Agenda and minutes

No apologies for absence were received.

No declarations of interests were made.

[For approval]

Resolved:

That the minutes of the previous meeting held on 23 June 2015 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 matters relating to the year end position with regard to treasury management arrangements and activity; and to receive an update on treasury management activity in 2015/16]

Cllr Andrew Johnson reported on the saving of £12.3 million for the General Fund for 2014/15 and a saving of £6.0 million for the Housing Revenue Account; and on the establishment of a Treasury Management Equalisation Reserve to ensure that the revenue implications of the capital programme do not impact adversely on the savings target set for 2018/19.

Resolved:

1.    That the establishment of the Treasury Management Equalisation Reserve be approved.

2.    That Full Council be recommended to note:

a.      The Council operated within the approved Prudential and Treasury Management Indicators, and also within the requirements set out in the Council's approved Treasury Management Policy Statement during 2014/15.

b.      Revenue savings of £12.3 million for the General Fund and £6.0 million for the Housing Revenue Account were generated from treasury management activities in 2014/15.

c.      Revenue savings of £1.8 million for the General Fund and £2.3 million for the Housing Revenue Account are forecast from treasury management activities in 2015/16.

[To report on the Council’s revenue budget outturn position for 2014/15 compared with approved budgets and targets]

Cllr Andrew Johnson reported on the main areas of the report, particularly the overall net underspend of £6.991 million achieved against the General Fund net budgets; the resilience within the Council’s finances as a result of the revenue outturn and the receipt of additional Business Rates Support grant totalling £3.4 million; the good performance of the recruitment agency, Yoo Recruit Limited whereby the Council had made a £137,000 saving by not paying fees to recruitment agencies. Yoo Recruit also realised savings in excess of the £50,000 target that was built into the 2014/15 approved budgets. Cllr Johnson congratulated all those involved in establishing Yoo Recruit and those working at the agency.  He also reported on the Collection Fund outturn that was a £7 million deficit during 2014/15. The outturn was primarily owing to the impact of appeals against business rates over which the Council had no control. For this reason it was proposed to establish a Business Rates Equalisation Reserve to equalise the impact of appeals on the Council.

Resolved:

1.  That it be noted that:

a     The revenue outturn position for 2014/15 for the General Fund; a net underspend of £6.991 million (2.82%) was achieved against the net budget requirement of £247.6 million. This, combined with the receipt of additional Business Rates Support grant totalling £3.4 million, had resulted in the Council not needing to draw down £9.9 million of general fund reserves to balance the budget, as originally budgeted for.

b     That a significant element of the underspend arising within the 2014/15 General Fund outturn is already factored into the Council’s Medium Term Financial Strategy, including savings arising as a result of changes to the Council’s Minimum Revenue Provision (MRP) Policy, as approved by Full Council on 4 March 2015. Whilst the underspend against budget during 2014/15 would help to support the Council’s short term financial position, it does not address the challenging financial position that the Council finds itself in over the medium term; namely identifying an additional £46.3 million of savings. Further to this, it is anticipated that the financial challenge could potentially be worse once the Autumn Spending Review is announced. An update on progress to date with the savings strategy for 2016/17 would be reported to Cabinet at this meeting in the Draft Budget and Medium Term Financial Strategy 2016/17 – 2018/19 report.

c.      That this outturn position takes into account a number of proposed transfers to and from reserves and provisions for which approval is sought in the Reserves, Provisions and Balances 2014/15 report to be presented at this meeting.

d.      That  significant underspends against the General Fund budget have been achieved during 2014/15 as a result of savings arising from a change in the Council’s Minimum Revenue Provision (MRP) Policy, the early implementation of approved savings and the improved financial management and control achieved from the implementation of Agresso. A comprehensive review of all service areas, which is being led by Finance, is currently being undertaken to challenge all areas of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

[To consider details of the resources currently held in reserves, provisions and balances by the Council as at 31 March 2015]

Cllr Andrew Johnson reported that the central part of the report was that the favourable financial outturn position had enabled £17 million to be transferred from the General Fund into specific reserves and the Council to continue to hold £10 million in General fund balances, which was the minimum balance as determined by the Council’s policy on reserves and balances. The £17 million specific reserve would be used to fund redundancies and for ‘invest to save’ schemes. Cllr Johnson also reported that reserves were monitored annually by the Confident Capable Council Scrutiny Panel to ensure that their uses were appropriate.

Resolved:

1.    That the transfers to/(from) specific reserves, provisions and general balances as detailed in tables 2, 3 and 4, including a transfer of £17 million from the General Fund balance into specific reserves be approved.

2.    That expenditure from provisions for their purposes as set out in Appendix B, to the report up to the value held in each provision as at 31 March 2015 be approved.

