To receive any apologies for absence.

There were no apologies from members of the cabinet.

None.

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting held on 4 May 2017.

RESOLVED:  That the Minutes of the meeting held on 4 May 2017 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

To receive questions from members of the public.

Deadline for receipt of questions is 5:00pm on Monday 19 June.

Accepted questions will be published as a supplement prior to the meeting.

No questions were received from members of the public.

To receive questions from councillors.

Deadline for receipt of questions is 5:00pm on Monday 19 June.

Accepted questions will be published as a supplement prior to the meeting.

Question from Councillor E J Swinglehurst

Cladding on public buildings

The fire at Grenfell Tower highlighted potential risks inherent in using certain exterior cladding on high rise buildings.  I understand this, and the adequacy of building control regulations, may be the subject of urgent review.  If such cladding has been used in the refurbishment of housing or public buildings in Herefordshire what assessment has been made of the risks to residents, and what steps have been taken to reassure them?

Answer from Councillor Harry Bramer, cabinet member contracts and assets

Herefordshire does not have any high rise buildings. However, in light of the potential risks associated with certain types of exterior cladding, officers are liaising with the housing providers to establish what steps they are taking to identify and assess any risk relating to the housing stock they own.

A similar assessment of risk is being carried out in relation to council buildings including schools; these are low rise buildings with more than one fire exit. Regular fire drills and inspections are carried out at all council premises, and improvements in practice identified as necessary; the importance of this basic good practice cannot be overstated.

Our thoughts go out to all those affected by the Grenfell Tower fire, but I am assured that we are taking all steps necessary to identify risks and, if appropriate, take mitigating action.

The building control service remains available to provide advice to property owners.

The advice from Government is fast moving, we have received further guidance this morning. There is a wide range of propriety cladding systems that have been used over the years and these are constructed from a wide range of materials.  Government advice is that some (ACM) Aluminium Composite Material cladding systems may not provide sufficient fire resistance.  The guidance issued this morning requires council’s to notify the Fire and Rescue Service of the existence of any Aluminium Composite Material cladding in council buildings. The council has complied with this requirement.

Requests from Government

We have responded to all information requests from Government.  We have confirmed that we do own any properties in Herefordshire (residential or other, clad or other) over 18m

Properties owned by the Council

We do not have any properties that have significant cladding. We have identified a small number of properties that have decorative cladding panels, e.g. in modular window systems. These tend to be in the form of a glazed opening in the top half of the unit and the lower half is a cladding panel. . We have assessed these as low risk installations on the basis that they are not cladding the whole wall, and the buildings are not occupied by people sleeping. We are liaising with the Fire and Rescue Service in respect of these buildings.

Social Housing

The council does not own any social housing. We are having an ongoing dialogue with the major social land lords operating in Hereford, including HHL. They have all confirmed that they do not have any  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

To inform cabinet of the revenue and capital outturn for 2016/17, including the treasury management outturn report and debts written off, and invite cabinet members to consider performance for the year.

The cabinet member economy and corporate services introduced the report. The focus of the report was on the final budget position for 2016/17 and the successes and challenges for each directorate of the council. The cabinet member stated that careful management of the budget had protected services and that there had been an overall underspend of £600k.

A number of successes were highlighted, linked to the council’s corporate priorities:

Enable residents to live safe, healthy and independent lives

·         177 disabled facilities grants had been funded, a small increase on the previous year, allowing more residents to stay in their own home for longer;

·         more residents over the age of 65 were being supported to live at home;

·         Herefordshire was now ranked 18^th best out of all English authorities.

Keep children and young people safe and give them a great start in life

·         early years outcomes had improved, Herefordshire was now ranked in the top 25% of councils for a key measure;

·         recruitment of foster carers had improved, against a regional trend of falling numbers of foster carers.

Support the growth of our economy

·         good progress had been made on the south wye transport package;

·         the new city link road was expected to open before Christmas 2017;

·         the new economic vision for the county was about to be launched;

·         EnviRecover Energy-from-Waste plant had been completed and was reducing the council’s reliance on landfill for disposing of waste while generating power.

Secure better services, quality of life and value for money

·         the use of agency staff had reduced;

·         the council’s new website had been launched successfully and had been submitted for a national award.

Group leaders were asked to make comments on behalf of their group.

The leader of the Herefordshire independents group raised the following points:

That inspections of adults’ services often criticised a lack of front line support and management and that the director for adults and wellbeing should visit frontline staff more often. In response it was noted that Herefordshire was rated the 5^th highest authority for quality of life provided and that the management team was clearly delivering good results.

That the telecare service was a credit to everyone involved.

The group leader queried why the council had seen an increase in foster carers. The cabinet member for children and young people responded that a targeted approach had been used to recruit more carers and that there was good support and training in place which was valued by carers.

The group leader commented on the inclusion of the Hereford Bypass in the Midlands Connects regional transport strategy and asked what benefits this would bring. The cabinet member for infrastructure explained that the bypass scheme was in the early priority stages of the strategy programme and that the system was complex. More information would be provided as the strategy was firmed up. Funding may be available if the scheme meets the relevant criteria for each stage.

The group leader asked how often neighbourhood plans would be reviewed.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

To agree budget priority consultation arrangements to inform the budget setting process for 2018/19 development of the medium term financial strategy (MTFS).

