Agenda and minutes

The Minutes of the meeting held on 5 November 2015 were taken as read and signed as a correct record.

The Board considered a report of the Strategic Director, People and Economy, on the outcome of consultation on the proposal to re-profile the Dedicated School Grant (DSG).

At its meeting on 1 October 2015, the Board had agreed to a consultation with all primary and secondary schools and the Schools Forum, on proposals to re-profile the DSG to ensure that it could be balanced over the next two financial years. A consultation document was sent to all schools, seeking their preference to two possible options (Option A and Option B), as set out in the report.

Following discussions on the results of the consultation and the likely impact of each Option, the Schools Forum agreed to recommend approval of Option B to Executive Board.

Reason(s) for Decision

To ensure that there was a fair distribution of resources across the DSG and that the DSG was profiled so that its budget commitments were sustainable.

Alternative Options Considered and Rejected

Consideration was given to reducing the schools budget by £1.8 million to balance the budget in 2016/17. However, the minimum funding guarantee would cap any reductions to 1.5%, i.e. approximately £863,000.

Implementation Date

1 April 2016.

RESOLVED: That

1)    the proposal to re-profile the DSG funding for 2016/17 and 2017/18 be approved; and

2)    Option B, as set out in the report, be supported.

The Board considered a report of the Director of Public Health, which presented a new expanded Respiratory Strategy for Halton for 2015-2020 (the Strategy).

The Board was advised that respiratory disease was one of the key contributing factors to reduced life expectancy in Halton. Work-related conditions, housing conditions, fuel poverty and exposure to outdoor air pollution as well as exposure to tobacco smoke in the environment and smoking itself, were all associated with respiratory disease.

The 2014 Halton Respiratory Health Profile detailed the significant respiratory health issues within Halton. The key issues identified within the health profile were set out in the report. It was noted that the Strategy presented a single vision for respiratory health across all partners to ultimately improve the respiratory health and wellbeing of the people in Halton.

Reason(s) for Decision

Executive Board were required to ratify the Strategy and agree the recommendations made within it, to enable activities to improve respiratory health for people in Halton.

Alternative Options Considered and Rejected

None.

Implementation Date

The recommendations would be implemented immediately following approval by Executive Board. Action plan development was in progress.

RESOLVED: That Executive Board agree the content and ratify the Respiratory Strategy for Halton for 2015-2020.

The Board considered a report of the Strategic Director, People and Economy, on the formation of a Merseyside Regional Sensory Service.

The Board was advised that sensory services were provided across all age groups, with highest demand amongst the ageing population. It was reported that commissioners across Merseyside had proposed the establishment of a regional sensory service for both statutory and non-statutory services. Halton was participating in this regional procurement process and engagement with providers, service users and other stakeholders was underway.

The proposed transfer of two full time rehabilitation officers and two support worker posts to the Merseyside Regional Sensory Service would be managed as part of the procurement process and relevant information would be shared with the bidders.

RESOLVED: That

1)    the report be noted; and

2)      in accordance with the Transfer of Undertakings Protection of Employment (TUPE) Regulations 2006, the transfer of two full time Vision Rehabilitation Officer Posts and two part time Support Worker Posts to the proposed Merseyside Regional Sensory Service, be approved.

The Board considered a report of the Strategic Director, People and Economy, on the Additional Payments Policy.

The Board was advised that under the Care Act 2014, an individual could choose care home accommodation best suited to their needs. If this was more expensive than had been negotiated, a third party, (usually a family member), could agree to pay the additional amount being asked for by the provider.

Prior to this, Halton had not required an Additional Payments Policy because a payment of this type had historically been between the third party and the provider. The Care Act recommended that each local authority should have a level of oversight of the ‘top-up’ payments between third parties and the provider. To this end, Halton’s legal department had recommended that the most appropriate way to achieve this was to have a policy and a tripartite agreement which clearly stated that liability lay with the third party if top-up payments could no longer be met.

The report set out a number of advantages to this approach. Options and a draft contract were contained at Appendix 1 of the Policy. It was reported that having both a Policy and a Contract was viewed by the Department for Health as best practice.

RESOLVED: That the current Additional Payments Policy be agreed.

The Board considered a report of the Strategic Director, People and Economy, which presented the recommendations of the Inward Investment Scrutiny Topic Group.

Councillor Sue Edge, Chair of the Employment, Learning and Skills and Community Policy and Performance Board, attended the meeting to present the report. The Board was advised that the report was commissioned to look at the current approach to inward investment across the Liverpool City Region (LCR), and considered how a collaborative approach could make better use of limited resources going forward. The full report was attached at Appendix 1, with a number of recommendations for the role of the Local Authority and for the (Local Enterprise Partnership) LEP/LCR set out in the report for Members’ consideration. It was reported that all of the recommendations and associated actions could be delivered within existing resources at no additional cost to the Council.

