Name

Item

Declaration

Reason

Councillor Bowyer

Minute 68 – Residential Care: Update on Modernisation of Older People’s Services 2005 – 2015

Personal and Prejudicial

Wife works in residential home.

Councillor Michael Leaves

Minute 65 – Scrutiny Report on Modernisation of Adult Social Care, Minute 67 Fairer Contributions Policy, charging within a personalised system and Minute 68 - Residential Care: Update on Modernisation of Older People’s Services 2005 – 2015

Personal and Prejudicial

owns a care  home.

Councillor Sam Leaves

Minute 74 – Three Year Review of Licensing Act 2003 Statement of Licensing Act 2003 Statement of Licensing Policy, including Cumulative Impact Policy

Personal and Prejudicial

husband is a taxi driver

Question No

Question By

Cabinet Member

Subject

10 10/11

Mr F E Sharpe

CouncillorBrookshaw

Minutes of Plymstock Neighbourhood meetings.

Please could copies of the minutes for all the Plymstock Neighbourhood meetings that have replaced the old Plymstock area committee meetings be made available for viewing in Plymstock Library.  At the moment there is no connection between Plymstock Neighbourhood meetings at Elburton Goosewell Plymstock or Hooe yet they are all Plymstock. 

Answer:

Formal minutes of Neighbourhood meetings are not taken; however notes of the priorities identified at each meeting are recorded and freely available on the council’s website –

http://www.plymouth.gov.uk/homepage/communityandliving/yourneighbourhood.htm

The website includes a note of the last Plymstock Neighbourhood meeting – held on 22 Sept.

Separate meetings are held for each Neigbourhood in the Plymstock Locality. This means people can attend a meeting close to where they live and identify concerns specific to their neighbourhood, rather than across a wider area.  

 (R1)  

The Task and Finish Group recommend to Cabinet that -

1.

the proposals regarding the decommissioning of the Welby Community Unit alongside the increased capacity at the Colwill Lodge facility are approved;

2.

further development of personal budgets and the re-provision of residential respite are approved;

(Subject to further consultation received before the end of the consultation period)

(R2)

the group felt that the Welby building was not fit for purpose and the costs associated with its maintenance were not value for money. It was accepted by the panel that the forward direction with relation to personalisation gave control to service users and their families and noted the enthusiasm for alternative respite arrangements as expressed through the extensive consultation process;

(R3)

the Task and Finish Group recommend to Cabinet that Disability Related Benefits are removed from assessable income and therefore the Disability Related Expenses are removed from the financial assessment process to reduce bureaucracy and simplify the process;

(R4)

the maximum contribution should not be set at 100% of the personal budget and a cap on contributions should remain;

(R5)

a transitional period of 12 months and support from social care officers should be implemented to help people whose contributions change;

(R6)

information provided to service users should focus on eligibility and charging and should be in simple terms and plain English. One to one advice must also be available for those service users whose contributions are likely to change;

(R7)

the consultation process had been extensive and properly carried out;

(R8)

the Task and Finish Group recommend to Cabinet that the future direction for residential care for older people is extra care facilities;

(R9)

facilities within Frank Cowl are outdated and the costs of keeping the building open are unsustainable and not value for money;

(R10)

it was considered that there had been sufficient consultation with users and their families but that Adult Social Care should provide them with a further opportunity to engage before the end of the consultation process.

(a)

the scrutiny panel had confirmed that the consultation process had been extensive and referred to the recommendations of the Scrutiny Task and Finish Group which supported the proposals (recommendations R1 and R2 in minute 65 above refer);

(b)

officers felt that whilst they were sensitive to the anxieties and issues raised in relation to the proposals, they were confident that those people currently using Welby, could be supported to access short breaks; 

(c)

Welby was an outdated building and could not support people with complex physical care needs;

(d)

the South West Regional Improvement and Efficiency Partnership Capital Grant was awarded specifically to be used at Colwill Lodge and this funding would ensure increased capacity to 15 beds;

(e)

officers were confident that the anticipated demand and additional emergency respite provision could be commissioned in the independent sector or delivered in different ways through personal budgets.

(1)

authority is delegated to the Director for Community Services, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Adult Health and Social Care, the responsibility for ensuring a new Fairer Contributions Policy is implemented, underpinned by the principles for fairer charging set out in the 2009 Department of Health guidance and that the new policy includes the decisions at (2) to (7) below;

(2)

the new operating system for Adult Social Care has a simple financial assessment, conducted at the beginning of the process, so that people enter into a care assessment knowing the likelihood that they may have to make a contribution, and a full financial assessment and benefits maximisation check is completed during the Self Directed Support Process;

(3)

the minimum collectable contribution level is maintained at £2.50 per week for 2010/11, but where service users are invoiced (i.e. where a service user does not have a Direct Payment and the Council organises services on their behalf) for very low contributions, these are collected on a quarterly basis;

(4)

the policy is revised in line with Department of Health guidance so that the charging system is fair to all service users. Contributions should be based on ability to pay and not the cost of individual services. This means that all subsidies relating to service provision must  ...  view the full minutes text for item 67.

(1)

Frank Cowl House is de-commissioned as and when all long stay residents have moved from the Unit (as per the Council’s policy that no resident would be forced to move);

(2)

Frank Cowl House and Stirling House are no longer used for new short stay or new respite provision. 

