Agenda and minutes

There were no questions from members of the public.

-        Strategic Director of Environment and Development Services to report.

Councillor Smith, Cabinet Member for Town Centres, Economic Growth and Prosperity introduced the minutes of the Local Development Framework Members’ Steering Group held on 2^nd November, 2011.

Members noted the timeframe for the consultation process, which would be submitted back to the Steering Group and Cabinet in due course.

Resolved:-  (1)  That the progress to date and the emerging issues be noted.

(2)  That the minutes of the Local Development Framework Members’ Steering Group held on 2^nd November, 2011 be received.

-        Chief Executive to report.

Councillor Akhtar, Deputy Leader, introduced a report by the Chief Executive, which detailed how the Boundary Commission for England was reviewing parliamentary constituency boundaries under new rules in the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Act, 2011.  The number of constituencies in England needed to reduce from 533 to 502 whilst ensuring that each constituency contained between 72,810 and 80,473 electors.  The Commission’s initial proposals were currently being consulted on and the deadline for responses was 5th December, 2011.

The proposals for Rotherham were for two constituencies within the Borough and one which crosses the boundary with Sheffield. These boundaries seemed reasonable given the limitations of the rules which must be followed. However, there were local concerns about the name “Rawmarsh” for the northern constituency and the alternative of Rotherham North was suggested.

Further information was provided on proposed new constituencies in Rotherham, assessment of the proposals for Rotherham and the South Yorkshire proposals.

There were no financial implications for the Council and the costs of future Parliamentary elections would be the same whether the existing boundaries were used or the new boundaries.

These were the initial proposals by the Boundary Commission for England and were subject to public consultation. The initial proposals may be amended following the responses they received.

Cabinet Members were happy with the initial proposals and no objections had been received about the proposed Rotherham and Sheffield East constituency.

Resolved:-  (1)  That the report be received and the draft proposals for Rotherham and South Yorkshire be noted.

(2)  That the proposed constituency boundaries be supported.

(3)  That it be the proposed Rawmarsh constituency be renamed as Rotherham North.

-        Strategic Director of Children and Young People’s Services to report.

Councillor Lakin, Cabinet Member for Safeguarding Children and Adults, introduced a report by the Strategic Director of Children and Young People’s Services, which detailed how the Children’s Act, 2004 required Local Authorities to appoint a Director of Children's Services (DCS) and Lead Member for Children's Services (LMCS) for the purposes of discharging the education and children's social services functions of the Local Authority.  Statutory guidance on the roles and responsibilities of the Director of Children's Services and Lead Member for Children's Services was first issued in 2005 and revised in 2009.  The Department for Education planned to replace the current version with revised guidance within this consultation, which was much shorter and less prescriptive and would welcome views.

The key points in the guidance were set out in detail as part of the report.

There were no additional financial implications to the consultation proposals.

If the Council chose to ignore the statutory guidance on the roles and responsibilities of the Director of Children’s Services and the Lead Member for Children’s Services, Ofsted would take this into account when they assessed the Local Authority leadership and management and may decide to look at the quality and effectiveness of the authority’s assurance process.

Resolved:-   That the consultation response as submitted be approved.

-        Strategic Director of Children and Young People’s Services to report.

Councillor Lakin, Cabinet Member for Safeguarding Children and Adults, introduced a report by the Strategic Director of Children and Young People’s Services, which set out details of the 2011 Children’s Services Assessment which was published on 8th November, 2011 rating Rotherham Children and Young People’s Services as “Performs Adequately”. 

The letter recognised a number of strengths and areas for further improvement and these were referred to in detail.  The Improvement Panel which was established to monitor the improvements following the Notice to Improve in 2009 would continue to monitor the implementation of the action plan.

The Children and Young Peoples Services Budget continued to be a concern with a current projected overspend of £5.4m.  Strategies were in place to deal with this as much as possible with budget action plan submitted to Department Leadership Team on a regular basis, budget monitoring with budget holders continued and was scrutinised regularly.  Invest to Save bids have been made to put in place measures to reduce costs in the longer term.

The OFSTED Children’s Services Assessment continued to be an annual publication and was used as a key measure for the success of Children’s Services, it no longer fed into any corporate assessment, but could be a trigger for intervention.

Resolved:-  (1)  That the report be received and the areas of strength and for development be noted.

(2)  That the Improvement Panel monitoring the implementation of the action plan be approved.

-        Chief Executive to report.

Councillor Akhtar, Deputy Leader, introduced a report by the Chief Executive, which provided an analysis of the Council’s current performance against the 29 key delivery outcomes contained within the Corporate Plan. It was a position statement based on available performance measures, together with an analysis of progress on key projects and activities which contributed to delivery of the plan.

The current position was six of the delivery outcomes required major intervention at Strategic Leadership Team level (red), thirteen delivery outcomes required intervention at Directorate level (amber) and ten delivery outcomes required no intervention at this time (green).

