Agenda, decisions and minutes
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Media
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Apologies for Absence
Additional documents: Minutes: Apologies were received from Mr Furey, Mrs Lewis and Mr Samuels. |
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Minutes of Previous Meeting: 2 February 2016
Additional documents: Minutes: The minutes of the meeting held on 2 February 2016 were confirmed and signed by the Chairman. |
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Declarations of Interest
Additional documents: Minutes: There were none. |
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Procedural Matters
Additional documents: |
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Members' Questions
Additional documents: Minutes: There were no Member questions. |
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Public Questions
Additional documents: Decision: Six questions were received from members of the public. The questions and responses are attached as Appendix 1.
Minutes: There were six questions from members of the public. The questions and the replies are attached as Appendix 1.
Julie Brown, Kathryn Killner and Susan Darling attended the meeting and asked supplementary questions. The Leader of the Council said that they would receive a written response, signed off by him by Tuesday 1 March and if it was not possible to provide a reply by this deadline, he would advise them accordingly. |
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Petitions
Additional documents: Minutes: There were no petitions. |
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Representations received on reports to be considered in private
Additional documents: Minutes: There were no representations. |
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Reports from Scrutiny Boards, Task Groups, Local Committees and other Committees of the Council
Additional documents: Minutes: There were no reports from Scrutiny Boards. |
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Finance and Budget Monitoring Report - January 2016
Additional documents: Decision: That the report be noted, including the following: 1. Services forecast a £6.2m revenue budget variance at year end which includes use of £7.4m central government grant, as set out in the Appendix, paragraph 1, of the submitted report. 2. Services forecast to achieve £64.5m efficiencies and service reductions by year end, as set out in Appendix, paragraph 38, of the submitted report. 3. The total forecast capital expenditure for 2015/16, including long term investments, is £222.3m, as set out in Appendix, paragraph 46, of the submitted report. 4. The investment of £3.4m in the East Surrey Local Transformation Investment Fund be approved, subject to final agreement of the proposal by all parties, as set out in Appendix, paragraph 50, of the submitted report, and signed off by the Leader of the Council.
Reasons for Decisions:
This report is presented to comply with the agreed policy of providing a monthly budget monitoring report to Cabinet for approval and action as necessary.
[The decisions on this item can be called in by the Council Overview Board]
Minutes: The Leader of the Council presented the budget monitoring report for the tenth month of the 2015/16 financial year, covering the period up to 31 January 2016. He said that it was the first budget monitoring report since the Council set its budget for 2016/17 and was important in setting the context for delivering that budget. He also said that the demographic demand pressures continued to grow and the Council needed to find new ways of delivering the services, which was why the Public Value Transformation programme was of great importance.
He went on to say that, at the start of this month, the Government’s Final Settlement provided County Councils, such as Surrey, with some Transitional Relief in the face of the most severe cut in government funding that Council’s had witnessed and stressed the importance of working together as one team to get the Council’s concerns listened to. The Secretary of State had gone further by announcing a review of the relative needs assessment, which would be the Council’s opportunity to make the case for a fairer distribution system that would reflect the demographic pressures faced by this Council.
As he stated as each Cabinet meeting, the Council’s financial strategy had four key drivers to ensure sound governance in managing finances and providing value for money.
These were:
1. To keep any additional call on the council taxpayer to a minimum The current forecast end of year revenue position was for an underspending of £6.2m and he said that managing budgets and overall resources to achieve an underspending this year was vital for giving some headroom and flexibility for managing the Council’s future spending plans and therefore, he was confident that Cabinet’s support for managers’ actions would make this the sixth consecutive year that the Council would have a small underspend or balanced outturn across the Council. However, within both Adults and Children’s Social Care demand was rising and this was putting pressure on both of these budgets. Adult Social Care faced a small overspending, but this included £8.0m one off support, which if left unchecked would add to pressures in future years.
