Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from County Councillor Azhar Ali OBE.

Members are asked to consider any Pecuniary and Non-Pecuniary Interests they may have to disclose to the meeting in relation to matters under consideration on the Agenda.

None.

Resolved: That the minutes of the meeting held on 2 November 2023 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

To answer any verbal questions and supplementary questions from a county councillor, about any matter which relates to any item under Part I on the agenda for this meeting under Standing Order C35(7).

To submit a question to Cabinet, click here.

There will be a maximum of 30 minutes for the questions to be asked and answered.

There were no questions received.

Cabinet considered a report providing an overview of the performance of forty three Key Performance Indicators as well as corporate risks and opportunities to enable monitoring against the four priorities of the corporate strategy:

• Delivering better services
• Protecting our environment
• Supporting economic growth
• Caring for the vulnerable

It was noted that the report also included an additional section on corporate health.

In presenting the report, it was highlighted that the uptake of NHS Health Checks had increased, and Cabinet thanked the officers involved.

Resolved: That, following consideration of the report and the additional information set out in Appendices 'A' to 'C', the report be noted.

Cabinet considered a report that provided an update on the county council's 2023/24 revenue and capital financial position, as at the end of September 2023.

It was noted that the Quarter 2 monitoring position contained assumptions relating to demand levels across a number of services such as social care and waste management, which continued to be volatile. However, as it was at the halfway point in the financial year, the county council was able to forecast with a greater level of confidence compared to Quarter 1.

Resolved: That, following consideration of the report, the following be agreed:

1. The current forecast overspend of £5.903m on the revenue budget in 2023/24; and
2. The current forecast spend on the capital programme of £157.666m. 

Cabinet considered a report seeking approval to commence the following procurement exercises in accordance with the county council's procurement rules:

1. Provision of Lancashire Skills Bootcamp Services – Wave 5;
2. Reactive Gully Cleansing; and
3. Provision of Surface Carriageway Road Planing.

Resolved: That the commencement of procurement exercises for the following be approved:

1. Provision of Lancashire Skills Bootcamp Services – Wave 5;
2. Reactive Gully Cleansing; and
3. Provision of Surface Carriageway Road Planing.

Cabinet considered a report to add the Lancashire Integrated Better Care Fund Board to the county council's list of outside bodies and for a county councillor to be appointed to the Board as the county council's representative.

Resolved: That

1. The Lancashire Integrated Better Care Fund Board be added to the list of outside bodies; and
2. The Director of Law and Governance be authorised, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Resources, HR and Property (Deputy Leader), to approve a nomination to act as the county council's representative to the Lancashire Integrated Better Care Fund Board, until the next county council elections in 2025.

Cabinet considered a report on the Tree Asset Management Plan. It was noted that the Tree Asset Management Plan set out the strategic approach to managing the county council's tree assets over the next ten years.

Resolved: That the Tree Asset Management Plan 2023 – 2033, as set out at Appendix 'A' of the report, be approved.

Cabinet considered a report that requested a waiver of Procurement Rules for Reception Aged Vision Screening. It was noted that the current Reception Aged Vision Service provision would expire on 31 March 2024 and the Public Health Improvement Team sought to extend the contract by an additional 4 months until 31 July 2024, to align the contract end date with the academic school year.

Resolved: That a waiver of the county council's procurement rules as set out at paragraph 14.2 of Appendix R of the county council's Constitution to extend the Reception Aged Vision Screening service contract by 4 months until 31 July 2024, be approved.

Cabinet considered a report seeking approval to submit a bid to the Government's Zero Emission Bus Fund. It was noted that Lancashire County Council was preparing a bid to the Department for Transport's Zero Emission Bus Regional Area fund on behalf of Preston Bus; Stagecoach Cumbria and North Lancashire; and Stagecoach Merseyside and South Lancashire. If the bid was successful, the Department for Transport would pay grant funding to Lancashire County Council for onward payment to the operators.

Resolved: That

1. The submission of a bid to the Department for Transport's Zero Emission Bus Regional Area fund, be approved;
2. The Director of Highways and Transport be authorised, in consultation with the Director of Law and Governance to agree the detail of the final terms of the submission; and
3. The Director of Highways and Transport be authorised, in consultation with the Director of Law and Governance, to approve the final terms of the Grant Funding Agreement with the Department for Transport, flow-down Grant Funding Agreements with the operators and all other relevant legal and contractual documentation relating to the scheme to which the county council was required to be party.

Cabinet considered a report on the Lancashire County Council Carers Strategy 2024-27. It was noted that the Carers Strategy had been developed following engagement with Carers and others in Lancashire throughout 2023. The strategy identified five key priorities for the county council to focus on over the next three years and would directly inform the production of an extensive Action Plan, planned for early 2024.

Resolved: That the Lancashire County Council Carers Strategy 2024-27, as set out at Appendix 'A' of the report, be approved.

Cabinet considered the Lancashire Safeguarding Adults Board Annual Report for 2022/23. The Lancashire Safeguarding Adults Board Annual Report for 2022/23 provided a summary of the work undertaken by the Safeguarding Adults Board in Lancashire over the last year. 

Resolved: That, following consideration of the report, the report be noted.

Please note that Appendices 'A' and 'B' to this report are in Part II and appears as Item No. 22 on the Agenda.

Cabinet considered a report that provided an update and the current position on the placements available in Lancashire maintained special schools throughout the county, and the potential risk this posed to Lancashire. It was noted that there were significant risks to the county council being able to meet its statutory duties associated with the number of additional places required for September 2024.

It was also noted that Appendices 'A' and 'B' to this report were in Part II and were set out at Item No. 22 on the Agenda.

