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CABINET
Committee Room
1,
Tuesday, 20
10:00 County Hall,
September 2016
Chelmsford,
Essex
Quorum: 3
Membership Cabinet Member responsibility
Councillor David Finch Leader of the Council (Chairman)
Councillor Kevin Bentley Deputy Leader and Economic Growth and
Partnerships (Vice-Chairman)
Councillor Rodney Bass Infrastructure
Councillor Anne Brown Corporate, Communities and Customers
Councillor Graham Butland Health
Councillor Ray Gooding Education and Lifelong Learning
Councillor Eddie Johnson Highways and Transport
Councillor Dick Madden Adults and Children
Councillor John Spence Finance, Housing and Planning
Councillor Simon Walsh Environment and Waste
For information about the meeting please ask for:
Judith Dignum (Secretary to the Cabinet)
03330134579 / Judith.dignum@essex.gov.uk
Page 1 of 72Essex County Council and Committees Information
All Council and Committee Meetings are held in public unless the business is exempt
in accordance with the requirements of the Local Government Act 1972.
Most meetings are held at County Hall, Chelmsford, CM1 1LX. A map and directions
to County Hall can be found at the following address on the Council’s website:
http://www.essex.gov.uk/Your-Council/Local-Government-Essex/Pages/Visit-County-
Hall.aspx
There is ramped access to the building for wheelchair users and people with mobility
disabilities.
The Council Chamber and Committee Rooms are accessible by lift and are located
on the first and second floors of County Hall.
If you have a need for documents in the following formats, large print, Braille, on disk
or in alternative languages and easy read please contact the Secretary to the
Cabinet before the meeting takes place. If you have specific access requirements
such as access to induction loops, a signer, level access or information in Braille
please inform the Secretary to the Cabinet before the meeting takes place. For any
further information contact the Secretary to the Cabinet.
Induction loop facilities are available in most Meeting Rooms. Specialist head sets
are available from Duke Street and E Block Receptions.
The agenda is also available on the Essex County Council website,
www.essex.gov.uk. From the Home Page, click on ‘Your Council’, then on ‘Meetings
and Agendas’. Finally, select the relevant committee from the calendar of meetings.
Please note that in the interests of improving access to the Council’s meetings, a
sound recording is made of the public parts of many meetings of the Council’s
Committees. The Chairman will make an announcement at the start of the meeting if
it is being recorded. The recording/webcast service is not guaranteed to be
available.
If you are unable to attend and wish to see if the recording/webcast is available you
can visit this link www.essex.gov.uk/Your-Council any time after the meeting starts.
Any audio available can be accessed via the ‘On air now!’ box in the centre of the
page, or the links immediately below it.
Page 2 of 72Part 1
(During consideration of these items the meeting is likely to be open to the press and
public)
Pages
1 Apologies for Absence
2 Minutes 19 July 2016 7 - 14
3 Declarations of Interest
To note any declarations of interest to be made by Members
in accordance with the Members' Code of Conduct
4 Questions from the Public
A period of up to 15 minutes will be allowed for members of
the public to ask questions or make representations on any
item on the agenda for this meeting.
On arrival, and before the start of the meeting, please
register with the Committee Officer.
5 Multi-Year Settlement and Efficiency Plan 15 - 22
The Equality Impact Assessment is available on line
6 Future Direction of the Quality Improvement Service – 23 - 38
Early Years & Childcare
The Equality Impact Assessment is available on line
7 To approve the Procurement of a Corporate software, 39 - 44
hosting and associated services contract
The Equality Impact Assessment is available on line
8 Extension of Day Opportunities contract 45 - 52
The Equality Impact Assessment is available on line
9 Superfast Essex Phase 3 delivery programme 53 - 60
The Equality Impact Assessment is available on line
10 Chelmsford Park and Ride – approval for agency 61 - 68
agreement with Chelmsford City Council covering the
operation of the Chelmsford Park and Ride sites
The Equality Impact assessment is available on line
11 Cabinet Decisions Report 69 - 72
Page 3 of 7212 Dates of future Cabinet meetings
The Cabinet is reminded to note the following dates of future
meetings:
2017
Tuesday 20 June 2017
Tuesday 18 July 2017
Tuesday 22 August 2017
Tuesday 19 September 2017
Tuesday 17 October 2017
Thursday 23 November 2017
Tuesday 19 December 2017
2018
Tuesday 23 January 2018
Tuesday 20 February 2018
Tuesday 20 March 2018
Tuesday 17 April 2018
Tuesday 22 May 2018
13 Date of Next Meeting
To note that the next meeting will be held on Tuesday 18
October 2016 at 10.00am in Committee Room1.
14 Urgent Business
To consider any matter which in the opinion of the Chairman
should be considered in public by reason of special
circumstances (to be specified) as a matter of urgency.
Exempt Items
(During consideration of these items the meeting is not likely to be open to the
press and public)
To consider whether the press and public should be excluded from the meeting
during consideration of an agenda item on the grounds that it involves the likely
disclosure of exempt information as specified in Part I of Schedule 12A of the
Local Government Act 1972 or it being confidential for the purposes of Section
100A(2) of that Act.
In each case, Members are asked to decide whether, in all the circumstances,
the public interest in maintaining the exemption (and discussing the matter in
private) outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.
Page 4 of 7215 Urgent Exempt Business
To consider in private any other matter which in the opinion
of the Chairman should be considered by reason of special
circumstances (to be specified) as a matter of urgency.
Page 5 of 72Page 6 of 72
19 July 2016 1
MINUTES OF A MEETING OF THE CABINET HELD AT COUNTY
HALL, CHELMSFORD, AT 10.00AM ON 19 JULY 2016
Present:
Councillors Cabinet Member responsibility
K Bentley Deputy Leader and Economic Growth and Partnerships
(in the Chair)
R Bass Infrastructure
G Butland Health
R Gooding Education and Lifelong Learning
D Madden Adults and Children
S Walsh Environment and Waste
Councillors F Ferguson, A Hedley, I Henderson, Mrs T Higgins, R Howard, M
Mackrory, M Maddocks and J Whitehouse also attended.
