Agenda and minutes

You are invited to declare any registerable and/or non-registerable interests in matters appearing on the agenda, and the nature of that interest.

You are also invited to disclose any dispensation in relation to any registerable and/or non-registerable interests that have been granted to you in respect of any matters appearing on the agenda.

Please complete the Declarations of Interests card available at the meeting and return it to the Democratic Services Officer before leaving the meeting.

No declarations of interest or dispensations were reported.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 29 July 2019 (previously circulated).

Resolved that the Minutes of the previous meeting held on 29 July 2019 be confirmed and signed by the Chair.

To receive a verbal report on the latest activities of the Young

Mayor and Young Cabinet.

The Young Mayor reported on the following activities in which she and Young Cabinet Members and/or Youth Councillors had been involved:

·         UK Youth Parliament Member Oscar had spoken in support of the Air Quality motion during the Big Debate at the British Youth Council Conference in Leeds.

·         Oscar had also been involved in sending out the Make Your Mark consultation, the largest young people’s consultation in Europe which at the end of the process, would be debated by Members of UK Youth Parliament at the House of Commons in November.

·         Youth Councillors had raised £335.06 from the bag pack at Morrison’s in Whitley Bay and over £100 from the sale of sweets which would go towards their fundraising total for St John’s Ambulance. So far, they had raised £553.89. A further bag pack was planned for December.

·         The Youth Transport Forum group had met with other young people from the North East region at the Open Lab in Newcastle to develop a website being created with the Digital Civics Department at Newcastle University, to pull together transport information into one place to make it easier for users to find out the information that they wanted. 

·         The Anti-bullying group had met with the web designer and had suggested some changes for the Your Present Your Future Anti Bullying website. The group’s creative writing and poetry competition was open for entries from young people who lived or study in the borough. Entry form flyers had been sent out to schools, colleges and libraries with more being given to Youth Councillors for them to take to their schools. Entries closed on 30 September.

·         Schools had been informed about the opportunity to participate in a range of activities over Local Democracy Week in October.  Children’s Councillors had worked on the school council event which would take place during that Week.

·         The Planning Group were working on the arrangements for the Equality and Diversity Conference to be held in January 2020 and places would be offered to Young People.

·         The Young Cabinet Member for Environment Abi Tang and Environment Group had met with the Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport, Councillor Johnson and officers from Environmental Sustainability to support them in putting together an action plan in respect of the carbon footprint of North Tyneside Council.  She had also asked what schools could do.  

The Elected Mayor thanked the Young Mayor for the report and commended her on the excellent work and projects she, Young Cabinet Members and Youth Councillors had been involved with. 

To receive the second budget monitoring report for the current financial year which reflects the forecast financial position as at 31 March 2020.

Cabinet considered the second monitoring report outlining the Authority’s 2019/20 financial position which provided an update on the expected revenue and capital financial position of the Authority as at 31 March 2020.

Thereport covered the forecast outturn of the Authority’s General Fund and Housing Revenue Account (HRA) revenue budget including management mitigations where issues had been identified; the delivery of2019/20approved budget savingsplans; and an update on the Capital Investment Plan, includingdetails of variations and reprogramming, that were recommendedforapproval.

The budget for 2019/20 had been approved by full Council at its meeting on 21 February 2019.  The net General Fund Revenue budget had been set at £155.730m.  This included £10.533m of savings to be achieved (£6.875m relating to 2019/20).

The forecast overall pressure on the General Fund was estimated at £5.243m against the approved net budget.  This was driven mainly by Health, Education, Care and Safeguarding reflecting the continued pressures in Children’s Services of £3.775m and Adult Services of £2.596m, partly mitigated by the contingency balances that had been created by Cabinet as part of the 2018/19 budget setting process and continued to be held centrally to reflect the on-going pressures in social care being felt locally and nationally. 

Included in this projection was £2.898m of pressures in Corporate Parenting and Placements, £2.048m in Wellbeing and Assessment and £0.560m in Disability and Mental Health.  The drivers for these pressures continued from 2018/19, as outlined in the report.

The other main areas of pressure existed within the Resources section, primarily due to additional costs within ICT Retained Services.  It was anticipated that the overall outturn forecast would improve over the course of the financial year as planned remedial actions began to impact on both expenditure and income.  

The HRA was forecast to have year-end balances at 31 March 2020 of £6.533m, which was £2.662m higher than budget which was set at £3.871m.  The higher than forecast balances were mainly as a result of higher opening balances due to the impact of the previous year’s financial performance (£1.101m) but there was also an in-year estimated overall underspend of £1.561m, against an in-year budget of £2.331m, due to additional income of £0.061m combined with reduction to expenditure of £1.500m, which was linked to savings identified following the end of the Kier JV from April 2019.

