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.

No declarations of interest were received

Minutes of the meeting held on 1 March 2012

The Cabinet considered the minutes of the previous meeting held on 1 March 2012.

RESOLVED: That:

(1)       the Minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on 1 March 2012 be confirmed as a correct record; and

(2)       with regard to Minute No. 119 of the meeting held on 1 March 2012, the nominations for the position of Mayor Elect for the Municipal Year 2012/13 be deferred until after the Council Elections on 3 May 2012.

Report of the Director of Corporate Commissioning

Further to Minute No. 58 of the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee (Health and Social Care) held on 10 January 2012, the Cabinet considered the report of the Director of Corporate Commissioning on a proposal for the co-option of a non-voting member from Sefton Local Involvement Network (LINk), and a substitute member, to the membership of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee (Health and Social Care), following the approval of a draft Joint Working Protocol between the Committee and Sefton LINk.

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

RESOLVED:

That the Council be recommended to give approval to the amendment of the Council’s Constitution, to provide for the co-option of a non-voting member from Sefton Local Involvement Network (LINk) to the membership of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee (Health and Social Care), and provision also be made to permit a substitute co-opted member to attend meetings of the Committee, if necessary.

Report of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee (Health and Social Care) Phlebotomy Working Group

The Cabinet considered the report by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee (Health and Social Care) Phlebotomy Working Group on the review of Phlebotomy Services available in Sefton.

Councillor Roberts, the Lead Member of the Working Group attended to outline the recommendations set out in the report and respond to any questions from Cabinet Members.

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

RESOLVED: That:

(1)       the Liverpool Community Health NHS Trust be congratulated for reducing the waiting times for phlebotomy services in the south of the Borough and be advised that the Council hopes that the improvements made would be sustained;

(2)       the Liverpool Community Health NHS Trust be advised that this Council still has concerns regarding the waiting times for phlebotomy services at Maghull Health Centre and hopes that the Trust will endeavour to address the problems with the service at that Health Centre;

(3)       the Liverpool Community Health NHS Trust be requested to consider the introduction of a “twilight” phlebotomy clinic, either on an appointment or on a walk-in basis, in the south of the Borough;

(4)       the Southport and Ormskirk Hospitals NHS Trust be congratulated for reducing the waiting times for phlebotomy services in the north of the Borough and be advised that the Council hopes that the improvements made would be sustained;

(5)       the Southport and Ormskirk Hospitals NHS Trust be requested to consider the introduction of “twilight” phlebotomy clinics, either on an appointment or on a walk-in basis, at both Formby Clinic and in the north of the Borough, either at the Southport Centre for Health and Wellbeing or at Southport and Formby District General Hospital; and

(6)       the appreciation of the Cabinet be recorded for the work undertaken by the Phlebotomy Working Group in the production of their report.

Report of the Director of Young People and Families

The Cabinet considered the report of the Director of Young People and Families on the request from the Governing Body of St. George of England High School and the proposers of the Hawthorne’s Free School to bring forward the date of closure for St. George of England High School by 12 months to 31 August 2012 in order to facilitate the proposed Free School which is planned to open in September 2012.

The request to bring forward the closure had been subject to consultation and the details of the outcome of the consultation and the various implications of the proposals were set out in the report.

RESOLVED: That

(1)       the options and information outlined in the report and the request by the local community, Free School Trust and the St. George of England High School Governing Body to facilitate the opening of the Free School, be noted;

(2)       approval be given to the request from the Free School Trust and the Governing Body to bring the closure date for the St. George of England High School forward from 31 August 2013 to 31 August 2012, this being contingent upon an alternative school opening in the area in September 2012;

(3)       for practical reasons and to ensure continuity of education for pupils affected, the decision in resolution (2) above, is also dependent on the decision to open the Free School being approved by the Secretary of State for Education by 25 May 2012 when the decommissioning of the school would  need to commence;

(4)       subject to (1), (2) and (3) above, Officers be authorised to conduct relevant negotiations with regard to the land, assets, fixtures and fittings at the St. George of England High School with the Free School Trust; and to progress and make decisions on issues regarding employees from St. George’s and St. Wilfrid’s Schools as outlined in the report;

(5)       the change for pupils wishing to move to the Free School and the required admission arrangements be noted and Officers be requested to work with the Free School to ensure the transition is as smooth as possible;

(6)       it be noted that the proposal was a Key Decision but, unfortunately, had not been included in the Council’s Forward Plan of Key Decisions.  Consequently, the Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee (Children’s Services) had been consulted under Rule 15 of the Access to Information Procedure Rules of the Constitution, to the decision being made by the Cabinet as a matter of urgency on the basis that it was impracticable to defer the decision until the commencement of the next Forward Plan because of the need to progress the decommissioning of the school, lease agreements and pupil admissions; and

(7)       Officers be requested to submit a progress report on this issue to the Cabinet meeting to be held on 24 May 2012.

