Agenda and minutes

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Contact: Shirley Hudspeth 0151 691 8559  Committee and Civic Services Manager

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Items
No. Item

18.

Members' Code of Conduct - Declarations of Interest

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.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Councillors Angela Davies and Chris Jones declared a personal interest in Item No. 3 on the agenda – All Age Disability and Mental Health Services (Minute No. 18 (d) refers) by virtue of their employment with with the Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust.

19.

Minutes

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.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

RESOLVED:

 

That the Minutes of the meetings of the Cabinet held on 16 and 23 July 2018 be confirmed as a correct record.

20.

Executive Key Decisions Taken Under Delegated Powers pdf icon PDF 1005 KB

Key Decisions – taken under delegated powers. Period 6 July, 2018 (date of publication of last Cabinet agenda) to date.

 

Decision Maker – Cabinet Member Jobs and Growth

European Structural and Investment Fund Programme for England 2014-2020: Wirral Ways to Work Programme Extension.

Effective 21 July 2018.

 

Decision Maker – Cabinet Member - Highways & Transport

Appointment for a contract to undertake a Parking Enforcement Solution - including back office functions ref: 4427

Effective 21 July 2018.

 

Decision Maker: Leader of the Council - (Overall strategic direction of Council; Lead the Wirral Partnership; Lead Wirral across Liverpool City Region)

Re-Commissioning of Highway Services from October 2018.

Effective 1 August 2018.

 

Decision Maker: Joint Strategic Commissioning Board, Leader of the Council - (Overall strategic direction of Council; Lead the Wirral Partnership; Lead Wirral across Liverpool City Region)

All Age Disability and Mental Health Service

Effective 14 August 2018.

 

Decision Maker: Joint Strategic Commissioning Board, Leader of the Council - (Overall strategic direction of Council; Lead the Wirral Partnership; Lead Wirral across Liverpool City Region)

Extension of Mandatory Licensing of Houses in Multiple Occupation.

Date of Decision 17 September 2018

Effective 25 September (if not called-in).

Additional documents:

Minutes:

RESOLVED:

 

That the following Key Decisions taken under delegated authority from the period 6 July 2018 (date of publication of last Cabinet agenda) to date be noted:

 

Key Decisions taken under delegated powers from 6 July 2018 (date of publication of last Cabinet agenda) to date.

(a)  European Structural and Investment Fund Programme for England 2014 – 2020: Wirral Ways to Work Programme Extension.

 

Decision Maker – Cabinet Member Jobs and Growth

European Structural and Investment Fund Programme for England 2014 -2020: Wirral Ways to Work Programme Extension.

Effective 21 July 2018.

 

(b)  Approval of Appointment for a Contract to undertake a Parking Enforcement Solution Including Back Office Functions

 

Decision Maker – Cabinet Member - Highways & Transport

Appointment for a contract to undertake a Parking Enforcement Solution - including back office functions ref: 4427

Effective 21 July 2018.

 

(c)  Recommissioning of Highway Services from October 2018

 

Decision Maker: Leader of the Council - (Overall strategic direction of Council; Lead the Wirral Partnership; Lead Wirral across Liverpool City Region)

Effective 1 August 2018.

 

(d)  All Age Disability and Mental Health Services

 

Decision Maker: Joint Strategic Commissioning Board, Leader of the Council - (Overall strategic direction of Council; Lead the Wirral Partnership; Lead Wirral across Liverpool City Region) All Age Disability and Mental Health Service.

Effective 14 August 2018.

 

(e)  Extension of Mandatory Licensing of Houses in Multiple Occupation

 

Decision Maker: Joint Strategic Commissioning Board, Leader of the Council - (Overall strategic direction of Council; Lead the Wirral Partnership; Lead Wirral across Liverpool City Region).

Date of Decision 17 September 2018.

Effective 25 September (if not called-in).

21.

Wirral Waters One, Legacy Project pdf icon PDF 203 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

 

Cllr Angela Davies new

Councillor Angela Davies, Cabinet Member for Jobs and Growth, said:

 

Creating new homes on brownfield sites has never been more important. Huge Government house-building targets mean we have to take every opportunity to encourage, enable and drive landowners to develop brownfield sites and build the homes Wirral residents’ need.

 

“We have been clear with every developer and landowner in this borough who has planning permissions in place: we will support you every step of the way, but we need you to build the homes you promised. The Wirral Waters One proposal demonstrates just how serious we are in our determination to get brownfield sites developed.

 

“This is an ambitious and entrepreneurial move by Wirral Council. We know we need housing to be developed on brownfield sites and at Wirral Waters in particular, to relieve some pressure from our Green Belt. It is also clear these types of schemes are always difficult for private developers to make viable.

