Agenda and minutes

The following Members declared an interest in accordance with Standing Order 16.5:-

Decision – That the notes of the meeting held on 17 November 2021 be approved.

Oral report of the Leader of the Council

Decision – That the oral report of the Leader of the Council giving an update on a range of issues including the coverage of the trial of the father and stepmother of Arthur Labinjo-Hughes this month acting as a reminder of the vital role the Council and its partners play in protecting vulnerable children and young people in Staffordshire from harm and neglect; the huge challenge facing the Council in caring for the elderly, with demand for adult social care rising sharply in Staffordshire this year, alongside difficulties in recruiting home care staff;  the long-awaited publication of the Government’s Social Care White Paper and the need for quality adult social care to be put on a long-term, sustainable footing; the Council awaiting its annual funding settlement from Government; the new Omicron variant of Covid-19 entering the UK with cases confirmed in Staffordshire; and the Council and its eight district and boroughs agreeing to work closer than ever on the things that matter most, including the creation of a County Deal bid to Government, under its plans to level up the country be noted.

The Leader also extended his thanks to his cabinet colleagues, and everyone who works for Staffordshire County Council for their hard work and dedication over the past year. He also wished them a Merry Christmas, a Happy New Year, and a well-earned break over the festive season.

Decision – That the minutes of the meeting of the Property Sub-Committee held on 1 December 2021 be received.</AI3>

Reasons for the Decision – To consider an update from the COVID-19 Member led Local Outbreak Control Board including:

• The number of new cases of Covid in Staffordshire remained high, and slightly below the England average. Cases were particularly high among school age children and were continuing to cause significant disruption to education. The Council continued to work with schools and other settings to prevent and control outbreaks. 

·       The emergence of the Omicron variant of the virus was of concern because it showed significant mutations and there is the possibility it might escape the immunity conferred either by prior infection or vaccination. Further data was required before it was possible to be confident about the level of the threat posed by the Omicron variant.

·       Recent Government guidance on the use of face coverings in public places and the intention nationally to offer all adults a booster as well as children over 12 two doses by the end of January 2022.

·       HM Government had provided a series of one-off grants to support care providers, which had been distributed via local authorities.

·       In light of growing challenges nationally with recruitment and retention of care staff, HM Government had now provided a Workforce Recruitment & Retention Grant to fund measures to recruit and retain care staff.  Local authorities had been asked to disseminate the Grant as quickly as possible.  The Workforce Recruitment & Retention Grant allocation for Staffordshire was £2.398m. The grant must be spent by 31 March 2022 or any unused funds must be returned.

·       In Staffordshire the NHS had already provided £2.8m to support recruitment and retention in home care, and this funding was currently being disseminated to home care providers. A larger proportion of the Workforce Recruitment & Retention Grant would therefore be used to support care homes, Supported Living and Extra Care providers who had not benefited from the NHS funding.

Decision – (a) That the update from the Covid Member Led Local Outbreak Control Board be noted.

(b) That the HM Government grants already disseminated to care providers be noted.

(c) That the dissemination of the Workforce Recruitment & Retention Fund to care providers be endorsed.

Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Economy and Skills

Decision – That the oral report of the Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Economy and Skills giving an update on “Staffordshire Means Back to Business” activity including the following matters be noted:

·       Staffordshire continuing to see a real appetite from the private sector to invest in the County including the new Pets at Home facility in Stafford and the proposals for the Chatterley Valley site, Meaford, ROF Featherstone and i54 in South Staffordshire.

·       JCB taking delivery of the new British built Toyota Corolla Hybrid vehicle for its national sales team, which links with their stated intention to drive forward their own low emissions technology through electric and hydrogen powered vehicles.

·       Concern over the challenges Covid19, including the new Omicron variant, continues to create for businesses.

·       The help available to businesses via extensive support packages, or the Stoke on Trent and Staffordshire Growth Hub, including the Get Started Scheme, a new support programme for people looking to start their own business or who may have recently done so.

·       The claimant count in Staffordshire saw a further decrease of 440 claimants between September and October 2021 to a total of 18,560, 3.5% of the working age population, compared to 5.9% regionally and 4.9% nationally.

The proportion of young people in Staffordshire aged 18-24 that are claiming Universal Credit currently stands at 5.2%. Encouragingly, for the seventh month in a row Staffordshire had seen a decrease in the youth claimant count with a decline of 85 over the last month to a total of 3,375, reflective of more young people being able to return to work in hardest hit sectors such as retail and hospitality and the record levels of job vacancies currently available.

Cabinet Member for Communities and Culture

Reasons for the Decision – To consider a brief update on the current approach to VCSE capacity building (including the findings of recent engagement with key stakeholders) and to agree proposals to commission a new VCSE Capacity Building Framework.

Decision – (a) That the brief update provided on our current approach to VCSE capacity building, including the findings of recent engagement with key stakeholders be noted.

(b) That approval be given to go out to market to commission a new VCSE Capacity Building Framework.

(c) That authority be delegated to the Director for Corporate Services to award the VCSE Capacity Building Framework Agreement (“Framework Agreement”) to the successful tenderers and authorise the award of any subsequent call-off contracts.

(d) That authority be delegated to the Director for Corporate Services to extend the VCSE Capacity Building Framework Agreement by an additional fourth year, subject to both the Council’s annual MTFS process and a review of performance.

Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Economy and Skills and Cabinet Member for Communities and Culture

Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Economy and Skills and Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport

Reasons for the Decision – To consider progress, since August 2020, in respect of the proposal to create a new traffic free bridge over the River Trent in Burton to improve access for pedestrians and cyclists between the east and west sides of the river, increasing access to the town centre and the Washlands park.

