Home > Agenda, decisions and minutes

Agenda, decisions and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber, Town Hall, Katharine Street, Croydon CR0 1NX

Contact: Victoria Lower
020 8726 6000 x14773  Email: victoria.lower@croydon.gov.uk

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Items
No. Item

56/19

Minutes of the previous meeting pdf icon PDF 116 KB

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 10 June 2019 as an accurate record.

Minutes:

The part A minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on 10 June 2019 were agreed. The Leader of the Council signed the minutes as an accurate record.

57/19

Disclosure of Interests

In accordance with the Council’s Code of Conduct and the statutory provisions of the Localism Act, Members and co-opted Members of the Council are reminded that it is a requirement to register disclosable pecuniary interests (DPIs) and gifts and hospitality to the value of which exceeds £50 or multiple gifts and/or instances of hospitality with a cumulative value of £50 or more when received from a single donor within a rolling twelve month period. In addition, Members and co-opted Members are reminded that unless their disclosable pecuniary interest is registered on the register of interests or is the subject of a pending notification to the Monitoring Officer, they are required to disclose those disclosable pecuniary interests at the meeting. This should be done by completing the Disclosure of Interest form and handing it to the Democratic Services representative at the start of the meeting. The Chair will then invite Members to make their disclosure orally at the commencement of Agenda item 3. Completed disclosure forms will be provided to the Monitoring Officer for inclusion on the Register of Members’ Interests.

Minutes:

There were none.

58/19

Urgent Business (If any)

To receive notice of any business not on the agenda which in the opinion of the Chair, by reason of special circumstances, be considered as a matter of urgency.

Minutes:

There were no items of urgent business.

59/19

Climate Change pdf icon PDF 141 KB

Officer: Shifa Mustafa

Key decision: no

Decision:

The Leader of the Council delegated authority to the Cabinet to make the following decisions.

 

RESOLVED: To

 

1.    Establish a new working group, to bring together existing work and identify any gaps or further opportunities to reduce the Council’s carbon emissions and encourage and support residents and businesses to be more sustainable;

 

2.    Agree that at the outset this working group be chaired by the Leader of the Council in recognition of sustainability needing to cover everything we do;

 

3.    Receive an annual report from the working group on progress.

 

RESOLVED: To recommend that Council:

 

1.    Notes the impact that climate change is already having around the world and the need for urgent action at an international, national and local level;

 

2.    Declare a ‘Climate Emergency’;

 

3.    Notes the work and commitment that the Council has already made towards sustainability;

 

4.    Establish a target for Croydon Council be become carbon neutral by 2030;

 

5.    Work with the Mayor of London to meet the aim for London to be a zero-carbon city by 2050;

 

6.    Call on the UK Government to provide the powers, resources and help with funding to make this possible;

 

7.    Work with communities across Croydon to ensure that all residents and businesses are empowered and encouraged to play their part in making the Croydon the most sustainable borough in London; and

 

8.    Note the important role of all elected Members in leading this agenda.

Minutes:

The Leader informed Members that a report on the council’s response to Climate Change had been circulated earlier that day. The recommendations were that the council declare a “climate emergency” in response to the need for urgent and radical additional action to combat the impact of climate change. It was noted that Croydon would be one of more than 100 councils which had taken this step.

 

Whilst the Leader noted that the council had a strong record on sustainability, it was recognised that more could and should be done by all. The Leader was pleased that the Local Government Association had also declared a climate emergency which showed how large an issue it was and how important it was for all to work toward improvements.

 

Members were informed that more details on the proposals would be taken to Cabinet in early autumn. Proposals would form part of a wider agenda of sustainable transport and regeneration, air quality improvements and enhancing the economy.

 

The Leader noted that the report would be taken to the Council meeting the following week for approval.

 

The Leader of the Council delegated authority to the Cabinet to make the following decisions.

