Agenda and draft minutes

None.

RESOLVED – that the minutes of the meeting held on 19 September 2024 be confirmed and signed by the Chair.

To receive a verbal update from the Leader of the Council.

The Leader informed Cabinet that a lot had been happening since the last meeting and highlighted two key initiatives.

The Council continued its efforts to support the most vulnerable people in the community and had provided £100 to 6000 eligible pensioners as well as overseeing a record take up of pension credit across the borough.  It was essential that the Council was on the side of residents and that they were aware of this.

The Leader announced the extension of the £2 bus fares for the services the Council runs across the borough.  Some 350,000 passengers had used the services which had been designed in 2022, making it easier for residents to travel to places of work and education.  There had been real frustration that there was no additional funding or powers to take greater control of the local bus services.  The Council would be taking full advantage of the Bus Bill and had fed into the consultation and would exploit every avenue that became available once the Bill is law.

The borough had received 2 high profile visitors during the recent period and it was a great honour to welcome Her Royal Highness, The Princess Royal to the skills hub in Station Quarter, the new centre for further and higher education in the Town Centre, and with opportunities for 120 new start up business units.  Thanks was given to colleagues in the chamber and the wider Council chamber for wise investments over the years which allowed the investment to bring education to the heart of Telford.

The Leader had welcomed the Minister of State for Veterans' Affairs to Telford.  The provision for veterans in Telford is amongst the best in the country but there was always more that could be achieved.  Events during the coming week would remember and reflect on the sacrifice made by those serving in the armed forces and the Leader encouraged people to take a moment to reflect on the values of service and selflessness and encouraged residents to attend the remembrance events in their locality.

To receive an update on the Telford & Wrekin Council Plan.

The Leader of the Council presented the report of the Director: Policy & Governance.

The report presented the updated Council Plan which sought to drive delivery of the Council’s vision to “protect, care and invest to create a better borough” during the period 2024/25 to 2026/27.

In order to deliver the Council’s vision, the Council Plan identified four priorities:

· Every child, young person and adult lives well in their community

· Everyone benefits from a thriving economy

· All neighbourhoods are a great place to live

· Our natural environment is protected, and the Council has a leading role in addressing the climate emergency

Significant progress had been made on delivering against these priorities which included being the first Council in the West Midlands to be judged outstanding in successive inspections by Ofsted for Children’s Social Care Services.  A reduction in the number of referrals for safeguarding and statutory services by 30%.  There had been an increase in the number of offenders referred for treatment from criminal justice of 44.2% in the 12 months ending May 2024 compared to 2023/24 and continued to deliver one of the best alcohol treatment rates in the country.  Some 340 units of extra care housing had been delivered in 2024/25 to support specialised living accommodation.  The Council had provided over 37,500 people with over £7m in support including £100 given to 6,000 pensioners, together with financial support through a variety of welfare support schemes including household support fund, discretionary housing payments, emergency welfare assistance and council tax hardship fund during 23/24 and 24/25.  A sum of £1.17m had been invested in environmental improvements and enhancements into local parks, nature reserves and green guarantee sites with some 11,664 trees being planted and the creation of 32 new wildflower areas.

Investment had taken place to expand schools and education centres making these more accessible to everyone.   Regeneration had taken place on the high street, new factories had been built, together with start-up units and the regionally significant Agri-tech Park enabling the private sector to create job opportunities for residents.

The key priority remained that that the communities were the best place to live and work with a thriving economy, improved high streets, factories and business units come, stay and extend bringing job opportunities, expanding the school and education offer to the centre of town, protecting the local natural environment in Telford.

The final commitment was that the Council be efficient, effective and innovative in order to maintain the lowest council tax in the Midlands, make wise investments with the surplus supporting front line services in order to protect, care and invest in the Borough.

Cabinet Members expressed that the plan was linked to the vision document which had been created following significant resident input. The four priorities provided services to match the Council’s high expectations and to be on the side of residents.  Protecting, caring and investing was at its heart, enabling everyone to live well and ensuring neighbourhoods were a great place to live.  The Council is a community  ...  view the full minutes text for item CAB-20

To receive the 2024/25 Financial Monitoring Report.

