Cabinet

Cabinet Members’ Reports

The following reports from Cabinet Members cover the period from 24th July 2009.

Leader of the Council - Mr Henry Smith

1 On 16th September the Leader welcomed Phil Hope MP, Minister for Care Services, to the Maidenbower Day Centre to meet residents from the Crawley area who have taken personal control of their social care support arrangements funded by the County Council through ‘self-directed support’. The Leader highlighted how the County Council was leading on the personalisation agenda through a move from the overly bureaucratic to one that puts vulnerable people at the centre of the care they receive. An innovative website has been set up which enables residents to select and compare care providers across West Sussex. It ties in with the launch of the 2009/10 West Sussex Care Guide which gives information and advice on support and care services for adults across West Sussex. The Leader also took the opportunity to stress how an approach like self-directed support would be even better had the County Council not received such poor financial settlements over the past seven years.

2 On 25th September the Leader, together with the County Chairman, Cabinet Members and Dr Walsh for the Liberal Democrats, met the West Sussex Members of Parliament. The Leaders of the West Sussex borough and district councils were also invited to attend this particular meeting to participate in the main item for discussion which focused on prospects for finance, services and joint working. The meeting also received updates on Children and Young People’s Services, Academies, swine flu, the Comprehensive Area Assessment and the National Park. These meetings are held two or three times a year to discuss issues affecting the County Council and its residents and to help inform MPs so they are better placed to represent those concerns at Westminster and with their constituents.

3 This year the Leader has attended all the main political party conferences to lead the South East County Leaders’ (SECL’s) promotion of their policy theme - ‘Bringing it Home: Making Public Services Local’. At each conference SECL has hosted a fringe event and the Leader, as Chairman of SECL, has chaired a panel of politicians, commentators and journalists to debate the topic. The aim of each event has been to promote the interests of communities in the South East with the participants discussing why they, and the next government, need to make public services local. The events were very successful and attracted keen interest and support for the policy being promoted by SECL.

Deputy Leader - Mr Lionel Barnard

4 In April the Deputy Leader approved the On-line Service Delivery Strategy as the mandate for action to deliver the County Council’s vision to deliver more effective and efficient services to all customers. Since that time the Deputy County Council Report 99 16th October 2009 Cabinet

Leader has been working with officers on the development of some of the key deliverables of the strategy. The main focus has been the development of a new website. This has included the procurement of new IT equipment to run the website, in particular to provide on-line payment facilities, a service which the Registration Service has recently introduced to its customers. A specialist partner will work alongside the newly created On-line Service Delivery (OSD) Office on the look and feel of the website and the OSD office will work with all directorates on an audit and migration of existing web pages. A members’ portal is also being considered to deal with complaints and correspondence through a co-ordinated process.

Cabinet Member for Adults’ Services - Mr Peter Catchpole

5 The Cabinet Member welcomes the inspection being undertaken by the Care Quality Commission of adults’ social care, with particular emphasis on adult safeguarding and increased choice and control for older people. The inspection, which includes interviews with customers, carers, officers, elected members and representatives of partner and voluntary organisations, will check a variety of elements including performance management and governance arrangements, resource allocation and the consistency of professional knowledge and performance. The County Council’s capacity to improve will also be assessed. The inspection report will be issued shortly before Christmas.

6 The Cabinet Member was pleased to open the Littlehampton Learning Shop on 18th September following building work and refurbishment to make the premises compliant with the Disability Discrimination Act. The learning shop, which will be open on weekdays from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., will offer residents a wide range of courses including ICT and languages, with employability skills and core work skills such as English and maths. The shop will bring adult learning provision to the heart of Littlehampton town centre and it is hoped will make a significant contribution to improving employability as well as providing information, advice and guidance.

7 The Cabinet Member commends those involved in the resettlement of vulnerable older people, all UK Nationals, arriving at Gatwick Airport from Zimbabwe. The operation, funded by the Government, is an excellent example of collaborative working: County Council, Health Service and voluntary sector staff have worked extremely hard to undertake preliminary social and health assessments and arrange temporary accommodation until these vulnerable people move on to the area in which they will reside permanently. Since April, 15 groups of vulnerable people, all aged over 70 years, have arrived on weekly flights and have been accommodated for a maximum of two nights. Over the next month younger adults (aged around 45 years) with learning difficulties and mental health issues, are expected to arrive in the country to be resettled.