 

RESOLVED: To

 

1.     Establish a new working group, to bring together existing work and identify any gaps or further opportunities to reduce the Council’s carbon emissions and encourage and support residents and businesses to be more sustainable;

 

2.     Agree that at the outset, this working group be chaired by the Leader of the Council in recognition of sustainability needing to cover everything we do;

 

3.     Receive an annual report from the working group on progress.

 

RESOLVED: To recommend that Council:

 

1.     Note the impact that climate change is already having around the world and the need for urgent action at an international, national and local level;

 

2.     Declare a ‘Climate Emergency’;

 

3.     Note the work and commitment that the Council has already made towards sustainability;

 

4.     Establish a target for Croydon Council be become carbon neutral by 2030;

 

5.     Work with the Mayor of London to meet the aim for London to be a zero-carbon city by 2050;

 

6.     Call on the UK Government to provide the powers, resources and help with funding to make this possible;

 

7.     Work with communities across Croydon to ensure that all residents and businesses are empowered and encouraged to play their part in making the Croydon the most sustainable borough in London; and

 

8.     Note the important role of all elected Members in leading this agenda.

 

60/19

Young Mayor pdf icon PDF 127 KB

Cabinet Member: Councillor Alisa Flemming

Officer: Robert Henderson

Key decision: yes

Decision:

The Leader of the Council delegated authority to the Cabinet to make the following decisions.

 

RESOLVED: To

 

1.    Recognise and commend the excellent work of the Young Mayor, William Awomoyi, and Deputy, Shea Williams, in the last year;

 

2.    Reinstate Croydon’s membership with the British Youth Council to ensure that Croydon’s Young People are represented at the UK Youth Parliament;

 

3.    Note the extension of the current Young Mayor’s Term to March 2020 to fall in line with British Youth Council Membership and UK Youth Parliament (at paragraph 3.13 of the report);

 

4.    Note that the ongoing commitment and resource to sustain and support the Young Mayor’s role and for the benefit of Croydon’s children and young people (at paragraph 3.20 of the report); and

 

5.    Note the suggestions and ongoing considerations for the Young Mayor and Deputy to be provided with more direction on how to spend the Young Mayors fund while still allowing them to be creative (at paragraph 3.9 of the report).

Minutes:

The Cabinet Member for Children, Young People & Learning noted that since the election of the first Young Mayor and Deputy Young Mayor in 2018, they had done a fantastic job of raising the profile of young people in the borough.

 

The Deputy Young Mayor, Shea Williams, attended and informed Members that she and the Young Mayor, William Awomoyi, had attended over 30 events since being elected in March 2018 and had sought to raise the voice of young people in Croydon. They had also been ambassadors for Croydon for a variety of campaigns; including Choose Your Future.

 

While the Deputy Young Mayor stated that the events had been great, it was felt that there could be more focus on both hers and the Young Mayor’s manifesto pledges. It was noted that they had been given a £20,000 budget; however this had been spent on the Young Mayor’s Dragon Den scheme rather than on implementing other manifesto pledges. The Deputy Young Mayor recognised that the scheme had been fantastic, but stated that they would like support to implement their pledges and to raise the profile of young people further.

 

The Cabinet Member thanked the Deputy Young Mayor and Young Mayor for their work in raising the profile of young people. It was noted that it had been the first year of the Young Mayor initiative and it was recognised that additional learning from other authorities was beneficial. As such, the council had looked at other authorities; including Lewisham which had elected Young Mayors for a number of years, to ensure the Croydon Young Mayor scheme was improved further.

 

The Policy and Projects Officer informed Members that an extensive review of the Young Mayor scheme had been undertaken which was part of a wider youth services review. From the review it was recommended that Croydon reinstate its membership of the British Youth Council, and that the Young Mayor’s term be extended to March 2020. The extension of the term would enable the Young Mayor’s term to run concurrent with the term of the Youth Council, and would enable Young Mayors to take advantage of all of the programmes run by the Youth Council.

