Cabinet Member decisions

Proposed decision –

a)    APPROVE the changes to the rates payable for Children’s Services in 2023-24.

b)    NOTE the rates which are dictated by external agencies i.e. Inter-agency charges and Essential Living Allowance

c)    DELEGATE authority to the Corporate Director of Children, Young People and Education, or other nominated officers, to undertake the necessary actions to implement the decision.

Background:

The rates payable by Children’s Services are reviewed annually, with any revisions normally introduced from the start of the new financial year.

Some of the increases are directly linked to the published Department for Education fostering rates, which are reviewed by the Department annually.

As Cabinet Member for Integrated Children’s Services, I agree to:

a)     

1. The weekly Foster Care Maintenance allowance is increased to:

2. Additional one-off payment of £500 per foster carer in 2023-24

3. The weekly Foster Care Reward element is increased to:

4. The weekly Foster Care Disability Enhancement is increased to:

5. The weekly Foster Care Skills Based Payment is increased to:

6. The weekly Emergency Foster Carer Retainer payment remains at:

7. The hourly Sessional & Day Care payments increase to:

8. The Foster Carer Mileage Rate will remain at 45p per mile in line with KCC staff.

9. The Kent Supported Homes (Supporting Lodging payments to hosts) remain at:

*LHA – Local Housing Authority

**Various – the rate will depend on circumstances and agreed in line with the Staying Put policy.

b)    NOTE:

10. The rates which are dictated by external agencies i.e. Inter-agency charges and Essential Living Allowance

c)    DELEGATE:

xi: Authority to the Corporate Director of Children, Young People and Education, or other nominated officers, to undertake the necessary actions to implement the decision.

Proposed decision

To agree to accept the DfT BSIP offer of £18,985,735, for delivery of agreed initiatives, in the year 23/24.  The funding is split, £12,454,840 capital and £6,530,895 revenue.

Reason for the decision

Following negotiations with DfT in respect to the BSIP indicative funding, DfT confirmed that they could provide years 1 & 2 of this indicative funding, on the proviso that it was delivered in 23/24.  Following submission of revised initiatives that can be delivered in a 12-month period, DfT have confirmed a funding offer of £18,985,735, which is split as £12,454,840 capital and £6,530,895 revenue.  The decision is to enable the acceptance of this offer and for the funds to be released by DfT to KCC.

Background

Department for Transport (DfT) had awarded KCC an indicative funding allocation of (circa.) £35m payable over a three-year period commencing April 2022 for its Bus Service Improvement Plan. DfT remain supportive of the full BSIP funding but due to a protracted clarification process and a review by DfT of their short and medium-term spending commitments, this allocation has not been formally confirmed. However, DfT has confirmed there is an opportunity to receive the first two years funding, subject to KCC agreeing to certain conditions which are being developed. KCC has therefore worked with the DfT to identify a range of  initiatives that could be delivered within a curtailed, 12-month period which would require £18.9m This decision covers this funding allocation.

Options (other options considered but discarded)

To forego the funding award. This is rejected as the funding still represents a significant investment into public transport services to build a more sustainable future service.

How the proposed decision supports Framing Kent’s Future 2022-2026:

The decision supports Priority 2: Infrastructure for communities and the specific commitment Work with our partners through the Kent Enhanced Bus Partnership and with Government to explore sustainable and commercially viable options for providing bus transport to meet people’s needs, making the best use of Bus Service Improvement Plan funding.

Data Protection implications

An overarching Data Protection Impact assessment will be undertaken on the acceptance of the grant funding and for each project.

As Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport, I agree to accept the DfT BSIP offer of £18,985,735, for delivery of agreed initiatives, in the year 23/24.  The funding is split, £12,454,840 capital and £6,530,895.