1. Apologies for Absence
Apologies were received from Councillors David Finch (Leader of the Council),
Anne Brown (Cabinet Member for Corporate, Communities and Customers),
Eddie Johnson (Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport) and John Spence
(Cabinet Member for Finance, Housing and Planning).
In response to a question by Councillor Henderson, the Chairman undertook to
verify the position with regard to deputies to Cabinet Members attending
meetings when a Cabinet Member was unavailable. He advised that the usual
practice at present was for the Chairman (usually the Leader of the Council or
himself) to lead on any reports in the name of the Cabinet Member concerned.
2. Minutes
The minutes of the meeting held on 21 June 2016 were agreed as a correct
record and signed by the Chairman.
3. Declarations of Interest
The Chairman reminded Members to declare any interests now or at the point
during the meeting when they arose.
Councillor J Whitehouse declared interests as set out below in agenda item 8
(Surplus Property Disposal – sale of the former Epping St John’s Junior and
Primary School), minute 8 below refers.
Type of Interest Nature of Interest
Pecuniary, for which he has been County Councillor representing Epping and
granted a dispensation Theydon Bois electoral division, in which the
site is situated.
Page 7 of 722 19 July 2016
Pecuniary, for which he has been Elected Member of Epping Forest District
granted a dispensation Council, which is the local planning authority
Code Elected Member of Epping Town Council
Code Resident of St John’s Road, Epping, in
which the site is situated
4. Public Questions
No members of the public had registered an interest in asking a question or
making a statement on any of the items to be considered at the meeting.
5. Chief Executive’s 100 Day Report
The Cabinet considered report FP/545/06/16 by the Chief Executive which set
out his thoughts on the issues he had identified in his first 100 Days that the
organisation needed to address. The 100 Days report was attached as an
appendix. The report was based on the Chief Executive’s observations of the
strengths and weaknesses of the Council as he had experienced them and as
they had been relayed to him by employees and partners; it explained the work
he had set in motion to address these; and it described in high level terms –
based on five key principles – the future direction of travel for the organisation in
order to enable it to realise its ambition for Essex and its people – recognising
that the challenges being faced are unlike any that had been faced in the past.
In the light of its many strengths, great officers and ambitious Members; despite
the challenging circumstances faced by all public services, the Chief Executive
was confident that Essex was well-positioned not only to weather them but to
thrive.
At the invitation of the Chairman, the Chief Executive presented the report,
highlighting the key areas.
The following points arose from Members’ consideration of the report:
• Members welcomed the report, commenting on the value of a fresh view
of the Council’s activities and ways of working.
• It was agreed that the recommendation should be amended to make it
clear that the 100 Days Report would be shared with all Members of the
Council. The Chairman confirmed that, implicit in any decision by the
Cabinet to approve the recommendation would be an endorsement of the
report as a whole.
• The Chief Executive confirmed that there were no plans to reconsider the
seaxes as part of the Council’s branding.
• There was already evidence of successful partnership working with the
District, City and Borough Councils and the NHS, and relationships had
become closer and more effective in recent times. The Chief Executive
would continue to encourage and promote increased collaborative
Page 8 of 7219 July 2016 3
working. Councillor Henderson expressed his support for the reference
within the report that collaboration should also include service users.
• The Chief Executive stated that he was keen for scrutiny to be systematic
and as effective as it could be, and he had met with the Scrutiny
Committee Chairmen to consider how this could be achieved.
• In the light of the decision by certain secondary schools to opt out of
purchasing the Council’s payroll service, Councillor Mackrory commented
on the importance of maintaining existing income streams as well as
developing new ones. The Chief Executive undertook to reply to
Councillor Mackrory outside of the meeting providing further information
on the situation and the likely impact of the decision on the service
concerned. He also emphasised that, by continuing to deliver effective
services which add value, the Council’s aim should be to become the
‘partner of choice’.
• The Chairman expressed the view that the percentage of staff indicating
that they are proud to work for the Council (64%) may have been
adversely affected by the recent substantial amount of organisational
change.
• Referring to the issue of financial sustainability, the Cabinet Member for
Infrastructure emphasised the importance of having in place effective
systems which could provide up-to-date information on the Council’s gross
expenditure and income.
Resolved:
That the 100 Days Report attached as an appendix to report EFA/545/06/16 be
published and shared with all Members of the Council, employees and partner
organisations.
6. 2016/17 Financial Overview as at the First Quarter Stage
The Cabinet considered report FP/420/02/16 by the Executive Director for
Corporate and Customer Services and S151 Officer which set out the forecast
position of the Council’s revenue and capital budgets as at the first quarter of the
2016/17 financial year. A full-year forecast overspend on revenue of £6.3m and
an overspend of £1.1m on capital, was reported, after proposed adjustments,
and it was noted that plans to recover the revenue position were in development.
In introducing the report, the Chairman stated that the current position was very
similar to that at the same stage in 2015/16 and there was no cause for concern.
Adjustments and mitigations would be made throughout the year to ensure that
expenditure remained within budget. This statement was endorsed by the
Cabinet Member for Adults and Children, with particular reference to the
overspend within Adult Social Care.
Cabinet Members provided the following information in response to Members’
comments and questions:
Page 9 of 724 19 July 2016
• The Cabinet Member for Education and Lifelong Learning advised that the
Early Years service described in paragraph 7.7 (I) of the report was
entirely separate from that delivered via Children’s Centres. The review of
the process for awarding grants to pre-school providers had become
necessary due to a number of pressures, including a lack of sufficient
places to meet demand created by the extension of the entitlement to free
childcare.
• The Cabinet Member for Adults and Children undertook to provide to
Councillor Henderson, and also to publish, further information on the
following issues:
o The role of the Good Lives project (the broad aim of which was to
promote and support independent living);
o Actions planned to address the overspend on the Transitions
Service (which concerned the transition of young people with
additional needs from children’s to adult services). The Cabinet
Member was confident that a move to block contracting (as denoted
by the phrase which appeared in paragraph 5.1.1 (II): ‘reducing
market price along with a number of volume related initiatives’)
would allow a break even position to be achieved by year end.
