Decisions

The Chairman of the County Council referred the notice of motion on Hate Crime submitted to the County Council on 18 October 2019 to Mr Duncan Crow, the Cabinet Member for Fire & Rescue and Communities, for consideration. The Motion requested that:

1)   the Hate Incident Support Service is protected from any future budget cuts to ensure this unique and highly valued service can be maintained at its current level.

2)   cost-effective ways of increasing the promotion of hate crime reporting using wider-reaching advertising opportunities (at roundabouts, on vehicles and local public transport) are explored; and

3)   a regular report on hate crime is provided to the Chairman of the Environment Communities and Fire Select Committee ECFSC and the Business Planning Group for monitoring (and further scrutiny if required)

The Cabinet Member for Fire & Rescue and Communities supports many elements of the motion but is unable to support its entirety and so proposes to recommend an amendment at the County Council meeting on 17 December.

The Chairmanof theCountyCouncilreferred a notice of motion on the Prospective sale of County Council-owned land at Withy Patch (see Appendix)submitted to the CountyCouncilon 19 July 2019,to Jeremy Hunt the CabinetMember for Finance and Resources, for consideration. 

The motion called on the Cabinet Member to ‘either take action now to reassure the community that the Council will not proceed with selling or transferring this land to developers or to confirm he will not accept any arrangement which attempts to get the Council to agree to waive, or write off, any of the section 106 developers’ contributions from the New Monks Farm developers that will be required to provide sufficient education provision to meet the needs of the resulting community.’

The motion also called on the Cabinet Member for Safer, Stronger Communities, to ‘undertake a meaningful consultation with those residents as the person accountable for their welfare on the Council’s land and to object to the sale of the land should the residents ask for that.’

(Cabinet portfolio names have since changed to Cabinet Member for Finance and Cabinet Member for Fire & Rescue and Communities).

The Cabinet Members are unable to support the Notice of Motion and propose to recommend at the County Council meeting on 17 December that members do not support the motion.

Cabinet considered the report by Director of Law and Assurance.

Cabinet approved:

1) Changes to the appointments to the Outside Bodies listed in Appendix 1 until the end of the term of the County Council in May 2021.

2) Removal of the outside bodies listed in Appendix 2.

The call-in deadline is 12 December 2019

The Local Assistance Network (LAN) was established in 2013 to replace a number of discretionary benefits for households in crisis situations which had previously been available through the benefits system.  A ring-fenced grant to support this spending was originally provided by the Department of Work and Pensions but this was removed in 2015.  Although the scale of the County Council’s commitment has reduced since then, and following a Cabinet Member decision in December 2018, the LAN budget is currently £200,000 per annum. 

The Cabinet Member will be asked to agree to the further reduction of Local Assistance Network (LAN) funding to £100,000 per annum from 2020/21.

Cabinet considered a report by Executive Director of Adults and Health.

Cabinet approved that the fund available for the Local Assistance Network grant allocations for 2019/20 be £100,000 and for the fund to be allocated in line with the priorities identified in section 3. of the report.

The call-in deadline is 12 December 2019

Recycling credits are payments made to waste collection authorities by the County Council to support initiatives to increase recycling of waste where disposal costs for residual waste are achieved. The Council is committed to reduce the amount of residual waste and increase recycling.

The Government has published its Waste and Resources Strategy which confirms the intent to require that food waste be collected and treated separately by 2023.

The County Council has no legal obligation to pay recycling credits to District and Borough councils save in accordance with the criteria set out in Regulations. The Cabinet Member for Environment took the decision to reduce aggregate recycling rate payments by £1m (from £5.6m to £4.6m in total) in 2019/20. The District and Borough councils were given notice that further reductions may follow depending on progress towards a higher performing service and on the County Council’s overall financial position.

Progress towards a comprehensive collection service review is slow albeit the County Council has maintained its offer to work with and help fund trialling separate food waste collections. Some progress has been made with some of the collection authorities.

The Cabinet Member for Environment will be asked to approve further changes to the funding arrangements with District and Borough councils whilst meeting the requirements of the recycling credit provisions under the Environmental Protection (Waste Recycling) Payments (England) Regulations 2006.

The options under consideration include removal of all credits except those that meet the above requirements over one or more years and a partial reduction where credits can be shown to provide an incentive to improved performance. 

Cabinet considered a report by Acting Executive Director Place Services.

