Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council

Big plans, bright future

Cabinet Minutes

Date:
Thursday, 25th January, 2018
Time:
4.30pm
Place:
Jim Cooke Conference Suite, Stockton Central Library, Church Road, Stockton on Tees, TS18 1TU
 
Please note: all Minutes are subject to approval at the next Meeting

Attendance Details

Present:
Cllr Robert Cook(Chair), Cllr Jim Beall, Cllr Nigel Cooke, Cllr Mrs Ann McCoy, Cllr Steve Nelson, Cllr Michael Smith and Cllr Norma Wilburn.
Officers:
Neil Schneider (CE), Beccy Brown, Ged Morton (HR&L), Garry Cummings (F&BS), Ann Workman (AH), Martin Gray (CHS), Reuben Kench (CL&E), Richard McGuckin (EG&D), Jamie McCann, (CS), Julie Danks, Margaret Waggott, Peter Bell (DCE) .
In Attendance:
Cllr Lisa Grainge, Cllr Lynn Hall, Member of the Public.
Apologies for absence:
None.
Item Description Decision
Public
CAB
105/17		 WELCOME AND EVACUATION PROCEDURE
 The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting and the evacuation procedure was noted.
CAB
106/17		 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
 Councillor Bob Cook declared a personal non prejudicial interest in respect of agenda item 5 - Minutes of Various Bodies as he was a member of TVCA Cabinet.

Councillor Steve Nelson declared a personal non prejudicial interest in respect of agenda item 7 - VCSE Compact as he was a member of Catalyst.

Councillor Norma Wilburn declared a personal non prejudicial interest in respect of agenda item 10 - Economic Climate Report as she was a member of the Rail Heritage Steering Group.

Councillor Ann McCoy declared a personal non prejudicial interest in respect of agenda item 10 - Economic Climate Report as she was a member of SDAIS.

Councillor Steve Nelson declared a personal non prejudicial interest in respect of agenda item 11 - Homelessness Reduction Act 2017 as he was a Director of 13 Group.
CAB
107/17		 MINUTES
Preamble
RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 14 December 2017 be confirmed and signed as a correct record.
CAB
108/17		 MINUTES OF VARIOUS BODIES
 
Cabinet Decision Record D180001
Preamble
RESOLVED that the minutes of the meetings detailed in the appendices be approved / received, as appropriate.
CAB
109/17		 FLY-TIPPING FIXED PENALTY NOTICES
 
Cabinet Decision Record D180002
Preamble
RESOLVED that:-

1. The issue of Fixed Penalty Notices be authorised for small scale fly tipping offences contrary to section 33 (1) (a) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.

2. The maximum Fixed Penalty be set at the upper scale of £400 without the option to discount. This would bring Stockton on Tees Borough Council in line with the majority of our neighbouring authority areas.
CAB
110/17		 VCSE COMPACT
 
Cabinet Decision Record D180003
Preamble
RESOLVED that the draft Stockton-on-Tees Borough 2018-21 Compact be endorsed.
CAB
111/17		 ADOPTION TEES VALLEY DELEGATED AUTHORITY
 
Cabinet Decision Record D180004
Preamble
RESOLVED that the delegated powers be accepted from Darlington Borough Council, Hartlepool Borough Council, Middlesbrough Borough Council and Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council to host Adoption Tees Valley in line with the proposal in the Full Business Case.
CAB
112/17		 LA NOMINATION
 
Cabinet Decision Record D180005
Preamble
RESOLVED that the following appointments be made to the vacant Governorships subject to successful List 99 check and Personal Disclosure:-

St. Mary's CE Primary School - Mr K Hissitt (school nomination)
CAB
113/17		 ECONOMIC CLIMATE REPORT
 
Cabinet Decision Record D180006
Preamble
RESOLVED that the content of the report be noted and the work being undertaken be supported.
CAB
114/17		 HOMELESSNESS REDUCTION ACT 2017
 
Cabinet Decision Record D180007
Preamble
RESOLVED that:

1. The new duties the Homelessness Reduction Act will place on local authorities and the anticipated impact on service delivery be noted.

2. The work both on-going and planned to ensure the Council is prepared for the introduction of this new legislation be noted.

3. Authorisation be delegated to the Director of Economic Growth and Development Services to make any necessary changes to the Tees Valley Common Allocations Policy to ensure its compliance with provisions set out in the Homelessness Reduction Act, in consultation with the Director of HR, Legal and Communications and Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Housing.

4. A further report be brought back to Cabinet 12 months after implementation of the Homelessness Reduction Act which will detail the impact of this legislation on the Council and our local communities.
4.30pm to 6.30pm

Preamble

ItemPreamble
CAB
107/17		Consideration was given to the minutes of the meeting held on 14 December 2017.
CAB
108/17		In accordance with the Council's Constitution or previous practice the minutes of the meeting of the bodies indicated below were submitted to members for consideration:-

SSP - 12 September 2017
SSP - 17 October 2017
TSAB - 13 December 2017
TVCA Cabinet - 29 September 2017
TVCA Cabinet - 23 November 2017
CAB
109/17		Consideration was given to a report that outlined some of the changes around legislation relating to fly tipping and how the offence was dealt with in Stockton-on-Tees. Last year, Local Authorities in England dealt with over one million fly tipping incidents an increase of 7%. Locally, the Council dealt with thousands of requests for service each year with incidents of fly tipping increasing in line with the national picture. The estimated cost of clearance of fly tipping in England is around £57 million per year.
CAB
110/17		Consideration was given to a report that provided an overview of the draft Compact 2018-21 (The Compact), developed jointly with Catalyst, which covers the principles under which the Public Sector and the Voluntary Community Social Enterprise Sector work together in the Borough.