• The Cabinet Member for Adults and Children expressed confidence that
ECL would be in a position to pay a dividend to ECC in the next financial
year. He would welcome scrutiny involvement in ascertaining the causes
for its inability to do so in 2016/17.
• The Cabinet Member for Adults and Children emphasised that the aim of
the ongoing review of children’s centres was to move towards delivery of a
service ‘without walls’. Any changes to existing provision would be based
on the outcome of the consultation exercise.
• The Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Economic
Growth and Partnerships confirmed that the Innovation Fund referred to in
paragraph 2.3 (VI) was a new initiative.
Resolved:
That the following actions be approved:
1. To draw down funds from reserves as follows:
I. £879,000 from the Capital Receipts Pump Priming reserve to the
Leader Recharged Support Services Budget in respect of forecast
revenue expenditure associated with the disposal of properties
II. £717,000 from the Carbon Reduction reserve to Leader Recharged
Support Services portfolio in relation to the annual Carbon reduction
payment
Page 10 of 7219 July 2016 5
III. £240,000 from the Transformation reserve to Health portfolio in
respect of the Mental Health Transformation project
IV. £216,000 from the Transformation reserve to Corporate,
Communities and Customers portfolio in respect of the Prototypes
project within Customer Services
V. £150,000 from the Health and Safety reserve to Finance, Housing
and Planning Recharged Support Services portfolio relating to
Schools Asbestos Surveys
VI. £25,000 from the Quadrennial Elections reserve to Leader portfolio in
respect of in year by-election costs
VII. £1.2m from the Schools PFI reserves to the Education and Lifelong
Learning portfolio relating to Clacton PFI (£883,000), Building
Schools for the Future (£170,000) and Debden PFI (£120,000) to
meet the unitary charge costs not met by income from the schools
and Schools Forum (see 5.1.7III)
VIII. £500,000 from the General Balance in order to re-allocate a savings
target within the Traded Strategy, initially allocated to the Business
Incubator, to Traded Services EES (see 2.2III)
IX. £700,000 from the General Balance to Infrastructure, Highways and
Transport portfolio for road and footway maintenance to
accommodate a request for a carry forward from the 2015/16 under
spend.
2. To appropriate funds to reserves as follows:
I. £145,000 to the Transformation Reserve from Adult Social Care
portfolio in relation to the Good Lives project
II. £144,000 to the Reserve for Future Capital Funding from Leader
Recharged Support Services portfolio in respect of capitalisation of
costs associated with the Asset Management Programme (see
5.1.14II)
III. £500,000 to the General Balance in order to re-allocate a savings
target within Traded Strategy initially allocated to the Business
Incubator, to Traded Services EES (see 2.1VIII)
3. To approve the following adjustments:
I. To vire £130,000 from Adult Social Care portfolio to Leader
Recharged Support Services portfolio relating to the move of
Information, Advice and Guidance posts
Page 11 of 726 19 July 2016
II. To vire £118,000 from Education and Lifelong Learning portfolio to
Adult Social Care portfolio to realign the staffing budgets for the
People Commissioning Management Team
III. To vire £85,000 from the Adult Social Care portfolio to the Health
portfolio (£47,000) and Children and Families portfolio (£38,000) to
realign Best Value Outcome Review savings to where they are being
delivered
IV. To vire £156,000 from Finance, Housing and Planning Recharged
Support Services portfolio to Leader Recharged Support Services
portfolio relating to Transforming Corporate Systems savings being
moved from Commissioning Delivery to Corporate Operations
V. To vire £1.1m from Corporate Communities and Customers
Recharged Support Services portfolio and £590,000 from Corporate
Communities and Customers portfolio to Finance, Housing and
Planning Recharged Support Services portfolio (£1.3m) and Leader
Recharged Support Services portfolio (£351,000) as a result of a
review of support services budgets.
VI. To vire £500,000 from Other Operating Costs portfolio to Leader
portfolio for the Innovation fund. A new policy line in the Leader
portfolio is also required for this purpose (see 5.1.9II).
7. Digital Access to Agendas and Reports
During consideration of the above agenda item, Members highlighted a number
of issues they had experienced regarding digital access to agendas and reports.
The Chairman asked officers to investigate and take remedial action as required.
8. Procurement of an Independent Living Developer Provider Framework
The Cabinet considered report FP/445/03/16 by the Executive Director for
People Commissioning which sought approval to establish a multi-provider
framework to enable delivery of new independent living schemes.
The Cabinet Member provided the following information in response to Members’
comments and questions:
• The proposed independent living units would not in any way resemble
residential care homes and would be incorporated within developments of
mainstream housing as part of the creation of mixed communities. An
existing scheme in Chelmsford comprised 20 independent living units
situated within a 90 unit development.
• The creation of a charity or social trust to deliver accommodation, as
referred to in paragraph 3.8 of the report, had not been ruled out.
Page 12 of 7219 July 2016 7
Resolved:
1. That a 7-year Council-led Framework Agreement be procured for the
provision of developer provider services for new Independent Living Schemes
being delivered on land owned by and/or made available to a public sector
organisation.
2. That it be noted that Essex County Council is not obliged to procure schemes
through the framework, and that the Council has the right to terminate any
contract with a provider should delivery not be met.
3. That the Framework Agreement be procured using the restricted procedure.
4. That the high level evaluation criteria be as set out below
(a) 50:50 ratio for price and quality for the appointment to the framework; and
(b) 70:30 (price/quality) of the call off of individual schemes.
5. That authority be delegated to the Executive Director for People
Commissioning to finalise the detailed evaluation criteria.
6. That the Executive Director for People Commissioning may award the
framework to the successful bidders.
9. Surplus Property Disposal – the sale of the former Epping St John’s Junior
and Primary School
Councillor J Whitehouse declared Pecuniary and Code interests in this item –
minute 3 above refers.
