Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillor Stuart Wheeler.

To confirm and sign the minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on 21 April 2015, previously circulated.

The minutes of the meeting held on 21 April 2015 were presented.

Resolved:

To approve as a correct record and sign the minutes of the meeting held on 21 April 2015.

To receive any declarations of disclosable interests or dispensations granted by the Standards Committee.

The Leader welcomed Councillor Anna Cuthbert, newly elected to Wiltshire Council, and Claire, who is shadowing the Leader, as an apprentice having previously been a looked after child of the authority.

The Council welcomes contributions from members of the public. This meeting is open to the public, who may ask a question or make a statement. Questions may also be asked by members of the Council.  Written notice of questions or statements should be given to Yamina Rhouati of Democratic Services by 12.00 noon on Thursday 14 May 2015. Anyone wishing to ask a question or make a statement should contact the officer named above.

The Leader drew the meeting’s attention to the question submitted by David Mannering and responses circulated with the agenda supplement.

In supplement to his question, Mr Mannering reiterated his point that the state of the highways was extremely important to the public and welcomed plans increase in the spending on the roads. However, he was concerned that there was some evidence that the performance of the Council should improve. He felt, in particular, that unclassified roads needed more attention. Furthermore he stated that, as people were being encouraged to cycle more, unclassified roads needed more attention, as cyclists are more affected by road defects than cars and can cause seriously injured as he knows from personal experience within his family: the edges of the highway, which can be ignored, are the most important for cyclists.

The Leader responded that there had been massive disinvestment in the Highways structure, and a backlog built up. In addition, the condition of the highway had suffered following two winters when there was very bad weather. It was acknowledge that the Council was operating with a reduced overall budget, but had managed to invest more within Highways. Furthermore feedback from cycle race organisers had been positive about the condition of Wiltshire’s roads.

Councillor Philip Whitehead, the Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport Member, exhorted members of the public to submit information about potholes through the Wiltshire Council app, as some third party websites did not gather enough information to address the issue.

So that the specific concerns raised could be better understood, the Leader requested that the Lead Member and officers to discuss the matter in more detail with Mr Mannering.

  Report by Dr Carlton Brand, Corporate Director.

 Councillor Philip Whitehead presented the report which provide dan update on progress of implementing the ‘Local Highways Investment Fund 2014 – 2020’, and  asked Cabinet to adopt the Wiltshire Highways Asset Management Policy and Strategy.

In the course of the presentation and the discussion, the issues discussed

included: the desire to take an asset management approach; how additional funding had been prioritised; the pattern of investment over the last decade and half; how local Community Area Boards input into prioritisation; how the role of Community Area Transport Groups can be clarified to ensure the expectations of the public are managed; and the relative prioritisation between major routes and other routes.

Resolved

(i)          To note the good progress on implementing the first year of the ‘Local Highways Investment Fund 2014 – 2020’, and welcome the involvement of the Area Boards in identifying local priorities;

(ii)          To adopt the Wiltshire Asset Management Policy and Strategy, to help guide the delivery of asset management principles with regard to highway infrastructure.

(iii)          To delegate authority to Philip Whitehead, Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport and Parvis Khansari, Associate Director for Highways and Transport to approve revisions of the Highways Asset Management Policy and Strategy and the emerging detailed plans.

Reason for Decision:

The condition of the county’s roads is important to the public. This is demonstrated by the results of the Council’s People’s Voice and the National Highways and Transportation (NHT) surveys, which both indicate low levels of public satisfaction with road conditions. In the Council’s consultations on budget setting, expenditure on roads is the service where the public consistently wish to see more spent.

The highway network forms the Council’s largest asset, and it is important that it is maintained in the most cost-effective way in order to show value for money. This includes the use of asset management and whole life costing approaches to inform investment decisions.

The use of asset management principles has been applied for many years in Wiltshire to ensure appropriate investment with longer term planning. The adoption of the proposed policy and strategy will help formalise that process.

Report by Carolyn Godfrey, Corporate Director.

Councillor Laura Mayes presented the report which presented to Cabinet the Wiltshire Council Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) Action Plan; and sought Cabinet’s approval of the plan and the proposed monitoring arrangements.

In the course of the presentation and the discussion, the issues discussed

included: that the plan sets the responsibilities for different teams within the Council and with partners; how the lessons of CSE in other communities can be learnt; that Taxi Drivers will, when renewing their license, undertake CSE training; that a Scrutiny Task Group, the Executive and CLT be keeping an overview of the plan; and that a review be reported in 6 months.

In response to a issues raised by Councillor Jon Hubbard, Councillor Laura Mayes stated that she wished to work with Scrutiny partners to ensure that targets in the plan were clear and achievable.

In response to a issues raised by Councillor Dick Tonge and Councillor Jon Hubbard, Councillor Laura Mayes stated that the Wiltshire Safeguarding Children’s Board was inspected by Ofsted; that, although the Board is indpendent the Chair’s work is supervised and supported by Wiltshire Council.

In response to a issues raised by Councillor Jon Hubbard, the Leader stated that given the Council’s successful track record in establishing scrutiny arrangements of external partners, she hoped that a similar approach could be taken with the Wiltshire Safeguarding Children’s Board.

In response to a issues raised by Councillor Dick Tonge, Councillor Laura Mayes stated that the was an expectation that police constabularies would work together, and that some central government funding had been identified to address cross-border issues.

Resolved

(i)             To approve the Wiltshire Council Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) Action Plan attached as appendix 1; and

(ii)             That plan is owned and monitored by Cabinet and the Corporate Leadership Team.

Reason for Decision:

To ensure children and young people are protected and supported.

To ensure the Council is discharging its responsibilities related to the prevention, disruption and prosecution of CSE.

To acknowledge that this is a corporate responsibility and involve the whole

of the Council

Report by Maggie Rae, Corporate Director.

Councillor Keith Humphries presented the report which briefed members on the results of the consultation process for the Joint Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy; sought Cabinet’s views on the draft implementation plan and approval for delegation of authority to the MH JCB to continue development of the implementation plan; and outlined plans to establish a multi-agency steering group to monitor progress against the strategies aims.

In the course of the presentation and the discussion, the issues discussed

included: that one in four people will experience mental health problems at some time; that people are not comfortable talking about mental health issues; that the consultation period  had been extended to increase response; that a multi-agency steering group, accountable to the Joint–Commissioning  Board, would oversee implementation; how preventative work can be prioritised; how people can be supported in their own communities;

In response to a question from Councillor Gordon King, Councillor Keith Humphries and Maggie Rae clarified that, once further work had been done to identify priorities with partners, the outcomes in the action plan would be agreed.

Councillor John Noeken, on behalf of the Chair of the Health Select Committee, presented the views of the Select Committee who had welcomed the production of the Strategy

Resolved

    (i)        To note the information about consultation responses and approve the final strategy for adoption

  (ii)        To review the draft implementation plan (Appendix 2) and delegate responsibility to the Mental Health Joint Commissioning Board (JCB) to approve developments and additions to deliver on the strategy

 (iii)        To approve the establishment of a multi-agency delivery group whose primary role will be the ongoing monitoring of progress against the strategy.

 (iv)        To note that the Mental Health Joint Commissioning Board will monitor the progress of the Implementation Plan.

  (v)        To agree to receive an update report , to include further information on the action plan, n six months.

Reason for decision:

To update Cabinet on the results of the consultation process and provide the

final strategy for approval.

To seek Cabinet views on the draft implementation plan and approval for

responsibility to be delegated to the Mental Health JCB to develop the plans for implementation in order to ensure delivery of the strategy.

To outline plans for ongoing monitoring of progress on the strategy.