Agenda item

The Leader will inform the Council about his work and his plans for the Council, and will give an overview of decisions taken by the Cabinet (and Portfolio Holders) since the previous meeting of the Council

The Leader of the Council presented a Statement outlining his recent work; his plans for the Council; and an overview of decisions taken by the Cabinet (and Portfolio Holders) since the previous meeting of the Council.

In introducing his statement, the Leader of the Council invited Mr. I.M. Parry, the Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Children and Young People to inform the Council of the results of the annual assessment of the County Council’s Children’s Services and the developments in relation to academy proposals in Tamworth and Rugeley.  Mr. Parry indicated that Ofsted’s annual assessment of the County Council’s Children’s Services had rated the County Council “Grade 3” which meant that it “performs well”.  Ofsted’s findings placed Staffordshire among the top performing authorities in the country.

With regard to the academy proposals in Tamworth and Rugeley, Mr. Parry indicated that, in Tamworth, the County Council was exploring the option to establish two “collegiate academies” that would attract major investment and draw on the expertise of some of the country’s pioneering educationalists.  In Rugeley, it was proposed that the already federated Hagley Park Sport College, Fair Oak Business and Enterprise College and Aelfgar Sixth Form Centre, known as the Rugeley Federation for Learning, would become an academy, strengthening existing collaborative links.

Improving the Way We Work

(paragraph 3 of the Statement)

In response to a question from Mr. Allan White, Mr. Atkins outlined the ways in which the County Council was changing the ways in which it provided services by putting customers first, providing better value for money and improving the prosperity of the County.  Mr. Parry added that the County Council had taken a different approach to most other authorities and had started to transform its services in a very targeted way rather than cutting budgets indiscriminately.  Mr. Ben Adams also added that under this new way of working some services would be expanded.  For example, the Council’s Library Service would see a range of enhancements over the next few years.

Mr. Steve Povey and Mr. Derek Davis expressed concern that much of this transformation had taken place without consultation with the opposition parties on the County Council.  They stressed the need for all the political parties to work together on the transformation agenda.

Mr. Matthew Ellis and Mr. Mark Winnington referred to the business principles that were being applied to the way in which services were provided and stressed the need for the County Council to proceed with pace.  Mr. Atkins concluded by indicating that the Council’s transformation agenda was not something that had been “plucked out of the air” but had been a long time in its planning.  This approach was working well as could be seen by the number of awards the County Council had won recently, both nationally and regionally.  In addition, the County Council was now well placed to respond to the proposals contained within the Localism Bill.

Staffordshire Cares -Development of a Single Community based Health and Wellbeing Service - Progress and Next Steps

(Paragraph 6 of the Statement)

In response to a question from Mrs. Christina Jebb as to the progress in the discussions with NHS North Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent City Council on the integration of services, Mr. Ellis indicated that the discussions were progressing well although, at this stage, it was not possible to give a time scale for the implementation of the proposed integration of services.

RESOLVED – (a) That the Statement of the Leader of the Council be received.

(b). That the Approved Investment Strategy (AIS) for 2010/11 be amended to allow investments up to 12 months for nationalised banks in the UK only.