Agenda and minutes

Council - Wednesday, 22 May 2024 2.00 pm

Venue: Council Chamber, County Hall, Matlock. View directions

Contact: Democratic Services  Email: democratic.services@derbyshire.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

31/24

Appointment of the Chairman of the County Council for 2024-25

Minutes:

The Director of Legal and Democratic Services opened the meeting to seek nominations for the Chairman of the County Council for the ensuing year.

 

RESOLVED:

 

To elect Councillor T Ainsworth as Chairman of the County Council for 2024-25.

 

Councillor Ainsworth joined the meeting.

 

On taking the Chair, the Chairman thanked Councillor David Taylor for the wonderful job he had done and work he had carried out as civic chairman over the past year on behalf of us all, very ably supported by his Vice Civic Chairman Councillor Tony Kemp. 

 

He spoke to reflect on some of the highlights and achievements over the past year.

 

He referred to the newly established East Midlands Combined Authority, the recent Derbyshire Awards Ceremony, the great work that all carers across the county carry out, different levels of funding and grant opportunities available for different service areas along with many other achievements and examples of successes across the County Council service delivery as a whole. He acknowledged the challenging times that would continue from the current budget situation but thanked everyone for the contribution towards achieving the balanced budget. This would need to be continued and he recognised that officers and elected members would need to continue working together vigilantly to achieve the budget savings identified for the forthcoming year whilst embracing challenges and opportunities afforded along the way.

32/24

Apologies for absence

To receive apologies for absence (if any)

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Athwal, Bingham, Collins, Ford, Grooby, Hart, Niblock, Renwick, Murphy and Smith.

33/24

Declarations of interest

To receive declarations of interest (if any)

Minutes:

None received.

34/24

Chairman's announcements

Minutes:

The Chairman reported with sadness that June Bingham and Peter Innes had recently died and he offered condolences to their spouses, Councillors B Bingham and J Innes.

 

Condolences from the group leaders were received.

35/24

Minutes pdf icon PDF 161 KB

To confirm the minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 27 March 2024.

Minutes:

On the motion of Councillor B Lewis, duly seconded, it was

 

RESOLVED:

 

To confirm, as a correct record, the minutes of the meeting of Council held on 27 March 2024.

36/24

Appointment of the Civic Chairman of Derbyshire County Council for 2024-25

Minutes:

On the motion of Councillor G Hickton, duly seconded it was

 

RESOLVED:

 

To elect Councillor T Kemp as Civic Chairman of the County Council for 2024-25.

37/24

Appointment of the Vice Civic Chairman of Derbyshire County Council for 2024-25

Minutes:

On the motion of Councillor J Patten duly seconded, it was

 

RESOLVED:

 

To elect Councillor K S Athwal as Vice Civic Chairman of the County Council for 2024-25.

38/24

Report of the Leader of the Council and Members' questions

To consider the report of the Council Leader and Members' questions on the report

Minutes:

The Leader of the Council began his report by offering congratulations to Councillor Ainsworth, the re-elected Chairman, the newly appointed Civic Vice Chairman, Councillor Kewal Athwal and thanked the outgoing Civic Chairman, Councillor David Taylor, who had been excellent whilst carrying out his duties on behalf of the authority over the last twelve months. He congratulated Councillor Tony Kemp for his elevation to Civic Chairman for the forthcoming civic year and paid tribute to the work he had undertaken in his previous role as Vice Chair.

 

He referred to the recent election of Claire Ward, the first Mayor of the newly formed Combined Authority who he had met the previous week and whom he looked forward to working with to benefit the residents of Derbyshire.

 

He concluded by talking about the Buxton Museum which sadly closed over a year ago. He reflected on the circumstances that had led to this decision and gave details in relation to its relocation. He also gave reassurances that the staff at the museum would be supported during the relocation process.

 

In response to a question from Councillor Fordham in relation to the support arrangements and funding for the D2 Strategic Leadership Board, Councillor Lewis confirmed that moving forward the County Council would no longer be in a position to facilitate and support arrangements for the board and that the allocated funding of around £175,000 would be withdrawn subject to Cabinet approval.