 

It was noted that following the review the support team for the Young Mayor would be extended from one officer to a team of four, and the budget would be increased to £25,000 to support the delivery of manifesto commitments. Whilst there would be three different areas for funding, the aim was that this would provide more direction on how the money could be spent whilst also allowing creativity.

 

Members were informed that costs associated with the changes would be absorbed within the current budget and would facilitate ensuring that the role and the function of the Young Mayor was right.

 

The Leader noted that the recommendations in the report would assist the council in addressing the concerns raised in relation to the role and support of the Young Mayor and strengthen the role further.

 

Members supported the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 60/19

61/19

Croydon Digital Strategy pdf icon PDF 360 KB

Officer: Jacqueline Harris Baker

Key decision: no

Additional documents:

Decision:

The Leader of the Council delegated authority to the Cabinet to make the following decisions.

 

RESOLVED: To

 

1.    Adopt the Digital Strategy 2019-2024, attached to the report at Appendix 1; and

 

2.    In the event that the Digital Strategy is only approved subject to comments, to delegate to the Chief Digital Officer acting in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources authority to revise and approve the final strategy taking on board any comments received from Cabinet.

Minutes:

The Chief Digital Officer, the Head of Digital Operations, and their teams were congratulated for their work in developing the Strategy by the Cabinet Member for Finance & Resources. By moving away from one over-arching contract to bringing services in-house, or smaller contracts, the council would be able to build upon being the Digital Council of the Year. The Cabinet Member informed Members that the ambition was to be a “truly digital council” and the Strategy would help achieve this ambition.

 

The council continued to evolve in its use of technology, as from 2000 the council started to have some basic digital access and from 2010 there had been a shift to greater use of technology with My Account and work to reduce digital exclusion. The Strategy sought to build upon the secure base with automation and more information online. It was the aim to transform the lives of residents in their contact with the council, but also in a wider sense as it was recognised digital exclusion affected residents and their access to ensure they are able to manage their lives, such as insurance and utilities. Additionally, it was recognised that it was important that the Strategy looked beyond what the council did only and encouraged working with digital companies in the borough and sharing knowledge.

 

In terms of key deliverables, the Cabinet Member recognised that the council’s website was not what it should be and as such it would be overhauled and a new website launched in March 2020. It was intended that the new website would set the standard for council websites. Furthermore, it was recognised that many resident experiences were not to the standard expected and it was the ambition to improve residents’ online experience to make it the first choice to contact the council.

 

The Cabinet Member noted that the cost of transactions were greatly reduced from £8.21 per face-to-face transaction to 0.9p per online transaction; and as such it was the ambition to have 75% of resident contact conducted through online self-service. Whilst it was recognised that savings could be realised through greater online services, it was also important to ensure that there continued to be support for the digitally excluded.

 

The Cabinet Member for Economy & Jobs informed Members that the council supported the creation of digital hubs in the borough and welcomed the growth of the tech cluster in Croydon. As such, the ambition was to become London’s tech centre.

 

The Cabinet Member for Families, Health & Social Care stated that she felt that the Strategy was an excellent piece of work and that all areas had been covered. In particular, she felt that the Strategy was a positive change for adult social care with a focus on how going digital can be an asset rather than a barrier.

 

In response to Member questions, the Cabinet Member for Finance & Resources stated that there was not a ranking in terms of the four themes in the Strategy, as it was felt that there was an interdependency  ...  view the full minutes text for item 61/19

62/19

July Financial Review pdf icon PDF 473 KB

Officer: Jacqueline Harris Baker

Key decision: no

Additional documents:

Decision:

The Leader of the Council delegated authority to the Cabinet to make the following decisions.

