Agenda and minutes

The Minutes of the meeting held on 5^th March 2009 were taken as read and signed as correct record.

            The Board received a report of the Strategic Director, Health and Community which described changes to mental health law that required amendments to delegated powers contained within the Council’s Constitution.

            The report set out a number of amendments that had been made to the Mental Health Act 1983, the implementation of the Deprivation of Liberty Standards Safeguards (DoLS) which would act as an amendment to the 2005 Mental Capacity Act and which were to be implemented from 1^st April 2009.

            Members were advised that the DoLS were introduced to fill a gap in the legislation, which had been highlighted by a number of significant cases, some of which went to the European Court of Human Rights. The DoLS applied to people who lacked capacity to make their own decisions about their care and treatment, who were either in hospital or in residential or nursing care.

            Members were further advised that, on occasion, there was a need to provide a level of care and protection to people which amounted to a restriction on their liberty. This might involve preventing somebody who had abused them from visiting them, or providing a security system on the entrance door of an establishment which prevented people from leaving.

            Members were further advised that caselaw decided that, if these restrictions of liberty were added together in individual cases, this might amount or an actual deprivation of their liberty, without any scope for appeal to an external authority who could oversee this. This was deemed to be against their Human Rights and contracted with the position of people who were detailed under the 1983 Mental Health Act, who could appeal for a review of their case to a legal Tribunal.

            It was noted that a new, and very complex legal process had been established which required Local Authorities to consider any potential Deprivation of Liberty under these circumstances, and to issue a time-limited authorisation for this as appropriate. In addition, a new staff role was established, known as Bests Interests Assessor, who was required to complete at least one of the six assessments required as part of the authorisation process.

            These two new levels of decision-making – authorising the Deprivation of Liberty and Best Interests Assessor – would need to be included in the Scheme of Delegation. Along with the approval of Approved Mental Health Professionals (AMHP’s), it was recommended that this was delegated to the Operational Director level, with the expectation that the roles themselves would be further delegated on as appropriate.

            RESOLVED: That

            (1) the content of the report be noted and approved; and

(2) the additions and amendments to the Scheme of Delegation, as proposed in paragraphs 3.1.4 and 3.2.6, be agreed.

            The Board received a report of the Strategic Director Corporate and Policy which set out the annual review and refresh of the Local Area Agreement (LAA).

            Members were advised that in 2008-11 LAA was undergoing its first annual refresh. The focus of this refresh was to:

• Agree targets for those indicators for which no baseline information was available last May.  This included all those indicators measured by surveys conducted in the autumn of 2008;

• Review a number of targets for which local baseline information was used and which now needed to be updated in light of new national data sets; and

• taken the opportunity to review a number of indicators with local partners for which targets set nationally for Halton were clearly unachievable.

Members were advised that the Government had acknowledged that the ability to meet employment related targets would be affected by the recession. It had been agreed that these would be reviewed next year. Members were further advised of the timetable for the finalisation of the agreement with Government, as set out in the report.

                        It was noted that the Council had delegated to this Board, the approval of the LAA. Given the timetable set out in the report and that as there was not another Board meeting until 2^nd April 2009 it was recommended that delegated powers be granted for any further amendments to be made as a result of feedback from Government.

                        It was noted that a copy of the revised outcomes framework was attached to the report as an appendix and set out those targets which had changed since the LAA was originally approved in 2008.

Members were advised that two indicators had been deleted from the LAA. The first, NI 124 related to patients with long term conditions who were supported to live independently and the second indicator removed was NI173, people falling out of work and onto incapacity benefits.

The Sustainable Community Strategy had a longer term vision and also contained other local indicators and targets in addition to those negotiated with the Government through the LAA.

REASON (S) FOR DECISION

Under the Local Government Act (2007) there is a statutory duty on all local authorities to produce a Local Area Agreement to the format and timetable set down by Government.

ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS CONSIDERED AND REJECTED

No other options were pursued. The Agreement process is a prescriptive one and Halton has followed Government guidance.

IMPLEMENTATION DATE

The Local Area Agreement will come into force when the Agreement in its final form is agreed and signed by the Minister for Local Government. This is expected to take place in April 2009.

