Agenda and minutes

The Leader proposed that permission to speak at the meeting be not granted to any Councillor not a member of the Cabinet, other than the Leader and Deputy Leader of the main opposition party in accordance with Standing Order 19(1).  

Resolved: That permission to speak at the meeting be not granted to any Councillor not a member of the Cabinet, other than the Leader and Deputy Leader of the main opposition party in accordance with Standing Order 19(1).  

None.

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.

There were no interests disclosed.

Resolved: That the minutes of the meeting held on 1 February 2018 be agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

The Cabinet received an updated Premises Use Policy and associated procedures to be followed when considering the use of County Council premises by external organisations, setting out how premises can accommodate use by different types of community organisations to complement County Council service delivery and support the strategic objectives of the authority.

Resolved: That:

  i.  The updated Premises Use Policy and associated procedures, including increases to charges for sessional hire of space in County Council buildings, be approved with implementation to take effect from 2 April 2018.

  ii.  a review is undertaken of the existing relationships with community associations.

Cabinet considered a report in line with the County Council's procurement rules, setting out a recommendation to approve the commencement of the following procurement exercises:

  i.  Supply of aggregates and fill materials

  ii.  Supply of ready mixed concrete

  iii.  Supply of LED lanterns and retrofit gear trays

  iv.  Supply of hot screed applied surface treatment/anti –skid surface/superimposed roadmarkings and roadstuds

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

  i.   Supply of aggregates and fill materials

  ii.  Supply of ready mixed concrete

  iii.  Supply of LED lanterns and retrofit gear trays

  iv.  Supply of hot screed applied surface treatment/anti –skid surface/superimposed roadmarkings and roadstuds

Cabinet considered a report presenting amendments to the approved Highways and Transport Capital Programmes in order to meet emerging priorities and to respond to some unanticipated service demands.

Resolved: That the proposed amendments to the Highways and Transport Capital Programmes be approved.

Cabinet considered a scheme to improve cycling provision in the Westgate / Railway Road area of Skelmersdale, as included in the 2016-17 Road Safety Programme.

Resolved: That

  i.  the removal of a footway and construction of a cycle track over which the public have a right of way on foot, on the south side of Railway Road over a length of 85 metres eastwards from its crossing point of Railway Road to Gladden Place, as set out in the report, be approved

  ii.  the construction of new cycle track over which the public have a right of way on foot, on the verge area of the highway from the crossing point of Railway Road northwards to Waldron, as set out in the report, be approved

Cabinet received a report proposing the introduction of a Clearway Order and a 30MPH Speed Limit Order as part of the Salmesbury Aerospace Enterprise Zone scheme.

Resolved: That the proposals for the introduction of a 30mph Speed limit and Clearway as set out in the report be approved.

Cabinet considered a report proposing the introduction of permit holder only access and parking restrictions on sections of both Queen Street and Parramatta Street, Rawtenstall.

Resolved: That the proposals for the Permit Holder Only restrictions to sections of Queen Street and Parramatta Street, Rawtenstall, and the amendment of the Order as set out in the report be approved.

Cabinet received a report summarising the Government's proposals for the creation of a Major Road Network (MRN) and presenting a draft response for consideration, as well as identifying locations on the indicative MRN in Lancashire that could benefit from this initiative.

Resolved: That the response set out in Appendix 'A' be approved as the County Council's response to the consultation.

Cabinet received a report seeking approval for:

·  a number of detailed 2018/19 Highway Maintenance and Transport New Start Capital Programmes.

·  adding an additional £1.194 million awarded by the DfT from the Local Transport Capital Block Funding (Pothole Action Fund) to the 2017/18 Highways block of the capital programme

·  the proposed criteria for allocating this funding in 2018/19 in line with DfT expectations.

·  the additional £5 million of funding awarded by Full Council on 8 February 2018 for highway maintenance to be spent on repairing potholes to address the deterioration of the road network over the winter months.

In presenting the report, it was noted that the report included a number of minor errors in the numbers of certain roads and the electoral divisions. The necessary corrections and clarifications are appended to these minutes.

