Cabinet

Cabinet Members’ Reports

The following reports from Cabinet Members cover the period from 13 December 2013.

Leader - Ms Louise Goldsmith

1 The Leader joined fellow members of the Coast to Capital Local Enterprise Partnership at a meeting to discuss with representatives from the Department for Transport on 19 December in London. The Director General, International Security and Environment Group, Department for Transport, discussed the Airports Commission’s findings and how that is likely to affect future policy. The Leader stressed the importance of Gatwick to the Coast to Capital and wider South East, and discussed how government funding could improve connectivity at Gatwick Airport.

2 The Chairman of the Independent Economic Commission presented the Commission’s findings to the West Sussex Cabinet on 28 January. The Commission was asked to provide an objective assessment of how the County Council could support the economy of West Sussex. The recommendations focused on how West Sussex can realise the full potential of its assets and engage more closely and productively with businesses to improve the county as a place to work, do business and live. In the coming months, the Commission’s finding will be the subject of a Member Development Day and shared with partners.

Adult Social Care and Health - Mr Peter Catchpole

3 The Cabinet Member recently agreed to begin procurement for a new Integrated Community Equipment Service, to commence on 1 April. The county-wide service will meet a wide range of therapeutic, mobility, communication, independence and rehabilitation needs within the home. The service has been commissioned jointly by the County Council and the Clinical Commissioning Groups. The procurement process will seek continuity of a high quality service that can take advantage of the latest best practice to improve access to the service, ensure timely deliveries and prompt collections from customers, increase recycling and make the best use of technology to help West Sussex residents remain safe and independent in their own homes.

4 The Cabinet Member visited the County Council-run Resource Centre, Marjorie Cobby House in Selsey on 4 February to discuss the plans for forthcoming refurbishment. Marjorie Cobby House provides care and accommodation for up to 34 older people for respite breaks or rehabilitation stays. The home will remain in occupation during the refurbishment although bed availability will reduce where essential. It is anticipated that the work will begin towards the end of February. The Cabinet Member was reassured to see that some remedial work had already been undertaken.

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Cabinet Member for Children – Start of Life – Mr Peter Evans

5 On 13 December The Discovery New School in received confirmation from the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Schools of the decision to close the school by 4 April following concerns about the standard of education. The County Council is now required to identify alternative school places under the published admissions process for the 67 pupils at the school in an open and fair manner. The County Council has also provided advice and support to parents and is continuing to work with the Department of Education (DfE) to ensure the transition period is managed with as little disruption as possible to the pupils. The Cabinet Member has also committed to work alongside the DfE to investigate other possible solutions in order to secure the best outcomes for the pupils.

6 The Cabinet Member has endorsed a decision regarding the future organisation of schools in Worthing. The majority of schools in Worthing are currently organised into First, Middle and High schools and the locality has a rising number of pupils with pressure for places in some areas. Following a public consultation, the Cabinet Member has endorsed proposals for the next stage of consultation to introduce a two-tier system of all- through primary, or a mix of infant and junior schools, which would allow pupils to transfer to secondary school at the appropriate Key Stage in line with the National Curriculum. The majority of proposals will proceed as set out in the original consultation. However, proposals for Goring CE First School, Elm Grove First School, Thomas A’Becket First School and Thomas A’Becket Middle School have been amended in light of the consultation responses. Should no further reasonable and significant objections be received, the proposals to effect the change in the age of transfer for September 2015 will be implemented.

7 The Children Looked After and Care Leavers Strategy 2014-17 was launched on 16 January. The strategy provides the framework for members, officers and partners in fulfilling their duties and responsibilities as corporate parents of children looked after. It aims to ensure that the children are happy, healthy and safe and have the opportunity to achieve their full potential by providing effective support, with special attention to the most vulnerable. The strategy sets out an integrated, whole-system approach to supporting children and families, bringing together activities across the County Council and partner organisations. This includes a clear focus on supporting families to stay together, wherever it is safe to do so, and minimising the need for children to become looked after.

