Issue - meetings

The Executive are asked to note:

i.   the latest position for the County Council’s 2020/21 Revenue Budget, as summarised in paragraph 2.1.2.;

ii.       the position on the GWB (paragraphs 2.4.1 to 2.4.3);

iii.     the position on the ‘Strategic Capacity – Unallocated’ reserve (paragraphs 2.4.4 to 2.4.5);

iv.     the performance of the Treasury Management operation during 2020/21 and the outturn position on Prudential Indicators;

v.      the position on capital outturn as detailed in Appendices A to E;

The Executive are also asked to recommend to the Chief Executive that under his emergency delegated powers he:

vi.     approve the proposed funding of £75k from the Strategic Capacity Reserve to develop a full business case for potential investment in solar power generation, as detailed in paragraph 3.64;

vii.    recommend to the County Council, the proposed carry forward to 2021/22 of the net capital underspend totalling £13.3m as set out in paragraph 4.14;

viii.   approve the financing of capital expenditure as detailed in paragraph 4.16 and Appendix F;

ix.     approve the proposed acquisition of land on the east side of Beckwith Head Road, Beckwith, Harrogate as detailed in paragraph 4.28

Considered –

A joint report of the Chief Executive and Corporate Director for Strategic Resources bringing together key aspects of the County Council’s performance for quarter four of the 2020/21 year.

County Councillor Carl Les introduced the Quarter 4 performance monitoring and budget report, confirming the in-depth focus for the performance section of the report as being Public Health and the ambition on ‘Innovative and Forward Thinking Council.’

County Councillor David Chance presented the Executive performance report summary, confirming that over the last year the County Council had led on the response to COVID-19 through its Outbreak Management Prevention Plan.  He confirmed the performance report provided strong evidence of the Council’s leadership and continued progress in delivering it’s wide-range of ambitions.  He provided a brief summary of the strengths and challenges in performance across those ambitions and the priorities set out in the Council Plan.

In particular County Councillor David Chance highlighted the following:

·            The vital role of Volunteers in the delivery of services and support (5,809 volunteers)

·            A successful campaign for keeping the Community informed and the most vulnerable supported and protected

·            The new more efficient ways of working identified during 2020-21, and the challenge of maintaining those new ways of working going forward

·            Improvements in technology to better support flexible and collaborative working

·            Reduced staff travel saving money, time and the environment

·            The early completion of the Street Lighting Programme

·            The CQC inspection results that showed the high quality of the care market across the county

·            The Council’s strong leadership role in the fight against Covid

·            The submission of the Council’s proposal for a single strong unitary Council for North Yorkshire

·            The newly revised Council Plan

·            The impact of Covid on the workforce and on sickness absence during 2020/21

·            The challenge of supporting residents and businesses to recover from Covid and the new Growth Plan approved in March 2021

·            the reduced number of repeat referrals in 2020/21 and a reduction in the number of children in care 

·            Post pandemic, the Council’s role in supporting economic recovery for residents and businesses

·            The pressure on frontline teams as a result of increased hospital discharges

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·            An increase in housebuilding locally and an increase in the cost of new builds

·            The stability of long and short term residential and nursing placements

·            The increased number of young people with EHCPs, and the increase in time taken to issue an EHCP, which was expected to recover by the end of the Summer term.

·            The number of North Yorkshire primary and secondary schools with a Good or Outstanding Ofsted inspection outcome remains below the that of the Local Authority’s national comparators

Public Health

County Councillor Caroline Dickson introduced the in depth focus on Public Health which detailed the Council’s direct response to COVID-19 and its impact on commissioned services.  She noted the excellent collaborative working with partners that had resulted in the successful delivery of the County’s response to COVID, and confirmed that 97% of those 50+ had received their first vaccination, and 87% of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 582