Cabinet approved that:

(1) The County Council formally notifies all the District and Borough Councils (D&Bs) in the county of the termination of all payments for recycling credits except those which are statutorily eligible under the Environmental Protection (Waste Recycling) Payments (England) Regulations 2006 from 1 April 2020.

(2) £2m is placed in a reserve to support D&Bs who commit to implementing a New Service Model for refuse and recycling collections, to a specification and timetable agreed with the County Council, including separate food waste collections, or agrees with the County Council another alternative approach that will improve performance and reduce costs.

(3) £0.3m is set aside for the West Sussex Waste Partnership to deliver joint projects such as those concerning schools waste, education, campaigns etc. and to undertake waste composition analysis; and that

(3) Authority is delegated to the Acting Executive Director Place Services to develop, in consultation with D&Bs, the specification for the New Service Model, criteria for awarding the funding and the calculation method.

The call-in deadline is 12 December 2019

To consider reviewing service levels and forms of service delivery for library services in areas of reduced demand. Options will include:

a.   reducing opening hours, removing the rural Mobile Library service and other logistical changes

b.   Using the Community Hubs programme to accelerate options to share space and bring services together under one roof so that services in communities are maintained more economically

Relevant community and staff consultation will be undertaken and wherever possible staff savings will be through natural turnover. The service priority will be to protect and support those most vulnerable in our communities.

The Cabinet Member for Safer Stronger Communities will be asked to approve options from those which are developed.

Cabinet considered the report by Executive Director Place Services

Cabinet approved:

(1) the cessation of the mobile library services;

(2) the reduction in evening opening hours in the 4 main libraries with some minor adjustments elsewhere to ensure the offer is consistent across libraries from April 2020; and

(3) minor logistical changes that will impact working practices but not customers

The call-in deadline is 12 December 2019

In December 2018 the Cabinet Member for Education and Skills took a decision (reference ES15 (18/19)) to approve Phase 1 of a scheme to develop additional Special Support Centres (SSCs) attached to maintained schools.  SSCs are units which provide additional support for children with various types of Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).

It is proposed that the County Council now progresses with Phases 2 and 3 of the development scheme which would involve the creation of up to eight additional SSCs in mainstream schools, generating an extra 84 places for those children with high functioning autism and social, emotional and mental health difficulties.

The Cabinet Member for Education and Skills will be asked to approve the proposal to progress the implementation of Phases 2 and 3 of the Special Support Centre Investment Programme.

Cabinet considered a report by the Director of Education & Skills.

Cabinet approved the proposal to develop a full business case, to be taken through the County Council’s capital governance process, for the second phase of the project for opening additional Special Support Centres places attached to schools for opening in September 2020 and to bring forward any individual schemes under phase 3 of the SSC investment programme from 2021 to 2020, where it is possible to do so. All the individual specific schemes that are brought forward under phases 2 and 3 will be subject to their own approval process.

The call-in deadline is 12 December 2019

Under the Automated and Electric Vehicles Bill, the government has announced plans to ban new petrol and diesel cars by 2040 and the Office for Low Emission Vehicles aims for all vehicles to be low-emission by 2050. 

The County Council needs to start preparing for this transition so that residents and businesses are able to take advantage of the opportunities on offer.

This strategy will set out the County Council’s vision for electric vehicles across the county and the interventions to deliver this vision.

The strategy has been developed with guidance from a cross-party Members’ Executive Task and Finish Group.

The Cabinet Member for Environment will be asked to approve the Electric Vehicle Strategy.

Cabinet considered a report by Acting Executive Director Place Services.

Cabinet approved the Electric Vehicle Strategy for the period of 2019 – 2030, attached as Appendix 2.

The call-in deadline is 12 December 2019

The Council operates a Fleet Assessment Management Plan that details the vehicles and equipment due for replacement over a rolling 5 year period.

During 2020/21 there is a requirement to replace a number of wheelchair accessible minibuses used to support the provision of school transport as well as some adult services operations.

Within the scope of this decision there are 33 vehicles due for replacement.

It is proposed that the procurement is carried out using an external, multi-supplier Framework Agreement using an agreed specification.

Delivery of the vehicles would be expected during Financial Year 2020/21.

The value for this purchase is approximately £2,000,000 and will be funded via the Council’s Capital Programme. The Council is currently developing a transition plan to look at ways of re-profiling the fleet, through the replacement programme, to take account of evolving strategies on electric vehicles and carbon targets.