The Cabinet considered report FP/951/01/15 by the Director for Corporate
Operations relating to the former Epping St John’s Junior and Primary School, St
John’s Road, Epping, CM16 5DN. The report sought authority to declare the
property surplus to requirements and dispose of it accordingly. Details of the
legal, financial and other key implications were provided. An appendix to the
report had been included in the confidential part of the agenda for the meeting,
and the information contained therein was taken into consideration by the
Cabinet in reaching its decision.
In response to questions raised by Councillor Whitehouse, the Chairman stated
that everyone involved was keen to avoid further delay, and a clear outline of the
process intended to bring matters to a conclusion was set out in the report. He
agreed to ask for information to be provided to Councillor Whitehouse by the
Leader of the Council and Councillor Anthony Jackson (the Leader’s Deputy with
responsibility for Property and Project Assurance) regarding any lessons learned
from the process to date. He also undertook to ensure that Councillor
Whitehouse, as the local Member, received regular updates as to progress.
Page 13 of 728 19 July 2016
Resolved:
That authority be delegated to the Director for Corporate Operations to dispose
of the freehold of the former Epping St John’s Junior and Primary School, St
John’s Road, Epping to Epping Forest District Council at a figure not less than
that included within the confidential appendix to report FP/951/01/15, on terms
and conditions to be agreed by the Director of Corporate Operations, subject to
the Secretary of State confirming consent for the disposal at an undervalue.
10. Cabinet Decisions Report
The Cabinet received report FP/545/06/16 by the Secretary to the Cabinet setting
out the decisions taken by or in consultation with Cabinet Members since the last
meeting.
11. Date of Next Meeting
Members noted that the next meeting of the Cabinet would take place on
Tuesday 20 September 2016 at 10.00am.
12. Exclusion of the Press and Public
That, having reached the view that the public interest in maintaining the
exemption (and discussing the matter in private) outweighed the public interest
in disclosing the information, the public (including the press) be excluded from
the meeting during consideration of the following item of business on the
grounds that it involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as specified
in paragraphs 3 and 5 of part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act
1972.
13. Minutes: 21 June 2016 (Confidential Appendix)
(Public and press excluded)
The confidential appendix to the minutes of the meeting of the Cabinet held on
21 June 2016 was noted.
14. Surplus Property Disposal – sale of the former Epping St John’s Junior
and Primary School (Confidential Appendix)
(Public and press excluded)
The Cabinet noted the confidential appendix to report FP/951/01/15 which
contained information exempt from publication referred to in that report and in
decisions taken earlier in the meeting (minute 8 above refers).
The meeting closed at 10.55am.
JJJJJJJJJJJJ
Chairman
20 September 2016
Page 14 of 72Forward Plan reference number: FP/543/06/16
Report title: Multi-Year Settlement and Efficiency Plan
Report to: Cabinet
Report author: Cllr David Finch, Leader of the Council
Date: 20 September 2016 For: Decision
Enquiries to: Margaret Lee, Executive Director for Corporate and Customer
Services
County Divisions affected: All Essex
1. Purpose of Report
1.1 The purpose of the report is to set out an efficiency plan to submit to
Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) in order to accept
the offer of multi-year finance settlement.
2. Recommendations
2.1 To recommend that Council:
a. Accepts the offer of the Multi-Year Settlement from DCLG.
b. Accepts the flexible use of capital receipts policy implemented by DCLG.
c. Agrees that this report should be submitted to DCLG as the Council’s
efficiency plan.
3. Summary
3.1 On 17 December 2015, in the Provisional Settlement, Greg Clarke, then
Secretary of State for DCLG, announced the opportunity for Councils to ‘sign
up’ to a 4 year settlement, thereby providing greater certainty over government
funding streams.
3.2 If local authorities wish to take up this offer, they are required to submit an
efficiency plan to the Department for Communities and Local Government
(DCLG) by 14 October 2016.
3.3 Acceptance of the four year settlement is optional, but future levels of funding
are not guaranteed if it is not accepted, thereby exposing the authority to
increased risk and uncertainty of funding. Although the DCLG has said that it
will honour the four year funding agreement, it is not legally required to do so
and cannot be regarded as a firm commitment. If the Council does not sign up
to the four year proposal then there is greater risk.
3.4 Also as part of the 2015 Spending Review, DCLG gave local authorities the
right to use capital receipts to fund the revenue costs of transformation projects.
Page 15 of 72 14. The offer
4.1 This settlement offer starts from April 2016 and covers Revenue Support Grant
and Rural Services Delivery Grant for a 4 year period and transitional funding
for a 2 year period. The Council does not meet the conditions for the Rural
Services Delivery Grant.
4.2 The table below sets out the specific funding streams for the next 4 years for
Essex County Council, along with the other funding sources available to fund
the total budget.
2016/17 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20
£m £m £m £m
Revenue Support Grant (118) (74) (46) (18)
Transitional funding (7) (7) 0 0
Settlement offer (125) (81) (46) (18)
Council Tax (570) (575) (580) (585)
Non Domestic Rates (165) (167) (172) (178)
Non Domestic Rates deficit 2 0 0 0
Other Government Grants (47) (49) (49) (49)
Withdrawal from General Balance (19) 0 0 0
Council Tax surplus (11) 0 0 0
Total Funding (935) (872) (847) (830)
Note: the 2016/17 council tax of £570m includes the social care precept; this has not been
assumed for future years as this decision is taken by full Council as part of the budget in
February each year
5. Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTRS)
5.1 The 2016/17 budget and high level MTRS position was included in the budget
book approved by Council in February 2016.
5.2 The Council faces significant cost pressures over the MTRS period due to
inflation, demographics and the National Living Wage (NLW), which is
exacerbated by the funding reductions.
5.3 Over the period covered by the agreement, Government support will reduce
from £118m to £18m, a reduction of 84%. This is on top of the £114m (49%)
reduction already made since 2013/14. In this same period, inflationary
pressure on council services has gone up by 8% and is forecast to increase by
a further 12% translating to a budget pressure of £109m. In addition, demand
for our services through increased population and changes in demographics
equates to £47m and with other pressures such as NLW (£96m) and other
minor changes, means a total pressure of £352m between 2016/17 and
2019/20. Acceptance of this plan will impose on ECC a requirement to not only
achieve major efficiencies but to be highly creative and innovative in all we do.