Proposed decision –

The Cabinet Member for Education and Skills is asked to:

a)       authorise the allocation of £6,372,043 from the Children Young People and Education Services Basic Need Capital Budget to fund the permanent expansion of Wrotham School, with the provision of 265 additional places across the year groups to increase its Published Admission Number (PAN) to 210 places from September 2024.

b)       authorise the Corporate Director of Finance (s151 officer) and Director of Infrastructure, Strategic and Corporate Services in consultation with the General Counsel and Director of Education to enter into any necessary contracts/ agreements on behalf of the County Council.

c)       authorise the Director of Infrastructure, Strategic and Corporate Services to be the nominated Authority Representative within the relevant agreements and to enter into variations as envisaged under the contracts.

Reason for Decision

KCC has identified the need for additional places within the Sevenoaks and Borough Green Non-Selective Planning Group.  It has therefore agreed with the Character Education Trust to permanently expand Wrotham School’s PAN to 210 from September 2024 via the commissioning of 265 additional places across the school year groups.

KCC as the Local Authority (LA), has a statutory duty to ensure sufficient school places are available.  The County Council’s Commissioning Plan for Education Provision in Kent 2023-27 is a five-year rolling plan which is updated annually. It sets out KCC’s future plans as Strategic Commissioner of Education Provision across all types and phases of education in Kent.  A copy of the plan can be viewed from this link:

https://www.kent.gov.uk/about-the-council/strategies-and-policies/education-skills-and-employment-policies/education-provision-plan

Background

In July 2021 Wrotham School was selected for rebuilding as part of the second set of The School Rebuilding Programme (SRP).  The SRP is a Department for Education (DfE) scheme that carries out major rebuilding and refurbishment projects at school and sixth-form college buildings across England, with buildings prioritised according to their condition.

The Wrotham School project comprises the full rebuilding of the current school accommodation within its existing site.  The rebuilding scheme will be managed and funded (via the SRP award) by the DfE.

Additionally, KCC has identified a need for additional places within the Sevenoaks and Borough Green Non-Selective Planning Group.  It has therefore agreed with the academy and the DfE to commission 265 additional places across the year groups at Wrotham school to enable its PAN to be increased permanently to 210. The additional places will be included within the rebuilding project, which will be managed by the DfE and KCC will meet the associated costs of the additional works via Basic Need Capital funding.

Options

There are only 3 three schools within the Sevenoaks and Borough Green non-selective planning group, including Wrotham, and the other 2 schools have recently been expanded and therefore cannot easily accommodate additional places.

As Cabinet Member for Education and Skills, I agree to:

(i)             authorise the allocation of £6,880,428 from the Children Young People and Education Services Basic Need Capital Budget to fund the permanent expansion of Wrotham School, with the provision of 265 additional places across the year groups to increase its Published Admission Number (PAN) to 210 places from September 2025.

(ii)            authorise the Corporate Director of Finance (s151 officer) and Director of Infrastructure, Strategic and Corporate Services in consultation with the General Counsel and Director of Education to enter into any necessary contracts/ agreements on behalf of the County Council.

(iii)          authorise the Director of Infrastructure, Strategic and Corporate Services to be the nominated Authority Representative within the relevant agreements and to enter into variations as envisaged under the contracts. Variations to contract value to be no more than 10% above the capital funding agreed by the Cabinet Member without requiring a new Record of Decision.

Proposed decision –

a. to commence development and co-design of the Family Hub model for Kent in line with Government Family Hub framework for delivery and associated plans.

b. to allocate and spend funding allocated via the Family Hub Transformation Authority for 2022/23 financial year.

c. to delegate authority of expenditure to the Corporate Director of Children, Young People and Education, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Integrated Children’s Services and the Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Public Health

•         Reason for the decision

Summary: Kent County Council has been successful in receiving Family Hub Transformation Authority status and has therefore received designated Family Hub Transformation Funding.

Further work now needs to commence to begin exploring how the Family Hub model could work in Kent.  To align with this, expenditure of funding allocated for Financial year 2022-2023 needs to take place.

Following key decision 22/00094 which relates to the acknowledgement of status and acceptance of funding as part of the Family Hubs Transformation programme, a further key decision is now required in order to allocate expenditure for financial year 2022 – 2023 and commence development activity for Family Hubs. 

