Agenda, decisions and minutes

Members are asked to declare any interest and the nature of that interest which they may have in any of the items under consideration at this meeting.

There were none.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting of Cabinet held on 7 March 2023.

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the previous meeting were agreed as an accurate record.

The minutes of the meeting of Cabinet on Tuesday 7 March 2023 were agreed as an accurate record.

To receive communications from the Chair.

There were none.

There were no reports from Overview and Scrutiny Committees.

RESOLVED: That Cabinet:

a)    Noted the finding and recommendations of the PAS Peer Review (Appendix A)

b)    Endorsed the Action Plan and the next steps for the Planning Service (Appendix B) and;

c) Agreed the proposed mechanism for monitoring and reporting progress on the Action Plan and transformation programme.

REASONS RESOLVED:

• To align with the recommendations proposed by the PAS Peer Review.

• To ensure corporate support to drive positive change and will ensure the proposed measures are embedded within the Planning Service in the short, medium and long term.

• To ensure accountability and ownership for the implementation of the Action Plan and transformation programme and;

• It represents a positive opportunity to shape a new, fit for purpose unitary planning service for West Northamptonshire.

ALTERNATIVE ACTIONS:

Should the Council not progress the areas identified by the Planning Advisory Service, the Council will not benefits to improvements set out within the report.

At the Chair’s invitation Councillor Breese presented the report and summarised the salient points.  With a view to establishing best practice, the Planning Advisory Service (PAS) had been asked to undertake a Planning Service peer review of WNC.  Some areas of particular challenge had been identified and an action plan had been drawn up to positively move the service forward.

Councillors made the following comments:

·         The report was disappointing and concerning.  Why had transformation not been commenced earlier? 

·         Poor behaviour on planning committees should not have been allowed to continue.

·         Acceptance of the issues raised was key to moving forward positively.

·         Transparency was needed regarding the reasoning behind changes.

·         Training was needed for planning members.

·         Staff needed to be better supported.  There was a huge backlog of work and morale was low.

·         Town and parish councils needed to be recognised and their views taken into consideration.

·         There were concerns regarding the community infrastructure levy (CIL) and Section 106 contributions.

·         A broader view needed to be taken – for example, notifying neighbouring parishes of major developments.

·         Were WNC on target to get things done?

·         Planners needed to be at the centre of the service.

·         Significant housing growth and town centre regeneration needed to be well-managed.

The Leader expressed complete confidence in the Cabinet Member for Planning and noted that WNC had requested the report in order to fully understand the issues around planning and had put in place an action plan to address them.

Councillor Breese accepted that there had been issues and made the following points: 

·         Communications, such as timely responses to emails, were being improved,

·         A comprehensive training programme was being developed for parish councils and members. 

·         Section 106 reporting systems had not been adequate and new systems were being looked at.

·         Transformation had not been commenced earlier because during the shadow period Covid restrictions had been in place and the council had needed to concentrate on the government agenda during the crisis.

·         Recent feedback suggested that staff were feeling better supported and more settled.  The Northampton planning team would be moving to Towcester in May/June which would help cohesion.

RESOLVED: That Cabinet:

a)    Noted the finding and recommendations of the PAS Peer Review (Appendix A)

b)    Endorsed the Action Plan and the next steps for the Planning Service (Appendix B) and;

c) Agreed the proposed mechanism for monitoring and reporting progress on the Action Plan and transformation programme.

RESOLVED: That Cabinet

a)    Approved the proposed Community Funding Grants Framework for West Northamptonshire Council for implementation from 2023/24.

b)    Approved the composition of the Community Funding Panel and the role of the Cross-party Advisory Group.

REASONS RESOLVED:

·         Following Vesting Day, the Council has had in place an interim Community Funding Grants Policy approved by Cabinet for use until March 2023. This Policy was for the operation of a single grant scheme that combined the district and borough councils’ legacy community funding grants and budgets into a single WNC Community Funding Grant Scheme.

·         Over the past two years, it has become apparent that our Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) have had different expectations and understandings of the use and purpose of this now single grant. There has also been other funding made available to these voluntary and community organisations, which while a welcome investment in prevention, has been aligned to the interim Community Funding Grant Policy without a clear remit from Cabinet.

·         There is now the opportunity to align all community funding into a single framework that will embrace current and future community funding grant awards. This will standardise the approach across the Council and ensure a fair, accessible, open and transparent process. Therefore, Cabinet approval is sought to enable Officers to launch the Community Funding Grants Framework and for this to be applied to community funding that voluntary and community organisations can apply for going forward.

