Present at the meeting:
- Councillor P R C Smith (Executive Leader) (In the Chair)
- Councillor D T Molyneux (Cabinet Champion for Environment and Regeneration)
- Councillor K Anderson (Cabinet Champion for Neighbourhood)
- Councillor J B Baldwin (Cabinet Champion for Cultural)
- Councillor K Cunliffe (Cabinet Champion for Healthier Communities and Older People)
- Councillor T W Halliwell (Cabinet Champion for Equality)
- Councillor P Prescott (Cabinet Champion for Organisational Change)
- Councillor C Ready (Cabinet Champion for Improvement)
239 Apologies for absence: Councillors J Hilton (Cabinet Champion for Lifestyle) and Mrs S Loudon (Cabinet Champion for Children and Young People).
240 Minutes: The minutes of the meeting of the Cabinet held on 19 February 2009 were approved as a correct record.
241 Exclusion of the public - section 100a Local Government Act 1972: Resolved: The public is excluded from the meeting when the Cabinet discusses the following item for the reason set out below:-
| Agenda Item No. |
Title of report |
Minute No. |
Description of exempt information by reference to the paragraph number in schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 |
| E1 |
Manchester Airport Group plc investment proposals |
260 |
3 (Information about the financial or business affairs of any person or organisation, including the Council) |
242 Direction of travel approach to Corporate Area Assessment: The Committee received a presentation on the Comprehensive Area Assessment (CAA) which would be replacing the Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA) and was a new approach that examined how effectively local public services were performing and improving the lives of the people they serve. Assessments would provide a snapshot of each area and would act as a catalyst for improvement by identifying where more effort is needed or where exceptional improvement may help others learn. The CAA framework document had been published on the 10 February 2009.
Members asked various questions on the presentation and gave their views
Resolved: The Cabinet notes the report and thanks the Officer for the presentation.
243 Children and Young People’s participation: The Cabinet considered a report of the Executive Director of Children and Young People’s Services, which requested Members to consider establishing a role to enable children and young people to make decisions about the design and delivery of the services they receive.
The Executive Director of Children and Young People’s Services referred to the setting up a Youth Council for the borough, drawing upon the knowledge of various groups.
The Executive Leader referred to an email from the Youth Parliament seeking permission to use Wigan Town Hall on Sundays for its regional Youth Parliament meetings. Councillor C Ready referred to the possible attendance of Cabinet Members at these meetings.
Members asked various questions on the report and gave their views
The report set out details of the alternative options to be considered. The reason for selecting the one recommended was to ensure that the current arrangements which were in place were improving in order to fulfil key legislation and to involve service users in the local authority agenda.
Resolved: The Cabinet:-
- approves the proposed participation structure in principle, subject to further development of an implementation plan;
- requests that the implementation plan be drawn up and approved by Council; prior to a completion date of March 2010;
- refers the report to the Youth Council for its views with a report coming back to Cabinet in due course; and
- requests that the use of Wigan Town Hall by the Youth Parliament on Sundays be investigated and Cabinet Members be encouraged to attend these meetings if required to do so.
244 Review of provision and use of resourced schools: Outcome of consultation on the provision of resourced places at Garrett Hall Primary School and with drawl of the proposal: The Cabinet considered a report of the Executive Director of Children and Young People’s Service that informed Members of the situation regarding resourced places at Garrett Hall Primary School, Tyldesley and the outcome of consultations and current issues which would support the recommendation to withdraw the proposal.
The Cabinet had considered the original request at minute 138.
Resolved: The Cabinet accepts the report and agrees that the proposal to provide resourced places at Garrett Hall Primary School be withdrawn.
245 Bulky goods waste collections: The Cabinet considered a report of the Executive Director of Environmental Services, which reviewed the charge for bulky goods waste collections.
The report set out details of the alternative options to be considered. The reason for selecting the one recommended was to balance the needs of residents, the increases in household waste collected, reduce the number of fly tipping incidents and seek to develop partnership working with the third sector to offer skilled training. It would also provide support to residents and the local economy by removing a charge that will help ease the burden on household budgets during the recession.
Members asked various questions on the report and gave their views
The report set out details of the alternative options to be considered.
Resolved: The Cabinet:
- approves a free bulky waste collection for up to three items per collection, with a charge of £5.00 for each additional item up to a five items in total, with each household being entitled to one free collection per calendar year;
- agrees to engage with the third sector and support a bid within the Worklessness Strategy to develop their service to achieve greater re-use of bulky goods for the benefit of the community;
- agrees that delegated authority be given to the Executive Director of Environmental Services to introduce a commercial levy for additional collections in the same calendar year for up to five items;
- agrees that the Executive Director of Environmental Services be requested to issue a press release regarding the new arrangements; and
- agrees that delegated authority be given to the Executive Director of Environmental Services to monitor whether the service is being used appropriately by residents.