8 Earlier this year, as part of the ‘Keep West Sussex Working’ initiative, the County Council funded the Citizen’s Advice Bureaux (CAB) in West Sussex to provide additional debt advice until the end of September. A new 100 County Council Report 16th October 2009 Cabinet

contracted service for the provision of Community Legal Advice, which will enable greater volumes of advice to be delivered at no additional cost to the local authorities and be funded jointly with borough and district councils and the Legal Services Commission, will commence in April 2010. The new service was to have been in place by October 2009, but the delay of six months left a potential period during which there would be less advice available, including at the time of the year when demand for such advice usually peaks. The Cabinet Member is therefore pleased that, with the assistance of borough and district councils, funding has been made available to enable the CAB to continue to provide a higher level of debt advice until the end of March 2010.

Cabinet Member for Children and Young People’s Services - Mrs Pat Arculus

9 Following a recent review of progress on the Intervention Notice the Minister of State for Children and Young People asked the County Council to establish an Improvement Board to oversee progress with its improvement plans. Chaired by the Executive Director Adults and Children, the Board comprises representatives from the Department for Children, Schools and Families, the Government Office for the South East and the County Council. The first meeting of the Board took place on 27th August and the County Council reported that work on the backlog of initial assessments had been completed. The Board will meet monthly and will also review the County Council’s progress with the implementation of the Children’s Delivery Programme, recruitment and retention of social workers and the development of an electronic case management system. The decision whether to come out of intervention is not expected before March 2010 and will be made by the Minister.

10 On 8th September the Cabinet Member attended a meeting of the West Sussex Rural Partnership focusing on children and young people. During the meeting the Cabinet Member gave a presentation about the work of the Children’s Trust and how it aims to improve the outcomes for all children and young people living in West Sussex. The Cabinet Member explained how the Children and Young People’s Plan and related initiatives were being developed to provide better family support and childcare provision in rural areas and emphasised the importance of working with the Rural Partnership. The Cabinet Member highlighted how the roll out of Children and Family Centres has been adapted to provide a mobile service.

Cabinet Member for Communications - Mr Brad Watson

11 The Cabinet Member congratulates Penoyre and Prasad, the architect for Crawley Library, on winning the ‘Overall Winner’ award at this year’s Design and Sustainability Awards. The building incorporates many sustainable design features that the awards aim to champion, including a mixed mode ventilation system, biomass boiler and sedum roof. Building work has now started at East Grinstead Library to remodel the ground floor to accommodate a Children and Family Centre. During the work, which will be County Council Report 101 16th October 2009 Cabinet

completed in February 2010, a limited library service will be provided from temporary accommodation to the rear of the existing building.

12 The Cabinet Member is pleased that this year’s Summer Reading Challenge for children was once again very successful in encouraging children to continue to read throughout the summer. This year’s theme of ‘Quest Seekers’ proved particularly popular and over 12,000 children registered across all 36 libraries and three mobiles in West Sussex. Final figures are still to be confirmed but it seems likely that the number of children completing the challenge, by reading six books, will exceed the 2008 figure of 5,900.

13 On 16th and 17th September the Cabinet Member attended a meeting of the Assembly of European Regions Bureau and Standing Committee on Institutional Affairs. Among other items, the importance of Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) and micro businesses in regional economic recovery was discussed and a number of locally focused activities are being considered for SME Week in May 2010. The Baltic Sea Strategy, which focuses on co-operation between bordering regions to promote environmental sustainability, economic development, infrastructure and marine security on this shared area, was discussed. The Cabinet Member continued to reinforce the need for similar co-operation in the Channel basin on maritime management and coastal regeneration and, as President of the Channel Arc Manche Assembly, led the debate on the issue at the South East Local Partnership Open Days on 6th and 7th October.

14 The Cabinet Member congratulates all those involved in the highly successful publicity campaign to persuade young people to become more involved in the democratic process through the County Council’s Youth Cabinet elections. More than 24,500 votes were cast in this year’s elections, three times more than last year. The campaign was Highly Commended in the Strategic Communications category at the prestigious International Visual Communication Association Clarion Awards, which recognise the importance of corporate social responsibility, diversity, social inclusion, sustainable development and ethical debate and are highly regarded by the business and community sector. The Highly Commended Plaque was collected by members of the Youth Cabinet at the awards ceremony in on 25th September.