The Cabinet Member: Finance, Governance & Customer Services presented the report of the Interim Director: Finance, People and IDT.

The Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) 2024/25 to 2027/28 was approved at Full Council on 29 February 2024 and included the 2024/25 revenue budget and medium term capital programme.  Since this approval, the economic climate had continued to be challenging with cost pressures being experienced, particularly in relation to the provision of Adult Social Care.

The report set out the latest financial monitoring position for the year relating to the revenue budget, capital programme and income collection.  It provided the latest projections in relation to the projected outturn position, progress against the approved 2024/25 capital programme and gave a summary of collection information in relation to Council Tax Business Rates and Sales Ledger income.

Nationally, Councils continued to face extreme challenges with unprecedented pressures driven by high costs and high demand for services, particularly in relation to Adult Social Care, Children’s Safeguarding and School Travel Assistance.    The autumn budget had set out its medium term financial plan for local councils which included a one year spending review covering 2025/26 and a further spending review in late spring 2025 to cover the period 2026/27 and 2027/28.   The headline figures indicated a real terms increase in core local government spending of 3.2% in 2025/26 including at least £1.3 billion of new grant funding of which £600 million would be new grant funding to support social care.  Further details would be announced in the local government financial settlement in December 2024.  The government were committed to reforming the approach to local government funding considering up to date need and local revenue with a targeted approach to the 2025/26 financial settlement.  This would be followed by a multi-year settlement.

Inflation fell to 1.7% which was below the Bank of England’s 2% target which was an indication that price increases were steadying.  The Bank of England’s base rate reduced from 5.25% to 5.00% in August with further cuts predicted for later in the year, although it was still higher than anticipated when the Council’s budget was set.   Whilst the funding outlook for the medium term remained uncertain, the administration would continue to address the priorities that residents expressed were important to them - a thriving economy, creating well paid jobs, ensuring the borough was a great place to live and learn, preserving the environment and addressing the climate change crisis.  It was a key priority that the Council remained efficient but kept the lowest council tax in the Midlands, whilst making wise investments to support front line services and be the best it could for its local residents.

The projected year end was summarised in the report which set out the Council had a one-off contingency of £1.595m set aside for the pressures of adult social care.  Prior to application of remaining contingencies included in the revenue budget, the projected outturn position was currently expected to be over budget by £4.498m at year end, which was an  ...  view the full minutes text for item CAB-21

To receive the All Age Carers Strategy 2024-2029.

The Cabinet Member: Adult Social Care & Health Systems presented the joint report of the Director: Adult Social Care and Director: Children’s Safeguarding & Family Support.

The report introduced the final All Age Carers Strategy for Telford and Wrekin 2024-2029 which had previously been before Cabinet in draft form.  Following consultation, a series of amendments had been made which formed the final strategy.

The Council had a statutory duty under the Care Act 2014 to provide services to address carers needs for care and support. The Council also had a duty to provide information and advice, to promote wellbeing and, where possible, to prevent carers from needing support.

The main purpose of the 2024-2029 All Age Carers Strategy was to provide a clear framework to the provision of services to support carers of all ages:

· Identify as a carer

· Maintain their own health and wellbeing

· Plan for their future

· Participate in family and community life

It sought to address local issues and strengthen integration of health, social and voluntary services to improve the lives of carers and set out how this would be maintained and enhanced during the next five years.

The vision remained and continued to be that carers were recognised, thanked and valued by the wider community and statutory agencies.  Carers were essential in supporting the wider health and care system and preventing and reducing delays accessing services.

The Strategy set out that:

· 45% (8,214 people) said that they provide unpaid care for 19 hours or less per week

· 22% (3,913 people) provide unpaid care for between 20 and 49 hours per week

· 33% (5,899 people) provide unpaid care for over 50 hours per week

It was noted that one in ten carers provided unpaid care and that the time and energy of providing support at no cost to the Council should be recognised and valued.  Carers were often not in receipt of financial support or received a small amount of financial support through the carers allowance.  The Council provided support to carers of all ages in a number of ways which were set out in the report.   There had been a focus on young carers with 50 face to face engagement sessions taking place together with an online questionnaire and a summary and easy read version of the strategy.  This had highlighted the need to speak to people on a one-to-one basis in order to increase awareness of the strategy. 

