Agenda and minutes

28.1     The minutes of the meeting held on 13 October 2015 were agreed as a correct record

29.1     Copies of the reports referred to below are included in the minute book

Report by Chief Executive

30.1ReportsaThe Cabinet considered a report by the Chief Executive

30.2     It was RESOLVED to:

1)             note that there is no change to the Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) resulting from current announcements;

2)            note the uncertainty that will remain until the Local Government settlement announcement; and

3)            agree that more detailed work is carried out to develop the detailed draft plan for 2016/17 and the following two years

Reason

30.3  A number of the announcements will be subject to further Government announcements and consultation and consideration. The Comprehensive Spending Review has confirmed a significant change not just to the way local government is financed but to the services for which it is responsible at a strategic level. The effect of this on the County Council will be felt immediately in 2016/17, but the longer term future will only become clearer over the course of the next year. In January 2016 Cabinet will receive the outcome of all the consultation and the impact of the provisional settlement on the MTFP. Cabinet will then make recommendations for Full Council to consider in February.

Report by Chief Executive

31.1     The Cabinet considered a report by the Chief Executive

31.2     It was RESOLVED to:

1)            note the latest monitoring position for the Council;

2)            approve the proposed target amendments and deletions set out at paragraph 2.2 of the report; and

3)            note the slippage, over/underspends and spend in advance identified in the report 

Reason

31.3     The report sets out the Council’s position and year end projections for the Council Plan targets, Revenue Budget, Capital Programme, savings plan together with risks for quarter 2.

Report by Director of Communities, Economy and Transport

The Cabinet considered a report by the Director of Communities, Economy and Transport together with comments from the Audit, Best Value and Community Services Scrutiny Committee

It was RESOLVED to:

(1)  approve the proposed Libraries’ Transformation Programme, including:

(a) an internal review of the Library and Information Service

(b) the development of the Libraries’ Strategic Commissioning Strategy; and

(2)  agree to the public consultation in 2015/16 on the proposed changes to opening hours

Reason

The report presents the proposal for the implementation of the Libraries’ Transformation Programme that could achieve £2m savings and create a leaner, more efficient service to meet current and future needs. Through the implementation of an internal review of staffing, proposed reduction in opening hours and stock fund, £1.25m of savings could be delivered by the end of 2018/19. The Cabinet has  approved the proposed Libraries’ Transformation Programme, including an internal review of the service and the development and implementation of the Libraries’ Strategic Commissioning Strategy.

The implementation of the Strategic Commissioning Strategy itself will optimise how the Library Information Service is delivered, responding to current and future need, to achieve the best possible service within available resources. The outcome of the Strategy is dependent on the findings of the needs assessment. However, it is estimated that it could achieve further savings of £750k during 2018/19. The timing of when these savings are realised will depend on the future shape of the Library and Information Service and its service delivery model.

Report by Director of Communities, Economy and Transport

33.1     The Cabinet considered a report by the Director of Communities, Economy and Transport, together with exempt information contained in a later agenda item

33.2     It was RESOLVED to note the process and outcomes from the procurement stage of the Highways Contract Re-Procurement Project and to agree to award the Highways Infrastructure Services Contract 2013-16 to the preferred bidder (Bidder 4)

Reason

33.3     The tender received from the preferred bidder (Bidder 4) meets the requirements of the procurement process and the proposals for managing and delivering the service set out in the contract. The Project Team have assessed their prices and determined that they are affordable and sustainable.  They have also satisfied themselves that the preferred bidders organisational approach, experience and market ability meet the requirements to organise, manage and deliver our future highway services to support the County Council’s ambitions for the network and enable the delivery of the project outcomes. The recommended tender delivers the savings set out in the MTFP and fixes a large part of the revenue budget with Core Activities being delivered as lump sums (fixed annual price with no inflation) over the life of the contract. Following the evaluation process, two of the submitted bids were identified as the Most Economically Advantageous Tenders (including Bidder 4’s submission),  However, in accordance with the ‘tie break’ criteria set out in Section J of the evaluation process (Section 10.4 of Appendix 2), Bidder 4 emerged as the ‘preferred bidder’, as the bid with the highest validated price score (i.e. the lowest price)  The Cabinet agreed that the preferred bidder (Bidder 4), selected from the procurement process summarised in section 2 of this report, be awarded the Highways and Infrastructure Services Contract 2016-23.

Report by Chief Executive

34.1     The Cabinet considered a report by the Chief Executive

34.2     It was RESOLVED to note the report

Reason

34.3     The report provided an update on the progress of the Three Southern Counties devolution activity and outlined the next steps

Report by Director of Children’s Services

35.1     The Cabinet considered a report by the Director of Children’s Services

35.2     It was RESOLVED to note the contents of the report

Reason

35.3     The report summarised the performance of the Looked After Children’s Service in 2014/15

Report by Chief Operating Officer

36.1     The Cabinet considered a report by the Chief Operating Officer

36.2     It was RESOLVED to approve the Annual Audit and fee update for 2014/15

Reason

36.3     The Annual Audit Letter summarises the key issues arising from the work carried out by the Council’s external auditor (KPMG) during the year.  This report contains no new findings or recommendations, but reflects the key issues already reported in the Annual Governance Report

37.1     The Cabinet agreed that items 6, 9 and 11 should be reported to the County Council.

[Note: The items being reported refer to minute numbers 31, 34 and 36]

To consider excluding the public and press from the meeting for the remaining agenda items on the grounds that if the public and press were present there would be disclosure to them of exempt information as specified in paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended), namely information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information).

38.1     It was RESOLVED to exclude the press and public from the meeting for the remaining agenda items on the grounds that if the press and public were present there would be disclosure to them of exempt information as specified in paragraph 3 of Part 1 of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended), namely information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information).  It is considered that the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

Report by Director of Communities, Economy and Transport

38.1     The Cabinet considered a report by the Director of Communities, Economy and Transport which provided exempt information in support of an earlier agenda item.  

38.2     It was RESOLVED to note the additional information contained in the report that supports the recommendations in an earlier item.  

Reasons

38.3     The information supports an earlier item on the agenda.