Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were submitted on behalf of Cllrs Elias Mattu and Sandra Samuels.

No declarations of interests were made.

[For approval]

Resolved:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 24 February 2016 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

[To consider any matters arising from the minutes of the previous meeting]

There were no matters arising from the minutes of the previous meeting.

[To approve a revised policy for those who provide support (Staying Put carers) to young people who were previously in care]

Cllr Val Gibson presented a revised ‘Staying Put’ policy to support young people in care and their carers when the young person is residing at university during term time.  The revised policy allows the young person in care the opportunity to pursue education, training and employment, without the disruption of having to move to independence during a critical period of their life.  The revised policy also aligned the payments made to staying put carers to recently implemented fees and allowances paid to foster carers.

Resolved:

1.     That the revised policy to support young people in Staying Put arrangements when they are at university be approved. 

2.     That the Staying Put fees be aligned to the fees and allowances paid to foster carers.

[To consider the results of the consultation]

Cllr Andrew Johnson presented the report on the outcomes of the consultation on a revised service model for Recovery House, an in-house serviced for people suffering with mental health.  On behalf of Cllr Elias Mattu who was unable to attend the meeting, Cllr Johnson thanked service users, stakeholders and employees who participated in the consultation process.

Resolved:

1.     That the revised service model for the mental health recovery service which had been developed following a period of consultation be approved to include:

·         the development of an assertive outreach service that will work in an integrated way with clinical mental health services

·         a two bed flat for use in emergencies for an initial two year period

·         Development of the existing building into a supported living service for people with complex mental health needs.

2.     That the feedback from the consultation contained in the consultation report be noted.

[To approve arrangements relating to the joint administration of the budget for the delivery of integrated health and social care services]

Cllr Andrew Johnson presented a report on proposals to continue the Section 75 pooled fund agreement between the City Council and Wolverhampton Clinical Commissioning Group.

Resolved:

1.     That it be agreed to continue the Section 75 Agreement (Pooled Fund) with NHS Wolverhampton Clinical Commissioning Group (“WCCG”) for 2016/17, on the terms and conditions outlined in this report along with any other ancillary legal agreements necessary for the joint administration of the Better Care Fund, including setting up a pooled fund to be managed by the Council.

2.     That authority be delegated to approve the final terms of the proposed section 75 agreement to Cabinet Members for Adults, Public Health and Well Being and Resources, (Cllrs Elias Mattu, Sandra Samuels, and Andrew Johnson) in consultation with the Strategic Director for People and Director of Finance.

[To approve the removal of age designations from a number of Council flats to improve accessibility to housing for those in housing need, in particular families and young people]

Cllr Peter Bilson presented the report on the proposal to remove the age designations from a number of Council flats to improve accessibility to housing for those in housing need.

Resolved:

1. That the proposal to remove age designations across all flats in the City be approved.

2. That the proposal to apply an age designation of 50 years plus to former sheltered flats be approved.

3. That the proposal for a small number of former sheltered properties to have the age designation permanently removed with additional priority given to tenants within the Council’s housing Allocation Policy should they wish to move to an age designated property be approved.

4. That the allocation of additional properties (studio flats or one bedroom flats) to the People Directorate for use by the Looked after Children Transitions Housing Support Service be approved.

[To approve a timetable and governance arrangements leading to the approval of a Waste and Recycling Strategy]

Cllr Steve Evans presented the report on a provisional work programme for the production of the waste management strategy for the city and sought approval on the proposed timetable and governance arrangements leading to the approval of the final document.

Resolved:

1. That the timetable for development of the waste strategy and strategic environmental assessment be approved.

2. That the governance arrangements for the draft strategy including consultation be approved.

3. That a further report in October 2016 be submitted to approve the waste strategy and associated strategic environmental assessment.

[To approve modifications to the Wolverhampton City Centre Area Action Plan for public consultation]

Cllr Peter Bilson presented the report which summarised modifications to the Wolverhampton City Centre Area Action Plan (AAP) which are required following independent examination for consideration and approval for six weeks public consultation during April/May 2016. 

Resolved:

1. That the modifications to the Wolverhampton City Centre Area Action Plan (AAP) be approved for public consultation;

2. That a further report be submitted to Cabinet in autumn 2016 on the AAP prior to adoption by Full Council.

[To approve a process for embedding the City of Wolverhampton Procurement Charter within the Council’s own commissioning and procurement processes]

Cllr John Reynolds presented the report which advised of progress to embed cross-partnership commissioning and procurement as set out in the City of Wolverhampton Charter.  Approval was requested for the processes to now be put in place for embedding the Charter within the Council’s own commissioning and procurement processes.

