Agenda, decisions and minutes

To note any apologies for absence.

Apologies were received from Cllr Roger Wilson; Cabinet Member Adult Social Care Commissioning.  

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 24 July 2019 (minutes attached).

The minutes of the meeting held on 24 July 2019 were agreed and signed as a correct record of that meeting.

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 declarations of interest were made at the meeting.

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 was 4.00 pm on Thursday 3 October 2019

Please submit any questions to jo.moore@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 at the meeting and need not be read out.

At the discretion of the Leader, each questioner in attendance at the meeting will be allowed to ask one supplementary question at the meeting (in response to the answer given to the original question).

A copy of all written questions and 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.

A total of 13 member questions were submitted for consideration in advance of the meeting.

Please refer to the link below to view the responses to the questions: -

http://glostext.gloucestershire.gov.uk/documents/b16136/Cabinet%20Questions%20and%20Answers%20Wednesday%2009-Oct-2019%2010.00%20Cabinet.pdf?T=9

If unable to access the document at the link above, please go to the link below and select the ‘Cabinet Questions and Answers’ PDF document at the top of the web page: - 

http://glostext.gloucestershire.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=117&MId=9230&Ver=4

The supplementary questions below were asked at the meeting.

Due to illness Cllr Paul Hodgkinson was unable to attend the meeting. Cllr Hodkinson was invited to email any supplementary questions direct to the relevant cabinet portfolio holder for a response.

Member Questions:

Question 5: Cllr Jeremy Hilton

Agenda Item 6: Financial Monitoring Report

Cllr Hilton suggested that the cost of the council’s alternative tipping arrangements amounted to around 10,000 tonnes of waste diverted to landfill. He asked when the exact figure would be known, the costs involved and who would pay for the costs, Gloucestershire County Council or UBB?

Response by: Cllr Nigel Moor (Cabinet Member: Environment and Planning) 

Cllr Moor clarified that the council was waiting for checks to be completed before the information would be available. A full answer to the question would be provided when all of the data was received.

Question 6: Cllr Jeremy Hilton

Agenda Item 6: Financial Monitoring Report

Cllr Hilton recalled that in February 2019, the council increased the Children’s’ Services Budget by £11m (12%). Questioning if Cllr Boyles had lost control of his budget, Cllr Hilton anticipated another overspend of £10m.

Cllr Hilton asked what action would be taken to ensure Cllr Boyles’ portfolio returned to budget by the end of the financial year?

Response by: Cllr Lynden Stowe (Cabinet Member: Finance and Change) 

Cllr Stowe expressed his disappointment at the overspend and proposed taking a pragmatic approach to identifying the reasons for the position. Referring to the level of scrutiny attributed to delivering Children’s Services, Cllr Stowe clarified that work would be ongoing to address the underspend but that it would not be easy to address the challenges within the normal timescales.

Cllr Stowe elaborated on the challenges in delivering Children’s Services and referred to the increasing pressures experienced by every council in the UK.

Inviting Cllr Boyles to respond to the comments made by Cllr Hilton on the performance of the Children’s Services Budget 2019/20, the Leader of the Council, Cllr Mark Hawthorne, objected to the comments that had been made.

Cllr Boyles, Cabinet Member for Children’s Safeguarding and Early Years, elaborated on the extensive work that was being undertaken in Children’s Services and of the plans to ensure the children in care in Gloucestershire received the best possible care, including the development of Trevone House, which will reduce the council’s dependency on external placements.

Adopting the Trevone House model as the model for the new framework for delivering children’s services, Cllr Boyles referenced the benefits and costs involved in the use of agency workers. He also referred to the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

The Youth Justice Management Plan forms part of the Council’s Policy Framework. Taking into account comments made by the Children’s and Families Scrutiny Committee on 18 July 2019, Cabinet to recommend that the plan be adopted by Full Council.

