Agenda and minutes

The Minutes of the meeting held on 10 December 2020 were taken as read and signed as a correct record.

The Executive Board received a report from the Chief Executive, which provided the urgent decision/s taken since the last meeting of the Board and during the COVID-19 Pandemic. 

It was noted that the Council’s constitution gave authority to the Chief Executive to take urgent decisions, in consultation with the Leader of the Council and the Operational Director Finance and/or the Operational Director Legal and Democratic Services, where necessary. 

A list of these decision/s were provided to Members in the report and full details were published on the Council’s website.

RESOLVED:  That the urgent decision taken since the last meeting of the Executive Board be noted.

The Board considered a report of the Strategic Director, People, on School Admission Arrangements for 2022.

The Board was advised that in October 2020, Halton Local Authority issued a statutorily required consultation on the proposed admission arrangements and co-ordinated admission schemes for the September 2022 intake for Primary and Secondary Schools (attached as appendices 1 and 2 respectively).  The Primary Scheme also included the proposed oversubscription criteria for community and voluntary controlled schools for whom the Local Authority was the admission authority. 

Since the publication of the Executive Board agenda, the Board was advised of a proposed amendment to the Primary Co-ordinated Scheme, this was presented on screen.  It was proposed that Paragraph 9.1, under Oversubscription Criteria be amended to four criteria instead of three, so criterion 1 would be split into criteria 1 and 2.  The reasons for this were provided to the Board and the proposal was agreed.

The report provided details of the consultation, which ran from 1 October 2020 to 13 November 2020.  No changes were proposed to the current oversubscription criteria for admission to Local Authority maintained community and voluntary controlled primary schools. 

It noted that all Halton secondary schools were either academies, free schools or voluntary aided and were therefore their own admission authorities, with responsibility for consulting and determining their own admissions criteria and their own Published Admission Number (PAN).

Reason(s) for Decision

The decision was statutorily required.

Alternative Options Considered and Rejected

Other options considered and rejected included the allocation of places to community and voluntary controlled schools through random allocation (lottery), as this method could be seen as arbitrary and random.

Implementation Date

The Policy and co-ordinated schemes would apply for the September 2022 academic intake.

RESOLVED:  That the Board approves the School Admissions Policy, Admission Arrangements and Coordinated Schemes for admission to Primary and Secondary schools for the 2022/23 academic year.

The Board considered a report of the Strategic Director, People, which provided a summary of the capital funding received by the Council from central Government to support Schools Capital Programmes for 2021/22.

The Board was advised that the Department for Education (DfE) had not announced the Capital Grant Allocation for 2021/22 at the time of writing the report.  However, given the timescales for some of the capital projects, there was a requirement to present this report, so it was compiled using the 2020/21 allocation, which was £903,847.

The report set out details of the indicative funding available to support capital projects across the schools estate and also explained how the School Condition Allocation would be utilised.

Reason(s) for Decision

To deliver and implement the Capital Programmes.

Alternative Options Considered and Rejected

Not applicable.

Implementation Date

Capital Programmes for 2020/21 would be implemented with effect from 1 April 2021.

RESOLVED:  That the Executive Board

1)    notes the position regarding capital funding from the DfE for 2021/22;

2)    approves the proposals to be funded from the School Condition Capital Allocation; and

3)    agrees that the capital allocations are put forward for inclusion in the budget report to full Council.

The Board considered a report from the Strategic Director – People, which sought approval for Halton to enter into a partnership with the registered Charity ‘Pause’ and the other City Region Authorities – Wirral, Liverpool and Knowsley, to develop a regional Pause Programme.

Pause was described as an intensive trauma informed relationship based model that aimed to reduce the damaging consequences of children being taken into care.   The development of the Programme would address the increasing demands on statutory services and rising numbers of looked after children and the need to safely manage a reduction in children becoming looked after.

The report outlined the proposals in detail, which included how the Programme would be delivered, how the Department for Education (DfE) grant funding would be used, and the financial and resource implications of the Programme on the contributing local authorities once the DfE funding ended.

RESOLVED:  That the Board approves that

1)    in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Children, Education and Social Care, the Strategic Director – People and the Strategic Director – Enterprise, Community and Resources, grant funding from ‘Pause’ be accepted for the establishment of a Pause Practice in Halton;

2)    authority be granted for the Council to enter into a collaboration agreement with the registered ‘Pause’ Charity, Liverpool City Council, Knowsley Council and Wirral Council, to oversee the delivery of Pause Practices within the local authority areas; and

3)    the Strategic Director – People, in liaison with the Operational Director – Finance, seek to identify potential sources of funding for the Council’s contribution to enable the continuation of the project once the DfE funding ends.

The Board received a report from the Strategic Director – People, which sought a waiver in compliance with Procurement Standing Order 1.14.4 (v) of part 3, for the granting of a Direct Award for the delivery of a Wellbeing Model from Age UK – Mid Mersey, from 1 April 2021 to 31 March 2024.

Members were aware that Age UK Mid-Mersey played a vital role in providing older people in Halton with the necessary support that helped promote their wellbeing and independence.  The report discussed the important work carried out by the Charity, which focused on supporting older people to continue to live fulfilling lives in their own homes and enabled them to live in an environment that promoted personal safety, social engagement and activity, maximised wellbeing and reduced the ill effects of social isolation and the adverse impacts of ageing. 

The report outlined the rationale behind the request and Members were referred to appendix one, which presented the Client Support Pathway and details of how the Wellbeing Model would be delivered.

RESOLVED:  That Executive Board

1)    note the contents of the report and associated appendix; and

2)    approve a waiver in compliance with Procurement Standing Order 1.14.4 (v) of part 3 for the granting of a Direct Award to Age UK Mid-Mersey, for the delivery of a wellbeing model.

The Board considered a report from the Strategic Director – Enterprise, Community and Resources, which sought approval to submit Runcorn’s Town Investment Plan (TIP).

In November 2019, the Government issued the Towns Fund Prospectus inviting 100 towns to develop a Town Investment Plan to benefit from up to £25m funding each from a national £3.6bn fund.   Runcorn was invited to develop a TIP, which was now in its final draft stage and would be ready for the submission deadline date of 31 January 2021.   

The report outlined the details of the TIP and discussed the list of emerging projects to be included in the Plan.  The Board was requested to delegate the final sign off to the Chief Executive, in consultation with the Leader and Portfolio Holder for Physical Environment.

RESOLVED:  That the Executive Board

1)    agrees in principle to the Runcorn Town Investment Plan and project list; and

2)    delegates approval of the final submission of the Runcorn Town Investment Plan to the Chief Executive, in consultation with the Leader of the Council and the Portfolio Holder for Physical Environment, in order to meet the 31 January 2021 deadline.

MINUTES ISSUED:   26 January 2021

CALL-IN:   2 February 2021 at 5.00 pm

Any matter decided by the Executive Board may be called in no later than 5.00pm on 2 February 2021.