Agenda, decisions and minutes
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Contact: Vicky Hibbert or Anne Gowing 020 8541 9938 Email: anne.gowing@surreycc.gov.uk
Media
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Apologies for Absence
Additional documents: Minutes: Apologies were received from Ms Denise Le Gal. |
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Minutes of Previous Meeting: 28 March 2017
The minutes will be available in the meeting room half an hour before the start of the meeting. Additional documents: Minutes: The minutes were agreed as a true record of the meeting. |
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Declarations of Interest
All Members present are required to declare, at this point in the meeting or as soon as possible thereafter (i) Any disclosable pecuniary interests and / or (ii) Other interests arising under the Code of Conduct in respect of any item(s) of business being considered at this meeting NOTES: · Members are reminded that they must not participate in any item where they have a disclosable pecuniary interest · As well as an interest of the Member, this includes any interest, of which the Member is aware, that relates to the Member’s spouse or civil partner (or any person with whom the Member is living as a spouse or civil partner) · Members with a significant personal interest may participate in the discussion and vote on that matter unless that interest could be reasonably regarded as prejudicial. Additional documents: Minutes: There were none. |
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Procedural Matters
Additional documents: Minutes: There were none. |
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Members' Questions
The deadline for Member’s questions is 12pm four working days before the meeting (21 April 2017).
Additional documents: Minutes: There were none. |
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Public Questions
The deadline for public questions is seven days before the meeting (20 April 2017).
Additional documents: Minutes: There were none. |
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Petitions
The deadline for petitions was 14 days before the meeting, and no petitions have been received.
Additional documents: Minutes: There were none. |
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Representations received on reports to be considered in private
To consider any representations received in relation why part of the meeting relating to a report circulated in Part 2 of the agenda should be open to the public. Additional documents: Minutes: There were none. |
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Reports from Scrutiny Boards, Task Groups, Local Committees and other Committees of the Council
None. Additional documents: Minutes: No reports were received. |
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Financial Budget Out Turn 2016/17
The Council takes a multiyear approach to its budget planning and monitoring, recognising the two are inextricably linked. This report presents the Council’s year-end financial outturn position for 2016/17 and the impact of carry forward requests on the 2017/18 financial year. Following the +£22.4m forecast variance reported as at 30 September 2016, Cabinet required officers to take effective measures to bring the 2016/17 budget back into balance. As at 28 February 2017, measures taken by the Chief Executive and the Director of Finance, with directors’ support, resulted in a -£29.2m improvement in the Council’s forecast outturn position. Over the same period, Cabinet avoided further spending commitments, wherever possible, pending assurances of a balanced 2017/18 budget and a sustainable Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP). This is the seventh year in succession the Council has maintained its net spending within the annual budget. The measures to achieve a balanced budget outturn in 2016/17 included one-off measures and spending delays as well as genuine efficiencies such as achieving future years’ savings early. One-off measures do not address the fundamental issue of service overspends, particularly in social care. These overspends are driven by: the increased numbers of those who need services, the increased complexity of their needs and the increasing costs of meeting those needs. That mix, plus the savings already achieved and the continuing reduction in central government funding make the Council’s longer term financial resilience a serious challenge. The Section 151 Officer stated in her report of February 2017 to Full Council on the 2017/18 to 2019/20 budget and MTFP that the financial challenges facing the Council have become even more serious in the last year. During 2017/18, the Council must deliver already stretching service reduction plans of £93m, plus it must identify up to £11m of additional service reductions to balance the 2017/18 budget and continue to move towards a sustainable budget for future years. The annexes to this report give details of the Council’s financial position.
[The decisions on this item can be called in by the Council Overview Board]
Additional documents: Minutes: The report was introduced by the Leader of the Council who highlighted that Surrey County Council (SCC) had achieved an underspend of £6.7 million against forecasted expenditure for the 2016/17 financial year. In September 2016 the Finance Team had projected that SCC’s spending for the year would exceed the budget by £22.4 million but the Cabinet had worked with senior officers to identify a series of savings to bring SCC back within budget. Mr Hodge further stated that the Council had achieved £66.4 million of savings against a target of £82.9 million but highlighted that measures taken to bring SCC’s finance back into balance for the year had been a combination of genuine efficiencies coupled with one-off measures and spending delays. Attention was drawn to significant demand and cost pressures on Adult Social Care and Children’s Services which had culminated in a collective overspend of £25 million for 2016/17 across these two services which had disrupted the savings plan leading to a shortfall of £16 million against the Council’s target for the year. This meant that underlying pressures would persist in 2017/18 exerting a continued detrimental impact on the council’s medium term financial position which remained unsustainable. The Leader emphasised the importance of Members and officers continuing to identify and implement ways of addressing the ongoing issues affecting the council’s financial sustainability for 2017/18 and subsequent years.