Having considered all of the information, including representations from the Children and Families Scrutiny Committee meeting on 18 July 2019, alternative options and the reasons for the recommendations, Cabinet noted the report and,

RESOLVED to

Recommend that the Youth Justice Plan 2019/20 (Appendix 1 if the decision report) be presented to Full Council for approval.  

Cllr Richard Boyles, Cabinet Member for Children’s Safeguarding and Early Years presented the Draft Youth Justice Plan 2019/20 (Appendix 1 of the decision report) for consideration. Subject to cabinet agreement, the report to be presented to the Full Council meeting on 27 November 2019 for approval.

Cllr Boyles informed Cabinet that the Council, working with statutory partners, (Police, Health and Probation Services), had a duty to publish an Annual Youth Justice Plan, outlining the funding and activities of the Youth Offending Service.

Local Governance for the Youth Offending Service is provided by the Gloucestershire Youth Justice Partnership Board, (GYJPB), comprising senior representatives from each of the statutory partners, (listed above), and local partner agencies.

Cllr Boyles confirmed that the Gloucestershire Youth Offending Service was performing well, (in comparison with national and statistical comparators), in key areas of performance. These included use of custody, re-offending and first time entrants to the Criminal Justice System.

The 2019/20 Youth Justice Plan was previously considered by the Gloucestershire Youth Justice Partnership Board and at a national level by the Youth Justice Board. The plan was found to be comprehensive, (the highest grading available in the quality assurance process). It was noted that the plan would continue to be subject to regular monitoring by the Youth Justice Partnership Board.

Having considered all of the information, including representations from the Children and Families Scrutiny Committee meeting on 18 July 2019, alternative options and the reasons for the recommendations, Cabinet noted the report and,

RESOLVED to

Recommend that the Youth Justice Plan 2019/20 (Appendix 1 of the decision report) be presented to Full Council for approval.

To receive an update on the year-end forecast for the 2019/20 County Council’s Revenue and Capital Budgets.

Cllr Lynden Stowe, Cabinet Member for Finance and Change, gave an update on the year end forecast for the 2019/20 County Council’s Revenue and Capital Budgets.

Having considered all of the information, including known proposals, alternative options and reasons for recommendations, Cabinet noted the report and,

RESOLVED to

1.    Note the forecast revenue year end position as at the end of August 2019 for the 2019/20 financial year of a net £4.490 million overspend against the revenue budget of £429.661 million.

2.    Note the forecast capital year end position as at the end of August 2019 of £112.620 million against the budget of £126.048 million.

3.    Approve the addition of £0.043 million to the Highways capital budget funded from a variety of sources as outlined in the body of the report.

4.    Approve the allocation of £3.887 million from the approved carriageway resurfacing budget to schemes as outlined in the body of the report.

5.    Approve the reduction of £0.191million to the Flood Alleviation capital budget as outlined in the body of the report.

Cllr Lynden Stowe, Cabinet Member for Finance and Change, gave an update on the year end forecast for the 2019/20 County Council’s Revenue and Capital Budgets.

Reporting a forecast revenue year end position with an overspend of £4.490 million on a net budget of £429.661 million, (1.05% of the budget), Cllr Stowe referred to the explanation that had been given earlier in the meeting in response to pressures from delivering the council’s children’s services.

Cllr Stowe explained that the net budget position included a significant forecast overspend in the Children and Families Budget of £9.780 million. An efficiency plan had been put in place to reduce the forecast overspend but the target of below £5 million by the year end continued to be challenging due to the latest external placement forecast. The overall net overspend would be off set by a number of underspends, many of them one-off, identified in corporate budgets.

The Council’s Communities and Infrastructure Budgets were forecast to overspend by £0.571 million. This was largely due to Waste Budgets forecasting an overspend of £0.658 million.

Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service was forecasting an overspend of £0.120 million. This was mainly due to the changes to employers superannuation on Fire Pension schemes. A grant had been received but this only accounted for 90% of the costs.

The Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) was forecast to overspend by £7.201 million, (including a deficit carry forward of £2.884 million). Recent funding announcements had identified (nationally) £700 million of additional funding for special needs in 2020/21. Cllr Stowe said it was unclear how this would be allocated and in what proportion would be allocated to the High Needs block where the highest cost pressures existed. He informed members that the council’s High Needs Strategy was essential to ensuring a balanced budget in future years.

Reporting on the Council’s Capital positon, Cllr Stowe reported a forecast year end position of £112.620 million. This was £13.428 million less than the current budgeted figure of £126.048 million. Cllr Stowe proposed a reduction of £0.148 million to the capital programme (detailed in the Cabinet decision report).

Having considered all of the information, including known proposals, alternative options and reasons for recommendations, Cabinet noted the report and,

RESOLVED to

1.    Note the forecast revenue year end position as at the end of August 2019 for the 2019/20 financial year of a net £4.490 million overspend against the revenue budget of £429.661 million.

2.    Note the forecast capital year end position as at the end of August 2019 of £112.620 million against the budget of £126.048 million.

3.    Approve the addition of £0.043 million to the Highways capital budget funded from a variety of sources as outlined in the body of the report.

4.    Approve the allocation of £3.887 million from the approved carriageway resurfacing budget to schemes as outlined in the body of the report.

5.    Approve the reduction of £0.191million to the Flood Alleviation capital budget as outlined in the body of the report.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

To set out the context and outline the process and timetable for producing the Council Strategy and Medium Term Financial Strategy for the period 2021/22.

Cllr Lynden Stowe, Cabinet Member for Finance and Change, set out the context and process for producing the Medium Term Financial Strategy for the period 2020/21 to 2022/23.

Having considered all of the information, including known proposals, alternative options and reasons for recommendations, Cabinet noted the report and,

RESOLVED to:

Agree the proposed process for developing the Council’s three-year Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) covering the period 2020/21 to 2022/23.

Cllr Lynden Stowe, Cabinet Member for Finance and Change, set out the context and process for producing the Medium Term Financial Strategy for the period 2020/21 to 2022/23.

Cllr Stowe referred to the Spending Review announcement announced by Government on 4 September 2019. He informed members that the funding apportioned to Gloucestershire for the following year was, in his opinion, satisfactory, with particular good news in the amount of funding allocated to providing special educational needs and investment in local primary and secondary schools.

The net impact of the announcement was expected to increase funding by nearly £29 million (6.6%) above current 2019/20 levels. The funding would be utilised to focus on key priorities and help deliver a balanced budget. This would not, however, remove unavoidable pressures impacting on the budget, for which Cllr Stowe confirmed the need to identify savings of £11m for the 2020/21 budget.

Leader of the Council, Cllr Mark Hawthorne, thanked Cllr Stowe and the Director of Corporate Resources and the finance team for the huge amount of work undertaken over the summer. The Leader also thanked those involved in lobbying the Government in recent years to secure extra funding for Gloucestershire.

Having considered all of the information, including known proposals, alternative options and reasons for recommendations, Cabinet noted the report and,

RESOLVED to:

Agree the proposed process for developing the Council’s three-year Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) covering the period 2020/21 to 2022/23.

To seek approval to extend the current Section 76 Agreement with Gloucestershire Care Services to continue providing the integrated Public Health Nursing Service for a further two years, plus a discretionary two years (April 2020 to March 2024).

Cllr Tim Harman, Cabinet Member for Public Health and Communities, sought approval to extend the current Section 76 Agreement with Gloucestershire Care Services.

Having considered all of the information, including known proposals, alternative options and reasons for recommendations, Cabinet noted the report and,

RESOLVED to:

Authorise the Director of Public Health, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Public Health and Communities, to extend the term of the current Public Health Nursing Service model arrangements for a further period of two years (to expire March 2022) with the option to extend such period for an additional period of two years (to expire March 2024).