·         The recommendation to implement a Community Funding Grants Framework will provide a consistent approach to the grant awards made by the Council and make it clear what the expectations of the Council are for projects to be considered for funding via a set of principles and standards. These principles and standards apply to both the VCS and to any Officers considering funding requests.

·         The Community Funding Grants Framework will enable the Council to take a more strategic and targeted approach to grant funding investment into the VCS , ensuring that all awards are aligned to meet identified needs and the Councils corporate priorities.

·         The level of grants to a voluntary or community organisation under this proposal will fall below the Council’s Scheme of Delegation limits for Officers No grant award will therefore be classified as a Key Decision of the Council.

·         The Cabinet, on approval of the Community Funding Grants Framework, will have determined the strategic direction of all community funding to the VCS which will be tracked and reported to members periodically to ensure transparency for all stakeholders.

·         The recommendation to approve the composition and ongoing role of the Cross-party Advisory Group extends their advisory role into all future Community Funding Grant Schemes.

ALTERNATIVE ACTIONS:

Continuing without a Community Funding Grants Framework. This model would see decision making and awarding of community funding implemented on a Directorate / Departmental basis across the Council with little coordination. This option is not recommended for reasons including:

• there will be different funding policies, principles and standards applied to these grants;

• there will be  ...  view the full decision text for item 176.

At the Chair’s invitation Councillor Smith presented the report and summarised the salient points.  The framework would provide a consistent platform for both existing and new grants.

Councillors made the following comments:

·         The report was welcomed.

·         Could there be a representative from the voluntary sector on the community funding panel?

·         Would there be one member from each group on the cross-party advisory group?

·         Promotion of partnership and collaboration was important to prevent duplication.

·         It was important that the application process was not over-complicated.

·         Multi-year grants were preferred because this enabled organisations to plan and recruit staff.

·         Were community transport groups eligible to apply for these grants?

·         It was disappointing that there had not been an increase in budget this year.

Councillor Smith responded and made the following points:

·         The grants were one-off rather than ongoing funding.

·         A cross-party working group had worked well in the past.

·         Voluntary sector representation on the grants panel would be considered.

·         Community transport groups could make an application for a grant.

Councillor Brown welcomed the report and had seen the value of the grants in the sporting and performing arts sectors.  The flexibility of one-year grants could be useful for those starting out.

Councillor Golby also supported the report and advised that the anti-poverty oversight group spoke highly of the way WNC had been engaging with the voluntary sector.

RESOLVED: That Cabinet

a)    Approved the proposed Community Funding Grants Framework for West Northamptonshire Council for implementation from 2023/24.

b)    Approved the composition of the Community Funding Panel and the role of the Cross-party Advisory Group.

RESOLVED: That Cabinet

a)    Approved the Private Sector Housing Enforcement and Civil Penalties Policy v2 (attached to the report as Appendix A)

b)    Delegated to the Head of Private Sector Housing, in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Housing, Culture and Leisure; the responsibility to maintain the policy and make any minor amendments in light of legislative charges, Court or Tribunal decision, or identified typographic error.

REASONS RESOLVED:

·         The recommended course of action is the most cost-effective

·         To support compliance with legislation and Council policy.

·         To support consistency with previous decisions of the Council in adopting the Private Sector Housing Enforcement and Civil Penalties Policy v1 in April 2021, as part of the vesting day activities of West Northamptonshire Council

·         To ensure that the Council maintains its policies in line with legislative, Court or Tribunal decisions

ALTERNATIVE ACTIONS:

Cabinet can choose not to approve the updated Private Sector Housing Enforcement and Civil Penalties Policy (Appendix A). This option is not recommended because the existing Policy was approved in April 2020 and requires updating as a result of changes to the Council’s approach to fees and charges, updated legislation, case law and government guidance.

The absence of an up to date Policy will hamper the Council’s efforts to improve everyone’s understanding of its housing enforcement process and what action the Council will take and when.

At the Chair’s invitation Councillor Brown presented the report and summarised the salient points.

A councillor made the following comments:

·         The report was welcomed and the team commended.

·         The removal of early bird discounts was welcomed.

·         Did WNC have the capacity to monitor 33,000 privately rented properties?

·         It would be good to see all private rental housing registered.

Councillor Brown acknowledged that the team will never be big enough to monitor all private housing stock.  The aim was to respond to complaints effectively and proactively seek out properties showing signs of poor management in order to protect the people living in the homes.