 

RESOLVED: To approve

 

1.    The approach to ensuring the financial challenge of the period 2019/22 continues to be managed efficiently and effectively including delegation of decisions on measures to deliver the 2019/20 budget to the Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources in consultation with the relevant Cabinet member as set out in paragraph 4.12 of the report;

 

2.    The revised capital programme as detailed in section 5 and appendices 1 and 2 of the report; and

 

3.    The continued use of capital receipts for funding transformations as detailed in section 6 of the report.

 

RESOLVED: To note

 

4.    The final outturn of the 2018/19 budget as detailed in section 3 of the report; and

 

5.    The update on the Revolving Investment Fund as detailed in section 3.21 of the report.

Minutes:

The Leader stated that at the Local Government Association (LGA) conference the previous week that there had been cross-party anxiety as there had been no announcement in relation to the Local Government settlement. This continued to make it very difficult for councils to set budgets going forward. Despite this challenging background, the Leader noted that Croydon had a strong reputation for prudent budgeting and delivering improvements.

 

The unique position of supporting Unaccompanied Asylum Seeker Children (UASC) without Home Office support was highlighted by the Cabinet Member for Finance & Resources as particular pressure on the budget; in addition to a fast growing borough, cuts to public health and insufficient funding for SEND. Due to the pressures facing local government, the LGA had predicted that by 2025 there would be an £8billion shortfall in finances.

 

Despite these pressures, the Cabinet Member stated the council had a very good control of the finances of the council, and as such had not gone into emergency measures or been required to deliver statutory services only. It was, the Cabinet Member stated, a tribute to the s151 Officer and her team, and all Cabinet Members working together to ensure savings and investments were delivered with an overspend in 2018/19 of only 0.01%. Additionally, it was noted, that investment by the council continued with over £350 million invested in capital programmes which was ensuring investment in the future of the borough remained strong.

 

The £5.2 million spent of UASC was noted by the Cabinet Member, and whilst funding for UASC had been announced by the Immigration Minister; Croydon would continue to receive no funding to support these vulnerable young people. However, due to an over performance in collections it was possible to cover the costs without impacting upon the council’s reserves.

 

Ongoing pressures on the budget were highlighted in the report; however robust management of those areas continued and remained in the council’s control to ensure the books remained balanced. The Cabinet Member echoed the Leader’s concerns of the lack certainty as to the local government settlement which continued to cause issues in drawing up the Medium Term Financial Strategy. However, Members were assured that the council was planning and taking measures in 2019/20 to ensure continued delivery for future years.

 

In response to Member questions, the Cabinet Member confirmed that he would write to the Member with further detail on how the Brick by Brick interest levels had changed and when the last Housing Needs Assessment had been undertaken. In relation to the contingency fund, the Cabinet Member informed Members that for 10 – 15 years the fund had been £1million only and two years ago it had been doubled to £2million. As such it was felt that £2million was sufficient and allowed frontline services to be fully supported.

 

The Cabinet Member confirmed, in response to queries, that any over collection would be used to cover overspend for the financial year as had been done the previous year. To ensure Member oversight of the budget, quarterly  ...  view the full minutes text for item 62/19

63/19

Stage 2 Responses to Recommendations arising from Scrutiny & Overview Committee on 30 April 2019 pdf icon PDF 15 KB

Officer: Jacqueline Harris Baker

Key decision: no

Additional documents:

Decision:

The Leader of the Council delegated authority to the Cabinet to make the following decisions.

 

RESOLVED: To approve the response and action plans attached to the report at Appendix A and that these be reported to the Scrutiny and Overview Committee or relevant Sub-Committees.

 

Minutes:

The Leader of the Council delegated authority to the Cabinet to make the following decisions.

 

RESOLVED: To approve the responses and action plans attached to the report at Appendix A and that these be reported to the Scrutiny and Overview Committee or relevant Sub-Committees.

64/19

Investing in our Borough pdf icon PDF 222 KB

Officer: Jacqueline Harris Baker

Key decision: no

Additional documents:

Decision:

The Leader of the Council delegated authority to the Cabinet to make the following decisions.