The County Council is responsible for commissioning Public Health Nursing Services, (Health Visiting and School Nursing). As a condition of the Public Health Grant, the council’s Public Health Nursing Service is required to offer five mandated visits during a child’s early years and help deliver the Healthy Child Programme for families and children aged 0 to 19 years.

Cllr Tim Harman, Cabinet Member for Public Health and Communities, sought approval to extend the term of the Council’s current Public Health Nursing Service arrangements for a further two years.

Cllr Harman recalled that in December 2016, Cabinet had agreed to remodel the existing health visiting and school nurse services into one integrated Public Health Nursing Service. (The remodelling to be phased in over a three year period concluding March 2020). During this period, Gloucestershire Health and Care NHSFT, (formerly Gloucestershire Care Services), had worked collaboratively with the Public Health Team to introduce a number of efficiency savings, make effective use of the staff skill mix and improve performance against mandatory visits, (currently at 80% and within timescale).

Cllr Harman explained that the Council’s Public Health Nursing Service was funded from the Public Health Grant via a Section 76 transfer of funding between the Council and the Gloucestershire Clinical Commissioning Group under the arrangements of the Collaborative Commissioning Agreement. He informed members that the council’s annual expenditure in connection with the provision of Public Health Nursing Services was £6.699 million. (This included an additional £200,000 to be invested in Public Health Nursing Services in respect of children’s safeguarding during 2019/20).

Accordingly, Cllr Harman proposed that the projected sum to be transferred by the Council to the Clinical Commissioning Group for the four-year period from April 2020 to March 2024 equate to £26.795 million.

Having considered all of the information, including known proposals, alternative options and reasons for recommendations, Cabinet noted the report and,

RESOLVED to:

Authorise the Director of Public Health, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Public Health and Communities, to extend the term of the current Public Health Nursing Service model arrangements for a further period of two years (to expire March 2022) with the option to extend such period for an additional period of two years (to expire March 2024).

To seek approval for Gloucestershire County Council to participate in a competitive tendering process conducted by South Gloucestershire Council (as the lead authority) for the award of a four year (plus) South West Sub-Regional Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS) commencing 1st April 2020 for the provision of independent residential care for looked after children.

Cllr Richard Boyles, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Children’s Safeguarding and Early Years, sought approval for Gloucestershire County Council to participate in a competitive tendering process conducted by South Gloucestershire Council (as the lead authority) for the award of a four year (plus) South West Sub-Regional Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS) commencing 1st April 2020 for the provision of independent residential care for looked after children.

Having considered all of the information, including known proposals, alternative options and reasons for recommendations, Cabinet noted the report and,

RESOLVED to:

Authorise the Assistant Director for Integrated Children and Families Commissioning to:

1      Participate in a public procurement law compliant procurement process conducted by South Gloucestershire Council (as the lead authority) to establish a four year (with the option to extend for a further two years)  Dynamic Purchasing System (to be known as the “South West sub-regional Dynamic Purchasing System” (the “DPS”) commencing on the 1st April 2020 for the provision of independent residential care for looked after children using a light-touch approach;  

2      Enter into a Participation Agreement with South Gloucestershire Council to give effect to recommendation 1. above and make a one off  payment to South Gloucestershire Council of £5,000 as a contribution towards their costs in acting as lead authority for the procurement of the DPS;

3      Procure such number of call-off contracts (placements) under the DPS as are required to meet the Council’s responsibility to provide residential care services for children and young people who become or are looked after Provided that the value of any single call-off contract will not exceed £499,999.99.  Any single contract under the DPS with a value that exceeds this sum must be the subject of a separate cabinet decision; and

4      Report back to Cabinet on an annual basis throughout the continuance of the DPS with details of the aggregate value of all call-off contracts  that have been awarded by the Council under the DPS in the preceding year.

