be reduced in the future by 1.9 million as big society monies to this value had been set aside for the Kent Youth Employment Scheme and rolled forward on this budget, owing to spending restrictions that meant the money would not be utilised as planned until 2013/14.
• A pressure area, currently valued at approx £5m, was identified within Specialist Children’s Services and lay particularly within the areas of fostering and residential services.  The control measures and early intervention services introduced were beginning to show results but these areas would continue to present challenges for the Council
• A further pressure estimated at £3m was identified in relation to those asylum seekers who were unaccompanied minors or had had ‘Appeal Rights Exhausted’ (ARE).  The report to members assumed the same level of funding from central government as had been received in 2011/2012 but negotiations continued between KCC and the Government.  The County Council was determined that the cost of care for these young people should not be met by the local tax payer and represented its views as such in all negotiations.
• Adult Social Care continued to show an underspend of 2.7m.  Largely accredited to the increased demand nursing care and supported accommodation for older people and domiciliary care and residential care for people with learning disabilities having been offset by  a lower than projected demand for direct payments, day care and older peoples residential care.
• Education, Learning and Skills reported an underspend of £3.6m, partly accredited to the unemployment programme income and the trading and psychology services. In addition Home to School Transport had started to show an underspend after changes to the policy at the start of the school year but the figures were still to be fully analysed.  Any underspend would help to offset spending incurred as a result of the success of the freedom pass.
• Environment, Highways and Waste recorded an underspend in Waste of £1.95m and the annual tonnage sent to landfill had reduced, approximately 720,000 was now forecast against a budgeted figure of 730,000 tonnes. 
• A forecasted shortfall in the Commercial Services contribution was recorded at £1.2m due to additional costs of restructuring and a re-phasing of the increased income target built into the current year budget, now expected to be achieved in 2013-14.
• Finance and Procurement reported savings were a result of the rephrasing of the Capital programme, absorption of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 16.

(Item 6 – report by Mr Alex King, Deputy Leader of Kent County Council and Mr P Sass, Head of Democratic Services)

Cabinet received a report of the member and officer named above the purpose of which was to set out the decisions reached by the Council’s Scrutiny Committee at it meeting of 24 October 2012.

Two decisions had been taken and were reported for consideration and both related to the Education, Learning and Skills department, therefore the Chairman, Leader of the County Council asked the Cabinet Member for Education Learning and Skills, Mr Mike Whiting to comment.

Mr Whiting referred to his responses contained within the report and additionally thanked the scrutiny Committee, Select Committees and Schools for the work that had been undertaken.  In particular he noted the level of information considered by the Educational Attainment Select Committee and the welcome result of its analysis; an improvement in Key Stage 2 standards in 2012.

It was RESOLVED:

(Item 7 – report by Mr Mike Whiting, Cabinet Member for Education learning and Skills and Mr P Leeson, Corporate Director of Education, Learning and Skills)

Cabinet received a report of the above named member and officer the purpose of which was to provide an overview of the latest DfE School Funding Reformsand the challenges inherent in their implementation for the Local Authority and for schools.  In addition to the reporting of statutory changes directed by the DfE the report sought agreement to the practical approaches to be taken to the implementation in Kent.

Mr Whiting introduced the report and in particular referred to the following information contained within it:

• That many of the changes that would occur were the result of Government direction and not of local choice
• That the number of indices had been reduced.  Concern had been expressed to Government that this approach would not allow the highly sensitive deprivation targeting, which had occurred under the previous system, to continue.
• That the School Funding Forum had been consulted on the local choice elements within the report and had not objected to the approaches set out.

Following comments and questions from the Leader of the County Council, the Corporate Director of Education, learning and Skills, Mr Leeson clarified some of the potential consequences of the changes, he advised:

·         That the change from the mosaic method of identifying deprivation and need to the new method represented a significant change and could result in significant funding changes for Schools

·         That the message from Government was that the Minimum Funding Guarantee would continue beyond the next election.

The Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Economic Development, Mr Mark Dance, voiced his concerns that changing from the Mosaic system would lead to a loss of sensitivity within the data collected and that in particular the old system would differentiate between where a child lived and where it went to school which would no longer be the case.  Mr Whiting concurred and reported that KCC and other local authorities had lobbied the Government on hearing of the changes but that concerns had not been addressed.

                             
The Leader of the County Council also reiterated the concerns expressed.

Mr Leeson commended the recommendations contained within the report to Cabinet, which he claimed constituted a radical approach to accommodating changes imposed by Government with as little disruption to services as possible.

It was RESOLVED:

(Item 8 – report by Mr J Simmonds, Cabinet Member for Finance and Business Support and Andy Wood, Corporate Director, Finance and Procurement)

(During the item Mr Gibbens declared a personal non-pecuniary interest by virtue of his wife being a member of the Canterbury and Herne Bay Volunteer Bureaux, a voluntary sector organisation which could be impacted by changes to delivery of services)

Cabinet received a report of the above named member and officer the purpose of which was to provide the proposed response from Cabinet to the 2013 /14 Budget Consultation.