The Chief Fire Officer will be asked to agree; the commencement of a procurement using an external Framework Agreement to replace  wheelchair accessible minibuses.

The Chief Fire Officer has approved the commencement of a compliant procurement process to source the 33 vehicles using an agreed specification.

The Committee received a written report by the Director of Highways and Transport and the recommendation from the Highways and Transport Subgroup.

The Committee considered the order and the views raised by members of the committee. The County Council Members of the Committee RESOLVED that:

Having considered the objections to the proposal, the County Council Members authorise the Director of Law and Assurance to make the order as advertised and for the proposed restrictions to be implemented.

The call in deadline for this decision is 5 December 2019.

The Committee considered the written report by the Director of Highways and Transport and Head of Highways Operations and the recommendation from the Highways and Transport Subgroup.

The Committee reviewed the Traffic Regulation Order included in the report at Appendix A and RESOLVED that the following Traffic Regulation Order be progressed as a priority:

·       M3004802 – Westlands Lane – Request for junction protection

The call in deadline for this decision is 5 December 2019.

The Committee considered the written report from the Director of Education and Skills and the recommendation included in the report. It was RESOLVED that the following Nomination for Local Authority Governor reappointment be approved:

Mrs Hedda Wells to Eastergate C.E Primary School for a further four year term.

The call in deadline for this decision is 5 December 2019.

The Committee considered the written report from the Director of Law and Assurance. The Committee considered each application individually and on its merots. The County Council Members of the Committee RESOLVED that the following pledges be approved:

a)   402/JWAAC – EcoSwap, ‘EcoSwap community workshops’, up to £1,000– towards delivering inter-generational workshops teaching residents sustainable skills through making, mending and re-purposing.

The following application be deferred:

b)   416/JWAAC – Bognor Regis Baptist Church, ‘Bognor Church toilet facilities’ – to allow evidence of community support.

the following applications to be rejected:

c)   445/JWAAC – Frame of Mind CIC, ‘Picturing a brighter future’ – as there was no evidence of member support or engagement
 

d)   446/JWAAC – Radio Respect CIC, ‘Radio Respect dedicated to mental health’ – as there was no evidence of member support or engagement.

the following Microfund applications be approved:

e)   447/JWAAC – Men’s Shed Allotments, ‘Bognor Regis Men’s Shed’, £749.42 - towards purchasing eight wooden potting sheds and other materials for the group's two double allotment plots at Chichester Road Allotment site.

f)    448/JWAAC – Regis Primary Care Network Community Board, ‘Bognor Health & Wellbeing Fun Day’, £725.00 – towards the cost of event marketing and publicity plus hiring four community music groups.

And the following Microfund application be rejected.

g)   457/JWAAC – Making Theatre Gaining Skills CIF, ‘Sound equipment for Bognor Institute of Laughter’ - as there was no evidence of member support or engagement.

The call in deadline for this decision is 5 December 2019.

The Committee considered the written report by the director of Education and Skills and the Recommendation included.

It was RESOLVED that the following Nominations of Local Authority Governors be approved:

Kerry Jones to Bramber Primary School for a 4 year term.

And

Mr David Roll to Springfield Infant School for a 4 year term.

The Call in Deadline for this decision is 3 December 2019

The Committee considered the written report by the Director of Law and Assurance.

The Committee considered each application on it’s merits and it was RESOLVED that the following pledges be made:

a)   418/W - South Coast Skate Club CIC, ‘Skateboarding clubhouse for Worthing’, £2,000– towards purchasing a range of equipment and technology for the benefit of the young people’s skate community ahead of the clubhouse opening.

b)   451/W – Trading Places – Practical Skills Matter!, £5,000 towards establishing a community skills sharing hub at a high street location to deliver a trades training programme.

