Councillor Phil Davies informed the Cabinet that he was delighted that fourteen of the borough’s parks and green spaces had received Green Flag Awards this year.  He was particularly pleased that the Tam O’Shanter Urban Farm in Bidston and Birkenhead Park had received special awards.This was a sign to visitors that they were well-maintained, well-managed and had excellent facilities.

The Tam O’Shanter Urban Farm had earned a Green Flag Community Award, which recognised high quality green spaces in England and Wales that were managed by voluntary and community groups, whilst Birkenhead Park had retained its Green Heritage status in addition to its Green Flag.

Councillors Chris Meaden told the Cabinet that it was fantastic that the quality and beauty of Wirral’s parks and countryside areas were recognised in this way.  Gaining the award relied on the involvement of the community in the management and development of the parks. The staff, volunteers and Friends Groups that represent Wirral’s winning parks had played a key role in achieving this year’s success.

Councillor Phil Davies and Chris Meaden both congratulated and thanked all of those who had helped the parks and open spaces obtain these prestigious awards including members of the local communities, volunteers and staff.

The members of the Cabinet are invited to consider whether they have a personal or prejudicial interest in connection with any of the items on this agenda and, if so, to declare it and state the nature of such interest.

Councillor Pat Hackett declared a non pecuniary interest in Item No. 14 on the agenda – Investment Strategy Update – by virtue of being a member of the Mersey/Dee Alliance.

Councillor Phil Davies also declared a non pecuniary interest in Item No. 14 by virtue of being a member of the Liverpool City Region Local Enterprise Partnership.

The minutes of the last meeting have been printed and published.  Any matters called in will be reported at the meeting.

RECOMMENDATION:  That the minutes be approved and adopted.

RESOLVED:

That the Minutes of the meetings of the Cabinet held on 21 June 2012 and 10 July 2012 be confirmed as a correct record.

A report by the Head of Financial Services/Deputy S151 Officer informed Members of budget projections for 2013/15. 

Councillor Phil Davies told the Cabinet that it was clear that there was a budget challenge.  Members would look at budget options and would bring them forward with a consultation process in September 2012.  It would be necessary to make significant in roads into the budget shortfall.  He drew attention to information contained in the report that the Office of National Statistic had released the mid-2010 estimated populations and the reduction for Wirral since the Census in 2001 was greater than for any other metropolitan or unitary authority.  During this budgeting period the 2011 Census information would be made available and would be incorporated into the grant distribution formulae.  Therefore, if the population reduction was confirmed, the reduction in grant receivable could be significant.

RESOLVED: That

(1)  the Budget Projections 2013/15 be regularly reviewed; and

(2)  a further report be presented to the Cabinet on the implications for the Council’s Budget if, when the 2011 Census information becomes available, the position with receivable grant is not as bad as currently expected.

A report by The Head of Financial Services / Deputy S151 Officer informed that the Council was required to establish a replacement Localised Support Scheme, for Council Tax Benefit (CTB) from April 2013. This was a key strand of the Government’s wider Welfare Reform review.

The Cabinet was informed that the Scheme brought with it reduced funding from Central Government, with the need for Wirral to consider how to address this reduction assessed at £3.15 million based on current, and increasing CTB spend.

The report set out the background and the options available and requested direction from Members on the type of Localised Scheme to be focused on for detailed consideration and adoption.

The Options were as follows:

·  Option One - A Localised Scheme that delivers £3.15 million savings but this is unlikely to have any reliable supplier software in time for January 2013.

• Option Two - A Localised Scheme mirroring the current CTB scheme with the current software, delivering the full level of awards and meeting the £3.15 million reduction in funding. This being delivered through increased Council Tax charges with the Council having to identify and agree which changes to Council Tax discounts and exemptions it will make, or utilise funds from other sources.

Option Three - As an alternative to Option 2 a Scheme mirroring the current CTB scheme with the current software, delivering a level of savings which is less than the £3.15 million. The savings coming from Council Tax charges for which the Council will have to identify and agree or from other sources.

Option Four - The Council chooses not to agree a Localised Scheme or the Government invokes its default scheme for year one.  If this is the preferred option and is acknowledged then no public consultation process has to take place.