He said that some of the underspending was due to services being unlikely to incur committed expenditure before 31 March 2016 and that the Cabinet would look carefully at any requests for carry forwards at the year end to ensure that services could meet their commitments, and that the Council overall had sufficient financial headroom for next year’s budget.
2. To continuously drive the efficiency agenda At the end of December, services forecast delivering £64.5m efficiencies and of this, nearly £38m had either already been implemented or were on track, £6m had some issues and there were £20m additional in year or one off savings. Only £0.5m were considered to be at risk. 3. To reduce the Council’s reliance on council tax and government grant income. That reducing reliance on government grants and council tax was key to balancing the Council’s budgets over the longer term ... view the full minutes text for item 30/16 |
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Leadership Risk Register
Additional documents: Decision: That the content of the Surrey County Council Leadership risk register, as set out in Annex 1 to the submitted report, be notes and the control actions put in place by the Statutory Responsibilities Network be endorsed.
Reasons for Decisions:
To enable the Cabinet to keep Surrey County Council’s strategic risks under review and to ensure that appropriate action is being taken to mitigate risks to a tolerable level in the most effective way.
[The decisions on this item can be called in by the Council Overview Board]
Minutes: The Cabinet Member for Business Services and Resident Experience said that the Surrey County Council Leadership risk register was presented to Cabinet each quarter and this report presented the Leadership risk register as at 31 January 2016.
She said that the Leadership Risk Register was owned by the Chief Executive and captured the County Council’s key strategic risks and that the role of the Cabinet was to ensure that appropriate actions were being taken to mitigate risks.
She said that the register had been extensively reviewed during December 2015 / January 2016 and there were now eight risks on it, split into two sections – strategic risks and cross-cutting risks. She also said that a number of risks had been removed from the register, for various reasons, as set out in Annex 2 of the submitted report.
The Cabinet Member for Environment and Planning considered that this version of the Leadership Risk Register was an excellent piece of work and that it was succinct and easy to follow. He commended it to Members.
RESOLVED:
That the content of the Surrey County Council Leadership risk register, as set out in Annex 1 to the submitted report, be notes and the control actions put in place by the Statutory Responsibilities Network be endorsed.
Reasons for Decisions:
To enable the Cabinet to keep Surrey County Council’s strategic risks under review and to ensure that appropriate action is being taken to mitigate risks to a tolerable level in the most effective way.
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Contract Award for the Refresh of Desktop and Laptop Devices for Surrey County Council
Additional documents: Decision:
1. That a call-off contract be awarded under the terms of the Crown Commercial Services Framework RM1054 to XMA Ltd for the provision of Desktop and Laptop devices and associated Services for Surrey County Council to commence on 21 March 2016.
2. That the contract is for an initial period of one year with an option for the Council to extend for two further periods of one year.
Reasons for Decisions:
Following the expiry of the last refresh contract some time ago, additional device supply and service has been ad-hoc across a number of suppliers. To perform a device refresh using these ad-hoc arrangements would require far greater controls by the Council to manage efficiently and would not leverage purchasing scale to achieve best value for money.
The main aim of the refresh programme is to provide Council staff with a refreshed desktop or laptop device that will enable them to work more efficiently and flexibly and so improve services provided to residents.
A competition in compliance with the requirement of EU Procurement Legislation, Public Contract Regulations 2015 and Surrey County Council Procurement Standing Orders has been completed, and the recommendation provides best value for money for the Council after undertaking a thorough evaluation process.
[The decisions on this item can be called in by the Council Overview Board]
Minutes: This report sought approval to award a contract to commence 21 March 2016, for the refresh of existing Council desktop and laptop computer devices and associated services.
The Cabinet Member for Business Services and Resident Experience said that it was at least 4 years since Surrey County Council last performed a major refresh of the hardware and software of the computer devices used. These devices were now out of warranty, were in many cases ‘end of life,’ were failing more often, and required more maintenance.
She confirmed that the financial and value for money details of the contract would be discussed in the Part 2 section of the meeting and commended the contract’s approval to Cabinet.