3.    That the continuation of delegation of authority to the Cabinet Member for Resources, in consultation with the Director of Finance, to allocate funds from the Budget Contingency Reserve, the Regeneration Reserve, the Efficiency Reserve and the Transformation Reserve during 2015/16 be approved.

4.    That authority be delegated to the Cabinet Member for Resources, in consultation with the Director of Finance, to allocate funds from the Development Reserve, the Regional Work Reserve, the Enterprise Zone Business Rates, the Business Rates Equalisation and the Treasury Management Equalisation Reserves, and the Budget Strategy Reserve during 2015/16.

5.    That authority be delegated to the Cabinet Member for Resources, in consultation with the Managing Director, to allocate funds from the Combined Authority Reserve during 2015/16.

6.    That the level of the Council’s specific reserves, provisions and general balances as at 31 March 2015 and the purposes for which they are being held be noted.

7.    That it be noted that relevance and adequacy of specific reserves and general balances would be reviewed as required by the Constitution during the 2016/17 budget setting process.

8.    That it be noted that the allocation of funding from all specific reserves would be reported to Cabinet (Resources) Panel in the scheduled quarterly budget monitoring reports.

9.    That it be noted that the Confident Capable Council Scrutiny Panel would scrutinise the use of reserves as part of the budget setting process as in previous years.

10.That it be noted that the Director of Finance considers that the overall level of all reserves, provisions and balances is sufficient to meet the likely level of obligations to be met from reserves, provisions and general balances in the short term.

11.That it be noted that the favourable General Fund outturn position during 2014/15, and the resulting adjustments to reserves, would help to support the Council’s short term financial position, however it does not address the challenging financial position that the Council finds itself in over the medium term; namely identifying an additional  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

[To approve matters relating to the draft budget for 2016/17 and beyond as the basis of consultation with stakeholders]

Cllr Andrew Johnson took Cabinet through the report on progress to identify additional savings for 2016/17 and future years in accordance with the budget strategy approved by Cabinet in February 2015 and Full Council in March 2015.  A further report would be presented to Cabinet in October 2015 and then the draft budget would be the subject of formal consultation and scrutiny. Cllr Johnson also informed Cabinet that during the period 2010/11 to 2015/16 the Council’s Government grant had been cut by 50% in real terms and he suggested that the Government cuts were likely to continue.  It was the Council’s responsibility to manage the situation as best as it could for the citizens of Wolverhampton.

Resolved:

1. That the savings target amounting to £16.9 million in 2016/17, be further developed, including the necessary equalities analyses, for inclusion in the Draft Budget and Medium Term Financial Strategy 2016/17 – 2018/19, to be reported to Cabinet in October 2015 for approval to proceed to the formal consultation and scrutiny stages of the budget process.

2. That the commencement of initial consultation and/or stakeholder engagement relating to individual savings opportunities, where this is necessary in order that they can be fully developed ahead of the Draft Budget and Medium Term Financial Strategy 2016/17 – 2018/19 being reported to Cabinet in October 2015.

3.    That it be noted:

a.      That while progress is being made against the Council’s approved strategy to identify new savings of £20 million for 2016/17; work continues to identify £5.1 million of the £20 million new savings for 2016/17.

b.      That the General Fund revenue outturn position for 2014/15 was a net underspend of £6.991 million (2.82%) against the net budget requirement of £247.6 million, as reported to Cabinet at this meeting in the Revenue Outturn 2014/15 report. This, combined with the receipt of additional Business Rates Support grant totalling £3.4 million, resulted in the Council not needing to draw down £9.9 million from General Fund Balances to balance the budget, as originally budgeted for.

c.      That a significant element of the underspend arising within the 2014/15 General Fund outturn is already factored into the Council’s Medium Term Financial Strategy, including savings arising as a result of changes to the Council’s Minimum Revenue Provision (MRP) Policy, as approved by Full Council on 4 March 2015. Whilst the underspend against budget during 2014/15 would help to support the Council’s short term financial position, it does not address the challenging financial position that the Council finds itself in over the medium term; namely identifying an additional £46.3 million of savings. Further to this, it is anticipated that the financial challenge could potentially be worse once the Autumn Spending Review is announced.

d.      That  a comprehensive review of all service areas, which is being led by Finance, is currently being undertaken to challenge all areas of underspend and identify any  recurring savings which may contribute towards the savings strategy for 2016/17. The results of this review would be reported to Cabinet in October  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

[To approve the engagement process]

Cllr Roger Lawrence presented the report on the proposal to establish a Combined Authority for the West Midlands. He reported that a Combined Authority was not a super council/authority or a merger of local authorities. Whilst it was a legal entity, each local authority would retain its own identity and powers. Broadly a Combined Authority would provide local authorities with the opportunity to collectively: secure greater resources from Government over the long term; engage with Government on issues and functions that cross local authority boundaries (such as transport, economic development, skills, business support, inward investment and employment); and be consulted and ultimately influence the delivery of national programs to address local need.

