Agenda and minutes

The Minutes of the meeting held on 12 December 2013 were taken as read and signed as a correct record.

The Board considered a report of the Strategic Director, Communities, which sought approval to award contracts for the provision of Domiciliary and Personal Care Services in Halton.

The Board was advised that a formal tender process was undertaken for the provision of Domiciliary and Personal Care services in October 2013. The new contracts would be flexible enough to cater for innovation and the wish of the authority to move towards a model provision of care which delivered positive outcomes for the citizens of Halton.

          It was noted that the contract would be let in four geographic zones, as detailed in the report. The report also provided details of the evaluation criteria which were applied to the assessment of the submitted tenders.

RESOLVED: That Executive Board approve

1)    the award of a three year block contract to Local Solutions and Homecarers Liverpool for the delivery of the service in Zone 1 (described in section 3.6 of the report) at an hourly rate of £11.66 and £11.44 respectively;

2)    the award of a three year block contract to Local Solutions and Premier Care for the delivery of the service in Zone 2 (described in section 3.6 of the report) at an hourly rate of £11.66 and £10.50 respectively;

3)    the award of a three year block contract to ICARE and Castlerock for the delivery of the service in Zone 3 (described in section 3.6 of the report) at an hourly rate of £11.69 and £11.50 respectively;

4)    the award of a three year block contract to ICARE and Premier Care for the delivery of the service in Zone 4 (described in section 3.6 of the report) at an hourly rate of £11.69 and £10.50 respectively;

5)    the award of a contract to each of the providers listed in Appendix 2 who will be accepted onto the Domiciliary Care framework to allow Spot purchase of care; and

6)    the Waiver of Standing Orders for a period from 1 April 2014 to 25 May 2014 to extend existing contractual arrangements as in order to ensure continuity of care throughout the period of transition to the new contractual arrangements  and to ensure  sufficient lead in time for implementation of the new contract.

The Board considered a report of the Strategic Director, Policy and Resources, which sought approval for changes to the scheme of delegation in the Council’s Constitution, relating to the transfer of the Trading Standards Service from Warrington Borough Council.

The Board was reminded that at its meeting on 19 September 2013, it had resolved to return the Trading Standards Service to Halton Borough Council. The new arrangement would take effect from 1 April 2014. It was reported that, as the Constitution currently delegated related powers and duties to Warrington Borough Council, this would need to change to reflect the return of the service to Halton.

Appendix 1 set out the proposed changes, which did not extend the nature or subject matter; however, the opportunity had been taken to simplify current wording and where appropriate, to avoid duplication.

Reason(s) For Decision

The Constitution must be changed to ensure that Halton can lawfully discharge the functions of the Trading Standards service from 1 April 2014.

Alternative Options Considered and Rejected

All options considered and rejected were detailed in the report.

Implementation Date

1 April 2014.

RESOLVED: That Council be recommended to approve the amendments to the Council’s Constitution, as set out in Appendix 1 attached to the report.

          The Board considered a report of the Strategic Director, Policy and Resources, which sought approval of the waiver of Procurement Standing Orders in relation to the provision of specialist IT services.

          The Board was reminded that, in September 2013, it had approved the return in-house of the Trading Standards Service, which was currently provided by Warrington Borough Council. As part of this process, the transfer of data from Warrington’s database was required. The Board was advised that as this was a specialist process, the current software provider was the only one able to provide this service. The service would include project management, extraction of data, conversion of data and transfer of data to Halton. Details of the business case, contract costs and expected savings were contained within the report.

          It was noted that any delay in allowing for an open tender to take place, may result in the local authority having to extend the existing contract beyond April 2014, which would have budgetary implications.

          RESOLVED: That the use of Procurement Standing Orders 1.8.4.  ( c) and (e)  be approved to waive Procurement Standing Order 4.1 for the provision of specialist IT services, to enable the transfer of data from Warrington Borough Council to Halton Borough Council, which will facilitate the transfer of the Trading Standards Service.

          The Board considered a report of the Operational Director, Finance, on the establishment of a Business Rates Pool from 1 April 2014.

          The Board was reminded that at its meeting on 17 October 2013, it had considered a report which set out the proposal to establish a Business Rates Pool with St Helens Borough Council and Warrington Borough Council. It was reported that the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) had confirmed their agreement to this proposal, which would provide the three Councils with a net Top-Up grant position of £1.9m.