Cabinet Member for Education and Schools - Mr Peter Griffiths

15 The Cabinet Member has attended the official openings of the first West Sussex academies which opened in September; the Littlehampton Academy; the Shoreham Academy (formally Kings Manor); the Sir Robert Woodard Academy (formally Boundstone) in Lancing; and Midhurst Rother Academy. Four newly appointed Principals are in place and all staffing structures have been implemented as well as curriculum changes. The Department for Children, Families and Schools has funded new uniforms, together with school refurbishment grants for the existing ‘interim’ buildings. In parallel to the successful opening of the Academies, work has been continuing on the 102 County Council Report 16th October 2009 Cabinet

next phase in the programme - ‘design and build’. Balfour Beatty has been appointed as the short-listed bidder to undertake the physical transformation of all four West Sussex Academies. By September 2012 it is anticipated that 6,000 students will move into the new school buildings.

16 The Cabinet Member was pleased with this year’s GCSE and ‘A’ level results in West Sussex. There was a further rise in 5+ A*-C grades (including English and mathematics) which continues the upward trend of the last five years. Results at the five West Sussex schools involved in the National Challenge, a scheme to ensure that at least 30% of pupils gain 5+ A*-C grades, also improved. Many schools had increases of over 5% in their results, with schools in Crawley and around Worthing showing the strongest upward trend. At ‘A’ Level, there was also an increase in the number of students achieving success. The number of students entered for ‘A’ level exams rose by approximately 6% on 2008 entries, with an increase in those students attaining the highest grades. Participation in learning post-16 continues to attract 85% of the age range, although the number of 17 to 18 year olds not in education employment or training has risen from 4.6% to 6.1%, which reflects the national trend.

17 The Cabinet Member is pleased to report that the numbers of permanent and fixed period exclusions fell in the academic year 2008/09 compared to the previous year. There were a total of 130 permanent exclusions in West Sussex in 2007/08, which fell to 103 in 2008/09, an approximate 20% reduction. Fixed period exclusions fell from approximately 6,200 incidents in 2007/08 to approximately 5,200 incidents in 2008/09, a 17% reduction. Headteachers have worked collaboratively with services and teams within the County Council to help bring down the numbers of exclusions by exploring alternatives to exclusion, where appropriate. Whilst these figures are encouraging, work will continue to reduce permanent exclusions further over the next few years.

18 On 17th September the Cabinet Member attended a welcome meeting for a number of new Headteachers in West Sussex schools. The ability to attract new headteachers has been helped by the West Sussex Leadership Development Strategy, which was established two years ago in response to national predictions of a shortage of senior leaders in schools. An Aspiring Heads Programme has been created for senior leaders from primary and secondary schools who are considering becoming headteachers. Of the 24 participants in last year’s programme, nine have already been appointed as headteachers. There are also leadership development opportunities through a placements programme which provides the opportunity for leaders at all levels to ‘step up’ by shadowing a leader in another school.

19 On 7th September the Cabinet Member visited Bolnore Village Primary School on its opening day. Activities included hand printing, storytelling and an activity trail for the first intake of 23 children. The school was established by the Bolnore School Group made up of parents and local residents, making it the first community-run school in the country. The Cabinet Member also attended a time capsule event at the school on 18th September where the reception class, known as Cherry Class, planted a capsule containing a class

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photograph, a school sweatshirt and a copy of the local newspaper carrying the story of the school’s opening. A copy of the original Bolnore School Group proposal which started the project, and some roots and soil from an ancient woodland site were also placed into the capsule.

Cabinet Member for Environment and Economy - Mrs Deborah Urquhart

20 The Cabinet Member attended the launch of 10:10 at the Tate Modern after the County Council became one of the first local authorities to sign up for the initiative. 10:10 is a climate change campaign which aims to get individuals, companies and institutions to reduce their carbon footprint by 10% during 2010. Residents will be encouraged to sign up to the national initiative and the Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources will focus on reducing energy and water usage at all County Council buildings and schools. The Cabinet Member also attended a Climate Change Adaptation Round Table event, organised by the Local Government Information Unit, to find out how local authorities should adapt to climate risks and actions to take. In addition, the Cabinet Member is delighted that ‘Engauge’, a project that encourages and helps schools to become more sustainable, has received support from HRH The Prince of Wales. The Prince praised the project as pioneering, enterprising and innovative.

21 The Cabinet Member attended a dinner hosted by the Duke of Norfolk at Arundel Castle for the Chairman of the Commission for Rural Communities (and the Government’s Rural Advocate). The Chairman was in Arundel to speak to local stakeholders about the effect of the recession on market towns and the rural economy. The Cabinet Member also attended a meeting of the South East Economic Delivery Council, chaired by the for the South East, which discussed the economic downturn. The Council also heard how businesses in the Crawley/Gatwick area were working with the County Council and others through the Gatwick Diamond initiative to make the most of the development opportunities, and that improvement to Gatwick Station and a higher education presence were crucial for future prosperity for the area.