 

In response to a question from Councillor J Dixon in respect of the new mayoralty and working together to maximise funding opportunities and other associated benefits for the residents of Derbyshire, Councillor Lewis confirmed that this was the intention of Derbyshire as part of the newly established Mayoral Combined Authority.

39/24

Public questions pdf icon PDF 56 KB

To consider public questions (if any)

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Question from David Ingham to Councillor S Spencer, Cabinet Member for Corporate Services and Budget was answered by Councillor A Dale, Cabinet Member for Education 

 

“Given the response to the question asked by Councillor Dixon regarding senior management positions within the Pay Report at Full Council on 27-03-24, the subsequent Derbyshire Times article regarding paying £565,000 for two consultants for “strategic” help on children, schools and learning has obviously drawn my attention.  The companies involved being THJH Limited and Populate Consulting Ltd.  Apparently “The costs are within the council budgets”.

 

I’m unclear how this Council has ended up paying somebody more than their own Head of Paid of Service, indeed more than the majority of any Council Chief Executive within the country and consider that’s right just because it’s within budget – one reliant though on delivered savings and reserve draw down.

 

Given these procurements, as per Financial Regulations, haven’t been included within the Childrens Services Department Service Plan, precisely why are these contracts operating and furthermore receiving the level of payment, especially Populate?” 

 

Councillor A Dale responded as follows:

 

“Like many other Councils across the country we use a range of external support to help us to improve our services.  Utilising external support allows us to bring in subject matter experts, expand resources to fill capacity gaps as well as bringing in an independent perspective.  

 

During 2022 we contracted two consultancy firms to undertake work to support Children’s Services due to the pressures the department was under, especially around the increasing demand in SEND as well as increasing demand and costs across wider Children’s Services’ functions such as children in care placements.  This work was commissioned to specifically look at our High Needs Block within the Dedicated Schools Grant and the wider Children’s Strategy, including the development of early intervention and prevention strategy across the partnership. 

 

This work is also crucial to ensure we have a strong, medium and long-term strategic plan for Children’s Services that allows us to meet the increasing demands and the financial pressures we are facing.  By using expert external consultants we can accelerate the work without diverting crucial resources from within the Service.

 

The funding for this work has been met by a variety of sources from within our existing budget, including holding vacant posts while the strategic direction of the Department was developed, as well as from grant funding.  This additional resource has allowed us to move at pace, especially in areas such as SEND where we have significantly improved the timeliness of education, health and care assessments in the course of the past year and where we continue to seek to drive forward with further improvements.

 

Finally, in relation to Populate this contract covers a number of areas of work with multiple team members from the organisation working with us rather than a single individual.  Therefore any comparison with the pay of any individual member of DCC staff is not valid.”

 

Mr Ingham asked the following supplementary question:

 

“I am also just  ...  view the full minutes text for item 39/24

40/24

Petitions

To receive petitions (if any)

Minutes:

None received.

41/24

Committee Memberships, Schedule of meetings and Outside Body Appointments for 2024/25 pdf icon PDF 93 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Director of Legal and Democratic Services introduced a report, which had been circulated in advance of the meeting in relation to the Committee Memberships, Schedule of meetings and Outside Body Appointments for 2024/25.

 

The Director of Legal and Democratic Services reported that there had been a few changes to the published report. The first was in relation to the revised Outside Bodies list recently circulated at the meeting, which now took account of the Council’s membership of the various Committees of the East Midlands Combined County Authority and would need approval. She also reported a correction to the date of the July Health Scrutiny Committee which would now take place on the 29 July.        

 

On the motion of Councillor B Lewis, duly seconded it was

 

RESOLVED to:

 

1)    Appoint the Chair, Vice-Chair and Members of the Council’s Standing Ordinary Committees, Sub-Committees and Improvement and Scrutiny Committees as set out at Appendix 2 to this report;

 

2)    Approve the schedule of meetings, attached at Appendix 3 to the report, for the 2024/25 Municipal Year with the date of the Health Scrutiny Committee to take place on 29 July instead of 22 July; and

 

3)    Appoints representatives to outside bodies as detailed at Appendix 4 to the report as per the updated list circulated today.

  

42/24

Notification of Portfolio Holders and Membership of the Cabinet pdf icon PDF 75 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Councillor B Lewis introduced a report, which had been circulated in advance of the meeting in relation to the Notification of Portfolio holders and Membership of the Cabinet.

