Agenda, decisions and minutes

An apology for absence was received from Councillor B Young (Executive Councillor for Community Safety and People Management).

An apology for absence was also received from Tony McArdle (Chief Executive).

There were no declarations of Councillors' Interests made at this stage in the meeting.

The Leader advised that following the Grenfell Tower tragedy, the Department for Education had asked councils to identify any school buildings of four storeys or more; and any residential properties with ACM cladding.  The Council had identified that there were four schools in Lincolnshire with buildings above four storeys and one with residential accommodation.  The Leader confirmed that all the buildings had been checked; and none had been found to contain ACM cladding.

The Executive was advised that a decision had been taken to review all County Council buildings, prioritising all schools and academies, regardless of height for the presence of ACM cladding.  After assessing more than 356 schools, only one had been found to have ACM cladding.  It was noted that there were a few additional schools under four storeys, where further investigations were necessary.

Assessments had also been carried out on other Council properties, 548 buildings had already been confirmed as having no cladding system.  It was reported that confirmation had been received that 88 properties with cladding had not contained ACM; and that 78 remaining properties would be assessed over the next week.

The Executive noted that a request had also been received from the Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG) for local authorities to identify and check any social housing above six storeys for the presence of a type of aluminium (ACM) cladding.  The Leader confirmed that the County Council did not own any such property.

The Executive Councillor for Culture and Emergency Services advised that since the Grenfell Tower tragedy Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue was continuing to work with DCLG on the cladding testing programme.  It was noted that the checking of all high rise properties was the responsibility of landlords, and if they were found to contain ACM cladding, fire officers would be checking these premises to ensure that there were appropriate fire safety measures in place. 

It was noted further that the County Council emergency planning teams and fire officers were working alongside the City of Lincoln and West Lindsey as they had high rise buildings as part of their housing stock. 

The Executive noted that the Council was reviewing its procedures and was working together with partners to ensure that Lincolnshire was in the best position possible.

RESOLVED

That the minutes of the meeting of the Executive held on 6 June 2017 be approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

(To receive a report from the Executive Director Finance and Public Protection, which describes the Council's financial performance in 2016/17 and makes proposals on the carry forward of over and under spendings into the current financial year)

That the Executive:

(1) Note the carry forwards set out in paragraph 1.83 of the report, which are

made in line with the Council's Financial Regulations;

(2) Recommends to full Council that the proposals in paragraph 1.84 of the

report relating to the treatment of underspends in excess of 1.0% be

approved;

(3) Note the transfers to and from reserves carried out in 2016/17 as set out in

Table D; and

(4) Note financial performance in 2016/17 including Flexible Use of Capital Receipts and the Prudential Indicators.

Consideration was given to a report from Pete More, Executive Director Finance and Public Protection, which:-

·         explained the Council's financial performance in 2016/17;

·         identified and explained variances from the Council's revenue and capital budgets;

·         advised on the use of flexible capital receipts to fund revenue expenditure on transformation during 2016/17;

·         made proposals on the carry forward of over and under spendings into the current financial year; and

·         reported Prudential and Financial Performance Indicators for 2016/17.

In guiding the Executive through the report, Tony Warnock, Operations and Financial Advice Manager made reference to:-

·         the key financial performance measures detailed in Table A.  It was highlighted that all were in line with expectations, with the exception of line 7, which related to payroll;

·         Details relating to the revenue budget outturn for 2016/17, as detailed at paragraph 1.22 of the report; and

·         The revenue budget final outturn position for 2016/17 as shown in Table B.  It was noted that the Council had an overall underspend of £45.944m.  The underspend was detailed on pages 13 to 21 of the report.

The Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board (OSMB) advised the Executive that the OSMB had considered the Review of Financial Performance 2016/17; and had supported the recommendations contained in the report.

Comments raised by the Board in relation to under and over spends included:-

·         Readiness for Adult Life – Some concern was expressed as to what the options were for meeting the growing demands of care leavers and homeless 16-17 year olds;

·         Children are Safe and Healthy – Some concern was expressed regarding staffing vacancies in early help teams;

·         Adult Care – One area the Board had felt would be useful was to have a link between expenditure and activity to see what the impact of activity was on spending; and the impact the lateness of MOSAIC was having on staff;

·         Winter maintenance – The Board had supported the winter maintenance underspend;

·         Schools – The Board had raised some concern that there was £12.683m underspend in schools budgets and how this compared to schools budgets nationally.  Officers confirmed that any underspend had to go back to maintained schools.  It was noted further that schools were advised to hold some reserves to provide some flexibility as their budget was driven by pupil numbers.  It was confirmed the level of reserves for Academies was likely to start decreasing due to the cessation of the Local Authority Central Spend Equivalent Grant, once the transition protection had ended.  One member enquired as to whether Schools information in Table B could be presented in a different way so that the overall picture was shown.