Resolved:-

1.    That authority be delegated to the Leader of the Council, in consultation with the Managing Director, through an Individual Executive Decision Notice, to approve, as and when they become available, the draft governance review findings and scheme.

2.    That the final governance review and scheme be submitted to full Council on 23 September 2015 for approval.

3.    That the holding of engagement events on the proposals contained within the draft governance review be approved.

4.    That the transfer of £250,000 from the Regional Work Reserve to fund the Council’s contribution to the next stage of the Combined Authority implementation be approved.

5.    That the work conducted to date on the Combined Authority Programme be noted.

[To approved the refreshed Customer Service Strategy 2015/18]

Cllr Andrew Johnson presented for approval a Refreshed Customer Services Strategy 2015-2018.

Resolved:

            That the proposed Customer Service Strategy 2015-18 be approved.

[To approve the strategy]

Cllr Roger Lawrence presented the report which set out the strategic approach and plan to improve the Council’s approach to corporate communications.  The report also identified core campaigns the coming years.

Resolved:

            That the proposed Corporate Communication Strategy 2015-17 be approved.

[To approve the Council’s performance management framework]

Cllr Roger Lawrence presented a proposed performance management framework for the Council.  It set out an approach to how the Council would use information, data and business intelligence in order to make decisions, drive service improvements and ensure a consistent and robust approach to performance management throughout the organisation.

Resolved:

            That the Performance Management Framework be approved.

[To approve recommendations for a joint approach to reablement]

Cllr Elias Mattu outlined the rationale behind the proposals to transform the Council’s social care services and help older people in the city to remain independent for longer. He emphasised that there would be full consultation with the public, service users and their families and carers, employees and the trade unions on the proposals. He also reported that the proposals had been subject to pre-decision scrutiny by the Adults and Safer City Scrutiny Panel on 14 July who unanimously agreed to support the proposals.

Cllr Steve Evans commented that Wolverhampton had excellent services provided by its own staff and that the proposals were the start of a consultation process. Before the consultations commenced he sought an assurance from Cllr Mattu that the proposals were not about stripping services but about providing alternatives; that no one would be put at risk and no one would be forced out of their home. In response Cllr Elias Mattu indicated that he would seek to ensure that no one would be disadvantaged and he reiterated that the proposals are about improving services for older people.

Cllr Roger Lawrence commented that the Council spent two thirds of its budget on adult services. Central Government cuts in local authority funding had meant that the Council had lost 50% of its funding in real terms so it could no longer protect these large areas of expenditure.

Resolved:

1.    That the transformation of community based services and the creation of a new community offer, with the delivery and development extended and enhanced Reablement and other services, including telecare, to support people to live independently in their own homes be approved.

2.    That the formal consultation process on the proposal to decommission services at Merryhill House and Nelson Mandela House and transfer to external market providers be approved.

3.    That the formal consultation process on the proposal to decommission services at Woden Resource Centre and re-provide high dependency day care in the external market through a personalised approach be approved.

4.    That the progression of the externalisation of community reablement and the commissioning of a specialist dementia reablement service be approved.

5.    That the development an ambitious telecare offer at scale to increase the independence of vulnerable people in Wolverhampton and to agree to be a national pilot for a proactive telephone service to reduce isolation and enhance wellbeing be approved

[To comment on the Children, Young People and Families Plan 2015/25 priorities and governance arrangements]

Cllr Val Gibson requested that Cabinet to endorse the Children, Young People and Families Plan which set out what children’s trust partners would do in order that children, young people and families in Wolverhampton can live healthy, happy lives. She briefly outlined the background to the development of the ten year plan which was focused around the four priorities of child poverty; education, training and employment; family strength; and health.

The Plan had been subject to scrutiny by the Children, Young People and Families Scrutiny Panel on 8 July.

Resolved:-

1.    That Cabinet support the Support Wolverhampton’s Children, Young People and Families Plan 2015-.

2.    That the Children’s Trust Board governance arrangements be endorsed.

3.    That the comments of the Children, Young People and Families Scrutiny Panel that annual priority should include Children Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) and that a regular review of the plan should take place quarterly (3 yearly) or annually be agreed and that the review be undertaken by the Scrutiny Panel.

[To consider the scrutiny review report and the Executive response thereto]

Cllr Sandra Samuels presented the Executive response to the report and recommendations of the scrutiny review into Infant Mortality. The review had been chaired by Cllr Claire Darke prior to her joining the Cabinet. In the preface to the review report, “she hoped the recommendations would help improve outcomes and have a positive impact on reducing the number of avoidable deaths of babies Wolverhampton”. She commended the scrutiny review report and recommendations to Cabinet.

