Agenda and minutes

Members of the Executive and Corporate Management Team introduced themselves, followed by other Councillors present at the meeting.

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. 

Members of the public may ask questions or make statements at this meeting if they have given notice to Melanie Carr of Democratic and Scrutiny Services and supplied the text (contact details below) by midday on Wednesday 25 August 2021, three working days before the day of the meeting.  Each speaker should limit themselves to 3 minutes on any item.  Members of the public who have given notice will be invited to speak:-

·            at this point in the meeting if their questions/statements relate to matters which are not otherwise on the Agenda (subject to an overall time limit of 30 minutes);

·            when the relevant Agenda item is being considered if they wish to speak on a matter which is on the Agenda for this meeting.

If you are exercising your right to speak at this meeting, but do not wish to be recorded, please inform the Chairman who will instruct anyone who may be taking a recording to cease while you speak.

There were no public questions or statements.

i)     The Executive is asked 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

ii) The Executive is also asked to recommend to the Chief Executive Officer that using his emergency delegated powers, he:

e)  approves the creation of the Local Government Review transition fund (paragraphs 2.5.1 to 2.5.7)

f)   approves the amendments to the Approved Lending List

g)  refers this report to the Audit Committee for their consideration as part of the overall monitoring arrangements for Treasury Management.

h)  approves the refreshed Capital Plan summarised at paragraph 4.2.3; and

i)    agrees that no action be taken at this stage to allocate any additional capital resources (paragraph 4.5.8)

j)    recommends 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

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  ...  view the full minutes text for item 635.

The Executive is asked to:

i)     Note the proposal to undertake further feasibility studies into the future use of Neville House EPH whilst continuing to deliver services from the site.

ii)     Recommend 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

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

The Executive is asked to 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.

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 noted that 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.

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.