Cabinet Member: Councillor Ian Bowyer

The City Council will be asked to approve recommendations in the report.

Council Bowyer (Leader) proposed as amended and Councillors Evans seconded a report and recommendations on establishing a strategic partnership with Torbay Council to deliver Children’s Services.

Following a debate council agreed to –

1.     Endorse Cabinet’s ‘in principle’ decision to progress the development of a delivery contract with Torbay Council to run its Children’s Services, subject to the following:

               (i)  Should Torbay Council decide at its meeting on 27 September 2017 that it wishes to progress a strategic partnership with another council for its other services (either upper tier or upper and lower tier), then Plymouth City Council would withdraw its ‘in principle’ decision for Children’s Services as this would add too much complexity.

               (ii) If Torbay Council decides at that meeting not to pursue a strategic partnership for its other services, that it formally sets out its future strategic direction, operating model and service delivery arrangements for the next 5 years so that Plymouth may consider this in the light of the Children’s Services provision.

2.     Endorse Cabinet’s ‘in principle’ decision to work with Torbay Council and the Commissioner for Children’s Services, and under the auspices of the Department for Education to develop a detailed contractual agreement.

3.     Endorse Cabinet’s ‘in principle’ decision to delegate to the Chief Executive, in consultation with the Leader and the Leader of the Opposition, development of the detailed contractual agreement, and adds the Torbay Children’s Services Cross-Party Working Group to those with whom the Chief Executive will consult.

4.     Endorses the points arising from the Wellbeing Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 20 September 2017, and notes their inclusion in the schedule referred to in 7 below.

5.     Requests that the Wellbeing Overview and Scrutiny Committee further examines the arrangements as they develop, and makes recommendations to Cabinet before any final decision is made.

6.     Agrees to receive a further report, following the ‘due diligence’ exercise and seeks further endorsement from Council before any binding decision is made.

7.     Agrees that the ‘due diligence’ exercise must cover the issues listed in the schedule below and must provide sufficient assurance to Council that all aspects have been explored, and that appropriate monitoring and controls are in place.

DUE DILIGENCE SCHEDULE

a)   Leadership, Capacity and Maintaining Focus

• Ensures that Plymouth’s senior management have sufficient capacity to deliver, given the breadth of their current remit
• Provides clarity on staffing structures, including describing the controls that will be put in place to ensure that any staffing shortfalls will be addressed within the respective councils
• Provides reassurance that there will be no impact on service delivery for, or detriment to children and young people in Plymouth, nor any detriment to frontline social care staff
• Describes how Plymouth’s capacity and reputation will be managed in the event of a major investigation or high profile case in either authority, setting out the details of how the Council would respond to potential scenarios
• Demonstrates how the Council will continue to maintain its own improvement journey and performance levels
• Describes how the arrangement will improve the recruitment and retention of social workers in both councils
• Includes a comprehensive risk register that is actively monitored and widely shared

b)   Funding

• Provides reassurance that:

o   The set up and operation of the delivery contract will be at no cost to the Council and there will be no cross-subsidy or pooling of budgets between the two councils.

o   Sufficient funding will be made available from the DfE and/or other sources to enable both Councils to undertake effective due diligence and cover the transition phase

o   Torbay’s medium term financial planning makes sufficient provision for the delivery of Children’s Services for the duration of the agreement

o   There is sufficient ongoing visibility of Torbay Council’s overall budget and financial  

•  planning process, and that decisions made in the medium term are assessed for any
•  inadvertent impacts on Children’s Services

c)    Roles and Responsibilities

• Confirms that Plymouth City Council’s accountabilities for children and young people are distinct, including around safeguarding, and provides assurance that any reputational impacts of serious incidents or negative judgements are contained within the relevant authority
• Provides clarity around the legal arrangements, including the terms under which the contract can be terminated, who will have responsibility for monitoring the contractual agreement, and who would cover any costs related to early termination
• Describes how the effectiveness of the contractual arrangement will be reported, including the impact on the improvement of Torbay’s Children’s Services
• Clarifies the future relationship with the DfE and arrangements under Ofsted
• Sets out the proposed senior staffing structure for the management of the contract

d)   Political and Governance

• Provides clarity about the political accountabilities within both Plymouth and Torbay councils
• Ascertains the level of cross party support in Torbay for the arrangement
• Identifies the Council’s response if Torbay Council were to cut the provision of non-statutory services which could have an impact on Children’s Services
• Provides clarity about potential future governance and scrutiny approaches

e)   Communications

• Provides clarity about the communications approach to the people of Plymouth
• Provides reassurance to Plymouth residents that Children’s Services will not suffer as a result of the arrangement
• Includes a comprehensive communication and engagement plan.

For the motion (53)

Deputy Lord Mayor, Councillors Aspinall, Bowie, Coker, Dann, P Davey, S Davey, Evans OBE, Hendy, McDonald, Morris, Murphy, Parker-Delaz-Ajete, Rennie, Singh, Smith, Stevens, J Taylor, K Taylor, Tuffin, Tuohy, Vincent, Wheeler, Ball, Mrs Beer, Bowyer, Mrs Bowyer, Churchill, Darcy, Deacon, Downie, Drean, Fletcher, Foster, Fry, James, Jordan, Martin Leaves, Michael Leaves, Mrs Leaves, Dr Mahony, Nicholson, Mrs Pengelly, Ricketts, Wigens, Mrs Bridgeman, Riley, Storer, Mavin, Carson, Winter, Mrs Loveridge and Cook.

Against the Motion (0)

-

Abstain (1)

Lord Mayor

Absent / Did not vote (3)

Councillor Lowry, Penberthy and Sparling.