 

“The Council has stepped in and made it work. We have secured national funding to improve local infrastructure, we have worked hand in hand with the developers to make sure the quality of the homes was at the right level, and we have pulled together a solid commercial approach to make sure the financing needed to make the scheme a reality is available.

 

“This commercial deal also ensures the Council will generate ongoing revenue from the homes which are built, which can be used to invest further into making difficult brownfield regeneration schemes more viable.

 

“An extensive amount of work has been delivered to get this scheme to where it is today. We now have a major housing development coming forward at Wirral Waters – the first of what we hope will be many such schemes.”

 

Councillor Angela Davies introduced a report which reminded Members that on 26 February 2018 (Min 88 referred) the Cabinet had considered and approved a proposal to progress the development of the Wirral Waters One Project.  Primarily this was a project to bring forward 500 residential units in a 1 and 2 bedroom apartment scheme on the East Float of Wirral Waters.  It was a joint project between Peel Holdings, Aviva (as the scheme funder) and the Council, with the Council entering into a lease for the apartments for up to 50 years.

 

Consequently, the Cabinet had instructed officers to develop a business case for the delivery of a commercially viable scheme commensurate with the Council’s level of investment.  In addition, officers had been instructed to establish a trading company, limited by shares, to hold the lease to enable the delivery of the development in the longer term.

 

Members noted that the development would be the first large scale purpose-built private rented scheme in Wirral and would significantly enhance the housing offer within the local area by providing high quality private rented apartments, on brownfield land, on a waterfront location.  The rental levels for 20% of the apartments would meet the criteria for affordable housing.  The  ...  view the full minutes text for item 21.

22.

Continuing Health Care Scrutiny Review pdf icon PDF 66 KB

At its meeting on 27 June, 2018, the Adult Care and Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee referred the Scrutiny Review on Continuing Health Care to the Cabinet. The Overview and Scrutiny Committee minute, report to the Committee and Scrutiny Review are attached.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Councillor Chris Jones introduced a report of the Chair and Members of the Adult Care and Health Overview & Scrutiny Committee Task and Finish Group on the Continuing Healthcare Scrutiny Review.  The report set out the findings and recommendations arising from a Scrutiny Review completed in May 2018.  The Review had been commissioned as part of the former People Overview & Scrutiny Committee’s Work Programme – later the Adult Care and Health Overview & Scrutiny Committee.

 

The report aimed to understand, assess and give consideration to the Continuing Health Care (CHC) framework and how it was applied locally.  A Task & Finish Group had been set up to, amongst other things; evaluate the impact of CHC on clients and their families, focussing on both the process and the funding outcomes.

 

The Adult Care and Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee had considered the Scrutiny Review on Continuing Health Care report and its recommendations at its meeting on 27 June, 2018 and referred them to the Cabinet.  The Overview and Scrutiny Committee’s Minute was also provided for the Cabinet’s consideration.

 

The Cabinet noted the Task and Finish Group’s findings and that it had made seven recommendations as follows:

 

  “Recommendation 1 – Consistency of Application of the CHC Framework by Training

Members recognise that Wirral Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) is not responsible for the staff training of other organisations. However, the CCG and all relevant health partners are requested to collaborate to ensure that all applicable staff receive the appropriate CHC training, where possible through joint sessions. This will enable frontline staff to pass on correct information to patients and families while operating with confidence to apply both the national CHC framework and local procedures. This should ensure that there is more consistency in the application of the framework. 

 

Recommendation 2 – Communication

Wirral Clinical Commissioning Group is requested to consider options to improve communication processes between themselves and partner organisations involved in the local delivery of the CHC framework (such as, Wirral Borough Council, Wirral Community Trust, Wirral University Teaching Hospital and GPs). Similarly, it is suggested that communication processes with potential applicants for CHC funding be reviewed and strengthened. 

 

Recommendation 3 – Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS)

Members note with concern that the introduction of the Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS) has resulted in some reduction of choice for clients while not realising the anticipated level of savings. As a result, Wirral CCG is requested to demonstrate to the Adult Care and Health Overview & Scrutiny Committee that continued use of DPS is providing value for money, is improving the efficiency of staff in identifying appropriate placements and is leading to an improved service for clients, particularly those requiring end of life care.

 

Recommendation 4 – End of Life Care

Wirral Clinical Commissioning Group is requested to ensure that those clients requesting CHC funding at end of life receive a service which is both compassionate and speedy. The allocation of placements to care homes who have successfully received the ‘Six Steps to Success End of Life Training Programme’  ...  view the full minutes text for item 22.

23.