Page 16 of 72 25.5 Set out below is the MTRS position – this shows a cash reduction of over
£100m and new savings equivalent to 26% of the budget needing to be made
in the next three financial years.
2016/17 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20
£m £m £m £m
2015/16 Budget 927 927 927 927
Inflation 21 49 79 109
Pressures (demography, legislation, NLW etc) 87 80 110 137
Approved Savings (Council February 2016) (76) (91) (98) (98)
Use of reserves (24) 0 0 0
Transformation and efficiency programme 0 (93) (171) (246)
Total Revenue Budget 935 872 847 830
5.6 The Council is fully cognisant of the challenges that it faces, but is determined
to transform how it operates to tackle this enormous financial shift. The Council
operates a Transformation and Efficiency programme which is central to
delivering the savings, or generating the income we need, to reach a balanced
budget position but also to deliver fundamental change in the way we work both
internally and with partners. The framework for this work is as follows:
• System Leadership - Working together with partners to secure the ‘Essex
we want to create’ through public sector reform which results in the best
outcomes for Essex and its residents.
• Enabler - More often than not the Council will be a facilitator, adding value
by anticipating and with partners, helping to shape the conditions for
outcomes to be achieved. We will empower people to support themselves
and proactively influence and shape demand.
• Digital Leader- We will embrace digital first at every opportunity either via
direct service delivery or through partners. All interactions will be optimised
for a fast, accessible, person-friendly, inclusive and reliable digital
experience.
• Collaborative - By default we will collaborate with our partners, communities
and residents, jointly designing the best solutions with them, and being
accountable to maximise the value for Essex people.
• Self-sustaining – By having an innovative, commercial and entrepreneurial
culture across the whole organisation, the Council will be financially self-
sustaining. We drive efficiency and create income to enable investment in
services for Essex residents.
5.7 A number of proposals have been identified to date, and work is being
undertaken to develop these further, some of which will be subject to robust
business cases and separate decisions, and some may require public
consultation. All of this work will culminate in a draft budget and MTRS being
presented to Cabinet in January 2017, and then to Council in February 2017.
5.8 The Council has an outstanding track record both in term of delivering savings
and delivering value to its residents, with a constant focus on strategic
outcomes and financial prudence, underpinned by innovation and efficiency.
Page 17 of 72 3Examples include the approach we have taken to keep children out of care
through effective early intervention and prevention, and supporting
independent living though the ‘Good Lives’ programme. This work yielded
strong dividends and enabled the Council to minimise the tax burden on
households throughout a period when real terms incomes were not
increasing. The Council is determined to continue building on that platform.
5.9 To date over £521m has been delivered since 2010 and there are plans to
deliver a further £76m of savings in the current financial year. The Council
will continue with ambitious plan to increase efficiencies, identify new funding
streams through an enhanced commercial strategy and reduce costs.
6. Capital programme
6.1 Our longer term capital programme aspirations are significant, we recognise
that these investments are essential if we are to deliver revenue savings and
transform our services to meet future needs.
6.2 The overall vision for the capital programme is to ensure we have the
infrastructure to meet the needs of our residents and businesses. In doing so,
we look to have a diverse portfolio balancing income generation, investment
to reduce revenue costs, and maintaining and enhancing our infrastructure.
6.3 The capital strategy to deliver this vision is:
• Building and maintaining a diverse rolling capital programme which is agile
and responds to residents’ needs, such as providing new accommodation
for vulnerable people and improving the County’s flood defences.
• Ensuring activity is prioritised accordingly, with robust delivery plans in
place, enabling delivery on time and at value, for example ensuring every
child has a place at school and maintaining the road network.
• Ensuring external funding is leveraged which will maximise the financial
envelope available for capital projects, such as funding for road
improvements which reduce congestion and unlock housing and jobs
growth.
6.4 The Budget report in February 2016 published the 2016/17 capital programme
and our aspiration for 2017/18 and 2018/19. This is summarised in the table
below, along with an initial view of the 2019/20 programme.
2016/17 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20
£m £m £m £m
Capital Programme 252 354 371 312
6.5 The capital programme is reviewed and refreshed on a quarterly basis, as
part of the financial overview report to Cabinet.
Page 18 of 72 46.6 The MTRS incorporates the impact of financing the approved capital
programme. The capital programme follows a similar process to the revenue
budget, which involves new investment proposals being subject to a robust
business case, detailing any revenue savings and the cost of financing.
7. Risks and Opportunities
7.1 There are a number of risks associated with the MTRS, the most notable are
the assumed full delivery of savings, the management of social care demand
and the implication of that on the social care market, and the exact
implications of our new burdens, including the impact of 100% Business Rates
Retention.
7.2 The authority has an option to draw on reserves to manage risks. However
reserves can only be utilised once, and are not a long term solution for the
authority. There is also a substantial amount of the Council’s reserves that
are ‘restricted use funds’ - they are ring-fenced very specifically to long term
contractual commitments such as PFI schemes, or they are partnership funds,
and not available to support the spend of the Council.
8. Flexible Use of Capital Receipts
8.1 The authority welcomes the additional flexibilities in the use of capital receipts
which allow them to be applied to revenue expenditure where that supports
transformation.
8.2 Should this new flexibility be required then a flexible use of capital receipts
strategy will be presented for approval alongside the Budget Report to Council
in February.
9. Policy context
9.1 This report is an assessment of the financial outlook of the authority, which
itself is a representation of the corporate plan. The budget was approved in
February 2016. The 2017/18 budget will be approved in February 2017, and
will incorporate an efficiency plan, and aligned to the corporate plan.
9.2 It is specifically written to meet the requirements of the 4 year settlement offer
provided by the DCLG.
10. Financial implications
10.1 The report has been written by the S151 Officer and the financial implications
are set out throughout this report.
11. Legal implications
11.1 Even if ECC accepts the four year funding ‘deal’ CLG will not enter into a
statutory commitment to provide the funding and the ‘deal’ can be withdrawn.