Mr Hodge stated that the Council’s reserves of £65 million were at the minimum safe level and so it was appropriate to use the underspend from the 2016/17 budget to replenish its reserves in order to mitigate the risk of non-delivery against the Council’s savings target for 2017/18. He further advised that the report contained a combined total of £18.6 million in revenue and capital carry forward requests for 2017/18 and that it was necessary for the Cabinet to consider these carefully to ensure that there is sufficient capacity to meet these extra commitments in 2017/18 and to assure itself that the council overall has sufficient financial resources.
Cabinet Members were asked to comment on the financial position of their individual service areas and made the following statements: · Mr Mel Few expressed his gratitude to the Adult Social Care team for their commitment to delivering high quality services to residents despite increasing budgetary and demand pressures. He highlighted the significant amount of savings that Adult Social Care had made since 2013 despite increasing demand on services both in terms of the volume of residents entitled to social care and the level of support which they required. Mr Few confirmed that he agreed with the carry forwards requested within the report. · The Cabinet Member for Schools, Skills and Education Achievement thanked the schools commissioning and admissions teams for the work they had done in creating a substantial number of additional school places over the past four years in order to meet rising demand. There had also been additional pressure on SCC’s special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) provision which had led to overspend of ... view the full minutes text for item 75/17 |
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Leadership Risk Register
The Surrey County Council Leadership Risk Register is presented to Cabinet each quarter and this report presents the Leadership Risk Register as at 31 March 2017.
[The decision on this item may be called in by the Council Overview Board]
Additional documents: Decision: RESOLVED: That;
the Cabinet noted the content of the Surrey County Council Leadership risk register as displayed in Annex 1 of the submitted report and to endorse the control actions put in place by the Statutory Responsibilities Network.
Minutes: The report was introduced by Mr Mike Goodman who emphasised the importance of the Leadership Risk Register for ensuring that SCC takes the appropriate steps to mitigate potential risks. A total of seven identified risks had been removed from the register over the past few months as a result of the actions which had been taken to address them.
The Cabinet Member for Children and Families Wellbeing drew attention to the financial challenges faced by the Council and highlighted that these were clearly reflected in the Risk Register.
RESOLVED: That;
the Cabinet noted the content of the Surrey County Council Leadership risk register as displayed in Annex 1 of the submitted report and endorsed the control actions put in place by the Statutory Responsibilities Network.
Reasons for Decision
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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Procurement of (1) Inspection and (2) Maintenance of Traffic Control Systems
The County Council is required to manage its road network to ensure safety and to minimise congestion. Traffic control systems are an essential tool in achieving this. They include: traffic signals at junctions, pelican, puffin, toucan, and equestrian crossings, variable message signs, fire station warning lights, car park counting equipment, electronic bridge height warning signs and rising bollards. Current contractual arrangements for the maintenance and inspection of these systems come to an end in June 2017 and on this basis it is necessary to appoint a new contract in order to be able to continue to maintain these systems in accordance with our obligations/duties under the Traffic Management Act 2004, “TD24/97 All Purpose Trunk Roads Inspection and Maintenance of Traffic Signals and Associated Equipment” (Volume 8, Section 1, Part 2 of the Design Manual for Road and Bridges 1997), and “Management of Electronic Traffic Equipment - A Code of Practice Sept. 2011” (DfT/Roads Liaison Group).
This report provides details of the procurement process to award two separate contracts for the Inspection and Maintenance of our traffic control systems, including the results of the evaluation process, and in conjunction with the Part 2 report, demonstrates why the recommended contracts offer best value for money.
Due to the commercial sensitivity involved in the contracts award process, the financial details of the potential suppliers have been circulated as a Part 2 report for Members.
N.B. an annex containing exempt information is contained in Part 2 of the agenda – item 11
[The decisions on this item may be called in by either the Council Overview Board or the Economic Prosperity, Environment and Highways Scrutiny Board]
Additional documents: Decision: RESOLVED: That;
the Cabinet approved the award of the contracts to Siemens PLC as agreed on the basis set out in the Part 2 report.