          A Governance Agreement, attached at Appendix 1, had been prepared which set out how the Pool would operate. The Pool would be established for an initial one year period, with annual reviews and an appropriate notice period for any Council wishing to leave the Pool.

          RESOLVED: That the proposal to establish a Business Rates Pool from 1 April 2014 along with St Helens Borough Council and Warrington Borough Council, be approved.

The Board considered a report of the Strategic Director, Policy and Resources, which sought approval to adopt the Affordable Housing Supplementary Planning Document (SPD).

The Board was advised that the SPD had been approved for a period of public consultation on 5 September 2013. Two representations had been received, as detailed in the report. It was noted that the Statement of Consultation, attached at Appendix B, summarised the period of public consultation carried out, together with a summary of the main issues raised and how they had been addressed.

It was reported that the SPD would supplement the CS13 Policy of the Halton Core Strategy Local Plan, and form part of the folder of Halton’s planning policy documents.

RESOLVED: That

1)    the Affordable Housing SPD (Appendix A), be adopted as a Local Development Document and the procedures for adoption, as set out in the Town and Country Planning (Local Development) 2012 (England) Regulations be carried out; and

2)    any further editorial and technical changes that do not materially affect the content or intended purpose of the SPD, be agreed by the Operational Director, Policy, Planning and Transportation, in consultation with the Portfolio holder for the Physical Environment if necessary, before the document is published.

The Board considered a report of the Strategic Director, Policy and Resources, which sought approval to publish the Delivery and Allocations Local Plan Scoping Document (the Scoping Document) for a six week period of public consultation.

The Board was advised that it was a statutory requirement for local authorities to produce a development plan for their area. The Delivery and Allocations Local Plan would identify strategic development site allocations and land use, set out specific policies to help guide development and provide further detail on key areas of change as identified in the Core Strategy. It was reported that the Scoping Document would be the starting point for discussion on what should be included in the Local Plan and which would eventually guide the future development of the Borough. A copy of this document was attached at Appendix 1.

RESOLVED: That

1)    the Delivery and Allocations Local Plan Scoping Document (Appendix 1), be approved for the purposes of public consultation for a six week period; and

2)      any minor drafting amendments to be made to the Delivery and Allocations Local Plan Scoping Document prior to public consultation, be agreed by the Operational Director, Policy, Planning and Transportation in consultation with the Portfolio holder for Physical Environment.

PART II

In this case the Board has a discretion to exclude the press and public and, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted, it is RECOMMENDED that under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, having been satisfied that in all the circumstances of the case the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Act.

The Board considered:

(1)      whether Members of the press and public should be excluded from the meeting of the Board during consideration of the following item of business in accordance with Sub-Section 4 of Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972 because it was likely that, in view of the nature of the business to be considered, exempt information would be disclosed, being information defined in Section 100 (1) and paragraph 3 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972; and

(2)      whether the disclosure of information was in the public interest, whether any relevant exemptions were applicable and whether, when applying the public interest test and exemptions, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighed that in disclosing the information.

          RESOLVED: That as, in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighed the public interest in disclosing the information, members of the press and public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following items of business in accordance with Sub-Section 4 of Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972 because it was likely that, in view of the nature of the business, exempt information would be disclosed, being information defined in Section 100 (1) and paragraph 3 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972.

Reason for taking the item in Part II of the agenda:

The information relates to the financial or business affairs of a particular person (including the authority holding that information); the report contains commercially sensitive information which could prejudice future tendered rates.

The Board considered a report of the Strategic Director, Communities, which updated Members on Grangeway Court.

The report set out options for future consideration and sought approval to vary the terms of the lease between Grangeway Court and Your Housing Group, which ran in parallel with the contract for the housing support service at the premises. Members were advised that as part of the review of the facilities required at the premises, these options, set out in the report, would require a feasibility review.

RESOLVED: That

1)    the terms of the lease for Grangeway Court being varied in line with the proposal in section 3.7 of the report be agreed; and

2)    a review of previous options be considered and a further report be submitted to the Board with outline recommendations in six month’s time.

MINUTES ISSUED: 14 January 2014

CALL-IN: 21January 2014

Any matter decided by the Executive Board may be called in no later than 5.00pm on 21 January 2014