And the following grants be awarded:

c)   391/W – Turning Tides, ‘Community bus’, £750.00 - towards organising 15 annual coach trips enabling sustainable recovery and community reintegration among homeless adults.

d)   394/W - Transition Town Worthing CIC, ‘Mobile Energy Shop’, £343.99 - towards purchasing a refurbished bicycle and trailer to mobilise the group's service and reach areas affected by fuel poverty.

e)   452/W – Concordia, ‘National Citizen Service (NCS) Graduate Development Programme’ £749.99 - towards purchasing a PA system for use in event management and the provision of first training for up to 15 graduates, delivered by Forever First Aid

f)    453/W – Tide of Light, ‘The Valuing Volunteers Scheme’, £723.46 – towards the cost of equipping 100 group volunteers with highvis jackets for event marshalling, activity/workshop clothing and ID lanyards SUBJECT TO West Sussex County Council receiving feedback on the spend of any and all previous grants awarded.

g)   454/W - West Tarring Young People’s Hub, ‘Hub Garden’, £750.00 – towards purchasing gardening materials to create an openspace outdoor environment for young people to grow, learn and socialise.

h)   455/W – All Saint Church, ‘The Ark Project’, £701.93 – towards purchasing a laptop to be used by the project co-ordinator and promotional materials for the ‘Acts of Random Kindness’ (ARK) community initiative.

i)    456/W – Springboard Project, ‘Sensory play and development’, £731.20 – towards purchasing a range of play equipment for disabled children’s (aged 6-12) use during weekly respite sessions held at Palatine School.

And the following applications were deferred:

j)    401/W – South Coast Skate Club CIC, £750.00 – towards applying to enrol on a Skateboard England coaching qualification and purchasing 10 skateboard completes – as the applicant had already received a pledge through the West Sussex Crowd from the Committee. The Committee agreed to consider the application at the next meeting if the Spacehive Crowd Funding project was not successful.

The Call In Deadline for this decision is 3 December 2019.

The Committee considered the written report by the Director of Highways & Transport and the Head of Highways Operations and the recommendation included.

It was RESOLVED that the Committee agreed to progress the following TRO from the list attached at Appendix A of the report –

·       M435167 – Various Road – Various Roads throughout Tarring.

The Call in Deadline for this decision is 3 December 2019

The Council’s core back office support services, Payroll, Human Resources and Finance currently rely on a system provided by SAP SE which was acquired in 2001.   It is necessary to replace this system as the current one cannot meet future business needs. The support and maintenance contract ends in 2021 and SAP has given notice that it will no longer support the current version of the system from 2025. 

The Cabinet Member will be asked to endorse a procurement process for a replacement business management solution and to delegate authority to the Director Finance and Support Services to award the contract.

Recommendations:  That the Cabinet Member:

(1)         Approves the commencement of a procurement process in November 2019 for a business management system contract scheduled to commence January 2020 for a period of 5 years with options to extend for a further 2 years;

(2)         Approves the commencement of a procurement process in November 2019 for an implementation partner contract scheduled to commence January 2020, if this is not included as part of the procurement of a business management system; and

(3)         Delegates authority to the Director of Finance and Support Services to award both contracts to the provider(s)who submit the most economically advantageous tender and can best meet the quality and performance standards required.

The Committee considered the written report from the Report by Executive Director for Place and Director of Highways, Transport and Planning and the recommendation included.

After considering the Traffic Regulation Order it was RESOLVED that:

the County Council Members of Crawley CLC, having considered the responses to the formal consultation, authorises the Director of Law and Assurance to make the order as advertised and the Director of Highways, Transport and Planning to install the scheme.  

The call-in deadline for this decision is 29 November 2019.

The Committee considered the written report from the Director of Highways & Transport and Head of Highways Operations in addition to the recommendation to progress the three highest scoring Traffic Regulation Orders.

To avoid any conflicts with the potential implementation of the Crawley Parking Management Plan (PMP) the Crawley CLC selected the TRO’s that were considered to address safety concerns rather than the highest scoring TROs from the list attached at Appendix A of the report:

1.   M3007997 - Dobson Road, DYL protection. Busy residential area with lots of parking issues near Manor Royal.

2.   M3000397 – Langley Drive, DYL protection. Busy residential area with lots of parking issues near Manor Royal.

3.   M3004929 – Sandringham Road, DYL protection. Busy residential area near school with lots of parking issues.

The call-in deadline for this decision is 29 November.

The Committee considered the written report from the Director of Education and Skills and the recommendation that the Nomination for appointment of Local Authority Governor, as set out in Appendix A of the report, be approved.

It was RESOLVED that the following nomination be approved:

·       Dawn Martin to the Waterfield Primary School for a four year term.

The call-in deadline for this decision is 29 November 2019.

At its meeting on the 21 November 2019 the Crawley County Local Committee considered Community Initiative Funding Applications that had be received via the West Sussex Crowd, as set out in Appendix A of the report.

