Agenda, decisions and minutes

There were no apologies for absence.

There were no declarations of interest at this point in the meeting.

The Executive Councillor for Commercial and Environmental Management was pleased to announce that the plans for the Boston Barrier Scheme had been approved by the Government.  The scheme would protect more than 14,000 homes from flooding.

(To receive a verbal update on Fairer Funding for Lincolnshire)

The Leader advised that the campaign for Fairer Funding for Lincolnshire was now well underway and had received extensive support.

It was noted that an open letter, signed by most of the Greater Lincolnshire Leaders and MPs, had been sent to HM Treasury and the Department for Communities and Local Government. 

It was also noted that the Leader of the Council had met with the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government; the Minister for Local Government; Lincolnshire MPs and other interested parties to discuss a fairer funding deal for Lincolnshire.  All those present were complimentary on the level and quality of services provided by Lincolnshire, despite being at a disadvantage in terms of its funding.

The ways in which the campaign was being promoted going forward were discussed.

It was highlighted that the Government had committed to conducting a Fair Funding Review for local government.  Depending upon how the Government proceeds, it had the potential to radically alter the funding profile for the Greater Lincolnshire local authorities.  It was expected that any changes would be implemented in 2020, which would see a revised local government funding formula.

RESOLVED

That the minutes of the meeting of the Executive held on 7 November 2017 be approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

(To receive a report from the Executive Director for Environment and Economy, which invites the Executive to consider the information within the report and the Lincolnshire Highways 2020 Business Case and seeks approval of the recommended option as the basis on which the Council proceeds to put in place replacement arrangements)

(1)  That approval be given to the carrying out of a procurement process for the external commissioning of the services currently covered by the Highways Alliance contracts.

(2)  That Option 17, as described in the report, be approved as the package of contracts to be offered to the market within an Alliance model utilising the New Engineering Contract NEC4.

(3)  That the Executive Director for Environment and Economy, in consultation with the Leader of the Council and the Executive Councillor for Highways, Transport and IT, be delegated authority to take all decisions necessary to progress the procurement of the replacement arrangements to include choice of procurement procedure, scope of the services and the terms of all necessary legal documentation but excluding the final decision to award the contract.

Consideration was given to a report from the Executive Director for Environment and Economy, which outlined the replacement options available to the Highways Service and recommended a future option that was best suited to Lincolnshire County Council.

The Executive Councillor for Highways, Transport and IT presented the report to the Executive and advised that option 17 had been recommended for approval, as it improved on the existing model through a knowledge capture exercise from the current arrangement and offered the opportunity for ongoing improvement.

The Infrastructure Commissioner and the Senior Project Leader advised that the current Lincolnshire Highways Alliance contracts were due to reach full term on 31 March 2020 and could not be further extended under European Union Procurement Law.

The Executive was asked to consider the information contained within the report and the Lincolnshire Highways 2020 Business Case (as detailed at Appendix A to the report) and approve the recommended option (Option 17) as the basis on which the County Council should proceed to put in place replacement arrangements.

The Chairman of the Highways and Transport Scrutiny Committee advised that the Committee had considered a report on the Highways 2020 – Options Appraisal at its meeting on 6 November 2017.  The comments of the Committee were detailed on page 25 of the agenda pack.  It was highlighted that the Committee supported the recommendations included in the Executive's report.  It was also highlighted that the Committee had welcomed its early involvement in the process and the involvement of the three members of the Committee on the Project Board.

Members were provided with an opportunity to ask questions, where the following points were noted: -

·         The risks involved with moving to an alternative model at this stage were not offset by the challenges that the existing model faced.  Lessons learnt, market analysis and local authority benchmarking had confirmed that the model was the correct solution for Lincolnshire County Council.  A copy of the completed Evaluate Options Scoring Matrix were detailed at Appendix C to the Lincolnshire Highways 2020 Business Case;

·         The preferred Model (Option 17) would specifically target incentivising the reactive service and widening the design services top up arrangement to offer provision for the broader highway service, as detailed in the report.  The ways in which incentivisation could be implemented and the ways in which quality control could be managed were discussed;

·         The possibility of implementing a find and fix approach to highway maintenance and its benefits were discussed.

RESOLVED

(1)  That approval be given to the carrying out of a procurement process for the external commissioning of the services currently covered by the Highways Alliance contracts.

(2)  That Option 17, as described in the report, be approved as the package of contracts to be offered to the market within an Alliance model utilising the New Engineering Contract NEC4.

(3)  That the Executive Director for Environment and Economy, in consultation with the Leader of the Council and the Executive Councillor for Highways, Transport and IT, be delegated authority  ...  view the full minutes text for item 35.