The Council must take a formal decision to enable this financial year's funding to be allocated and support the development of further proposals regarding future delivery.

Allocation of this initial expenditure will allow further work to be undertaken to develop more detailed and co-designed proposals for delivery alongside proposed allocation of expenditure for subsequent years, which will be subject to governance through normal Executive Decision making arrangements.

•         Options (other options considered but discarded)

Do nothing – additional funding to support the improvement of Family Services    in Kent will not be able to be utilised failure to make use of this grant may result in it needing to be repaid unless confirmed otherwise by DfE.

Should funding not be utilised for this financial year it could put any future Family Hubs Transformation Funding for subsequent years at risk of non-receipt.

Progress expenditure - of the limited funding allocated for this financial year and utilise it to further develop and progress further exploration of what Family Hub services could look like, including improving access through community outreach and an enhanced digital offer.

Delay – further delivery of Family Hubs Transformation and request for Kent’s delivery timeframes to be pushed back. DfE have outlined that they would not be in agreement, and this may impact future funding and outcomes reporting.

There is also, currently an expectation from DfE that as part of this Transformation Programme, Kent will have opened some Family Hubs by the first half of 2023.

Financial Implications

The Council has been notionally allocated to receive up to £10million over three years as part of the Family Hubs Transformation Funding Programme.

The Department of Education (DfE) have specified this funding should be used to develop and scope how Family Hubs could be transformed, incrementally add to existing services, complement existing services and/or offer new services in order to improve services to whole families in Kent, ensuring open access provides a 0-19 years model and children get the ‘Best Start to Life’.

For 2022-23, £2,830,000 Family Hubs funding has been provisionally allocated by the DfE to Kent, with £138,164 of this being capital expenditure. A further £183,000 in revenue funding has also been allocated specifically to begin to undertake preliminary transformation activity during this financial year.

Initial payments of £1.4m from the total year 1 allocation, have been received by the Council in November 2022 and January 2023.

Discussions remain ongoing with the DfE in relation to the remaining funding with further payments anticipated to be received by the Council by March 2023.

Of the initial funding received, £1,3m has been forecasted to be spent by the end of March 2023, and the remainder of year 1 allocation is committed to be spent subject to DfE approval. The majority of this expenditure has been on staffing costs for planning and preparatory work and purchasing of some equipment to support outreach services, where needed. 

Due to Family Hub Transformation Programme delays and DfE deadlines extending, spending the allocated funding has been delayed and the Council remain in discussions with DfE around expectations and timelines for monies which are committed but not spent at the end of this financial year. 

Work is also underway to extend engagement with key stakeholders including through Parent and Carer Panels to ensure meaningful co-production of Family Hub Transformation activity in line with Family Hub Programme guidance.

As Cabinet Member for Integrated Children’s Services, I agree to:

a. commence development and co-design of the Family Hub model for Kent in line with Government Family Hub framework for delivery and associated plans.

b. note and confirm the expenditure, activity and planning for funding already allocated under Key Decision 22/00094, progressed under the delegation to receive and deploy initial funding in accordance with the requirement to develop and explore detailed transformation plans.

c. Note that the implementation of the full range of changes required to transform KCC’s existing provision to meet the requirements set out in the Government’s Family Hub model plan will be subject to future Executive decision-making.

d. to delegate authority to the Corporate Director of Children, Young People and Education, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Integrated Children’s Services and the Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Public Health, to take necessary actions, including but not limited to entering into contracts and other legal agreements, as required to implement the decision.

Proposed decision:

Award contracts to the successful providers for the provision of Interpreting and Communication Services for People who are d/Deaf and Deafblind and delegate authority to the Corporate Director Adult Social Care and Health to take other relevant actions, including but not limited to finalising the terms of and entering into required contracts or other legal agreements, as necessary to implement the decision.

