Decisions

The Chichester Growth Deal identifies a set of shared priorities between WSCC and Chichester District Council (CDC) to support economic growth within the city of Chichester.  This includes a commitment to the Southern Gateway as identified in the Southern Gateway Masterplan (2017) which includes the development of land currently owned by the County Council at the former Year 7 building and the current all-weather hockey pitch at Chichester High School.  The Southern Gateway Masterplan was adopted by Chichester District Council in 2017 as a Supplementary Planning Document (SPD).

WSCC and CDC have worked in partnership as strategic land-owners to promote the effective implementation of the Southern Gateway and to bring forward sites within their respective ownership collaboratively in order to deliver the opportunities identified in the adopted SPD. 

The two authorities entered into a Collaboration Agreement on 1^st May 2019 re-enforcing the commitment to the MasterPlan objectives and supporting the strategy to secure a Development Partner, led by CDC, including the methodology and criteria for inclusion of the WSCC land within the principles of a draft Development Agreement.

In May 2019 CDC commenced an Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) procurement process to select a Development Partner for the Southern Gateway.  In June 2019, a WSCC Leader Decision (reference LDR01 (19.20)) enabled WSCC to join the procurement process and, provided WSCC consideration in relation to valuation of its land along with other key identified evaluation criteria can be met by the successful bidder

Four bids were taken into the initial tender stage.  Following evaluation and dialogue, two bids were taken to detailed submission and final bids.  The submissions detail each bidder’s approach to the delivery of Southern Gateway.  The subsequent evaluation assesses the quality and financial elements of the bids against criteria established for the procurement process for the identification of a preferred bidder.

This report (restricted to members only) details the procurement process and the outcomes of the evaluation of the final bids in reference to the quality and financial evaluation criteria established for the project.  Subsequent to the outcomes of the procurement process and evaluation criteria, this report makes recommendations for the appointment of the preferred bidder as a Development Partner and explains the next steps which should lead to the signing of a Development Agreement. for the delivery of Southern Gateway.

Recommendations

(1)        That under authority delegated in Leader Decision LDR01 (19.20) the Executive Director of Place Services agrees to the appointment of the successful bidder as the selected Development Partner to deliver the Southern Gateway Regeneration project on the Heads of Terms shown in Appendix A (restricted for members only) once matters are finalised with the bidder;

(2)        That after further work with Chichester District Council and the appointed development partner a Development Agreement is prepared in order for a future decision by the Executive Director of Place Services and the Director of Law and Assurance to jointly approve the execution of the Development Agreement.

74.1     The Council received a report from the Appointing Committee recommending an appointment to the post of Chief Executive of the Council, to act as the Council’s head of paid service.

74.2     Resolved –

(1)         That the appointment of Becky Shaw as Chief Executive and head of paid service for the County Council be approved; and

(2)         That the Council confirms its agreement to the Council entering into an agreement with East Sussex County Council to facilitate the appointment and to delegate authority to the Director of Law and Assurance to complete an agreement under section 113 Local Government Act 1972.

78.1     The Council considered changes to the Constitution in relation to the Corporate Parenting Panel and the Pension Advisory Board in the light of a report from the Governance Committee (pages 69 to 78).

78.2     Resolved –

(1)         That the revised terms of reference and constitution of the Corporate Parenting Panel, as set out at Appendix 1 to the report, be approved; and

(2)         That the changes set out in paragraphs 9 and 11 of the report and the constitutional changes set out at Appendix 2 to the report be approved.

77.1     The Council considered recommendations resulting from the review of County Local Committees in the light of a report from the Governance Committee (pages 67 to 68).

77.2     It was noted that the merger of committees in Mid Sussex had caused some issues in terms of volume of business.

77.3     Resolved –

That the Cabinet Member for Education and Skills be asked to delegate the approval of nominations of school governors to the Director for Education and Skills, in liaison with the relevant local member, with the subsequent deletion of Section 1D of the County Local Committee terms of reference, removing nominations and appointments to school and academy governing bodies.

76.1     The Council considered changes to governance arrangements in the light of a report from the Governance Committee (pages 49 to 66).

76.2     The Chairman informed members that there was an omission and some minor inconsistencies in the wording of changes to the call-in process set out at Appendix 4 to the report which would be corrected.

76.3     An amendment was moved by Mr Barling and seconded by Mrs Dennis as set out below.

Main recommendations

(changes shown in bold italic text)

(3)     That a separate select committee for the Fire & Rescue Service be established with effect from the annual Council meeting in April 2020 or sooner if possible, to be reviewed in March 2022 and that the terms of reference in Appendix 2 and other constitutional changes set out in Appendix 3 be approved;

(3a)That, in anticipation of a possible earlier start date, the Council meeting on 14 February 2020 be asked to make appointments to the new Committee.