Other concerns raised included the underspend pertaining to legal services; and whether the service provided was good value for money.  It was noted that the amount reflected an underspend on staffing and the overachievement of income against budgeted forecasts.  It was noted further that the overachievement income would be distributed out to partners, based on the amount of work put through  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

(To receive a report from the Executive Director for Environment and Economy, which recommends the award of a contract to design and construct a Salt Storage Dome at Horncastle Highways Depot)

1.    That approval be given for the detailed design and construction of a Salt Storage Dome at Horncastle Depot where salt stocks are properly stored and managed. 

2.    That approval be given for the Executive Director for Environment and Economy to directly enter into a contract for the provision of a Salt Storage Dome as an exception to the Contract &Procurement Procedure rules.

The Executive gave consideration to a report from Richard Wills, Executive Director of Environment and Economy, which recommended the award of a contract to design and construct a Salt Storage Dome at Horncastle Highways Depot.

Steve Willis, Chief Operating Officer, advised that the County Council operated its winter service out of eight operational depots across the County, from which 43 gritters operated.  It was highlighted that salt at the Horncastle depot was currently stored externally and sheeted with tarpaulins.  A new facility would enable the Authority to meet national recommendations for the storage of de-icing salt, as well as making savings through improving the condition of the salt stored at the depot.  An outline business case concerning the viability of the proposed storage facility was attached at Appendix A for the Executive to consider.  It was highlighted that the expected rate of return to recover the costs of £63,250 was less than eight and a half years.  It was also noted that the Environment Agency supported the proposal as this would eliminate any possible environmental damage from the sodium chloride.

In conclusion, the Executive was advised that Planning Permission for the new Salt Storage Dome had been granted and that approval was now sought to proceed to the construction phase, subject to financial decisions being taken by the Council at its meeting on 12 July 2017.

A short discussion ensued concerning the cost of the proposal; and a question was asked as to the type of material that would be used in the construction of the Salt Storage Dome.  Officers advised that the cost was the market rate; and that there were very few companies who were able to deliver the type of construction required.  Officers also advised that the building would be constructed from timber framed sections.

RESOLVED

1.    That approval be given for the detailed design and construction of a Salt Storage Dome at Horncastle Depot where salt stocks are properly stored and managed. 

2.    That approval be given for the Executive Director for Environment and Economy to directly enter into a contract for the provision of a Salt Storage Dome as an exception to the Contract & Procurement Procedure Rules.

(To receive a report from the Chief Executive, which presents an overview of performance for Q4 against the Council Business Plan)

1.    That the 2016/2017 Quarter 4 performance be noted.

2.    That the proposals for presenting measures displayed in Appendix B be supported.

Consideration was given to a report from Jasmine Sodhi, Performance and Equalities Manager, which provided an overview of performance for Quarter 4 against the Council Business Plan.

The Performance and Equalities Manager reminded members of the Executive that once the Quarter 4 Performance had been discussed; and feedback considered, the performance information would then be made publicly available on the website. 

It was reported that out of 17 commissioning strategies reported in Quarter 4, 7 had performed really well and had achieved the target; 5 had performed well, with all but 1 measure having been achieved; and 5 had mixed performance, some measures being achieved and some measures not being achieved. 

The Performance and Equality Manager highlighted that there were a number of measures where it would be more appropriate to use the term 'number' rather than 'performance' in the infographic due to the nature of the measure.  Appendix B provided an example of an alternative way of presenting such measures for the Executive to consider.

The Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board confirmed that the Board had supported the recommendations contained in the report and had raised concerns with regard to the Learn and Achieve Commissioning Strategy to which concerns had been raised with regard to the high number of permanent exclusions in the academic year 2014/15; and in relation to the measure 'pupils aged 16-18 participating in learning', reference was made to the issue of data collection from independent learning providers needing to be looked into, it was noted that the Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee would be looking at these issues; and that the 'reported incidents of domestic abuse' would be looked into further by the Public Protection and Communities Scrutiny Committee.

One member suggested that the measure for 'Readiness for Adult Life' should no longer be a measure, as it was difficult to obtain the data required; and that there was no budget available to support children to engage in learning or employment with training post 16.  It was noted that the Council did however track its Looked After Children and provide career advice.

It was reported that the Council had done a lot of work concerning exclusions and significant improvement had been made to reduce exclusions in the primary sector; and that more was being done with the secondary sector.

Officers also highlighted that one or two of the measures relating to Protecting the Public would be re-assessed; as would the household waste recycling target.

RESOLVED

1.    That the 2016/2017 Quarter 4 performance be noted.

2.    That the proposals for presenting measures displayed in Appendix B be supported.