Agenda and minutes

To receive apologies for absence from the meeting.

Mrs Norma Redfearn, Elected Mayor, welcomed everyone to this virtual meeting of North Tyneside Council’s Cabinet.

You are invited to verbally 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.

No declarations of interest or dispensations were reported.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 22 February 2021 (previously circulated).

Resolved that the Minutes of the previous meeting held on 22 February 2021 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:

·         Youth Councillors had reviewed the YMCA’s Changing Minds website on how to address commonly experienced mental health concerns in young people and recommended it was accessible to all young people in the borough via a link to schools.

·         The Education and Enterprise Committee had continued their work on the first book of a series for young children which had been registered with the Young Enterprise Programme, supported and sponsored by North Tyneside Business Forum, working closely with an illustrator and the Authority’s Libraries and Children’s Outreach Services.

·         Students from 10 schools in the borough had responded to a survey undertaken by the Increased Opportunities Committee regarding sanitary products in the female toilets. The Free Flow Project was aimed at changing the practice by sending each high school, middle school, and special school, a free box of products with a poster to display with a recommendation free products were readily available in female toilets.

·         The BAME Committee had worked with the Digital Voice Project to create a video about young asylum seekers and refugees who had fled their home countries and had come to live in North Tyneside. The video would be sent to schools and shared on social media to help better understand and lead to greater tolerance.

·         Over 600 students had responded to a survey undertaken by the Equalities Committee on the extent of sexism in schools. Initial responses indicated that more education was needed to raise awareness for students, and training for teachers around appropriate language and how to deal with complaints. The results of the survey would be shared with the schools who had taken part.

·         The Young Mayor had taken part in the launch of the Seal in a box project at the Spanish Dome.

·         Youth Councillors and the SEND Youth Forum had contributed to the Council’s Covid Recovery Programme by talking about the challenges of the last year and how they were looking ahead to the future, with extra support for people who had missed opportunities to build their skills.

·         The Children in Care Council had continued to meet virtually working on homes and foster carers, meeting social work teams who were involved in recruitment for new staff, and on planning their regional work and annual regional campaign.

·         Member of Youth Parliament, Abi, had met with Mary Glindon MP, to discuss the work of the youth council committees, with a report received from the Environmental Audit Committee to be used to help the Environment Committee inform their plans for the group.

The Elected Mayor thanked the Young Mayor for her update and congratulated her and all the young people for their excellent and valuable work over the last year. The Elected Mayor and her Cabinet were proud of Suzie and Abi and welcomed them both continuing in their current roles.  These accolades were echoed by the Authority’s partner representatives present.

To receive the fifth budget monitoring report for the current financial year which reflects the forecast financial position as at 31 January 2021.

Cabinet considered the fifth monitoring report outlining the 2020/21 financial position.  Itprovidedanindicationofthe expectedrevenueandcapitalfinancialposition ofthe Authority as at 31 March2021.  The reported position was expected to change over the coming months as the response and recovery to Covid-19 continued.

Thereport covered the forecast outturn of the Authority’s General Fund and HRA revenue budget including management mitigations where issues had been identified; the delivery of2020/21approved budget savingsplans; an indication of the impact of Covid-19 on Collection Rates; an indication of the impact of Covid-19 on the Collection Fund; the implications of Covid-19 on the Authority’s cash position; and an update on the Capital Investment Plan, including details of variations and reprogramming, that were recommendedforapproval.

In terms of the General Fund Revenue Account, the forecast overall pressure was estimated at £3.041m against the approved net budget.  This was made up of a forecasted pressure of £0.053m on normal activities and £2.988m relating to the impact of Covid-19.  This was after a forecasted transfer to reserves of a £13.527m surplus relating to Section 31 grants. An additional £1.841m was also forecast to be transferred to reserves relating to growth received from the North of Tyne Combined Authority following the Authority’s participation in a business rates pool in 2019/20. At this stage it was anticipated that this funding would be held in reserve to support businesses and residents form the impact of Covid-19 during 2021/22 and in future years.

The £0.053m pressure in the services was driven mainly by Health, Education, Care and Safeguarding (HECS) reflecting the continued pressures in Children’s Services of £5.647m and Adult Services of £0.756m. This was before inclusion of the contingency based budgets, which were held and reported with Central Items, that had been created by Cabinet as part of the 2018/19 budget setting process to reflect the on-going pressures in social care being felt locally and nationally.