RESOLVED:
1. That a call-off contract be awarded under the terms of the Crown Commercial Services Framework RM1054 to XMA Ltd for the provision of Desktop and Laptop devices and associated Services for Surrey County Council to commence on 21 March 2016.
2. That the contract is for an initial period of one year with an option for the Council to extend for two further periods of one year.
Reasons for Decisions:
Following the expiry of the last refresh contract some time ago, additional device supply and service has been ad-hoc across a number of suppliers. To perform a device refresh using these ad-hoc arrangements would require far greater controls by the Council to manage efficiently and would not leverage purchasing scale to achieve best value for money.
The main aim of the refresh programme is to provide Council staff with a refreshed desktop or laptop device that will enable them to work more efficiently and flexibly and so improve services provided to residents.
A competition in compliance with the requirement of EU Procurement Legislation, Public Contract Regulations 2015 and Surrey County Council Procurement Standing Orders has been completed, and the recommendation provides best value for money for the Council after undertaking a thorough evaluation process.
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Procurement of a Children and Young People's Occupational Therapy Service
Additional documents: Decision:
1. That the Occupational Therapy service to support education, learning and training for children and young people in Surrey be jointly commissioned by Surrey County Council and Surrey’s six Clinical Commissioning Groups from April 2017. 2. That the procurement of the Council funded Occupational Therapy service forms part of the Community Health Services procurement process, as agreed at 24 November 2015 Cabinet meeting for Health Visiting and School Nursing, Parent Infant Mental Health and CAMHS Community Nurses. 3. That in the light of the addition of Occupational Therapy to the Community Health Services procurement process, that the delegation of decision-making be extended to the Strategic Director of Children, Schools and Families. 4. That the Strategic Director for Adult Social Care and Public Health, the Cabinet Member for Wellbeing and Health and the Head of Procurement will represent this service area at the Committee in Common (this enables all organisations involved in the procurement process to make joint decisions). Reasons for Decisions:
A review by the College of Occupational Therapists (2015) recommended joint commissioning of this service.
A single provider for all children’s community health services will facilitate easier access for users and provide benefits around information sharing and reducing on-costs (e.g. management and premises) and clear co-ordination of health care provision. The occupational therapy workforce is small and can have difficulties in recruitment and retention that would be exacerbated by separate procurements.
The planning of the community health services procurement has already started; with governance and funding frameworks that are unlikely to pose any additional costs to Surrey County Council.
A single tender process would benefit both commissioners and potential providers.
Integrated community health service provision will facilitate better and seamless multi-health professional work; particularly for differential diagnostics, assessments of complex needs and intervention for children with disabilities.
[The decisions on this item can be called in by either the Council Overview Board or the Education and Skills Scrutiny Board]
Minutes: The Cabinet Member for Schools, Skills and Educational Achievement introduced the report and said that the joint commissioning of special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) services was a key strategy for Surrey County Council and its partners to improve outcomes for children, young people and families in Surrey.
The contracts for the current occupational therapy service for children and young people would end in March 2017 and the Cabinet were asked to approve that from April 2017, the service would be jointly commissioned with the six Surrey Clinical Commissioning Groups and therefore formed part of the Community Health Services procurement process.
The recommendations should be considered alongside recommendations relating to the procurement process for Community Health Services approved by Cabinet on 24 November 2015.
She considered that a single provider for all children’s Community Health Services was the best way forward and that the planning had already started. She drew attention to the service principles set out in paragraph 6 of the report and also the financial and value for money implications, set out in paragraph 21 of the report.
She was also pleased to report that the new service specification would include statutory provision, which may be detailed in Education, Health and Care Plans for 19-25 year olds, which had not been included previously, as detailed in the Equalities Impact Assessment (EIA).
