Agenda, decisions and minutes

Members of the Council will declare any interests they may have in any item to be considered at this meeting, prior to any discussion taking place on that item.

The other registrable interests of Councillors of Devon County Council, arising from membership of City, Town or Parish Councils and other Local Authorities will automatically be recorded in the minutes.

For details of District and or Town and Parish Twin Hatters – please see here - County councillors who are also district, borough, city, parish or town councillors

The Chair reminded Members they should declare any interests they may have in any item to be considered, prior to any discussion taking place on that item. The details of District and or Town and Parish Twin Hatters was on the attached list - County councillors who are also district, borough, city, parish or town councillors.

Minutes of the meeting held on 10 July 2024 (previously circulated).

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 10 July 2024 be signed as a correct record.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 10 July 2024 be signed as a correct record.

Items which in the opinion of the Chair should be considered at the meeting as matters of urgency.

There was no item raised as a matter of urgency.

There was no announcement by the Chair at this meeting.

There was no petition received from a Member of the Public or the Council    .

There was no question from a Member of the Council.

The Chair exercised his discretion to bring forward this item of business from item 14.

In accordance with the Council's Public Participation Rules, the relevant Cabinet Member responded to one question from a member of the public on the following matter.

1.    inquiry to examine appropriate safeguarding response to gender identity issues.

The Leader responded to the supplementary question arising and agreed to send a written response.  

(NB: A copy of the question and answer is available on webpage for meeting and the supplementary question may be observed through the webcast of this meeting)

Report of the Director of Children and Young People’s Futures  (CS/24/20) presenting the Devon Youth Justice Service Annual Youth Justice Plan Submission, attached.

The plan is attached as an appendix to the report.

RESOLVED that the Report, submitted to the Youth Justice Board in accordance with the 30th of June 2024 deadline, be endorsed, including the positive transformation within the service which is being achieved. 

(Councillors Leaver and Whitton attended in accordance with Standing Order 25(2) and spoke to this item).

The Cabinet considered the Report of the Director of Children and Young People’s Futures (CS/24/20) which presented the Devon Youth Justice Service Annual Youth Justice Plan Submission, circulated prior to the meeting in accordance with regulation 7(4) of the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Meetings and Access to Information) (England) Regulations 2012.

The Cabinet noted that the Council had a statutory duty under Section 40 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 to prepare and submit an annual Youth Justice Plan (YJP) to the Youth Justice Board (YJB). The Plan had been agreed by the Devon Youth Justice Partnership Board (DYJPB).

The full plan was attached as Appendix 1 to the Report, and was both a forward plan (section 7) and a review of the past year’s performance (section 4), KPI’s (section 5) as well as priorities moving forward (section 9).

The DYJPB was responsible for the strategic oversight, direction and oversight of delivery of youth justice services in Devon and was made up of statutory core members including the Local Authority, Probation, Police, Health and Education. Additional members included partners from the Office of the Police Crime Commissioner (OPCC), the Youth Magistrates Bench, Elected Councillors and the voluntary sector. It further contributed to other partnerships and strategic plans including safeguarding, youth court, Local Criminal Justice Boards and working groups, Safer Devon and Corporate Parenting.

A focus on prevention and diversion for children at risk of entering the formal system remained a priority and central aim of the year’s plan, as the challenges of a rising cohort of children becoming First Time Entrants in Devon were recognised. This was a trend the Board was committed to understanding and provide a coherent, joined up response across the

partnership and wider system and see fewer children coming into the system over the next year. Similarly, understanding and responding to exploitation risks and increasing serious violence rates remained a priority.

The service was in a period of transition and transformation, with a new leadership team, positive additions to the Partnership Board and a commitment to developing and embedding a Child First practice framework which was understood by all.

The Youth Justice Plan had been produced following consultation with stakeholders, partners, volunteers, staff and most importantly the children and their parents and/or carers who were accessing or had lived experience of being in the system.

The matter having been debated and the options and alternatives and other relevant factors (e.g. financial, sustainability and carbon impact, risk management, equality and legal considerations and alignment with the Council’s Strategic Plan) set out in the Director’s Report having been considered:

it was MOVED by Councillor Samuel, SECONDED by Councillor McInnes, and

RESOLVED that the Report, submitted to the Youth Justice Board in accordance with the 30th of June 2024 deadline, be endorsed, including the positive transformation within the service which is being achieved. 