Cllr Richard Boyles, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Children’s Safeguarding and Early Years, sought approval for the County Council to participate in a competitive tendering process conducted by South Gloucestershire Council, (as lead authority), to establish a four year (plus) South West Sub-Regional Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS) commencing 1st April 2020 for the provision of independent residential care for looked after children.

In addition to South Gloucestershire Council, the other councils seeking to participate in the Dynamic Purchasing System agreement, included; Bath and North East Somerset Council; North Somerset Council; Swindon Borough Council, Wiltshire Council and Gloucestershire County Council. 

Cllr Boyles outlined some of the benefits from entering a collaborative Dynamic Purchasing System agreement. These included; working together with other councils to improve service delivery; enhanced control of the market; improved data analysis from the sharing of information; greater oversight and improved quality assurance.  

Supporting the recommendation, Cllr Boyles reported an annual expenditure of £19.25 million in 2018/19 for providing residential accommodation to the children and young people of Gloucestershire needing residential care. Cllr Boyles explained that the Council would not incur any costs from using the proposed Dynamic Purchasing System unless it was necessary to call off any of the contracts.

Having considered all of the information, including known proposals, alternative options and reasons for recommendations, Cabinet noted the report and,

RESOLVED to:

Authorise the Assistant Director for Integrated Children and Families Commissioning to:

1      Participate in a public procurement law compliant procurement process conducted by South Gloucestershire Council (as the lead authority) to establish a four year (with the option to extend for a further two years)  Dynamic Purchasing System (to be known as the “South West sub-regional Dynamic Purchasing System” (the “DPS”) commencing on the 1st April 2020 for the provision of independent residential care for looked after children using a light-touch approach; 

2      Enter into a Participation Agreement with South Gloucestershire Council to give effect to recommendation 1. above and make a one off  payment to South Gloucestershire Council of £5,000 as a contribution towards their costs in acting as lead authority for the procurement of the DPS;

3      Procure such number of call-off contracts (placements) under the DPS as are required to meet the Council’s responsibility to provide residential care services for children and young people who become or are looked after Provided that the value of any single call-off contract will not exceed £499,999.99.  Any single contract under the DPS with a value that exceeds this sum must be the subject of a separate cabinet decision; and

4      Report back to Cabinet on an annual basis throughout the continuance of the DPS with details of the aggregate value of all call-off contracts  that have been awarded by the Council under the DPS in the preceding year.

To approve the adoption of a tipping away policy for waste collections by Gloucestershire Waste Collection Authorities.

Cllr Nigel Moor, Cabinet Member for Environment and Planning, to give a verbal update on comments made by the Gloucestershire Joint Waste Committee at a meeting held on 8 October 2019. 

Cllr Nigel Moor, Cabinet Member for Environment and Planning, set out proposals for the adoption of a Waste Tipping Away Policy to be used in the calculation of Waste Tipping Away payments made by the Council.

Cllr Moor also provided feedback on comments made at the Joint Waste Committee meeting on 8 October 2019, including the proposal that the Tipping Away Policy reaffirm the partnership commitment to working together on service changes and consider the impacts of climate change as part of the decision making process.

Having considered all of the information, including known proposals, alternative options and reasons for recommendations, Cabinet noted the report and,

RESOLVED to:

Approve the adoption of a Waste Tipping Away Policy as set out in section 4 of the published decision report.

Cllr Nigel Moor, Cabinet Member for Environment and Planning, set out proposals for the adoption of a Waste Tipping Away Policy to be used in the calculation of Waste Tipping Away payments made by the Council.

Outlining the background to the decision, Cllr Moor explained that (under the Environmental Protection Act), the County Council could, where necessary, direct a district council to deliver waste to a point of disposal outside its administrative area. In so doing, the County Council would then be liable to make reasonable financial contributions to the district authorities in respect of any costs it reasonably incurs when complying with this direction and where the disposal point is unreasonably far from the district area. This is referred to as a “Tipping Away” payment.

