To review performance for quarter 3 2019/20 and the budget outturn.

To provide assurance that progress is being made towards achievement of the agreed revenue budget and service delivery targets, and that the reasons for major variances or potential underperformance are understood and are being addressed to the cabinet’s satisfaction.

The 2019/20 outturn is £51k overspend as at the end of December 2019. It is anticipated that this will be addressed within the directorates.

The proportion of performance measures showing an improvement, or remaining the same compared to the same period last year is 70%. This is an improvement on the same period last year.

That:

(a) Cabinet reviewed performance and financial outturn for quarter 3 2019/20, as set out in appendices A - G, and did not identify any additional actions to be considered to achieve future improvement.

To review performance for quarter 2 2019/20 and the budget outturn.

To provide assurance that progress is being made towards achievement of the agreed revenue budget and service delivery targets, and that the reasons for major variances or potential under-performance are understood and are being addressed to the cabinet's satisfaction. 

The 2019/20 outturn is £146k overspend as at the end of September 2019.It is anticipated that this will be addressed within the directorates.

The proportion of performance measures showing an improvement, or remaining the same compared to the same period last year is 63%.  This is an improvement on the same period last year

That:

Cabinet reviewed performance and financial outturn for quarter 2 2019/20, as set out in appendices A - H,  and did not identify any additional actions to be considered to achieve future improvement.

To agree the executive response to the recommendations from the review of highways maintenance – pothole repairs.

The review was commissioned by the general scrutiny committee who appointed a task and finish group to consider the highway maintenance plan and seek to address concerns expressed within the community about the potential mismatch between policy and practice on pothole repairs.  The review made a number of recommendations.  It is proposed that all of the recommendations are accepted, with the exception of recommendations 6, 8and 14, which are partially agreed, and recommendations 11 and 13 which are recommendations that executive cannot implement or require agreed in principle. Full responses are set out in appendix 3.

That:

a)    the response to the general scrutiny committee’s recommendations regarding the review of highways maintenance – pothole repairs, as attached at appendix 1 is approved.

To make the Withington Group neighbourhood development plan as part of the statutory development plan for Herefordshire and approve the consequential updates to the countywide policies maps.

To fulfil the legal duty to make /adopt the Withington Group neighbourhood development plan and update the countywide policies map as part of the statutory development plan for Herefordshire.

On 20 May 2016, the Council delegated authority to the cabinet member infrastructure for decisions on all further neighbourhood development plans adoptions, and consequential amendments to the countywide policies map.

That:

(a)        The Withington Group neighbourhood development plan is made as part of the statutory development plan for Herefordshire; and

(b)        The required consequential changes are made to the countywide policies map.

That:

(a)   A capital Short Breaks Grant Scheme with a non-recurring budget of £118,000 is made available for projects that will increase access to regular, inclusive universal and targeted activities to support children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities in Herefordshire;

(b)  the Director for Children and Families be authorised to determine grant awards inaccordance with the scheme criteria and having regard to the recommendations of the appraisal panel established as set out in appendix 1.

To seek approval by the head of paid service on the proposed arrangements for an above national pay award for teachers.  The proposals aim to ensure that all teachers are treated equally and receive a cost of living increase.  For the last four years, the national pay award has only applied to the statutory bottom(minima) and  top (maxima) of all pay ranges and allowances and not the pay points in-between these points.

It is for local authorities to determine whether they accept the national proposal or develop an alternative proposal to address any concerns of inequity that the national agreement could create  Local authorities nationally have maintained the previous pay structure for teachers and therefore if the national pay award was applied, a significant number of teachers would not receive a cost of living increase because they are on the pay points in-between the top and bottom points . Providing such an award can positively affect recruitment and retention for council schools.

Allowances refer to TLRs (teaching and learning responsibilities) and SEN (special educational needs).

On 7^th October, the Employment panel indicated its support that the proposals below be applied:

(a)        Subject to Parliamentary approval a 2.75% increase for school leaders and teachers on all scale points within all pay ranges with effect from 1^st September 2019;

(b)        Subject to Parliamentary approval a  2.75% increase on all allowances with effect from 1^st September 2019;

To review the draft Youth Justice Plan 2019/20 at appendix a, and agree for the plan to be considered by full council.

The Youth Justice Plan (the plan) forms part of the council’s budget and policy framework and is reserved to full council to approve.

