Agenda and minutes

No apologies for absence were received.

Members and Officers are requested to give notice of any personal or prejudicial interest and the nature of that interest, relating to any item on the agenda in accordance with the relevant Code of Conduct.

The following declarations of interest were received:

Minutes of the meeting held on 28 October 2010

RESOLVED:  

That the minutes of the Cabinet Meeting held on 28 October 2010 be confirmed as a correct record.

Annual Report of the Director of Public Health - Cathy Warlow from NHS Sefton will give a brief presentation to the Cabinet

The Cabinet considered the annual report of the Acting Director of Public Health highlighting the health of the local population. The report focussed  

on the national Strategic Review of Health Inequalities produced by Professor Sir Michael Marmot (February 2010), by providing a framework to focus the efforts on improving health and well-being within Sefton in a sustainable way for the longer term by addressing the following six policy objectives:

• Give every child the best start in life
• Enable all children, young people and adults to maximise their capabilities and have control over their lives
• Create fair employment and good work for all
• Ensure a healthy standard of living for all
• Create and develop healthy and sustainable places and communities
• Strengthen the role and impact of ill-health prevention

The report also indicated that despite people living longer and healthier lives, the priorities emerging from Sefton's recently updated Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) highlighted the need to:

• Reduce health inequalities within Sefton, and between Sefton and other areas
• Focus on prevention and early detection of both physical and mental illness
• Reduce the levels of behaviours that carry risk for future health
• Tackle the main diseases from which people die;

and concluded that as preparations were made for the establishment of Health and Well-being Boards, proposed in the NHS White Paper 'Equity and Excellence: Liberating the NHS', there was a need to continue to work in partnership and refocus priorities to ensure that combined resources were reallocated to address the key health needs in Sefton.

Cathy Warlow, Head of Health Improvements and Partnerships, NHS Sefton, gave a presentation on the key issues in the report referred to above.

RESOLVED:  

That the Annual Report of the Director of Public Health be noted.

Report of the Chief Executive

Further to Minute No. 127 of the meeting held on 28 October 2010, the Cabinet considered the report of the Chief Executive which provided an update on the Transformation Programme and sought approval for further budget options which would reduce the 2011/12 - 2013/14 budget gap. The report also provided an update on the review of externally funded activity and proposals for the cessation of some of that activity.

This was a Key Decision and was included in the Council's Forward Plan of Key Decisions.

Prior to the consideration of the savings options set out in Appendices A and B of the report, a vote was taken on a proposal that the consideration of the savings options be deferred until the next Cabinet Meeting on 16 December 2010 and this proposal was lost by 6 votes to 4. The Cabinet then considered the options set out in the two appendices.

RESOLVED:   That

(1)      the Council be recommended to give approval to the 100% cessation savings options in respect of externally funded activity totalling £3,483,984, as set out in Appendix A to the report;

(2)      the Council be recommended to give approval to the tactical savings options as set out in Table A of Appendix B to the report;

(3)      the Council be recommended to give approval to the tactical savings options as set out in Table B of Appendix B to the report, with the exception of the following savings options which are deferred for further consideration at the Cabinet Meeting on 16 December 2010, pending the submission of further information by officers on the options:

·       CM7 – Reduce overtime hours for Street Cleansing Service;

·       CE19(a) – Cease membership of the Local Government Association; and

·       CM8 – Stop non-Highway cleaning;

(4)      officers be authorised to prepare for the implementation of the above savings options immediately, pending final decisions of the Council;

(5)      it be noted that further savings proposals will be submitted to the Cabinet Meeting on 16 December 2010; and

(6)      the Chief Executive be requested to speak to the Editor of the Southport Visiter on behalf of the Cabinet, in order to request that journalists do not engage in conversations with anyone present during the course of the meeting, out of respect for the Members engaging in debate.

(In accordance with Rule 18.5 of the Council and Committee Procedure

Rules, the following Councillors requested that their votes against the

following resolutions set out above be recorded, namely:

Resolutions (1), (2) and (3) with the exception of the three savings options

deferred for further consideration in (3) – Councillors P. Dowd, Fairclough,

Maher and Moncur

Resolution (3) with regard to the deferral of the saving option CE19(a) to

cease membership of the Local Government Association – Councillor Parry)

Report of the Interim Head of Corporate Finance and ICT Strategy

The Cabinet considered the report of the Interim Head of Corporate Finance and ICT Strategy reviewing the Treasury Management activities undertaken in the first half of 2010/11 against the Treasury Management Policy and Strategy document 2010/11.

RESOLVED:  

That the report be noted.

Report of the Strategic Director - Communities

The Cabinet considered the report of the Strategic Director - Communities on proposals for the inclusion of a Strategic Asset Management Property Intervention provision within the Capital Programme, to be funded from the proceeds of asset disposals, to address ongoing property management issues.

