Cabinet Members will be asked to make any declarations of interest in respect of items on this agenda.  A flowchart providing guidance on interests is attached to assist councillors.

There were no declarations of interest .

To sign and confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 25 July 2017.

The minutes of the meeting held on 25 July 2017 were approved.

To receive reports on business which, in the opinion of the Chair, should be brought forward for urgent consideration.

There were no Chair’s urgent business.

To receive questions from the public in accordance with the Constitution.

Questions, of no longer than 50 words, can be submitted to the Democratic Support Unit, Plymouth City Council, Ballard House, Plymouth, PL1 3BJ, or email to democraticsupport@plymouth.gov.uk. Any questions must be received at least five clear working days before the date of the meeting.

There was one question from a member of the public.  The questioner was not present at the meeting.

The Leader introduced the report and then handed over to Alison Botham, Assistant Director for Children, Young People and Families who highlighted that Plymouth City Council were invited to submit an expression of interest to create a partnership arrangement with Torbay Council to jointly deliver its Children’s Services.  This was following Torbay being judged inadequate for several years by Ofsted.  This report seeks an ‘in principle’ decision and we have been clear throughout that to proceed with a full partnership due diligence would be undertaken to ensure that this partnership does not compromise our services to children and young people.

Since this report was produced Torbay Council will now consider their options at an Extraordinary Council Meeting on 27 September 2017.

Cabinet –

1.         Agrees ‘in principle’ to progress the development of a partnership with Torbay Council to run its Children’s Services, working with Torbay Council and the Commissioner for Children’s Services, and under the auspices of the Department for Education to develop a detailed partnership agreement.

2.         Delegates to the Chief Executive in consultation with the Leader and the Leader of the Opposition the development of the detailed partnership agreement.

3.         Requests the Wellbeing Overview and Scrutiny Committee to examine and debate the proposal in September 2017 and provide any feedback to the Council meeting on 25 September 2017.

4.         Recommends that the Council endorses the Cabinet’s ‘in principle’ decision at its meeting on 25 September 2017, subject to continuing support for a strategic partnership with Plymouth City Council to deliver Torbay Council’s Children’s Services, following the latter’s Council meeting on 13 September 2017.

5.         Receives a further report later in 2017 following the ‘due diligence’ exercise and seeks further endorsement from the Council before any binding decision is made.

The Leader highlighted that this report outlines the finance monitoring position of the Council as at the end of June 2017. 

Cabinet agreed –

1.         To note the current revenue monitoring position and action plans in place to reduce/mitigate shortfalls;

2.         It is recommended that Cabinet approve the non-delegated virements which have occurred since 1 April 2017;

3.         Cabinet are asked to recommend to Council that the Capital Budget 2017 – 2022 is revised to £836m (as shown in table 5).

The Leader introduced the report and highlighted that this was the quarter one update of the Corporate Plan which provides an overview of activity and performance between April and June 2017.  The council remains ‘on track’ with the majority of its activity and there has been some significant progress in quarter one. The report also highlights the challenges faced by the council.

Cabinet noted and approved the Corporate Plan Quarter 1 Monitoring Report.