246 Local transport plan settlement and highways capital programme 2009/10: The Cabinet considered a report of the Executive Director of Environmental Services that informed Members of the Local transport plan settlement 2009/10. The report also sought approval for Wigan’s Highways capital programme for 2009/10, following approval of the Council’s Capital Programme by Cabinet (minute 230 refers)
A report on the corridor from the Saddle Junction to the Wigan Town Centre would be the subject of a further report to Cabinet.
There were no alternative options for consideration.
Resolved: The Cabinet accepts the report and approves the detail of the highways capital programme for 2009/10.
247 Municipal solid waste management strategy: The Cabinet considered a report of the Executive Director of Environmental Services that sought approval of minor amendments to be made to the draft Municipal Solid Waste Management Strategy (MSWMS).
The report set out details of the alternative options to be considered. The reason for selecting the one recommended was to recognise a minor omission which now explains properly the relationship between the strategy and the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) document.
Resolved: The Cabinet:
- approves the proposals contained in the revised MSWMS; and
- notes the resources needed to implement the various elements of the strategy.
248 Local Area Agreement (LAA) 2008 - 2011: The Cabinet considered a report of the Deputy Chief Executive, which advised Members of the recent work to review and refresh the Local Area Agreement.
There were no alternative options for consideration.
Resolved: The Cabinet endorses the Local Area Agreement and notes the revised targets contained within the report.
249 Determination of Admission Arrangements 2010-2011: community and voluntary controlled schools: The Cabinet considered a report of the Executive Director of Children and Young People’s Services that informed Members of the Local Authority consultation on admission arrangements for community and voluntary controlled schools for 2010-2011.
The Children and Young People’s Panel had endorsed the report at minute 53.
The report set out details of the alternative options to be considered. The reason for selecting the one recommended was to take account of the advice of the Admissions Forum, guidance in the school admissions code of practice and the response to statutory consultation.
Resolved: The Cabinet:
- approves the proposed co-ordinated admission schemes for 2010-2011; and
- recommends that the Council adopts the admission arrangements for 2010-2011 as part of the Council’s policy framework.
- notes the proposed oversubscription criteria and the proposed admission numbers for community and voluntary controlled schools; and
- notes the proposed admission numbers for community and voluntary controlled primary and secondary schools for 2010-11.
250 Admissions to maintained nurseries: The Cabinet considered a report of the Executive Director of Children and Young People’s Services that informed Members of the changes to admissions and practice in maintained nursery classes and schools.
The Children and Young People’s Panel had endorsed the report at minute 56.
There were no alternative options available for consideration.
Resolved: The Cabinet approves:
- the changes to admissions policy in maintained nursery classes and schools;
- the criteria for developing new maintained nursery classes; the changing nature of maintained nursery classes and approve the ability to deliver flexible services in the ways described in the report; and
- the list of nursery settings where children will receive 15 hours from September 2009.
(The Deputy Leader (Councillor D T Molyneux) declared a personal and non prejudicial interest in this item because he is a Governor of Ince C of E Primary School appointed by the Council).
251 Teenage Pregnancy Update: The Cabinet considered a report of the Executive Director of Children and Young People’s Services, which gave an update of the teenage pregnancy figures in Wigan.
The Children and Young People’s Panel had endorsed the report at minute 59.
Members asked various questions on the report and gave their views. Councillor T W Halliwell commended the work of the Overview and Scrutiny Select Committee which had undertaken a review of teenage pregnancy.
The Deputy Leader suggested that the topic could be considered by the Youth Parliament and the Chief Executive confirmed that this was high on that agenda.
There were no alternative options available for consideration.
Resolved: The Cabinet:
- suggests that teenage pregnancy is maintained as a high priority issue in Wigan; and
- supports the local drive to reduce teenage pregnancies and improve the outcomes for young parents and their children.
252 Off road and nuisance motor vehicle strategy: The Cabinet considered a report of the Executive Director of Environmental Services, which informed Members of the development of an off road and nuisance motor vehicle strategy to address the problems associated with their use.
Members asked various questions on the report and gave their views and the Executive Director of Environmental Services referred to the benefit of PACTs in this process.
There were no alternative options available for consideration.
Resolved: The Cabinet notes the content of the report.
253 Democratic Services Review – participation in decision making. The future role of townships forum’s. report on consultation with forums: The Cabinet considered a report of the Chief Executive, which informed Members of the outcome of the consultation with Elected Members and Township Forums that took place between August 2008 and January 2009. The report also set out recommendations for how the Council, its partners and Township Forums would operate in the future.
Members asked various questions on the report and gave their views.
The Deputy Leader referred to the introduction of the Township notice boards and asked whether a policy existed for what should be displayed on the notice board and who the respective key holders were.
The report set out details of the alternative options to be considered. The reason for selecting the one recommended was to take an incremental and measured approach to development.
The report would be considered by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee at its meeting to be held on 6 April 2009.