Report of the Director of Children & Young People’s Futures (CS/24/23) outlining a Commissioning and Procurement Strategy, attached.

RESOLVED

(a) that the Commissioning and Procurement Strategy, as set out in the

Report, be agreed;

(b) that the principle of an open, competitive process to procure a multi

supplier framework, or equivalent, for individual packages of education

support be endorsed; and

(c) that following completion of a full procurement options appraisal, delegated

authority be given to the Director of Children & Young People’s Futures and

Director of Finance and Public Value, in consultation with the Cabinet Member

for Children's SEND Improvement Services, to approve the final route to

market

(Councillors Leaver and Whitton attended in accordance with Standing Order 25(2) and spoke to this item).

The Cabinet considered the Report of the Director of Children & Young People’s Futures (CS/24/23), which sought approval of a Commissioning and Procurement Strategy for Independent Education Provision, circulated prior to the meeting in accordance with regulation 7(4) of the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Meetings and Access to Information) (England) Regulations 2012.

The Cabinet noted that as part of the work programme for the SEND Transformation Programme and the Department for Education (DfE) Safety Valve, a significant workstream was on the future commissioning and procurement for Independent Special Schools (ISS) and Alternative Education Providers (AEP), focussed on increasing capacity in the maintained state sector, but there remained a need to commission from the independent sector.

The Council currently purchased places from the independent sector for those with an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) via a spot purchase mechanism.  The Council had also been purchasing packages of Alternative Education Provision (AEP), the majority of which was delivered by external providers who were unregistered.  Currently, there were no national quality standards or registration processes for AEP providers, although this was being reviewed by the DfE.  

A Strategy for ISS was to improve the commissioning of ISS placements, including alignment of the commissioning processes for independent school placements with wider education commissioning, wider Council commissioning and procurement practice and post 16 settings, linked with transition and preparing for adulthood.

The Strategy for Alternative Education Provision (AEP) was to put in place an appropriate commissioning, approach, and mechanism where the Council was using AEP to support the education of children and young people for a period of time, including children in care, children missing from education, those under section 19 of the Education Act 1996 and those with an EHCP, predominately identified as Education Other than at School (EOTAS).

The Report outlined the work undertaken to date including phase 1 of the ISS transformation to meet the Safety Valve savings targets for 2024/25 financial year and what that entailed. Phase 1 of the AEP transformation had been launched with the implementation and piloting of a new commissioning process for an interim period (2024/25).  The purpose of the interim commissioning process was to manage any risk from current practice. The Report outlined the work undertaken.

The work so far for both sectors put greater assurance in place whilst longer term formal frameworks and approaches were developed and implemented.

The aim was to have an overall commissioning and procurement mechanism in place for both ISS and AEP by January 2026, at the latest, which would come under the auspices of the Procurement Act 2023 (a new mandatory legal structure coming into force on 28 October 2024), meaning additional notices and documentation and time being required.

The next steps (if agreed) would be PIN and Market testing questionnaire, procurement options appraisal, provider engagement and service specifications. The graphs in Appendix A of the Report set out the current timeline.

It was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 593.

Report of the Director of Children and Young People’s Futures (CS/24/21) on future of family hubs delivery, attached.

Two Impact Assessments have been prepared, are attached, and also available on the website at

Family Hub Development to be delivered directly by the Council (in-house delivery) - Impact Assessment (devon.gov.uk)

The Children’s Centre Buildings Consultation - Impact Assessment (devon.gov.uk)

RESOLVED

(a) the delivery of Family Hubs be undertaken directly by Devon County

Council from the 1 April 2025, including the transfer of related staff into the

authority (through a TUPE arrangement);

(b) that a phased approach pertaining to the former children’s centre

buildings, set out in paragraph 3.15 and the table of Actions and Mitigations at

3.16, be agreed;

(c) that the Director of Children and Young People’s futures and the Director

of Transformation & Business Services be given delegated authority, in

consultation with the Cabinet Member for Children’s Services and the relevant

local Member, to make decisions relating to individual buildings; and

(d) that Cabinet ask the Children’s Scrutiny Committee to take a role in

overseeing preparations for the new service and provision and would further

welcome a review in 12 months time.

(Councillors Adams, Leaver and Whitton attended in accordance with Standing Order 25(2) and spoke to this item).

The Cabinet considered the Report of the Director of Children and Young People’s Futures  (CS/24/21) which sought approval for the future delivery of family hubs, circulated prior to the meeting in accordance with regulation 7(4) of the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Meetings and Access to Information) (England) Regulations 2012.

