Agenda, decisions and minutes

To note any apologies for absence.

As noted above.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 29 March 2023 (minutes attached).

The minutes of the meeting on 29 March 2023 were agreed as a correct record.

To  declare any pecuniary or personal interests relating to specific matters on the agenda.

Please see information note (1) at the end of the agenda

No additional declarations were made.

Up to 30 minutes is allowed for this item.

Written questions

To answer any written questions from a County Councillor, (or any person living or working in the county, or is affected by the work of the County Council), about any matter which relates to any item on the agenda for this meeting.

The closing date for the receipt of written questions is 4.00 pm on Thursday 15 June 2023

Please submit any questions to stephen.bace@gloucestershire.gov.uk

A written answer will be provided for each written question received (to be presented to the questioner and to Cabinet (in advance of the meeting). The questions and answers will be taken as read and will not be read out at the meeting. At the discretion of the Leader of Council, each questioner ( in attendance at the meeting) will be allowed to ask one supplementary question (in response to the answer given to the original question).

A copy of all written questions and written answers circulated at the meeting will be attached to the signed copy of the minutes of the meeting.

Urgent questions

An urgent written question may be asked by a member of the public about any item on the Cabinet agenda for that meeting which the Chairperson considers could not have been reasonably submitted by the deadline for the receipt of written questions, provided he or she gives notice of the question to the Chief Executive by 12 noon the day before the meeting.

4.1       No public questions were received.

4.2       Eighteen Member questions were received. No supplementary questions were asked at the meeting.

Cllr Lynden Stowe, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance and Change, provided an update on the year-end forecast for the 2022/23 County Council’s Revenue and Capital Budgets and reported on the Council’s performance and risk during Quarter 4 of 2022/23.

Having considered all of the information, Cabinet noted the report and

RESOLVED to:

1. Note the 2022/2023 revenue budget underspend of £910k and recommends that £910k is transferred to General Reserves.

2. Approve the £1.748 million carry forward of the Covid 19 Emergency Grant funding and a further £405k of carry forwards, as detailed in annex 1.

3. Note other technical reserve movements for 2022/23 as set out in annex 3.

4. Note delivery of the £9.342 million of savings against a target of £10.987 million in 2022/23 or 85.03%

5. Transfer £568k to the Business Rates Reserve in relation to the GCC share of the surplus on the Business Rates Retention Pool. In addition, approve a transfer of £710k to the Business Rates Reserve, ring fenced for the Strategic Economic Development Fund as a result of the Business Rates Pool surplus for 22/23.

6. Transfer £4.92 million to the Business Rates Reserve following reconciliation and distribution of the DLUHC Levy Account from 2021/22.

7. Note the capital outturn position for 2022/23 of £122.771 million against a budget of £149.279 million, giving in year slippage of £26.508 million.

8. Approve an increase of £41.638 million in the Capital Programme and reallocation of capital funds as detailed in section G of the report.

9. It is recommended that the cabinet approve a drawing of £795k from the general reserves in 2023/24 to support a reduction in the SEND backlog and case loads

10.Consider this report of the Council’s performance and risks and identifies any areas of concern requiring further analysis, assurance or action.

5.1       Cllr Lynden Stowe, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance and Change, provided an update on the year-end forecast for the 2022/23 County Council’s Revenue and Capital Budgets and reported on the Council’s performance and risk during Quarter 4 of 2022/23.

5.2       The final revenue position at the end of 2022/23 was an underspend of £910k. This underspend would be transferred to General Reserves.

5.3       The Council’s cost of responding to the Covid-19 pandemic (excluding expenditure funded from specific grants) was £6.926 million in 2022/23. Covid-19 funding available to support this expenditure was £8.674 million which was carried forward from the 2020/21 Emergency Grant. Approval was requested that the remaining balance of £1.748 million of Section 31 Covid-19 Emergency Grant be carried forward to fund the future years commitments of recovery from the pandemic in 2023/24.

5.4       The overall position did mask a number of significant variances, with the areas of major revenue risk during the year continuing to relate to the care of the most vulnerable children and adults.

5.5       It was recommended that the cabinet approve a drawing of £795k from the general reserves in 2023/24 to support a reduction in the SEND backlog and case loads. The Cabinet Member for Education, Skills and Bus Transport welcomed the recommendation in the report.

5.6       The budget for 2022/23 included £10.987 million of savings. Overall, £9.342 million had been achieved, this represented an achievement of 85.03% of the annual target.

5.7       A summary of reserves had been set out in Section B of the report. Details of all reserve movements in 2022/23 were shown in the table in annex 3 of the report. 

The balance on the General fund as at 1^st April 2022 £23.052 million, the Balance at 31st March 23 £16.839 million.  General Reserves have decreased by £6.213 million.The movement on the general reserve represents £1.046 million funding of the 2022/23 budget and £5.167 million additional funding to support the 2022/23 pay award. The use of carry forward requests of £405k had been detailed in annex 1 of the report

5.8       The re-profiled capital budget for 2022/23 totalled £149.279 million.  The outturn position for 2022/23 was £122.771 million, giving in year slippage of £26.508 million. This represented slippage in some major schemes (as detailed in the Cabinet report) but the schemes were still on budget and expected to be completed during 2023/24

5.9       It was noted that the report also included details of the Councils performance and risk. The Council was performing well against the Council Strategy delivering against targets in a number of areas.

