At the commencement of the Cabinet meeting the Leader of the Council made the following comments:

Old Market Development:  The Leader confirmed to Cabinet that following the granting of full planning permission for the Old Market development, the developers Stanhope confirmed that Debenhams had signed for a three storey department store.  This will be joined by a digital multi-screen Odeon cinema, a Waitrose food store and a range of other shops and restaurants.  It was added that work on site could start in a matter of months.

Urgent Cabinet Items:  The Leader drew Cabinet’s attention to two urgent reports which Cabinet needed to consider, Budget Monitoring report and Review of Parliamentary Constituencies.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors: PM Morgan, Cabinet Member Health and Wellbeing and RJ Phillips, Cabinet Member Enterprise and Culture.

Declarations of interest were made by:

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting held on 15 September 2011.

RESOLVED:   That the Minutes of the meeting held on 15 September 2011 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman subject to amendment of Item 122 – Local Development Framework Revised Preferred Option: Consultation and Community Poll, bullet point nine.

·         A report, jointly commissioned by the Highways Agency and Herefordshire Council, identified that with increased development the City would become gridlocked without a relief road.

The Youth Justice Plan is prepared on an annual basis on behalf of Herefordshire Council and Worcestershire County Council.  The basic plan preparation is undertaken by the Youth Offending Service according to the deadlines and guidance from the Youth Justice Board for England and Wales (YJB).

The Cabinet Member Corporate Strategy and Finance advised Cabinet that the Youth Justice Plan was prepared on an annual basis on behalf of Herefordshire and Worcestershire Councils and was prepared inline with guidance from the Youth Justice Board for England and Wales.  The Cabinet Member added that the Overview and Scrutiny Committee had recently looked at the Youth Justice Plan and had made the following recommendation.

That: Cabinet be advised that the link between the Youth offending Service and the Probation Service needed to be strengthened to ensure that there was shared data about those who were reoffending after age 17; and that links to the review of the Youth Service needed to be borne in mind in relation to preventative work.

In discussion the following points were made:

·         The Vice-Chairman of Overview and Scrutiny stated that the Committee had looked at the average age of a young person, which was 15-16 years old, and noted that any data relating to a young person was only held for those two years, which was felt to be insufficient and needed to be retained beyond the age of 16. 

·         The Director for People’s Services advised that national performance data was used by the Youth Offending Service and the Probation Service, but there was currently no system to track any changes.  New performance measures would rectify this, which would be collated by the West Mercia Police with the involvement of Chief Probation Officers.

·         The Chief Executive reminded Cabinet that the Youth Justice Plan was one of  a number of documents within the Council’s policy framework which was required to be approved by Council.  The list of budget and policy framework items had been reviewed and inline with government requirements and in future the Youth Justice Plan would no longer be required to be approved by Council.

·         Cabinet was pleased that the performance figures for Herefordshire and Worcestershire had been separated in the report and the figures were more relevant as they focused more on the welfare of the young person.

·         It was stated that it was felt there was a lack of youth services in rural areas for young people.

RESOLVED: That the Youth Justice Plan as prepared be endorsed and that it be recommended within the Policy Framework that the plan be approved by Council at its meeting on 18 November 2011.

To approve the New Charter 2011 between Herefordshire Council and Local Councils in the County.

Prior to the commencement of the discussion, the Chairman reminded Members of the need to make a declaration if they were a Parish Councillor.  Cabinet Support Member Councillor GJ Powell presented the report on the New Charter to Cabinet and the following points were made in discussion:

·         The Existing Charter outlines how parishes work together and has been in place since 2002.

·         Time to refresh the charter and a working group had been set up to do this in line with the localism agenda.

·         The Charter had been drawn up with the assistance of Herefordshire Association of Local Councils (HALC), the Market Towns Forum and Herefordshire Council.  All Parish Councils had been consulted on the Charter to ensure that no Parish Council was disadvantaged by not being a member of HALC.

·         The new charter is an important document on how to move forward working together, working in partnership to provide better services for the areas served.

·         Cabinet’s attention was drawn to the issue of Parish Council ‘quality status’ which is a quality standard that a number of parish councils had achieved, but had let elapse. It was asked that this was taken into consideration when drawing up the new charter.

·         Cabinet did not think the Charter could be enforced, rather it was a matter of encouraging all Councils, to abide by the Charter.

·         It was noted that should Herefordshire Council decide to devolve some services to local town or parish councils, there would need to be a process for performance monitoring and that clustering of services by parish councils might need to be considered.

RESOLVED:  That the New Charter 2011 be approved.

This paper describes the current governance for the Herefordshire Public Services (HPS) partnership and proposes revised arrangements for the future, to reflect the national changes to health commissioning and health and well being and the new Clinical Commissioning Group, Herefordshire Health-Care Commissioners (HHCC).  A similar paper is being presented to the NHS Herefordshire Board on 19 October and the HHCC Board on 25 October 2011.

The Deputy Chief Executive presented the report and reminded Cabinet that a steering group for Herefordshire Public Services  (HPS) was first established in 2007.  The following points were made in discussion:

·         This is a partnership between Herefordshire Council and NHS Herefordshire with the HPS steering group providing the main forum for the governance of the partnership.