The plan is prepared on an annual basis on behalf of Herefordshire, Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin and Worcestershire councils.  The basic plan preparation is undertaken by the West Mercia Youth Justice Service according to the deadlines and content requirements set by the Youth Justice Board for England and Wales (YJB).

The plan sets out how youth justice services across West Mercia are structured and resourced and identifies key actions to address identified risks to service delivery and improvement.

Under section 40 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, each council has a duty to produce a plan setting out how youth justice services in their area are provided and funded and how the youth offending service for the area is funded and composed, the plan is submitted to the YJB.

The plan for 2019/20 was prepared in May 2019 in line with guidance issued by the YJB. The draft plan was agreed by the West Mercia Youth Justice Service Management Board on 24^th May 2019.

That:

The Youth Justice Plan 2019/20 (appendix a) be recommended for approval by full council.

To approve a loan from school balances of £50,000 to Madley Primary School to enable the upgrade and replacement of their ICT infrastructure and to refurbish their ICT suite.

The school has recently conducted an IT infrastructure review and found the current hardware and technical infrastructure to be outdated and no longer fit for purpose; their previous hardware refresh took place in 2002 with adhoc maintenance, repair and exchange to date. The school have been advised that there is an imminent risk of failure of the server which could result in a loss of data.

The project will refresh the existing desktop hardware including a migration to Windows 10 with full cloud capability and supporting infrastructure, and the migration of data to SharePoint.  As a result of this upgrade, the infrastructure lifespan will be in excess of 10 years, with the hardware lifespan between 7-9 years.

The IT suite will be refurbished with new fixtures and fittings (benches and seating) and the flooring replaced.

That:

(a)       A capital loan of £50k to Madley Primary School be approved at 0% interest, repayable from April 2020 in five instalments of £10k to enable the upgrade and replacement of their ICT infrastructure and to refurbish their ICT suite including replacing the flooring.

To approve the executive response to the recommendations from the task and finish group’s review of Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) provision.  The task and finish group assessed SEND provision in Herefordshire and made thirteen recommendations to the executive.  It is proposed that twelve of the recommendations are accepted and the responses are set out in appendix 1.

That:

a)    the response to the children and young people’s scrutiny committee’s recommendations regarding the review of SEND provision in Herefordshire, as attached at appendix 1 are approved.

To approve the executive response to the recommendations from the scrutiny review of the Pupil Referral Unit (PRU) referrals.  The review assessed the level of referrals to the PRU in Herefordshire and made eleven recommendations to the executive; these recommendations and proposed responses are set out in appendix 1.

That:

(a)        the response to the children and young people’s scrutiny committee’s recommendations regarding pupil referral unit (PRU) referrals in Herefordshire, as attached at appendix 1 are approved.

To approve the executive response to the recommendations from scrutiny review of Court judgements relating to children and families.  The review assessed the response of the council to address concerns raised in the court judgements and the recent Ofsted inspections. The Children and Young Peoples Scrutiny Committee made seven recommendations to the head of paid service and three recommendations to the executive.  It is proposed that all of the recommendations are accepted in full and responded to as set out in appendix 1; a further recommendation does not relate to an executive function. The content of training for scrutiny members is an operational matter for the statutory scrutiny officer. 

That:

(a)       the response to the children and young people’s scrutiny committee’s recommendations to the executive regarding the scrutiny review of court judgements relating to children and families in Herefordshire, as attached at appendix 1 are approved.

To determine future actions regarding the Hereford Transport Package (HTP), which includes the Hereford bypass and associated active travel measures and South Wye Transport Package (SWTP), which includes the southern link road and local active travel measures comprising walking, cycling, bus and public realm improvements.

The original decision to pause and review the bypass and southern link road taken by the cabinet member for infrastructure and transport was taken on 9 August 2019. The decision was called in by General Scrutiny Committee. The decision was discussed at a meeting of the committee on 9 September 2019 and the committee came to the view that the decision should be referred back to the cabinet member to reconsider, giving regard to the matters set out in paragraph 34 below.

This report confirms the final decision having regard to the recommendations made by General Scrutiny Committee.

THAT:

a)    all work on the Southern Link Road be paused, a review of the project to determine next steps be undertaken, and work on the South Wye Transport Package active travel measures be continued;

b)    all work on the Hereford by-pass be paused, a review of the project to determine next steps be undertaken, and work on the Hereford Transport Package active travel measures be continued; and

c)    the acting director for economy and place be authorised to take all operational decisions necessary to scope the review work for both road schemes within a budget of £50k (Southern Link Road) and £70k (Hereford By-pass) to inform a further decision in this calendar year.