Other Members made the following points:
· That the total annual value of the Community Services procurement was very large – approximately £92m · Joined up services were the way forward · This was a focussed approach, with an emphasis on delivering realistic outcomes · The EIA set out the positive outcomes for those people who received the services · This approach was a big step forward for those parents wishing to access Occupational Therapy services for their children · This was an important report which addressed two of the County Council’s corporate priorities and was also an important cultural change for the organisation.
RESOLVED:
1. That the Occupational Therapy service to support education, learning and training for children and young people in Surrey be jointly commissioned by Surrey County Council and Surrey’s six Clinical Commissioning Groups from April 2017. 2. That the procurement of the Council funded Occupational Therapy service forms part of the Community Health Services procurement process, as agreed at 24 November 2015 Cabinet meeting for Health Visiting and School Nursing, Parent Infant Mental Health and CAMHS Community Nurses. 3. That in the light of the addition of Occupational Therapy to the Community Health Services procurement process, that the delegation of decision-making be extended to the Strategic Director of Children, Schools and Families. 4. That the Strategic Director for Adult Social Care and Public Health, the Cabinet Member for Wellbeing and Health and the Head of Procurement will represent this service area at the Committee in Common (this enables all organisations involved in the procurement process to make joint decisions). Reasons for Decisions:
A review by the College of Occupational Therapists (2015) recommended joint commissioning of this service.
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Sythwood Primary School, Woking
Additional documents: Decision: That, subject to the agreement of the detailed financial information for the expansion set out in agenda item 15 in Part 2 of this agenda, the business case for the phase 2 expansion programme at Sythwood Primary School, the provision of an additional 120 primary places in Woking, be approved.
Reasons for Decisions:
The Local Authority has a statutory duty to ensure there are sufficient school places in the County and Woking is an area where school demand has increased significantly. This proposal, as part of a suite of expansions in school places, ensures that the Council is able to provide an appropriate pattern of provision in the Woking area to meet the needs of this rising population.
[The decisions on this item can be called in by either the Council Overview Board or the Education and Skills Scrutiny Board]
Minutes: This report to approve the Business Case for the phase 2 expansion of Sythwood Primary School from a 2 Form of Entry primary (420 places) to a 3 Form of Entry primary (630 places) to meet the basic need requirements in the Woking area from September 2016 was introduced by the Cabinet Member for Schools, Skills and Educational Achievement.
She said that this school was highly regarded in the Woking area and was part of the Bourne Academy Trust. She confirmed that the headteacher and governors of the school had been fully consulted on the proposals to provide a standalone two-storey modular building to provide six classrooms, as part of the phase 2 expansion of this school. She also hoped that the planning application would be approved by the Planning and Regulatory Committee in March 2016.
The Cabinet Member for Business Services and Resident Experience confirmed her support for this school expansion. She also highlighted that Surrey County Council was creating 11,000 more school places over the next five years and that this rising demand for school places in the county had not been fully funded by Central Government.
RESOLVED:
That, subject to the agreement of the detailed financial information for the expansion set out in agenda item 15 in Part 2 of this agenda, the business case for the phase 2 expansion programme at Sythwood Primary School, the provision of an additional 120 primary places in Woking, be approved.
Reasons for Decisions:
The Local Authority has a statutory duty to ensure there are sufficient school places in the County and Woking is an area where school demand has increased significantly. This proposal, as part of a suite of expansions in school places, ensures that the Council is able to provide an appropriate pattern of provision in the Woking area to meet the needs of this rising population. |
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Cleves Junior School, Weybridge
Additional documents: Decision: That, subject to the agreement of the detailed financial information for the expansion set out in agenda item 16 in Part 2 of this agenda, the business case for the provision of an additional 1 Form of Entry (120 junior places) at Cleves Junior School be approved.
Reasons for Decisions:
The proposal supports the Authority’s statutory obligation to provide sufficient school places, relative to demand.