 5.10   There had been continued improvement in Children’s Social Care while there were also remaining challenges in repeat referrals.  The Cabinet Member for Children and Safeguarding commented on the hard work being carried out in this area and the achievements that had been made while recognising there was still more work to do. Adult Social Care investment in staff was leading to improvement performance in meeting those challenging needs.

5.11  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

Cllr Stephan Fifield, Cllr Carole Allaway Martin and Cllr Stephen Davies sought Cabinet approval to exercise a 2-year extension option commencing on 1 April 2024 under the council’s contract with PeoplePlus Limited for the provision

of support for Adult Carers and the council’s contract with Gloucestershire Young Carers for the provision of support for Children and Young Adult Carers. Those services were jointly funded and commissioned by Gloucestershire County Council and Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board for Adult Carers and Young Carers.

Having considered all of the information, Cabinet noted the report and

RESOLVED to:

Approve the exercise of a 2-year extension option commencing 1st April 2024 under:

(a) the council’s contract with PeoplePlus Limited for the provision of support for Adult Carers which commenced in April 2019; and

(b) the council’s contract with Gloucestershire Young Carers for the provision of support for Children and Young Adult Carers which also commenced in April 2019,

Such extensions shall be effected in accordance with the extension option provisions of the original contracts.

6.1    Cllr Stephan Fifield, and Cllr Stephen Davies sought Cabinet approval to exercise a 2-year extension option commencing on 1 April 2024 under the council’s contract with PeoplePlus Limited for the provision of support for Adult Carers and the council’s contract with Gloucestershire Young Carers for the provision of support for Children and Young Adult Carers. Those services were jointly funded and commissioned by Gloucestershire County Council and Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board for Adult Carers and Young Carers.

6.2    The option was to extend the contracts for two years beyond the initial contracting period was written into the original contracts with PeoplePlus Limited and Gloucestershire Young Carers.The extension period was to make both contracts attractive to the open market at the time of commissioning. The contracts had been monitored using KPIs and so the Cabinet Members were happy with the performance so far. Subject to agreement from all parties, would like to invoke this extension period to commence 1^st April 2024 until 31^st March 2026 inclusive. This would ensure consistent support for 9.5k carers currently supported by both providers inclusive.

Having considered all of the information, Cabinet noted the report and

RESOLVED to:

Approve the exercise of a 2-year extension option commencing 1st April 2024 under:

(a) the council’s contract with PeoplePlus Limited for the provision of support for Adult Carers which commenced in April 2019; and

(b) the council’s contract with Gloucestershire Young Carers for the provision of support for Children and Young Adult Carers which also commenced in April 2019,

Such extensions shall be effected in accordance with the extension option provisions of the original contracts.

Cllr Mark Hawthorne sough Cabinet approval to conduct a competitive procurement process for the delivery of an Adults’ Healthy Lifestyles Service from 1st April 2024. To delegate authority to award the contract to the preferred tenderer to the Director of Public Health in consultation with the Cabinet portfolio holder for Public Health.

Having considered all of the information, Cabinet noted the report and

RESOLVED to:

Delegate authority to the Director of Public Health, in consultation with the Cabinet portfolio holder for Public Health.

1. Conduct a competitive procurement process in respect of a contract for the supply of an Adults’ Healthy Lifestyles Service. The proposed contract shall continue for an initial period of five years and include options to extend its term for two further periods of not more than two years on each of its fifth and seventh anniversaries.

2. Award such contract to the preferred tenderer.

3. Determine whether to exercise the option to extend the term of such contract for a further period of not more than two years on the expiry of the initial five-year term.

4. Determine whether to exercise the option to extend the term of such contract again for a further period of not more than two years on its seventh anniversary.

7.1      Cllr Mark Hawthorne sought Cabinet approval to conduct a competitive procurement process for the delivery of an Adults’ Healthy Lifestyles Service from 1st April 2024. To delegate authority to award the contract to the preferred tenderer to the Director of Public Health in consultation with the Cabinet portfolio holder for Public Health.

7.2      Smoking, excess alcohol, poor diet (linked also to obesity) and physical inactivity were linked to the major causes of premature death and disability in the UK.  Those lifestyle factors were more prevalent in our most disadvantaged populations and contributed to health inequalities, reduced healthy life expectancy, and increased demand on health and care services. Lifestyle behaviours could be modified and could help people significantly reduce their risk of disease and achieve long-term health and wellbeing.

7.3      The proposed new contract would replace the current Healthy Lifestyles Service contract following its expiry on 31st March 2024 and would allow for continued delivery of health and wellbeing support as part of the Council’s statutory duties to improve the health and wellbeing of the population and reduce health inequalities. 

