Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillors Colin Smith and Robert Evans.

Although not a Member of the Executive, Cllr Angela Wilkins also provided apologies for the meeting.

Minutes of the meetings held on 24^th March 2015, 25^th March 2015, and

24^th April 2015 were agreed.

In accordance with the Council’s Constitution, questions must be received in writing four working days before the date of the meeting. Therefore please ensure that questions are received by the Democratic Services Team by 5pm on Thursday 14^th May 2015.

A number of questions had been received for oral and written reply. Details of the questions and replies are at Appendix A.

Report ED15501

Report ED15501 advised on updated/additional capital schemes within the Council’s Basic Need Capital Programme.

Further feasibilities were undertaken at a number of schools during 2014 and 2015 linked to delivery of the primary school development plan. With a projected growth in pupil numbers, further projects had also been added to the education capital programme. Projects within the programme were ranked as either Priority 1 (schemes in delivery or urgently required to ensure sufficiency of places) or Priority 2 (schemes which might be required to satisfy future demand, or where further developmental work is required). For both priorities further work was required to progress schemes to a position where they could be brought to tender stage quickly should demand for places increase.

The Department for Education (DfE) recently announced that L B Bromley had received a further capital allocation (Basic Need Capital Grant) of £8,837,573 for 2017-18. The programme agreed by the Education Portfolio Holder on 27th January 2015 highlighted schemes brought into the list of funded projects being delivered and projects in development - the latter only being brought into the programme upon funding being available. This broadly correlated with Priority 1 and Priority 2 projects. The additional £8,837,573 capital allocation would allow a number of other schemes to be brought forward for development based on need and affordability. The total cost of schemes highlighted in Report ED15501 amounted to £96.150m.

The timetable for the projects was driven by the need to have accommodation in place ready to satisfy demand at schools listed in the report. Following completion of feasibility studies, a detailed programme for each project would include the development of requirements and specification, consultation, achievement of planning consent, and delivery of the main construction contract.

In view of recent difficulties in attracting contractors to tender for works (strong competition for building works), Report ED15501 also outlined an updated procurement methodology.

It was confirmed that Ward Members would be consulted on individual schemes in the report at a stage when the projects were being developed. The Portfolio Holder for Education  expressed his wish to see an increased level of Ward Member involvement.

RESOLVED that:

(1)  the Bromley Basic Need Programme at Appendix 4 to Report ED15501 be noted, particularly those schemes in delivery and development;

(2)  the fully costed appraisal for new schemes at Beacon House, Blenheim Primary School, Farnborough Primary School, Green Street Green Primary School, James Dixon Primary School, Leesons Primary School, Marian Vian Primary School, Poverest Primary School, St George’s CE Primary School, St Mary Cray Primary School and The Pioneer Academy (Stewart Fleming) be approved, in addition to the projects outlined in the previous report agreed by Executive on 2nd April 2014;

(3)  changes to the procurement strategy outlined at paragraph 3.9 of Report ED15501 be agreed to address present volatility in market conditions; and

(4)  the Chief Executive be authorised to submit planning applications in association with these works.

Report CS14141

Members noted an annual update on the work of the Executive Working Party on Child Safeguarding and Corporate Parenting 2014-15, the Working party taking a lead role in:

• promoting safeguarding and preventing neglect and abuse in Bromley, and;

• ensuring that children looked after by Bromley have their interests protected, opportunities maximised, educational achievement enhanced, and voices heard with care services shaped to meet the children’s needs.

The Working Party assists the Portfolio Holder carry out his responsibilities and provides a focus on services to safeguard children and promote life chances for Looked After Children (LAC) through detailed review and challenge.

The Leader suggested that it was necessary to further promote the corporate parenting role of the Council particularly to a wider number of Council Members. The Portfolio Holder for Renewal and Recreation indicated a need to assist in helping Looked After Children achieve an equality of opportunity.

RESOLVED that the report be noted.