Resolved: That

1. The completion of feasibility studies and initiation of informal consultations needed to create 205 additional special school places for September 2024, comprising 104 for children entering reception and/or of primary age, 76 for children transitioning into secondary school and 25 post-16 placements, be approved;
2. The Executive Director of Education and Children's Services be authorised, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Education and Skills, to review the outcomes of the informal consultations, and to decide whether to proceed with the formal consultations to create the additional 205 special school places identified in (i) above;
3. The initiation of the consultation processes on the proposal to close Pinfold Primary School in Scarisbrick, Ormskirk, as a maintained mainstream provision, and to repurpose the building as satellite special school provision, attached to a special school within the same locality, be approved;
4. The individual school project costings for the refurbishment or other building works required to create additional capacity at The Loyne Specialist School in Lancaster, Kirkham Pear Tree School, Mayfield Specialist School in Chorley, and Kingsbury Primary School in Skelmersdale, be approved;
5. The budget for the completion of the second phase of the West Lancashire Community High School in Skelmersdale expansion, be approved;
6. The initiation of feasibility studies and informal consultation process to create Special Educational Needs units at West Street Primary School, Colne and Barrowford Primary School, Barrowford, be approved;
7. The Executive Director for Education and Children's Services be authorised, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Education and Skills, to review the outcomes of the informal consultations, and to decide whether to proceed with the formal consultations for the development of Special Educational Needs units at the two schools identified in (vi) above.

Cabinet considered a report on the future of the maintained nursery provision at Gisburn Road Community Primary School, Barnoldswick. It was noted that on 7 September 2023, Cabinet agreed to a statutory notice being published to begin a representation period on the future of the local authority maintained nursery provision currently delivered by Gisburn Road Primary School in Barnoldswick. A Statutory Notice was published, to begin the consultation period in relation to the school discontinuing the nursery provision, by permanently raising its age range from 3-11 years to 4-11 years, with effect from 31 December 2023. The consultation period ended on 2 November 2023.

Resolved: That following consideration of the report, the following be approved:

1. The proposal as detailed in the statutory notice to discontinue the local authority maintained nursery provision at Gisburn Road Primary School by permanently raising its age range from 3-11 years to 4-11 years, with effect from 31 December 2023; and
2. That an appropriate statutory decision letter be sent out, as specified under legal requirements, to give the reasons for the decision to the parties that had been consulted.

Please note that Appendix 'A' to this report is in Part II and appears as Item No. 23 on the Agenda.

Cabinet considered a report to extend the county council's contract for landfilling of residual wastes. It was noted that the current scheduled expiry of the contract was March 2025, and would require four Waste Collection Authorities in the east of Lancashire to deliver waste to Farington Waste Recovery Park if alternative arrangements were not put in place.

To avoid each refuse collection vehicle having to make long journeys, and to reduce the environmental and financial impacts of the same, the four Waste Collection Authorities were intent on putting waste transfer arrangements in place within their areas to bulk up the waste in much larger vehicles. To provide sufficient time for the Waste Collection Authorities to make such arrangements it was proposed that the existing landfill contract be extended for a further 12 months.

It was also noted that Appendix 'A' to the report was in Part II and was set out at Item No. 23 on the Agenda.

Resolved: That a waiver of the county council's Procurement Rules, as set out in Appendix R of the county council's Constitution and the award of a contract extension as set out in the report, be approved, to extend the current contract with Suez UK Ltd for the landfilling of waste for 12 months.

The following urgent decision had been taken by the Leader of the County Council in accordance with Standing Order C16(1) since the last meeting of Cabinet, and can be viewed by clicking on the link below:

-  Lead Member and Champion Appointments

Resolved: That the urgent decision taken by the Leader of the County Council, since the last meeting of Cabinet, be noted.

An item of urgent business may only be considered under this heading where, by reason of special circumstances to be recorded in the Minutes, the Chair of the meeting is of the opinion that the item should be considered at the meeting as a matter of urgency.  Wherever possible, the Chief Executive should be given advance warning of any Member’s intention to raise a matter under this heading.

There were no items of Urgent Business.

The next meeting of Cabinet will be held on Thursday 18 January 2024 at 2.00pm at County Hall, Preston.

It was noted that the next meeting of Cabinet would be held at 2pm on Thursday, 18 January 2023 at County Hall, Preston.

No representations have been received.

Click here to see the published Notice of Intention to Conduct Business in Private.

Cabinet noted the Notice of Intention to Conduct Business in Private and that no representations had been received.

The Cabinet is asked to consider whether, under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, it considers that the public should be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following items of business on the grounds that there would be a likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in the appropriate paragraph of Part I of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 as indicated against the heading to the item.

Resolved: That under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following item of business on the grounds that there would be a likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in the appropriate paragraph of Part I of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972.

Exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972. The appendices contain information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information). It is considered that in all the circumstances of the case the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

Exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972. The appendices contained information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information). It was considered that in all the circumstances of the case the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighed the public interest in disclosing the information.

Resolved: That Appendices 'A' and 'B' of Item 14 - SEND Sufficiency Strategy Implementation – Provision of Special School Places and Special Educational Needs Units at Mainstream Schools, be noted.

Exempt information as defined in Paragraphs 3 and 5 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972. Appendix 'A' contains information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information); and information in respect of which a claim to legal professional privilege could be maintained in legal proceedings It is considered that all the circumstances of the case the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.)

Exempt information as defined in Paragraphs 3 and 5 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972. Appendix 'A' contained information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information); and information in respect of which a claim to legal professional privilege could be maintained in legal proceedings It is considered that all the circumstances of the case the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.)

Resolved: That Appendix 'A' of Item 16 - Landfill Contract Extension, be noted.