As of July 2019, 2,608 North Tyneside Homes tenants had moved on to Universal Credit and a team was working proactively with tenants to minimise arrears.  This position would be closely monitored as the year progressed to identify any adverse impacts on the budget position.  

Schools were required to submit their rolling three year budget plan by 31 May each year.  The total planned deficit for 2019/2020 was £5.045m. As well as school balances reducing overall, some individual schools continued to face significant financial challenges. There were nine schools with approved deficits in 2018/19, five of which continued to be in deficit for 2019/20.  Six schools were also new to deficit  ...  view the full minutes text for item CAB39/19

To consider a reportoutlining the process to be adopted for the Authority’s Financial Planning and Budget process for 2020/21 as part of the proposed framework for the four years 2020/21 to 2023/24. 

Cabinet considered a report seeking approval to the proposed 2020-2024 Financial Planning and Budget process including information on the key decision milestones; and as part of the process, the proposed approach to Budget Engagement. 

The report outlined the national context within which local authorities were required to manage their finances. The financial outlook for local government and public services remained challenging and uncertain.  Local government had faced significant funding reductions, and these were likely to continue. 

Medium-term financial planning remained difficult and reflected the continuing funding cuts for local government, coupled with welfare reform and increased demand for social care and other unfunded pressures arising from pay and price inflation.  Therehad been indications that many authorities were overspending against budgets for both Adults and Children’s Services in order to meet increasing cost due to the increased complexity of service users’ needs.  These pressures were evident in the Authority, and as a consequence the Authority would need to explore new financial and organisational initiatives to meet this significant challenge.

At a local level, there were changes in North Tyneside’s demography with an increasing population and a growing number of the Authority’s most vulnerable residents requiring complex health and social care support.  The Authority, wherever possible, aimed to manage demand as effectively as possible, targeting services at those residents with greatest need.  This could only contain, or at best slightly reduce, the overall size of the population in receipt of these services.  However, the average cost of these services had risen due to the increased average complexity of the needs of those clients.

The last few years had been uncertain but financial planning for 2020/21 was

particularly difficult.  The Social Care Green Paper was two years late, the

promised Comprehensive Spending Review had yet to emerge, the Fair

Funding and Business Rates Retention review was in doubt and the future of

Government grants such as the Better Care Fund and Troubled Families was

also uncertain.

As a result of the delayto Brexit until 31 October 2019, political uncertainty remainedhigh and this was causing a delay to many decisions throughout Whitehall.  Details of the Spending Round had yet to be released but it was expected that this would be completed in September 2019.  A one-year settlement was likely to be on the basis of a roll-forward with current resources remaining the same as those in 2019/20.  In real terms, this would mean that the settlement would be “cash flat” with the potential for additional funding for social care. 

A one-year settlement would have implications for the Fair Funding Review (FFR) and reform of the Business Rate Retention Scheme (BRRS).  The FRR had been scheduled for implementation from April 2020 alongside a move to 75% BRR.  Uncertainty would remain as to future local government allocations post 2020/21.  Significant risks remained to the Authority’s funding around the principles yet to be agreed for fair funding distribution and how the move to 75% BRR  ...  view the full minutes text for item CAB40/19

To seek approval to make changes to the verification of evidence to support Housing Benefit and Council Tax Support claims.

Cabinet considered a report seeking approval to proposed changes to the verification of evidence to support Housing Benefit and Council Tax Support claims.

On 9 March 2015 Cabinet had approved the implementation of a Risk Based Verification (RBV) process to administer new Housing Benefit (HB) claims and Council Tax Benefit Support (CTS) as the number of new claims to HB and CTS had been steadily rising. RBV provided an opportunity to improve administration and reduce the burden on claimants to provide as much evidence to support their claims. There was also the potential to drive out fraud and error by targeting higher risk claimants to provide more evidence in support of their claims.

A new system to implement the RBV process had subsequently been procured and on 1 April 2015 RBV had been implemented.

In 2015/16 the number of new claims received had peaked to over 11,000 per annum and RBV allowed the Authority to process these claims without the need to request large amounts of evidence from claimants. This had improved administration and the speed of processing claims had improved from an average of 32 days for HB in 2014/15 to 24 days in 2015/16.