(1)

the concerns regarding the Budshead Trust, the work already undertaken at a locality level to address some of those concerns, and the opportunities for additional funding in the short-term, are noted;

(2)

Cabinet is unable to identify any additional funding from the Council (except the Community Grants Scheme at councillor’s individual discretion), to support the running costs of the Budshead Trust, as Cabinet is likely to receive a number of such applications and there are no financial resources available for this purpose;

(3)

the granting of a temporary lease of the disused university sports facilities is not supported, for the reasons set out by the Head of Capital and Assets in the report.

(1)

the Leader is appointed to the Board of Destination Plymouth;

(2)

the Cabinet Member for Planning, Strategic Housing and Economic Development is appointed to the Board of Plymouth Waterfront Partnership.   

(a)

the order would relate to those parts of the estate which were to be demolished, to ensure that the land ownership was unified and to enable clear title to be provided to Plymouth Community Homes;

(b)

the circumstances in which a Compulsory Purchase Order would be made, would include the failure to buy a freehold or leasehold property by agreement, or the need to deal with covenants or secure other interests in the land. This action would only be taken where all other negotiated approaches fail;

(c)

this request related to the first sites identified in the Master Plan which included demolition and rebuilding as the method of achieving regeneration and decent homes. These properties were within the estates transferred to Plymouth Community Homes as part of the Housing Stock Transfer on 20 November 2009.

(1)

a Compulsory Purchase Order resolution is made (in the event that it is required) for properties within North Prospect, defined as -

(a)

Woodhey Road (1 – 83 (odds) and 2 – 56 (evens));

(b)

Ham Drive (26 and 28);

(c)

 Laurel Road (28 – 48 (evens));

(d)

North Prospect Road (157 – 195 (odds) and 170 – 202 (evens));

(e)

Foliot Road (46 – 84 (evens));

(f)

North Prospect Primary School and Children’s Centre site;

(g)

Electricity Sub-station, Cookworthy Road;

as set out in decisions (2) and (3) below -

(2)

the Council make a Compulsory Purchase Order pursuant to Section 17 of the Housing Act 1985, in respect of the areas outlined in red on the plan submitted; 

(3)

the Cabinet specifically notes the considerations that arise under the Human Rights Act (1998) in respect of the proposed Compulsory Purchase Order, and has had full regard to the rights of those that would be affected by the Compulsory Purchase Order but, for the reasons set out in the report, determines nevertheless to authorise the Compulsory Purchase Order procedure.

(a)

the variations shown excluded any variance on the agreed delivery plans for the year and the in year reduction target;  

(b)

the full implications of the Comprehensive Spending Review were still being studied and would be referred to in the next quarterly report; 

(c)

the in year revenue and capital funding reductions previously announced in the emergency budget had been reflected within this year’s planning and delivery plans and were included in the figures in the report; 

(d)

further new capital schemes, totalling £0.544m, were proposed for inclusion in the capital programme;

(e)

until the full implications of the Comprehensive Spending Review had been identified, a hold had been placed on any further new commitments against any unringfenced funding within the capital programme.  

(1)

directors progress urgently, further delivery plans and outstanding actions to address the remaining shortfall in 2010/11; 

(2)

the latest 2010/11 capital forecast of £92.179m, is noted and the City Council is Recommended to approve that the following new schemes (included in the latest forecast) are added to the programme for 2010/11 -

(a)

Brickfields improved Athletics facilities £0.133m;

(b)

reinstatement of playing fields at Lipson Vale £0.407m;

(3)

£2.333m is transferred from earmarked reserves to an Invest to Save reserve;

(4)

the budget virements, outlined below, are formally approved by Cabinet in accordance with Financial Regulations -

?

pooling of consultancy budgets within Development and Regeneration, enabling a budget reduction to be delivered: Total in Department virement made £277,562;

?

movement of the Council’s contribution to the schools PFI from Corporate Items to Children’s Services: £578,107;

?

update to individual service budgets for one off, in-year transfers from the carry forward and transformational change reserves: £1.636m. (Further detail is outlined in Appendix D to the report);

?

transfer from Corporate Items to Children’s Services budget for LSC Special Purposes grant allocated via Area Based Grant £228,286;

(5)

the land and properties, as outlined in Appendix E to the report, are appropriated from the Housing Revenue Account to the General Fund.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 72.

(i)

indicating that a revised Statement of Licensing Policy must be published by the Council to take effect from 7 January 2011;   

(ii)

indicating that extensive consultation had been carried out and which had included a review of the Cumulative Impact Policy;     

(iii)

on the details of the consultation responses; the recommendations from the Customers and Communities Overview and Scrutiny Panel (minute 37 of the panel refers), and the draft policy for adoption.

(1)

the results of the public consultation and officers’ conclusions, are noted;  

(2)

the recommendations of the Customer and Communities Overview and Scrutiny Panel are accepted and the Police are encouraged to provide evidence relating to off licences with a view to assisting consideration of whether they should be included within the Cumulative Impact Policy;      

(3)

the City Council is Recommended to adopt the draft Licensing Statement of Policy 2011 – 2014;  

(4)

officer conclusions and recommendations, and the evidence set out in Appendices 1 and 2 to the written report is considered sufficient to identify concerns about crime and disorder and public nuisance and therefore that the Special Policy on Cumulative Impact (contained within the Statement of Licensing Policy) that applies to Union Street (including Derry’s Cross), the Barbican, North Hill, Mutley Plain and Stoke Village remain in place.