The Cabinet noted that potential area for increased income was within the proposed Council Tax regulations going through Parliament as this may give Councils power over Council Tax exemptions and discounts on empty homes and empty properties under renovation. It was also noted that the Government had ruled out allowing any local change to the 25% single person discount.  The initial data profiling had assessed that the changes could rise up to £3.6 million (below) but took no account of the impact on the person’s ability to pay:

The Cabinet considered its Council Tax Income Options and agreed that owners should be encouraged to carry out repairs to Class A dwellings so it would  ...  view the full minutes text for item 50.

A report by the Head of Financial Services / Deputy S151 Monitoring Officer informed that the reform of the nationally administered Social Fund Scheme would see the introduction of a new, localised scheme of welfare assistance, to be administered by Local Authorities from April 2013.  The report sought the agreement of the Cabinet to the approach being adopted and informed that a further report on the options for a Wirral based scheme would be presented to a future Cabinet meeting.

The changes to the wider Welfare Reform Programme would have a significant impact directly on Local Authority administration and, as with much of the Reform programme; it would be the same households and individuals that were affected by each reform strand.

Members were concerned that the initial indication was that the current £178 million per annum national fund distributed to local authorities on a non-ring fenced basis although in reality authorities would only receive a proportion of the current spend and this would have serious implications for the crisis loans the Council would be able to provide and this was regrettable as lots of people needed them.

RESOLVED: That

(1)   the Cabinet supports the way forward for the Local Welfare Assistance Scheme for 2013/14 and officers continue to analyse and monitor the impact of this reform on the authority and its citizens and present a further detailed report for consideration of the composition of a final scheme for 2013/14; and

(2)   the timescale as set out in the report be approved.

The Key Communication Messages from the meeting of the Improvement Board held on 22 June 2012 are attached.

The Cabinet considered the Action Points and Key Communication Messages from the meeting of the Improvement Board held on 22 June 2012.

Councillor Ann McLachlan informed that there had been a well attended Member seminar on 11 July 2012 on the improvements required.  The Improvement Plan would be presented to the Improvement Board on 20 July 2012 for endorsement.  Councillor McLachlan also informed that it had been identified that communication and engagement with Members was an issue and work would be done on this.

RESOLVED:

That the Action Points and Key Communication Messages from the meeting of the Improvement Board held on 22 June 2012 be agreed.

A report by the Acting Director of Children’s Services informed the Cabinet that, as part of the Government’s Child Poverty Agenda, funding was currently provided through the Early Intervention Grant to enable access to ten hours childcare per week, for 38 weeks of the year, for the most disadvantaged two year olds in the Borough.

The proposal was set against a background of Central Government planning to extend the statutory childcare provision for disadvantaged two year olds.

In September 2013 there would be a statutory entitlement for all disadvantaged two year olds to receive15 hours of funded childcare using the existing criteria, which was put in place in 2009 when the Two Year Old Pilot Scheme was first established nationally.

Children were eligible for the funding if they meet the free school dinner criteria with Looked After two-year-olds, two years with a disability and those receiving support from the Family Nurse Partnership (parents under 19 year old).  This criterion had been put in place as part of the original pilot scheme and had not changed.

With the increase of funding in 2012-2013 of £569,000 there were two options:

Option A: fund some increase in the number of children and increase the number of hours from ten to 15; or

Option B: fund a larger number of children receiving the entitlement of ten hours (and then increase their hours in the subsequent year inline with government policy)

The report proposed option A.

RESOLVED:

That agreement be given to fund some increase in the number of children and to increase the entitlement to a funded place for eligible two year olds from the current ten hours per week to 15 hours per week from September 2012.

A report by the Acting Director of Children’s Services informed the Cabinet that Wirral Council transports vulnerable adults to day centres, placements and educational provision.  The transportation was provided through an in-house fleet, contracted services from external transport providers and additional commissioned transport as required.  The report sought approval to extend twelve adult transport contracts for a further year from 1 August 2012 to 31 July 2013 at an estimated cost of £563,113.

RESOLVED:

That the extension of the current contract for a further year from 1 August 2012 to 31 July 2013 be approved.

A report by the Acting Chief Executive provided the Cabinet with an update on national policy and guidance for public health reform; an update on the local transition, and sought agreement on the proposed role of the Director of Public Health and structure within the Council. 