22 The Cabinet Member has attended a workshop to discuss the options provided in the interim report of the West Sussex Post Office Closure Impact Study by the University of Chichester. Attendees included the Chairman of the Economic Skills and Enterprise Board, the Bishop of Horsham and representatives from other local authorities and partners. The discussions identified the roles of communities as key in mitigating the impact of closures, and the public sector in enabling and facilitating solutions that bring the right services to communities. The research was commissioned by the County Council following the implementation of the nation-wide Network Change Programme, in which 36 post office branches were closed in the county.

23 The County Council has joined Sussex Wildlife Trust’s Wildlife Guardian scheme. The Sussex Wildlife Trust was formed in 1961 and is the largest conservation organisation dedicated to conserving the natural heritage of 104 County Council Report 16th October 2009 Cabinet

Sussex. The Wildlife Guardian scheme supports the ‘Living Landscapes’ approach to landscape scale conservation. This new approach aims actively to encourage the joining up of reserves and key wildlife sites allowing wildlife to expand its habitat. In West Sussex the funding supports the Sussex Otters and Rivers Project, the West Weald Landscape Project and the Sussex Heathland Project. The Cabinet Member attended the launch and tour at Woods Mill and the inaugural dinner of the scheme at Knepp Castle hosted by Sir Charles and Lady Burrell, which included a whistle-stop tour and briefing of their innovative ‘rewilding’ project.

24 The Cabinet Member has opened the newly restored North Stoke Suspension Bridge. The bridge was badly damaged by a falling tree. The Amberley Society, in collaboration with the County Council, paved the way for 70 members of the Gurkha Field Support Squadron of 36 Engineer Regiment to rebuild the bridge as a training exercise. The bridge is the only suspension bridge open to the public in West Sussex. Following the restoration, the bridge has been renamed the Gurkha Suspension Bridge and will be highlighted in new Ordnance Survey maps.

25 The Cabinet Member is delighted with recent successes at the Record Office, which holds the archives of the county stretching back more than 1,200 years. During the summer an exhibition on scientist Thomas Harriot, who is believed to have made the first moon observations through a telescope, proved so popular it was extended by a further month. On 10th September a special behind-the-scenes afternoon was held as part of the national, annual Heritage Open Days programme. Also, after the huge success of the first Tithe Map Digitisation and Preservation Project, the Record Office has launched another two-year project called ‘Joining up our Heritage’ funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund. The project will enable the historical records and information from small local archives and museums to be accessible from one central database.

26 The Cabinet Member is pleased that the County Council has been chosen by Earlyarts to be a key partner in developing arts and culture for young children and families. The Arts Service is one of 23 partners chosen by Earlyarts, which was developed in 2002 to support professionals working creatively with families and young children. It is the only partner in the south east, outside London. The partners will work with Earlyarts to roll out a professional development programme across the country, enabling smaller organisations to join a nation-wide network and helping them work together. Under the initiative, the County Council will work with partners to plan and deliver regular training days to share and develop creative practice for professionals working in early years across the county and surrounding areas.

Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources - Ms Louise Goldsmith

27 The Cabinet Member is pleased to report that, at the end of July, a first payment of 16.3 pence in the pound was made to the creditors of Heritable. On 13th August the administrators issued a formal update report to creditors. The report stressed that the likely return of 70 to 80 pence outlined in the County Council Report 105 16th October 2009 Cabinet

April update remains unchanged. This is in line with the assumptions made in the County Council’s Medium-Term Financial Strategy and would lead ultimately to recovery of £9m to £10.5m. An anticipated loss of £2.6m has been recognised in the 2008/09 accounts, which represents the entirety of the expected loss. It is expected that a second payment of 10 pence in the pound will be made before the end of 2009. The Cabinet Member welcomes the Governance Committee’s recommendations for improvements to the Constitution, which include the creation of a member Treasury Management Panel.

28 The Cabinet Member has been in discussions with Chichester District Council and the voluntary sector to develop a Chichester Community Hub. The Fernleigh Centre is currently being used by a number of community groups in Chichester. However, the building is considered to be unsuitable for the project as it is in need of substantial improvement. Following the recent failure of the heating system, current user groups are being supported to find alternative accommodation.

