Issue - meetings

 Report by the Corporate Director, Carolyn Godfrey.

Councillor Laura Mayes presented the report which: gave an overview bid to the Department of Education Children’s Social Care Innovation Programme for £1.9m of funding; and sought delegated authority for the Corporate Director for Children’s Services, in consultation with the Lead Member to accept any successful grant offer from the Department for Education (DfE).

Issues highlighted in the course of the presentation and discussion included: : that the project was a system-wide change to services; that the Council had submitted a grant application to the DfE has part of their Innovation Fund Programme; the likelihood of the bid being successful; that the project would still progress without the additional funding but would be delivered over a longer time-frame; and that the new volunteer scheme, particularly recruiting volunteers from families who had previously received services, had been received favourably.

Resolved

To delegated authority to the Corporate Director for Children’s Services, in consultation with the Lead Member to accept any successful grant offer from the Department for Education.

Reason for Decision:

The Department for Education has not provided a definitive date for a decision on the bid, originally stating June/July 2017. This may now be delayed due to the General Election and we are currently awaiting an update. The new  service will go live in September 2017 and thus delegated authority is required so a successful offer can be accepted immediately and be accessible to progress the project at the earliest opportunity.