To develop further the Hereford Enterprise Zone (HEZ), establishing the critical infrastructure or site remediation required to bring remaining plots into economic use, Cabinet member approval is sought for the next phase of capital expenditure (£5.231m) at the HEZ drawing down the remaining finance from within the approved £16m capital programme. 

The HEZ is critical to the economic success of the City and wider county, enabling businesses to grow and creating new jobs and investment in the economy.  The development of a Cyber Security Centre and business incubation space will enable the county to establish a foot hold in new emerging markets, generating longer term, higher value employment opportunities.

Previous expenditure has been incurred in demolitions, site clearance, land remediation, ground raising (for flood mitigation) and infrastructure including access roads, cycleways, and all utilities at the right capacity and to enable easy connections at a plot level, including an ultrafast broadband network.

Previous approvals have not been fully spent so there is a need to close down these approvals and re-profile any remaining expenditure into this decision.  The remaining funds are required to provide the time critical infrastructure and / or clear sites to enable the plots to be developed out.

To date the HEZ has secured 20 land sales, £48m of investment and a predicted 842 new jobs will be created.

To approve the underwrite of an element (£850,000) of Marches Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) Growth Deal grant funding that has been awarded to the New Model in Technology and Engineering (NMiTE) Higher Education institute.  The underwrite is required under the terms of the LEP Grant Funding Agreement. 

Following a successful application by the council to the Marches LEP, NMiTE have been allocated a capital grant totalling £2.3m.  The grant will enable NMiTE to adapt the Blackfriars Street premises and to purchase the specialist engineering equipment required to teach their first cohort of 50 students that are due to begin their studies in January 2020.  A condition of the funding agreement is that in the event of material failure of NMiTE, determined by Shropshire Council as accountable body for the LEP, the council will have 12 months to identify an alternative body to deliver an equivalent set of outputs that would be agreed with Shropshire Council at the time. If the council fails to find an alternative body, and should there be a subsequent clawback by central government of the Growth Deal funds, the council shall within 10 days pay a sum equal to the value of all grant payments which have been paid to NMiTE for the purpose of the refurbishment or improvement of the Blackfriars Street premises (up to £850,000).

The council own the freehold of the Blackfriars Street premises, and has granted a long lease to the Department for Education (125 years). The Department for Education has subsequently granted a sub-lease to NMiTE (50 years).

That:

(a)       Herefordshire Council underwrite up to £850,000 of Marches Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) Growth Deal grant funding allocated to the New Model in Technology and Engineering (NMiTE) Higher Education Institute.

To seek approval to begin works to develop three additional traveller pitches following the awarded capital bid funding.

The pitches consist of two at the Bromyard Site and one at the Grafton Site.  Both sites are owned and managed by Herefordshire Council.

The development of the new pitches will attract an annual income of £11,700 and there is a waiting list of potential residents to take up tenancies for all these pitches.

That:

(a)         the development of two traveller site pitches at Bromyard and one at Grafton traveller sites be approved at a cost of £420,000.

To seek approval to begin works to carry out modernisation and upgrade of the traveller sites owned/managed by the Council.

The six sites and 53 pitches require works to carry out further improvements.  

The proposed works include, improvements to fencing, doors, electric meter and supply upgrade, improved security on sites, play areas and general site repairs identified in the stock condition survey.

That:

(a)       the modernisation of traveller sites and pitches as detailed at Appendix 1 be approved at a cost of not more than £490,354.

To approve the Youth Justice Plan 2019/2020.

The Youth Justice Plan forms part of the council's budget and policy framework and is reserved to full council to approve.

The plan is produced on an annual basis on behalf of Herefordshire, Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin and Worcestershire councils. The basic plan preparation is undertaken by the West Mercia Youth Justice Service according to the deadlines and content requirements set by the Youth Justice Board for England and Wales (YJB).

The plan sets out how youth justice services across West Mercia are structured and resourced and identified key actions to address identified risks to service delivery and improvement.

Under section 40 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, each council has a duty to produce a plan setting out how youth justice services in their area are provided and funded and how the youth offending service for the area is funded and composed, the plan is submitted to the YJB.

The plan for 2019/20 was prepared in May 2019 in line with guidance issued by the YJB. The draft plan was agreed by the West Mercia Youth Justice Service Management Board on 24 May 2019