·         It is appropriate to review the next phase of the partnership in light of the national changes to health commissioning and health and well being and following on from the local elections.

·         The steering group has been effective in monitoring the key partnership activities.  Partnership governance now needs to provide a clear direction for the partnership and be the prime forum for debating key issues around integration and the benefits of the partnership.

·         It is proposed that a new HPS Board is set up to oversee a new three way partnership between Herefordshire Council, NHS Herefordshire and Herefordshire Health-Care Commissioners, which would focus on the needs of Herefordshire and provide value for money.

·         The work plan will focus on future priorities.  Local and national changes has enabled the Clinical Commissioning Group for Herefordshire to be one of the first in the country.

·         In response to a question Cabinet was advised that the Clinical Commissioning Group had been in operation since April 2011, and that it had made good progress in discharging its responsibilities

·         It was added that both local MPs were involved and fully supportive of the  proposals for Herefordshire.

·         It was agreed that Herefordshire was in a unique position and that any concerns related to possible changes the government might propose.

RESOLVED: That Cabinet agreed the establishment of a Herefordshire Public Services Board to oversee the partnership between Herefordshire Council, Herefordshire Health-Care Commissioners and NHS Herefordshire, in accordance with the Terms of Reference and Constitution set out at Appendix A to the report.

To provide Cabinet with an overview of performance against the Joint Corporate Plan 2011-14 for the first five months of 2011-12.

The Cabinet Member Corporate Services and Education presented the report and reminded Cabinet that this was the second of the quarterly reports to Cabinet based on the new Joint Corporate Plan.  The Assistant Director People, Policy and Partnerships took Cabinet through the report and the following points were made in discussion:

·         Corporate Services had an estimated gross savings of £1.5 m.

·         Sickness absence was below target.

·         The Council had received an unqualified opinion on both the statement of accounts for 2010/11 and the Council’s arrangements for securing value for money by the statutory deadline of 30 September 2011.

·         Improvements in the People’s Services directorate were noted.

·         Cabinet discussed in detail the areas of under performance at Appendix 2b to the report.

·         Members noted the considerable work that had been done to recruit social work staff, however there was concern at the number of agency staff still employed and the high cost this was to the authority.  In response to a question Cabinet was advised that there was a degree of support required for the newly qualified social workers.  It was added that this was a national issue and work was being done regionally to resolve it.  Careful tracking was carried out to ensure the establishment level of social workers was correct, but this could not take into account fluctuations within the service.  There was also a need to distinguish what was social work and work that could be done through other service areas.

·         In referring to page 57 of the report concern was raised on the delivery of affordable housing and whether all options had been considered.  The director for Places and Communities advised Cabinet that a broad range of issues had been examined and the authority was working closely with the housing associations though all new ideas would be fully considered.

·         In response to a question it was confirmed that there was a requirement to relocate the services provided at Garrick House to Franklin House in order for the development of the market site.  It was noted that since the move there had been double the number of local residents using the services provided.

·         In referring to recommendation (b) of the report the director for People’s Services stated there had been a rationalisation and simplification of the Joint Corporate Plan, as there had previously been a mixed picture of targets.  Targets had now been revised which would provide a clearer idea for the future.

RESOLVEDs

          THAT:

a)    performance to the end of August 2011 and the measures being taken to address areas of under performance be noted; and

b)    proposed amendments to the Joint Corporate Plan 2011/14 in relation to Theme 2, ‘Improve health and social care’ be noted.

To note progress made on locality asset reviews (including the Hereford Accommodation Programme) and to endorse the proposed master plan and work programme within each locality including the accommodation solution for Herefordshire Public Services (HPS) back office staff in Hereford as part of the Hereford City locality.

The Cabinet Member Corporate Services and Education introduced the Locality Asset Review and Accommodation Programme report and asked Cabinet to note the report and endorse the proposed master plan and work programme within each locality to include the accommodation solution for Herefordshire Public Services back office staff in Hereford as part of the Hereford City locality.

Cabinet discussed the following points:

·         Nine localities based on the locality structure had already been agreed.  Part of this includes the Plough Lane project, which came before Cabinet in 2009. 

·        This report confirms the working arrangements within that framework outlined at paragraph 14, which provides a summary of the nine projects.

·        The report provides a detailed review of the issues relating to the use of the  Plough Lane site, which was taken earlier this year and confirms there is now no requirement to extend the Plough Lane site due to the changing nature of the organisation. 

·         Funding for the project has been reviewed and the savings to be made are significant, with capital available for the project.

·         Concern was raised that the projected funding had changed significantly from 2009, but was not considered as a key decision and had not been included on the Council’s forward plan.

·         Cabinet was advised that the view was taken that this was not a key decision as the decision is as a result of a previous report agreed by Cabinet.  However, it did not detract from it being an important decision.

·         Cabinet was advised that all Members would be receiving the Council’s document on the rolling programme of issues to be put before cabinet or other committees of the Council, to ensure that Members were kept abreast of the HPS planning process as a whole.

