North Yorkshire County Council
Executive
Minutes of the remote meeting held on Tuesday, 31st August 2021 commencing at 11.00 am.
County Councillor Carl Les in the Chair. plus County Councillors Gareth Dadd, Derek Bastiman, David Chance, Michael Harrison, Andrew Lee, Don Mackenzie, Patrick Mulligan, Janet Sanderson and Greg White.
Other Attendees: Scrutiny Board Members – County Councillors Janet Jefferson & Stanley Lumley and Chair of Audit Committee - County Councillor Cliff Lunn.
Also in Attendance: County Councillor Paul Haslam.
Officers present: Karl Battersby, Gary Fielding, Richard Flinton, Barry Khan, Melanie Carr, Daniel Harry and Dale Owens.
Apologies: Stuart Carlton and Richard Webb.
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Copies of all documents considered are in the Minute Book
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Introductions
Members of the Executive and Corporate Management Team introduced themselves, followed by other Councillors present at the meeting.
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Declarations of Interest
In regard to Agenda items 4 & 5, County Councillor Michael Harrison declared two disclosable interests, as an employee of one of the organisations listed in Agenda item 4 - Treasury Management Appendix 3B, and with close family members employed at the Council. He confirmed he had two separate dispensations from the Standards Committee enabling him to remain in the meeting and vote on both items.
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Public Questions and Statements
There were no public questions or statements.
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Q1 Budget Report
Considered –
A joint report of the Chief Executive and Corporate Director for Strategic Resources, bringing together key aspects of the County Council’s financial performance for the first quarter of 2021/22.
County Councillor Gareth Dadd introduced the Quarter 1 Budget Monitoring Report, drawing Members attention to the expected overall projected net underspend of £2,791k.
He suggested that quarter 1 was too early to show a trend, but it provided a good start and equated to 0.7% of the budget, which was within an acceptable variance. He also suggested that in setting the budget back in February 2021, Covid had greatly affected the projections and the County Council’s ability to budget with confidence.
He also noted the financial support provided by Government in response to Covid and questioned how long that could continue He also suggested the £2,791k was not a true underspend bearing in mind, the use of £3m of reserves drawn down in support of the budget, but accepted the County Council was in a better position than most Authorities.
In regard to the Revenue Budget, County Councillor Gareth Dadd highlighted a number of red flags in the operational budgets for each Directorate, as detailed in Section 2 of the report. He specifically drew attention to the County Council’s sustained commitment to transport providers throughout the pandemic and the Adult Learning & Skills Service which would require improvement in the medium term.
Gary Fielding, Corporate Director for Strategic Resources reinforced the introduction given and highlighted a number of unknown factors that were starting to become known:
· The massive uncertainty on demand for services; · The pressure on the County Council’s supply chains; · Issues and areas of increased activity masked by the additional funding provided by Government in response to Covid e.g. early hospital discharge arrangements; · Lack of clarity on what the new normal will be;
Executive Members thanked the Deputy Leader and officers for their frank appraisal of the current situation
County Councillor Janet Jefferson raised concern about the high cost of young people transitioning into Adult care and support services, and it was confirmed that there was now much closer working between Children’s and Adult Services with a new transition pathway in place, enabling a mitigation of some of those costs.
County Councillor Stanley Lumley thanked officers for the quality of the report and confirmed that Overview & Scrutiny would continue to work closely with the Council to support it in achieving the best outcomes. In response Gary Fielding confirmed it was about the culture and the approach of the whole organisation to having a strong grip on finances, that that resulted in the outcomes achieved to date. County Councillor Gareth Dadd confirmed the County Council’s priority remained vulnerable people.
In regard to the Local Government Review, County Councillor Gareth Dadd drew attention to the two-fold reasons for seeking unitary status i.e. having one council instead of two, making it easier for residents and providing better services with an overriding principle of achieving financial gains. He confirmed the County Council had identified £38m that could be used if required to kick-start and support the transition process, which was likely to achieve returns of about 100%. However Gary Fielding suggested that given the volatility of the current position it may be necessary to re-direct some of the 34.1m of reserves identified to address in-year pressures. County Councillor Cliff Lunn confirmed he was looking forward to the MTFS and the predictions that would help form the budget for 2022/23, for the new unitary Council.
Members noted the sections of the report on Treasury Management, the Capital Plan and Prudential Indicators. In regard to Treasury Management, County Councillor Gareth Dadd confirmed the interest rate on cash balances compared very favourably when benchmarked against other local authorities, albeit by only 0.18%. He also confirmed there had been no new borrowing for some years and that this year £14.1m would be shaved from the historic borrowing.
