Agenda and minutes

An apology for absence was received from Councillor Tweed.

Members are requested to give notice of any disclosable pecuniary interest, which is not already included in their Register of Members' Interests and the nature of that interest, relating to any item on the agenda in accordance with the Members Code of Conduct, before leaving the meeting room during the discussion on that particular item.

No declarations of pecuniary interest were made.

The following declarations of personal interest were received:

Minutes of the meeting held on 16 August 2012

RESOLVED:

That the Minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on 16 August 2012 be confirmed as a correct record.

Report of the Chief Executive to follow

Further to Minute No. 36 of the meeting held on 16 August 2012, the Cabinet considered the report of the Head of Finance and ICT and the Head of Transformation which provided details of a package of potential savings options which could be progressed in order to move towards the achievement of a balanced budget in 2013/14 and 2014/15. At this stage the report sought approval to consult communities, partners, key stakeholders and employees, as appropriate, on the options prior to any consideration by Council.

The extent of the options identified in the report reflected the significant

challenge of identifying a further £43.7 million of savings equivalent to an 18.5% reduction of the total net budget.

The report contained the following annexes:

The Chief Executive presented the report and indicated that the challenge of achieving £43.7 million of savings would present significant capacity issues and risks; that the options contained in the report would have implications for local communities; but that the Council would strive to mitigate such risks as far as possible. It would not be possible to mitigate all the risks. The Chief Executive concluded by stressing that at this stage of the process, approval was being sought to consult on the options and once the consultation was deemed to be complete that recommendations thereon would be submitted to future Cabinet meetings and meetings of the Council including the Council meeting on 22 November 2012.

Councillor Dowd mentioned the fact that all of the options contained in the report were not sufficient to meet the budget gap and that further options would need to be identified.

Members of the Cabinet raised questions on the following issues referred to in the report and Officers responded to the issues as referred to below:

Report of the Director of Corporate Commissioning

The Cabinet considered the report of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board Working Group on the review of the Port of Liverpool Master Plan.

Councillor McGinnity, the Lead Member of the Working Group attended the meeting and outlined the content and recommendations set out in the report and responded to 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 Director of Built Environment be requested to submit a monitoring report in relation to air quality to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee (Regeneration and Environmental Services) every six months;

(2)               the Director of Built Environment request Peel Holdings to review all its tenancy agreements with a view to including a “good neighbour” clause to minimise dust, dirt and noise pollution; 

                  (3)       the Director of Built Environment be requested to approach Peel Holdings for a guarantee that Peel Holdings will recruit local residents, with the right attitude, to any additional job/post wherever possible;

                  (4)       the Director of Built Environment request Peel Holdings to continue to attract a potential operator to run a regular rail service to/from various origins/destinations at Seaforth, in order to minimise container traffic on the roads, and that a progress report be submitted six monthly to the Port Health Authority, of which Sefton MBC has representation on;

                  (5)       NHS Sefton be requested to report the results of the life style survey to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee (Health and Social Care) at their first opportunity;

                  (6)       NHS Sefton be requested to report the results of the Health Impact Assessment, to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee (Health and Social Care) at their first opportunity;

                  (7)       the Sefton Council representative(s) nominated to sit on the City Region Port Access Steering Group be requested to report progress regularly to the Cabinet Members for Communities and Environment, Regeneration and Tourism and Transportation in order that they may update the relevant Overview and Scrutiny Committees through their individual Cabinet Member Reports;

(8)       the Sefton Council representative(s) nominated to sit on the City Region Port Access Steering Group be requested to continue raising the concerns in relation to the increased traffic and increased pollution in order that a sensible long term highway solution may be considered, to include pedestrian safety;

                  (9)       the Director of Built Environment be requested to introduce a process whereby the relevant Agency (Environment Agency) communicate regularly to Sefton Council with regard to the monitoring of noise pollution and the results collected by the monitoring systems already in place at the Port;

(10)     the Director of Built Environment be requested to write to the Highways Agency, on behalf of the Council, requesting them to install a Hurry Call System at appropriate points along the A5036 (Dunnings Bridge Road) to help in the plight to reduce pollution;

(11)     the Director of Built Environment be requested to manage, on behalf of the Council, the requests of expenditure from the Community Environment Fund, to Peel Ports;

(12)     the Director  ...  view the full minutes text for item 55.

Report of the Strategic Director - People

The Cabinet considered the report of the Strategic Director – People which provided details of the award of revenue funding by the Department of Communities and Local Government for work with troubled families in Sefton and sought approval to the inclusion of the funding in the Revenue Budget.

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

RESOLVED: That:

(1)approval be given to inclusion of the £585,600 Troubled Families Programme funding in the Council’s Revenue   Budget for 2012/13; and

(2)the Cabinet Member – Children, Schools, Families and Leisure receive updates on the delivery of the programme and successful outcomes of interventions.

To consider passing the following resolution:

That, under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act, 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph6 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Act.  The Public Interest Test has been applied and favours exclusion of the information from the Press and Public.

RESOLVED:

That under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business on the grounds that it would involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 6 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Act.  The Public Interest Test has been applied and favours exclusion of the information from the press and public.

Report of the Director of Corporate Support Services and Director of Young People and Families

The Cabinet considered the report of the Director of Corporate Support

Services and the Director of Young People and Families which provided details of the action been taken by Council officers to resolve the position relating to the former staff from St George of England and St Wilfrid’s High Schools who do not have a job in the Hawthorne’s Free School . The report also provided Counsel’s advice and to sought the views of the Cabinet on whether steps should be taken to seek a High Court Declaration.

Prior to commencing deliberations on the matter a leaflet was distributed to Members that had been submitted by the Pals of St. Georges relating to request for hardship loans. 

RESOLVED: That:

(1)      the legal advice provided by Counsel (dated 29 August 2012) appended to this report and in particular the ‘on balance’ conclusion reached by Counsel with respect to an application of TUPE law and to the application to the High Court seeking a Declaration be noted;

(2)      following consideration of Counsel’s advice, the Head of Corporate Legal Services be authorised to apply to the High Court for a Declaration as to the applicability of TUPE to the former staff of both St Wilfrid’s Catholic High School and St George of England Specialist Engineering College;

(3)      consistent with the Council’s belief that TUPE applies, the Cabinet’s view was that it is not appropriate to grant hardship loans in these circumstances;

(4)      the Cabinet notes the difficult circumstances that the staff are in and the dignified manner in which they are conducting themselves in relation to  the matters raised;

(5)      it be noted that the proposal is a Key Decision but it has not been included in the Council's Forward Plan of Key Decisions.  Consequently, the Leader of the Council and the Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee (Children’s Services) had given his consent under Rule 28 of the Access to Information Procedure Rules for these decisions to be treated as urgent on the basis that they cannot be reasonable deferred because the Council needs to instigate High Court proceedings as soon as is practicable; and

(6)      It be noted that the Leader of the Council and the Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee (Children’s Services) had given his consent under Rule 46 of the Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rules for these decisions to be treated as urgent and not subject to "call in" on the basis that they cannot be reasonably deferred because they cannot be reasonable deferred because the Council needs to instigate High Court proceedings as soon as is practicable.