Reason for the decision:

Kent County Council’s (KCC) statutory responsibilities under The Care Act 2014, Equality Act 2010 and the Accessible Information Standard 2016 are partly met through an Interpreting and Communication service for People who are D/deaf or Deafblind. The framework contract provides a list of pre-vetted and approved communication professionals from whom interpreting and translation services can be purchased as and when required.

This decision supports the delivery of the corporate equality objective to ensure council information and services are accessible for everyone identified in Framing Kent’s Future – Our Council Strategy 2022-2026, and in the Adult Social Care strategy, Making a Difference Every Day, by offering a person-centred approach to accessing communication support to people who need it.

The council’s current framework commenced in June 2019 and will expire in June 2023. New contractual arrangements for purchasing these communication services need to be in place by 17 June 2023. Decision number 22/00090 was taken on the 5 October 2022 to tender for a new Interpreting and Communication Services framework of providers.

Options considered and discounted:

Do nothing – This would pose risks to the council in terms of control over costs, service quality and inconsistent service provision.

Commission managed interpreting services from a single provider – This option has been discounted due to the lost opportunity to develop relationships with and support local interpreters, and the potential to lose control over quality and interpreter availability.

Commissioning D/deaf interpreting services from an external provider via an existing Framework – National frameworks do not guarantee the provision of qualified interpreters, and research suggests this type of framework directly leads to a poor service to users which in turn increases the demand on social services e.g., poor interpreting can lead to people not understanding an issue and the person may require additional support from health and social care providers.

As Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Public Health, I:

a) APPROVE the award of contracts for Interpreting and Communication Services for People who are D/deaf and Deafblind.

b) DELGATE authority to the Corporate Director Adult Social Care and Health to take other relevant actions, including but not limited to finalising the terms of and entering into required contracts or other legal agreements, as necessary to implement the decision.

Proposed decision:

i)             Competitively tender a new contract for Independent Adoption Support Services, effective from 1 October 2023 to 30 September 2027 (four years) with an additional two, two-year extensions options.  

ii)            Delegate decisions and necessary actions, including the award and implementation of any contract extensions allowable within the terms and conditions of the contract, to the Corporate Director for Children, Young People and Education, or other Officer as instructed by the Corporate Director for Children, Young People and Education, in consultation with the Cabinet Member.

Reason for the decision:

The proposed decision is regarding the commissioning of independent adoption support services through an activity-based contract from 1 October 2023 to 30 September 2027 (four years) with an additional two, two-year extension options. This will be competitively tendered and will support KCC and Adoption Partnership South East in meeting its statutory duties. 

Background:

In 2015 the Government set out its vision and commitment to deliver a regional adoption system where adoption agencies would come together to deliver adoption services on a larger scale. Adoption Partnership South East (APSE) is a Regional Adoption Agency (RAA) comprising of the London Borough of Bexley, Kent County Council and Medway Council. It launched on 1 November 2020 and delivers adoption services on behalf of the three Local Authorities.

The Regional Adoption Agency is operated under the terms of a Partnership Agreement, which confirms the legal and governance arrangements; the budget; staffing and funding contributions for the three Local Authorities.

Local Authorities, as part of their statutory duties, must take steps to provide assistance to adopted children and adults such as counselling and finding out the details of their adoption.  KCC has a statutory responsibility to safeguard and promote the welfare of Kent Children in Care and ensure best value for money it spends on behalf of the Kent population

The service will meet the requirements of the applicable regulatory framework, the National Minimum Standards (NMS) and APSE’s identified service outcome of “Children, birth parents/guardians and families and adoptive parents and families will be valued and respected.”  

Service Objectives are:

·         To ensure that our strategic partner delivers our statutory obligations regarding the provision of birth parent counselling, access to birth records and intermediary services and ensuring that family time is protected, promoted, and delivered as per agreed Contact Plans.

·         To meet the needs of children, birth families, adoptive parents and adopted adults and all those who are subject to or who are affected by Adoption.

·         To ensure the voices of children, birth families, adoptive parents and adopted adults and all those who are subject to or who are affected by Adoption are sought and listened to.

