Agenda and minutes

The Head of Democratic Services to present.

The Cabinet and attendees received a presentation from the Head of Democratic Services on the process and etiquette for remote meetings.

Minutes of the meeting held on 8 April 2020 (previously circulated).

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 8 April 2020 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.

Report of the Chief Officer for Highways, Infrastructure Development and Waste (HIW/20/19) seeking approval of the County Road Highway Maintenance Capital Budget, including progress on 2019/20 schemes and proposals for the 2020/21 programmes, attached.

(Councillors Biederman, Connett, Dewhirst, Greenslade, Hannaford and Whitton attended remotely in accordance with Standing Order 25(2) and the Local Authorities and Police and Crime Panels (Coronavirus) (Flexibility of Local Authority and Police and Crime Panel Meetings) (England and Wales) Regulations 2020 and spoke to this item).

The Cabinet considered the Report of the Chief Officer for Highways, Infrastructure, Development and Waste (HIW/20/19), 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 Report provided an update on progress on delivery of the 2019/20 Highways Capital programme and sought agreement of the programme for 2020/21. The approved Highway Infrastructure Asset Management Policy, Strategy and Plan (HIAMP) provided the framework and approach in deciding on the capital investment in the highway assets and was used in recommending programmes and schemes contained in the Report. Investment was required to arrest or slow deterioration and add value to highway assets, keeping them structurally sound and reducing the risks of defect formation.

Section 3 of the Report detailed the proposals for capital funding of highway maintenance schemes in 2020/21 and relevant funding sources.

The 2020/21 funding awarded to Devon from central Government was approved by Council on 20 February 2020, of £48,155,000. The Report sought approval to allocate the funding across the programmes and schemes proposed in 2020/21 as listed in appendices IV and V. The allocations include an adjustment for the LTP over programming carried forward from 2019/20 of £1,943,000.

The key elements of the programmes and schemes included Highway Structural Maintenance (HSM): Principal Roads (A class roads), Skid Resistance Treatment (SCRIM), HSM Non-Principal Roads, Pothole Action Fund (PAF), Footways, Drainage, Road Restraint Systems, Road Weather Systems, Highway Lighting and Street Lighting LED, Bridges and Structures and Storm Damage (resilience contingency).

The Report also highlighted the impact of the Coronavirus lockdown, in terms of contractors, material manufacturers and suppliers closing down, restrictive working, supply chains and quarries etc limiting the ability to maintain the delivery of the capital programme. Whilst there had been some deferments in the 2019/20 programme, the current programme could also be curtailed depending upon how long lockdown restrictions were applicable.

The Report also provided an update on each of the main asset groups and how they had been performing, showing that bridges continued to be well managed and that the Council was ensuring continued investment in retaining walls following storm damage events earlier in the year. There had also been good progress on the investment in street lighting infrastructure which contributed a massive reduction to the County’s carbon usage and brought year on year savings to energy costs.

The Report gave an update on the ‘Doing What Matters’ (DWM) project which continued to provide learning from the two test areas in West Devon. Following on from the successes within those areas, the DWM learning would be expanded into East Devon, with initial focus on the Broadclyst Division.

The Cabinet also noted that Government  ...  view the full minutes text for item 501.

Report of the Chief Officer for Highways, Infrastructure Development and Waste (HIW/20/20) seeking approval of the County Road Highway Maintenance Revenue Budget and On Street Parking Account, attached.

(Councillors Biederman, Connett, Dewhirst, Hannaford and Greenslade attended remotely in accordance with Standing Order 25(2) and the Local Authorities and Police and Crime Panels (Coronavirus) (Flexibility of Local Authority and Police and Crime Panel Meetings) (England and Wales) Regulations 2020 and spoke to this item).

The Cabinet considered the Report of the Chief Officer for Highways, Infrastructure Development and Waste (HIW/20/20) seeking approval of the County Road Highway Maintenance Revenue Budget and On Street Parking Account, 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 Member for Highway Management commented that the Coronavirus pandemic was having an impact on the highway revenue programme, having reduced the availability of resources, with both quarries and contractors in the supply chain closing or reducing their activities. He also added that the revenue budget had been increased to include an additional £2m to address drainage related issues.