The Committee considered each application on it’s merits and it was RESOLVED that the following pledges be approved:

·       420/C – Nicky’s WorkShop, ‘Where warriors are made’, up to £1,000 – towards purchasing a van and mobile equipment to deliver gymnastics workshops to school pupils across Crawley, subject to the project reaching 50% of it’s crowdfunding total before the end of the financial year.

https://www.spacehive.com/where-warriors-are-made.

·       426/C – Crawley Youth Centre, ‘Outdoor basketball court’, up to £1,000 – towards refurbishing the youth centre’s basketball court for use by local clubs and wider community.
https://www.spacehive.com/outdoor-basketball-court

·

AND the following Microfund applications be awarded:

·       427/C – Rivers LPC, ‘Rivers’ women’s sewing project’, £501.10 - towards purchasing sewing machinery and equipment in order to teach new skills through training workshops.

·       428/C – Talk Broadfield, ‘Love where you live, love Broadfield’, £730.00 – towards the production of posters and leaflets to support a national campaign at local level – ‘Keep Britain clean’.

·       438/C – Crawley Run Crew, ‘Run Safe’, £748 – towards the cost of emergency ID trainer tags for members and a print-run for 500 promotional flyers.

·       439/C – Gurjar Hindu Union (GHU), ‘Bollywood in the community’, £748.75 – towards purchasing 25 children’s Bollywood dance costumes plus publicity, transport and refreshments costs for performances in the community.

·       440/C – Malaika and MOSS Group (Multicultural Organic Shambas Society, ‘Acquiring audio/visual facility’, £138 – towards purchasing  gardening materials for communal allotment activities.

The call-in deadline for this decision is 29 November 2019.

Following consideration of the report the Committee resolved:

To progress the highest scoring TRO from the list attached at Appendix A, that being:

Storrington Road, Washington – Speed reduction.

The call-in deadline is 29 November 2018.

Following consideration of the report the Committee resolved:

To progress the highest scoring TRO from the list attached at Appendix A, that being:

Greenhurst Lane, Thakeham – Speed reduction.

The call-in deadline is 27 November 2019.

Following consideration of the report the Committee resolved:

That the following nomination for appointment be approved:

Ms Judith James to Thakeham Primary School for a four-year term.

The call-in deadline is 27 November 2019.

West Sussex County Council (WSCC) is a designated Highways Authority under the Highways Act 1980 and has a duty to maintain highways maintainable at public expense.

Following the abandonment of procurement for highway services in 2018, The County Council has retained Balfour Beatty Living Places to continue to provide necessary services under an interim arrangement pending a new and full procurement.

Using a model derived from a subsequent Options Appraisal report and further market insight engagement, WSCC.  The County Council published the requisite OJEU notice and commenced formal procurement on 22 July 2019.  The services have been procured in six separate Lots;

1.          Core Maintenance

2.          Drainage Cleansing

3.          Hedge Maintenance and Grass Cutting

4.          Carriageway and Footway Resurfacing

5.          Carriageway Micro and Carriageway & Footway Treatments

6.          Highway Improvements

Compliant tenders have been received against all Lots and a full and detailed evaluation and moderation process has been duly followed resulting in the recommendations of this Key Decision report.

Recommendations:  That the Director of Highways, Transport and Planning:

1.   Awards the following single supplier contracts for highways maintenance services of 5 years with options to extend to a maximum of 10 years, to commence 01 April 2020:

·       Lot 1: Core Services: Balfour Beatty Living Places

·       Lot 2: Drainage Cleansing: Drainline Southern Ltd

·       Lot 3: Hedge Maintenance & Grass Cutting: Grasstex Ltd

2.   Appoints the following contractors to a four-year Framework Agreement to commence 01 April 2020 for capital works for highways:

·       Lot 4: Carriageway & Footways Resurfacing:

          Aggregate Industries UK Ltd

          Associated Asphalt Contracting Ltd

          Balfour Beatty Living Places

          FM Conway Ltd

          Tarmac Trading Limited

·       Lot 5: Carriageway Surface Dressing and Carriageway & Footways Treatments

          Colas Limited

          Eurovia Infrastructure Limited

          JPCS Limited

          Kier Highways Limited

          Road Maintenance Services Limited

·       Lot 6: Infrastructure Improvements – Planned Works

          Balfour Beatty Living Places

          Dyer & Butler Ltd

          Jackson Civil Engineering Group Ltd

          Landbuild Ltd

          Tarmac Trading Limited