 

RESOLVED: To approve

 

1.    The procurement strategy for the establishment of Adult Care Social Services Dynamic Purchasing Systems (DPS) for the initial period of five years with an option to extend for a further five years as set out at agenda item 8a; and

 

2.    The award of contracts for School Places for Pupils with SEN in accordance with the recommendations set out in the report at agenda item 8b.

 

RESOLVED: To recommend

 

3.    To the Leader of the Council that prior to the next meeting of Cabinet in September, in respect of any contracts and property acquisitions and disposals valued over £500k and that have not previously been notified or reported to Cabinet, the nominated Cabinet Member in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources or, where the nominated member is the Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources in consultation with the Leader, be authorised to agree the award of such contracts. Note that any awards made under this delegation will be notified in the standard contracts report to the next meeting of Cabinet.

 

RESOLVED: To note

 

4.    The contracts over £500,000 anticipated to be awarded by the nominated Cabinet Member, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources or, where the nominated Cabinet Member is the Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources, in consultation with the Leader; and

 

5.    The list of delegated award decisions made by the Director of Commissioning and Procurement between 12/05/2019 to 11/06/2019.

Minutes:

The Leader of the Council delegated authority to the Cabinet to make the following decisions.

 

RESOLVED: To approve

 

1.    The procurement strategy for the establishment of Adult Care Social Services Dynamic Purchasing Systems (DPS) for the initial period of five years with an option to extend for a further five years as set out at agenda item 8a; and

 

2.    The award of contracts for School Places for Pupils with SEN in accordance with the recommendations set out in the report at agenda item 8b.

 

RESOLVED: To recommend

 

3.    To the Leader of the Council that prior to the next meeting of Cabinet in September, in respect of any contracts and property acquisitions and disposals valued over £500k and that have not previously been notified or reported to Cabinet, the nominated Cabinet Member in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources or, where the nominated member is the Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources in consultation with the Leader, be authorised to agree the award of such contracts. Note that any awards made under this delegation will be notified in the standard contracts report to the next meeting of Cabinet.

 

RESOLVED: To note

 

4.    The contracts over £500,000 anticipated to be awarded by the nominated Cabinet Member, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources or, where the nominated Cabinet Member is the Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources, in consultation with the Leader; and

 

5.    The list of delegated award decisions made by the Director of Commissioning and Procurement between 12/05/2019 to 11/06/2019.

65/19

Adult Social Care Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS) Procurement Strategy pdf icon PDF 329 KB

Officer: Guy Van Dichele

Key decision: no

Decision:

The Leader of the Council delegated authority to the Cabinet to make the following decisions.

 

RESOLVED: To

 

1.    Approve the overall procurement strategy detailed in this report for the establishment of three Dynamic Purchasing Systems (DPS 1, DPS 2, and DPS 3), for the commissioning and procurement of Croydon’s Adult and Young People’s Social Care services for Council residents at a total maximum annual value (to Croydon) of up to £105,000,000 for a initial period of five (5) years, with the ability to extend for up to a further five (5) years;

 

2.    Note that access to the three Dynamic Purchasing Systems will be made available for the Council’s health partners including the Croydon One Alliance,  the Clinical Commissioning Group, and SLaM which has been estimated to  increase the total maximum value of the DPS’s to up to £1,500,000,000 over the full 10 year period; and

 

3.    Note that the Director of Commissioning and Procurement has approved to waive the standard evaluation criteria ratio under Regulation 21 to 60% Quality and 40% Cost in accordance with Regulation 18 of the Councils Tenders and Contracts Regulations, for the reasons set out in paragraph 3.9 of the report.

Minutes:

The Cabinet Member for Finance & Resources informed Members that the council was seeking to move to a dynamic purchasing system (DPS) which would enable a better use of technology to ensure the provision of services. The DPS would further enable improved contract management and better value for money.

 

Members were informed that discussions had been held with Croydon CCG and Croydon Health Services (CHS) as part of the integration of health and social care; and both the CCG and CHS had expressed interest in utilising the DPS. As such, the contract value was high to enable them to use the DPS also which would be to the benefit of all residents.