Councillor Edge dealt with Members’ questions before being thanked for her attendance.

RESOLVED: That the report and recommendations of the Inward Investment Scrutiny Topic Group, attached at Appendix 1, be noted.

The Board considered a report of the Operational Director, Finance, on the requirement for the Council to determine the ‘Tax Base’ for its area and the Tax Base for each of the Parishes.

The Council was required to notify the figure for the Cheshire Fire Authority, the Cheshire Police and Crime Commissioner and the Environment Agency by 31 January 2016. In addition, the Council was required to calculate and advise the Parish Councils of their relevant Tax Bases.

The Board was advised that the Tax Base was the measure used for calculating the council tax and was used by both the billing authority (the Council) and the major precepting authorities (the Cheshire Fire Authority and the Cheshire Police and Crime Commissioner), in the calculation of their council tax requirements. It was arrived at in accordance with a prescribed formula representing the estimated full year number of chargeable dwellings in the Borough expressed in terms of the equivalent of Band “D” dwellings. Taking account of all the relevant information and applying a 97.0% collection rate, the calculation for 2016/17 gave a tax base figure of 32,948 for the Borough as a whole.

It was noted that since 2013/14 onwards, the tax base calculation included an element for the Council Tax Reduction Scheme (the replacement for Council Tax Benefit).

RESOLVED: That Council be recommended to approve

1)    the Council Tax Base for 2016/17 be set at 32,948 for the Borough, and that the Cheshire Fire Authority, the Cheshire Police and Crime Commissioner and the Environment Agency be so notified; and

2)    the Council Tax Base for each of the Parishes be as follows:

The Board considered a report of the Operational Director, Finance, which reported on the 2015/16 Quarter 2 Spending as at 30 September 2015.

A summary of spending against the revenue budget up to 30 September 2015 was attached to the report at Appendix 1. This provided individual statements for each department. The Board was advised that, in overall terms, the revenue expenditure was below the budget profile, although this was only a guide to eventual spending.

The report contained details on a number of significant areas of the budget including:-

·       The employee budget and the staff turnover savings target;

·       Expenditure on general supplies and services;

·       High demand for services within the Children’s and Families Department;

·       Spending on employees and the use of agency staff;

·       The proposed allocation of £0.5m of the contingency budget to help mitigate budget and service pressures in the Children and Families Department;

·       Net expenditure within the Economy, Enterprise and Property Department;

·       The Complex Care Pool budget;

·       The collection rate for Council Tax and the retained element of Business Rates; and

·       The Council’s net overall spending.

The report also outlined details of a revision to the capital spending programme at Appendix 3 and monitoring of the Council’s balance sheet. The schemes that had been revised within the programme were listed within the report.

RESOLVED: That

1)    all spending continues to be limited to the absolute minimum;

2)    Strategic Directors ensure overall spending at year-end is within their total operational budget;

3)    the transfer of £0.5m from the 2015/16 contingency budget to the Children and Families Department, as outlined in paragraph 3.7, be approved; and

4)    Council be recommended to approve the revised Capital Programme, as set out in Appendix 3, attached to the report.

The Board considered a report of the Operational Director, Finance, which updated Members on the activities undertaken on the money market, as required by the Treasury Management Policy.

The report provided supporting information on the economic background, interest rate forecast, short term borrowing rates, longer term borrowing rates, borrowing/investments, budget monitoring, new long term borrowing, policy guidelines and treasury management indicators. It was noted that no debt rescheduling had been undertaken during the quarter.

RESOLVED: That the report be noted.

The Board considered a report of the Operational Director, Finance, which presented further revenue budget proposals for 2016/17.

The Board was advised that the Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) forecast revenue budget funding gaps would be approximately £16m in 2016/17 and £9m in 2017/18. A first set of savings proposals totalling £7.8m was approved by Council on 14^th October 2015.

Appendix 1 presented a second set of proposals. It was proposed to implement these immediately in order to also achieve a part-year saving in 2015/16, which would assist in keeping the Council’s overall spending in line with budget. In addition, a number of the proposals would take time to implement and therefore commencing the process as soon as possible would assist with ensuring they were fully implemented by 1 April 2016. Appendix 1 also presented the impact in 2017/18 of certain of the savings proposals.

RESOLVED: That Council be recommended to approve the budget proposals for 2016/17 as set out in in Appendix 1, attached to the report.

MINUTES ISSUED: 23 November 2015

CALL-IN: 30 November 2015

Any matter decided by the Executive Board may be called in no later than 5.00pm on 30 November 2015