Cllr Moor informed members that the council had no policy in place in which to formally calculate and apply Tipping Away payments. In many two-tier Local Authority areas, policies had been adopted to define both the circumstances in which payments are made and the methods for calculating payments. Such policies use a formula to calculate reasonable compensation to the district authority based upon the additional travel time and associated operating costs. Adoption of such a policy for Gloucestershire would provide transparency and improved levels of operational certainty to all parties where changes are made to waste delivery points.

The proposed adoption of a Waste Tipping Away Policy was discussed at the Cabinet meeting on 10 October 2018, whereby it was agreed to consult with the district authorities on the development of a waste tipping away policy based upon the formula developed by the National Association of Waste Disposal Officers.

Noting the outcomes of the consultation, (as detailed in the cabinet decision report), including the proposal to adopt the National Association of Waste Disposal Officers model as the basis for calculating future tipping away payments within Gloucestershire, the Tipping Away Policy proposed by the cabinet decision was considered at the Joint Waste Committee meeting on 8 October 2019 (the day before the Cabinet meeting).

Providing feedback from that meeting, Cllr Moor informed members that the Joint Waste Committee, (representing each of the district authorities), had made the following comments/proposals: -

1)    The Tipping Away Policy should reaffirm the Waste Partnership’s commitment of working together to consider service changes.

Responding to this comment, it was suggested that, in effect, the statement reflected the principle of partnership working in terms of waste. The proposal would not impact on the policy itself, but, if supported, a statement could be added to the policy to provide clarity and commitment.

2)    The impact of Climate Change should form part of the decision making process. The costs of the system and the impact of carbon emissions from a tipping away decision should be modelled.

This statement received support from officers. The need to consider the impacts of climate change and the wider costs involved in the service decision making process was acknowledged.

3)    The costs of change associated with a Tipping  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

To seek approval to establish a new 75 place Special School for Children and Young People with Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) needs together with approval for commissioning, funding, land acquisition and construction of the new school.

Cllr Patrick Molyneux, Cabinet Member for Economy, Education and Skills, sought approval to establish a 75 place special school for children and young people aged 11-16 year with SEMH needs.

Having considered all of the information, including known proposals, alternative options and reasons for recommendations, Cabinet noted the report and,

RESOLVED to:

Approve the establishment of a new 75 place special school for children and young people aged 11-16 year with SEMH needs and delegate authority to the Director of Education, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Economy, Education and Skills, to:

1.  Hold a free school presumption competition in accordance with the Department for Education’s advice contained in, “The free school presumption” (May 2018) in order to identify a suitable Academy Trust to sponsor the school;

2. Upon conclusion of the competition, recommend to the Secretary of State the findings of the Local Authority’s assessment to enable him to decide upon the most suitable proposer to take forward the new free school;

Delegate authority to the Head of Property Services, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Economy, Education and Skills, to:

3. Acquire the land on which to establish and construct the new special school.

4.  Conduct a procurement process in accordance with rules of a public sector designed and managed framework agreement known as the “GCC procurement framework” for the purpose of awarding (a) a preconstruction design agreement and (b) subject to satisfactory planning permission, a contract for construction works relating to the establishment of a 75 place special school for children and young people aged 11-16 years with SEMH needs.

5.  Use a mini competition process through the GCC procurement framework to determine the Council’s preferred contractor(s).

6.  Upon conclusion of the mini competition to enter into the abovementioned pre construction design and, subject to satisfactory planning permission, a contract for the construction works with the preferred contractor(s) evaluated as offering the Council best value for money and quality for delivery of the new school. In the event that the preferred contractor(s) is either unable or unwilling to enter into that contract(s) with the Council, the Head of Property is authorised to enter into such contract with the next willing highest places and suitably qualified contractor.

Authorise the Director of Education and the Head of Property Services to:

7.  Undertake all ancillary matters to enable the establishment of the 75 place special school for children and young people aged 11-16 years with SEMH needs

Cllr Patrick Molyneux, Cabinet Member for Economy, Education and Skills, sought approval to establish a 75 place special school for children and young people aged 11-16 year with SEMH needs.