The cabinet member for financial management and ICT introduced the report. The chief finance officer stated that the planned consultation exercise was similar to that carried out in the past and would be primarily a digital consultation, supplemented by use of existing meetings with stakeholder groups.

Group leaders were asked to give the views of their groups.

The leader of the It’s Our County! group advocated working in partnership with town councils and larger parishes to build a budget rather than take a top down briefing approach. It was suggested that ward members could help facilitate this.

He also suggested that questions on levels of council tax should enable respondents to see and respond to what any rise in council tax would actually be spent on.

He stated that an entirely online consultation would fail to include those most in need of council services. The equality duty section of the report did not mention any of the demographics who might not be able to take part in an online questionnaire.

The cabinet member for financial management and ICT responded that any local councillor could engage with local events or bodies to give feedback on the budget consultation. The planned level of engagement took account of time constraints on council officers. He noted that online consultation was becoming the default medium for many organisations and that use should be made of greater online access.

The cabinet member for health and wellbeing stated that the planned consultation was at a high level and that where there were specific proposals for changes to services more targeted consultation would take place in ways which would take account of the needs of the service group.

The cabinet member for infrastructure stated that the investment made in broadband for the county should lead to a digital by default approach and that he had not received any feedback at parish meetings to say that residents were unable to respond to online questionnaires.

The leader of the Liberal Democrat group queried what difference the proposed tiered approach would make. The leader of the council responded that there were differences in providing services in the city, the market towns and the very rural areas of the county. The three tiers proposed would allow adjustments to be made in design and delivery of services to even out these differences.

Resolved:

THAT:

(a)  the approach for consulting on budget priorities for the coming four years and the capital programme and budget proposals for 2018/19 as set out in the report be approved.

To approve the policy statements relating to the criteria upon which the council would seek to award Honorary Freemen/Freewomen titles.

The cabinet member for economy and corporate services introduced the report. Following the instalment of Sasha Kindred CBE as the first honorary freeman of Herefordshire the purpose of the report was to approve the procedures and criteria to be used for future nominations.

The leader of the It’s Our County! group commented that the approach suggested was very welcome and common sense. He suggested that clear criteria should be used although he recognised that it was difficult to put into words the principle behind the award.

The leader of the council responded that the criteria had been discussed but that it was hard to decide where to draw the line. The director of economy, communities and corporate stated that the criteria set out the in appendix to the report required outstanding commitment and eminent service to the county. Awards would only be made in very special circumstances.

The leader of the Liberal Democrats group urged members to be discreet in making nominations and supported the process of taking informal soundings before a formal nomination was made.

Resolved:

THAT:

(a)  The policy statement and procedure at appendices 1 for nominating honorary freemen/women is agreed and adopted;

(b)  Awards of honorary titles are limited to a maximum of 4 titles held within the county at any one time; and

(c)  The democratic services manager be delegated responsibility to oversee and administer the process of nominations.

To seek approval to enable the local authority to develop a proposal to commission a special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) free school for young people aged 16-19 years old; and to recommend that approval be given to use an existing site within Hereford to accommodate the new school proposed.

The cabinet member for children and young people introduced the report. He noted that this was an exciting opportunity to extend provision for children with special educational needs (SEN) in the county. The proposed new school would meet an identified need for additional places and would be a proactive measure to provide for future growth. There was a need to progress sooner than hoped in order to take advantage of external funding. While there was some risk involved it was considered to be a good opportunity.

Group leaders were invited to present the views of their group.

The leader of the Herefordshire Independents group asked what facilities were presently in place. The cabinet member for children and young people responded that there was existing provision but that there was an identified need for extra capacity for future years. Rather than have overcrowding on the existing sites, the proposal was to open a new facility to cater specifically for this age group. The interim director for children’s wellbeing stated that both Westfield and Barr Court schools offered good and outstanding SEN provision for 16-19 year olds as judged by OfSTED but that their sites were challenging in terms of expansion to provide for expected growth. 

The leader of the It’s Our County! group welcomed the proposal. He commented that the ward member for the proposed site for the new school recognised the need and supported the proposal. He asked what would happen to the private nursery provision which was operating on the site. The interim director of children’s wellbeing responded that notice had not been served on the nursery provider and discussions were ongoing.

The cabinet member for financial management and ICT asked what level of funding might be invested in Herefordshire. The interim director for children’s wellbeing responded that the potential funding for the building of the new school could be between £1.5m and £2m but that this would be determined by the department for education and met by them in accordance with the rules of the scheme.

The leader of the Liberal Democrats group supported the proposal and welcomed the planned improvement in the service.

Resolved:

THAT:

(a)  approval is given to progress to the next stage of the DfE Free School Special School initiative following the success of Herefordshire’s expression of interest to commission a 16-19 SEND free school in accordance with the specification in appendix 1;

(b)  approval in principle is given to the allocation of the former Broadlands School site for the development of the 16-19 SEND free school subject to a satisfactory business case being approved and planning consent being obtained; and

(c)  necessary feasibility works to further develop the business case and scheme to a maximum of £250k be approved and authority delegated to the director of children’s wellbeing to take operational decisions necessary to inform a further decision.