 

On the motion of Councillor B Lewis, duly seconded it was

 

RESOLVED

 

To note the information, provided at Appendix 2 to this report, in relation to Cabinet and Cabinet Support Members for the ensuing year and approve the record of delegations to be included in the Council’s scheme of delegation at Appendix 1 to the Constitution.

43/24

Performance Monitoring and Budget Monitoring/Forecast Outturn 2023-24 as at Quarter 3 (31 December 2023) pdf icon PDF 845 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Managing Director introduced a report, which had been circulated in advance of the meeting, that provided an update of Council Plan performance and the Revenue Budget Forecast/Outturn for 2023-24, as at 31 December 2023 (Quarter 3).

 

Ms Alexander highlighted that the financial information in the report was the same as that which was reported to the Budget Council meeting in February 2024 as the Quarter 3 finance report was brought forward to support members with the determination of the budget setting process for 2024-25.

 

On the motion of Councillor S Spencer, duly seconded it was

 

RESOLVED to:

 

1)    Note the update of Council Plan performance and the Revenue Budget position/forecast outturn for 2023-24 as at 31 December 2023 (Quarter 3);

 

2)    Note the position on General and Earmarked Reserves;

 

3)    Note significant actions are required and will be undertaken across the Council to reduce the significant revenue overspend detailed in this report. Notes that Cabinet will be kept informed on the implementation and progress of these actions; and

 

4)    Note the virement of devolved training budgets from departments to a centralised training budget managed by the Learning and Development team within the Human Resources function, with effect from 1 April 2024.

 

 

44/24

Revised Financial Regulations and Standing Orders Relating to Contracts pdf icon PDF 84 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Director of Finance introduced a report, which had been circulated in advance of the meeting, that sought approval for the proposed amendments to the Council’s Financial Regulations and Standing Orders relating to Contracts.

 

On the motion of Councillor S Spencer, duly seconded it was

 

RESOLVED:

 

To approve the amended Financial Regulations and Standing Orders relating to Contracts as proposed.

 

(Councillor J Siddle left the meeting at 3.15pm)

45/24

Decisions taken as a matter of Urgency and Key Decisions and Special Urgency pdf icon PDF 101 KB

Minutes:

The Director of Legal and Democratic Services introduced a report, which had been circulated in advance of the meeting, that gave details of decisions taken as a matter of urgency and key decisions with special urgency where call-in had been waived.

 

On the motion of Councillor B Lewis, duly seconded it was

 

RESOLVED to note:

 

1)    The key decisions taken where special urgency provisions were agreed as detailed in Appendix 2 to the report; and

 

2)    The urgent decisions taken where the call-in procedure was waived under the Improvement and Scrutiny Procedure Rules as detailed in Appendix 3 to the report.

46/24

Elected Member questions pdf icon PDF 65 KB

To consider questions submitted by Elected Members

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Question from Councillor G Kinsella to Councillor C Cupit, Cabinet Member for Highways Assets and Transport

 

“There have been over 450 flood resilience applications received by Derbyshire County Council, the majority relating to Storm Babet in October 2023. Over six months later and still no payments have been made. How much longer must residents wait to receive this much needed support?”

 

Councillor Cupit responded as follows:

 

“I know that many residents and communities sadly continue the clean-up following last year’s Storm Babet and the Council, particularly our Flood Team, continue to support many of the over 1,675 properties who were impacted so devastatingly between the 19-25 October last year.  Along with Councillor Lewis we wrote to the Government asking them to make this support available at the time and I thank them for doing so.

 

As a current update we have now received over 520 PFR applications.  I would just urge whilst answering this that any properties who haven’t yet applied to do so the deadline for applying is August.  Of all the applications received so far we have verified and confirmed more than 80% of these and sent letters to the residents and businesses confirming this.

 

As Councillor Kinsella may be aware in the majority of cases a survey has to take place pre- and post-installation of the resilience measures and it is at that point that the payments are formally made, so the question is incorrect to imply the support is not progressing.  These surveys for those who choose to use our appointed surveying contractor started a few weeks ago and are booked in and progressing over the coming months.

