To receive the report of the Leader of the Council.

The Leader of the Council, Councillor RJ Phillips presented his report to Council.

He informed Council of two changes to portfolio responsibilities; namely that;

• Responsibility for procurement would move from the Resources Portfolio to that of the Corporate and Customer Services and Human Resources Portfolio in order for better alignment with the wider transformational agenda.

• The selection of tenants would no longer be part of the responsibilities of the Corporate and Customer Services and Human Resources Portfolio.

In highlighting aspects of the report, the Leader;

·         emphasised the financial challenges following the announcement of the revenue and capital grant reductions, the impact of which would need to be met within the current financial year.  Council was advised that there was a need to maintain as much flexibility as possible when determining where the cuts would be made to ensure that the impact on the most vulnerable be kept to a minimum.  It was recognised however support to sensitive areas such as children with mental health issues, subsidised bus travel and support to carers may be impacted.  Given the level of reductions, it was important that all Members recognised the possible impact on services and that there was a need for a strategy for how the Council would withdraw from services gradually; further reductions would be expected.  An immediate impact was the ceasing of the free swimming programme for local people under 16 or over 60 years of age following the end of government support to the scheme.  A consultation process would be undertaken jointly with NHS Herefordshire to seek views and suggestions on how, together, the needs of local people could be best met in light of the new financial pressures.  The Council would work with the Government to look at freezing council tax.  A detailed announcement on the comprehensive spending review would be expected on 20 October 2010.

·         Stated that the Audit and Governance Committee approved the annual Statement of Accounts for 2009/2010 in advance of 30 June, as was required.  The Finance Team was congratulated for their efforts.

·         Informed Council that the Health White Paper was at the forefront of national policy development with joint work between health and local authorities providing a holistic approach to health and social care budgets.  Such a joint approach should be encouraged to ensure that the public spend within a locality (which included other public services) was effective and that organisations did not focus on self preservation and have a silo mentality.

·         Outlined that the principle behind Hereford Futures was to establish a single company which would join up thinking and contribute to future enterprise, housing, jobs and infrastructure.  There was a need to ensure that important projects for the City went ahead.  All Members were encouraged to promote and use the Shop Hereford loyalty card, which would be distributed through Herefordshire Matters, which was one approach to encourage the public to view Hereford as a centre of choice for medical, educational, civic and retail matters.  The Leader stated that he looked forward to the loyalty scheme to be developed further.

·         Stated that hosting the World Blind Football Championships in Herefordshire provided an opportunity for promoting the county.  The county was proud to host such a prestigious event which had been held previously in Rio de Janerio, Beijing and Canada.  Members were urged to champion the event within their communities.

The Leader in responding to comments and questions raised by Members in attendance stated that:

• Integration was at the heart of the new proposed legislation relating to health and social care, which aligned itself well to the approach adopted by Herefordshire.  Assurance to this effect had been provided to the Leader by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Eric Pickles MP.  It was proposed that responsibility for a large part of the public health role would be given to local government thereby widening and strengthening the future role for authorities.  The Government was proposing to ring fence specific monies to support the role of public health. 

• In relation to the Academies Bill, whilst there seemed to be much interest nationally, only those schools rated outstanding would be considered to change their status to that of an Academy.  It was expected that the scheme would take time to be rolled out.  Hereford Academy had been provided with a substantial amount of investment and tribute was paid to the headteacher, staff, governors and communities for their work in making the Academy a success.

• The concerns of the traders in the Rockfield area was acknowledged and it was stated that there had been difficult times.  The reduction in public expenditure would prevent some projects going ahead to the original timescale proposed, however, the commitment remained and an open dialogue was encouraged.  The Leader commented on the need to provide a level of stability for the traders, especially in respect of leases.  The Council would work proactively with traders in relation to the provision of suitable sites within the new market site.

• The ESG was in a period of transition and, whilst as a company it would disappear, the Chairman would remain.  Ray Stone (formally of Wiggins) had been appointed as a Director to the Board.  The establishment of Hereford Futures was a clear commitment to Hereford City to ensure that it became a strong destination to shop, undertake business and welcome tourism.  Dialogue with towns would be undertaken to ensure that strategic thinking took place in order to manage change constructively and proactively.

• The significant reduction in the area based grant would have an impact on important areas of activity.  Therefore, consideration would need to be given to the budgets of all areas in order to maintain other priority tasks.  It was essential that such decisions were well informed.  Assurance was provided that some ringfencing of budgets was still in place.

• The advantages of establishing the Hereford Academy as it what would have been the alternative?  Whilst it was acknowledged that some schools had challenges, the county did not have a sink school it was important that this situation remained.

• Herefordshire had a sound reputation for delivering good quality education; however, some weaknesses and trends had developed in relation to Key Stages 1 and 2.  It was important to tackle these issues as soon as possible.
• In relation to the proposed formation of GP consortia in the Health White Paper, the Leader emphasised the need for a smooth transition to ensure the continuation of quality services without disruption.  Within Herefordshire a strong relationship had developed with GPs and this would be built upon to support the GPs during the transition period and beyond as it was acknowledged that GPs were not primarily trained as administrators of commissioning.

• Welcomed the inclusion of the fact that the Wye Valley and Forest of Dean had been included on the list of applications for the UK’s new Tentative List of sites for World Heritage status and stated that such high profile promotion of the Wye Valley was to be welcomed.

• ESG Ltd was a private company which published its accounts in Companies House.  Members were requested to consider the sensitivity which would surround the transition arrangements for some staff.

• In addition to the secondment in part of an officer, the World Blind Football Championships had received £25,000 in sponsorship by the Council which was deemed to be a proportionate and appropriate response.

• Whilst the level of any debt was an issue, Members attention was drawn to the development of Riverside School which had been supported by prudential borrowing by the Council as the scheme had been refused support from the previous government.  It was agreed that it was important to watch the level of borrowing.  The injection of monies to the public sector over the previous 10-12 years had been unprecedented and had led to high budgets and staff costs.  The new era required the public sector to re-prioritise, re-engineer services and consider issues more strategically; the consequence of which would be fewer staff.  All Members would need to part of these processes and lead communities through these challenges.

Responding to questions and comments relating to their portfolios the;

• Cabinet Member for Highways and Transportation stated that whilst he was aware of some claims received by the Council in respect of trips and falls relating to the Widemarsh Street redevelopment it was too early to consider formal legal proceedings.  A review of the Widemarsh Street scheme was underway and would be reported to the Cabinet Member by the end of the month.

• Cabinet Member for Economic Development and Community Services advised Council that the free swimming had been very successful in Herefordshire with 4,500 individuals under 16 taking part (which equated to 23,588 free swims) and 1,180 over 60s taking part (equating to 5,200 free swims).  Whilst the scheme had finished prematurely, residents had understood that this was as a result of a national directive.

RESOLVED:   That the Leader’s report be noted