[The decisions on this item can be called in by either the Council Overview Board or the Education and Skills Scrutiny Board]
Minutes: This report to approve the Business Case for the expansion of Cleves Junior School from a 5 Form of Entry junior (600 places) to a 6 Form of Entry junior (720 places), creating 120 additional junior places to help meet the basic need requirements in the Weybridge area for September 2016, was also introduced by the Cabinet Member for Schools, Skills and Educational Achievement.
She said that this junior school was an academy which had been rated by Ofsted as ‘outstanding’. She acknowledged that this was a large junior school but said that the proposals for its expansion had been subject to consultation and had been well received.
The expansion would include a new building comprising six classrooms. There would also be internal adaptations to an existing building to expand the dining area and there would be significant highway improvements to address the congestion around the school site.
Finally, she said that she hoped that the planning application would be agreed by the Planning and Regulatory Committee in May 2016.
RESOLVED:
That, subject to the agreement of the detailed financial information for the expansion set out in agenda item 16 in Part 2 of this agenda, the business case for the provision of an additional 1 Form of Entry (120 junior places) at Cleves Junior School be approved.
Reasons for Decisions:
The proposal supports the Authority’s statutory obligation to provide sufficient school places, relative to demand. |
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Leader / Deputy Leader / Cabinet Member Decisions Taken Since the Last Cabinet Meeting
Additional documents: Decision: That the delegated decisions taken by Cabinet Members since the last meeting be noted.
Reasons for Decisions:
To inform the Cabinet of decisions taken by Cabinet Members under delegated authority.
Minutes: RESOLVED:
That the delegated decisions taken by Cabinet Members since the last meeting be noted.
Reasons for Decisions:
To inform the Cabinet of decisions taken by Cabinet Members under delegated authority.
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EXCLUSION OF THE PUBLIC
Additional documents: Minutes: RESOLVED that under Section 100(A) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information under paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act.
PART TWO – IN PRIVATE
THE FOLLOWING ITEMS OF BUSINESS WERE CONSIDERED IN PRIVATE BY THE CABINET. SET OUT BELOW IS A PUBLIC SUMMARY OF THE DECISIONS TAKEN.
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Contract Award for the Refresh of Desktop and Laptop Devices for Surrey County Council
Decision: 1. The information contained in this Part 2 report be noted in order to inform the recommendations that a call-off contract is awarded under the terms of the Crown Commercial Services Framework RM1054 to XMA Ltd up-to a value, as set out in the submitted report, for the provision of a Desktop and Laptop devices and associated Services for Surrey Council to commence on 21 March 2016.
2. The contract is for an initial period of one year with an option for the Council to extend for two further periods of one year. Reasons for Decisions:
The winning tender demonstrates satisfactory quality and best value for money for the Council. The winning bidder XMA Ltd has a good track record of delivering sizeable refresh projects for the likes of Kent County Council, the University of Plymouth and some London Boroughs. Surrey Council is confident that the supplier has the technical capability to perform the project and recognises that its project management and customer service experience may be tested when deploying each device to each member of staff.
The overall price and quality offered by XMA Ltd are compelling when compared to current and previously paid prices, offer the Council the opportunity to refresh its device estate at a much lower cost than expected. The actual cost and therefore saving of contribution to the Equipment Replacement Reserve (ERR) will depend to a reasonable degree on the rate of adoption for mobile thin client devices.
Detailed assessments were made of all four of the bidders, particularly where the suppliers were new to Surrey County Council. The results of these evaluations and recommendation to award to XMA Ltd offers Surrey Council, the most economically advantageous solution.
[The decisions on this item can be called in by the Council Overview Board]
Minutes: The Cabinet Member for Business Services and Resident Experience introduced the report which contained the financial and value for money information relating to item 8, the award of a contract to XMA Ltd. She confirmed that the winning bidder had a good track record of delivering sizeable refresh projects.
RESOLVED:
1. The information contained in this Part 2 report be noted in order to inform the recommendations that a call-off contract is awarded under the terms of the Crown Commercial Services Framework RM1054 to XMA Ltd up-to a value, as set out in the submitted report, for the provision of a Desktop and Laptop devices and associated Services for Surrey County Council to commence on 21 March 2016.