The Report highlighted that revenue funded works consisted of three types of maintenance, being reactive (for example, repairs to safety defects, emergency response, flooding, overhanging vegetation, which, if neglected, would pose a potential danger to road users). Secondly, there was routine maintenance and thirdly, cyclic maintenance (such as gully emptying, grass cutting, drainage pipes, ditch cleaning etc) carried out to a defined frequency.

The highway maintenance base budget had been set at £26,079,000, comprising £23,879,000 in the Highways Service budget and £2,200,000 funded from the On-street Parking account. The detailed allocations were set out in Appendix I to the Report.

The Cabinet also noted the unprecedented level of wet weather towards the latter part of 2019 and early 2020 and a succession of storms that had brought destructive high winds, resulting in damage across the network.

The Strategy used a framework to manage the highway network as described in the Highway

Infrastructure Asset Management Policy (HIAMP). With a total asset under CIPFA guidance

valued at £13.3 billion (Gross Replacement Cost) of which carriageways alone were valued at

£11.1 billion, the highway network was the County’s most valuable and important public asset.

Since April 2019 all publicly reported potholes were visited and assessed to allow for serviceability defects (as well as safety defects) to be addressed. There was also an increased use of the Dragon Patcher as well as the work of District and Parish Council’s in delivering services such as grass and hedge cutting and the treatment of weeds. There was also an increase in issues with drainage and flooding, therefore improvements in system jetting and enhanced records would be used to understand the causes. The additional drainage allocation for the current financial year was welcomed to help address these matters.

In relation to On Street Parking, the costs of operating the on-street parking service was the first call on any income held. Any surplus had to be used in accordance with the eligibility criteria as set out in the legislation.  The Highways Maintenance budget included £2.2m for highways environmental  ...  view the full minutes text for item 502.

Report of the Head of Children’s Social Care (Deputy Chief Officer) on the recent Ofsted Inspection of Local Authority Services (CS/20/06), attached.

(Councillors Biederman, Connett, Dewhirst and Hannaford attended remotely in accordance with Standing Order 25(2) and the Local Authorities and Police and Crime Panels (Coronavirus) (Flexibility of Local Authority and Police and Crime Panel Meetings) (England and Wales) Regulations 2020 and spoke to this item).

The Cabinet considered the Report of the Head of Children’s Social Care (Deputy Chief Officer) on the recent Ofsted Inspection of Local Authority Services (CS/20/06), 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 Report highlighted that Ofsted had inspected Children’s Services in January 2020, the full Report being available to view here. The Inspectors concluded that Children’s Social Care Services in Devon were inadequate having identified ‘serious failures’. This related to a small minority of care leavers living in unacceptable accommodation and the fact the Chief Officers and Cabinet Members were unaware of this situation, which meant a rating of ‘inadequate’.

Also highlighted was that some children who had suffered chronic neglect and emotional abuse were being left with families for too long (most evident in court (pre-proceedings). Findings in this area related to ‘getting to good’.

Inspectors also identified eight areas of practice that needed to improve including services to care leavers, quality of social work practice to assess, support and protect children who experienced neglect and the effective use of pre-proceedings, effectiveness of child protection conference chairs in responding to escalating risks, consideration of child protection medicals when children disclosed physical abuse or presented with injuries, permanence planning, quality and timeliness of life story work and the assessment of children looked after placed with parents and strategic oversight.

Inspectors also identified a number of areas of strength, for example early help for families, addressing exploitation and strong partnerships with key agencies, the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH), the Adolescent Safety Framework, Return Home Interviews, the response to young people who presented as homeless, the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO), private fostering, elective home education and arrangements to track children missing from education, visits to children in care, the work of the Virtual School and support for foster carers and for adopters.

The publication of the inspection report coincided with the announcement of new Government restrictions in response to the CV19 pandemic, impacting on the usual response mechanisms.

The Council had therefore published an improvement plan which could be viewed on the website and the Children and Families Partnership Executive would act as a temporary Improvement Board, overseeing the partnership response to CV19 and providing check and challenge of the Improvement Plan. An independent expert had also been secured to provide consultancy to the Council’s Chief Officer (approved by the DfE).