Resolved: (1) The Cabinet notes the report and the recommendations contained within section 7.3 as follows:-
- that the minimum standards described at 4.3.1 are developed and implemented by the Council by June 2009;
- that the Council uses its leadership role at WBP to embed the recommendations as described at 4.4;
- that the Council supports the establishment of a formally constituted “Forum of Chairs” as described at 4.5.3 by June 2009;
- that the Council supports the definition of the interface between PACTs and Township Forums as described at 4.6 and communicates this effectively across key partners;
- that the Council supports the further development of an integrated approach to locality planning and requires this to be implemented within the Council by Autumn 2009 for the 2010/11 planning cycle; and
- the Council supports the proposals for more effective local scrutiny as outlined at 4.8 and 4.9, to be integrated with the Council’s other new scrutiny processes.
(2) The Cabinet agree to receive a report back on 16 April 2009 following wider consultation.
(3) The information relating to the Township Forums notice boards be forwarded to the Deputy Leader accordingly.
254 Meeting the needs of people eligible for social care: The Cabinet considered a report of the Executive Director of Health and Well being that informed Members of an agreed policy regarding how the needs of people eligible for Social Care should be met through services which Maximised independence, were local and allowed individual choice where resources permitted.
The report was considered by Cabinet at minute 388.
Members were advised that the policy would need to be amended in the light of the budgetary position for 2009-10, and the Council’s Transforming Social Care Action Plan.
Resolved: The Cabinet approves the following changes to the policy:
- support needs will first be considered by the reablement service to ensure that maximum level of independence is achieved before resources are allocated, either through support package or personal budget; and
- support packages will reflect individual choice where resources permit.
255 Fair Access to care – eligibility criteria: The Cabinet considered a report of the Executive Director of Health and Wellbeing, which informed Members of the eligibility criteria under Fair Access to Services. Councils were required to review their eligibility criteria annually in line with their usual budgetary cycle.
The report set out details of the alternative options to be considered. The reason for selecting the one recommended was that raising the criteria could produce significant savings in the short term, but would result in substantial levels of unmet need with crisis level services only.
Resolved: The Cabinet agrees that the Council’s eligibility criteria remain at critical and substantial need for 2009/10.
256 Corporate Performance Report – Quarter three 2008-2009: The Cabinet considered a report of the Chief Executive, which informed Members of the Council’s performance against key performance indicators (PI’s) and tasks contained in the National Indicator Set, Local Area Agreement and Corporate Plan for 2008/09.
There were no alternative options available for consideration.
Resolved: The Cabinet accepts the report now submitted.
257 Adult Services Budget Monitoring 2008-09: The Cabinet considered a joint report of the Executive Director of Health and Well being and the Executive Director of Business Support Services that informed Members of the budget monitoring position for Adult Services after the first ten months of 2008-09. The report also sought comments on the budgetary issues that need to be addressed during the year.
There were no alternative options available for consideration.
Resolved: The Cabinet notes the report now submitted.
258 Children’s Social Care revenue budget monitoring as at the 31st January 2009: The Cabinet considered a joint report of the Executive Director of Children and Young People’s Services and the Executive Director of Business Support Services that informed Members of the budget monitoring position for Children’s Social Care Services as at 31 January 2009.
The report set out details of the alternative options to be considered. The reason for selecting the one recommended was to alert Members to potential problems at the earliest opportunity.
Resolved: The Cabinet notes the report now submitted.
259 Government grant scheme for property flood protection and resilience: The Cabinet considered a report of the Executive Director of Environmental Services which informed Members of an application recently made for government grant funding to improve the flood resilience of properties at risk.
There were no alternative options available for consideration.
Resolved: The Cabinet endorses the bid for funding.
260 Manchester Airport Group plc – Investment proposals: The Cabinet considered a joint report of the Executive Director of Business Support Services and the Service Director – Borough Solicitor which informed Members of the current investment proposals of Manchester Airport Group plc (MAG). The report also sought delegated authority to enable decisions to be made by the Council in relation to its interests in the company within the timescales required by the company.
The report set out details of the alternative options to be considered.
The Mayor had been consulted and had accepted that the urgency of the item and timing of relevant meetings meant that a decision to exempt this item from the call in provisions was reasonable in the circumstances.
Resolved: The Cabinet:
- notes the proposals set out in the report;
- agrees to delegate to the Executive Director of Business Support Services in consultation with the Leader and Chief Executive, authority to act on behalf of the Council in Shareholders Committee or in general meeting as the case may be to approve or otherwise the basis for submission of the final bid referred to in the report and to agree or otherwise the resolution connected to the bid or its funding and to vote accordingly;
- agrees to delegate to the Chief Executive in consultation with the Leader and Executive Director of Business Support Service authority to approve the terms for restructuring the outstanding loans made under the Facility Agreement dated the 31 March 1994 as referred to in the report and to complete all necessary documentation to give effect to this; and
- to exempt the above decisions from call in on the basis that they are urgent and any delay would seriously prejudice the Council’s interest in the Company and indeed the interest of the Company.
(The Executive Leader (Councillor P R C Smith) declared a personal and non prejudicial interest in this item because he is a Director of Manchester Airport Group plc. Councillor J B Baldwin declared a personal and non prejudicial interest in this item because he is a Member of the Management Panel of the Greater Manchester Pension Fund).