Decision – (a) That the earmarked award of £7,183,099 from the Burton Town Fund grant towards the creation of a new traffic free bridge over the River Trent at Stapenhill Hollows, Burton be noted.

(b) That the feedback received as part of the public consultation exercise which was conducted as part of the Business Plan process be noted.

(c) That the risks around affordability and useability in the flood plain be noted and that the Cabinet be supportive of the project proceeding conditional on these issues being mitigated to the Council’s satisfaction which will require additional external funding to be secured to enable the full scheme to be implemented as originally presented to the Town Deal Board.

(d) That the submission of the Business Case to East Staffordshire Borough Council, as the accountable body, in conjunction with the Burton Town Fund process agreed by Government, in the sum of £7,183,099 to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 88.

Cabinet Member for Education (and SEND)

Reasons for the Decision – To consider the outcome of the Home to School Temporary Vacant Seat Scheme listening exercise together with the recommendation that the Scheme should not be reinstated as no legal and fair solution that benefits all has been presented.

Decision – (a) That the outcome of the temporary vacant seat scheme listening exercise carried out between 31 August 2021 and 12 October 2021, be noted.

(b) That the recommendation for the future of the temporary vacant seat scheme and mitigating factors be noted.

(c) That the home to school temporary vacant seat scheme be terminated.

(d) That the Cabinet Agree to review and consider reinstating the temporary vacant seat scheme once the availability of coaches that meet the requirements of the Public Service Vehicles Accessibility Regulations (PSVAR) significantly improves in the Staffordshire.

(e) That the Council’s Transport Operations and Future Connectivity Team be asked to work with bus operators to see if existing bus routes can be extended/altered so as to provide travel opportunities for some pupils impacted by the PSVAR legislation.

Cabinet Member for Education (and SEND)

Reasons for the Decision – To consider the Formal Report from the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) in relation to the failure to review and update a young person’s EHC Plan.

Decision – (a) That the Formal Report from the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) in relation to the failure to review and update a young person’s EHC Plan, be noted.

(b) That the recommendations made as part of the investigation report and the finding of “Report issued: upheld; maladministration and injustice”, be agreed.

Cabinet Member for Education (and SEND)

Reasons for the Decision – To consider proposals for the publication of a statutory proposal for the proposed relocation and expansion of St. Leonard’s Primary School, Stafford.

Decision – (a) That the publication of a statutory proposal for the proposed relocation and expansion of St. Leonard’s Primary School, Stafford, be approved.

(b) That, subject to no major objection to the proposal, the Deputy Chief Executive and Director of Families and Communities be authorised to implement the proposal at the end of the representation period.

Leader of the Council

Reasons for the Decision – To consider the outcome of recent work to identify how the Council can further strengthen its commitment to promoting equality, diversity and inclusion across the Council and Staffordshire, together with proposals for the adoption of a set of Equalities, Diversity and Inclusion Principles and Objectives.

Decision – That the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Principles, Objectives and Action Plan, as part of the Council’s commitment to promote equality, diversity and inclusion, be adopted.

Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Economy and Skills

Reasons for the Decision – To consider proposals to unlock a 43-hectare (gross) employment site at Chatterley Valley which could generate around 1,700 jobs (depending on the nature of the end users), Gross Value-Added Benefits of £67 million per annum and £60 million of private sector investment.

Decision – (a) That Cabinet agrees to part fund the construction of the infrastructure to unlock the site, addressing the viability gap with the developer, Harworth Group, using prudential borrowing of up to £3.5 million on the basis of the most reasonable financial case scenario set out in the report, noting that the payback of business rates, through the Enterprise Zone designation, will be secured against the development of a speculative building to be developed out by Harworth Group.

(b) That investment by Staffordshire County Council is conditional on agreeing a Business Rates agreement with the Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire Local Enterprise Partnership to secure payback of the investment at the earliest opportunity. (The decision regarding the funding of the investment from future Enterprise Zone business rates is scheduled to be considered by the SSLEP Executive Board on 16^th December 2021.)

(c) That authority be given to the Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Economy and Skills, in consultation with the Directors for Economy, Infrastructure and Skills and Corporate Services, to enter into relevant contractual arrangements pursuant to the delivery of the Chatterley Valley West Development Site.

(d) That authority be delegated to the Director of Economy, Infrastructure & Skills to approve and agree the details of and enter into Section 278 highways works contracts required to bring forward the site noting that £3.682m of Kidsgrove Town Deal funding has been allocated to these works.

Cabinet Member for Children and Young People

Reasons for the Decision – To consider proposals to extend the contract for the Families Health and Wellbeing (0-19) service with MPFT from April 2023 – March 2024.

Decision – That the extension of the contract for the Families Health and Wellbeing (0-19) service with MPFT, from April 2023 – March 2024, be agreed.

Cabinet Member for Commercial Matters

Reasons for the Decision – To consider proposals for the procurement of a framework agreement for the provision of Responsive Property Maintenance and Dayworks.

Decision – (a) That Staffordshire County Council (the “Council”) undertakes a procurement in line with the Public Contract Regulations 2015 (the “Regulations”) to procure Framework Agreement for the provision of Responsive Property Maintenance and Dayworks.

(b) That, following the procurement process, the successful suppliers be appointed to the Framework Agreement for the period 1st June 2022 to 31st May 2025 and that, dependent on the quality of their delivery, the 12-month service extension be implemented to a final contract end date of 31st May 2026.

(c) That it be noted that the framework agreement and subsequent call off contracts will be entered into in accordance with the Council’s procurement regulations.

Decision – That the following decisions taken by Cabinet Members under delegated powers be noted:

The Forward Plan of Key Decisions for the period 19 January to 18 May 2022, which detailed the following issues, was approved:

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