Report CS14127

At its meeting on 15th October 2014, the Executive approved drawn-down of £345,700 non–ring fenced adoption reform grant for 2014/15 but deferred a decision on 2015/16 grant draw-down at £272,400 until nearer the 2015/16 financial year. Members could then consider a progress report before considering the release of further funding.

Report CS14127 detailed adoption and permanence activity since April 2014 and sought approval for draw-down of an adjusted sum of £280,400 for 2015/16.

Developments nationally in relation to Adoption Orders were highlighted in the report, particularly in the context of Appeal Court Judgements. The adoption performance of L B Bromley since 2011-12 was also outlined, L B Bromley being one of only 19 authorities to have demonstrated year on year improvement for the average time between a child entering care and moving to its adoptive family. Numbers being adopted however were not as high as planned in view of the family court not always agreeing to the authority’s plan for adoption and the court agreeing to the making of placement orders. There was a significant increase in the making of Special Guardianship Orders (SGOs) in 2013/14 and 2014/15 and an increased level of ongoing support to the children and their special guardians.

The level of work securing adoptive placements and the assessment of prospective adopters and special guardianship/connected person carers had continued at a pace. Without resources from the adoption reform grant, significant pressure would be placed on the service in meeting current demand; capacity would not be available to allocate Special Guardianship assessments in-house and the assessments would need to be commissioned from external providers at a greater cost. 

The Leader felt that it was necessary to be aware of an exit strategy to ensure that the Council would not be left with a financial liability should an increase in the making of Special Guardianship Orders continue (requiring increased ongoing support to the children and their special guardians) with a reduction in the level of adoptions.

Members were advised that L B Bromley had achieved 21 adoptions in 2014/15. This replaced the projected figure recorded at paragraph 3.15 of Report CS14127. 

RESOLVED that:

(1) the progress report be noted; and

(2) draw-down of the non-ring fenced adoption reform grant of £280,400  for 2015/16 be approved.

Report CS14142

Report CS14142 sought approval for the release of ‘ring-fenced’ funding for cohort 4 of the Department for Education’s Step Up To Social Work Programme, the funding to be released in instalments over two financial years: 2015/16 and 2016/17.

As part of the cohort 4 delivery, L B Bromley was required to commission a higher education institute (HEI)/university to ensure the programme produces skilled, confident and capable social workers for front line child care teams. The report set out a procurement strategy for commissioning the HEI and Members were asked to approve the strategy. It was proposed that the contract to procure the HEI service begin on 29thJune 2015 and end on

30th April 2017 and include recruitment and selection of the students, design of the course, course delivery and close –down, and evaluation of the course.

L B Bromley would take the lead authority role in a Regional Partnership (RP), receiving total grant funding for the programme on behalf of other partnership authorities and managing both the project and contract with the HEI. Known as the Surrey and South East London RP, the partnership now included the London Boroughs of Bromley, Bexley, Lewisham, Lambeth and Southwark, the Royal Borough of Greenwich and Surrey County Council. Partnerships were able to work closely with their chosen HEI to create a bespoke course and the Surrey and South East London RP was looking to recruit 35 trainees across the authorities with L B Bromley looking to take on six students. It was estimated that L B Bromley would receive total funding of £1,211,750 over the financial years 2015/16 and 2016/17 (based on 35 trainees being taken on to the programme). The funding would be released in stages on meeting certain milestones, Report CS14142 outlining timescales for its release.

L B Bromley had previously participated in and had lead authority role for Cohorts 2 and 3 of the Step Up Programme and details were provided of outcomes.

Further details of the Programme as applying to L B Bromley were outlined to Members including its benefits. Councillor Fawthrop (Chairman of Executive and Resources PDS Committee) understood that only one student had withdrawn from the third cohort of thirty two students. 

RESOLVED that:

(1) release of the ‘ring-fenced’ funding for 2015/16 and 2016/17 related to cohort 4 of the Step Up To Social Work Programme be approved; and

(2)  the procurement strategy to deliver cohort 4 be agreed.