In regard to the Capital Plan, County Councillor Gareth Dadd drew Members’ attention to the potential equity in the Capital Plan of £17.7m, but suggested it should be left untouched for now due to the volatility in the price of raw materials and labour. He confirmed the effect of those was not yet known.
Finally, Gary Fielding drew attention to the extra programme items added, the re-profiling undertaken and the more detailed explanations given on the development of individual schemes, as set out in report.
Members voted unanimously in favour of all of the recommendations arising from the individual sections of the report, and it was
Resolved – That Executive Members agreed to note:
a) the latest position for the County Council’s 2021/22 Revenue Budget, as summarised in paragraph 2.1.2. b) the position on the GWB (paragraphs 2.4.1 to 2.4.3) c) the position on the ‘Strategic Capacity – Unallocated’ reserve (paragraphs 2.4.4 to 2.4.6) d) the position on the County Council’s Treasury Management activities during the first quarter of 2021/22
Executive Members also agreed to recommend to the Chief Executive Officer that using his emergency delegated powers, he: e) approve the creation of the Local Government Review transition fund (paragraphs 2.5.1 to 2.5.7) f) approve the amendments to the Approved Lending List g) refer the Q1 report to the Audit Committee for their consideration as part of the overall monitoring arrangements for Treasury Management. h) approve the refreshed Capital Plan summarised at paragraph 4.2.3; and i) agree that no action be taken at this stage to allocate any additional capital resources (paragraph 4.5.8) j) Recommend to the County Council that it approves the revised Prudential Indicators for the period 2021/22 to 2023/24 as set out in Appendix A
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Development of Adult Social Care Provider Services
Considered –
A report of Corporate Director – Health and Adult Services seeking approval for the retention of Elderly People’s Home provision at Ashfield (Skipton) and Silver Birches, and the transformation of that provision into Care and Support Hubs.
County Councillor Michael Harrison introduced the report confirming the County Council’s successful strategy over recent years to replace elderly persons homes with extra care facilities. He drew attention to the latest developments detailed in the report, and the proposed transformation of two EPHs to local Hubs where specialist and respite care could be provided.
Finally, he noted that Neville House was to be retained for development later, and that appropriate plans would come forward in due course.
Dale Owens, Assistant Director for Commissioning confirmed that the service continued to meet its savings obligations for the MTFS, and that the proposal in the report allowed the service to respond to the new obligations around hospital discharges.
All Executive Members voted in favour of the recommendations in the report, and it was
Resolved:
i) That the proposal to undertake further feasibility studies into the future use of Neville House EPH whilst continuing to deliver services from the site be noted.
ii) That it be recommended to the Chief Executive Officer that using his emergency delegated powers, he approve: · the retention of Ashfield, Skipton and Siler Birches as locality hubs, and; · the use of capital and transformation funding to allow for the necessary physical and operational changes to be made to both sites
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Healthy Child Programme - Emotional Health and Wellbeing
Considered –
A report of the Corporate Director – Children and Young Peoples Services presenting a proposal for, and outline of a Section 75 Agreement between the Council and North Yorkshire Clinical Commissioning Group (NYCCG) for the delivery of Emotional Health and Wellbeing Services for Children and Young People aged 9-19. The report also sought approval to commence a 60 day consultation in respect of the use and content of the Section 75.
County Councillor Janet Sanderson introduced the report which detailed the planned bringing together of a range of partners from across North Yorkshire, in order to procure and deliver services to support young people aged 9-19 in respect of their Emotional Health and Wellbeing.
She drew attention to the proposed 60-day consultation which would seek to inform the Section 75 Agreement between the Council and North Yorkshire CCG, and would come into effect on 01/04/2022 for an initial period of 3 years, with an option to extend for a further 2 years. She also confirmed the North Yorkshire CCG would act as the lead commissioner.
Resolved: That
Executive Members would recommend to the Chief Executive Officer, that using his emergency delegated powers, he approve: i) The commencement of a public consultation on the use of a S75 to facilitate the joint commissioning of the delivery of Emotional Health and Wellbeing Services for Children and Young People between the Council and NYCCG; ii) The draft Section 75 Agreement. iii) That the consultation responses be presented to the Executive in January 2022, and subject to the outcome of the consultation, a final draft Section 75 agreement be brought back to Executive for approval.
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Forward Plan
Considered –
The Forward Plan for the period 23 August 2021 to 31 August 2022 was presented for Executive Members’ consideration.
It was noted that a special meeting of the Executive may be required to consider the County Council’s proposals for warding, in support of the Local Government Review. The deadline for submission of proposals being 20 September 2021.
Resolved - That the Forward Plan be noted.
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The meeting concluded at 12.00 pm.