Cllr Molyneux explained that the County Council had a statutory duty to ensure sufficient school places were available for every child of school age, (where the parents or carers of that child wished them to have one), with social, emotional and mental health needs. He confirmed that, currently, Gloucestershire had insufficient special school places for children with such needs, resulting in the need to commission costly school places within the independent sector, often located some distance from the children’s homes.

Recalling the decision to approve the council’s High Needs Strategy in January 2019, (identifying the need for more specialist provision), Cllr Molyneux confirmed that a total of 98 pupils from Gloucestershire with social, emotional and mental health needs attended independent and non maintained schools at an annual cost of £4.45million.

Seeking to increase local provision across the county and reduce the council’s reliance on the independent/non-maintained special school sector, Cllr Molyneux anticipated making savings of an estimated £1.5m annually in placement costs and £360k in transport costs.

Cllr Molyneux stated that, in seeking to establish a new school for Gloucestershire, (anticipated to open in the 2021/22 academic year), the council would need to recommend a Multi Academy Trust to act as sponsor for the school. Negotiations were currently underway to secure a site central to Gloucestershire for the proposed development.

Consideration of the capital funding to support this proposal was considered under agenda item 12 of the meeting.

Leader of the Council, Cllr Mark Hawthorne and several members of Cabinet spoke in support of the investment and welcomed the proposal.

Having considered all of the information, including known proposals, alternative options and reasons for recommendations, Cabinet noted the report and,

RESOLVED to:

Approve the establishment of a new 75 place special school for children and young people aged 11-16 year with SEMH needs and delegate authority to the Director of Education, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Economy, Education and Skills, to:

1.  Hold a free school presumption competition in accordance with the Department for Education’s advice contained in, “The free school presumption” (May 2018) in order to identify a suitable Academy Trust to sponsor the school;

2. Upon conclusion of the competition, recommend to the Secretary of State the findings of the Local Authority’s assessment to enable him to decide upon the most suitable proposer to take forward the new free school;

Delegate authority to the Head of Property Services, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Economy, Education and Skills, to:

3. Acquire the land on which to establish and construct the new special school.

4.  Conduct a procurement process in accordance with rules of a public sector designed and managed framework agreement known as the “GCC procurement framework” for the purpose of awarding (a) a preconstruction design agreement and (b) subject to satisfactory planning permission,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11.

To agree changes to the approved Children & Families Capital Programme. 

Cllr Patrick Molyneux, Cabinet Member for Economy, Education and Skills, sought approval to make changes to the Children & Families Capital Programme.

Members attention was drawn to the 2018/19 Children & Families Capital Programme approved by Full Council in February 2018 and the 2019/20 Capital Programme approved in February 2019. Cllr Molyneux informed members that both schemes represented part of the councils ongoing commitment to investing £120 million into new schools, improving buildings and expanding facilities at schools across Gloucestershire.

Cllr Molyneux reaffirmed that the council was committed to ensuring the right provision and support was available to all children and young people in Gloucestershire, including those with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities. He stated that the three schemes referred to in this report would enable the council to continue to improve the level and quality of support available to the county’s children and young people.

Referring to consideration of the previous item and the proposal to establish a new school for children with social, emotional and mental health needs, Cllr Molyneux suggested that the new school would not only enable the council to provide more bespoke high quality facilities from which to provide support to some of the county’s most vulnerable pupils but would also help reduce the council’s revenue expenditure by providing better provision and in closer proximity to where the pupils lived.

Describing the proposal as a further demonstration of the council’s commitment to investing in education, cabinet members spoke in support of the changes and welcomed the proposals.