Available Options:  

1.         Do Nothing

The contract would lapse and the Council would not meet its statutory duties. An alternative means to deliver these statutory services would be required. With no agreed alternative in place, new systems would need to be implemented and additional resource would be required – see Option 3 In-sourcing. 

2.         Competitively tender for a new activity contract

The proposed decision to competitively tender for a new activity contract will cause the least disruption to KCC, its partners and to the market. The contract would be effective from 1 October 2023 to 30 September 2027 (four years) with an additional two, two-year extension options. This option offers stability to the market and a longer contract term requires less procurement activity to be carried out on behalf of the Council’s, thereby reducing costs.  In addition, this commissioning and procurement approach enables the Council to:

·         test the market in terms of innovation on delivering contact through digital platforms.

·         compare costs between tender submissions and identify the provider who demonstrates a value for money approach.

·         promote the reputational benefits of working with an Adoption Support Agency/Voluntary Adoption Agency.

·         ensure strong contract management arrangements are in place with agreed performance and quality levels.

This is the preferred and recommended option which is supported by the Adoption Partnership South East Board.

3.         Bring Services in-house (Insourcing), to commence 1 October 2023

The current commissioned provider’s team who deliver these services would be subject to TUPE.  APSE Partnership Board would be required to make a decision as to which of the three Local Authorities would wish to host the relevant workforce.  Bringing the service in-house would require significant investment to enable the set-up of new systems and processes to support delivery.  Currently APSE lacks sufficient expertise to deliver these services and would require significant upskilling which would take resources away from other parts of adoption support as this was not originally factored into the Partnership.  This option would also mean that the location of teams across APSE may need re-organising to ensure consistency of access and delivery. 

Financial Implications:

The budget for commissioned services sits within the APSE core budget.  The current value of the contract is £426,020 per annum exclusive of VAT, based on these costs the total value of the commission is £3,408,160 for the period of the contract term and extensions (eight years).

It is likely that any tendered prices will be influenced by recent inflation and cost of living pressures and the procurement and pricing strategy will need to consider what mitigations can be applied at the beginning of the contract and how future increases are managed.  Albeit a restricted market, by going out to tender an element of competition is introduced and pricing will form part of the tender evaluation.

Any price review processes will be agreed with Finance before the Invitation to Tender is issued and embedded within the terms and conditions of the new contract.  From the 1 October 2024 and the 1 October in each subsequent year of the contract an automatic price increase to the Contract Price will be applied.  This will take into consideration metrics such as CPI including proportional increases in staffing and non-staffing costs over the previous twelve months.  However, any increase to the contract price will be authorised by our elected Members and agreed across the partners. 

As Cabinet Member for Integrated Children’s Services, I agree to:

i)           Competitively tender a new contract for Independent Adoption Support Services, from 1 October 2023 to 30 September 2027 (four years) with two additional two-year extension options. 

ii)          Delegate decisions and necessary actions including the award and implementation of any contract extensions allowable within the terms and conditions of the contract to the Corporate Director for Children, Young People and Education, or other Officer as instructed by the Corporate Director for Children, Young People and Education, in consultation with the Cabinet Member.

Proposed decision:

Continuation of No Use Empty funding and delegation of authority to Director of Growth and Communities to take appropriate actions to deliver the initiative to 2027-28 and a further update given at that time.

Reason for Decision:

 A decision is required such that:

(a)       Kent County Council (KCC) shall agree to continue the countywide No Use Empty initiative; and

(b)       KCC shall agree how No Use Empty is funded and seek the agreement of the Section 151 officer or the Cabinet Member for Finance as appropriate for approval to spend: and

(c)        KCC shall agree that authority be delegated to the Director of Growth and Communities to take appropriate actions, including but not limited to, entering into legal agreements (loan agreements, equity loans, joint ventures, additional funding opportunities), consider and approve requests which may require consent and discharge of legal charges, as necessary to implement this decision.