Furthermore, the Council had appointed a temporary Improvement Director and Improvement Lead to work alongside the Deputy Chief Officer.

The Report then highlighted the input of the Children’s Standing Overview Group to

scrutinise the Council’s response to the inspection report and examine the Improvement Plan.

There were  ...  view the full minutes text for item 503.

At its meeting on 17^th March 2020, the Heath and Adult Care Scrutiny Committee considered the Report of the Carer’s Spotlight Review (Minute *185 refers) which covered an understanding of the carers’ offer and evaluation against the experience of carers in the County and an examination of the availability of replacement care across Devon.

The Committee thanked the Chair of the Review and the other Members for their excellent work and RESOLVED that the recommendations of the Spotlight Review, as detailed in the Report, be commended to the Cabinet.

Recommendation

(a) that the Health and Adult Care Scrutiny Committee be thanked for its Spotlight review and associated report;

(b) that the Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Health Services and the Joint Associate Director of Commissioning be asked to take forward the Report and progress / co-ordinate progress towards the objectives identified in it, engaging other partners and community organisations as necessary, subject to financial considerations and respecting existing agreements and progress towards those objectives; and

(c) that it is acknowledged that the primary objective at present is to support carers during the Covid-19 outbreak.

(Councillors Ackland, Biederman, Connett, Dewhirst and Hannaford attended remotely in accordance with Standing Order 25(2) and the Local Authorities and Police and Crime Panels (Coronavirus) (Flexibility of Local Authority and Police and Crime Panel Meetings) (England and Wales) Regulations 2020 and spoke to this item).

The Cabinet noted that at its meeting on 17^th March 2020, the Heath and Adult Care Scrutiny Committee considered the Report of the Carer’s Spotlight Review (Minute *185 referred) which covered an understanding of the carers’ offer and evaluation against the experience of carers in the County and an examination of the availability of replacement care across Devon.

The Committee had RESOLVED that the recommendations of the Spotlight Review, as detailed in the Report, be commended to the Cabinet.

It was MOVED by Councillor Leadbetter, SECONDED by Councillor Hart, and

RESOLVED

(a) that the Health and Adult Care Scrutiny Committee be thanked for its Spotlight review and associated report;

(b) that the Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Health Services and the Joint Associate Director of Commissioning be asked to take forward the Report and progress / co-ordinate progress towards the objectives identified in it, engaging other partners and community organisations as necessary, subject to financial considerations and respecting existing agreements and progress towards those objectives; and

(c) that it is acknowledged that the primary objective at present is to support carers during the Covid-19 outbreak.

In the absence of a formal Corporate Infrastructure and Regulatory Services Scrutiny Committee on 26^th March 2020, Members of the Committee were sent the final Report of the Report of the Preventing and Tackling Exploitation Spotlight Review, asking for any comment and feedback prior to publication on the website and submission to Cabinet.

No comments were received, thereby indicating agreement to the contents of the Report (as outlined in that communication). 

The Report is now attached for the attention and consideration of the Cabinet.

Recommendation

(a) that the Members of the Spotlight Review be thanked for their review and associated Report and that the recommendations of the Review, be endorsed;

(b) that the Cabinet Members for Community, Public Health, Transportation and Environmental Services, Children’s Services and Adult Social Care and Health Services and relevant Chief Officers be asked to take forward the Report and progress / co-ordinate the recommendations contained therein, engaging other partners and community organisations as necessary; and

(c) that the positive joint work described in the work across partnerships continues and, subject to available resources, is strengthened moving forward.

(Councillors Dewhirst and Hannaford attended remotely in accordance with Standing Order 25(2) and the Local Authorities and Police and Crime Panels (Coronavirus) (Flexibility of Local Authority and Police and Crime Panel Meetings) (England and Wales) Regulations 2020 and spoke to this item).

The Cabinet noted that the Members of the Corporate Infrastructure and Regulatory Services Scrutiny Committee had been sent and had reviewed the final Report of the Preventing and Tackling Exploitation Spotlight Review. No comments had been received, thereby indicating agreement to the contents of the Report (as outlined in that communication). 