The development of a Family Hubs model for Devon had been agreed by Cabinet on 11 October 2023. The proposal built on the previous £800,000 investment in Early Help, agreed at the Devon Education Forum in January 2024, and had successfully supported the expansion of the Council’s Early Help offer. The proposal to move to an in-house delivery mechanism sat within the context of the developing open access delivery model across Devon for families with children aged 0-19 (up to 25 with SEND and Care Leavers).

The proposals for which buildings should serve as hubs or outreach venues had been reviewed following a full statutory consultation from 6th April 2024 to 3rd July 2024 and a discussion at Children’s Scrutiny Standing Overview Group (CSOG) on 29 July 2024. At this meeting, Members supported the model of partnership working and planned work with communities to co-produce Family Hubs moving forward.

The Council had previously commissioned Children Centre Services in Devon, the history of the contracting arrangements were summarised in paragraph 2.3. 

The Council wished to reduce the number of children requiring a statutory social work intervention, therefore was reshaping and strengthening the Targeted Early Help offer which supported families with multiple or complex needs.  The aspiration is that Family hubs would work at a community level to ensure that families got the right support at an early stage to prevent escalation over time but to prioritise statutory safeguarding duties by ensuring those most in need got a clear pathway to the correct support.

The Report outlined the outcome of the extensive engagement with families, the themes from the professionals as well as the results of the public consultation (conducted throughout May and June 2024) on the proposals regarding the change to the current Children’s Centre service and buildings.  The results of the consultation were included in Appendix 2 of the Report and the summary at paragraph 2.9. Section 3e also explained the key themes of the consultation, with the table at 3.16 outlining those key feedback themes and the actions the Council would take to mitigate or address the points raised. An easy read version of the recommendations from the Council’s Children’s Centre Consultation were appended to these minutes.

Section three gave an overview of current financial position, options appraisal and proposed approach. The options appraisal considered option 1 (in house delivery, option 2 (contract extension and commissioning of a new provider) and option 3 (stop the contract and family hub arrangements with no replacement). Option 1 was preferred as it provided the highest opportunity for achieving the best outcomes for families, by delivering improvements  ...  view the full minutes text for item 594.

Recommendation: that the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 1, 2, 3 and 4 of Schedule 12A of the Act namely, the financial or business affairs of the Council and a third party, information relating to consultation and negotiation in connection with labour matters and likely to reveal the identity of an individual, and in accordance with Section 36 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, by virtue of the fact that the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

It was MOVED by Councillor McInnes, SECONDED by Councillor Samuel, and

RESOLVEDthat the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraphs 2, 3 and 4 of Schedule 12A of the Act namely, the financial or business affairs of the Council and a third party, information relating to consultation and negotiation in connection with labour matters and likely to reveal the identity of an individual, and in accordance with Section 36 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, by virtue of the fact that the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

An item to be considered by the Cabinet in accordance with the Cabinet ProcedureRules and Regulation 5 of the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Meetings and Access to Information) (England) Regulations 2012, no representations having been received to such consideration taking place under Regulation 5(5) thereof)

Report of the Director of Children and Young People’s Futures (CS/24/22) giving additional context to the Part 1 paper, attached.

(An item taken under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 during which the press and public were excluded, no representations having been received to such consideration under Regulation 5(5) of the  Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Meetings and Access to Information) (England) Regulations 2012).

(Councillors Adams, Leaver and Whitton attended in accordance with Standing Order 25(2) and spoke to this item).

The Cabinet considered the Report of the Director of Director of Children and Young People’s Futures (CS/24/22), circulated prior to the meeting accordance with regulation 7(4) of the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Meetings and Access to Information) (England) Regulations 2012.

The Report outlined further details of the matters which the Cabinet was asked to take into account when making a decision in relation to Cabinet Report number CS/24/21. These related to confidential business affairs of the Council and consultations and negotiations with employees. 

The Leader then MOVED and Councillor Davis SECONDED that the public and press may now be readmitted to the meeting.

The MOTION was put to the vote and declared CARRIED.