Page 19 of 72 5That said, CLG clearly do intend to honour the deal. Acceptance of the offer
will therefore maximise the chances of certainty in funding, but should not be
regarded as an absolute guarantee of funding.
11.2 The Efficiency Plan is a statement of intent and is not intended to form the
Council’s constitutional policy framework.
12. Staffing and other resource implications
12.1 An element of the efficiency plan and proposals may impact on staffing. The
HR implications which may arise as a result of operational plans flowing from
this plan will be addressed under their specific implementation plans.
13. Equality and Diversity implications
13.1 The Public Sector Equality Duty applies to the Council when it makes
decisions. The duty requires us to have regard to the need to:
(a) Eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and
other behaviour prohibited by the Act. In summary, the Act makes
discrimination etc on the grounds of a protected characteristic unlawful
(b) Advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected
characteristic and those who do not.
(c) Foster good relations between people who share a protected
characteristic and those who do not including tackling prejudice and
promoting understanding.
13.2 The protected characteristics are age, disability, gender reassignment,
pregnancy and maternity, marriage and civil partnership, race, religion or belief,
gender, and sexual orientation. The Act states that ‘marriage and civil
partnership’ is not a relevant protected characteristic for (b) or (c) although it is
relevant for (a).
13.3 The equality implications for 2016/17 have been assessed as part of the budget
setting process for 2016/17, and will be included in the 2017/18 Budget
presented to Council in February 2017. Equality impact assessments will be
carried out as part of individual schemes being considered to implement the
budget.
14. List of Appendices
Appendix 1 - Equality Impact Assessment
15. Background papers
Budget book
http://www.essex.gov.uk/Your-Council/Council-
Spending/Documents/Revenue_budget_and_capital_programme.pdf
Page 20 of 72 6Page 21 of 72 7
Page 22 of 72
Forward Plan reference number: FP/531/06/1
Report Title: Future Direction of the Quality Improvement Service – Early Years &
Childcare
Report to: Cabinet
Report author: Clare Kershaw, Director of Commissioning Education and Lifelong
Learning and Chris Martin, Director for Integrated Commissioning and Vulnerable
People
Date: 20 September 2016 For: Decision
Enquiries to: Stav Yiannou, Head of Commissioning (Early Years & Childcare)
Email: stav.yiannou@essex.gov.uk Mobile: 07809314847
County Divisions affected: All Essex
1. Purpose of Report
1.1 To ask Cabinet to agree the commissioning strategy for the Quality
Improvement and Sufficiency Service for Childminders and Out of School
Provision from April 2017.
2. Recommendation
2.1 Agree to commission a single ECC Quality Improvement Intervention Team
provided by ECC employees which includes support for Childminders and Out
of School (OOS) providers which are currently provided via contractors.
2.2. That the new service takes effect on 1 April 2017.
3. Summary of issue
3.1 The Council has a statutory duty to ensure that sufficient quality childcare
services are provided.
3.2 At present ECC’s Quality Improvement Team provides quality improvement
services to early years settings (pre-schools, day nurseries, nursery schools
and nursery classes) in the maintained and non-maintained sector.
(a) ECC’s existing Quality Improvement team is mainly staffed by qualified
teachers and provides:
• Targeted intensive support to non-maintained early years settings (pre-
schools and day nurseries) with ‘Inadequate’ or ‘Requires
Improvement’ Ofsted judgements, with the intention of improving the
quality of provision for these settings.
• Support for the maintained sector, including nursery and reception
classes in Infant and Primary schools and nursery schools.
Page 23 of 72(b) A commissioned provider, mainly employing qualified and experienced
Level 3 childcare professionals currently delivers:
• Targeted intensive support to childminders and out of school providers
(breakfast, after school and holiday clubs) which have been judged by
Ofsted to be ‘Inadequate’ or ‘Require Improvement’, with the intention
of improving the quality of provision.
• End to end registration pathway for new childminders and out of school
providers.
• The promotion of Free Early Education Entitlement (FEEE) places with
childminders.
3.3 The contract with the commissioned provider will expire on 31 March 2017,
having already been extended for a year to enable ECC to take account of the
changes and programmes of work to transform and restructure the delivery of
education-related services across the council to take shape as well as 0–19
Education and the role of School-Led Improvement System (SLIS).
3.4 Statutory guidance published in September 2014 has changed the
Government’s expectations about how local authorities discharge their
statutory duties under the Childcare Act 2006. In particular, Ofsted is
expected to be the sole arbiter of quality, enabling local authorities to focus on
ensuring that all eligible children are able to take up their early education
place and that weaker providers take steps to improve the quality of their
provision. ECC is expected to:
• Ensure resources are deployed where settings are rated as ‘Inadequate’
or ‘Requires Improvement’ by Ofsted and provide targeted intervention to
improve quality.
• Not impose additional quality assurance checks as a pre-requisite to
accessing Free Early Education Entitlement (FEEE).
• Focus on identifying and supporting disadvantaged children to take up
their early education place.
• Implement the eligibility for the entitlement to FEEE for around the 40%
most disadvantaged two-year-olds.
Consider introduction of childminder agencies.
Discharge its duty to secure early education for two, three, and four year
olds.
Fund places for two-year-old children at any provider judged ‘Good’ or
‘Outstanding’ by Ofsted or at any childminder registered with a childminder
agency judged ‘Good’ or ‘Outstanding’ by Ofsted.
Fund places for three and four year old children at any provider judged
‘Good’, ‘Outstanding’ or ‘Satisfactory’ or ‘Requires Improvement’ by Ofsted
or at any childminder registered with a childminder agency judged
‘Requires Improvement’ by Ofsted if a parent wants their child to take up
their early FEEE place at that provider and the provider is willing to accept
the local authority funding. Any other local authority requirements to
ensure the provision of information, advice and training to childcare
providers.
Page 24 of 72Ensure providers actively promote fundamental British values of
democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, mutual respect and tolerance
of those with different faiths and beliefs.