Resolved: That:

  i.  the proposed 2018/19 New Start Highway Maintenance, Road Safety, Cycling Safety and Public Rights of Way programmes as set out in the report and the appended correction sheet be approved, subject to grant funding being confirmed.

  ii.  the additional £1.194 million awarded by the DfT from the Local Transport Capital Block Funding (Pothole Action Fund) be added to the 2017/18 Highways block of the capital programme.

  iii.  the proposed criteria as set out in the report for allocating the additional £1.194 million awarded by the DfT from the Local Transport Capital Block Funding (Pothole Action Fund) be approved.

  iv.  the proposed allocation of the additional £5 million awarded by Full Council on 8 February 2018 for pothole repair as detailed in the report be approved.

  v.  the proposed programme to address specific deterioration on residential roads as set out in the report be approved

  vi.  a further report on the proposed 2018/19 New Start Moss Roads programme be brought forward for consideration in due course.

Cabinet considered a proposal to consolidate the existing signed national speed limit along the length of the A682 Gisburn Road, Blacko to improve safety and operation of the public highway network and to allow for effective enforcement of the speed limit by Lancashire Constabulary.

Resolved: That the proposal for a speed restriction on the A682 Gisburn Road, Blacko as detailed within the report be approved.

Cabinet considered a report setting out proposals for a further 38,000 street lighting lanterns to be replaced with LED equivalents to be funded by an interest free loan from Salix Finance Ltd, a government funded body providing interest-free funding to the public sector to improve energy efficiency, reduce carbon emissions and lower energy bills, and which would enable a further £1.843m to be saved recurrently from the street lighting energy revenue budget per year when complete. 

Resolved: That:

  i.  the application for Salix funding as set out in the report be approved;

  ii.  the proposal as set out in the report be included within the Capital Programme 2018-2021.

Please note that Appendix 'E' to this report is in Part II and appears as Item No. 31 on the Agenda.

Cabinet received a report setting out proposals relating to the expansion of Barrow Primary School in Ribble Valley from September 2019, following a six week formal consultation.

Resolved: That

  i.  the proposal to make a prescribed alteration to Barrow Primary School by permanently expanding the number of places available from 20 to 30 pupils for reception year in September 2019 and in subsequent reception years be conditionally approved, subject to the granting of planning permission under Part 3 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990; and

  ii.  an appropriate statutory decision letter be sent out as specified under legal requirements to give the reasons for the decision to those who are to be informed of them.

Cabinet considered a proposal from the governing body of Baines School to discontinue its post 16 sixth form provision, following a statutory consultation period.

Resolved: That

  i.  the information in the report be noted.

  ii.  the proposal of the governing body of Baines School, as detailed in the statutory notice, to discontinue its post 16 sixth form provision by permanently lowering its age range from 11-18 years to 11-16 years, with effect from 31 August 2019 be approved. The proposal is based on concerns about the long term financial viability of the whole school and is linked to the reducing number of students in the sixth form.

  iii.  an appropriate statutory decision letter be sent out, as specified under legal requirements, to give the reasons for the decision to those who are to be informed of them.

Cabinet considered a proposal on the future of the post 16 provision currently delivered by Carr Hill High School and Sixth Form Centre, following a statutory consultation period.

Resolved: That

  i.  the information in the report be noted.

  ii.  the proposal as detailed in the statutory notice to discontinue the post 16 sixth form provision at Carr Hill High School and Sixth Form Centre by permanently lowering its age range from 11-18 years to 11-16 years, with effect from 31 August 2019 be approved.

  iii.  an appropriate statutory decision letter be sent out, as specified under legal requirements, to give the reasons for the decision to those who are to be informed of them.

Cabinet received a report outlining the work of the District Youth Councils in their role in recommending grant monies to third sector organisations which are registered with the Children and Family Wellbeing Service.

Resolved: That the recommendations of the District Youth Councils on the applications for grants from third sector groups which are registered with the Children and Family Wellbeing Service, as set out in the report, be approved.

Cabinet received a report setting out the County Council's proposed short plan of recommendations for the conditional funding allocation of £2,049,599 from the Department for Education Special Provision Capital Fund, established to help local authorities create new school places and improve existing facilities for children and young people aged 0-25 with SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities), with Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans.