7.4      Given the increasing rise in childhood obesity and the impact this has into adulthood, there had been increased the investment into children and young people’s weight management.  This had resulted in an overall increase in investment across healthy lifestyles support for children and young people and adults.

7.5      The scope of the new services will differ from those currently provided.  The main changes were:

·         Due to an increase in weight management support for adults that could be accessed via GP surgeries, it was proposed to remove the universal weight management offer and deliver a range of more targeted support for those who had the greatest need but were not accessing current services.

·         Placing more emphasis on working collaboratively with communities and enabling them in a more formal way to deliver healthy lifestyles support.

7.6      Feedback from the stakeholder consultation had indicated a high level of support for the proposed service model. 

7.7      The proposed contract length was 9 years with break clauses at 5 and 7 years. The proposed value of the new contract was £1,152,720 per annum drawn from the Public Health Grant, which equates to £10,374,480 over the lifetime of the contract (9 years). 

Having considered all of the information, Cabinet noted the report and

RESOLVED to:

Delegate authority to the Director of Public Health, in consultation with the Cabinet portfolio holder for Public Health.

1. Conduct a competitive procurement process in respect of a contract for the supply of an Adults’ Healthy Lifestyles Service. The proposed contract shall continue for an initial period of five years and include options to extend its term for two further periods of not more than two years on each of its fifth and seventh anniversaries.

2. Award such contract to the preferred tenderer.

3. Determine whether to exercise the option to extend the term of such contract for a further period of not more than two years on the expiry  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

Cllr Philip Robinson sought Cabinet approval to enter into the funding agreement with the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) for the purpose of funding the delivery of Community Learning and the Adult Skills Programme during the 2023 – 2024 academic year. In additional approval was sought to conduct a mini-competition process under the council’s existing Community and Adult Skills framework agreement in respect of 5 call-off contracts for the provision of adult learning services whose contract periods shall be determined according to the type of courses or piece of work required in the 2023 – 2024 academic year and then to award such call-off contracts.

Having considered all of the information, Cabinet noted the report and

RESOLVED to:

Delegate authority to the Executive Director of Economy, Environment and Infrastructure, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Education, Skills and Bus Transport to:

1. Enter into a funding agreement with the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) under which the council shall receive the ESFA funding for the purpose of delivering Community Learning and Adult Skills Programmes during the 2023 – 2024 academic year.

2. Conduct a mini-competition process, under each of the following Lots of the council’s existing Community and Adult Skills Framework Agreement, in respect of 5 call-off contracts for the supply of adult learning programmes:

• First Steps

• Employability

• Adults with Learning Disabilities and/or Difficulties (“ALDD”)

• Steps into Work (Supported Internships)

• Local Flex (Responding to identified/emerging local need)

Each such call-off contract shall continue for a period of 12 months or less, according to the type of courses or piece of work required in the 2023 – 2024 academic year.

3. Award each such Call-Off Contract to the preferred tenderer.

8.1      Cllr Philip Robinson sought Cabinet approval to enter into the funding agreement with the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) for the purpose of funding the delivery of Community Learning and the Adult Skills Programme during the 2023 – 2024 academic year. In additional approval was sought to conduct a mini-competition process under the council’s existing Community and Adult Skills framework agreement in respect of 5 call-off contracts for the provision of adult learning services whose contract periods shall be determined according to the type of courses or piece of work required in the 2023 – 2024 academic year and then to award such call-off contracts.

8.2      Without the Education and Skills Funding Agency funding the Adult Learning Direct Delivery Service (Adult Education in Gloucestershire) would not be able to continue to deliver Adult Education in Gloucestershire in the 2023 – 2024 academic year or procure the delivery of such services from the third-party providers.

8.3      Members emphasised the benefits of community cohesion and the importance of education. New ways of educating through multiple challenges could have a transformative effect.

8.4      The combined aggregate value of the Call-Off Contracts described in Recommendations 2 and 3 should not exceed £350,000.00. The costs of the Adult Education contracts would be met from the ESFA grant, totalling £2,670,980.00 for the 2023 – 2024 academic year. 

Having considered all of the information, Cabinet noted the report and

RESOLVED to:

Delegate authority to the Executive Director of Economy, Environment and Infrastructure, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Education, Skills and Bus Transport to:

1. Enter into a funding agreement with the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) under which the council shall receive the ESFA funding for the purpose of delivering Community Learning and Adult Skills Programmes during the 2023 – 2024 academic year.

2. Conduct a mini-competition process, under each of the following Lots of the council’s existing Community and Adult Skills Framework Agreement, in respect of 5 call-off contracts for the supply of adult learning programmes:

• First Steps

• Employability

• Adults with Learning Disabilities and/or Difficulties (“ALDD”)

• Steps into Work (Supported Internships)

• Local Flex (Responding to identified/emerging local need)

Each such call-off contract shall continue for a period of 12 months or less, according to the type of courses or piece of work required in the 2023 – 2024 academic year.

3. Award each such Call-Off Contract to the preferred tenderer.