Included in this projection was £4.942m of pressures in Corporate Parenting and Placements, £1.454m in Wellbeing and Assessment and £0.962m in Integrated Disability & Additional Needs. The drivers for these pressures continued from 2019/20 as outlined in the report.

It was still anticipated that the Authority would deliver a balanced budget position for normal activities by the end of 2020/21.

The financial impact of the pandemic continued to have a significant effect on the projected 2020/21 outturn position.  The Authority had received four payments of Local Authority Support Grant funding from the Government (total of £16.369m), of which £0.733m had been allocated due to Covid-19 pressures arising in March 2020.

On 2 July 2020, the Government had also announced support would be provided in relation to pressures on sales, fees and charges. The Authority had now received its initial payment, covering the period April–July 2020, to the value of £2.463m and had submitted the second claim covering August–November 2020 to a value of £1.786m. This second amount had not yet been received  ...  view the full minutes text for item CAB222/20

To seek approval for Cabinet’s response to the recommendations included in the Children, Education and Skills sub-group report into Children’s Readiness for school.

Cabinet considered a report which sought approval to the proposed responses to the recommendations included in the Children, Education and Skills Sub-group report into children’s readiness for school in North Tyneside.

The sub-group report and recommendations had been presented to Cabinet at its meeting on 22 February 2021 (Previous Minute CAB209/21).

In accordance with Section 21B of the Local Government Act 2000, Cabinet was required to provide a response to the recommendations contained in the report of the Children, Education and Skills Sub-group of the Overview, Scrutiny and Policy and Development Committee within two months of the receipt of the recommendations by Cabinet.  In providing its response Cabinet was required to indicate what action, if any, it proposed to take in relation to each of the recommendations made by the Sub-group.

The Sub-group had made six recommendations, of which all were proposed to be accepted by Cabinet.

The six recommendations from the sub-group were that:

1.    Cabinet requests that the Director of Children's and Adult Services considers improving communication between the Authority, schools, and private nurseries in relation to early help and being ready for school.

2.    Cabinet requests the Director of Children’s and Adult Services to consider simplifying the early help assessment process, so it is less time consuming and bureaucratic for schools and private nurseries or provides adequate help to schools and private nurseries in completing the early help assessment process.

3.    Cabinet requests that the Director of Children's and Adult Services provides more help to schools and private nurseries for toilet training, including for children without special needs.

4.    Cabinet requests that the Director of Children's and Adult Services provides more help and encouragement for parents and carers in accessing early help information and services, including help for toilet training, language development, and accessing online educational material for children.

5.    Cabinet requests that the Director of Children's and Adult Services consults with parents, schools, and private nurseries about early help and being ready for school, including a focus on the size and distribution of any problems in North Tyneside. The findings of this consultation are to be shared with Cabinet and all Elected Members.

6.    Cabinet requests that the Elected Mayor writes to the Secretary of State for Education asking for more funding and resources for local government for early help to ensure all children are ready for school.

Cabinet’s response to the Children, Education and Skills Sub-group recommendations and action plan were attached at Appendix 1 to the report.  The Report on Children’s Readiness for School in North Tyneside (November 2020) was attached at Appendix 2.

The Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Learning, thanked the Children, Education and Skills Sub-Committee for establishing a sub-group to review the Authority’s approach to supporting children’s readiness for school.  He commented that Cabinet was fully committed, as was clear in the Our North Tyneside Plan, to doing everything it could to support all children to be ready for school.  Therefore, he was grateful to the sub-group for  ...  view the full minutes text for item CAB223/20

To seek approval for the Authority’s Procurement Plan 2021/2022 to proceed with the relevant procurement exercises throughout the financial year and award contracts in accordance with UK public procurement legislation to the most advantageous tenders.

Cabinet received a report seeking approval for the Authority’s Procurement Plan 2021-2022, and to proceed with the relevant procurement exercises throughout the financial year and award contracts in accordance with UK public procurement legislation to the most advantageous tenders.

Following the return of the Procurement Service to the management of the Authority the opportunity had been taken to review and improve reporting practices. To date individual reports had previously been presented for Cabinet approval; once the budget was approved by Council the third-party requirements were known. The procurement exercises which would commence in the financial year 2021/2022 had been identified and were set out at appendix 1, the contract start date may be in the subsequent year due to the procurement lead in time. This approach would ensure timely procurements whilst continuing to maintain value for money.