Resolved: That

  i.  the short plan of recommendations on how to spend the Special Provision Capital Fund (SPCF) to be published on the Local Offer by March 14th 2018 be approved.

  ii.  The decision be implemented immediately for the purposes of Standing Order 35 as any delay could adversely affect the execution of the County Council's responsibilities. The reason for this was that the local authorities SEND capital intentions must be published by 14th March 2018 in order to release the funding.

Cabinet considered a report proposing a model of banding for libraries be adopted based upon a pattern of opening hours within each library that should be implemented across all county council libraries following a countywide public consultation exercise.

In moving the report, an amendment to the opening hours set out in the report for Whitworth Library was proposed, as follows:

·  Monday 1pm to 7pm

·  Friday 9am to 5pm.

·  The other days and the total number of hours would remain the same.

Resolved: That the proposed banding model for library opening hours set out in the report, with the amendment to the hours for Whitworth, be adopted and implemented as early as practically possible, following a consultation period with the Trade Unions and employees.

The following urgent decisions have been taken by the Leader of the County Council and the relevant Cabinet Member(s) in accordance with Standing Order 34(1) since the last meeting of Cabinet, and can be viewed by clicking on the relevant links:

1)  Highway Pothole Repair Policy – Rescinding of Cabinet Decision

2)  Councillors' ICT Subsidy

3)  Lead Member Appointment

The urgent decisions taken by the Leader of the County Council and Cabinet Members were 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 12 April 2018 at 2:00pm at County Hall, Preston.

It was noted that the date of the next meeting would be Thursday 12 April 2018 at 2pm at County Hall, Preston.

No representations have been received.

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

The Notice of Intention to Conduct Business in Private was noted.

The Committee 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 Cabinet considered that, under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, 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.

(Not for Publication - Exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972. 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. It was considered that in all the circumstances of the case the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighed the public interests in disclosing the information.)

Cabinet considered a report on capital works required at two operational premises.

Resolved: That the recommendation set out in the report be approved.

(Not for Publication - Exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972. 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. It was considered that in all the circumstances of the case the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighed the public interests in disclosing the information.)

Cabinet considered a report outlining proposals in relation to premises where Community Asset Transfer requests had been received and the provision of Independent Community Libraries.

Resolved: That the recommendations set out in the report be approved.

(Not for Publication - Exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972. 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. It was considered that in all the circumstances of the case the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighed the public interests in disclosing the information.)

Cabinet received a report requesting approval to extend the contracts of health visitor and school nursing services.

Resolved: That the recommendation set out in the report be approved.

(Not for Publication - Exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972. 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. It was considered that in all the circumstances of the case the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighed the public interests in disclosing the information.)

Cabinet considered a report on the options for service provision at the Walton-Le-Dale Park and Ride.

Resolved: That the recommendations set out in the report be approved.

(Not for Publication - Exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972. 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. It was considered that in all the circumstances of the case the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighed the public interests in disclosing the information.)

Cabinet received a report on the budget for the project to expand Billington and Langho St Leonards CE School to 1.5 Form entry.

Resolved: That the recommendations set out in the report be approved.

(Not for Publication - Exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972. 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. It was considered that in all the circumstances of the case the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighed the public interests in disclosing the information.)

Cabinet received a report setting out proposals for capital schemes to support the Children Looked After residential strategy.

Resolved: That the recommendation set out in the report be approved.

(Not for Publication - Exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972. 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. It was considered that in all the circumstances of the case the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighed the public interests in disclosing the information.)

Cabinet considered a report relating to the Cuerden Strategic Site.

Resolved: That the recommendations set out in the report be approved.

(Not for Publication - Exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972. 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. It was considered that in all the circumstances of the case the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighed the public interests in disclosing the information.)

Cabinet received a report outlining proposals on the transfer for Fleetwood Maritime Museum.

Resolved: That the recommendations set out in the report be approved.

(Not for Publication - Exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972. 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. It was considered that in all the circumstances of the case the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighed the public interests in disclosing the information.)

Cabinet received a report outlining proposals in relation to the provision of library facilities in Earby, Pendle.

Resolved: That the recommendations set out in the report be approved.