8 The Cabinet Member has attended launch events for some of the eight newly established Early Years Hubs. The Hubs were developed with parents and are designed to make it easier for families with young disabled children to access advice, guidance and services at a convenient location. They will work closely with Child Development Centres run by Health Trusts and also new specialist health visitors. The Hubs will offer access to a range of facilities, from Children and Family Centres in East Preston, Bognor Nursery School, Chichester Nursery School, Horsham Nursery School, Langley Green, Sydney West (Burgess Hill), Boundstone Nursery School (Lancing) and County Council Report 305 14 February 2014 Cabinet

Durrington. A Sensory Bus has also been developed to take the provision out into the more rural areas of the county.

Cabinet Member for Community Wellbeing - Mrs Christine Field

9 The Cabinet Member attended the Safer West Sussex Partnership Executive Board on 10 January at which the partnership’s community safety priorities for 2014 to 2017 were agreed. The priorities and timescale align with those set out in Sussex Police’s Police and Crime Plan. During February and March the Partnership will invite a wide range of stakeholders to contribute to operational delivery plans for each of the strategic priorities. The County’s Community Safety Agreement will set out the priorities and the delivery plans and will be published on the County Council’s website on 1 April.

10 The Cabinet Member was pleased to promote a number of initiatives to encourage residents to start the New Year with a focus on health. Free NHS health checks run by the three West Sussex Prevention Assessment Teams are available to all residents aged between 40 and 74 years (without any existing condition). The focus is on preventing major causes of illness such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes and kidney disease. A campaign run by Alcohol Concern, ‘Dry January’, challenged residents to stop drinking for 31 days. It aimed to get people thinking about their drinking habits and breaking bad habits to cut down their alcohol intake and improve their long- term health. The Change4Life Smart Swap campaign encourages people to make one easy swap to things they eat and drink every day, such as sugary drinks to sugar-free varieties. Further information on these health promotion campaigns is available on the County Council and West Sussex Wellbeing website.

Cabinet Member for Corporate Relations - Mr Bob Lanzer

11 The Cabinet Member has initiated a Networked Councillor Project to assist in developing new ways of working with members. The project has been established in consultation with the Member Development Group to explore how elected members can use a range of social media tools and techniques to engage with their community. A group of members will undertake an initial project, and the outcomes will be used to help develop a range of new and more effective ways of working suited to the needs and preferences of each member.

12 The Cabinet Member has established a Task and Finish Group (TFG) to review the County Council’s webcasting arrangements. The County Council is committed to webcasting meetings of significant public interest to ensure open and transparent government and to promote the work of the authority in West Sussex. The TFG will propose recommendations and options for the future provision of webcasting at the County Council. Both this and the Networked Councillor project support the County Council’s ‘digital by design’

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approach to ‘Future Council’ by focusing on the role members play in engaging with and building stronger communities.

13 In December the Cabinet Member approved the procurement of two new Select Lists of Contractors to cover the maintenance and specialist works that Facilities Management is responsible for across the county. One list will be set up for emergency and reactive works. The second list will be used to deliver the Facilities Management Revenue and Capital programme of works. The renewal of the Select Lists will allow contractors across West Sussex and elsewhere who are unable to get work from the current list to apply for one or both of the new Select List categories. The County Council will be working specifically with local small and medium-sized enterprises to encourage them to apply for the new lists which will hopefully have a positive effect on the economy of West Sussex.

14 The Cabinet Member is pleased to note that significant interest was expressed in a staff workshop held on 27 January to discuss the opportunities, challenges and support for teams and services interested in or considering new forms of organisation such as staff mutuals and social enterprises. Presentations from the Head of the Mutuals Programme at the Cabinet Office, as well as the Chairman of Crawley Clinical Commissioning Group who established the NHS’s first community services social enterprise, helped attendees to gain first-hand experience and insight into the growing number of ‘spin-out’ organisations nationally. A follow-up workshop is scheduled for the end of March to further support interest from staff wanting to explore the option of running a staff mutual or social enterprise in line with the County Council’s policy decision taken in 2012 to encourage such requests.