However, there were a number of changes in national policy and funding which were currently impacting locally and could affect achievement of the corporate plan outcomes.

A summary of “performance highlights and achievements” was referred to in detail as set out in the report and reasons provided for all the outcomes rated red, amber and green.

The current round of service reductions may impact on the Council’s ability to deliver all the key objectives set out in the Corporate Plan. An ongoing review of key tasks and targets would be required in the light of the changed financial and staffing resources.  The potential for under performance as a result of budget reductions highlighted the importance of integrating performance, risk and financial reporting.  This emphasised the need for regular monitoring of team plans within Directorates.

The rationalisation of the Government’s performance regime had taken the focus away from the previously strong performance management culture within the organisation. Implementation of the revised performance outcomes framework was required to restate and embed performance management within the organisation.  Targets for all corporate plan measures need to be firmly embedded to enable meaningful performance reporting.  Additionally, as highlighted earlier, there were a number of risks associated to changes to national policy and funding currently impacting and could further deteriorate performance.

Cabinet Members expressed particular concerns on key delivery outcomes, particularly No. 1 (child poverty), as the results suggested that there was almost no possibility of eradicating child poverty under current Government policy.

Resolved:-  (1)  That the current position against each of the Corporate Plan outcomes be approved, ensuring implementation of the proposed interventions, corrective actions and proposed performance clinics.

(2)  That the absence of targets allocated to some of the high level measures and prioritise work across directorates to fill these gaps be noted.

(3)  That the need to ensure high level monitoring of “the way we do business” principles into future reports be noted.

(4)  That this report be forwarded to the Self Regulation Select Committee on 8^th December, 2011.

-        Strategic Director of Environment and Development Services to report.

Councillor Rushforth, Cabinet Member for Lifelong Learning and Culture, introduced a report by the Strategic Director of Environment and Development Services, which detailed options that have been requested to deliver a modern, vibrant, library service whilst releasing annual efficiency savings of an estimated £500,000.

This report outlined the current situation and made suggestions to take forward further detailed work to ensure that the Authority continued to deliver a “comprehensive and efficient library service for all persons desiring to make use thereof” (Public Libraries & Museums Act, 1964) whilst taking account of available resources.

Details about the budget for the Library and Information Service and what this included, along with savings currently agreed with further indicative savings were set out in detail as part of the report.

In order to ensure rigorous and robust decision making, proposals for the future of the service needed to take into account its statutory nature, the resources available, existing and projected need for the service, including the consideration of vulnerable groups.

It was unlikely, bearing in mind the requirements for consultation and the need to implement a full service staffing review, that full year savings for 2012-13 would be released. There would be a need to implement the currently agreed savings on a temporary basis, pending decisions on the wider budget.

Resolved:-  (1)  That the implementation of the Library Strategy, as a statement of what the Service is trying to achieve, be approved.

(2)  That the Service undertakes an Equality Analysis on both current and proposed service delivery.

(3)  That the Service undertakes an assessment of need that the Library Service should meet, sufficient to enable the Council to comply with its duties under Section 7 of the Public Libraries and Museums Act, 1964

(4)  That the Service undertakes public consultation in respect of any options for future service delivery.

(5)  That options for consideration take into account the impact of the Localities Review and Customer Service Consolidation.

(6)  That a further report be brought to the Cabinet detailing proposals for the delivery of a modern, vibrant library service which also sets out options, if any, to demonstrate improved value for money by releasing efficiency savings.

The following item is likely to be considered in the absence of the press and public as being exempt under Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended March 2006 – information relates to finance and business affairs).

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 involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act (as amended March, 2006 (information relates to finance and business affairs).

-        Strategic Director of Children and Young People’s Services to report.

Further to Minute No. 146 of the meeting of the Cabinet Member for Safeguarding and Developing Learning Opportunities for Children held on 27th April, 2011, Councillor Lakin, Cabinet Member for Safeguarding Children and Adults, introduced a joint report by the Strategic Directors of Children and Young People’s Services and Neighbourhoods and Adult Services, which provided an overview of current activity and development of services for Homeless 16 and 17 year olds.

A report on the development of a Joint Protocol for Homeless 16 and 17 year olds was presented to Departmental Leadership Team on 26th October, 2010, and a report presented to Strategic Leadership Team on 10th October, 2011. It also provided an update on services to support the ability of 16-25 year olds to sustain housing tenancies.

The report also set out further information relating to:-

·              Supporting People Services for Vulnerable Young People 16-25.

·              Supporting Young People to Access and Sustain Permanent Accommodation.

The financial information associated with this support and the steps and services accessible to vulnerable young people was set out in detail as part of the report.

The demand for emergency accommodation was needs led and could only be anticipated by the numbers identified in previous years. The impact of economic downturn, benefit changes and the withdrawal of EMA provided further uncertainties.

Cabinet Members recognised the importance of this work and the links from partner agencies to create a holistic support provision for young people.

Resolved:-  (1)  That the report and its contents be noted.

(2)  That a progress report be provided in six months time.