 

In response to Member questions the Cabinet Member stated the DPS allowed for flexibility and for the list of providers to evolve. The Cabinet Member further confirmed that Shadow Cabinet Member would have access to reports on regular basis to ensure good governance.

 

The Leader of the Council delegated authority to the Cabinet to make the following decisions.

 

RESOLVED: To

 

1.     Approve the overall procurement strategy detailed in this report for the establishment of three Dynamic Purchasing Systems (DPS 1, DPS 2, and DPS 3), for the commissioning and procurement of Croydon’s Adult and Young People’s Social Care services for Council residents at a total maximum annual value (to Croydon) of up to £105,000,000 for a initial period of five (5) years, with the ability to extend for up to a further five (5) years;

 

2.     Note that access to the three Dynamic Purchasing Systems will be made available for the Council’s health partners including the Croydon One Alliance,  the Clinical Commissioning Group, and SLaM which has been estimated to  increase the total maximum value of the DPS’s to up to £1,500,000,000 over the full 10 year period; and

 

3.     Note that the Director of Commissioning and Procurement has approved to waive the standard evaluation criteria ratio under Regulation 21 to 60% Quality and 40% Cost in accordance with Regulation 18 of the Councils Tenders and Contracts Regulations, for the reasons set out in paragraph 3.9 of the report.

66/19

Commissioning of School Places for Pupils with SEND - The Beckmead Trust & Enhanced Learning Provisions with mainstream schools pdf icon PDF 612 KB

Officer: Robert Henderson

Key decision: yes

Decision:

The Leader of the Council delegated authority to the Cabinet to make the following decisions.

 

RESOLVED: To

 

1.    Approve the award of contract for school places for pupils with SEND as recommended by the Contracts and Commissioning Board, to The Beckmead Trust for a contract term of five (5) years at a maximum contract value of £25,756,000;

 

2.    Approve the award of contracts for school places for pupils with SEND as recommended by the Contracts and Commissioning Board, to the sixteen (16) Enhanced Learning Provisions (ELPs) listed in this report, for a contract term of five (5) years at a maximum contract value of £10,335,000; and

 

3.    Note that the Director of Commissioning and Procurement has approved a waiver in order to direct award the contracts in accordance with Regulation 18a of the Council’s Tenders and Contracts Regulations.  

Minutes:

The Cabinet Member for Finance & Resources stated that to-date the council had had Service Level Agreements and individual agreements with schools for the provision of Enhanced Learning Provisions (ELP), whereas the report sought to introduce a more formal contract and arrangements. This, it was stated, would enable the council to better arrangements with schools which would introduced improvements for the pupils who used the facilities.

 

In response to Member questions the Cabinet Member for Children, Young People & Learning stated that a number of papers had been discussed and agreed at Cabinet which sought to support more inclusive learning in a mainstream setting. The recommendations would facilitate additional support for young people with SEND, and was linked to the SEND Strategy.

 

The Leader of the Council delegated authority to the Cabinet to make the following decisions.

 

RESOLVED: To

 

1.     Approve the award of contract for school places for pupils with SEND as recommended by the Contracts and Commissioning Board, to The Beckmead Trust for a contract term of five (5) years at a maximum contract value of £25,756,000;

 

2.     Approve the award of contracts for school places for pupils with SEND as recommended by the Contracts and Commissioning Board, to the sixteen (16) Enhanced Learning Provisions (ELPs) listed in this report, for a contract term of five (5) years at a maximum contract value of £10,335,000; and

 

3.     Note that the Director of Commissioning and Procurement has approved a waiver in order to direct award the contracts in accordance with Regulation 18a of the Council’s Tenders and Contracts Regulations.   

67/19

Exclusion of the Press and Public

The following motion is to be moved and seconded where it is proposed to exclude the press and public from the remainder of a meeting:

 

“That, under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act, 1972, 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 falling within those paragraphs indicated in Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended.”

Minutes:

The item was not required.