Members noted that under the Health and Social Care Act, local authorities were given new statutory duties across the three ‘domains’ of public health.  These were:

·  Health improvement – including reducing lifestyle related ill-health and inequalities in health, and addressing the underlying determinants of health.

·  Health protection – including ensuring that comprehensive plans are in place across the local authority, NHS and other agencies to respond to infectious disease outbreaks and other public health emergencies.

·  Health service improvement – by providing NHS Commissioners, including Clinical Commissioning Groups, with expert advice and support to improve and evaluate the quality and efficiency of health services.

In addition, each authority must, acting jointly with the Secretary of State for Health, appoint an individual to have responsibility for its new public health functions, known as the Director of Public Health (DPH).

RESOLVED: That

(1)  the report be noted;

(2)  the Director of Public Health will report directly to the Chief Executive, and a secondment arrangement be put in place to enable her to directly manage Council staff; and

(3)  under the secondment agreement, the Director of Public Health will take responsibility for Public Health, Performance Management, and the Council’s approach to Commissioning within the local authority.

A report by the Director of Adult Social Services informed of the stage that the Department had reached in the Peer Review process, which was a fundamental part of its Improvement Programme.

The Adult Social Services Department had now received the report from the Safeguarding Peer Challenge in May 2012 and the initial feedback from the Adult Social Care Peer Review in June 2012.  The Director’s report highlighted the feedback from the Safeguarding Peer Challenge and the initial comments from the Peer Review.  Both of these reports would now be presented to Health and Wellbeing Overview and Scrutiny Committee and would be made available on the Council’s website.

The Cabinet noted that any areas of consideration that had been identified would be incorporated into the Department’s improvement planning process.

Councillor Anne McArdle thanked the Strategic Service Manager Safeguarding, Caroline McKenna and her team for all of their hard work on the peer challenge process.  She also informed that she was confident that the Adult Social Services Peer Review would be positive.

Councillor Phil Davies also paid tribute to the Director and his team and congratulated them on their accomplishments and the positive reports.  He informed that he was please to see that clear improvements had been made and the evidence of a learning culture.  There was still work to be done and Councillor Davies was impressed with what had already been achieved.  He requested that his congratulations be conveyed to all concerned.

RESOLVED:

That the positive content of the report be noted and the staff involved be thanked and congratulated on their efforts.

A report by the Director of Regeneration, Planning and Housing informed the Cabinet of the decision of the Director for Regeneration, Housing and Planning to extend a number of Supporting People contracts for a period of twelve months.  These extensions had been awarded by the Director under delegated authority. The full details and values of the contracts were listed in Appendix 1 to the report.

The Director’s report also sought the Cabinet’s approval to extend a Supporting People contract awarded to Forum Housing Association who delivered housing related support services to up to 223 young people who were either homeless or at risk.  The proposed contract extension was for a period of twelve months and the details were set out in Appendix 1.

Appendix 1 of the report contained commercially sensitive information regarding contracts, the disclosure of which would not be considered in the presence of the press and public.  Accordingly, Appendix 1 was deemed to be exempt from disclosure under paragraph 3, Part 1 of schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended).  It would be considered in Part 2 of the meeting once the press and public had been excluded (Minute No. 64 refers).

The Acting Director of Law, HR and asset Management informed that one of the contracts relating to Forum Housing Association had outstanding issues that needed to be resolved.

RESOLVED: That:

(1)  the Cabinet agreed that the Director of Regeneration, Housing and Planning proceed to extending the Supporting People contracts for socially excluded groups (as detailed in Appendix One to the report) in order to allow for the completion of and alignment with the Homelessness Strategy; and

(2)  the decision to approve the extension to the contract with the Forum Housing Association as detailed in Appendix 1 to the report be deferred to the Leader of the Council, once outstanding issues are satisfactorily addressed.

A report by the Interim Director of Technical Services sought the approval of the Cabinet for the proposed Green Infrastructure scheme which would involve the planting of up to 600 trees on green spaces and approach roads to the proposed Wirral Waters developments around the East and West Float, Bidston Docks and environs e.g. on Hoylake Road, Ilchester Square, Duke Street, Tower Road etc. in conjunction with The Mersey Forest Organisation as part of the Green Streets Wirral Waters Project.