RESOLVED:  

That the Council be recommended to give approval to:

(1)      the establishment of a £500,000 Strategic Asset Management Property Intervention provision within the Capital Programme to be funded and maintained from capital receipts derived from asset disposals; and

(2)      the amendment of Part 3 of the Council Constitution (Responsibility for Functions) in order to give the management responsibility for the Strategic Asset Management Property Intervention provision to the Strategic Director - Communities, in conjunction with the Head of Corporate Finance and ICT.

Report of the Strategic Director - Children, Schools and Families

Further to Minute No. 61 of the meeting of the Cabinet Member - Children's Services, held on 16 November 2010, the Cabinet considered the report of the Strategic Director - Children, Schools and Families seeking approval to the implementation of a scheme to enhance the facilities of Presfield Special School following its designation as a specialist school for Special Education Needs Communication and Interaction with effect from 1 September 2010. 

RESOLVED:

That the expenditure for the scheme to be funded from specific resources be included in the Children, School’s and Families Services Capital Programme 2010/11.

Report of the Environmental and Technical Services Director

The Cabinet considered the report of the Environmental and Technical Services Director on the progress made on applications for grant aid funding from the Environment Agency for Flood Risk Management Schemes.

RESOLVED:   That

(1)      the Council be recommended to give approval to the inclusion of the following schemes in the Capital Programme to be fully funded from ring-fenced Environment Agency grant and a revenue contribution of £20,000 from the Land Drainage Works budget:

          (i)       Claremont Avenue, Maghull Land Drainage investigation - £35,000

          (ii)      Thornton and Lunt Land Drainage Investigation - £39,000

          (iii)      Dobbs Gutter Flood Alleviation Study - £41,000

          (iv)      Surface Water Management Plan - £120,000 (including £20,000 revenue contribution);

(2)      it be noted that a grant application had been submitted to the Environment Agency for the Moss Lane, Lydiate Flood Alleviation Scheme (£245,000) and that this would be the subject of a further report to the Cabinet following the outcome of the bid.

Joint report of the Strategic Director - Children, Schools and Families and Environmental and Technical Services Director

The Cabinet considered the joint report of the Strategic Director - Children, Schools and Families and the Environmental and Technical Services Director on proposals for a negotiated contract to be placed for the works required to provide a New Post 16 Special Educational Needs facility at the site of the former Thornton Primary School, Thornton.

RESOLVED:   That

(1)      approval be given to the waiving of the Contract Procedure Rules to enable the appointment of Conlon Construction as the preferred contractors for the project; and

(2)      subject to the total scheme being contained within the £2m funding provision and the receipt of planning approval for the proposed scheme, the Environmental and Technical Services Director be authorised to enter into a formal contract with Conlon Construction for the delivery of the Thornton Special Educational Needs project.

Report of the Neighbourhoods and Investment Programmes Director

The Cabinet considered the report of the Neighbourhoods and Investment Programmes Director on proposals for the closure of the Homelessness Unit at Windsor House, Manchester Road, Southport, which was one of the two homelessness units for vulnerable families in Sefton.

RESOLVED:   That

(1)      approval be given to the closure of the Windsor House Homelessness Unit; and

(2)      the Neighbourhoods and Investment Programmes Director be requested to implement an appropriate personnel process in respect of staffing requirements in light of the proposed closure of the Homelessness Unit.

Report of the Planning and Economic Development Director

Further to Minute No. 105 of the meeting of the Cabinet Member - Technical Services held on 17 November 2010, the Cabinet considered the report of the Planning and Economic Development Director on the review of capital funding available for the Local Transport Plan Programme.

RESOLVED:   That

(1)      the resources available from capital contributions to transport schemes and the potential to allocate such resources to support the Local Transport Plan Capital Programme be noted; and

(2)      the sum of £100,000 be allocated to the Local Transport Plan Programme to address longstanding highway parking issues within the Borough and the remaining sum of £287,000 from the uncommitted capital resources be allocated to support the Council's budget savings programme.

Report of the Planning and Economic Development Director

Further to Minute No. 103 of the meeting of the Planning Committee held on 10 November 2010, the Cabinet considered the report of the Planning and Economic Development Director on the progress of the Local Development Framework by the monitoring of a range of indicators.

RESOLVED:   That

(1)      approval be given to the submission of the 2010 Annual Monitoring Report to the Government Office for the North West (GONW); and

(2)      the Planning and Economic Development Director be given delegated authority to make editorial changes relating to layout and presentation, the addition of late information and make changes as recommended by GONW prior to submission of the annual Monitoring Report.

Report of the Head of Corporate Legal Services

Further to Minute No. 10 of the meeting of the Standards Committee held on 18 November 2010, the Cabinet considered the report of the Acting Head of Corporate Legal Services which incorporated a copy of the Local Government Ombudsman's Annual Letter and Report detailing the complaints about the Council submitted to the Ombudsman during 2009/10.

RESOLVED:  

That the Local Ombudsman's Annual Letter and Report be noted.

The Cabinet received reports from the Cabinet Members for Children's Services, Communities, Corporate Services, Environmental, Health and Social Care, Leisure and Tourism, Performance and Governance, Regeneration and Technical Services.

RESOLVED:  

That the Cabinet Member reports be noted.