Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillors Dempster and Follett.

Members are asked to declare any interests they may have in the business to be discussed and/or indicate that Section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 applies to them.

Members were asked to declare any interests they may have in the business on the agenda and/or declare if Section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 applied to them.  No such declarations were made.

The minutes of the meeting held on 30 March 2009, have been circulated to Members and the Cabinet is asked to approve them as a correct record.

RESOLVED:

that the minutes of the meeting of Cabinet, held on 30 March 2009, be confirmed as a correct record.

Stoneygate Community Meeting -

16 February 2009

Early Years Provision

The following was agreed at the above meeting.  The full minute extract is attached at Appendix A.

“That Cabinet be asked to consider locating one of five new Children’s Centres in the Stoneygate Ward”.

Councillor Willmott to respond.

Meeting of the Stoneygate Community Meeting, 16 February 2009

Early Years Provision

The above Committee agreed that Cabinet be asked to consider locating one of five new Children’s Centres in the Stoneygate Ward.

The Chief Executive stated that there were developments in children centre provision and further discussion would take place with the Stoneygate Ward Councillors.  The Chair thanked the Community Meeting for presenting the issue and gave assurance that this would be considered.

 RESOLVED:

that the location of a children’s centre in the Stoneygate Ward be considered in the next phase of Children Centre development.

Councillor Willmott submits a report that summarises the work and proposals of the task and finish group established to develop work experience and employment opportunities for children and young people, including looked after children, across Leicester City Council. Cabinet is asked to approve the recommendations as set out in Paragraph 3 of the report.

A minute extract from the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board, to be held on 16 April 2009, will be circulated as soon as it is available.

Councillor Willmott submitted a report that summarised the work and proposals of the task and finish group established to develop work experience and employment opportunities for children and young people, including looked after children, across Leicester City Council.

RESOLVED:

                        that Cabinet:

1.      notes the work of the Task and Finish group completed to date.

2.      agrees to the Council developing the core offer as outlined in section 4.4 of the report and Appendix I in order to strategically plan and coordinate opportunities for young people across the Council.

3.      notes the continued requirement for meetings with key officers in order to  implement, monitor and review the Core Offer.

4.      agrees to the City Council adopting a scheme for ring fencing identified vacancies for looked after young people as part of the Council’s commitment to corporate parenting and note the newly developed team manager post in Social Care & Safeguarding with the lead on implementation. 

5.      notes that this informs part of the wider work on developing a Council wide workforce strategy and preventing NEET  (Not in Education Employment or Training) for young people across the city. 

6.      receives a further report in 12 months time outlining progress. 

Councillor Willmott submits a report that seeks agreement and advises all directorates within the City Council of the revised summary of roles and responsibilities in respect of safeguarding children. Cabinet is recommended to agree the revised summary of roles and responsibilities and to authorise distribution of the revised document to the Leader of the Council, Cabinet Lead for Children’s Services, all Council Members and senior officers.

A minute extract from the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board, to be held on 16 April 2009, will be circulated as soon as it is available.

Councillor Willmott submitted a report that sought agreement and advised all directorates within the City Council of the revised summary of roles and responsibilities in respect of safeguarding children.

The Chair stated that this was an important issue and that it should be a requirement of all Councillors to undertake the training for safeguarding children.

RESOLVED:

                        that Cabinet:

1.      agrees the revised summary of roles and responsibilities within the council in respect of safeguarding children.

2.      distributes the revised document to the Leader of the Council, Cabinet Lead for Children’s Services, all Council Members and senior officers.

3.      agrees that all Councillors should undertake mandatory awareness training on safeguarding and corporate parenting provided by senior officers from the Social Care & Safeguarding division.

Councillor Willmott submits a report that outlines the current issues in relation to safeguarding policy, practice and procedures resulting from requirements and expectations from the Department for Children Schools and Families (DCSF). Cabinet is asked to approve the recommendations as set out in Paragraph 3 of the report.

A minute extract from the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board, to be held on 16 April 2009, will be circulated as soon as it is available.

Councillor Willmott submitted a report that outlined the current issues in relation to safeguarding policy, practice and procedures resulting from requirements and expectations from the Department for Children Schools and Families (DCSF).

RESOLVED:

                        that Cabinet:

1.      notes the events occurring nationally and the measures taken to date by the Local Safeguarding Children Board and the City Council in relation to the audit and development of a range of safeguarding activity.

2.      notes that a further report will be presented to a future Cabinet meeting, focusing on the implications arising from Lord Laming’s report on The Protection of Children in England: A Progress Report.

3.      agrees that all Councillors should undertake mandatory awareness training on safeguarding and corporate parenting provided by senior officers from the Social Care and Safeguarding Division. 