The Interim Director’s report also sought approval to undertake future adoption of trees planted on Council owned land, once the scheme was completed and future maintenance responsibility, after the expiry of the five year maintenance period.

The Interim Director introduced Ben Greenaway of the Mersey Forest Organisation, who was pivotal in taking the project forward and Grif Evans, the landscape architect, who were in attendance at the meeting to Cabinet Members.  He informed that the plans were currently on display in the foyer of Wallasey Town Hall.  The Cabinet noted that the scheme was being externally funded and managed by the Mersey Forest Organisation

Councillor Harry Smith informed the Cabinet that the scheme would greatly improve the quality of life for people living in the area.

Councillor Phil Davies told the Cabinet that the scheme was the result of a great imaginative idea.  It was a key regeneration mechanism and would enhance the land around the Wirral Waters project.

RESOLVED: That

(1)   the implementation of a tree planting scheme for the Wirral Waters approaches as defined in the map (Appendix A to the report) be approved; and

(2)  the outline master plan set out in the Green Infrastructure Investment Framework document be approved.

A report by the Interim Director of Technical Services informed that the Environmental Streetscene Services Contract was the delivery mechanism for executing the Council’s statutory obligations to collect household waste and maintain the cleanliness of the borough’s highways and associated open spaces.

The Interim Director reported that the current contract with Biffa had commenced in August 2006 and was worth approx £12.5M per annum.  It was a 14-year contract, currently running in its sixth year and had a ‘break clause’ at seven years (August 2013).

The Interim Director’s report responded to the recommendations of the Cabinet meeting held on 21 June 2012 (Minute No. 28 refers) and in doing so provided details around the financial benefits and viability of the preferred break clause offer as well as the risks and service considerations associated with delaying the Break Clause decision for a further 3.5 years and accepting the associated savings package proposed by Biffa.  Fundamentally, the report offered Members an opportunity to examine risks and benefits of accepting the break clause offer in favour of re-tendering, to ensure that the decision made around the future of the Environmental Streetscene Contract gave due regard for achieving value for money.

A number of documents appended to the report contained sensitive commercial information related to the management accounts of Biffa PLC. In order to protect the commercial competitiveness of Biffa’s position in the waste management market and to ensure the Council and Biffa were not disadvantaged in future procurement opportunities, this information had been classified as Exempt Information from public scrutiny, as set out in paragraph 3, Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended) and would be considered in Part 2 of the meeting once the press and public had been excluded (Minute No. 65 refers). 

RESOLVED: That the Cabinet

(1)  approves the delay of the ‘break clause’ decision until April 2016 and removes the age restriction of the fleet used to service the current Environmental Streetscene Services Contract, thereby continuing the contract with Biffa until at least March 2017;

(2)   approves the removal of all co-mingled bring sites (subject to consultation and completion of the associated EIA) by no later than August 2013;

(3)  requests a review of the “Exclusion Round” with a view to adding all properties on this service to the Alternate Weekly Collection Service (subject to consultation and completion of the associated EIA) by no later than August 2013;

(4)  requests officers to provide a further report for its consideration, detailing the capital costs required to facilitate the removal of the Exclusion Round, as a result of the consultation exercise (not to exceed £80k);

(5)  notes the revenue savings that have been identified from implementing the preferred option totalling £1.2m and agrees that adjustments to the waste provisions be made to reflect the part year effect of savings in 2013/14 and the full-year affect thereafter; and

(6)  instructs the Director of Technical Services to present a further report to this Cabinet no later than  ...  view the full minutes text for item 59.

A report by the Director of Regeneration, Housing and Planning updated the Cabinet on recent activity relating to the delivery of the Investment Strategy and requested key decisions for a number of projects critical to the delivery of investment strategy partnership activity over the next few months, including Growing Places and Regional Growth Funds (RGF), broadband development and the Mersey Dee Alliance (MDA).