Report of the Director of Built Environment

The Cabinet considered the report of the Director of Built Environment on the draft Sefton Economic Strategy for 2012-2022. During the discussion on the report, it was suggested that officers consider the inclusion of employee owned companies/co-operatives in the revised Strategy Action Plan.

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

RESOLVED: That

(1)       the Sefton Economic Strategy be approved for purposes of consultation; and

(2)       officers be requested to consult widely on the Economic Strategy and produce a Report of Consultation and a revised Strategy statement for members to approve at a subsequent Cabinet meeting.

Report of the Director of Built Environment

The Cabinet considered the report of the Director of Built Environment on the proposals for the development and delivery of the Merseyside Local Broadband Plan in conjunction with the Councils of Knowsley, Liverpool, St. Helens and Wirral.

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

RESOLVED: That

(1)       approval be given to the formal submission of the Merseyside Local Broadband Plan in April 2012 as required by Broadband UK (BDUK);

(2)       approval in principle be given to Sefton Council seeking to investigate funding sources for its element of the BDUK match contribution, to facilitate the submission of the Merseyside Local Broadband Plan.  However it should be noted, that at this stage, Sefton’s share of the match funding cannot currently be guaranteed by the Council;

(3)       the Merseyside Phasing In Sub-Committee and the Liverpool City Region Local Enterprise Partnership be requested to re-consider their earlier decisions not to give European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) funding priority to the Broadband project;

(4)       approval be given to the submission of an application for Regional Growth Fund (Round 3) towards the funding of the Broadband project as a potential replacement for ERDF Match Funding.  However, should this not be forthcoming, the Council’s continued involvement in the project would need to be re-considered by the Cabinet;

(5)       in conjunction with the other four Merseyside authorities, the Merseyside BDUK Steering Group be formalised to develop and deliver the Merseyside Local Broadband Plan;

(6)       the Cabinet Member – Regeneration and Housing be given delegated authority to make necessary decisions on the submission of the Local Broadband Plan before the end of April 2012; and

(7)       a further report be submitted to the Cabinet providing details of the financial implications of delivering the Local Broadband Plan over the life of the project.

Report of the Director of Built Environment

The report of the Director of Built Environment on this issue was withdrawn from consideration at the meeting, to facilitate the clarification of the ownership of parcels of land with third parties and the submission of a revised report to the Cabinet meeting to be held on 21 June 2012.

Report of the Director of Built Environment

Further to Minute No. 132 above, the report of the Director of Built Environment on this issue was withdrawn from consideration at the meeting, to facilitate the clarification of the ownership of parcels of land with third parties and the submission of a revised report to the Cabinet meeting to be held on 21 June 2012.

Report of the Head of Corporate Legal Services

Further to Minute No. 14 of the meeting of the Standards Committee held on 13 March 2012 and Minute No. 45 of the meeting of the Audit and Governance Committee held on 28 March 2012, the Cabinet considered the report of the Head of Corporate Legal Services on the future arrangements for the administration of Standards in Sefton with effect from 1 July 2012.

RESOLVED:

That the Council be recommended to:

(1)       adopt the draft Code of Conduct set out in Annex A of the report as prepared by the Association of County Secretaries and Solicitors; and

(2)       give approval to the work of the current Standards Committee being merged with that of the Council’s Audit and Governance Committee and that the case-work of the current Standards Sub Committees continue and be overseen by the Audit and Governance Committee.

Report of the Director of Corporate Commissioning

The Cabinet considered the report of the Director of Corporate Commissioning on the recommendations made by the Independent Remuneration Panel with regard to its proposed review of the Scheme of Members’ Allowances.

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

RESOLVED:

That the Council be recommended to:

(1)       accept the recommendation of the Independent Remuneration Panel to review the Scheme of Members’ Allowances following the Council Elections in May 2012; and

(2)       approve the appointment of Mr. E. Davies and Mr. J. Fraser onto the Panel on to the Independent Remuneration Panel.

Report of the Director of Corporate Commissioning

The Cabinet considered the report of the Director of Corporate Commissioning on the proposals for the appointment of a Member Champion for the Armed Forces and the development of an Armed Forces Community Covenant.

RESOLVED:            That

(1)       the Council be recommended to appoint Councillor Brennan as the Member Champion for the Armed Forces; and

(2)       the proposals for the development of an Armed Forces Community Covenant be noted.