Childminding Agencies
3.5 In 2014 the Department for Education (DfE) launched the opportunity for
organisations to develop Childminding Agencies under Part 3A of the
Childcare Act 2006. A handbook was produced to provide guidance for
childminder agencies on how to apply for registration and information about
the registration process and how Ofsted assess suitability.
3.6 As at the start of 2016 only 5 such agencies existed in the country with none
in Essex. It is not considered viable for ECC to develop a Childminding
Agency as the national picture shows a lack of interest from Childminders due
to the cost of registering, taking up Continuous Professional Development
(CPD), the overall Ofsted judgement of an Agency rather than an individual
Childminder and costs to parents and families.
Engagement with the Private, Voluntary & Independent (PVI) sector providers
3.7 ECC officers facilitated engagement workshops with the PVI sector on best
practice to support Quality Improvement, during November and December
2015. The outcome of these workshops informed an online survey that was
available from January to March 2016 that asked PVI sector providers to rate
and comment on Quality Improvement services. The survey sought views on
how the PVI sector could be best supported to access Quality Improvement
resources and how this might impact on their Ofsted outcomes.
3.8 PVI Practitioners who attended QIS engagement workshops showed that
practitioners strongly felt that Quality Improvement support is best accessed
via:
• Face to face adviser support
• Networking opportunities across the entire PVI and maintained sector
• CPD face to face training and E-Learning.
• Self-help through Early Years & Childcare (EYCC) website.
3.9 There were 446 responses to the online survey, approximately a 20%
response rate from all PVI sector provider types. 69% of all respondents were
childminders, 17% were day nurseries, 13% pre-school provision and 7% out
of school providers. The survey tells us that:
• Knowledgeable advisory support was the most useful feature of the
quality improvement service
• The most useful part of quality improvement networks was the sharing
of information – this was considered to be significantly more useful
than networking opportunities.
• 71% of respondents reported that face to face learning was the most
effective form of quality improvement training.
Page 25 of 72• After 2012, 29% of respondents used Ofsted to support them through
the registration pathway, whilst 26% used ECCs contracted provider
• Most PVI sector providers are members of associations designed to
support PVI sector providers:
o 38% of respondents were members of the Pre-School Learning
Alliance (PLA)
o 37% of respondents were members of Professional Association of
Childcare and Early Year (PACEY)
o 14% of respondents stated that they were not members of any
national organisations
o 20% of all respondents were members of more than one national
body
The Education White Paper
3.10 The Education White Paper March 2016 – ‘Educational Excellence
Everywhere’ signals a change in the way School improvement is developed,
with a stronger focus on school to school support through a school-led
improvement system and diminished responsibility for local authorities. The
DFE proposes that from 2018 funding to local authorities for school
Improvement will cease.
3.11 In view of the proposed changes to the LA role in school improvement as set
out in the White Paper, ECC’s QI team’s relationship with the early years
maintained sector has yet to be determined. However, there remains a
statutory responsibility to offer support to the PVI sector under the Childcare
Act 2006 and subsequent 2014 statutory guidance as set out above.
3.12 Further consideration will need to be given to what role ECC may have in
relation to schools causing concern where the school has early years
provision. ECC needs to explore opportunities to retain and further develop
the interface between School-Led Improvement System (SLIS) and the PVI
sector, along with the expansion of early years provision in schools.
3.13 The current level of support for the service is not sustainable financially. There
is an historic over spend on FEEE for 3 and 4 year olds due to insufficient
funding from the DfE. The take up of FEE for 3 and 4 year old children stands
at 99% according to the DfE’s Local Authority Interactive Tool (LAIT). The
numbers taking up FEEE in Essex has increased year on year as has the
percentage of maximum hours accessed, this continues to increase
overspend. This overspend creates a need to reduce expenditure in other
services funded by the DSG, Early Years block for Pre-school Special
Educational Needs. There is no other source of funding available We have
considered whether other funding could be made available.
3.14 The proposals seek to mitigate the financial pressure in the Dedicated
Schools Grant (DSG), Early Years block from April 2017 whilst maintaining
the statutory duty.
Page 26 of 723.15 DSG funding is likely to fundamentally change in the future, with a potential
national funding formula for schools and national funding formulae for High
Needs and Early Years. The DfE plans to ring-fence the Schools Block, this
will prevent any future mitigation of the FEEE funding issue from schools.
Second stages of consultation for the Schools Block and High Needs Block
are due in the autumn term. The Authority still awaits details of the proposed
consultation of a national funding formula for early years and therefore it is
currently unknown.
3.16 It is acknowledged that the current arrangements deliver over and above the
LA’s statutory duties and therefore it is proposed that the future service would
no longer provide support for the maintained sector, including nursery and
reception classes in Infant and Primary schools and nursery schools. It will no
longer provide an end to end registration pathway for new early years
providers, childminders and out of school providers, promotion of Free Early
Education Entitlement (FEEE) places with childminders, learning networks /
clusters across PVI sector, maintained sector or childcare sufficiency
intelligence.
3.17 It is proposed, that the structure and redesign of the future service should be
delivered differently refocusing on the aims of the statutory guidance and it is
therefore proposed that the Council should have a single workforce of
qualified teachers and experienced childcare professionals who should all
hold at least relevant professional qualification, enabling staff to work
seamlessly across the sector, deploying the most effective person for the task
at hand.
3.18 It is proposed that the new service would provide and maintain a website that
will enable PVI sector to self-serve to enhance their practice by accessing a
range of continuous professional development opportunities, information,
including news items, legislation, service information, research and
downloadable resources.
3.19 The new service would complement the support PVI sector providers’ access
through being members of national early years organisations or any networks
that are developed autonomously by the sector.
3.20 A key part of the resource would be to focus on intervention work with PVI
providers which have an Ofsted judgment of ‘inadequate’ or ‘requires
improvement’. Intervention would involve the implementation of a variety of
strategies, bespoke to the individual requirements of the setting, identified
through a targeted intervention plan.
4. Options
4.1 Allowing the QIS contract to expire and not replacing the support offered to
Childminders and Out of School providers would mean that ECC would be in
breach of its statutory duties and is therefore not an option.