The Compact covered the principles under which both the Public Sector and the Voluntary Community Social Enterprise Sector operated in their relationship with each other. It covered a range of factors including common principles, consultation and communication, funding and resources and conflict resolution. There had been a Compact in place for a number of years which had been refreshed regularly. The current document ran out in Autumn 2017.

It was timely that the Compact was due renewal as it gave the opportunity for scrutiny and consultation, to make sure it was fit for purpose. The document had been streamlined to make it more user friendly and accessible but ensuring that the salient points were still incorporated.

The draft Compact had been developed in collaboration with Catalyst and other public sector partners. The draft consultation document was launched on the 16th October with workshops held at the Catalyst annual event on the 31st October 2017, consultation closed at the end of December 2017. All comments received had been considered and fed into the draft consultation document.

The consultation demonstrated that there was strong support for the Compact. Feedback included:

• It was felt that the consultation was a good thing as it raised awareness of the Compact and then could use it later.
• The Compact acts as a reminder to work to the agreement, act professionally and it could be used for mediation
• Felt it was an aspirational document but also aimed at a high, strategic level.
CAB
111/17		Consideration was given to a report that sought approval for Stockton Council to host Adoption Tees Valley in line with the proposal in the Full Business Case.

In June 2015, the Department for Education (DfE) published ‘Regionalising Adoption' and asked all adoption agencies in England to consider how to work much more closely together on a regional basis. This was enacted as the Education and Adoption Act 2016 which advised authorities and voluntary adoption agencies to join together to form Regional Adoption Agencies (RAA). The Act also gave the Secretary of State a new power to direct one or more named local authorities to make arrangements for any or all of their adoption functions to be carried out on their behalf by one of the local authorities named, or by another agency. By 2020, all local authorities must be part of a Regional Adoption Agency (RAA) under Section 16 of the Education and Adoption Act 2016.

The Government's view was that structural change would improve the process for children and adopters leading to improved numbers of children being adopted, an improved experience for adopters and improved timeliness overall. The DfE expected the RAA programme to deliver consistently good and innovative adoption practice that ensured improved life chances for children.

In October 2015, the Tees Valley local authorities submitted an expression of interest to the Department for Education for an adoption reform grant to scope the development of a Tees Valley Adoption Service. Initially this project was being led by Middlesbrough Borough Council, however, since January 2016, Hartlepool Borough Council had fulfilled the lead authority role.

At its meeting on 10th October, Cabinet received and approved the Full Business Case for Adoption Tees Valley. The Business Case proposed that Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council host the service on behalf of all the partner Councils. Since this meeting Darlington Borough Council, Hartlepool Borough Council, Middlesbrough Borough Council and Redcar and Cleveland Borough Councils had all approved the delegation of powers in line with the draft Section 101 agreement subject to final amendments.
CAB
112/17		In accordance with the procedure for the appointment of school/academy governors, approved as Minute CAB 27/13 of the Cabinet (13 June 2013), Cabinet was invited to consider the nominations to school/academy Governing Bodies listed as listed in the report.
CAB
113/17		This report, and subsequent quarterly updates, provides Members with an update on information published in Stockton's Local Economic Assessment 2017 as well as key recent economic announcements.

The report was presented to Cabinet on a quarterly basis. The emphasis of each report focuses on a particular theme as follows:

• People - labour supply
• Place - key economic development locations
• Business - key sectors and businesses
• Economic Performance Summary Report and Economic Growth Plan monitoring

Each thematic report was presented in four sections:

i. Economic Dashboard - presented a number of key indicators which were monitored at least quarterly, and included a position statement against the two indicators of growth relevant to the ‘People' chapter
ii. Updates - summarising key announcements and developments:

• updates - announcements with implications across key sectors, the region and nationally
• business announcements - announcements from some of the key businesses within the Borough
• strategic locations - a brief update on any new development at strategic employment locations across the Borough
• training & skills - provides an update on emerging news relating to skills needs and provision

Internet links had been included, where possible, to provide digital viewers of the report with more information on each announcement.

iii. Theme Review - An in depth focus, and the substantive part of the report, on key statistics affecting business, people or place. Most of the referenced statistics in the review are produced annually and cannot be updated quarterly.
iv. Case Study - A relevant case study for the theme. For example, the ‘People' case study in this report focuses on a entrepreneurship in the Borough.
CAB
114/17		Consideration was given to a report on the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017.

The Homelessness Reduction Act would come into force on the 3rd April 2018. It was a significant piece of new legislation which would require councils to provide services to anyone at risk of becoming homelessness.

The report provided Cabinet an overview of the new duties arising from the Homelessness Reduction Act, highlighted the anticipated implications for the Council's Housing Service (based on the experience of authorities elsewhere) and to highlighted the preparation work which was ongoing to ensure that the Council was appropriately prepared for April 2018.

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