Agenda for Executive Board on Tuesday, 15th December, 2020, 2.00 pm

Agenda and minutes

Venue: Remote - To be held remotely via Zoom - https://www.youtube.com/user/NottCityCouncil. View directions

Contact: Kate Morris, Constitutional Services, Tel: 0115 8764353  Email: kate.morris2@nottinghamcity.gov.uk

Note: Unless stated otherwise, all decisions are subject to call-in. The last date for call-in is 24 December 2020. Decisions cannot be implemented until the working day after this date 

Items
No. Item

63.

Apologies for Absence

Minutes:

Councillor Linda Wooding – Council Business

 

Chris Henning – Corporate Director for Development and Growth

Hugh White – Interim Corporate Director for COVID Response and Recovery

64.

Declarations of Interests

Minutes:

None.

65.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 193 KB

Minutes of the meeting held on 17 November 2020, for confirmation

Minutes:

The minutes of the meeting held on 17 November 2020 were confirmed as a true record and were signed by the Chair.

66.

NCSCP Annual Report 2019/20 pdf icon PDF 228 KB

Report of the Portfolio Holder for Children and Young People

Additional documents:

Minutes:

This item does not contain any decisions that are subject to the call in.

 

The Board considered the report of the Portfolio Holder for Children and Young People, presenting the first annual report of the Nottingham City Safeguarding Children Partnership covering the period 1 April 2019 to 30 March 2020. The following points were highlighted:

 

(a)  The purpose of the Partnership is to coordinate each partner’s actions for promoting safeguarding and to promote welfare of children. The Partnership holds each member to account, conducts serious case reviews, and challenges safeguarding practices to ensure that partner agencies are robust and their actions fit for purpose;

 

(b)  Following the publication of the IICSA report in July 2019 the partnership has worked hard to ensure that learning from the outcomes continues;

 

(c)  The group continues to work to prevent the criminal exploitation of children and young people as a multi agency partnership. The streamlined arrangements mean that the work is no less thorough than when the group was larger. The smaller statutory membership ensures that a partnership view of safeguarding arrangements is maintained.

 

Resolved to approve the 2019/20 Nottingham City Safeguarding Children Partnership annual report

 

Reasons for decision

The production and publication of an annual report by the group is a statutory requirements. The report must details the actions taken during the year to achieve its main objectives and implement its strategic plan. The report is brought for approval to ensure an accurate record and a level of scrutiny is achieved by partners and to ensure that the Council can assure itself that group and partners have acted to help protect children.

 

Other options considered

The other option would be to not produce the report. This would mean that the group is not meeting its statutory requirements and so this was rejected.

67.

Safeguarding Adults Board Annual Report 2019/20 pdf icon PDF 220 KB

Report of the Portfolio Holder for Adult Care and Local Transport

Additional documents:

Minutes:

This item does not contain any decisions that are subject to the call in.

 

The Board considered the report of the Portfolio Holder for Adult Care and Local Transport presenting the Annual report of the Safeguarding Adults Board covering the period 1 April 2019 to 30 March 2020. The following points were highlighted during discussion:

 

(a)  The report acts to assure the Council that the local safeguarding arrangements and partners have acted to help and protect adults who are “Care Act eligible”;

 

(b)  The group fosters a culture of challenge allowing partner organisations to hold each other to account. This has been supported by and encouraged by the Independent Chair, Joy Hollister;

 

(c)  The key strategic partners are the Local Authority, the Police and the Clinical Commissioning Group. The report details activities undertaken by the group and partner agencies and contains assurance that safeguarding activities are undertaken;

 

(d)  Although not the subject of this report the period of the Covid pandemic saw a decrease in face to face contact of the partner agencies. However work continued through the pandemic and activity is once again increasing as business returns to normal;

 

(e)  Within the prevention, work a card designed for adults with learning disabilities has been developed and won national awards. It is designed using a variation of Makaton to help people understand what is acceptable behaviour, and what is abusive and to understand how to seek help when and if they feel threatened. There is scope that these could be adapted for use with children and young people too; 

 

Resolved to approve the 2019/20 Safeguarding Adults Board Annual Report.

 

Reasons for decision

Production of an annual report is a statutory requirement. The report must detail what the Safeguarding Adults Board has done during the year to achieve its main objectives and to implement its strategic plan. The report is brought for approval to ensure an accurate record and a level of scrutiny is achieved by partners and to ensure that the Council can assure itself that group and partners have acted to help protect adults who are Care Act eligible.

 

Other options considered

The other option considered was to not produce the report, however as it is a statutory requirement this option was rejected.

 

 

68.