·         Concern was raised regarding some localities and the consultation with key partners, particularly Parish Councils.

·         Cabinet was reminded this was a project based around disposal and was constantly reviewed as it was integral to the organisation.  There was a requirement to have flexibility built in as the emerging needs of the organisation changed.

·         Cabinet discussed the use of the Shire Hall and the importance of retaining the Crown Court which used the building.  Cabinet went on to discuss the financial implications and the savings that would be made.

·         In response to a question Members were informed that Rotherwas had been considered as a central site for back office use, however, on analysis Plough Lane proved to be the better option.

RESOLVED

          THAT:   

a)    the progress made in developing the framework of the locality asset review be noted;

b)    within the proposed framework any individual decisions should take into account the results of consultation and the impact of equalities and other issues;

c)    The proposal to deliver a refurbished Plough Lane facility rather than extend the site be agreed; and

d)    The options for partner organisations to be co-located at the Plough Lane site continue to be explored.

To present the 2011 Joint Strategic Needs Assessment and State of Herefordshire Reports, and provide an overview of the work being undertaken across HPS to develop an overall Integrated Needs Assessment.

Dr Alison Talbot-Smith presented the report which outlined the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) and the State of Herefordshire report for 2011 and provided an overview of the work being undertaken across Herefordshire Public Services to develop an overall Integrated Needs Assessment.  It was noted that there was a JSNA website which contained more detailed analysis relating to the findings of the report a long with a summary document on the key points and recommendations.  Cabinet was advised of the greater engagement and involvement of stakeholders across the third sector with events and workshops being held in October.  This information will be fed into the development of the JSNA in 2012 and into the integrated needs assessment process.

RESOLVED

          THAT:

a)    the 2011 JSNA key points and recommendations document be noted;

b)    the 2011 State of Herefordshire key findings report be noted; and

c)    the plans to develop an Integrated Needs Assessment (INA) be noted.

To inform the Cabinet of key population health issues in Herefordshire and of the recommended strategies and actions to address these as set out in the Annual Report of the Director of Public Health – 2011.

Dr Alison Merry presented the Director of Public Health Annual Report 2011 on behalf of Dr Sarah Aitken and referred Cabinet to the Executive Summary report  and to the full analysis that was on the website.  Cabinet was referred to the key point summary of the report and the issue of social gradient in health in Herefordshire, and identified the actions to be taken to reduce the social gradient.  Cabinet was informed that the Health and Wellbeing Board would be looking at the work carried out and would develop a strategy to take Herefordshire forward.

RESOLVED

          THAT:

a)    the Director of Plublic Health Annual report 2011 Executive Summary, attached as Appendix 1 to the report be noted;

b)    the implementation of the report’s recommendations and the proposed approach and actions highlighted in the report to inform service development and commissioning during the next planning cycle and in the medium term be supported; and

c)    the dissemination of the report and help to cascade the key messages be supported.

To report the forecast financial position for both revenue and capital to 31 August 2011 and provide an update on Directorates’ recovery plans IN PLACE to address projected overspends.

The Cabinet Member Corporate Services and Education presented the report and advised Cabinet that currently the forecast was for a budget deficit as outlined at page three of the report, which indicated a £2.57m overspend with the Adult Social Care budget being the budget of concern and which was under revision on a regular basis.

The Leader emphasised a plan was in place to get the budget in Adult Social Care back on track and all other directorates were reviewing their budgets.  In response to questions raised on the demographics of the county and the budgeting  preparedness for young people moving from children services to adult social services. Cabinet was advised that work was underway in the cost improvement plan to ensure that the data gathered was more robust.  It was added that negotiations had been held with providers and the fair funding calculation had just been introduced.  This calculation sets a consistent benchmark and has been successfully used by other authorities providing a significant reduction in costs.  It was noted that one of the concerns for Herefordshire was the lack of services to assist people requiring help to continue living in their own home.

RESOLVED

          THAT:

a)    Cabinet noted the report and the forecast deficit position of £2.75 million; and

b)    Cabinet noted the Chief Executive’s requirement that Directors deliver recovery plans to ensure a balanced revenue budget.

To explain to the Cabinet the Boundary Commission for England’s proposals for new Parliamentary constituencies in Herefordshire and to ask if it wishes to make representations to Council on the Boundary Commission’s proposals as they affect the Herefordshire Parliamentary constituencies.

The Leader of the Council presented the report on the Review of Parliamentary Constituencies and stated there was a concern that the boundaries of the county as a whole could be being ignored and believed that the Council should put forward its concerns before the end of the submission of representations period, which was the 5 December 2011.  It was proposed that the Cabinet Members for Enterprise and Culture and Environment, Housing and Planning along with the Leader of the Council and political group leaders form a working group to discuss the issues.

RESOLVED

          THAT:

a)    the Leader of the Council, the Cabinet Members for Enterprise and Culture and Environment, Housing and Planning and political group leaders form a working group to discuss parliamentary boundary issues; and

b)    Cabinet formulates a view on the proposed new constituencies for Herefordshire and makes a recommendation to Council on 18 November 2011.