The matter having been debated and the options and/or alternatives and other relevant factors (e.g. financial, sustainability, carbon impact, risk management, equality and legal considerations and Public Health impact) set out in the Director’s Report and/or referred to above having been considered:

It was then MOVED by Councillor Samuel, SECONDED by Councillor Saywell, and

RESOLVED

(a) the delivery of Family Hubs be undertaken directly by Devon County Council from the 1 April 2025, including the transfer of related staff into the authority (through a TUPE arrangement);

(b) that a phased approach pertaining to the former children’s centre buildings, set out in paragraph 3.15 and the table of Actions and Mitigations at 3.16, be agreed;

(c) that the Director of Children and Young People’s futures and the Director of Transformation & Business Services be given delegated authority, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Children’s Services and the relevant local Member, to make decisions relating to individual buildings; and

(d) that Cabinet ask the Children’s Scrutiny Committee to take a role in overseeing preparations for the new service and provision and would further welcome a review in 12 months time.

At its meeting on 18 July 2024, the Health and Wellbeing Board received a Report, attached, and associated presentation on Carers in Communities and in Employment, Minute *155 refers. The Board resolved that:

(a) The report be passed to Cabinet for review and consideration of how recommendations 1-6 and 8 of the report can be put into action.

Recommendation

A high level action plan will be developed by Integrated Adult Social Care in partnership with the ICB setting out how the recommendations in the report will be delivered and monitored. A regular progress and impact update will be provided to the Health and Adult Care Scrutiny Committee whose members have had long standing interest and activity on carers including a Spotlight Review.

RESOLVED that a high level action plan be developed by Integrated Adult Social Care in partnership with the ICB setting out how the recommendations in the report will be delivered and monitored. A regular progress and impact update will be provided to the Health and Adult Care Scrutiny Committee whose members have had long standing interest and activity on carers including a Spotlight Review.

(Councillors Leaver and Whitton attended in accordance with Standing Order 25(2) and spoke to this item).

The Cabinet noted that at its meeting on 18 July 2024, the Health and Wellbeing Board had received a Report, circulated with the agenda, and associated presentation on Carers in Communities and in Employment, Minute *155 refers. The Board had resolved that:

(a) The report be passed to Cabinet for review and consideration of how recommendations 1-6 and 8 of the report can be put into action.

It was MOVED by Councillor Bullivant, SECONDED by Councillor McInnes, and

RESOLVED that a high level action plan be developed by Integrated Adult Social Care in partnership with the ICB setting out how the recommendations in the report will be delivered and monitored. A regular progress and impact update will be provided to the Health and Adult Care Scrutiny Committee whose members have had long standing interest and activity on carers including a Spotlight Review.

Minutes of the bodies shown below are circulated herewith for information or endorsement as indicated therein (i.e. any unstarred minutes):

[NB: Minutes of County Council Committees are published on the Council’s Website:

Minutes of the Devon Education (Schools) Forum:  

Minutes of the South West Waste Partnership

Minutes of the Devon & Cornwall Police & Crime Panel

RESOLVED that the Minutes of the following be endorsed and any recommendations to Cabinet therein be approved:

Devon Assurance Partnership – 11 July 2024

RESOLVED that the Minutes of the following be endorsed and any recommendations to Cabinet therein be approved:

Devon Assurance Partnership – 11 July 2024

The Register of Decisions taken by Members under the urgency provisions or delegated powers is available on the website in line with the Council’s Constitution and Regulation 13 of the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Meetings and Access to Information) (England) Regulations 2012.  The decisions taken and associated information can be found here.

The Registers of Decisions taken by Members under the urgency provisions or delegated powers were available for inspection, in line with the Council’s Constitution and Regulation 13 of the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Meetings and Access to Information) (England) Regulations 2012. Decisions taken by Officers under any express authorisation of the Cabinet or other Committee or under any general authorisation within the Council’s Scheme of Delegation set out in Part 3 of the Council’s Constitution.

In accordance with the Council’s Constitution, the Cabinet is requested to review the list of forthcoming business (previously circulated) and to determine which items are to be defined as key and/or framework decisions and included in the Plan from the date of this meeting.

The Forward Plan is available on the Council's website.

In accordance with the Council’s Constitution, the Cabinet reviewed the Forward Plan and determined those items of business to be defined as key and framework decisions and included in the Plan from the date of this meeting onwards reflecting the requirements of the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Meetings and Access to Information) (England) Regulations 2012.

In accordance with the Council’s Constitution, the Cabinet reviewed the Forward Plan and determined those items of business to be defined as key and framework decisions and included in the Plan from the date of this meeting onwards reflecting the requirements of the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Meetings and Access to Information) (England) Regulations 2012.