Resolved:

1. That the progress with embedding the City of Wolverhampton Charter within the City of Wolverhampton Council and within the work of wider partners be received.

2. That the process for embedding the charter within the procurement and commissioning processes of the City Council be approved.

3. That the leadership role taken by the City Council in embedding the Charter in the City be noted.

[To consider the recommendations of the scrutiny review group and the Cabinet’s response thereto]

[NOTE: The Chair of the scrutiny review group has been invited]

The Cabinet received a report on the findings and recommendations of the scrutiny review of City of Wolverhampton volunteering offer and the executive response to the report.

Cllr Ian Claymore, Chair of the scrutiny review group was in attendance for this item.  He briefly highlighted some of the areas that the review had focused on and some of its recommendations.  He thanked colleagues, witnesses who gave evidence and employees who contributed to the review and the production of the final review report and in particular Sheila Collette, Head of Economic Inclusion who was the lead officer for the review.

Cllr John Reynolds thanked Cllr Claymore and the review group for their report.  He reported that Cabinet supported the recommendations and referred to the detailed executive action plan attached to the report.

Resolved:

1. That the report of the review group and the following recommendations be received:

          Volunteering policy

1.     That the Heads of Service (HoS) Group develop the draft volunteering policy and the offer, taking into account  the comments and recommendations arising from the review of the City of Wolverhampton Volunteering offer.

2.     That the HoS group ascertain, through consultation, the current volunteers perception of the draft volunteering offer.

3.     That definition of volunteering and work experience is included in the council volunteering policy and guidelines.

4.     That where applicable any person volunteering within the Council will have the required DBS checks as specified by the receiving service area.

5.     That the HoS group develop a process for volunteers entering the workplace and volunteer role descriptions.

6.     That ‘Investing in Volunteers’ (IiV) standards be included in the policy appendices, and HoS to explore accreditation for the Council.

7.     That there is a 12 month review of the final policy.

          Skills and pathways

8.     That all volunteers are referred to the Volunteer Service at Wolverhampton Voluntary Sector Council (WVSC) in the first instance to determine the best pathway for the individual.

9.  That the volunteer pathway should include the following:

a.   A volunteer role description for each service area detailing how the role will support existing service delivery.

b.   The agreement with a volunteer will detail mandatory and job specific training and support for the role.

c.   Initiating a DBS check where applicable for all volunteers in Council services.

d.   Ensuring robust equality monitoring processes are in place identifying and following up gaps in current practice and other relevant polices.   In exploring this officers have identified and raised the need to review the Equality and Diversity Policy Statement with H.R. 

e.   All volunteers are registered on the Agresso system and records of DBS, training and equality are monitored.

f.    All service groups should monitor volunteers to check progress and development needs in line with the volunteer offer.

10.That a sensible review period is built into each volunteering role for the protection of the service, the benefit of the volunteer and to ensure the role has not changed substantially over a set period of time.

11.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12.

[To pass the following resolution:

That in accordance with Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business as they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information on the grounds shown below.]

Resolved:

That in accordance with Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business as they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information falling within the paragraph 3 of Schedule 12A of the Act.

[To approve the revised process]

Cllr Peter Bilson presented the report on the current approach to managing Community Asset Transfer (CAT) applications.  The report set out. how the CAT process, following a review, was to be amended to ensure the process supported the delivery of sustainable and viable business opportunities that  had a community ethos, meets corporate priorities and could be accessed by Voluntary and Community Organisations.

Resolved:

1.     That the revised Community Asset Transfer process that supports the delivery of sustainable and viable business opportunities that have a community ethos, meets corporate priorities and can be accessed by Voluntary and Community Organisations be endorsed.

2.     That the previous two year history and outcomes of Community Asset Transfer expressions of interest received from third parties be noted.

3.     That it be noted that the Community Asset Transfer Strategy is to be reviewed and updated to reflect the Council’s updated Corporate Plan and this would be subject to a further report to Cabinet in Summer 2016.

[To approve staffing changes][report to follow]

Cllr Paul Sweet presented reports on staffing issues.

Resolved:

1. That the termination of the employment of the Head of Operational Services on the grounds of redundancy and early retirement, as part of an ongoing agile review of senior management, on 30 September 2016 or earlier if deemed appropriate by the Managing Director be approved.

2. That the deletion of the post Head of Operational Services and the realisation of the full year saving of £86,000 per annum be approved.

3. That the termination of the employment of the Head of Commercial Services on the grounds of redundancy and early retirement, as part of an ongoing agile review of senior management, on 30 September 2016 or earlier if deemed appropriate by the Managing Director be approved.

4. That the deletion of the post the Head of Commercial Services and the realisation of the full year saving of £86,000 per annum be approved.