From November 2015 the Authority had been part of the national roll out of the Universal Credit Live Service, and in May 2018 Universal Credit Full Service had been implemented. Both changes had had an impact on the number of new claims to HB that the Authority dealt with as working age claimants now claimed housing costs through Universal Credit.  Alongside this, the number of new claims for CTS was also reducing. In 2018/19 the overall number of new claims the Authority dealt with annually had reduced to less than 8,000 and was expected to drop further up to and following full migration of working age claimants to Universal Credit.

The profile of new claims for HB the Authority dealt with was changing and the majority were now from pensionable age claimants, with the remaining working age claims from those in supported or temporary accommodation or claimants entitled to a Severe Disability Premium.

Since the implementation of RBV in 2015 the Authority had also seen significant improvements in the access to data provided by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). This allowed the Authority to verify the state benefits of claimants and receive direct notification from DWP systems when incomes changed. For CTS claimants receiving Universal Credit, DWP also provided a notification to the Authority of the income they had used in awarding Universal Credit including details of earnings. A further recent development now meant the Authority also had access to earned income and private pension data held on Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) systems.

These improvements in access to data, the reducing number of new claims, and the change in profile of new claims, had led the Service to consider whether there was still a need for RBV and whether the Service could still process claims effectively without risk to the  ...  view the full minutes text for item CAB41/19

To seek approvalto commence consultation on an updated draft of the Contaminated Land Strategy.

Cabinet considered a report which sought approval to commence consultation on an updated draft of the Authority’s Contaminated Land Strategy.

The Authority had a duty under Part 2A of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 to produce a Strategy setting out how it would identify and deal with contaminated land within its area. 

The review of the Strategy had been shaped by engagement with the Contaminated Land North East Regional Group and internal consultation had also been undertaken to ensure the Strategy remained up to date with current nationally published guidance.

The Local Plan, approved by Council in July 2017, emphasised that new development must be made suitable for its use and enabled contaminated land to be brought back into beneficial use. The updated draft Strategy linked to the Local Plan and highlighted development as a route to bringing contaminated land back into beneficial use and provided an opportunity to improve the environment.

The main amendments to the Strategy were:

• Mining and ground water constraints: Developer guidance had been produced by the Environment Agency and the Coal Authority to ensure protection of water courses, ground water and mine gas;

·         National and local planning policy: New policies on Planning placed the onus on developers to demonstrate that development would not cause serious detriment to the environment;

·         Changes in land status: There had been a reduction in local designated wildlife sites and sites of local nature conservation interest in the borough. There had been a reduction in publicly owned land;

·         Prioritisation of actions relating to contaminated land:  Updates to the work programme to reflect the proactive work that had been undertaken; and

·         Environmental Damage Regulations:  Inclusion of the amendments that had been made to these regulations which removed the need for formal consultation on remediation proposals.

The updated draft Strategy was included in Appendix 1 of the report.  A summary of the amendments to the draft Strategy were set out at Appendix 2 to the report.

The report sought approval to commence public engagement on the updated draft Strategy.  Consultation would be undertaken with the statutory bodies who were consultees to the Planning process, developers, businesses and the public.  The Authority’s Engagement Hub would be used as a means of publicising widely with comments being coordinated by the Environmental Health Service. 

It was proposed that the engagement process would commence on 30 September 2019 for a period of 6 weeks.  At the conclusion of the consultation the updated draft Strategy would be presented to Cabinet for final consideration.

Cabinet considered the following decision options: to accept the recommendations set out in paragraph 1.2 of the report, or alternatively, to not approve the recommendations.

Resolved that (1) that the Head of Environment, Housing and Leisure be authorised to commence public engagement on the updated draft Contaminated Land Strategy attached at Appendix 1 to the report; and

(2) a further report be received by Cabinet at the conclusion of the public engagement process to seek approval to the adoption of the updated draft Contaminated Land  ...  view the full minutes text for item CAB42/19

To seek approval of the reviewed North Tyneside Council Lettings Policy.

Cabinet considered a report which sought approval of the reviewed North Tyneside Council’s Lettings Policy.

The review of the Lettings Policy had been carried out taking into account the following: -

·         Shrinking Housing Revenue Account (HRA) budget: Reduced rents by 1% for 4 years as a consequence of changes made by national government; and the impact on rental income due to the introduction of Universal Credit, rent arrears had increased by £594,000in 2018/19.

·         Reduction in housing stock: The Authority’s housing stock had reduced from 32,000 in 1979 to 14,656at the end of 2018/19.  A total of 382 properties had been sold under the Right to Buy scheme since 2016.

