There were no apologies for absence.

The Leader, Mr Mathias, took the opportunity to welcome Mr Gordon Brown to Cabinet in his new role as Portfolio Holder for Sport & Recreation, Culture and the Environment.

In accordance with the Regulations, Members are required to declare any personal or prejudicial interests they may have and the nature of those interests in respect of items on this Agenda and/or indicate if Section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 applies to them.

No declarations of interest were received.

To confirm the Record of Decisions made at the meeting of the Cabinet held on 17 October 2017.

The Record of Decisions made by Cabinet on 17^th October 2017, copies of which had been previously circulated were confirmed by Cabinet.

To receive items raised by members of scrutiny which have been submitted to the Leader (copied to Chief Executive and Democratic Services Officer) by 4.30 pm on Friday 17 November 2017.

The Chairman had not been formally notified of any items raised by Scrutiny.

Report No. 193/2017

Report No. 193/2017 from the Chief Executive was received.

The Portfolio Holder, Mr Mathias, introduced the report, the purpose of which was to provide Cabinet with strategic oversight of the Council’s performance for the second quarter of 2017/18 in delivering the Council’s Corporate Plan Aims and Objectives; as Members were accountable for the delivery of the Council’s Corporate Plan and this monitoring information reported on progress and highlighted any key challenges.

Mr Mathias confirmed that Councillor Gale Waller had raised several questions regarding this report and the Quarter 2 Finance Report and that answers to these questions would be appended to the minutes.

During discussion the following points were raised:

i.      The Performance Report was still scheduled to be considered by two further Scrutiny Panels; Children and Young People on 23 November 2017 and Adults and Health on 30 November 2017.

DECISION

1.    Cabinet NOTED the overall position in relation to performance for the second quarter of 2017/18 and the actions being taken to address areas of underperformance.

Reasons for decision

1.    At the end of Quarter 2, 91% of indicators measured were on or above target.  9% of indicators were below target and main areas of concern had been highlighted in the report and the remedial action being undertaken to improve performance had been identified.

2.    Overall performance based on activity in the second quarter of 2017/18 was satisfactory.

(KEY DECISION)

Report No. 191/2017

(Report to follow)

Report No. 191/2017 from the Director for Resources was received.

The Portfolio Holder, Mr Mathias, introduced the report, the purpose of which was to inform Cabinet and all Members of the full year forecast position as at Quarter 2 for 2017/18 and to alert them to issues that may impact on the Medium Term Financial Plan to enable them to maintain sound financial management of the Council’s operations.

DECISION

1.    Cabinet NOTED the 2017/18 revenue and capital outturn position as at Quarter 2 (Appendix A, section 1 and section 2, to Report No. 191/2017).

2.    Cabinet APPROVED the use of £80k from the Invest to Save reserve to fund Green Waste costs (as requested in Appendix A para 1.7.3 to Report No. 191/2017) to be repaid over a 3 year period and £20k from the Legal reserve (as requested in Appendix A para 1.7.4 to Report No. 191/2017).

3.    Cabinet NOTED the proposed transfers from earmarked reserves as shown in the table in Appendix A, para 1.7 to Report No, 191/2017 (to be finalised and agreed in the 2017/18 outturn).

4.    Cabinet APPROVED the removal of the £594k funding for OEP capital investment from the capital programme pending further proposals.

5.    Cabinet NOTED the changes to the Approved Capital Programme as outlined in Appendix A para 2.2.1 to Report No. 191/2017.

Reason for Decision

1.    The Quarter 2 position was broadly as expected.

Report No. 189/2017

Report No. 189/2017 from the Director for Resources was received.

Mr Della Rocca, Assistant Director – Finance, introduced the report, the purpose of which was to meet the requirements of the regulatory framework of treasury management (Revised 2009) that the Council received a mid-year treasury review report in addition to the forward looking annual treasury strategy and backward looking annual treasury report.  The report incorporated the needs of the Prudential Code to ensure adequate monitoring of capital expenditure plans and the Council’s prudential indicators (PIs).  The treasury strategy and PIs were contained in report 41/2017, which was approved by Council on 14^th February 2017.  The underlying purpose of the report also supported the objective in the revised CIPFA Code of Practice on Treasury Management and the Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG) Investment Guidance that Members received reports on and adequately scrutinised the treasury management service.

During discussion the following points were raised:

i.      Mr Della Rocca and Mr Mathias had met with Capita Asset Services (advisors to the Council) who advised that the return on investment was good in relation to the investments and that investment periods of no longer than 12 months were still appropriate;

ii.     Mr Mathias noted that the rate of return, though better than the LIBOR rate, could be improved upon if the Council were to alter its approach to investment and a report was expected to come to Full Council for consideration as part of the budget setting process;

iii.    Many Local Authorities were looking at new and creative ways of making a return on investments and the Government was currently consulting on this subject, looking to tighten up the regulations.  It was expected that there would be a strong response from Local Authorities who were looking at creative ways to invest in order to mitigate the effects of funding cuts and would not want to see their options around non-treasury investments restricted; and

iv.   It was requested that the figures in relation to the level of investments at September 2017 and the forecasted balances to the end of the year be presented differently in order to improve clarity.

DECISION

1.    Cabinet NOTED the contents of Report No. 189/2017.

Reason for Decision

1.    The report summarised treasury management performance in the year and met the requirements of the revisions to the regulatory framework of treasury management during 2009.

(KEY DECISION)

Report No. 192/2017

(KEY DECISION)

Report No. 192/2017 from the Director for Resources was received.

Mr Della Rocca, Assistant Director – Finance, introduced the report, the purpose of which was to recommend a change to the Minimum Revenue Provision Policy. 

