Decisions

The County Council contracts with nine voluntary and community sector (VCS) organisations for a range of preventative social support services. Presently all contracts are due to end in March 2020. The services include Home from Hospital, Relative Support, Befriending, Help at Home, Day Activities, PAT Community Service and Information and Advice provision, at a combined value of £1.69m per annum.

The Council with Voluntary and Community Sector partners has agreed a co-production approach in order to best meet our prevention objectives, and as part of the strategic recommissioning process for these contracts to ensure the ongoing stability of current services.

This report seeks to continue a number of interim contracts for Social Support Services for a one year period, from 1^st April 2020 until 31^st March 2021. The full list of contracts is set out in Appendix 1 of this report. The table summarises each of the 21 contracts in place with 9 providers.

The Cabinet Member for Adults and Health has approved:

1)    the re-letting of the specific contracts for social support services as set out in Appendix 1 to the incumbent service providers for a 12 month period to expire on 31^st March 2021 on existing contract terms and conditions including price and within the defined budget; and

2)    the delegated authority to the Director of Public Health to enter into the specific contracts as set out in the Appendix.

Due to growing demand for school places there is a need to expand Shelley Primary School to accommodate additional pupils.  The Cabinet Member for Education and Skills took a decision during March 2019 (Decision ref ES20 (18/19)) to approve the allocation of £2.446m from the Basic Need Capital Programme to fund expansion works at the school.  This will enable the provision of 140 additional places at the school to meet the demand of growing pupil numbers in the Broadbridge Heath and Horsham area. 

As part of the decision the Cabinet Member delegated authority to the then Executive Director Economy, Infrastructure and Environment to award the building contract to carry out the necessary works.  The responsibilities of this role are now being undertaken by the Acting Chief Executive.

The Acting Chief Executive has approved the award of the construction contract to expand Shelley Primary School to Sunninghill Construction for the sum of £1,760,230 which is affordable within the overall budget for this project (£2,808,000).

The Chairman of the County Council referred the Notice of Motion on small schools federation, submitted to the County Council on 1 July 2019, to the Cabinet Member for Education and Skills for consideration. The Cabinet Member met Dr O’Kelly on 11 September 2019 to discuss the Motion.

The aim of the Motion is to ask the Cabinet Member to provide more comprehensive advice and support to small schools about the federation process.

The Cabinet Member for Education and Skills has considered the Notice of Motion.  Taking into account the support already provided to small schools and the offer available to purchase further officer support where required, the Cabinet Member is minded to propose an amendment to the Motion at the County Council meeting on 18 October 2019

The County Council’s Future West Sussex Plan set out its ambition to minimise the burden of local taxation, delivering the best outcomes for residents with the money it spends, whilst living within its means.  In 2018 the County Council agreed to adopt an Asset Management Policy and Strategy. An objective of the strategy is to acquire, manage, maintain and dispose of property effectively, efficiently and sustainably, together with optimising financial return and commercial opportunities.  In line with this strategy the County Council now proposes to dispose of part of the freehold of land South of the Littlehampton Academy. 

The Cabinet Member has endorsed:

1.   That the County Council commences the marketing of land held by the County Council that is known as land South of The Littlehampton Academy, Near Rosemead, Littlehampton, West Sussex, BN17 6DQ as set out in Appendix A; and

2.   Delegates to the Director Property and Assets the authority to carry out marketing on the basis of best value in the market conditions and to complete the sale of the land to the most advantageous bidder, providing the bid meets or exceeds the estimated value.

The Shoreham Harbour Joint Area Action Plan (JAAP) has been prepared jointly by the County Council, Adur District Council and Brighton & Hove City Council for an area that stretches from the Adur Ferry Bridge in the west through to Hove Lagoon (in Brighton & Hove) in the east.  Once adopted, the JAAP will become part of the statutory development plan for the area and used for the determination of planning applications. 

The draft JAAP was submitted in May 2018 for examination and the hearings took place in September 2018.  The Inspector agreed a schedule of Main Modifications for consultation.  Following the consultation, the Inspector issued her report, concluding that the JAAP was ‘sound’, subject to modifications.  A few matters of interest to the County Council were discussed at the hearing sessions and have been satisfactorily addressed through the modifications.  Other minor changes are also required prior to adoption.

Adoption of the JAAP, which will support the wider regeneration of the Shoreham Harbour area, is now being taken forward by the three councils. 

The Cabinet Member for Environment recommends to County Council, on 18 October 2019, that the Shoreham Harbour Joint Area Action Plan, incorporating the main and minor modifications (Appendix B to the report), is adopted.

Following adoption of the Joint Minerals Local Plan (JMLP) in July 2018, the County Council, in partnership with the South Downs National Park Authority, is required to undertake a single issue Soft Sand Review as set out in Policy M2 of the JMLP.  The Review is considering the demand and supply of soft sand required during the plan period (to 2033), and how this demand will be met, including the potential need for site allocations. 

Informal public consultation (Regulation 18) took place during January–March 2019.  The results of the consultation (Appendix B), and further technical work, have informed the preparation of the Proposed Submission Draft Soft Sand Review (Appendix A), which identifies proposed changes to the JMLP.  These include a revised strategy for the supply of soft sand, changes to two policies, and the allocation of three sites; extensions to West Heath Common, Rogate; Chantry Lane, Storrington, and a new site at Ham Farm near Steyning.

Once approved by both Authorities, the Proposed Submission Draft will be published for a ten week period to allow formal representations to be made about: (a) whether it has been prepared in accordance with legal and procedural requirements; and (b) whether its contents are ‘sound’. 