                        RESOLVED: That

                        (1) the revised Local Area Agreement be adopted; and

(2) that the Chief Executive be given delegated authority in consultation with the Leader and the relevant Portfolio-holder to make final amendments to the Local Area Agreement during the course of negotiation and approval by the Government.

            The Board received a report of the Strategic Director, Environment which sought authority to formally respond to the North West Development Agency (NWDA) consultation on the review of Strategic Regional Sites.

            Members were advised that in 2005, the NWDA designated 25 sites within the North West as Strategic Regional Sites. The sites were identified on the basis of a number of points, as set out in the report.

            Members were further advised that designation was important in terms of site profile, development and ability to access resources to bring them to fruition. Indeed, the consultation letter specifically stated that such sites would have priority, where necessary, for implementation in terms of all Agency resources and in Agency support for bids for other sources. Within Halton, two sites were identified – Ditton Widnes and Daresbury. With reference to Ditton, since the original designation this location was now known as 3MG and it would be recommended to the Agency that this was used in future.

            It was noted that the NWDA was now reviewing the list of sites and the closing date for comments was the 27^th March 2009.

            The purpose of the review was to ensure sites fitted the criteria as outlined in the Regional Spatial Strategy reflected the changing nature of policy and the market context including the Stern (Review on the Economics of Climate Change) and Eddington (Transport) reports.

            Members were advised that of the 25 previous sites, 7 were proposed for deletion and 15 were proposed for addition. Both Halton sites remained on the list. The sites themselves were identified in broad terms on plans with the exact boundaries to be decided at a later date. Each site had been identified with primary purpose and these were set out in the report.

            Members were asked to note that of particular importance was that the new designation for Daresbury had expanded the site to take in both Daresbury Park and the Daresbury Science and Innovation Campus (DSIC) which reflected the ongoing master plan work that the Council was involved with in partnership with the DSIC.

            Members were advised that the list of proposed sites made for interesting consideration. They were not all big traditional inward investor sites and included town/city centre and older industrial areas. As such, it was considered appropriate that this Council should seek through its consultation response to have an additional site designated. Looking at the substantial regeneration opportunities that existed within the Widnes Waterfront and the town centres of Widnes and Runcorn and the development opportunities arising from the Mersey Gateway as detailed in the Mersey Gateway Regeneration Strategy, there was clear scope to bring all these together under one designation. Such an area had significant employment opportunities, was close to areas of need, was sustainably accessible and would contribute to the ongoing economic restructuring of this part of the region through assisting in a continued diversification of the local economy. Together, these provided a scale of regeneration opportunities comparable to many  ...  view the full minutes text for item 120.

            The Board received a report of the Strategic Director, Environment, which sought approval to the inclusion of the 2009/10 Transport Capital Implementation Programme into the 2009/10 Capital Programme and the carry over of £1,608,000 of 2008/09 Local Transport Plan (LTP) Maintenance Block Borrowing Approval to 2009/10.

            Members were advised that the second LTP had brought with a much less rigorous reporting requirement, based on a collaborative approach between DfT and the local authorities, to enable weaknesses in progress to be jointly addressed and strengths to be built upon.

            They were further advised that this new approach required the de-coupling of the link between funding and performance, which resulted in the DfT, in its November 2007 Settlement Letter confirming the Integrated Transport Capital block allocations for the period 2008/09 – 2010/11. The Integrated Transport allocation for 2009/10 was £1,831,000.

            Similarly, three year allocations for the Highways Capital Maintenance Block, which were based on a new formula, were also notified and which were set out in the report. The Road Maintenance element of the Highways Block allocation had been reviewed in the context of Performance Indicators for highway maintenance. This led to a prioritisation of non Primary Route Network (PRN) footway reconstruction for the next two years, after which the position would be reassessed. This, in conjunction with a similar review of priorities in the revenue road maintenance programme, would provide an overall budget, for the 2009/10 and 2010/11, which would enable around a doubling in the length of footway reconstruction to be carried out each year. Over £450,000 would be available for carriageway structural maintenance, and this would continue to be supplemented by revenue funding. Performance on the principal and classified road condition indicators were not expected to fall below the top quartile during this period, as a result of re-profiling over this two year period. The Highways Capital Maintenance allocation for 2009/10 was £2,023,000.