Having considered all of the information, including known proposals, alternative options and reasons for recommendations, Cabinet noted the report and further to the earlier decision to establish a new SEMH school,

RESOLVED to:

Approve changes to the Children & Families Capital Programme (as set out in the report), including approval of; 

1. A new scheme for the provision of a 75 place SEMH  Special School, funded by the transfer of £5.0 million from the approved basic need provision for Specialist Provision and £2.5 million from the Department for Education Specialist Provision Grant.

2. A new scheme for the provision of additional places at Belmont Special School, funded by the transfer of £0.215 million from the approved High Needs Specialist Provision budget.

3. A new scheme for improvements at the Cheltenham and Tewkesbury Alternative Provision School (CTAPS), funded by the transfer of £0.075 million funded from the approved SEND support in mainstream school budget.

To consider the disposal of properties and sites deemed surplus to requirement in line with the council’s Policy for the Disposal of Property.

Please note: this report contains both exempt and non-exempt information.

To discuss the exempt information detailed in the appendices to the published report, consideration must first be given to whether the public and press should be excluded from the meeting by passing the following resolution: -

In accordance with Regulation 4(2)(b) of the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Meetings and Access to Information) (England) Regulations 2012, consideration must be given to confirm whether members of the public and press should be excluded from the meeting for this item of business because it is likely that, if present there would be disclosure to them of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12 A to the Act, and the public interest in withholding the information outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information to the public.

Cllr Lynden Stowe, Cabinet Member for Finance and Change, sought approval for the disposal of sites declared surplus to the council’s land and property requirements. The proposal relates to achieving the 3 year Meeting the Challenge 3 Capital Receipt Target of £33m for the period up to 2020/21.

Having considered all of the information, including known proposals and the reasons for the recommendations, Cabinet noted the report and, in line with the council’s Policy for the Disposal of Property,   

RESOLVED to: 

1)    Confirm that those sites described at Appendix A (Exempt) which had previously been declared surplus by Cabinet in March 2019 and not yet disposed of, continue to be declared surplus to requirements and

2)    Declare the sites listed on the proposed Schedule of Disposals Appendix B (Exempt) surplus to the Council’s land and property requirements,

and in relation to both of these schedules, delegate authority to the Head of Property Services to dispose of the sites in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Finance and Change.

Prior to the discussion, members were advised that, should Cabinet wish to discuss the contents of the exempt information reported at Appendix A and Appendix B of the report, consideration would need to be given as to whether the press and public should be excluded from the meeting in accordance with Regulation 4(2)(b) of the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Meetings and Access to Information) (England) Regulations 2012.

Cabinet agreed to consider the item without having to refer to the exempt information.

Cllr Lynden Stowe, Cabinet Member for Finance and Change, sought approval for the disposal of sites declared surplus to the council’s land and property requirements in support of the need to achieve the 3 year Meeting the Challenge 3 Capital Receipt Target of £33m for the period up to 2020/21.

Having considered all of the information, including known proposals and the reasons for the recommendations, Cabinet noted the report and, in line with the council’s Policy for the Disposal of Property,  

RESOLVED to: 

1)    Confirm that those sites described at Appendix A (Exempt) which had previously been declared surplus by Cabinet in March 2019 and not yet disposed of, continue to be declared surplus to requirements and

2)    Declare the sites listed on the proposed Schedule of Disposals Appendix B (Exempt) surplus to the Council’s land and property requirements,

and in relation to both of these schedules,

3)    Delegate authority to the Head of Property Services to dispose of the sites in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Finance and Change.

Prior to the discussion, members were advised that, should Cabinet wish to discuss the contents of the exempt information reported at Appendix A and Appendix B of the report, consideration would need to be given as to whether the press and public should be excluded from the meeting in accordance with Regulation 4(2)(b) of the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Meetings and Access to Information) (England) Regulations 2012.

Cabinet agreed to consider the item without having to refer to the exempt information. It was proposed that, for future meetings, efforts would be made to ensure more open and transparent reporting of information in relation to the disposal of sites declared surplus to the council’s land and property requirements.