Mr Simmonds introduced the report to Cabinet for consideration.  In particular he referred to the following points within it:

·         That the Chancellor, Mr Osborne, would make a statement on 5^th December and Mr Pickles would further qualify that statement for local government on the 19^th or 20^th December.  The budget proposals therefore would not be finalised until after these speeches.

·         That the draft document was a living document and had undergone some changes since being consulted upon.  One of these changes was as a result of the announcement of the continuation of the Council Tax Freeze Grant, which had now been guaranteed for two more years.

·         Early intervention grant and LACSEG, the central staffing functions carried out by KCC had been adapted by Rt Hon Michael Gove MP.  The result was likely to be a lower settlement.

·         Costs of the consultation have been approx £38,000.  Mr Simmonds defended the spend against some reported criticism and explained that a large proportion of this had been spent on the MORI workshops which had been invaluable in collecting opinions from a genuine cross section of the County’s residents.

Mr Simmonds reported that themes from respondents to the consultation included:

·         Council Tax – for the first time there was no appetite for raising council tax to meet other needs.  In addition residents favoured the use of reserves to meet identified need as opposed to a raise in Council Tax.

·         The need for service delivery to be efficient and effective.

·         Support for vulnerable adults and children continued to be important to residents in Kent and the transformational approach that was being taken would be crucial in the delivery of these services.

·         Community responsibility was emphasised by respondents when considering the future provision of non-statutory duties.

·         A desire to see any move towards online communications coupled with support for the elderly in order that certain demographics were not disadvantaged in their relations with the council.

Matt Burrows, Director of Communications and Engagement, Customer and Communities and Dave Shipton, Head of Financial Strategy, BSS were in attendance and made a presentation, the purpose of which was to describe the methodology behind the consultation and to report the key themes within the responses. [A copy of the presentation is attached as appendix 1 to these minutes]

In response to questions received during and after the presentation, Cabinet heard the following information from officers:

·         That MORI was a well established and highly regarded research  ...  view the full minutes text for item 19.

(Item 9 – report by Mr R Gough, Cabinet Member for Business Strategy, Performance and Health Reform and Mr D Cockburn, Corporate Director of Business Strategy and Support)

Cabinet received a report of the above named member and officer which contained for consideration and comment the latest version of the Corporate Risk Register.

Cabinet Member for Business Strategy, Performance and Health Reform, Mr Roger Gough introduced the report to Cabinet.  In particular he referred to the following information:

• That the Risk Register process had become significantly more rigorous and systematic in the past year.
• That the Corporate Risk Register for consideration was supported by division and departmental risk registers and therefore contained within this register were only those very significant or cross cutting risks which threatened the council as a whole.
• Indicators had been refreshed, removed and added.  This was to help to ensure that only the most significant risks appeared.
• That the link between the Corporate Risk Register and the actions undertaken to mitigate those risks was made by the Performance and Evaluation Board and the Divisional and Departmental Business Plans. The register was intended to inform and protect KCC and was not produced for its own sake.

Mr Richard Hallett, Head of Business Intelligence for the BSS Directorate was in attendance to speak to the item; he had nothing further to add to the comments which Mr Gough had made and no further questions were received.

It was RESOLVED:

(Item 10 – Report by Mr M Hill, Cabinet Member for Customer and Communities and Amanda Honey, Corporate Director for Customer and Communities)

Cabinet received a report of the Select Committee: Preventing and Responding to Domestic Violence and Abuse in Kent which sought approval for the recommendations contained within.

The Leader of the County Council, Mr Paul Carter, confirmed that the full County Council meeting of 13^th December 2012 would also consider the report and recommendations.

The Cabinet Member for Customer and Communities, Mr Mike Hill introduced the report and welcomed its findings and recommendations especially timely, he argued, in light of the recent election of a Police Commissioner for Kent and Medway and the launch of KCC’s new website focussed on issues and resolutions related to Domestic Violence.

The Chairman of the Select Committee Mr John Kirby and Select Committee members Mrs Tweed and Mr Willicombe were in attendance to speak to the report.

Mr Kirby spoke to the report and drew on particular issues within it, including:

·         The varied profiles of both victims and perpetrators of Domestic abuse and therefore the necessary variety of solutions that might be employed.

·         The concern of the Select Committee regarding the withdrawal of dedicated Domestic Abuse Liaison officers owing to budgetary constraints within the Police Force.  He argued that this would have a negative affect on victims.  However, as mentioned previously by the Mr Hill, the election of the Police Commissioner for Kent and Medway presented an opportunity to raise the profile of domestic violence and abuse and ensure partnership working to reduce its occurrences and impacts.

·         That it was important to create partnership and multi agency working via GP’s, A&E departments, One Stop Shops, etc and the will to do so was evident amongst stakeholders and other organisations.

·         That cyclical domestic violence within families should be targeted and schools should, and were, educating children about what was normal within a relationship and what was not.

·         Finally he thanked those members who had been involved in the Committee and officers for the support they had given and he hoped that the report produced would raise awareness and offer some solutions to a challenging problem.