            Members were further advised that the individual schemes for the Integrated Transport and Highway Maintenance Block would be drawn from the programmes included in LTP2, which were outlined in Appendix A to the report.

            It was further noted that in addition to the LTP Capital Maintenance Block, Halton was also allocated £14,288,000 of additional funding for use between 2008/09 and 2010/11. This was from the National PRN Bridge Strengthening and Maintenance allocation to enable much needed maintenance and inspection work on the Silver Jubilee Bridge. This funding replaced some of that identified in the SJB Major Maintenance Scheme bid, which was submitted to Government in March 2006 and on which a decision was still awaited. The PRN Bridge Strengthening and Maintenance allocation for 2009/10 was £4,906,000.

            In order to increase the efficiency in the procurement and delivery of all bridge maintenance works in the Borough, a single partnering contractor approach had been pursued. Due to the timescales involved in developing this partnership, there was need to defer £1,608,00 of the PRB Bridge Strengthening and Maintenance allocation, from 2008/08 to 2009/10. The DfT were happy to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 121.

            The Board received a report of the Strategic Director, Environment which outlined the proposed formal response to the consultation being run by 4NW on the topic of Gypsy and Traveller accommodation needs as part of the Partial Review of the Regional Spatial Strategy. The consultation closed on the 27^th March 2009.

            Members were advised that 4NW, formerly the North West Regional Assembly, was the designated regional planning body for the North West of England. They had been asked by the Government to prepare, monitor and review the Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS) in partnership with others. The RSS was a regional plan that had to be taken into account when decisions were being made about planning applications. It provided a spatial framework for development in the region and for other regional strategies and it promoted the sustainable development of the North West.

            Members were advised that currently a Partial Review of the RSS was underway due to the need to complete unfinished policy work within the RSS. This Partial Review covered three key subject areas of Gypsies and Travellers, Travelling Show People and Car Parking Standards.

            It was noted that the Council currently provided 23 pitches at Riverview Residential Caravan Site in Widnes. A new local authority run site was opened in January 2009 in Warrington Road, Runcorn, next to the existing private site. This new site provided 4 permanent pitches and 10 transit pitches. There were two private sites in Runcorn at Windmill Street and Warrington Road; these two sites provided 13 pitches. In total there were 40 permanent pitches and 10 transit pitches currently provided in Halton.

            It was further noted that the accommodation for Gypsies and Travellers was dealt with by an Interim Draft Policy L6 – Scale and Distribution of Gypsy and Traveller Pitch Provision. It was this policy that was the subject of the consultation. This policy had a policy start date of 2007, therefore all accommodation provision since made from 2007 would be counted towards policy target for pitch numbers.

            Within Policy L6 was a table of pitch provision to be achieved by each individual North West authority by 2016. Policy L6 indicated that Halton should provide by 2016 an additional minimum of 60 permanent pitches. The policy also indicated that a further 3% compound increased on an annual basis should be achieved to 2021 and for Halton this would be a further 15 permanent pitches. The policy therefore suggested that by 2021 Halton should provide a total of 111 permanent pitches. The policy made a distinction between permanent and transit pitches and the policy indicated that 5 additional transit pitches should be provided by Halton by 2016. However, as Halton’s new site at Warrington Road provided 10 transit pitches, Halton would have already met its allocation apportionment under the draft policy.

            The Board was advised that the Council must respond to the consultation using a structured and formatted response form. This consultation response form asked a series of questions  ...  view the full minutes text for item 122.

            The Board received a report of the Strategic Director, Health and Community which recommended Voluntary Sector Grant Awards for 2009/10.

            It was noted that in a report to Executive Board on 3^rd January 2002 the expectations for voluntary sector funding were established. It was agreed that awards be judged against agreed criteria and actual targets be negotiated prior to signing a service level agreement. Targets were now linked to both departmental and corporate priorities reflecting a more targeted approach to funding.

