Agenda and minutes

County Councillor Geoff Driver CBE, County Councillor Bill Winlow and

County Councillor Albert Atkinson were also in attendance under the provisions of Standing Order No. 19(4).

There were no apologies.

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 declared.

Resolved: That the minutes of the meeting held on 5 March 2015 be confirmed and signed by the Chair

County Councillor Bill Winlow, chair of the Executive Scrutiny Committee, reported that the recommendations set out in the reports for consideration by Cabinet had been confirmed, with the additional recommendation on the Lancashire-wide Free School Meals Project Update (item 6 on the Cabinet agenda) that the Leader be requested to raise the issue of increasing the reach of the scheme with Lancashire Leaders.

Jo Turton, Chief Executive, presented a report setting out a proposed Assurance Framework for the Lancashire Enterprise Partnership (LEP) in accordance with the requirement for all LEPs to prepare an Assurance Framework, prior to the draw down of Local Growth Fund funding from Government in April 2015. It was highlighted that it was the responsibility of the County Council, as the Accountable Body for the LEP, to confirm to Government that the AF had been prepared in line with guidance issued by Government and that it had been approved by the Accountable Body.

In presenting the LEP Assurance Framework, it was noted that the Framework has been widely consulted upon and would be subject to annual review. It was also noted that indications from government were that the Framework as presented satisfied the necessary requirements.

Resolved: That:

  i.  the Chief Executive and the Section 151 Officer are authorised to write to Government to confirm that:

a.  the Accountable Body arrangements for the LGF and other funding sources received from Government are in place;

b.  the use of LEP resources, received by the Accountable Body, on behalf of the LEP, are subject to local authority checks and balances and are overseen and checked by the Responsible Chief Finance Officer – the Section 151 Officer;

c.  decisions and activities of the LEP conform with legal requirements;

d.  the Assurance Framework will be adhered to; and

e.  the County Council will keep an official record of LEP proceedings and holding copies of all relevant LEP documents relating to LGF funding.

Eddie Sutton, Director Development and Corporate Services, presented a report providing details of the outcome of the 2013/14 and 2014/15 campaigns to increase the take up of children entitled to free schools meals across Lancashire. It was reported that by sharing information with District Councils it was possible to identify children who were entitled to, but did not currently receive, free school meals. This required coordination and co-operation between the County Council and the Lancashire District

Councils.

It was recognised that this bought significant benefits both to individual families and to schools, through increasing receipt of Pupil Premium funding. The Leader confirmed that she would raise the issue of the approach taken by districts to the data matching exercise in order to increase take up.

Resolved: That

  i.  The success of the Lancashire wide Free School Meals take up project be noted

  ii.  The Leader of the Council raises the issue of the approach taken by districts to the data matching exercise in order to increase take up at a future Lancashire leaders meeting.

Resolved: That the report, now presented, on Key Decisions taken by the Leader of the County Council, the Deputy leader of the County Council, Cabinet members, the Interim Executive Director for Environment, and the Director of Public Health respectively, be noted.

Resolved: - That the report, now presented, on the waiver of procurement rules by the Deputy Leader of the County Council, 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 was no urgent business.

The next meeting of the Cabinet will be held on Thursday 11 June 2015 at 2.00 pm at County Hall, Preston.

It was noted that the next meeting of the Cabinet would be held on Thursday 11 June 2015 at County Hall, Preston.