Report CS14134

Approval was sought to tender for substance misuse services.

For the procurement of a new contract to take effect from January 2016, Members had previously requested a policy review to develop a revised approach to counter substance misuse - information was to be provided on outcomes that could be expected from the serviceand the effectiveness of treatments.

Work since undertaken included:

• clarification of the legal basis for providing substance misuse services;
• assessment of the local population need for substance misuse services, including a review of the effectiveness of treatments; and
• commissioning options in relation to the above points.

Copies of the full needs assessment for alcohol and drugs misuse were provided online and copied to the Members’ room at the Civic Centre. Key points from each assessment were presented in Report CS14134.

There were a number of risks should services not be commissioned for people misusing drugs or alcohol. It was recommended that substance misuse services continue to be funded to provide a full range of treatments outlined in guidance. The report outlined how commissioning arrangements for the services could be more efficient with an opportunity provided to revise service specifications and create greater efficiencies.

On success and outcomes, officers were aware of the proportion of patients not returning for treatment. Successful completion of treatment was defined as leaving treatment free from the substance of choice and not re-presenting to services within six months. This was a Public Health Outcome Framework indicator – accepted nationally - against which the local authority was measured. Although the proportion in effective treatment in L B Bromley was a little lower than for England, successful completion rates were higher, suggesting that Bromley services were working effectively and meeting statutory requirements. Some 20% of patients were considered to have successfully completed treatment and to have been cured. It was agreed to provide an indication of the number of people this percentage represented.

It was intended to realign contracts for the main services and tender those services as one contract. As such the Leader supported the recommendation to grant a waiver to extend the shared care contract from October to December 2015 so aligning it for inclusion with the other services to be tendered as one contract. Noting the recommendation from the Executive and Resources PDS Committee, the Leader agreed that further work (and information) was needed before the tender process could begin. It was important that relevant Members had a part in the process for defining the tender specifications. The Portfolio Holder for Resources suggested that the views of residents be considered along with desired outcomes from the NHS Bromley Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) - it was necessary to work closely with the CCG in this area. Successful outcomes could then be built into the tender process.

In merging the current contracts, it was explained that the services would be re-specified in a different way. More was known about the adult population, those who use the service,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 202.

Report DRR15/021

Members considered the revised Local Development Scheme (LDS) for 2015/16 which set out the timescale for preparing the Borough’s Local Plan. The report had previously been considered and supported by the Development Control Committee on 24^th March 2015. For the information of Members, an amended Diagram 2 at Paragraph 3.6 of the LDS was tabled.

It was anticipated that the Local Plan would be completed by 2016. Included within the revised LDS was further required evidence to ensure the Local Plan is ‘sound’. Risks associated with this were also included along with measures to mitigate the risks. The revised LDS also outlined the timescale for preparing a Bromley Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL).

RESOLVED that the revised Local Development Scheme at Appendix 1 to Report DRR15/021be approved as the formal management document for the production of the Bromley Local Plan.

There were no additional issues to be reported from the Executive and Resources PDS Committee.

The Chairman to move that the Press and public be excluded during consideration of the items of business listed below as it is likely in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings that if members of the Press and public were present there would be disclosure to them of exempt information.

The exempt minutes were agreed.

Report DRR15/039

Report DRR15/039 provided details of tender returns for the future management of the Churchill Theatre when current arrangements expire on 3^rd April 2016. Members agreed to the award of a contract.

Adjournment of Meeting

As recorded at Minute 203 above, Members agreed to adjourn the meeting until 10 a.m. on 22^nd May 2015 in order that proper consideration could be given to the report at item 11 of the agenda.

It was not possible for officers to be able to release the report until the afternoon of 19^th May 2015 and the meeting was adjourned at 8.10 p.m. on

20^th May 2015 in order that Members could have further time to be able to reach a fair and balanced decision on the matter as quickly as possible.

The meeting was accordingly reconvened at 10 a.m. on 22^nd May 2015 to consider the item and the meeting concluded at 10.12 a.m. that day.