            It was further noted that applications were assessed and recommendations agreed by a Members Panel consisting of the Executive Board Member with portfolio responsibility for the Voluntary Sector and the Chair and Vice Chair of the Employment, Learning and Skills Policy and Performance Board.

            The monitoring arrangements for grants was set out in the report and a list of recommended grants were also set out; the recommendations were in the context of the budget allocation and the Panel’s assessment. These recommendations were for an annual allocation for the financial year 2009/10. The budget available was £262,150.

            * Organisation requested less for next financial year - 09/10 :-

·        Halton Voluntary Action requested a lesser amount in their application.

            ** Organisation did not apply for funding for 2009/10

·        Halton Talking Newspapers did not submit an application for funding for 2009/10

***Application not recommended to receive funding: -

• Warrington Law Centre - £16,000

            This organisation previously received a grant in 2007/8 the cases being dealt with were debt and welfare rights as opposed to special housing advice. The Panel recommended not to fund in 2008/09 and wished to uphold this recommendation for 2009/10. Warrington Law Centre continued to provide assistance at RuncornCourt through their Legal Services Commission contract and Halton residents could also be referred to Shelter for specialist housing advice.

            RESOLVED: That

(1)       Members of the Executive Board approve the recommended grant allocations; and

(2)       further applications be approved by the Strategic Director, Health and Community, in consultation with the Neighbourhood Management Development Portfolio Holder.

            The Board received a report of the Strategic Director Corporate and Policy which sought the Board’s approval to an Asset Transfer Policy to be applied in circumstances where the transfer of land or property to the third sector could be seen to be addressing Community Strategy priorities and making financial sense to the authority.

            It was noted that the Council had over many years supported organisations in the third sector in a variety of ways that provided support to the Council’s priorities. This support had included the letting of surplus properties to such organisations. These arrangements had, however, been on an ad-hoc basis.

            Following the publication of the Quirk Review (commissioned by the Government) in 2007 through which local community groups were encouraged to approach their local Councils to see if the local authority had any surplus assets capable of being used to support the delivery of their services, more requests were being made for the Council to transfer their assets to the third sector.

            It was felt that in order to address such request, a more formal approach was needed to deal with them. The Corporate Services Policy and Performance Board included this topic in its 2008/09 work programme and had developed such a policy for consideration by the Executive Board. The Board had recommended the attached policy for adoption.

            It was further noted that the first consideration in all cases would be whether the Council considered the land/ building to be surplus in the first place. This would precede any further application of the policy. This would need to be undertaken by balancing the potential commercial value of the asset against any potential use, always taking into account the wider financial implications for the Council. In particular, the need to generate capital receipts to support the Council’s Capital Programme.

            RESOLVED: That

(1)       the work done by the Corporate Services Working Party be received;

(2)               the Asset Transfer Policy be formally adopted, subject to any final amendments; and

(3)               delegated authority be given to the Strategic Director, Corporate and Policy, in consultation with the relevant portfolio holder to approve final amendments as necessary.

The Board considered:

(1)     whether Members of the press and public should be excluded from the meeting of the Board during consideration of the following item of business in accordance with Sub-Section 4 of Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972 because it was likely that, in view of the nature of the business to be considered, exempt information would be disclosed, being information defined in Section 100 (1) and paragraph 3 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972; and

(2)     whether the disclosure of information was in the public interest, whether any relevant exemptions were applicable and whether, when applying the public interest test and exemptions, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighed that in disclosing the information.

RESOLVED: That as, in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information, members of the press and public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following item of business in accordance with Sub-Section 4 of Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972 because it is likely that, in view of the nature of the business, exempt information will be disclosed, being information defined in Section 100 (1) and paragraph 3 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972.

            The Board received a report of the Strategic Director, Corporate and Policy which advised Members of the contract arrangements with the Council’s Efficiency Partner (KPMG), in accordance with the Executive Board Minute No. EXB74/2008 and to provide an update on progress.

            RESOLVED: That the report be noted.

MINUTES ISSUED: 30 March 2009

CALL IN:  6^th April 2009

Any matter decided by the Executive Board may be called in no later than 6^th April 2009.