Agenda and minutes

There were no apologies for absence received.

There were no public questions received.

RESOLVED – That the minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on 24^th August 2020 be approved.

Consideration was given to a report of the Director of Finance which provided an the Cabinet with an update on the Council’s 2020/21 forecast revenue budget position as at Annex 1 to the report and the financial position of the capital programme as at 31 July 2020 (Month 4) together with the revised capital programme 2020/25, as outlined in section two of the report at Annex 2 of the report.

Revenue Position

It was reported that the current forecast outturn position for 2020/21 was a projected deficit variance of £17.979m after allowing for approved and pending transfers to and from reserves.

The position also included additional costs and pressures that had been identified by the Authority in this financial year as a direct result of the Governments lockdown arrangements to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 commencing on 23 March 2020. The additional pressures included forecasts of both income shortfalls and additional expenditure that had impacted on the Authority’s budgets as a result of the pandemic

The pandemic had affected nearly all aspects of Council service delivery; however, the most significant areas of concern were the People and Place, Children’s Services and Community Health & Adult Social Care Portfolios. Action was being taken and would continue for the remainder of the financial year to address variances and take mitigating action as detailed in the report.

The overall corporate position was partly being offset by the application of the £16.638m unringfenced Government COVID related grant funding received to date. The full Government grant was presented at Annex 1 to the report as a single sum so that it highlighted the level of variation across all Council budgets, given that there was insufficient resource to offset the adverse variance.

However, this summary report presented the position after applying the Government grant across Portfolio areas. As further General Fund grant was expected in respect of lost income for sales, fees and charges, both the overall financial position and the application of Government grant would therefore change during the course of the financial year. An update on the major issues driving the projections was detailed within Annex 1, Section 2 of the report.

As this financial monitoring report reflected the financial position at Month 4, it could be regarded as an indicator of the potential year end position if action was not taken to reduce net expenditure where possible. However, management action had been initiated across all service areas to review and challenge planned expenditure and to maximise income. Although, the effect of this action has yet to take full effect, it is anticipated that by the year end, the outturn position deficit should be reduced and this should start to be demonstrated in the monthly update reports to be presented to Cabinet.

Information on the latest position of the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG), Housing Revenue Account (HRA) and Collection Fund was also outlined in the report.

Capital position

The report outlined the most up to date capital spending position for 2020/25 for approved schemes. The  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

Consideration was given to a report of the Managing Director, Community Health and Social Care – DASS, which sought approval to recommission the provision of short-term supported housing in the Borough.

The report provided details of the current arrangements for the provision of short-term supported housing funded by the council and the budget for the provision (£1.195m p.a.) which was held within Community Services and Adult Social Care, however the service provision was cross-cutting, impacting the strategic intentions of several council directorates and of partner agencies: as such, Cabinet was requested to consider and approve the commissioning intentions outlined in the report and the associated budget, and to delegate a subsequent future contract award to the Cabinet Member for Health and Social Care in consultation with Managing Director Health & Adult Social Care Community Services.

Options/alternatives considered

Option 1 - Allow service provision to continue as is. This is not the recommended option, as:

·         The provision was out of contract andthere are greater legal risks with this option.

·         The local landscape and the legislative context for supported housing was now more stableand it was considered that a procurement exercise could now take place, subject to the need to respond to Covid -19, at the earliest appropriate/safe date to do so.

·         There were desired changes to the service specification that cannot reasonably be undertaken unless part of a new procurement exercise

·         Continued uncertainty placed strains on service providers, such as the impact on staff retention, and on landlords, who were less likely to invest in the stock where future use is uncertain.

Option 2 -  Not to commission replacement provision. This was not the recommended option, as:

·         The provision of supported housing made a significant contribution to the councils duty of prevention and relief of homelessness for households with additional support needs, who struggle in unsupported Temporary Accommodation (TA) provision and cannot access general needs accommodation until their support needs are addressed. The provision reduced from 146 units to 104 in 2016/17 to meet savings targets from these contracts: to cease provision further/altogether would severely compromise the council’s ability to meet its duties. It would also create risks where a household may not be owed a duty to accommodate, but where they have complex support needs: there is likely to be negative impacts for these households - and potentially on the wider community - if their housing and support needs are not met.

·         The provision was less costly to the council than TA, or provision in the private landlord sector claiming high rents/Intensive Housing Management: the commissioned provision meets exempt accommodation regulations and the council can therefore claim full HB subsidy. It is also generally of a better standard and quality. 

·         The provision underpinned several council priorities which would be impacted if the service ceases, making it more difficult for instance, to support care leavers to move on to independence, to support victims of domestic abuse - which was likely to become a new statutory duty - to prevent homelessness,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

The Cabinet gave consideration to a report of the Head of Strategy and Performance which provided a review of Council performance to June 2020

The report provided the Cabinet with an overview of the Council’s performance against priorities outlined within the Corporate Plan, which had been monitored in the period.

Options/Alternatives considered:-

To note the Council performance April- June 2020.

RESOLVED – That the Council Performance Report June 2020 be noted.

That, in accordance with Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they contain exempt information under paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act, and it would not, on balance, be in the public interest to disclose the reports.

The Cabinet gave consideration to the commercially sensitive information in relation to Item 7 – Short-term supported housing provision (young people, women, generic/complex adults): Commission.

RESOLVED – That:

1.    The commissioning intentions outlined in the report for re-tendering of the provision be approved.

2.    The overall contract value remained at £1.195m per annum with provision made for inflationary uplifts.

3.    A subsequent contract award, of 3 years plus an option to extend the contract by up to two further years, be delegated to the Cabinet Member for Health and Social Care in consultation with the Managing Director Community Health and Social Care Service.