Resolved:

1. That the report of the Scrutiny Review of Infant Mortality and the following recommendations from the review be received and noted:

The importance of co-ordinating local efforts to tackle the underlying causes of infant mortality in Wolverhampton

R1    The Service Director- Public Health and Wellbeing to be responsible for collating a coordinated response from the officers responsible for the following recommendations listed below. The Service Director to present a report to Scrutiny Board with details of progress in implementing all the accepted recommendations. The Scrutiny Board report to be presented to the Infant Mortality Working Group for information and comment

a.    Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust to coordinate a response from the maternity, healthy lifestyles and health visiting services which details specific actions aimed at reducing the percentage of pregnant women setting a smoking quit date, where the results are either not known or lost to follow up. The report to include details of the take-up rate of nicotine replacement therapy and the number who have set a quit date

b.    Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust to coordinate a report from maternity, healthy lifestyles and health visiting services on progress in the use and results of carbon monoxide testing of pregnant women at every contact. The report to include feedback from pregnant women recorded as smoking and subsequently referred, about their experiences of the stop smoking service

c.    Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust to present a report on a review of effective interventions aimed at reducing the numbers of women smoking during and after pregnancy

d.    The lead officer for infant mortality at Wolverhampton Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) to report on current commissioning arrangements and the extent to which services for pregnancy and infancy are delivering the right mix of enhanced and targeted interventions for pregnant women, particularly vulnerable women considered to be at risk

e.     A report on the benefits of providing a Pepi-Pod crib or similar alternative cot in Wolverhampton. A report of the potential value of using a mobile phone app for parents and parents-to-be with personalised information and content approved by doctors and midwives that spans from pregnancy right through to the first six months after birth

The schemes, if introduced, should be initially targeted a vulnerable women and the findings published with recommendations about a possible future roll out across the City

f.     The Service Director – Public Health and Wellbeing to work with lead officers from key partners to discuss proposals to make best use of available local intelligence in order to help with the early identification of vulnerable pregnant women and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 15.

[To agree the primary school strategy for 2015-2018 and receive an update on the 2015 primary school expansion programme]

Cllr Claire Darke presented the report on the Primary School Organisation Strategy 2015-2018 and which provided an update with regard to the Council’s 2015 Primary School Expansion Programme. She reported that the proposals had been subject to pre decision scrutiny by the Children, Young People and Families Scrutiny Panel on 8 July. The scrutiny panel supported the proposals contained in report.

Resolved:-

1.    That the Primary School Organisation Strategy 2015-2018 be approved.

2.    That authority be delegated to the Cabinet Member for Education, in consultation with the Director of Education and Director of Finance, to accept suitable tenders for the capital works required as a result of the enlargement of the 2015 Primary School Expansion Programme (Holy Trinity Catholic Primary School, Lanesfield Primary School and St Bartholomew’s CE Primary School).

3.    That the outcome of consultation on the Primary School Organisation Strategy 2015-2018 be noted.

4.    That the current status of the 2015 Primary School Expansion Programme be noted.

[To approve the Wolverhampton overarching Information Sharing Protocol as part of the three-tier information sharing framework for the city]

Cllr Paul Sweet presented a refreshed Wolverhampton Overarching Information Sharing Protocol, which had been updated to reflect current legislation and national guidance in relation to information sharing. The protocol comprised a set of rules that partners and organisations across the city were to comply with when sharing information to ensure that legislation was not breached and confidentiality maintained.

Resolved:

That the revised Wolverhampton Overarching Information Sharing Protocol be approved and endorsed as part of the three-tier information sharing framework for the City.

[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 item(s) of business as they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information falling within the paragraph 3 of Schedule 12A of the Act set

[To take appropriate decisions for the progression of the regeneration of Westside]

Cllr John Reynolds presented an update on progress at Westside and sought approval to a revised delivery strategy taking forward the project which included the Council’s landholdings at Westside 3.

Resolved:-

1. That the revised delivery strategy including the incorporation of Westside 3 in the marketing of the site and the revised marketing programme for all three parcels (Westside 1, 2 and 3) be approved.
   
   
2. That the proposal to declare the Council’s landholdings at Westside as surplus to requirements to bring forward the comprehensive regeneration of Westside in preparation for the marketing of the sites  and, subject to the outcome of the marketing process, entering into the necessary delivery arrangements with the preferred developer be approved. 
   
   
3. That the demolition strategy for Heantun House and the Market Hall and option 2 as outlined be approved.
   
   

4.    That employees be authorised to carry out further discussions with the adjacent land owner in respect of Westside 3 as outlined in the report.

5.    That the virement of the costs of demolition from the existing capital budget as set out in the as set out in the body of the report be approved.

6.    That the progress made in implementing the Delivery Strategy since the last Cabinet approval in December 2014 which has resulted in a stronger marketing and delivery position for the Council be noted.

7.    That the progress made in bringing forward the strategy for Wolverhampton market and the design of the market on market square be noted.