It was therefore MOVED by Councillor Croad, SECONDED by Councillor Hart, and

RESOLVED

(a) that the Members of the Spotlight Review be thanked for their review and associated Report and that the recommendations of the Review, be endorsed;

(b) that the Cabinet Members for Community, Public Health, Transportation and Environmental Services, Children’s Services and Adult Social Care and Health Services and relevant Chief Officers be asked to take forward the Report and progress / co-ordinate the recommendations contained therein, engaging other partners and community organisations as necessary; and

(c) that the positive joint work described in the work across partnerships continues and, subject to available resources, is strengthened moving forward.

In October 2017, the Corporate Infrastructure and Regulatory Services Scrutiny Committee held a Spotlight Review to investigate the potential impact of changes to local policing in Devon. The Spotlight Review published its report in November 2017, making a number of recommendations which can be viewed in full here.

In the absence of a formal Corporate Infrastructure and Regulatory Services Scrutiny Committee on 26^th March 2020, Members of that Committee were sent a progress Report on the recommendations of the Spotlight Review.

The progress report is attached for the attention of the Cabinet.

Recommendation

That Cabinet welcome the progress on the recommendations of the Local Policing Spotlight Review including project Genesis, local policing, connecting with communities, volunteers and working in partnership and place on record their thanks to Devon and Cornwall Police for their collaboration in the initial review, and their continued dialogue with the Scrutiny Committee on local policing issues.

(Councillors Connett, Dewhirst, Greenslade and Hannaford attended remotely in accordance with Standing Order 25(2) and the Local Authorities and Police and Crime Panels (Coronavirus) (Flexibility of Local Authority and Police and Crime Panel Meetings) (England and Wales) Regulations 2020 and spoke to this item).

The Cabinet noted that in October 2017, the Corporate Infrastructure and Regulatory Services Scrutiny Committee held a Spotlight Review to investigate the potential impact of changes to local policing in Devon. The Spotlight Review had published its Report in November 2017, making a number of recommendations which could be viewed in full here.

In the absence of a formal Corporate Infrastructure and Regulatory Services Scrutiny Committee on 26^th March 2020, Members of that Committee were sent a progress Report on the recommendations of the Spotlight Review, which was attached to the agenda for the attention of the Cabinet.

It was MOVED by Councillor Croad, SECONDED by Councillor Hart, and

RESOLVED that Cabinet welcome the progress on the recommendations of the Local Policing Spotlight Review including project Genesis, local policing, connecting with communities, volunteers and working in partnership and place on record their thanks to Devon and Cornwall Police for their collaboration in the initial review, and their continued dialogue with the Scrutiny Committee on local policing issues.

Report of the Chief Officer for Communities, Public Health, Environment and Prosperity, presenting the Public Health Annual Report for 2019/20, circulated separately for Members of the Committee.

A covering Report is attached to the agenda and the annual report is a separate document, available on the website (https://www.devonhealthandwellbeing.org.uk/aphr/2019-20), also posted in hard copy to all Members of the Council.

(Councillors Biederman, Connett, Dewhirst, Greenslade, Hannaford and Whitton attended remotely in accordance with Standing Order 25(2) and the Local Authorities and Police and Crime Panels (Coronavirus) (Flexibility of Local Authority and Police and Crime Panel Meetings) (England and Wales) Regulations 2020 and spoke to this item).

The Cabinet considered the Report of the Chief Officer for Communities, Public Health, Environment and Prosperity, presenting the Public Health Annual Report for 2019/20, which was available on the website at https://www.devonhealthandwellbeing.org.uk/aphr/2019-20. A hard copy of the full Report had also been sent to all Members of the Council.

The Cabinet noted that the Director of Public Health had a statutory duty to write an annual report, and the local authority has a statutory duty to publish it in line with section 73B [5] & [6] of the 2006 NHS Act, inserted by section 31 of the 2012 Health and Social Care Act.

The Annual Public Health Report before the Cabinet was the thirteenth in a series of annual reports on the health of the population of Devon which began in 2007/08.  Each Report covered the general health of the population of Devon; although increasingly the detail about health and wellbeing could be found in the annual Joint Strategic Needs Assessment available at:  www.devonhealthandwellbeing.org.uk/jsna.