 

Just as wider context for this Chamber, in our region we seem to be one of the furthest ahead in terms of progressing the grants despite sadly being one of the most impacted counties last year.  For instance, I don’t think one of our nearby city neighbours has actually opened their scheme at all yet and in Derbyshire’s case it is predicted to be a £2.5m grant scheme which will have helped residents and businesses and administered.

 

In addition, I hope you will all agree it has been important to get this scheme right and that is what we have been working to do.  As a couple of examples here in Derbyshire with the help of a few of our Conservative MPs we led on getting the survey threshold amended to avoid any potential costs to residents and we also chose to proactively offer a surveying contractor in order to simplify the process for applicants and provide them with confidence around their surveying and measures being recommended to them, which I hope you will all agree are positive changes but have taken time.

 

I hope the above is reassurance that extensive work has been taking place with regards to progressing these grants and explains the process in a bit more detail in terms of ensuring the grants are spent on the best possible resilience measures. 

 

We are ahead  ...  view the full minutes text for item 46/24

47/24

Notice of Motion pdf icon PDF 81 KB

Minutes:

Councillor R George proposed a motion that was duly seconded, in the following terms:

 

Background

 

Council continues to recognise the dire financial situation faced by the Authority and the Cabinet’s need to make savings if it is to deliver a balanced budget. However, Council cannot at this stage support the Cabinet’s proposals to cease in its entirety the Authority’s role as a provider of in-house standard residential care and directly operated non-integrated day centres that could see the end of service provision for Derbyshire residents from the following residential care homes:

 

Briar Close                     Breaston Division                     Cllr Parkinson

Bennerley Fields             Ilkeston East Division               Cllr Flatley

Castle Court                   Linton Division                         Cllr Swann

Florence Shipley             Heanor Central Division           Cllr Illiffe

The Grange                    Eckington & Killamarsh Division

Cllrs M Foster & Renwick

Lacemaker Court           Petersham Division                  Cllr Hickton

The Leys                        Ashbourne Division                  Cllr Bull

New Bassett House        Shirebrook Division                  Cllr Dale

Rowthorne                     Alfreton & Swanwick Division

Cllrs Rose & Wilson

Thomas College             Bolsover South Division           Cllr Dixon

Whitestones                  Whaley Bridge Division            Cllr George

 

together with the following non-integrated day centres:

 

Blackwell Day Centre     Tibshelf Division                       Cllr Barron Ecclesfold Day Centre           Chapel & Hope Valley Division           Cllr Gourlay

Fabric Day Services       Clay Cross North Division        Cllr Cupit

Hasland Resource Centre Birdholme Division                 Cllr Allen

Jubilee Centre                New Mills Division                    Cllr Clarke

Queens Court                 Buxton North & East Division    Cllr Grooby Shirevale Resource Centre Shirebrook Division                Cllr C Dale

Valley View Day Centre Bolsover South Division           Cllr Dixon

 

The motion proposed was:

 

That Council:

 

believes that the full implications of these proposals should be understood prior to a final decision being taken, especially given the grave financial circumstances that the Authority faces and the risks involved if the wrong policy is adopted, and requests the Improvement & Scrutiny Committee – People to exercise its functions in accordance with the Improvement & Scrutiny Arrangements to advise Cabinet in its deliberations on this difficult matter so as to ensure the best outcome for Derbyshire residents and taxpayers is achieved by:

 

a)   conducting a review to inquire into and investigate the consequences of the Council ceasing to be a direct provider of these two services, including assessing the impact the closure of these facilities would have on the provision of these services for Derbyshire residents and for the Authority:

 

b)   reporting its findings to Cabinet in time for them to be considered as part of the consultation into the “Proposed Redesign of Residential Care and Day Opportunities for Older People initiated by Cabinet at its meeting on 29th April 2024, and

 

c)    submitting the report to Full Council for consideration at the October 2024 meeting.

 

With the time approaching 5.00 pm and on the motion of Councillor B Lewis, duly seconded it was,

 

RESOLVED:

 

That under rule 6.1 of the Council Procedure Rules the meeting should be extended by 30 minutes to 5.30 pm to enable the remaining business on the agenda to be considered.

 

In accordance with the Local Authority (Standing Orders) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2014 a recorded vote was taken as follows:

 

For the motion:  ...  view the full minutes text for item 47/24