Agenda and minutes

In the absence of the Chair and Vice-Chair Councillor Hardy was appointed Chair for this meeting of the Cabinet.

Apologies for absence were received from the Chair, Councillor Maher and Councillors Atkinson and Fairclough.

Members are requested at a meeting where a disclosable pecuniary interest or personal interest arises, which is not already included in their Register of Members' Interests, todeclare any interests that relate to an item on the agenda.

Where a Member discloses a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest, he/she must withdraw from the meeting room, including from the public gallery, during the whole consideration of any item of business in which he/she has an interest, except where he/she is permitted to remain as a result of a grant of a dispensation.

Where a Member discloses a personal interest he/she must seek advice from the Monitoring Officer or staff member representing the Monitoring Officer to determine whether the Member should withdraw from the meeting room, including from the public gallery, during the whole consideration of any item of business in which he/she has an interest or whether the Member can remain in the meeting or remain in the meeting and vote on the relevant decision.

No declarations of any disclosable pecuniary interests or personal interests were received.

Minutes of the meeting held on 6 September 2018

Decision Made:

That the Minutes of the Cabinet Meeting held on 6 September 2018 be confirmed as a correct record.

Report of the Head of Commissioning Support and Business Intelligence

Further to Minute No. 80 of the meeting held on 2 November 2017 the Cabinet considered the report of the Head of Commissioning Support and Business Intelligence that sought authorisation to procure a new Information, Advice and Guidance (IAG) service for a period of up to four years to deliver the Council’s statutory duties in relation to Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET) young people, with an additional range of preventative actions for those at risk of becoming NEET.

Decision Made:

That:-

Reasons for the Decisions:

The Council made an application to the Government’s Life Chances Fund earlier this year which has unfortunately not been supported.  The intention had been to incorporate top-up funding from this source together with other funding from social investors to create a new IAG service offer with a Social Impact Bond at its core.  The decision on Life Chances Fund was taken at HM Government Cabinet level via Department for Culture Media and Sport and was made public in September 2018. Advice has been sought from social investment specialists and this has indicated that a longer contract duration, given the absence of Life Chances Fund finance, would make Sefton’s scheme more viable for other social investors.

Alternative Options Considered and Rejected

1.         Procure a contract until March 2020 in line with the decision taken by             Cabinet in November 2017

There has been significant delay in the time taken to assess the Life Chances Fund which has impacted upon the Cabinet’s previous decision, reducing the amount of time available for the introduction of a new service.  Advice has indicated that, in the absence of government funding through Life Chances Fund, a longer contract period would increase the commercial attractiveness of our procurement opportunity and provide greater scope for suppliers to deliver innovative approaches.

2.         Procure a jointly commissioned service alongside the Liverpool City             Region Local Authority partners.

This option has been considered as at least four of the Merseyside LAs have been working together on IAG commissioning for some years and their approach has led to changes in the pattern of service delivery across the sub-region. In particular, NEET data tracking/reporting and engagement /support activities have been undertaken elsewhere by in-house LA staff while careers guidance  ...  view the full minutes text for item 50.

Report of the Head of Corporate Resources

The Cabinet considered the report of the Head of Corporate Resources:-  

The Head of Corporate Resources referred to the current outturn forecast and the  additional pressure that would be placed upon the 2019/20 budget (in addition to the current best estimate of £15m in respect of 2020/21; the close monitoring of services under significant budget pressure, in particular Children’s and Adults Services; and that the outturn forecast could change by the end of the financial year.

Decsion Made:

That:-

Reasons for the Decisions:

To ensure Cabinet are informed of the forecast outturn position for the 2018/19 revenue and capital budgets as at the end of August 2018 and to provide an updated forecast of the outturn position with regard to the collection of Council Tax and Business Rates.

In March 2017 Council approved a three-year budget plan to March 2020. The final two years of this plan were revised in March 2018 as part of the process of setting the 2018/19 budget. As the Council is nearly half way through the second year of this budget plan it remains confident, that its continued strategic approach to budget planning alongside good financial management and extensive community engagement, means that the plan continues to develop on solid foundations, remains flexible and will secure the future sustainability to 2020 and beyond. However, in year demand for social care services is currently resulting in the costs for these services exceeding the budget. Corrective action will be required to bring the overall budget into balance before the end of the financial year.

Alternative Options Considered and Rejected

Not applicable