Local authorities were required to set aside ‘prudent’ revenue provision for debt repayment (Minimum Revenue Position (MRP)) where they had used borrowing or credit arrangements to finance capital expenditure.  The guidance required authorities to publish an annual MRP policy statement outlining how prudent provision was to be made.  To be valid, the policy statement must be approved by Council.

During discussion the following points were raised:

i.      The report was asking for a change in policy in relation to previously supported General Fund borrowing so that this borrowing is paid on an equal instalments basis rather than a reducing balance (“regulatory method”) basis;

ii.     The outcome of the currently ongoing Government consultation in this area would not affect the proposals being put forward for the changes to the policy;

iii.    The changes proposed to the MRP policy statement would result in a short term saving and would result in the debt being fully extinguished after 50 years;

iv.   The changes would have a positive effect on the revenue account, but this would not affect the Council’s position regarding government funding.  The government funding formula considered levels of deprivation and demand for social care for example, but did not consider the specific financial position of each Council; and

v.     The depreciation method detailed in the 2017/18 Treasury Management Strategy could not be applied to expenditure incurred before 2008 as the historic debt was inherited such a long time ago it would be impossible to identify assets connected to that debt.

DECISION

1.    Cabinet RECOMMENDED TO COUNCIL that the Minimum Revenue Provision policy be changed so that historic debt was charged on an equal instalment basis to the Revenue Account from 1^st April 2018.

Reason for Decision

1.    The equal instalments approach to calculating MRP was arguably more prudent than the ‘regulatory method’ as it resulted in debt being fully extinguished after 50 years.  Under the ‘regulatory method’ (the current approach), more than £3m of debt remained outstanding after 50 years’ time with around half of this figure never being repaid at all.  In present value terms, the equal instalments method was also more cost effective than the ‘regulatory method’ being some £0.2m lower in present value terms.

Report No. 199/2017

Report No. 199/2017 from the Director for People was received.

The Portfolio Holder, Mr Foster, introduced the report, the purpose of which was to seek Cabinet’s recommendation to council for approval of the Children Looked After and Care Leaver’s Strategy 2017-2022.  The Strategy had been developed to ensure the council outlined its expectations and pledges it held for its Children Looked After and Care Leavers; and to outline the Council’s expectations as corporate parents.  Mr Foster explained that the Strategy would be reviewed annually to ensure it is kept up to date.

During discussion the following points were raised:

i.      Mr Foster asked that where the scores indicating the views of Children and Young People were low, the corresponding narrative should address the actual score and indicate what improvements were being made.  Mr Andrews, Deputy Director for People, would address the commentary included in the Strategy in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Children and Young People (Safeguarding); and

ii.     Mr Walters requested that the statistics included for the National and Local picture should include comparative data.

DECISION

1.    Cabinet RECOMMENDED TO COUNCIL the approval of the Children Looked After and Care Leavers Strategy 2017-22 (Appendix A to Report No. 199/2017) subject to the changes requested above which would be incorporated into the Strategy in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Children and Young People (Safeguarding).

Reasons for Decision

1.    The Children Looked After and Care Leaver Strategy was designed to enable corporate parents to be aware of their role and responsibility in developing and ensuring an outstanding service was delivered.

2.    The Strategy would be reviewed regularly to ensure that the needs of the children and young people in care were being met.

(KEY DECISION)

Report No. 197/2017

Report No. 197/2017 from the Director for People was received.

Mr M Andrews, Deputy Director for People, introduced the report, the purpose of which was to seek approval to accept a £394,000 Capital Grant allocated to Rutland County Council by NHS England under Transforming Care.  NHS England had announced in May 2017 the availability of a Capital Grant under Transforming Care.  Local Authorities could bid to purchase properties within their own borders for people with challenging behaviours. 

Mr Andrews reminded Cabinet that the Transforming Care initiative was implemented in response to the recommendations arising from the Winterbourne View Hospital Report to ensure that people with learning disabilities were transferred out of residential hospital settings and instead supported in the community, closer to their homes.

During discussion the following points were raised:

i.      The NHS had not yet released the terms and conditions of the grant, but it was thought that there would be restrictions imposed around the use of the facilities put in place;

ii.     It was likely that there would always be demand from Rutland residents for such placements;

iii.    It was more cost effective to have a cluster model, so that there were more flats and the provision of core staffing who could rotate in accordance with need and capacity.  Should the current proposal be successful in terms of cost savings and benefit to the service user, the provision could be expanded in the future, if suitable sites could be identified.  Offering the facilities to neighbouring local authorities could also be given consideration;

iv.   It would be necessary to have the right provider if provision in this area was to be expanded and any expansion would need careful management as it was not an easy area to attract employees;

v.     Staff at existing settings worked hard to ensure that other local residents were not adversely affected by living in close proximity to service users with challenging and complex needs; and

vi.   It was clear that inclusion in the community for these service users was vitally important and that the Council was committed to supporting this.

DECISION

1.    Cabinet APPROVED the recommendation to accept a £394,000 Capital Grant made available from NHS England to enable people with learning disabilities from Rutland to live in Rutland.

2.    Cabinet APPROVED the delegation for the acceptance of the terms of conditions of the grant to the Director for People, in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Adult Social Care and Health.

Reasons for Decision

1.    Acceptance of the grant from NHS England would increase local options for local people, preventing individuals becoming/remaining inpatients or out of county placements.

2.    Costly packages of support which were out of county and difficult to monitor on a daily basis would be reduced and better supported by close working partnerships, families, assistive technology and specialist in house services.

To receive items of urgent business which have previously been notified to the person presiding.

No items of urgent business had previously been notified to the Chairman.