Representations made during the representations period will help an independent Government-appointed Inspector to determine whether any modifications to the proposed changes are necessary prior to adoption by both authorities, when they will be incorporated into the JMLP.

The Cabinet Member for Environment recommends to County Council, on 18 October 2019, that:

(a)     the Proposed Submission Draft Soft Sand Review of the West Sussex Joint Minerals Local Plan (Appendix A) is approved for publication, consultation on legal and procedural compliance and soundness, and, provided that no substantive changes are required, submission to the Secretary of State in accordance with Regulations 19, 20 and 22 of the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012 (as amended);

(b)     authority is delegated to the Director of Highways, Transport and Planning, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Environment, to authorise, in agreement with the South Downs National Park Authority, any non-substantive changes that are necessary to make the Joint Minerals Local Plan sound and suitable for adoption; and

  (c) if substantive changes are required to the Submission Draft Soft Sand Review of the West Sussex Joint Minerals Local Plan, a further public consultation and decision by the County Council may be required.

The Public Health Services, for the population of West Sussex, referred to in this report include NHS Health Checks, Smoking Cessation, Long Acting Reversible Contraception, (LARC) (Contraceptive Implant and Intra-Uterine Contraceptive Device) Emergency Hormonal Contraception (EHC), and Alcohol Identification and Brief Advice Services. These are currently delivered by GPs and Pharmacies.

All of the services contribute to improvement of population level, public health outcomes and reductions in health inequalities.

Following an open tender to source an approved provider list (framework agreement) new contracts will be put in place. The new agreement will be effective from 1 April 2020 and will run initially for three (3) years with the possibility of a further extension of up to two (2) years built into the terms of the contract. Funding for the services is through the Public Health Grant.

The Cabinet Member for Adults and Health has approved;

1)   the commencement of the procurement of Public Health Services via a Framework Agreement that ensures minimum qualification requirements;

2)   the service contract that will be for 3 years with potential extension

of 2 years with a total value of approximately £6.5m over the lifetime of the contract. New contracts for eligible providers are awarded from 1st April 2020 for an initial period of 3 years; and

3)   that authority is delegated to the Director of Public Health to award the contracts to approved providers.

A number of West Sussex Household Waste Recycling Sites (HWRS) are located close to the County Council’s borders. Site-user postcode surveys indicate that a significant proportion (approximately 10%) of users at these sites are from outside of West Sussex. There are three main reasons:

·           West Sussex sites are more proximate or accessible to many Surrey, East Sussex and Brighton residents than sites provided by their own local authority.

·           Residents from out of county come into West Sussex to work and drop off material close to their workplace. For example, the Crawley HWRS provides a convenient facility for thousands of workers commuting into the Manor Royal Industrial Estate.

·           Surrounding counties have more restrictions on the type of material that is accepted, without charge, at West Sussex sites.

The situation has worsened since East Sussex County Council closed the nearest of its sites to East Grinstead and introduced charging for soil and hardcore in 2018. This year, Surrey County Council has further increased the restrictions on the type of waste material received at their sites.

As a result, West Sussex is a net importer of household waste. By limiting the use of HWRS to West Sussex residents, there will be a subsequent reduction in household waste and savings of approximately £250k/year will be made.

The Cabinet Member for Environment has approved the proposal to restrict non-West Sussex residents from using the Household Waste Recycling sites within West Sussex, by adopting a policy which uses the measures set out in paragraph 2 of the report, effective from 1 December 2019.

The County Council has 284 school sites making up 29% of the total WSCC estate. Current funding available in the Capital Programme for schools is for Basic Need (increasing school places) and Capital Maintenance (condition issues) only. The latter also needs to be used if there is a need for works to address safeguarding concerns.

Following recent work on managing the safety of staff and pupils during a potential incident, and as a result of individual school risk assessments, a number of schools have been identified as needing funding to make improvements for ensuring the safeguarding of children.

This report provides information on the schools that require capital funding support to minimise risks to pupils and staff.

The Cabinet Member for Education and Skills has:-

(1)     Approved the allocation of £619,000 from the Capital Programme to fund the site security and fencing works and the completion of a procurement process for the delivery of works at 20 maintained school sites as detailed in paragraphs 2.2, 4.2 and 4.3.

(2)     Delegated authority to award the contract(s) for carrying out the works detailed in the report to the Executive Director Resource Services.

Community requests for simple and low-cost Traffic Regulation Orders (TROs)  are considered annually by County Local Committees (CLCs).  More complex and expensive TROs are considered for progression as a Community Highways Scheme and so fall outside the process.

The TRO requests in the year to July 2018 have been assessed and scored against the agreed criteria and the results were presented to the relevant CLCs for consideration. The CLCs can select a specified number of TROs each – totalling 23 across the county. The Cabinet Member for Highways and Infrastructure has discretion to approve up to 15 additional TROs to be processed.

TRO requests are currently scored against an agreed set of criteria which reflect the County Council’s priorities. All requests are then considered by CLCs which has resulted in some very low (even zero) scoring proposals being taken to members.

The introduction of a cut-off score will enable officer (and member) time to be focussed on schemes with some community benefit and support.

CLC Chairmen were advised of the intention to introduce a cut-off score, below which a proposal would not be taken forward to a CLC.

This report considers how many additional TROs will be approved by the Cabinet Member and proposes an amendment to the cut-off score, below which the proposed TRO will not be forwarded to the CLC for consideration.

The Cabinet Member for Highways and Infrastructure has approved:

1. The nine TROs that score 12 or above (see section 2.6 of the report) for processing and subsequent implementation in the 2019/20 financial year; and

2. That TROs that score 9 or less at the initial moderation stage will no longer be progressed or referred to the County Local Committees.