RESOLVED: That Cabinet

a)    Approved the Private Sector Housing Enforcement and Civil Penalties Policy v2 (attached to the report as Appendix A)

b)    Delegated to the Head of Private Sector Housing, in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Housing, Culture and Leisure; the responsibility to maintain the policy and make any minor amendments in light of legislative charges, Court or Tribunal decision, or identified typographic error.

RESOLVED: That Cabinet authorised the Chief Information Officer to award a contract to Capita for the use of the OpenHousing housing management system, via the KCS framework (Y20023), for three years with the option of extension for a single year.

REASONS RESOLVED:

·         To ensure continuity of service to the delivery of the Council’s housing service

·         To enable the Council to conduct a comprehensive contracting process for a replacement system within the life of the proposed contract.

ALTERNATIVE ACTIONS:

The alternative is to end the contract with Capita or extend it for a shorter period and immediately procure an alternative system. This option will mean that the Council is unable to deliver its core statutory functions. Capita has made it clear that it will not agree to a shorter contract. This means that the Council has no option at this stage but to accept the terms and conditions available which requires to enter into a contract with Capita.

At the Chair’s invitation Councillor Hallam presented the report and summarised the salient points.  A short-term extension of the current contract would ensure adequate time to undertake proper procurement of a new system.

A councillor commented that this was an important project which needed to be progressed as the system was the core software for managing housing stock.

RESOLVED: That Cabinet authorised the Chief Information Officer to award a contract to Capita for the use of the OpenHousing housing management system, via the KCS framework (Y20023), for three years with the option of extension for a single year.

RESOLVED: That Cabinet:

a)    Noted the progress made to date in undertaking improvements to the A43 between Northampton and Kettering.

b)    Agreed to delegate authority to the Director of Place and Economy to agree the joint working arrangements with North Northamptonshire Council, in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Environment, Transport, Highways and Waste, the S151 Officer, the Monitoring Officer and the Portfolio Holder for Finance.

REASONS RESOLVED:

The proposed option for a Memorandum of Understanding ensures that the two Councils share the governance of the scheme and a fair distribution of the costs of developing this cross-border highway scheme.

ALTERNATIVE ACTIONS:

Alternative options which have been considered include:

• For one Council to construct the project completely at its cost. It is unlikely that either Council would wish to spend its funds on an improvement in the other Council’s area in this way.

• For each Council to construct its section of the road separately. This would not be efficient and would create a risk that the timescales did not align at the point where the road crossed the boundary. Such lack of co-operation would also be unlikely to secure funding from the Department for Transport.

• To construct the road only in one Council’s area or to not progress the scheme at all. Neither of these options would address the dual problems of increasing road capacity to accommodate development in West Northamptonshire and existing capacity problem at the Holcot/Sywell roundabout in North Northamptonshire.

None of these options is recommended.

At the Chair’s invitation Councillor Larratt presented the report and summarised the salient points. The report provided an update on progress with the A43 Northampton to Kettering improvement, seeking to agree joint working arrangements with North Northamptonshire Council (NNC).  83% of the works were in West Northants and WNC would therefore lead on the scheme.  The existing congestion problem would be tackled and active travel improved.

Councillors made the following comments:

·         Not everyone would see the scheme as an improvement – it could just move the problem further along the road.

·         Health and wellbeing needed to be looked at.  The embodied carbon calculation and air quality data were not yet available.  Careful consideration was needed to ensure the scheme provided improvements in these areas.

·         Active travel needed to be included in the over-arching strategy.  How was this scheme promoting active travel?

·         Would the scheme be value for money?  A strong assurance was needed that costs would be controlled and kept within budget.

Councillor Larratt made the following points:

·         The scheme could not be allowed to cause problems further down the road. 

·         The scheme addressed the growth in the Moulton area, and would deliver benefits alongside the northern orbital road. 

·         Carbon and air quality issues would be raised with officers.

·         The scheme was funded by the Department for Transport and WNC would be working with them to ensure the project was delivered within budget and on time.

·         An active travel strategy was being worked on which would feed into the overall transport strategy for West Northants.  There would be an active travel corridor along the route.

Councillor Brown noted that it was essential where possible to provide infrastructure alongside new housing – which was being done with this project.

RESOLVED: That Cabinet:

a)    Noted the progress made to date in undertaking improvements to the A43 between Northampton and Kettering.

b)    Agreed to delegate authority to the Director of Place and Economy to agree the joint working arrangements with North Northamptonshire Council, in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Environment, Transport, Highways and Waste, the S151 Officer, the Monitoring Officer and the Portfolio Holder for Finance.