The current Report focussed on planetary and human health, given the global increase in concern about the effects that human beings were having on the health of the planet, and subsequently the impact on public health, for example climate change.

The structure of the Report covered different aspects of the environment and health and explored the evidence, the impact and what could be done to manage this and create greater resilience. It also complemented Devon’s new Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy 2020-25: ‘Healthy and Happy Communities’. Its overriding purpose was to explore that human dimension: the relationship between the health of people and that of the planet, and to make recommendations accordingly.

The thirteen recommendations of the Public Health Annual Report were therefore;

1.     to recognise and mitigate (wherever possible) the impact of changes to the health of the planet on health and social inequality;

2.     that the wider public health community contribute to the Climate Emergency response;

3.     that Local Authority policies describe their impact on planetary health as well as public health;

4.     that policies on cutting greenhouse gases and improving the environment should also be used to ‘level up’ and reduce inequalities in health;

5.     to embed sustainable commissioning, by ensuring providers were reducing carbon footprints;

6.     to use the Government’s plans for housing / new developments to embed health in ‘place’ (e.g. improve air quality, increase active travel, building Passive Houses etc);

7.     take every opportunity, individually and collectively, to increase active travel;

8.     to support the understanding of, access to and use of the natural landscape to promote health and wellbeing;

9.     to promote ‘reduce’ and ‘re-use’ as extensively as recycling;

10.  to promote healthy eating advice (advocating a diet rich in vegetables, nuts,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 507.

In accordance with the Council's Public Participation Rules, the relevant Cabinet Member had provided a response to one question from a member of the public relating to the easing of the current lockdown in relation to enabling residents to get to work by cycling and walking, including kilometres, locations and speed for safe spaces.

A copy of the question and answer would be sent to the questioner who was not present in the meeting.

[NB: A copy of the questions and answers are appended to these minutes and are also available on the Council’s Website at http://www.devon.gov.uk/dcc/committee/mingifs.html]

The Registers of Decisions taken by Members under the urgency provisions or delegated powers are available for inspection 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. A schedule of the decisions taken since the last meeting is attached.

The Registers of Decisions taken by Members under the urgency provisions or delegated powers were available for inspection 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. 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 may be viewed at  https://new.devon.gov.uk/democracy/officer-decisions/.

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.

[NB: The Forward Plan is available on the Council's website at:http://democracy.devon.gov.uk/mgListPlans.aspx?RPId=133&RD=0&bcr=1 ]

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 (at http://democracy.devon.gov.uk/mgListPlans.aspx?RPId=133&RD=0).

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 of Schedule 12A of the Act namely, the financial or business affairs of a third party and of the County Council 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 Hart, SECONDED by Councillor McInnes 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 Paragraph 3 of Schedule 12A of the Act namely, the financial or business affairs of a third party and of the County Council 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 Head of Economy, Enterprise and Skills (EES/20/2) relating to skills provision in East Devon, attached for Members of the Committee.

(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 Connett, Dewhirst, Hannaford, Randall–Johnson and Whitton attended remotely in accordance with Standing Order 25(2) and the Local Authorities and Police and Crime Panels (Coronavirus) (Flexibility of Local Authority and Police and Crime Panel Meetings) (England and Wales) Regulations 2020 and spoke to this item).

The Cabinet considered the Report of the Head of Economy, Enterprise and Skills (EES/20/2) relating to skills provision in East Devon and the significance of this to the Devon economy, 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.

Members considered the proposals, as outlined in the Report, including relevant technical data, financial and legal considerations and risk management as well as options and alternatives.

Officers responded to a number of questions relating to equipment, leases and governance arrangements.

The matter having been debated and the other relevant factors (e.g. environmental, carbon impact, equality and public health) set out in the Head of Service’s Report and/or referred to above having been considered:

it was MOVED by Councillor Gilbert, SECONDED by Councillor Hart, and

RESOLVED that the recommendations as outlined at (a) to (d) of the Report relating to skills and training provision in East Devon, required leases, governance arrangements, revenue expenditure and relevant delegations, be approved.