Next steps were to formally launch the Carers Partnership Board and, once established, set out an action plan.  The key area of focus was an all-age approach which would empower carers and support their physical and mental health and wellbeing. 

The All Age Carers Strategy linked to the Telford and Wrekin Health and Wellbeing Strategy and in particular focused on health inequalities.  It also supported the implementation of the Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin Integrated Care Strategy.

Cabinet Members welcomed the report and the work that had taken place with carers in relation to health and wellbeing, relationships and the  ...  view the full minutes text for item CAB-22

To receive the Telford & Wrekin Digital Strategy 2024.

The Cabinet Member: Finance, Governance & Customer Services presented the report of the Interim Director: Finance HR & IDT.

The report sought approval for a new Digital Strategy for the period 2024-2027.  

It set out the way that the Council would maximise the potential of digital technology in how it communicated and interacted with residents, customers and partner organisations by providing the right digital environment within the community.

The vision was to create a better borough through digital innovation providing seamless connectivity for all and encouraging take-up of information and services online.

The Strategy highlighted the initial actions planned, progress on the 2021 to 2023 Digital Strategy and how aims would be delivered through to the end of 2026/27. 

Key accomplishments were set out in the report and included:

·         the launch of the new Leisure website and Leisure system

·         the launch of the new digital assistant “Ask-Tom” available 24/7 to respond to the most frequently asked questions. 

·         An increased number of services could now be accessed through a more prominent home-page location which had led to a 40% increase in customers accessing services.

·         A series of improvements had been implemented to the customer experience of using the My Telford portal

·         In respect of travel assistance and transport requests, a custom system had been created 

·         Our Virtual House was now complete and fully accessible via Live Well Telford: Virtual House tour

·         The creation of an Independent Living Centre (ILC)

·         The implementation of an app to aid mental health professionals and booking doctors

·         The implementation of One Health and Care – a digital health and social care record

·         In late 2023 infrared technology to detect falls and track habits and behaviours pilot was introduced

·         An online referral into Family Connect safeguarding for professional partners to streamline referral processes had been introduced

·         The Care Providers portal had been introduced which linked adult social care and the financial managements systems

·         Working with partners, the new Live Well Telford digital directory had been created and was a one stop shop to help people get online

·         Support given to over 100 young people with a device from the Leader and Cabinet Young Persons Grant Scheme

·         Face-to-face digital inclusion sessions to help people gain confidence online and using the internet, of which 77% of attendees were 65 and over

·         Learn Telford provided a weekly Job Junction at Wellington Library

·         A pilot project had been delivered with Teldoc Primary Care Network to support patients downloading the NHS app

·         Hello Telford, a free B2B tool provided a one-stop-shop digital platform for businesses and helped reduce their carbon footprint

·         Invest Telford was rebranded and a new website effectively promoted the town

·         A new Council fund – Innovate Telford – offered 100 Telford businesses funding to help them transform over a six month period

·         High quality digital infrastructure was being delivered boosting digital inclusion and job opportunities as well as high speed connectivity in both rural and urban areas

·         LoraWAN Gully Sensors were being piloted in high risk road flooding areas

·         Work had  ...  view the full minutes text for item CAB-23

To receive a report on the Ofsted Action Plan.

The Cabinet Member: Children, Young People, Education, Employment & Skills presented the joint report of the Director: Children’s Safeguarding & Family Support and Executive Director: Children’s & Family Services.

The report presented the findings of the Ofsted Inspection of the Local Authority Children’s Services (ILACS) which took place between 29 April and 3 May 2024.  An inspection would usually take place every three years.    In January 2020, children’s services were judged to be ‘Outstanding’ by ILACS and were the only local authority in the region to be judged outstanding at that time.    During the recent Ofsted Inspection undertaken between 29 April and 3 May 2024, the Council’s children’s services retained its Outstanding judgement and continued to be the only outstanding authority in the region.  It was important to note that there were only five local authorities who had been successful in maintaining their outstanding rating and this was despite the impact of the covid pandemic and the continued effects on the mental health of children and young people. 

