To receive any apologies for absence.

There were apologies from Councillors Stoddart, O’Driscoll and Fagan. 

To receive declarations of interests in respect of Table A, Table B or Other Interests from members of the committee in respect of items on the agenda.

None.

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting held on 26 September 2024.

Minutes are to follow. 

Resolved:       That the minutes of the meeting held on 26 September 2024 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairperson.

To receive questions from members of the public.

Questions received and responses given are attached as appendix 1 to the minutes.

To receive questions from councillors.

Questions received and responses given are attached as appendix 2 to the minutes.

No scrutiny reports have been received. 

There were no reports from scrutiny committees for consideration at this meeting.

For Cabinet to recommend to Council to approve an amendment to the capital programme to utilise underspends to fund two new projects, at a total of £368,000 for delivery of IT projects within this financial year.

ChildrenCHThe cabinet member for environment introduced the report and councillor Mason expanded on the report in Councillor Stoddart’s absence who was noted on sick leave. 

It was discussed that the decision to invest in the technology needed would produce improved outcomes with optimised efficiency.  It was explained that it is a move of existing capital expenditure that was intended to be taken in the subsequent year. Instead it would be brought forward into this year to progress the Council’s essential transformation work.

The £368,000 helps ensure the Council is cyber secure and can provide a level of support for residents in terms of improving communications.   

There were no comments from cabinet members. 

Group leaders gave the views of their groups.

The report was welcomed and it was noted that investment in technology and IT would be beneficial.  It was queried if there were any other projects that could be brought forward given £5.5m of the capital programme wouldn’t be spent or was associated with projects delivering under budget or not continuing. Caution was also expressed whether improved technology would improve the service for residents. 

In response to the query, it was confirmed that these were the two urgent IT projects that needed to be brought forward.  It was clarified that if too many projects were in progress it could be detrimental to do all at once. 

Councillor Swinglehurst proposed the recommendations, and it was unanimously resolved that the following be recommended to Council

a)    To approve the addition of £368,000 in this year’s capital programme, to deliver Wide Area Network (WAN) replacement project and Telephony Contact Centre project, funded from underspends in the capital programme.

That: Cabinet

b)    Delegates to the Director of Strategy and Transformation the spend, subject to Council approval, up to £368,000 to deliver the projects as part of the IT Capital Programme.

To report the forecast position for 2024/25 at Quarter 2 (September 2024), including explanation and analysis of the drivers for the material budget variances, and to outline current and planned recovery activity to reduce the forecast overspend.

The cabinet member for environment introduced the report and councillor Mason expanded on the report in Councillor Stoddart’s absence who was noted as on sick leave. 

Councillor Swinglehurst, cabinet member for environment, extended their congratulations to the finance team for winning the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) award. 

In respect of the Quarter 2 Budget report, it was noted that the forecast overspend was £10.2m, and with management action this will reduce to £2m.  The approved net budget for 2024/25 was £212.8m which included £11.6m of planned directorate savings and £7.9m of council wide savings.   It was noted there are cost pressures of £11.6m from in demand led services, supporting social care budgets, temporary accommodation and SEN transport services but is offset by the delivery in full of £1.4m of the 2024/25 savings targets in the children young people budget. 

It was highlighted that the report represents six months of actual transactions and six months of estimated income and expenditure.  It was noted that the children and young people budget line at quarter 2 was balanced, confirming that the directorate budget set for 2024/25 was sufficient and realistic.  It was confirmed that additional expenditure controls remain in place to support recovery action. 

It was noted that a review of the £19.5m savings for 2024/25 had been undertaken which confirmed that £8.9m (46%) of the total savings target had been delivered at quarter 2 and £5.6m (28%) were assessed as on target or in progress.  Savings of £5m (26%) were assessed at risk.  A breakdown by directorate of 2024/25 approved settings is shown in Table 3 of the report.  

Regarding ear marked reserves, the last report to cabinet in May 2024 noted total audited balances of £82.8m, comprising the general fund balance of £9.6m and earmarked reserve balances of £73.2m.  An assessment to confirm the adequacy and robustness of balances was undertaken annually by the section 151 officer as part of the budget setting process. It was highlighted that the council continues to experience significant in-year financial pressures in respect to social care budgets for adult and children and home to school transport, with these budgets representing the majority of the forecast overspend in quarter 2. 

A contingency reserve of £11m was proposed to mitigate against in-year and future year pressures.  The funds would be transferred from the business rates risk reserve, reducing this from £19.7m to £8.7m.  It was confirmed that a full risk assessment to determine appropriate levels of reserve balances would be undertaken as part of the budget setting process for 2025/26. Also, a full and detailed review and update of the future council’s reserve strategy will be presented at cabinet. 

Regarding the dedicated schools grant (DSG) deficit, it was confirmed that this is accounted for as an unusable reserve on the council's balance sheet as permitted by statutory instrument and remains in place until 31 March 2026.  It was clarified that this enables all local authorities to ring fence the DSG deficit from the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 35.