·         New legislation: The introduction of the Homeless Reduction Act 2017 had put new duties on the Authority as to how to manage homeless applications and prevent homelessness.

·         Ensuring people with housing need were allocated available homes:There were 3,868 applicants registered on the Authority’s housing register, with an average of 1,400 homes available a year.  Due to the low level of available homes it was important that homes were allocated to those applicants most in need.

The review of the Lettings Policy had taken into consideration all relevant legislation, issues identified during the operation of the current Lettings Policy and feedback from consultation with Members, staff, tenants / potential tenants, residents and key stakeholders.

The feedback from the consultation on each of the proposals was provided in the Consultation Report as set out in Appendix 2 to the report.  Six changes to the Lettings Policy had originally been proposed but as a result of the feedback only four were now proposed as follows:

·         Homeless applicants’ choice to bid

·         Financial Resources

·         Restricting Transfer Applicants

·         Restrictions on Bidding

Further details of each of the above amendments were set out in the report.

Cabinet considered the following decision options: 1) to accept the recommendations set out in paragraph 1.2 of the report; or alternatively, 2) to accept the recommendations, subject to amendments as specified by Cabinet; 3) not to approve the recommendations and refer the content of the report back to officers for further consideration and consultation.

Resolved that the North Tyneside Council Lettings Policy, as set out in Appendix 1 to the report, be approved. 

(Reasons for decision: This will support the continued efficient and effective management of the housing register and allocation of the Authority’s homes and thereby continue to play an important role in meeting housing need within the Borough. The proposals contained within Option 1 reflect feedback from consultation and secure compliance with the Authority’s statutory duties.

If the preferred option is not approved, the Authority will be in a weaker position to manage some of the risks associated in meeting legislative requirements, welfare reforms and managing housing need.)

To provide an overview of the Authority’s closed complaints for the year 1 April 2018 - 31 March 2019 and to ensure compliance with the requirement to publish a report on complaints under the relevant statutory complaint legislation. 

Cabinet considered a report which detailed complaint related activity during 2018-19 and which complied with the requirement to publish a report on complaints under the relevant statutory complaints legislation.

The Authority undertook millions of transactions with its 206,000 residents and over five million visitors to the Borough throughout the year.  Against that background, the number of complaints received by the Authority remained consistently low, reflecting the excellent services the Authority’s customers received and its ability to resolve swiftly any issues that did arise at the first point of contact.

The number of formal complaints had decreased during 2018-19 compared to the previous year as the Authority continued to take a proactive approach to encouraging residents and service users to provide feedback.  The Authority’s complaint leaflet entitled ‘How to complain about Council services’ was widely available in the Authority’s buildings and to download from the Authority’s website.  It was also now easy for customers to contact the Authority on-line, and Social Care Service users were provided with a complaint leaflet at the first point of contact.    

Customer satisfaction with the complaints process remained relatively high and the Authority continued to resolve the vast majority of complaints at Stage 1. The Authority welcomed complaints as valuable feedback from its customers and complaint outcomes provided valuable lessons to further improve and enhance the Authority’s services and procedures.

The Authority operated statutory complaint procedures for Adult Social Care

and Children and Young People’s Services and Public Health.  It also

provided a corporate complaints procedure for all other services. 

During 2018-19, the Authority had responded to Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) enquiries in a timely fashion and was well within the required timescale for response of 28 days. The LGSCO’s annual review of complaints for 2018-19 was detailed in the report at Appendix 2.

The Authority’s complaints service report for 2018-19 at Appendix 1 showed that the overall number of formal complaints had decreased by 10% in comparison to 2017-18 (973 complaints and 1,070 complaints respectively). 

The number of social care complaints (relating to both Adult Social Care and

Children and Young People’s Services) had decreased slightly from 126 in 2017-18 to 97 in 2018-19 (42 cases in Children’s Social Services and 55 cases in Adult Social Care). 

A breakdown of the numbers and categories of complaints was provided in the report.

A survey of complainants’ experiences of, and satisfaction with, the complaints service undertaken in respect of complaints handled during 2018-19 had resulted in 11% of forms being returned. The majority of respondents had found it easy to find information about the service and said that staff were helpful, that they were happy with the length of time taken to respond to their complaint, and that the content of the response letter had been easy to understand. Overall 59% of customers thought the complaints process was good.

A number of changes had been made to procedures and practice in services as a result of complaints resolved during 2018-19, examples of which were  ...  view the full minutes text for item CAB44/19

This is to give further notice in accordance with paragraphs 5(4) and 5(5) of the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Meetings and Access to Information) (England) Regulations 2012 of the intention to consider items 12 and 13 below in private.