Cabinet Member for Finance - Mr Michael Brown

15 The Cabinet Member is pleased to confirm the full allocation of the Members’ Big Society Fund and Social Enterprise Fund for 2013/14. The Members’ Big Society Fund was established in April 2011 to allow members to help local residents achieve Big Society objectives in their local division. In 2013/14 £330,000 was made available and bids totalling over three times the fund amount were received, highlighting the importance and popularity of the scheme. The Social Enterprise Fund was established to provide financial support to social enterprise activity in West Sussex to further and to complement the well-established support services managed by the County Council and delivered along with partners. £300,000 was available to enterprises in this financial year. The Cabinet Member recognises the importance of being able to support local-level projects with finance and advice and is committed to continue this support for local communities and local social enterprises that deliver on economic as well as on social outcomes. Both funds will be available for further bids in 2014/15 and members and local enterprises are invited to apply. In 2014/15 the budget for the Big Society Fund is increased to £380,000 and the Social Enterprise Fund to £350,000.

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16 The Cabinet Member joined the Leader on a panel to award over £500,000 to support start-ups and growing businesses in West Sussex. The ‘Be the Business’ grant programme was launched officially by the County Council last August and was funded by the Kick Start Programme. To further support local businesses and the local economy, the Cabinet Member has confirmed the availability of an additional £250,000 to allow previously unsuccessful bids to be considered in a further round in 2013/14. The Cabinet Member and Leader are committed to supporting local businesses during the current difficult economic climate and have therefore proposed the allocation of £500,000 to the ‘Be the Business’ grant programme in the budget for 2014/15.

Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport - Mr Pieter Montyn

17 The Airports Commission interim report identifies Gatwick as one of the airports suitable for an additional runway. Gatwick Airport Limited’s (GAL’s) proposal is for one new runway, sufficiently separated to the south of the existing runway, to permit fully independent operation. The Commission has requested that further information is provided and local consultation is undertaken during 2014. The Commission will make its recommendations in 2015. The Cabinet Member has set up a Task and Finish Group to consider the consultation on GAL’s proposals and has already met representatives of GAL and its consultants to discuss the company’s vision of an expanded Airport. The Group has had its first meeting and is currently devising the priority issues for its consideration and its programme of activity to support that.

18 West Sussex Highways responded to over 700 out-of-hours calls over the Christmas and New Year period, mostly regarding fallen trees, flooding and potholes. Many areas have been affected by flooding on the Arun, Rother, Lavant and Mole rivers and the Aldingbourne Rife. The flooding has impacted on infrastructure across the county. Work undertaken as part of ‘Operation Watershed’, although not complete, has helped to prevent a repeat of the some of the floods that hit properties and business last year. The condition of roads in West Sussex, particularly the unclassified network, has suffered from successive bad winters over the last four years. Additional funding in the region of £30m has been identified to improve West Sussex’s roads during 2014/15 and 2015/16 under the ‘Better Roads’ Programme. A Cabinet Member decision is expected in February.

Cabinet Member for Residents’ Services - Mr Lionel Barnard

19 The Cabinet Member attended Surrey County Council’s (SCC’s) Public Services Summit on 9 January. SCC is leading a Public Service Transformation project with the other local authorities and emergency services in Surrey. The aim is to explore how greater collaboration can improve to services and make financial savings for each organisation. The Cabinet Member was invited to explore a proposal for a joint emergency services control room to replace the 13 currently being used across Surrey

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and Sussex. If pursued the project would seek to draw on funding from the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) Public Services Transformational budget. Business cases for each of the work streams are being developed and the proposal could be implemented in 2020.

20 The Cabinet Member attended the meeting of the South East 7 (SE7) Leaders and Chief Executives on 4 December. At the meeting West Sussex withdrew from the highways and waste integration programmes, following the failed bid for DCLG Transformation Challenge funding. It was agreed that SE7 partners would work together to influence the Government on legislation relating to government IT and information sharing. It was also agreed that the County Council would lead work to scope the potential for collaboration on pension reform in the light of possible legislative changes to the way local government pensions are managed. A business case for joint working with SE7 partners on the issue will be discussed at the next meeting in March.

Contact: Matt Hall, 033022 22539

Background Papers

None

County Council Report 309 14 February 2014