To review performance for Quarter 2 (Q2) 2024/25 and to report the performance position across all Directorates for this period.

The cabinet member for environment introduced the report and councillor Mason expanded on the report in Councillor Stoddart’s absence who was on sick leave. 

It was highlighted that in respect of the 174 milestones in progress during quarter two under the delivery plan, 152 or 87% had been completed or on track to be completed by the end of the financial year.

It was noted that the council had continued to deliver on its capital investment programme which comprised of over 100 projects.   It was highlighted that the design work for the museum and art gallery was largely completed, and early-stage procurement was underway.  A framework provider had been engaged to develop the procurement strategy and a funding bid was being assembled for the public sector decarbonisation scheme.  RIBA stage 3 was completed for the Shirehall library and learning centre and listed building planning consent was submitted, RIBA stage 4 was underway as well.  It was noted that 40% of the road resurfacing was complete across the county.  It was confirmed that 19 work packages had been completed for the schools maintenance programme with further planned in 2025.  The works to the Black and White House were completed in October, ahead of schedule.  Improvements were being made to Brookfield school and due for completion in Autumn 2025.  The school improvement programme had delivered 18 schemes and emergency works at Aylestone School were completed in September.  It was confirmed that the ‘Here for Herefordshire’ holiday programme distributed £228,000 during the summer of 2024 and grants were awarded to 41 organisations. 

Regarding the theme of ‘People’, it was confirmed that out of 55 milestones, 23 were completed, 30 were on target and 2 were at risk of missing their deadline.  Notable successes around improving public health had been made in respect of stop smoking advisors, an agreement in principle had been reached regarding better mental health and the good mental health wellbeing implementation plan was approved, with work underway to implement specific projects.  Progress was also made to improve the lives of the county’s aging population.  Discharge pathways have been reviewed leading to new models aimed at ensuring patients leave the hospital with the right support. Direct consultations will take place with service users as part of a broader review as well. 

Regarding the theme of ‘Place’, it was confirmed that out of the 53 milestones, 13 were completed, 27 were on target, 10 were at risk of missing a deadline, 2 were paused and 1 was not on target. A cabinet working group was currently developing the next carbon management plan for next five years.  There were 93 installations for the home upgrade grant and 3 through the home energy scheme.  There were now 30 live charging points.  The western bypass programme was still on track to deliver the design review of phase one of the southern section of the western bypass by end of March 2025.  It was confirmed that additional work was needed for phase 2 to meet Government  ...  view the full minutes text for item 36.

This report seeks approval of the council’s Public Realm Services model and to delegate authority for the procurement and associated requirements relating to IT, fleet, depots and demobilisation of the current contract.

The cabinet member for community services and assets introduced the report.

It was noted that in April the cabinet report approved the termination of the current public realm contract and set out the reasons for that decision. The June cabinet report approved the operating model for the purposes of market engagement which was carried out during the summer. It was highlighted that the findings of the market arrangement were summarised in appendix 1.   It was confirmed that appendix 2 set out the operation model proposed to be adopted by the council and forms the basis for the procurement during 2025.

It was confirmed that the current contractor had been kept informed with developments and have committed to supporting the transition to the new arrangements. 

It was noted that following procurement, it is proposed to return to cabinet towards the end of 2025 to secure permission and the new contract being operational from the 1st of June to 2026.

There were no comments from Cabinet members.  

Group leaders gave the views of their groups. Parties were supportive but noted it was a challenging timeline and concerns were raised regarding management of the contract.  It was noted that further plans regarding transition and handover would be welcomed to avoid a repeat of the previous handover.  It was positively noted that the contract will be aligned with the carbon and biodiversity targets, and it was queried if social value would be activated when awarding the contract.  It was raised whether the bereavement services would be kept in house. 

In response to the queries it was acknowledged that a smooth transition was important, and the cabinet member was confident that the timeline allowed sufficient time to complete the tender.  It was noted that the previous contractor did not transition well due to ongoing litigation at the time. It was acknowledged that social value will be embedded in the contract.  It was confirmed that bereavement services will be part of the tender but it can be retained back to the council, and only grounds maintenance and grave digging would be included in the tender. 

That Cabinet

a)    Cabinet adopt the Public Realm Services model set out in Appendix 2;

b)    Cabinet delegates authority to the Corporate Director Economy and Environment to;

i.               undertake the procurement of the Public Realm Services model set out in Appendix 2 within the allocated budget;

ii.              agree and award of all necessary leases to enable the provision of the Public Realm Services in consultation with property services;

iii.            procure and purchase or lease the fleet of vehicles to enable the provision of the Public Realm Services with the Director of Finance;

iv.            agree and implement the demobilisation of the current Public Realm Contract;

v.              make all operational decision to implement the above recommendations.