2. The contract is for an initial period of one year with an option for the Council to extend for two further periods of one year. Reasons for Decisions:
The winning tender demonstrates satisfactory quality and best value for money for the Council. The winning bidder XMA Ltd has a good track record of delivering sizeable refresh projects for the likes of Kent County Council, the University of Plymouth and some London Boroughs. Surrey County Council is confident that the supplier has the technical capability to perform the project and recognises that its project management and customer service experience may be tested when deploying each device to each member of staff.
The overall price and quality offered by XMA Ltd are compelling when compared to current and previously paid prices, offer the Council the opportunity to refresh its device estate at a much lower cost than expected. The actual cost and therefore saving of contribution to the Equipment Replacement Reserve (ERR) will depend to a reasonable degree on the rate of adoption for mobile thin client devices.
Detailed assessments were made of all four of the bidders, particularly where the suppliers were new to Surrey County Council. The results of these evaluations and recommendation to award to XMA Ltd offers Surrey County Council, the most economically advantageous solution.
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Sythwood Primary School, Woking
Decision: 1. That the business case for the phase 2 project to expand Sythwood Primary School by 120 places, at a total cost as set out in the submitted report, be approved. 2. That the arrangements by which a variation of up to 10% of the total value may be agreed by the Strategic Director for Children, Schools and Families in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Schools, Skills and Educational Achievement, the Cabinet Member for Business Services and Resident Experience and the Leader of the Council, be approved.
Reasons for Decisions:
The proposal delivers and supports the Authority’s statutory obligation to provide sufficient school places to meet the needs of the population in the Woking area.
[The decisions on this item can be called in by either the Council Overview Board or the Education and Skills Scrutiny Board ]
Minutes: The Cabinet Member for Schools, Skills and Educational Achievement said that this report contained the financial and value for money information relating to item 10.
RESOLVED:
1. That the business case for the phase 2 project to expand Sythwood Primary School by 120 places, at a total cost as set out in the submitted report, be approved. 2. That the arrangements by which a variation of up to 10% of the total value may be agreed by the Strategic Director for Children, Schools and Families in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Schools, Skills and Educational Achievement, the Cabinet Member for Business Services and Resident Experience and the Leader of the Council, be approved.
Reasons for Decisions:
The proposal delivers and supports the Authority’s statutory obligation to provide sufficient school places to meet the needs of the population in the Woking area.
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Cleves Junior School, Weybridge
Decision:
1. That the business case for the project to expand Cleves Junior School by 120 places, at a total cost as set out in the submitted report, be approved. 2. That the arrangements by which a variation of up to 10% of the total value may be agreed by the Strategic Director for Children, Schools and Families in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Schools, Skills and Educational Achievement, the Cabinet Member for Business Services and Resident Experience and the Leader of the Council be approved.
Reasons for Decisions:
The proposal delivers and supports the Authority’s statutory obligation to provide sufficient school places to meet the needs of the population in the Weybridge area.
[The decisions on this item can be called in by either the Council Overview Board or the Education and Skills Scrutiny Board]
Minutes: The Cabinet Member for Schools, Skills and Educational Achievement said that this report contained the financial and value for money information relating to item 11.
RESOLVED:
1. That the business case for the project to expand Cleves Junior School by 120 places, at a total cost as set out in the submitted report, be approved. 2. That the arrangements by which a variation of up to 10% of the total value may be agreed by the Strategic Director for Children, Schools and Families in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Schools, Skills and Educational Achievement, the Cabinet Member for Business Services and Resident Experience and the Leader of the Council be approved.
Reasons for Decisions:
The proposal delivers and supports the Authority’s statutory obligation to provide sufficient school places to meet the needs of the population in the Weybridge area |
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PUBLICITY FOR PART 2 ITEMS
Additional documents: Minutes: It was agreed that non-exempt information may be made available to the press and public, where appropriate. |