Page 27 of 724.2 Option 1: Recommission against the current QIS specification, continuing
current split of external and internal staff.
Benefits Risks
Continuity of all current support to the Specification takes account of broader
Childminding & Out of School (OOS) legislative requirements.
sector
Sufficiency elements no longer relevant
due to the development of a more robust
ECC system for data collection.
New Childminders / OOS providers not
accessing support as part of registration
pathway, preferring to self-serve
Fragmentation and lack of parity of
support across the PVI sector.
Limited opportunity for any efficiency
savings.
Cost exceeds likely funding available
Duplicates support to Out of School
providers who have Early Years provision
as part of the offer and who would also
be receiving support from ECC’s QI
team.
Exceeds statutory guidance
4.3 Option 2: ECC to establish a new Quality Improvement Intervention Service
for the entire Private, Voluntary and Independent (PVI) sector (Childminders,
Out of School providers, Early Years settings – pre-schools and day
nurseries) aligning with Education and Lifelong Learning.
Benefits Risks
Enables ECC to rationalise, redesign
and commission the service differently
to provide parity of support across the
entire PVI sector.
The new service gives parity of
opportunity for quality improvement
across the entire early years sector,
including alignment with support for
maintained sector and academies, in
order to increase children’s school
readiness.
A combined service will be more flexible. There will be a need to redesign /
There are no staff employed by the restructure a new service. The impact of
existing provider who were previously this is that
Page 28 of 72employed by ECC. For those staff that
may transfer, the pension liability and TUPE for contracted provider’s
redundancy risk will transfer to ECC. workforce applies, which also
includes redundancy, pension
Commence consultation with both the strain and all Terms & Conditions.
QIS and ECC’s QI workforce in the ECC could face claims of unfair
Autumn. dismissal as any dismissal linked
to TUPE are automatically unfair
unless there is an Economic,
Technical and Organisational
(ETO) reason for doing so.
. Restructure of existing ECC
workforce is likely to result in
redundancies and pension strain
costs.
Where redundancy and pension
strain applies the liability may be
with ECC, leading to potential
increased cost.
However, this risk has been mitigated
because the commissioned provider has
agreed to assist with the restructure
before the transfer to avoid staff
transferring and then being made
redundant. This also increases the
chance of these staff being redeployed.
New service model providing a The new service will need to demonstrate
consistent coherent quality improvement its ability to provide a quality service,
and intervention model for all poor particularly to those who are accustomed
quality PVI providers. to a different provider.
The council will be able to identify need
and respond more quickly in supporting
CM and OOS as part of intensive
targeted support including Safeguarding,
not through third party.
Targeted support and intervention to Focused intervention only on poor quality
poor quality PVIs therefore meeting ECC provision may result in a decline in Ofsted
statutory duties. standards generally.
ECC’s Quality Improvement Intervention
service will continue to form an integral
part of EYCC and wider Education &
Lifelong Learning in discharging ECCs
statutory responsibilities to PVIs.
Enables Strategic approach by ECC to
increase sufficiency of FEEE2 provision
across the PVI sector as a whole.
Consistent approach when dealing with
poor quality PVIs that have FEEE2
children.
Page 29 of 72Increase in good or outstanding PVIs
due to consistent approach in raising
standards with proven track record.
Good and outstanding PVI provision to
self-serve and access support via EYCC
website, online information, Learning
and Development opportunities and
other national and local websites
Better opportunities for a more
integrated and partnership approach to
delivery across whole sector to meet
ambitions of the Early Years System
vision.
Opportunity to better align the whole PVI
sector with school led improvement
clusters, creating peer to peer support
and ownership of better outcomes for all
children from the early years into
statutory school age provision.
The Council would maintain a
consultancy offer to schools and school
led improvement clusters, supporting
poor early years provision in the
maintained sector.
Ongoing opportunity to plan for
efficiencies annually or redirecting
resources, supporting the whole PVI
sector
Opportunity to maximise the use of
£1.2m DSG budget against FEEE
payments and maximise Council budget
on statutory activity to raise standards
across the PVI sector.
4.4 Option 3: Externally Commission an external new Quality Improvement
Intervention Service for the entire Private Voluntary and Independent (PVI)
sector (Childminders, Out of School providers, Early Years settings – pre-
schools and day nurseries).
Benefits Risks
A single provider would be able to Current ECC employed staff:
manage the service with flexibility and Staff employed in current service
would benefit from employment would TUPE to the new provider.
flexibilities which ECC does not have. ECC QI workforce would transfer.
Where a TUPE transfer applies to
public sector employees there is a
requirement that the new provider
obtains Admitted Body Status and
joins the LGPS or offers a broadly
Page 30 of 72comparable pension.
The new provider will also need to
enter into a Bond Guarantee to
cover the risk of a deficit to the
Pension Fund at the end of the
contract. This obligation applies to
2nd generation transfers as well i.e.
while transferred employees
remain members of LGPS. ECC
would not be responsible for
redundancy costs post transfer
unless it agreed to do so or bring
staff back in house
If staff are made redundant by the
new provider the redundancy and
pension liability would be
transferred to the new contracted
provider. The cost of redundancies
would be and likely to be factored
into tender submissions, which
may increase the cost. Any
funding increase would require
Schools Forum approval if met
from DSG.
Current Incumbent Provider
Staff would TUPE to the new
provider.
If redundancy applies the
redundancy and pension liability
is with the new contractor.
The cost of redundancies and
pension strain likely to be factored
into tender submissions, which
may increase the cost of the new
service to ECC.
Enables ECC to rationalise, redesign Childminding/Out of School sectors have
and commission the service to provide been accustomed to receiving support
parity of support across the entire PVI service provided by an external
sector. contractor and may not favour a service
being delivered as part of a wider service.
By providing targeted support and Focused intervention only on poor quality
intervention to poor quality PVIs ECC will provision may result in a decline in Ofsted
meet the requirement of statutory duties. standards of other providers.
Better opportunities for a more
integrated and partnership approach to
delivery across whole sector to meet
ambitions of the Early Years System
vision.
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