Appendix 1 – Changes to Executive

(changes shown in bold, italic text with deletions struck through)

9.       The chairman of each Select Committee shall be invited to attend any meeting of the Cabinet and shall have a right to speak for up to three five minutes to convey or represent the views of that committee on any agenda item relevant to the terms of reference of the committee.

10.     The leaders of each of the large and medium minority groups of the Council shall be invited to attend any meeting of the Cabinet and may speak for up to two five minutes on any item on the agenda.

Appendix 3 - Consequential changes in relation to scrutiny

(additional changes shown in bold, underlined, italic text)

Extract from Part 3, Scheme of Delegation

Appendix 8

Select Committees

  There is a Performance and Finance Select Committee (Appendix 8A), a Health and Adult Social Care Select Committee (Appendix 8B), a Children and Young People’s Services Select Committee (Appendix 8C), and an Environment and Communities and Fire Select Committee (Appendix 8D) and a Fire and Rescue Service Select Committee (Appendix 8E).  Their constitutions and terms of reference are set out in the Appendices.  Each committee shall undertake the functions set out below in respect of those items relevant to the Select Committee’s specific service area.

Each Select Committee shall have no more than 12 County Council members with the exception of the Performance and Finance Select Committee which will have 15 members to include the other Select Committee chairmen where compliant with rules on political proportionality following confirmation of their appointment at the next meeting of the County Council. (inclusive of the three other Select Committee chairmen). The members of each Select Committee shall be appointed, having taken into account the following guiding principles:

·           That the member has an interest in the business of the Committee.

·           That the member is able to devote the time needed to undertake the work of the Committee.

·           That the member is not also a member of another select committee.

·           That the member remains free to serve on scrutiny or executive task and finish Groups.

·           Three of the members of the Performance and Finance Select Committee shall be the three members who are at any time the chairmen of the other three Select Committees.

·           Four of the members of the Performance and Finance Select Committee shall be the four members who are at any time the chairmen of the other four Select Committees, providing that this can be accommodated in line with political proportionality for that committee.

76.4     With a change to the time limits for speaking in the proposed amendment to Appendix 1 to three minutes in both cases, the amendment was carried.

76.5     Resolved –

Cabinet and the executive

(1)         That the proposals for changes to executive arrangements, as set out in Appendix 1 to the report, subject to the change to the time limits for speaking to three minutes, as per the amendment, be approved;

Scrutiny

(2)         That Select committees be renamed scrutiny committees;

(3)         That a separate select committee for the Fire & Rescue Service be established with effect from the annual Council meeting in April 2020, or sooner if possible, to be reviewed in March 2022 and that the terms of reference in Appendix 2 to the report and other constitutional changes, set out in Appendix 3 to the report, be approved;

(3a)   That, in anticipation of a possible earlier start date, the Council meeting on 14 February 2020 be asked to make appointments to the new Committee;

(4)         That responsibility for scrutinising the Economy portfolio be transferred from the Environment, Communities and Fire Select Committee to the Performance and Finance Select Committee, as set out in Appendix 3 to the report, with immediate effect;

(5)         That the decision to accept or reject call-in requests be transferred to the Monitoring Officer (or Deputy), using the criteria in the Constitution, the Monitoring Officer to report to the relevant select committee on reasons for rejecting/ accepting any call-in requests and that the changes to the Constitution set out in Appendix 4 to the report, subject to the correction of an omission and minor inconsistencies in the wording of changes to the call-in process, be approved;

(6)         That, with effect from the annual Council meeting in April 2020, appointments of select committee chairmen and vice-chairmen be made by the select committee using a secret ballot at its first meeting after the annual meeting of the Council and that the consequential changes set out in paragraphs 20 and 21 above and in Appendices 3 and 5 to the report be approved, subject to the amendment in minute 75.3 above; and

(7)         That the Director of Law and Assurance, in consultation with the Chairman, be authorised to make any consequential changes to the Constitution following from the recommendations set out above.

79.1     The Council approved appointments as set out below.

The proposed A29 Realignment Scheme will deliver a 4.34km road to the east of Eastergate, Westergate and Woodgate villages.  The new road alignment will provide the highway infrastructure needed to support the planned strategic development of the area by providing access to land for residential and commercial development. The new road will also alleviate traffic congestion along the existing A29, notably at the Woodgate level crossing which causes delays on to a key access route into Bognor Regis.