RESOLVED: That Cabinet:

a)    Agreed the use of £215k from the contingency fund in 2023/24 to provide continuing support for non-commercially viable bus services.

b)    Noted that this will be used to continue to support the services currently receiving financial support.

REASONS RESOLVED:

To ensure the Council is fulfilling its statutory duty to secure provision of appropriate services to meet public transport requirements, and to enable the council to take more time to evaluate these requirements in advance of a longer term recommendation being made.

ALTERNATIVE ACTIONS:

Alternative options which have been considered include:

• Retaining just the base budget and cutting the subsidised services to fit the available budget. It is important that the Council assesses the impact of any withdrawal of funding support on service levels, as this could leave some communities with an established public transport requirement without any service at all.

• Agreeing a permanent uplift to the base budget. Any decision on the longer term budget allocation should be informed by bus service review currently underway, with a decision taken on a budget allocation to deliver the preferred service delivery option guided by a fuller impact assessment. Furthermore, continuing to simply support existing bus services which are in financial difficulty only provides a short-term solution and it is difficult to identify which services to prioritise for support

At the Chair’s invitation Councillor Larratt presented the report and summarised the salient points.  The report agreed the use of money from the contingency fund to enable non-commercially viable bus services to continue. A bus review has been commissioned which will inform a report to Cabinet in the summer.  Any changes will be subject to consultation.

Councillors made the following comments:

·         The continued support for bus services was appreciated by residents and mitigated rural isolation.

·         The bus group needed to meet swiftly once the report was published to provide comments.

·         Concern was expressed that subsidy may not be the most cost-effective way to deliver services.

·         The promised consultation on changes to services was welcomed.

Councillor Larratt advised that the bus report had not yet been seen by members.  The bus group would meet once the report was received.  Wider issues such as rural isolation needed to be taken into account when planning the way forward.

RESOLVED: That Cabinet:

a)    Agreed the use of £215k from the contingency fund in 2023/24 to provide continuing support for non-commercially viable bus services.

b)    Noted that this will be used to continue to support the services currently receiving financial support.

RESOLVED: That Cabinet noted the findings of the report and considered the public interest that may be generated by the publication of the report.

REASONS RESOLVED:

·         The Council is required to consider the report and confirm within three months the action it has taken to respond to the findings and recommendations.

·         Under the Local Government Act 1974, section 31(2), as amended, the Council is required to share the report at its full Council, Cabinet or other appropriately delegated committee of elected members and evidence this to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.

·         In addition, Local Government and Housing Act 1989, Section 5 requires that the Monitoring Officer of a Local Authority prepares a report to the Authority with respect to any cases where maladministration or failure has been found.

ALTERNATIVE ACTIONS:

Where fault has resulted in a loss of educational provision, the Ombudsman’s guidance recommends a remedy payment of between £200 and £600 a month to acknowledge the impact of that loss. The figure should be based on the impact on the child and take account of factors such as:

• the severity of the child’s SEN;

• any educational provision – full-time or part-time, without some or all of the specified support – that was made during the period;

• whether additional provision now can remedy some or all of the loss;

• whether the period affected was a significant one in a child’s school career – for example, the first year of compulsory education, the transfer to secondary school, or the period preparing for public exams

A further 8 complaints have been identified as qualifying for the above, and the Education service are currently working through assessing the financial impact of remedying these.

At the Chair’s invitation Councillors Hallam and Baker presented the report and summarised the salient points.  Councillor Hallam advised that the report fell into his area because of the complaint and ombudsman involvement.  The report from the ombudsman had been accepted.  Councillor Baker advised that the report informed Cabinet of the findings in relation to a complaint.  The SEND cohort was expected to rise by 25% and there was also a rising national crisis for Educational Psychologists to implement EHCPs.

Councillors made the following comments:

·         The report was shocking to read. A child had been left isolated because the school could not meet their needs.  The council did not amend the EHCP for 3 months.  WNC needed to work with, not against, parents.

·         1:1 support should be provided for children that needed it.

·         Data needed to be collected to ensure that the new specialist school in 2025 provided suitable provision.

·         What was being done to ensure children were adequately supported now?

Councillor Baker advised that when children were out of school, every effort was made to put in a part-time tutor at home.  This was recognised as not being ideal because it did not help with peer socialising.  The team needed to be supported in their work – continual accusations of doing a bad job were making staff leave.