Cabinet Member for Public Protection - Mr Peter Evans

29 Members will be aware that the World Health Organisation has declared an international Influenza Pandemic, recognising the rapid spread of the H1N1 flu virus. The UK has now moved from a containment phase to a treatment phase, which means that instead of testing and treating every possible case, the Health authorities are now focusing on treating people with symptoms. In the vast majority of cases of swine flu diagnosed in the UK, people have generally experienced a mild illness, with only a small number of more severe cases. Although the virus continues to spread within the UK, the Cabinet Member is confident that the County Council and its partners have contingency plans and procedures in place and is being updated regularly by the Emergency Management team.

30 The Cabinet Member has recently hosted two breakfast meetings for ‘Buy with Confidence’ members. The events are part of a new initiative piloted by the Trading Standards team and aim to give members the opportunity to meet other approved traders and to promote their business by networking. Launched in West Sussex in 2005, the service recognises reliable and trustworthy local businesses and protects consumers from rogue traders. This includes a register of approved local traders who have signed up to a set of rigid standards of customer service. There are currently 283 local businesses on the West Sussex Trading Standards Register and before joining businesses are required to undergo a strict approval procedure that includes an inspection, references and a Criminal Records Bureau check where necessary.

31 On 3rd October four specially trained West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service firefighters flew out to join the UK International Search and Rescue team in Indonesia. The firefighters are part of a 64-strong team sent from the UK to help with search and rescue operations as part of the international response to the recent earthquake. The firefighters are members of Fire and Rescue

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Service’s Technical Rescue Unit, which is based at Horley, and are specially trained to respond to disasters. The firefighters took special equipment designed to locate trapped casualties and remove them to safety and joined the humanitarian mission which is being co-ordinated by the Department of International Development. The mission is expected to last at two weeks and is comprised of doctors, sniffer dogs and specialist personnel from six other Fire and Rescue Services, including Hampshire, Essex and Kent.

32 On 24th September the Cabinet Member attended the Annual West Sussex Fire and Rescue Good Conduct and Long Service Medal Award Ceremony at Arundel Castle. Medals were presented to Fire and Rescue Service personnel by the Lord Lieutenant of West Sussex and the High Sheriff of West Sussex.

Cabinet Member for Strategic Planning and Transport - Mr Derek Whittington

33 The Cabinet Member is maintaining pressure on the Government to improve the A27 through West Sussex and has held regular meetings with the Regional Transport Board (RTB) to find the best possible solutions for the bottlenecks at Chichester, Arundel and Worthing. The RTB will commission several studies in key areas to see what should be included in its programme from 2014 and the Cabinet Member has secured top priority for the A27 Chichester to Brighton corridor. The has also accepted this as the top regional priority. The Infrastructure team will now work with other authorities and groups to ensure a strong local voice is heard.

34 In October the Cabinet Member will consider a decision to make revised planning applications and publish draft compulsory purchase orders and side road orders for the A24 Ashington to Southwater Gap Closure and Junction Improvement Scheme. The safety measures are intended to reduce the high rate of accidents on the road, which is a national primary route carrying over 30,000 vehicles per day. The scheme was granted planning permission in April 2005 and involves the closure of all 28 central reservation gaps and the provision of two-level compact grade separated junctions at three locations. Since then a review has been carried out on proposed access arrangements for businesses and residents. Construction of the scheme is programmed to begin in July 2012, subject to full approval by the Department for Transport and the availability of government and Council funding.

35 The Cabinet Member is pleased that a £5m bid submitted by the County Council, Brighton & Hove City Council and Adur District Council for government funds to help improve transport links around Shoreham has been approved. The funding will contribute to improving the A259 coast road, links between trains and buses and access to Shoreham Harbour. Work on the improvements is due to start in the spring of 2010 and will take a year to complete.

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36 The Cabinet Member is pleased that during the summer School Safety Zones at 28 schools across the county were implemented or are nearing completion. The zones aim to improve child safety and increase the perception of safety outside school gates through advisory speed limits and road markings. School Travel Advisers are visiting school assemblies where zones have been implemented and are encouraging more responsible parking around school sites. In addition, safety improvements were completed at a number of schools as part of the Safer Routes to School Programme. Both programmes are prioritised using school travel plans, feasibility studies, and accident and speed data to identify potential schemes. The approach aims to reduce car dependency and hence increase more sustainable methods of travelling to and from school, such as walking, cycling, car sharing and public transport.

Background Papers

Cabinet Member decision reports

Contact: Alison Crabb, Ext. 77200

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