Mrs Tweed also spoke to the report and drew on issues within; she reiterated some of the points made by Mr Kirby and additionally referred to the following:

• That Domestic Violence was a crime that isolated the victim and therefore efforts to lift the taboo were welcome in all forms.

• That subsections of domestic violence were touched on in the report but that more work should be done on honour killings and female genital mutilation.   With regard to the latter crime the CPS had introduced a ten point plan to help improve reporting.
• That although the problem was diverse and wide spread, small changes in attitude and actions could make a difference and the recommendations in the report aimed to achieve that.

The Cabinet Member for Business Strategy, Performance and Health Reform, Roger Gough addressed Cabinet;  ...  view the full minutes text for item 21.

(Item 11 – report by Mr R Gough, Cabinet Member for Business Strategy, Performance and Health Reform and Mr D Cockburn, Corporate Director of Business Strategy and Support)

Cabinet received a report of the member and officer named above, the purpose of which was to provide updated information on key areas of the Council’s performance for consideration and comment.

The Cabinet Member for Business Strategy, Performance and Health Reform, Mr Roger Gough, spoke to the report and in particular referred to the following:

• That further work continued to establish qualitative indicators within performance measuring and reporting.
• That where performance indicators were recorded as red, particularly where the direction of travel was not positive, a report would be considered by the Performance and Evaluation Board in order to explain the issues affecting performance and the actions being taken.
• That although the direction of travel for the year was positive, having shown improvement, considerable work would need to be undertaken in order to achieve similar performance results as last year.

The Leader of the County Council reiterated the importance of the rigour placed on the system of performance monitoring and management and reported that this was further engrained by a culture of peer comparison with other authorities.

Mr Richard Hallett, Head of Business Intelligence for the BSS Directorate was in attendance to speak to the item, he had nothing further to add to the comments which Mr Gough had made and no further questions were received.

Mr Hallet did draw Members attention to the recommendation seeking approval of a variation to a business plan target that was being sought.  This variation, he explained, was sought to reflect changes to the national target for personal budgets which had been reduced from 100% to 70%.

The Leader of the County Council confirmed with officers that each divisional section of the performance report would be taken to the relevant Cabinet Committee for consideration and comment and reminded officers that the comments, ideas and requests received should be incorporated wherever possible.

The Cabinet Member for Specialist Children’s Services, Mrs Jenny Whittle addressed Cabinet; she reported that although the adoption target was still reported as ‘red’ there had in fact been a substantial increase in numbers of children placed with families.  She illustrated this by comparing figures from 2011/12 when 67 children were placed with families and the first 7 months of 2012/13 where 80 children had already been placed with families.  There was a delay in the reporting of figures owing to the time lag between children being placed and adoption orders being granted and therefore she expected to see the improvement in performance occurring now registered in the figures for 2013/14.

The Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Economic Development, Mr Mark Dance spoke to the item.  He reported that the performance indicator which measured the ‘Number of gross jobs created in Kent and Medway through inward investment” was currently flagged as red but assured members that the work being carried out such as the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 22.

(Item 13 – report by Mr R Gough, Cabinet Member for Business Strategy, Performance and Health Reform and David Cockburn, Corporate Director of Business Strategy and Support)

Cabinet received a report of the member and officer named above the purpose of which was to provide the final business case for the St Augustine’s Academy project and seek approval of that business case and affordability position and agreement to enter into a contract with the preferred bidder.

Cabinet member for Business Strategy, Performance and Health Reform, Mr Gough introduced the report.

The Leader of the County Council was concerned that the financial implications of the decision, although contained within the section of the report entitled ‘Risk profile’, were not contained separately under a specific heading as well.  He requested that in the future this always be the case in order to ensure financial rigour within the process.  The Leader made clear that his comment referred also to the two reports to be heard at items 14 and 15.

It was RESOLVED:

RECORD OF DECISION

(Item 14 – report by Mr R Gough, Cabinet Member for Business Strategy, Performance and Health Reform and David Cockburn, Corporate Director of Business Strategy and Support)

Cabinet received a report of the member and officer named above the purpose of which was to provide the final business case for the Duke of York’s Royal Military School project and seek approval of that business case and affordability position and agreement to enter into a contract with the preferred bidder.

Cabinet member for Business Strategy, Performance and Health Reform, Mr Gough introduced the report.

The Leader had commented on the content of this report as part of the discussion contained in minute 24 of this document.

It was RESOLVED

RECORD OF DECISION

(Item 15 – report by Mr R Gough, Cabinet Member for Business Strategy, Performance and Health Reform and David Cockburn, Corporate Director of Business Strategy and Support)

Cabinet received a report of the member and officer named above the purpose of which was to provide the final business case for the Knole Academy project and seek approval of that business case and affordability position and agreement to enter into a contract with the preferred bidder.

Cabinet Member for Business Strategy, Performance and Health Reform, Mr Gough introduced the report.

The Leader had commented on the content of this report as part of the discussion contained in minute 24 of this document.

It was RESOLVED

RECORD OF DECISION