Councillor Brown recognised that any issue with children was deeply emotive.  The service provided for over 3,000 children with SEND and was striving to do better in future.

RESOLVED: That Cabinet noted the findings of the report and considered the public interest that may be generated by the publication of the report.

RESOLVED: That Cabinet received and approved the SACRE annual report.

REASONS RESOLVED:

After being accepted by the Council the report will be published to schools. Schools will take note of the advice given in the report and act on it in order to improve the quality of provision for RE and collective worship.

ALTERNATIVE ACTIONS:

The report is for information only.

At the Chair’s invitation Councillor Baker presented the report and summarised the salient points.  It was the duty of all schools to teach religious education.  There had been failings in the board who were still without an adviser.  This had resulted in RE data not being collected or monitored.  Plans were in place for WNC to take over the monitoring because this had to take place in future.

A councillor who was also a member of SACRE advised that the service faced challenges because it was shared with NNC, with the vacant post being paid for equally by both councils which made it difficult to implement agreements for WNC.  .  The capacity of SACRE had been reduced due to Covid and support from the council was appreciated.

RESOLVED: That Cabinet received and approved the SACRE annual report.

RESOLVED: That Cabinet delegated authority to the Executive Director – Corporate Services in consultation with the portfolio holder for Corporate Services to progress and enter into a single contract for the provision of multi functional devices.

REASONS RESOLVED:

·         Contracts inherited by WNC from its predecessor councils are expiring and so need to be renewed to enable continued provision and support of MFDs in its offices.

·         Current providers will ultimately cease support for our existing MFD machines, so replacements must be sought and in-place before this support ceases to ensure service continuity.

·         Re-procuring as a single contract will be key to enabling printing to be made seamless across any location in the Council area, creating the ability for any worker to print anywhere at any machine.

·         A framework contract is proposed for the contract re-procurement as it offers a more efficient and cost-effective process.

·         New MFDs typically have a six-month lead time and so awarding the contract promptly will provide the council with maximum flexibility in transitioning from current contract arrangements.

ALTERNATIVE ACTIONS:

The most common method for organisations is to Lease-Hire the machines. This would mean a tie-in to pay the awarded company the value of the machines over a typical five-year period. The only draw-back here is that this approach raises demand on the revenue cost and the organisation will not own the machines at the end of the contract.

At the Chair’s invitation Councillor Hallam presented the report and summarised the salient points.  Fewer machines were needed due to office optimisation and improved ways of working had reduced print volumes.  The units would be bought outright and good savings would be delivered.

RESOLVED: That Cabinet delegated authority to the Executive Director – Corporate Services in consultation with the portfolio holder for Corporate Services to progress and enter into a single contract for the provision of multi-functional devices.

RESOLVED: that Cabinet

a)    Agreed to the Chief Information Officer carrying out a procurement process to select a new provider; and

b)    Authorised the Chief Information Officer to award the contract for a period of up to 5 years to the successful bidder on completion of the procurement process.

REASONS RESOLVED:

·         Consolidation of the Council’s landline infrastructure into a single contract will lead to budget savings as we leverage economies of scale.

·         The UK is shutting down analogue phone services by 2025, known as the “Big Analogue Switch Off”. The Council currently has many analogue telephone lines that will need to be migrated to a digital service to maintain business requirements, rendering existing contracts inappropriate.

·         Consolidation of contracts simplifies administration and account management, reducing staff time and overheads in managing our telephony and is also expected to lead to a reduction in the number of landlines.

ALTERNATIVE ACTIONS:

There are multiple telecoms suppliers providing landline services to the Council which is inefficient from a cost perspective and adds an administrative overhead for staff in terms of management as well as processing invoices and purchase orders.

A project to consolidate all the landlines with one supplier would drive cost savings through economies of scale, significantly reduce the administrative burden and ensure full alignment of contract dates. It is also expected that through the consolidation work a rationalisation, resulting in the number of landlines, would take place. For the reasons above, the option to consolidate landlines is the preferred choice.

Existing running costs are a combined cost (rental and call charges) of £150k per year and it is expected that this will reduce by 15% to a cost of £127.5k per year following migration.

At the Chair’s invitation Councillor Hallam presented the report and summarised the salient points.  This consolidation provided a more modest saving than the printers.  It was not changing the telephony system but consolidating the physical phone lines.

RESOLVED: that Cabinet

a)    Agreed to the Chief Information Officer carrying out a procurement process to select a new provider; and

b)    Authorised the Chief Information Officer to award the contract for a period of up to 5 years to the successful bidder on completion of the procurement process.