Active Travel Fund Tranche 2 Grant pdf icon PDF 348 KB

Report of the Portfolio Holder for Adult Care and Local Transport

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Board considered the report of the Portfolio Holder for Adult Care and Local Transport detailing the second tranche of the Emergency Active Transport funding to encourage more walking and cycling during the Covid-19 pandemic. The report seeks permission to accept funding to continue work to encourage active transport. The following points were highlighted in discussion:

 

(a)  In June 2020 Nottingham City successfully bid in the first tranche for £570,000 for pop up cycle lanes, bike aide schemes for key workers on low incomes and other schemes with the central aim to enable a green recovery from the initial lockdown;

 

(b)  The second tranche of funding will focus much more on consultation, due to start early in 2021 on schemes including car free streets around schools, low traffic areas, the introduction of a bus/cycle lane along Trent Bridge and a permanent scheme to help improve access along the embankment. There are also plans for trial cycle lanes along Mansfield Road and Porchester Road;

 

(c)  Schemes will help to improve road safety, particularly along Derby Road where residents and students have campaigned for changes to junctions for pedestrians and cyclists. The first tranche of funding allowed a scheme to be trails which has been successful and will now be made permanent;

 

(d)  Where pop up schemes have been trailed there will be consultation with users and partners and the public. The first scheme enabled quick changes that helped but the government is keen for more consultation to take place before schemes become permanent. Designs will need to be finalised to ensure that schemes fit properly into the wider strategic plans for transport within the city.

 

Resolved to:

1)  Accept £2,039,000 of funding from Tranche 2 of the Department for Transport's ‘Active Travel Fund’, provisionally made up of £1,631,200 capital and £407,800 revenue;

 

2)  Agree the Consultation Strategy for the Active Travel Fund Schemes outlined in Appendix B of the report published with the agenda, and publish on the Council website in order for the Department for Transport to release the Active Travel Fund allocation to the City Council;

 

3)  Delegate authority to the Corporate Director of Development and Growth to use the funding to develop and implement the schemes listed in the outline ATF programme attached in Appendix A of the report published with the agenda;

 

4)  Delegate authority to the Corporate Director of Development and Growth to make variations to the ATF programme and expenditure in consultation with the relevant Portfolio Holder, as required; and

 

5)  Delegate authority to the Corporate Director of Development and Growth to appoint preferred suppliers and contractors to deliver the programme. All procurement activities will be undertaken in accordance with the Councils’ financial regulations and procedures.

 

 

Reasons for decision

The second tranche of funding has been provided to enable local authorities to build on the success of the initial funding and to allow some of the temporary schemes to become permanent were an ongoing benefit can be shown.

 

Other options considered  

The only other option considered was to not accept the funding. This option was rejected as it would mean the Council is unable to deliver sustainable transport schemes, build on the schemes established in tranche 1, refocus on increased local movement and encourage more walking and cycling. All of these would impact on the Council’s commitment to become Carbon Neutral by 2028.

 

 

69.

Voluntary Redundancy Programme pdf icon PDF 224 KB

Report of the Portfolio Holder for Health, HR and Equalities

Minutes:

The Board considered the report of the Portfolio Holder for Health, HR and Equalities seeking approval to begin a 30 day consultation period with a group of employees who had previously expressed an interest in taking voluntary redundancy. Further work on the budget due to be presented to this Board in the new year now allows the opportunity for a further cohort of employees to take voluntary redundancy.

 

Resolved to

1)  Approve the commencement of a period of 30 days consultation in relation to the proposed redundancies

 

2)  Note that the final decision on the redundancies will be determined by the Chief Executive, in line with the Constitution.

 

Reasons for the decisions

In year budget savings presented to this Board in September 2020 achieved a saving of £12.505million. Further savings need to be identified for the 2021/22 budget and this consultation process will lead to potential savings of up to £1.09million. it will also allow employees the opportunity to leave under a fast track process.

 

Other Options Considered

The other option considered was to delay the start of the consultation process until the January budget consultation report is brought before this Board. However, this was rejected as facilitating employees to leave 2 months earlier will deliver additional savings.

 

 

70.

Exclusion of the Public

To consider excluding the public from the meeting during consideration of the following items in accordance with Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972 (under Schedule 12A, Part 1) on the basis that, having regard to all the circumstances, the public interest in maintaining an exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information

Minutes:

The Board decided to exclude the public from the meeting during consideration of this/ the remaining agenda item(s) in accordance with Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 on the basis that, having regard to all the circumstances, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighed the public interest in disclosing the information, as defined in Paragraph(s) 5of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Act.

 

71.

Voluntary Redundancy Programme - Exempt Appendix

Report of the Portfolio Holder for Health, HR and Equalities

Minutes:

Resolved to note the content of the exempt appendix