Minutes: The report was introduced by the Cabinet Member for Highways, Transport and Flooding who advised that the Council was legally required to inspect and maintain Surrey’s Traffic Control System. This was a niche service which limited the number of suppliers who were able to bid for the contract. The Council had introduced more robust Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) into the contracts in an effort to ensure effective performance from the supplier while contracts would be awarded on a 3 + 2 years basis to incentivise good performance. The Cabinet was further informed that SCC had sought to collaborate with other local authorities on the procurement of this service but this had not come to fruition due to varying requirements regarding the maintenance and repair of Traffic Control Systems.
Mr Goodman congratulated officers for their work in identifying potential risks arising from the contract and for detailing measures to mitigate these risks clearly in the report.
RESOLVED: That;
the Cabinet approved the award of the contracts to Siemens PLC as agreed on the basis set out in the Part 2 report.
Reasons for Decisions The revised contractual proposals enable Surrey County Council (SCC) to continue to inspect and maintain traffic control systems on its highway network across the county.
Surrey County Council has a general ‘Network Management Duty’ under the Traffic Management Act 2004 and the County’s Traffic Systems Assets play a key role in delivering this Duty,
The Council Manages its Traffic Control Systems assets to the technical specifications set out “TD24/97 All Purpose Trunk Roads Inspection and Maintenance of Traffic Signals and Associated Equipment” (Volume 8, Section 1, Part 2 of the Design Manual for Road and Bridges 1997), and in accordance with “Management of Electronic Traffic Equipment - A Code of Practice Sept. 2011” (DfT/Roads Liaison Group)
A full tender process for the inspection and maintenance of traffic control systems, in compliance with the requirement of EU Procurement Legislation and Procurement Standing Orders has been completed, and the recommendations provide best value for money for the Council following a thorough evaluation process.
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Leader / Deputy Leader / Cabinet Member Decisions Taken Since the Last Cabinet Meeting
To note any delegated decisions taken by the Leader, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Members since the last meeting of the Cabinet. Additional documents: Decision: RESOLVED:
That the decisions taken by Cabinet Members since the last meeting, as set out in Annex 1 of the submitted report, be noted. Minutes: Mr Furey drew attention to the decision made at his Cabinet Member decision meeting on 11 April 2017 which committed £350,000 in funding from SCC to the Godalming Flood Alleviation Scheme. He praised the effectiveness of the Council’s partnership with the Local Flooding Forum in Godalming which had secured the necessary funding to establish flood defences in the town.
Mrs Kemeny highlighted the decision made by the Cabinet Member for Business Services and Resident Experience to approve the business cases for Ashford Park School, Loseley Fields School and Oakfield School which would help to expand school provision for children with special educational needs and disabilities in Surrey.
RESOLVED: That;
the decisions taken by Cabinet Members since the last meeting, as set out in Annex 1 of the submitted report, were noted.
Reasons for Decision
To inform the Cabinet of decisions taken by Cabinet Members under delegated authority.
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EXCLUSION OF THE PUBLIC
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 the relevant paragraphs of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act. Additional documents: Decision: 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 the relevant paragraphs of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act.
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 the relevant paragraphs of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act.
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Procurement of (1) Inspection and (2) Maintenance of Traffic Control Systems
This is a part 2 annex relating to item 8.
Exempt: Not for publication under Paragraph 3
Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information).
[The decision on this item may be called in by either the Council Overview Board or the Economic Prosperity, Environment and Highways Scrutiny Board]
Decision: RESOLVED:
That the Cabinet award;
Minutes: The report was introduced by the Cabinet Member for Highways, Transport and Flooding who reiterated that inspection and maintenance of traffic control systems was a niche service which meant that the pool of suppliers able to bid for the contract was limited. Mr Furey advised that there would be a substantial rise in the cost of the contracts but stated that the Highways and Transport Team would mitigate these increases by generating revenue in other areas. Cabinet Members were further informed that social value had been built into the contract which Siemens would meet by reducing their carbon footprint and establishing an apprenticeship role.
RESOLVED:
That the Cabinet award;
Reasons for Decisions:
A full tender process, in compliance with the requirement of EU Procurement Legislation and Procurement Standing Orders has been completed and the recommendations provide best value for money for the Council following a thorough evaluation process. The value of both lots has increased in line with officer expectations based on knowledge of the traffic signals market. This increase will be managed within existing operational budgets and through flexibility of annual programmes for Traffic Systems as required.
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PUBLICITY FOR PART 2 ITEMS
To consider whether the item considered under Part 2 of the agenda should be made available to the Press and public. Additional documents: Minutes: It was agreed that non-exempt information may be made available to the press and public, where appropriate. |