Apologies for absence were received from Councillor George Davies – Cabinet Member for Neighbourhood, Housing and Engagement.

Members of the Cabinet are asked to consider whether they have any disclosable pecuniary and/or any other relevant interest, in connection with any item(s) on this agenda and, if so, to declare them and state the nature of the interest.

No declarations of interest were received.

RESOLVED:

That the Minutes of the meeting of the Cabinet held on 18 July 2016 be confirmed as a correct record.

Key Decisions – taken under delegated powers. Period 08 July 2016 (date of publication of last Cabinet agenda) to date.

A decision by Cabinet Member – Public Health was published 10 August 2016: Proposal to Recommission and Commission Integrated Sexual and Reproductive Health Services [Call-in period for this decision expired 17:00hrs, 17 August 2016].

RESOLVED:

That the following key decision that had been taken under delegated powers during the period 8 July 2016 (date of publication of last ordinary Cabinet agenda) to 25 August 2016 be noted:

·  Cabinet Member, Public Health - Proposal to Re-commission and Commission Integrated Sexual and Reproductive Health Services.

Effective from 18 August 2016.

Councillor Ann McLachlan introduced a report that provided Cabinet Members with the opportunity to review the progress of the delivery of the Wirral Plan. The Wirral Plan had been agreed at a meeting of the Council in July 2015, and had created a long term vision for the borough and a series of 20 Pledges which it was intended would be delivered by 2020.

The report provided a progress update on the delivery of the Wirral Plan for the 20 Pledges. It focused on key activities carried out in Quarter 1 (April to June 2016) and the progress being made. More detailed performance data and information relating to all Pledges would be reported to the Council’s Overview and Scrutiny Committees. The performance of the Wirral Plan would also be monitored by the Wirral Plan Partnership Delivery Group.

Delivery of the Wirral Plan was driven by all partners working together with residents to make a difference. Councillor Ann McLachlan was pleased to report the following points providing examples of where interventions and work commissioned towards the 20 Pledges was driving improvements in the lives of Wirral residents:

·  Tackling the problem residents faced in finding appropriate housing was a key goal of the Wirral Plan. The Council was on track to achieve its target of bringing 1,250 empty properties back into use by 2020 and currently, 388 empty properties had been identified, improved and brought back into use. 760 other properties had also been adapted or improved to help vulnerable people live with greater independence.

·  There had been a 9.5% increase in the number of people with disabilities in employment since the Wirral Plan was agreed.

·  There were greater job opportunities for Wirral residents being delivered with an increase in the employment rate of 3% compared to the start of the Wirral Plan, and an increase in the number of new jobs created compared to the same period last year.

·  Wirral also remained the fastest growing tourism economy in Merseyside with an 8% increase in visitor numbers resulting in an additional £31million being spent in our visitor economy compared to the previous year.

·  Progress was being made in ensuring Wirral’s neighbourhoods were safer, with a 2% reduction in the total number of crimes compared to this time last year.

·  Reports of anti-social behaviour were declining with a 13% reduction in the number of incidents reported to the police compared to the same  ...  view the full minutes text for item 39.

Councillor Janette Williamson introduced a comprehensive report that highlighted the importance of the role the Council had in commissioning services.  It had statutory duties across three “domains” of Public Health, as described in the Public Health Outcomes Framework.  These duties covered the following components:

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

·  Health protection – 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; and

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

The Cabinet was made aware that the Public Health grant awarded to the Council had been designed to deliver the responsibilities set out in the Public Health Outcomes Framework.  It required that the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) and the Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy should both inform and influence the commissioning plans of the Council and so influence how the Public Health grant was attributed.

Those responsibilities were delivered through a combination of external contracts, internal investment, small grants and running costs. The report detailed the Council’s commissioning intentions that were to be delivered through a number of external contracts which were categorised in the report shown in Table 1. 

The report sought the Cabinet’s agreement to progress Public Health’s proposed commissioning plans for 2016/17.  The commissioning proposals in the report linked to the delivery of the Wirral Plan’s 2020 pledges for Healthy Lives and to the Council’s Public Health statutory responsibilities.

Appended to the report at Appendix 1 was - Public Health Contracts by Provider 2016/17 (including Commissioning Intentions).

The Cabinet noted that all Public Health contracts were subject to on-going evaluation as part of a clearly defined commissioning cycle approach (in line with the Commissioning Framework developed as part of the Council’s Transformation Programme). This methodology ensured that Public Health services (and contracts) were consistently and routinely tested against a range of criteria.

Councillor Janette Williamson reported, in particular, that the Council had been mandated to commission reproductive and sexual health services, these included:

·  preventative action to reduce the spread of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) including HIV;

·  treatment services for STIs (but not HIV);

·  contraception and reproductive health promotion and provision;

·  specialist counselling for sexual health.

The four reproductive and sexual health services were currently commissioned as  ...  view the full minutes text for item 40.

Councillor Phil Davies introduced a report with the purpose of declaring the former Lyndale School site in Eastham, as surplus to operational requirements and to seek authority for its disposal.  Councillor Davies informed that the School’s former pupils had all been accommodated in other excellent schools in the borough.

It was noted that, if the Cabinet approved this proposal, additional authority would be required from the Secretary of State to dispose of the site and the playing fields and this would be submitted following a statutory consultation period. 

Should the disposal be approved by the Secretary of State, it was proposed that a marketing exercise for the site be undertaken on the Council’s behalf by its appointed property consultants and the site be sold on the best terms reasonably achievable as recommended by the consultant.  This was considered to be the best way of meeting the Council’s obligation to achieve best value as required by section 123 of the Local Government Act 1972. 

The Cabinet noted, in particular, that the Secretary of State required that capital receipts, following the disposal of playing fields, were re-invested in sports facilities, recreation or education facilities at other schools.

The former Lyndale School was located in Lyndale Avenue, Eastham - as shown thickly edged on the plan appended to the Cabinet report. The whole site extended to approximately 2.2 acres.  The Cabinet, at its meeting of 17 December 2014, had made the decision to close the school (effective on 31 August 2016) and from that date it was no longer required for Council purposes.

RESOLVED: That

(1)  the former Lyndale School be declared surplus to operational requirements and authority be granted to disposal of it on the best terms as recommended by the Council’s appointed property consultants, subject to Secretary of State approval;

(2)  officers be requested to undertake the necessary consultation prior to the Secretary of State application being made to dispose of the school playing fields;

(3)  demolition of the building be undertaken immediately (which can be prior to the Secretary of State application being approved to dispose the school playing fields and school land, which is allowable);

(4)  the land be appropriated for planning purposes; and

(5)  it be made clear that any Capital receipts received for the disposal of the site be  ...  view the full minutes text for item 41.