The four judgement areas now included the experiences and progress of children in care and the experiences and progress of care leavers.  The inspection framework in relation to care leavers was a standalone judgement and Ofsted noted that “care leavers benefit from an extremely comprehensive and generous local offer…”.  Improvements had been made since the last inspection and care leavers had appropriate access across a range of services.  As a corporate parent this judgment was something to be proud of. 

Ofsted had highlighted two areas of improvement which were:

·         The management of contacts within Family Connect

·         The consistency of making children, aged 16 and 17 years old, who present as homeless, aware of their rights and entitlements

Ofsted identified some contacts were closed and then reopened to be reviewed when information was received to allow for informed decisions to be made. The service was exploring options around how contacts could be managed moving forward.  In relation to the consistency of making children aged 16 and 17 years old, who present as homeless, aware of their rights and entitlements, work was underway and a senior lead within the service had been appointed and processes and age-appropriate literature were being refined.

The extensive report was a testament to the hard work and development which had taken place and recognised the many strengths of the CATE Team.  The care plans had independently been reviewed as inspirational.  There was innovative social work practice and the benefits were felt from early health work with children and families. 

It was reflected in the report that children services within Telford and Wrekin Council had been a priority, and this was evident from the leadership, financial investment and political support of members. Children’s services continued to be a priority area and appropriate financial investment, planning and support continued to be made available to help, support and deliver outcomes for the children and young people of Telford and Wrekin. 

Whilst the Council had retained its outstanding judgment, it was a culmination of years of  ...  view the full minutes text for item CAB-24

For Cabinet to provide a response on the recommendations outlined by the Communities Scrutiny Committee.

Councillor E Davies – Chair, Communities Scrutiny Committee presented the report of the Director: Policy & Governance.

The Scrutiny Committee met on three separate occasions as part of the review which consisted of one formal committee and two workshops.  Members heard from an expert witness, the Returning Officer and Senior Deputy Returning Officer in order to better understand the legal and practical considerations to ensure a fair and just election.

Following an in-depth review of the way in which elections were conducted across the borough and after considering the best practice in the field of elections, the Communities Scrutiny Committee developed recommendations for consideration.

Members examined recent legislative changes relating to conducting an election following the implementation of the Elections Act 2022 which included the implementation of photographic voter ID. They also received details of how this had impacted voter turnout and changes to postal vote handling.

The election review looked at communication around the introduction of voter ID, the timings of the count, staffing of the count, staff breaks and when results would be received. 

The Returning Officer and Deputy Returning Officer worked with members at the workshops and evidenced that the Council already undertook “lessons learnt” sessions as the desired to continually improve.  Legal requirements were extensive and the level and attention to detail was phenomenal.  Staff received over 12 hours of training and mock elections took place.  A staff training video was being considered to act as a reminder for staff prior to an election taking place.  The workshop discussed the implications if things went wrong and the external specialist who attended reassured Members that it was not about speed but the efficiency of the count and he highlighted the best practice that took place at Telford and Wrekin. In relation to voter ID due to the social media communication there were minimal people that had been turned away.

It was concluded that best practice was to adopt a continuous improvement approach to the delivery of elections with Electoral Commission guidance highlighting the key benefits of holding a learning review following each election.  The Returning Officer at Telford & Wrekin had, for some years, ensured that such learning reviews were undertaken.  The recommendations from the report were testament to how well the Council was doing already but further fine tuning would be undertaken to candidates and agents training, staff breaks and the indicative plan.  Voter ID had had a positive impact and was not a barrier to voting.

Cabinet Members welcomed the robust and in-depth report.  It was important to adopt the continuous improvement approach as there were always areas of improvement and it gave Members assurance.

The Leader of the Conservative Group welcomed the report and the work of Councillor Davies.  Elections were a technical and legal process and the work of the officers and staff involved should be commended.  It was evident that officer reviews took place and as representatives, Members should play their part in a positive and constructive manner and respect the process.  Within the  ...  view the full minutes text for item CAB-25