RESOLVED: That

(1)  the Director of Regeneration, Housing and Planning and the Investment Strategy Team be authorised to ensure that the appropriate processes are in place in order to respond to due diligence requirements should one or both of the RGF applications outlined in the report be successful;

(2)  officers be authorised to work with Liverpool City Region partners on a potential structure for a City Region broadband team to take forward the BDUK opportunities. The potential cost for the Council will be up to £64,000 which will be paid for out of existing budgets that have been allocated for broadband development;

(3)  officers be authorised to submit an ERDF application for broadband activity, maximizing EU resources and contribute appropriately to the development of a robust application, the development costs of which will not exceed £6,000;

(4)  the increase in Mersey Dee Alliance subscriptions be authorised from £6,000 to £7,000 for 2012/13;

(5)  the contribution of £5,000 be authorised towards the costs of an analysis of the advanced manufacturing sector and its supply chains within the City Region; and

(6)  officers be authorised to explore the use of Growing Places Funds which have been nominally allocated to Wirral to invest in a power solution for the International Trade Centre, unlocking significant development. The funding is proposed to be repaid via the business rate uplift within the Enterprise Zone which has been allocated, in principle, back to Wirral by the Local Enterprise Partnership for strategic economic development.

A report by the Director of Regeneration, Housing and Planning sought approval for the policy direction to be contained within a Proposed Submission Draft Core Strategy before the final suite of documents were prepared for publication and submission to the Secretary of State for public examination by an independent Planning Inspector.

The Core Strategy would assist in the delivery of corporate priorities related to Your Neighbourhood and Your Economy. Once adopted, the Core Strategy would replace the strategic polices contained within the Unitary Development Plan adopted in February 2000 and the Council’s Interim Planning Policy for New Housing Development adopted in October 2005, following the proposed revocation of the Regional Spatial Strategy by the Secretary of State.

The Director’s report set out the findings of public consultation approved by the Cabinet on 21 July 2011 (Minute 80 refers) on draft Settlement Area Policies; recommended that the policy direction indicated in the draft Core Strategy attached to the report be approved, in principle, to allow the necessary assessments and appraisals to be completed before the final documents were presented to the Council for approval for publication and submission to the Secretary of State; that the Council’s Sustainability Appraisal Panel be involved in the preparation of the final statutory sustainability appraisal of the Core Strategy; that the statutory assessment of the Core Strategy under the Habitats Regulations be undertaken by independent specialist consultants under an existing sub-regional contract with the Merseyside districts; that the findings of the remaining evidence base reports on employment, housing, retail, open space and recreation, water and transport be reported back alongside the finalised Core Strategy; and that further internal and external liaison be undertaken to confirm the soundness of the plan and compliance with the newly introduced duty to co-operate.

The report also recommended that the Council respond to a request from Sefton Council to indicate that Wirral is unlikely to be able to accommodate additional development to accommodate development needs arising within Sefton (paragraph 8.1 below refers).

RESOLVED: That:

(1)  the Proposed Submission Draft Core Strategy attached to the report be approved as the basis for preparing a final document for public consultation and submission to the Secretary of State;

(2)  the findings of the remaining evidence base reports on employment, housing, retailing, open space and recreation, water and transport be reported back to Cabinet alongside the final Proposed Submission Draft Core Strategy;

(3)  the Proposed Submission Draft Core Strategy attached to the report be approved for further informal internal and external liaison to confirm the soundness of the emerging Core Strategy and to satisfy the new duty to co-operate;

(4)  the independent Sustainability Appraisal Panel be involved in the preparation of the sustainability appraisal for the final Proposed Submission Draft Core Strategy;

(5)  the Habitats Regulations Assessment of the Proposed Submission Draft Core Strategy be undertaken by independent specialist consultants under the existing sub-regional contract with the Merseyside districts;

(6)  the final Proposed Submission Draft Core Strategy and its accompanying documents be reported back to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 61.

A report by the Director of Regeneration, Housing and Planning reported that on 12 April 2012 the Cabinet approved continuation of a worklessness support programme and authorised the Director of Regeneration, Housing and Planning to commence a competitive tendering exercise (Minute No. 387 refers).  The Council commenced the procurement process via The Chest portal on 4 May 2012 under the title: Supply of the Working Wirral Programme.  The current contract ended on 31 August 2012 and was delivered by a voluntary and community sector consortium called The ReachOut Partnership led by Involve Northwest.