(To receive a report from the Executive Director of Children's Services, which seeks approval of the strategic vision of SEND provision as outlined in the Building Communities of Specialist Provision Strategy document at Appendix A for the purposes of consultation)

(1)      That approval be given to the strategic vision of Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) provision, as outlined in the Building Communities of Specialist Provision Strategy document at Appendix A to the report, for the purposes of consultation.

(2)      That approval be given to the engagement in public consultation on the strategy in order to collect feedback, comments and suggestions from those most closely associated and affected by the proposed changes.

(3)      That the Executive Councillor for Adult Care, Health and Children's Services be delegated authority to approve the final adoption of the strategy and to make all decisions necessary to give effect to any changes to maintained special school provision made necessary by the strategy.

A report from the Executive Director of Children's Services was considered, which sought approval of the strategic vision of Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) provision, as outlined in the Building Communities of Specialist Provision: A Collaborative Strategy for Children and Young People with SEND in Lincolnshire, as detailed at Appendix A to the report,for the purposes of consultation. 

The Executive Councillor for Adult Care, Health and Children's Services presented the report to the Executive.

The Senior Project Officer Specialist Schools Project advised that Lincolnshire had 20 special schools for pupils with SEND, and that all special schools were delivering Good or Outstanding education according to the current Ofsted ratings.  In 2015/16 the Council had commissioned some research by the ISOS Partnership which had identified the need to reshape SEND provision to meet the needs of the increasing population of pupils requiring placement in special school settings.  The research had also highlighted a need for more collaborative working between special and mainstream schools.  The combination of the research and changes to national policy development from the Department for Education, the Council had identified the need to review its current provision and create a new strategy to reshape the special school system in Lincolnshire.

It was also highlighted that the high demand for special school places had put significant capacity pressures on many of Lincolnshire special schools.  The current education system had special schools operating within clearly defined designations, and as a result many pupils had to travel for significant periods of time and distance in order to access a special school place which could meet their individual needs.

In response to the identified local challenges and national directives, Lincolnshire had recognised the need to work more collaboratively to address the main issues impacting on special school provision.  The Building Communities of Specialist Provision Strategy proposed to develop an integrated system of special education for pupils with SEND, to meet their education and health care needs as close to their home as possible.  This would be achieved as a result of significant capital investment being made to special schools to enhance their provision to meet most of the needs and designations of disability, and to create increased capacity to meet growing demand. 

It was noted that the proposed model had been agreed with all special school Head Teachers and the Lincolnshire Parent Carer Forum and fully met the strategic vision for SEND provision. 

The proposals identified within the report would be subject to wider consultation with parents, pupils, academy trusts, schools (mainstream and special) and the range of providers engaged in providing for the health and education of pupils with SEND in Lincolnshire.  This would enable feedback, comments and suggestions from those most closely associated and affected by proposed changes to further inform the final Strategy.

The results of the consultation would be presented to the Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee and the Executive / Executive Councillor to seek a decision whether to proceed with the Strategy in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 36.

(To receive a report from the Chief Executive, which presents an overview of performance for Quarter 2 against the Council Business Plan)

(1)  That the 2017/2018 Quarter 2 performance be noted.

(2)  That approval be given to the proposed changes to reporting, as set out in the report.

Consideration was given to a report from the Chief Executive, which presented an overview of performance for quarter two against the Council Business Plan.

The Performance and Equalities Manager advised that of the fourteen commissioning strategies reported in quarter two: nine had performed really well (all measures reported in quarter two had achieved the target); and five had mixed performance (some measures had achieved whereas other had not achieved the target in quarter two).

Appendix A to the report provided a summary of the measures that had not achieved the target in quarter two.  It was noted that all of the measures detailed in Appendix A had not achieved the target in quarter one and quarter two, with the exception of the measure for 16-17 year old Looked After Children participating in learning' (where performance was excepted to improve) and Health and Social Care staff training in Making Every Contact Count (where the annual target was expected to be achieved).

The Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board advised that the Board had considered a report on the Council Business Plan 2017 – 2018 Performance Report, Quarter Two at its meeting on 30 November 2017.  The comments of the Board were tabled at the meeting.  In addition to the comments, the Chairman of the Board referred to the performance in relation to carers and the fact that two of the three targets had not been met. 

The Executive Director of Adult Care and Community Wellbeing advised that on the 29 November 2017 the Adults and Community Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee had considered an item on carers.  A representative from Carers First, which provided services to carers, had been in attendance at the meeting.

It was advised that the targets for services to carers would be reviewed under the future Council Business Plan 2018 – 2020 to reflect changes resulting from the implementation of the Care Act 2014.  The Executive was also advised that the number of carers in Lincolnshire in receipt of services currently stood at 8,400 but this figure was expected to rise to over 9,000 in 2018/19.

RESOLVED

(1)  That the 2017/2018 Quarter 2 performance be noted.

(2)  That approval be given to the proposed changes to reporting, as set out in the report.