The Authority had adopted its Procurement Strategy in 2017. Utilising the social value principles within the Procurement Strategy, the Authority would gain commitments of local employment and apprenticeships whenever applicable. This would contribute to the economic recovery of North Tyneside in the wake of the Covid crisis. The Authority’s tendering process would be streamlined, and better information would be provided to the market. Where appropriate, lower value tenders would be issued.  This would give SME’s the chance to work with the Authority, again enabling and encouraging smaller businesses. Working with the Business Forum and North East Procurement Organisation (NEPO), bespoke workshops would be developed to support SME’s. The principles set out in the Authority’s Responsible Procurement Charter would be embedded in the tender requirements.

The relevant service area would develop tender packages and robust specifications to ensure that the Authority was protected in terms of financial and commercial risk. The duration of the contract would be considered to help shape new and emerging markets; lessons learned from any previous contracts would be considered when developing the tender package. Relevant existing frameworks would be explored if appropriate to the contract. Collaborative regional working would be explored if appropriate to the contract. The contract award criteria would be developed considering social value as appropriate. Packages would be developed to support the economy in the recovery of Covid-19.

Consultation prior to commencing a procurement with the relevant Cabinet Member(s) was key, this would ensure that the Council’s priorities were achieved through its contracting arrangements. The Authority’s finance team would be engaged to identify any budgetary risks associated with the delivery of the service and any potential mitigations. The legal team would review the terms and conditions for each procurement to ensure the Authority mitigated any commercial risk. Consultation and engagement with the market and any relevant associations would take place to ensure that the offer to the market was attractive and that a market existed to deliver the goods and services.

An evaluation team consisting of subject matter experts and the procurement team would evaluate each bid received against the published award criteria and in accordance with UK public procurement legislation. Prior to award of any  ...  view the full minutes text for item CAB224/20

To seek approval for the proposed arrangements for a new contract to replace the Authority’s existing contract for the provision of bus shelters, cleaning, maintenance and advertising on bus shelters.

Cabinet received a report seeking approval to the proposed arrangements to put in place a new concession contract with the incumbent supplier to replace the existing concession contract for the cleaning and maintenance of, and advertising on, bus shelters.

Commercial bus shelters in North Tyneside, including all those which bore advertisements, were maintained under a concession contract between the Authority and an external supplier. The existing contract did not have provision to generate revenue for the Authority. It also pre-dates the Concession Contract Regulations 2016, which provided greater clarity in relation to distinct types of contracts where the risk in the delivery of the works or service was passed to the contractor in exchange for potential commercial gain from use of the Authority’s publicly owned asset. The existing contract did not include a specific mechanism to maintain ongoing compliance with these regulations.

For these reasons and bearing in mind the supplier’s desire to invest in the updating the asset by installing digital advertisements, it was considered preferable to seek to refresh the contractual arrangements at this stage.

Discussions with the incumbent supplier over some time had indicated a likelihood that it would be possible to agree a new contract on new terms. It was anticipated that the new terms would involve the supplier having the possibility to install digital advertisements, subject to it securing any necessary approvals such as planning permission, and to remove poster advertisements, while retaining and continuing to maintain existing shelters. Replacing the existing contract with a new contract would also support ongoing compliance with relevant procurement regulations. It was therefore proposed to continue discussions with the incumbent supplier with a view to entering a new concession contract, on new terms, with the incumbent supplier, which would automatically supersede the existing concession contract.

The cleaning and maintenance of shelters not covered by the existing contract would continue to be arranged by Nexus who currently had contracts in place for this work and would undertake any procurement required to ensure the continued provision of this service on behalf of the Authority.

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

Resolved that (1) the Authority’s existing concession contract for the provision of bus shelters, including cleaning, maintenance and advertising on bus shelters, to be replaced with a new concession contract with the incumbent supplier be agreed;

(2) officers continue discussions with the incumbent supplier on the basis of (1) above; and

(3) the Head of Environment, Housing and Leisure, in consultation with the Deputy Mayor, the Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport, the Head of Corporate Strategy and Customer Service, the Head of Law and Governance and the Head of Resources, be authorised to finalise the details of any new concession contract and if successful to make arrangements for the Authority to enter into the proposed new concession contract which would automatically supersede the existing concession contract.

(Reasons for decision:  A  ...  view the full minutes text for item CAB225/20

Monday 24 May 2021 at 6.00pm.

6.00pm on Monday 24 May 2021.