Councillor Willmott submits a report that outlines proposed amendments to the way in which scrutiny of children and education in Leicester City Council is undertaken. Cabinet is asked to recommend to Council the recommendations as set out in Paragraph 3.3 of the report.

A minute extract from the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board, held on 19 March 2009, is attached.

Councillor Willmott submitted a report that outlined proposed amendments to the way in which scrutiny of children and education in Leicester City Council was undertaken.

The Chair thanked Members of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board and Officers for their participation in the review.  He noted that the new Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee would be of benefit.

RESOLVED:

that Cabinet recommends to Council:

1.      the introduction of a standing Children and Young People (CYP) Scrutiny Committee to replace the Children and Young People’s Scrutiny Task Group, of equal status to OSMB, Performance and Value for Money Select Committee and Health Scrutiny Committee (Terms of Reference at Appendix A);

2.      that the new CYP Scrutiny Committee considers all reports relating to children and young people (including those that that currently go to OSMB) and includes as members the statutory education co-optees and youth representatives (non-voting) who attend OSMB;

3.      that the new CYP Scrutiny Committee has the power to set up its own ad hoc working group as and when required;

4.      that the new CYP Scrutiny Committee provides close oversight of work strands, amongst others, such as Transforming Leicester’s Learning, the Schools Forum, Building Schools for the Future, Safeguarding Panel and, in particular, may seek to bring in members of the Leicester Children and Young People's Strategic Partnership for challenge;

5.      that the new CYP Scrutiny Committee will issue a standing invite to the Cabinet Lead for Children and Schools;

6.      that the new CYP Scrutiny Committee explores the use of a rapporteur (existing Members Support Officer) to undertake objective investigative work on the Committee’s behalf;

7.      that the new CYP Scrutiny Committee - and OSMB - have a template agenda and working practices for how meetings will be held (Appendix C) and that the membership is as outlined in section 5 of the report.

8.      that in addition to the deletion of the current CYP Task Troup Leader and Deputy Leader roles, an additional Task Group Deputy Leader position is deleted to make up the financial shortfall of the new arrangements;

Councillor Cooke submits a report that presents the results from the OFSTED inspection of the Adult Skills & Learning Service. Cabinet is recommended to note the improvement in performance achieved by the staff of the Adult Skills & Learning Service since the last inspection in June 2004.

Councillor Cooke submitted a report that presents the results from the OFSTED inspection of the Adult Skills & Learning Service.

Cabinet congratulated the Adult Skills & Learning Service for the work achieved.

RESOLVED:

that Cabinet notes the improvement in performance achieved by the staff of the Adult Skills & Learning Service since the last inspection in June 2004.

Councillor Cooke submits a report that presents a revised draft of the Leicester Carers Strategy following the consultation period, for approval and adoption by the Council. Cabinet is recommended to ratify the strategy and to note that the action themes in the strategy continue to be worked on to add detail, to produce a fully-specified action plan for officers, taking account of the latest inspection themes.

Minute extracts from the meeting of the Health Scrutiny Committee, held on 1 April 2009, and the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board, to be held on 16 April 2009, will be circulated as soon as they are available.

Councillor Cooke submitted a report that presented a revised draft of the Leicester Carers Strategy following the consultation period, for approval and adoption by the Council.

The Chair noted the views submitted from the Health Scrutiny Committee and acknowledged the comments from the Chair of the Health Scrutiny Committee.

RESOLVED:

1.      that Cabinet approves the Leicester Carers Strategy.

2.      that Cabinet notes that the action themes in the strategy continue to be worked on to add detail, to produce a fully-specified action plan for officers, taking account of the latest inspection themes. This will support the implementation of the strategy.

Councillor Wann submits a report that proposes that Leicester City Council adopts the Department of Health (DoH) model byelaws for acupuncture, tattooing, semi-permanent skin colouring, cosmetic piercing and electrolysis in order to introduce a uniform set of public health safeguards across the City. Cabinet is asked to recommend to Council the recommendations as set out in Paragraph 3 of the report.

Councillor Wann submitted a report that proposed that Leicester City Council adopt the Department of Health (DoH) model byelaws for acupuncture, tattooing, semi-permanent skin colouring, cosmetic piercing and electrolysis in order to introduce a uniform set of public health safeguards across the City. 

Councillor Wann noted that concerns had been expressed regarding tanning salons and that a report would be submitted to Cabinet in the future.

Councillor Wann also agreed to submit an update report in six months on the progress of the tattooing procedures.