Cabinet is requested to consider passing the following resolution:

Resolved that under Section 100A (4) of the Local Government Act

1972 (as amended) and having applied a public interest test as

defined in Part 3 of Schedule 12A of the Act, the press and public be

excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the

grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraphs 3 and 1 respectively of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Act.

Reasons for taking the items in private: Item 12 contains information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding the information).

Item 13 contains information relating to an individual.

Resolved that under Section 100A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended) and having applied a public interest test as defined in Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraphs 3 and 1 respectively of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Act.

To consider a reportoutlining progress made on insourcing of the Procurement Service back to the Authority; and to seek approval to adopt a ‘Responsible Procurement Charter’ to be reflected in the Authority’s standard conditions of contract for the supply of goods and services.

Cabinet received a report which outlined progress on returning the Procurement Service, which was currently delivered as part of the business partnership with Engie, to direct management by the Authority; and sought approval to adopt a ‘Responsible Procurement Charter’ which would comprise a set of ethical standards for suppliers which reflected the Authority’s policy position.

It was proposed that the ‘Responsible Procurement Charter’ as set out at Appendix A to the report be adopted and reflected where appropriate in revised terms and conditions of contract.  This would allow the Authority to mandate adherence when awarding contracts and to monitor compliance thereafter.

Cabinet considered the following decision options: to approve all recommendations as set out in paragraph 1.2 of the report, or alternatively, to approve recommendations (1) and (2) only, but not recommendations (3) and (4); or, to not approve to the recommendations.   

Resolved that (1) the progress made in implementing Cabinet’s decision of 15 October 2018 to returning Procurement services which were currently delivered by the Engie Business Partnership to direct management by the Authority, be noted;

(2) the Head of Commissioning and Asset Management, in consultation with the Head of Law and Governance, the Head of Resources and the Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources, be authorised to carry out the necessary steps in completing the return of Procurement Services;

(3)  it be noted that a significant number of ‘ethical charters’ have been

received and researched by the Authority, aimed at securing the adoption of various standards, many of which cover procurement activity and the supply chain; and that these charters have been evaluated for ‘fit’ with the Authority’s policy position and the Our North Tyneside Plan, resulting in a proposed ‘Responsible Procurement Charter’ for the Authority; and

(4)  the proposed ‘Responsible Procurement Charter’, as set out at Appendix A

to the report, be adopted and the Head of Commissioning and Asset Management, in consultation with the Head of Law and Governance, be authorised to amend the Authority’s contract terms and conditions, where appropriate, to reflect those areas set out in the Charter.

(Reasons for decision: This would enable all aspects of the Authority’s procurement functions to be delivered, managed and controlled directly by the Authority thus optimising efficiency and effectiveness. 

The adoption of the proposed ‘Responsible Procurement Charter’ further supports the priorities as set out with Our North Tyneside Plan and also the Authority’s Social Value priorities within the Procurement Strategy 2017-2020.)

To consider a reportoutlining the current situation with the Senior Coroner for North Tyneside, and to seek approval for the proposed way forward for the Coroner Service in North Tyneside.

Cabinet considered a report which outlined the current situation with the Senior Coroner for North Tyneside; and sought approval for the proposed way forward for the Coroner Service in North Tyneside.

Cabinet considered the following decision options: to approve all recommendations as set out in paragraph 1.2 of the report, or alternatively, to not approve the recommendations.   

Resolved that (1) the settlement of the historic back-pay issue with the Senior Coroner for North Tyneside, and his retirement with effect from 30 September 2019 be approved;

(2) the appointment of the Senior Coroner for Newcastle as an Assistant Coroner and subsequently as Acting Senior Coroner for North Tyneside be approved; and

(3) the merger of the Newcastle and North Tyneside Coroners areas be approved in principle, subject to the development of an agreed business case.

(Reasons for decision: Given the current Coroner’s desire to retire, together with the opportunity for ongoing savings within the service delivered through that retirement, Option 1 is recommended.  In the event that the retirement takes place, the Authority will need to make provision for a Senior Coroner to discharge the necessary duties, and the proposed arrangements with the Newcastle Senior Coroner will allow the Authority to smoothly move towards a merger of the two areas, in line with the stated policy of the Ministry of Justice.)    

Monday 14 October 2019 at 6.00pm.

Tuesday 17 September 2019 at 4.00pm (Extraordinary meeting)

Monday 14 October 2019 at 6.00pm (Ordinary meeting)