Background:

Kent County Council (KCC) launched the No Use Empty (NUE) initiative in 2005 as part of its second round PSA2 commitments to examine better ways of delivering services, and particularly at working more effectively with district councils. The primary aim of the Initiative is to improve the physical urban environment in Kent by bringing long-term empty properties back into use as quality housing accommodation.

Initial focus was on the Urban coastal areas of East Kent (Districts: Dover, Thanet, Folkestone & Hythe, and Swale). Following the success of NUE in East Kent, the initiative was rolled out across Kent in 2008/09.

In October 2021, the unitary authority of Medway Council joined the initiative giving blanket coverage across Kent and Medway. In February 2022 Southend on Sea City Council entered into an agreement with NUE to assist with the delivery of a NUE loan scheme which operates in South Essex to provide administration and legal services. To confirm that Medway Council and Southend on Sea City Council fund these schemes and NUE are paid on a per application arrangement.

Options considered:

(a)       Do Nothing – to proceed as planned which means that the main No Use Empty initiative is phased out after 23/24 and no longer funded under the Capital Programme.

(b)       Do minimum – to proceed as planned with reduced funding coming out of the initiative (£4.7m in 24/25) but look to defer later withdrawals to keep £7m in the initiative.

(c)        Do switch funding – to proceed as planned with reduced funding coming out of the initiative (£4.7m in 24/25 and in later years) but increase the call on Treasury Investment Funds from 24/25 onwards, which would require more of the £40m currently available for investment being allocated to NUE.

(d)       Do defer- to rephase all the repayments under the Capital Programme by 3 years.

(e)       Do optimal – to proceed as planned with reduced funding from the Capital programme but increase the Treasury Investment funding for NUE to £40m over the coming years or increasing the limit for investment opportunities to allow the NUE initiative to be fully funded.

(f)        Do maximum – to increase Treasury Investment funding by £4.7m in 24/25 and in later years to entirely offset the reduced funding from the Capital programme.

Preferred options:

(e) followed by (c)

A reduction in funding for NUE would further impact on the number of empty properties being brought back into use. Districts are already reporting vacancies across their respective housing teams which are not being recruited to due to funding, which limits their capacity to tackle empty properties. use.

NUE supports Framing Kent’s Future by working with a range of partners including the Kent Districts and Medway taking a co-ordinated approach when it comes to tacking empty properties making a valid contribution to two of the four priorities, namely:

Priority 1: Levelling up Kent.

Priority 2: Infrastructure for communities.

Financial Implications:

Revenue - Breakdown of 23/24 expected.

There is no revenue budget allocated for NUE operational costs (staff, legal, web). An administration fee based on the value of the loan is collected and under the main empty property initiative a policy for ‘repeat customers’ was introduced whereby the first loan is interest free and then the next loan is offered on interest bearing terms. This together with the administration fee and interest being collected on the loans provided with Treasury investment funds has allowed NUE to become self-financing.

Capital

£11.5m Capital for recycled loans

Reference: Draft Budget Report 2023-24 (due for approval 9 February 2023, Page 6 &10, Row 19 Appendix B – Capital Investment Summary 2023-24 to 2032-33)

In 2024-25, there is a requirement to commence repayment of the original sum provided to NUE (-£4.7m) followed by a further repayment in 2025-26 (-£2.1m). NUE are seeking to defer this to later years or to switch funding so that Treasury Investment funds are used to substitute loss of funding from the Capital Programme.

As Cabinet Member for Economic Development, I agree to support:

a) the continuation of the NUE initiative to at least 2027-28 with a further update to be provided at that time;

b) how NUE is funded and seek the agreement of the Section 151 Officer or the Cabinet Member for Finance as appropriate for approval to spend; and

c) for authority to be delegated to the Director of Growth and Communities to take appropriate actions including, but not limited to, KCC entering into legal agreements (loan agreements, legal charges, personal guarantees, equity loans, joint ventures, deed of priority, deed of postponement), consider and approve requests which may require KCC consent and discharge of legal charges, recovery of loans through legal action, as necessary to implement this decision.