RESOLVED:

1.      that Cabinet recommends to Council:

a)     the adoption of model byelaws for Acupuncture, tattooing, semi-permanent skin-colouring, cosmetic piercing and electrolysis as set out in Annex 1 and that they come into force on 1 July 2009.

b)     the revocation of existing byelaws regulating acupuncture, tattooing, ear piercing and electrolysis with effect from 1 July 2009.

2.       that Cabinet:

a)     requests that the Service Director (Environmental  Services) makes the necessary arrangements for the implementation and subsequent enforcement of the new byelaws, including the authorization of relevant council officers.

b)     agrees to the registration fee structure as set out in paragraph 4.2.4 of the report.

c)      requests the Service Director (Environmental Services) regularly review the fees and charges in line with the Finance Procedure Rules. 

The following dates are proposed for meetings of Cabinet for the forthcoming municipal year:

All meetings are to be held on a Monday at 1.00pm, unless otherwise stated.

1 June 2009                                                   14 December 2009

22 June 2009                                                25 January 2010

13 July 2009                                                  15 February 2010

3 August 2009                                       8 March 2010

1 September 2009 (Tuesday)                   29 March 2010

5 October 2009                                       19 April 2010

9 November 2009                                       10 May 2010

30 November 2009

Cabinet is asked to agree the above dates.

RESOLVED:

that Cabinet agrees the following meeting dates for the forthcoming municipal year:

1 June 2009                                       14 December 2009

22 June 2009                           25 January 2010

13 July 2009                                       15 February 2010

3 August 2009                           8 March 2010

1 September 2009                           29 March 2010

5 October 2009                           19 April 2010

9 November 2009                           10 May 2010

30 November 2009

AGENDA

MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC TO NOTE

Under the law, the Cabinet is entitled to consider certain items in private.  Members of the public will be asked to leave the meeting when such items are discussed.

The Cabinet is recommended to consider the following reports in private on the grounds that they contain ‘exempt’ information as defined by the Local Government (Access to Information) Act 1985, as amended and consequently that the Cabinet makes the following resolution:-

“that the press and public be excluded during consideration of the following reports in accordance with the provisions of Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended, because they involve the likely disclosure of 'exempt' information, as defined in the Paragraphs detailed below of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act and taking all the circumstances into account, it is considered that the public interest in maintaining the information as exempt outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

Paragraph 3

Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information).

SALE OF LAND AT MADELINE ROAD

SALE OF LAND AT CONDUIT STREET

LEASE OF LAND AT BRADGATE STREET / RAVENSBRIDGE DRIVE

RESOLVED:

that the press and public be excluded during consideration of the following reports in accordance with the provisions of Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended, because they involve the likely disclosure of ‘exempt’ information, as defined in the Paragraph detailed below of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act and taking all the circumstances into account, it is considered that the public interest in maintaining the information as exempt outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

Paragraph 3

Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information).

                        SALE OF LAND AT MADELINE ROAD

SALE OF LAND AT CONDUIT STREET

LEASE OF LAND AT BRADGATE STREET / RAVENSBRIDGE DRIVE

Councillor Willmott submits a report.

Councillor Willmott submitted a report which sought Cabinet approval to the sale of 0.4 hectares of land at Madeline Road.

It was noted that Councillor Dempster had expressed concerns regarding parking in the area.

RESOLVED:

                        that Cabinet:

1.      approves the sale of the site on the terms set out in the report, subject to the purchaser obtaining Planning Consent for their scheme.

2.      delegates authority to the Chief Operations Officer, in consultation with the Lead Member for Property, to agree detailed terms for the disposal, approve any alterations to the terms and to take all necessary actions to progress and complete the disposal.

3.      authorises the Director of Legal Services to prepare and execute the documents for the disposal.

Councillor Willmott submits a report.

Councillor Willmott submitted a report that advised Cabinet Members of the position with regard to the negotiation for the sale of land at Conduit Street.

A Member queried if the sale of the land was subject to the purchaser obtaining planning permission, in response it was noted that this was the case.

RESOLVED:

          that Cabinet:

1.      agrees the disposal of the land on the terms set out in the report.

2.      gives authority to the Chief Operating Officer, in consultation with the Lead Member for Property, to agree detailed terms of disposal, approve any alterations to the terms, and to take all necessary actions to progress and complete the disposal.

3.      authorises the Service Director of Legal Services to prepare and execute the documentation for the disposal.

Councillor Willmott submits a report.

Councillor Willmott submitted a report that informed Cabinet of urgent action taken by the Corporate Director of Resources in consultation with the Cabinet Leads for Property and Regeneration and Chair and Vice Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board. 

RESOLVED:

that Cabinet notes the urgent action taken by the Corporate Director of Resources in consultation with relevant Members in authorising the lease of land at Bradgate Street as outlined in the report.

That the meeting closed at 1.25pm.