Audit and Risk Management Committee Annual Report 2017/18 pdf icon PDF 47 KB

At its meeting on 23 July, 2018 (minute 6 refers) the Audit and Risk Management Committee referred the Audit and Risk Management Committee’s Annual Report to Cabinet. The minute and report are attached.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Councillor Phil Davies introduced the Audit and Risk Management Committee’s Annual Report 2017-18 which it had been required to complete in accordance with best professional practice. 

 

The Cabinet noted that, at its meeting on 23 July, 2018 (Minute No. 6 refers), the Audit and Risk Management Committee had considered its draft Annual Report, approved it and referred it to the Cabinet for consideration.  The subsequent Committee Minute was provided for the Cabinet’s information. 

 

RESOLVED:

 

That the Audit and Risk Management Committee’s Annual Report be approved.

24.

Consideration of proposal to implement selective licensing following consultation pdf icon PDF 217 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

GeorgeDavies

Councillor George Davies, Cabinet Member – Housing and Community Safety (and Deputy Leader of the Council), said:

 

Wirral residents demand – and deserve – to live in good quality, safe and attractive housing.

 

The availability of private rented accommodation has more than doubled in Wirral in the last 10 years and while we know that many of these properties are of an excellent standard, managed by responsible landlords, there are others that aren’t up to scratch.

 

“We will not tolerate Wirral residents being forced to live in poor conditions by irresponsible landlords. This licensing scheme is a good way for us to tackle this issue and, where a landlord does not live up to their responsibilities to their tenants, we will not hesitate to take action against them.

 

“Our Selective Licensing scheme supports improvement in the quality of housing in the areas of Birkenhead and Wallasey where it is applied. It has brought many social and health benefits along with it and people from across the political spectrum have rightly highlighted its success and championed it for their own area, calling for its expansion.

 

“This is where the Council needs to step in and use all the powers that we have to drive up the standards of this housing on behalf of tenants and this is what we are aiming to do by extending the Selective Licensing scheme.”

 

Councillor George Davies introduced a report, which presented Members with the results of the consultation exercise for extending Wirral’s Selective Licensing Scheme to four more designated area in the Borough.  Those areas were known as:

 

·  Hamilton Square

·  Seacombe St Paul’s

·  Birkenhead West

·  Birkenhead Central

 

The maps and address lists were detailed in the updated Business Case in the report.

 

The Cabinet noted the reasons for implementing a Selective Licencing scheme in the four additional designated areas in the borough. There was a robust evidence base to justify the targeting of proposed areas and support for the scheme had been confirmed by 77% of respondents to a recent statutory consultation exercise compared to less than 12% who had disagreed or strongly disagreed. Furthermore evidence provided by the existing Selective Licensing Scheme had confirmed that private rented properties in these areas had an extremely low level of compliance with licensing conditions which further strengthened the case for rolling out this scheme to the proposed new areas. The report sets out the proposed changes to the existing Licence Conditions following operational and legislative changes introduced since the initial scheme was launched.  It was considered that these recommendations would improve living conditions and ensure well managed private rented properties in designated areas.

 

Based on the feedback from the consultation undertaken and the robust evidence used for the Business Case rationale, Members were asked to approve the extension of Wirral’s Selective Licensing Scheme for all tenanted private rented properties within these four designated areas under Section 80 of the Housing Act 2004.

 

Members were also asked to approve changes to the existing Licence Conditions  ...  view the full minutes text for item 24.

25.

Councillor Matthew Patrick

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Councillor Phil Davies reported that Councillor Matthew Patrick was attending his last Cabinet meeting as he intended to resign from the Council on 7 October 2018 in order to take up a new and exciting job in London.

 

Councillor Phil Davies wished Councillor Matthew Patrick well in his new post and put on record the Cabinet’s sincere thanks and appreciation for the fantastic job he had carried out as a Wirral Councillor, as a ward Member for Upton and as the Cabinet Portfolio Holder for the Environment.

 

Councillor Matthew Patrick responded as appropriate informing that he had considered it a privilege to have represented his ward, to have served on the Cabinet and to have been involved in local politics. He also paid tribute to the Council’s fantastic Members, officers and residents.

26.

Exempt Information - Exclusion of the Press and Public

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.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

RESOLVED:

 

That, under section 100 (A) (4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following item of business on the grounds that it involves 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 favoured exclusion. 

27.

Wirral Waters One, Legacy Project

Minutes:

 

RESOLVED:

 

That further to Minute No. 21 above the content of the following exempt documents circulated with the agenda be noted:

 

·  Annex 1 to the Wirral Wates One Full Business Case.

·  Appendix 1

·  Appendix 2

·  Appendix 3.