The Transport Business Case has been approved by the Coast to Capital Local Enterprise Partnership (C2CLEP) and the County Council has entered into a Funding Agreement with the C2CLEP, which will be delivered in at least two phases.  This decision relates to phase one between the A29, Fontwell Avenue and the B2233, Barnham Road.

In February 2019, the Cabinet Member for Highways and Infrastructure delegated authority to the Director of Highways and Transport to tender, procure and award the services of design and build and contract administration from the approved list of contractors on the Highways and Transport Frameworks.

The Director of Highways, Transport and Planning has:

1.        Entered into a Funding Agreement with Coast to Capital LEP for Phase 1 of the scheme; and

2.        Awarded the design and build contract for phase 1 of the scheme to Jackson Civil Engineering Group Ltd

As Highway Authority, the County Council is responsible for managing on-street parking. This includes setting on-street parking charges at appropriate levels to deliver the County Council’s objectives for parking management, as set out in the Integrated Parking Strategy.

The on-street parking charges review for 2019/20 has been carried out in two phases, the first of which was approved by the Cabinet Member for Highways and Infrastructure in July 2019. This second phase outlines options for a further review of some on-street parking charges, all of which will require a separate TRO advertisement. These include:

• A new 6-month Resident, Non-Resident, Healthcare, Carer, Countywide, Trader and Doctor permit
• A standard cost for Hotel permits (Worthing only)
• Changes to the charges in Crawley Library Car Park
• For Resident and Non-Resident permits, a proposed reduction for low emission vehicles

The options under consideration included adjustments to parking charges to make improvements to the administration of the residents’ parking schemes, correcting any imbalance that exists between the on and off-street charges in some towns, taking account of inflation and helping to facilitate future improvements in service provision.

The Cabinet Member for Highways and Infrastructure has approved:

1)        the changes to on-street charges and permits as set out in section 2 and Appendix A; and

2)        authorised the Director of Law and Assurance to advertise the Traffic Regulation Orders and, subject to the receipt of no significant objections, to implement the proposed changes.

West Sussex County Council is the lead authority for Library books and other Library Services, on behalf of the Central Buying Consortium (CBC). The CBC Library Group (CBCLG) consists of 19 of the CBC members and currently a further 29 Associate member Local Authorities. This will rise by a further 10 Associate members.

In August 2019 the Cabinet Member for Fire and Rescue and Communities approved the procurement of a Framework Agreement to replace the current Framework Agreement for Library Books and Audio-Visual materials, due to expire in March 2020 (Report Ref: FRC 01).  The Cabinet Member also delegated authority to implement the Framework Agreement.

A procurement process has now taken place and the Acting Executive Director, Place Services is asked to approve the award to the successful bidder.

The Acting Executive Director Place Services has approved the award of the Framework Agreement to Askews and Holts Library Services Ltd. 

The writing-off of irrecoverable debts up to a value of £15,000 is delegated to the Director of Finance and Support Services, in consultation with the Director of Law and Assurance.  Debts above £15,000 require Cabinet Member approval if they are to be written off.  The proposed write-offs are supported by the Director of Law and Assurance.  Details of each debt are set out in the report for Members only.

The Cabinet Member for Finance has approved the writing-off of six debts, each exceeding £15,000, totalling £256,095.66 as set out in the report (restricted for members only).

On 19 March 2019 the Cabinet Member for Adults and Health approved the recommencement of the procurement of an all age countywide Technology Enabled Care service (TEC) and delegated authority to the Director of Adults Services (DASS) to let the contract on the basis of the most economically advantageous bid. (Report Ref: AH16 18/19)

The recommended option was the procurement of a TEC provider, specifically a TEC development partner, thereby replacing the existing telecare provision with an offer broader than the current one.  This will involve working in partnership with the development partner to identify and develop new products and approaches for supply to customers. The ability to specify the service, albeit with the need to ensure that there is sufficient flexibility within the contract to enable the Council and development partner to adapt, innovate and be flexible is designed to permit the Council to manage the relationship in the way that it wishes to.

The procurement process is now complete and the Executive Director Adults and Health is asked to approve the award of contract  for commencement on 1 April 2020.

The Executive Director Adults and Health has approved;

(1)         the award of the Technology Enabled Care Service to Nottingham Rehab Limited (trading as NRS Healthcare) for an initial period of five (5) years commencing 1 April 2020; and

(2)     the option to extend for up to two further years if delivery and performance of the contract are satisfactory.