The report:

·  advised of the recommendations from the competitive procurement process to select a delivery partner for the worklessness support programme: Working Wirral; and

·  recommended to accept the most economically advantageous tender in terms of quality/price and appoint the supplier to deliver the service on behalf of the Council.

Appendix 1 of the report contained commercially sensitive information regarding a competitive tendering process and was deemed to be exempt from disclosure under paragraph 3, Part 1 of schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended). It would be considered in Part 2 of the meeting once the press and public had been excluded (Minute No. 66 refers).

Councillor Phil Davies informed that he considered that the contract was costly in the light of the job outputs it would provide and questioned whether it represented value for money.  Therefore, before any decision was made he asked for a further report setting out a detailed breakdown of costs in terms of job outputs and delivery.

RESOLVED: That

(1)  the decision on accepting the tender be deferred and delegated to the Leader of the Council; and

(2)  a report be provided to the Leader of the Council that addresses and evaluates value for money of the contract.

The following items contain exempt information.

RECOMMENDATION:  That, under section 100 (A) (4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined by the relevant paragraphs of Part I of Schedule 12A (as amended) to that Act. The Public Interest test has been applied and favours exclusion.

RESOLVED:

That, under section 100 (A) (4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined by paragraph 3 of Part I of Schedule 12A (as amended) to that Act.  The Public Interest test has been applied and favours exclusion.

• Exempt Appendix to agenda item 11

Supporting People Contracts for Providers of Services to People at Risk of or Experiencing Social Exclusion

This appendix is exempt by virtue of paragraph 3 as it contains commercially sensitive information.

The Cabinet noted the detail of the exempt appendix to Item No. 11 on the agenda – Supporting People Contracts for Providers of Services to People at Risk of or Experiencing Social Exclusion (Minute No. 57 refers).

• Exempt Appendices 1 – 7 to agenda item 13

Environmental Streetscene Services Contract ‘Break Clause’ Review

These appendices are exempt by virtue of paragraph 3 as they contain commercially sensitive information.

The Cabinet noted the detail of the exempt appendices to Item No. 13 on the agenda – Environmental Streetscene Services Contract “Break Clause” Review (Minute No. 59 refers).

• Exempt Appendix to agenda item 16

Tackling Worklessness

This appendix is exempt by virtue of paragraph 3 as it contains commercially sensitive information.

The Cabinet noted the detail of the exempt appendix to Item No. 16 on the agenda – Tackling Worklessness (Minute No. 62 refers).

This report is exempt by virtue of paragraph 3 as it contains commercially sensitive information.

A report by the Director of Regeneration, Housing and Planning sought authorisation to commence action to compulsorily acquire land in the Bray Street area of Birkenhead, by exercising Compulsory Purchase Order Powers under Section 226(1) (a) of the Town and Country Planning Action 1990 required for comprehensive redevelopment with new mixed tenure housing.

RESOLVED: That

(1)  the Cabinet authorises the use of Compulsory Purchase Order powers under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, Section 226 (1) (a) for the acquisition of the Order Lands to complete the acquisition of land and property shown coloured pink and edged in red on the  plan at Appendix 2 to the report; and

(2)  the Director of Law, HR and Asset Management be authorised to take all necessary steps to secure the making, confirmation and implementation of the Compulsory Purchase Order, including the publication and service of all notices and the presentation of the Council’s case at any Public Inquiry and acquire the interests in the Order Lands either by agreement or compulsorily.

This report is exempt by virtue of paragraph 3 as it contains commercially sensitive information.

A report by the Director of Regeneration, Housing and Planning sought the Cabinet’s approval to further extend a number of Supporting People contracts entered into with providers of services for clients with Learning Disabilities.  It also sought approval for a further virement from the budget of Regeneration, Housing and Planning to the Department of Adult Social Services.  (The initial request was approved by Cabinet on 15 March 2012 (Minute No. 348 refers)).  The Virement represented a contribution toward the cost of outsourced supported living services in Birkenhead, West Wirral and Wallasey.

RESOLVED: That

(1)  the request of the Director of Regeneration, Housing and Planning to extend the Supporting People contracts as set out in Appendix

One to the report be approved; and

(2)  a virement of £898,090 from the budget of the Department of Regeneration Housing and Planning to the Department of Adult Social Services, as detailed in Appendix One to the report, be approved.