Agenda and minutes

That the minutes of the meeting of the Cabinet held on 5^th January 2015 be confirmed and signed as an accurate record of the proceedings, and that the outstanding actions be noted.

There were no apologies for absence.

Councillor Max Schmid commended the budget papers to the meeting.  The budget had received a good reception at the five Policy and Accountability Committees.  He noted that the Budget focussed on cutting out waste and prioritising expenditure for front line services.

That the recommendations in the report attached as appendix 1 be agreed and recommended to Council for approval.

Officers stated that the report had been discussed at the Finance and Delivery Policy and Accountability Committee (PAC) in January.  The PAC was of the view that the property investment thoughts in paragraph 6.17 and 6.18 would not be appropriate for the Council to consider.  While the PAC were content for covered bonds as a principle, Members asked that officers come back with more detail around their structure and use before they are used as a treasury investment.

It was also reported that the CFR numbers in the report were out of date and they need to be tied up to the Capital Strategy report.

1.1         That approval be given to the future borrowing and investment strategies as outlined in this report and that the Executive Director of Finance and Corporate Governance be authorised to arrange the Council’s cash flow, borrowing and investments in 2015/16.

1.2         In relation to the Council’s overall borrowing for the financial year, to note the comments and the Prudential Indicators as set out in the report and the four year capital programme 2015/16 to 2018/19.

1.3         That approval be given to pay the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) investment income on unapplied HRA receipts and other HRA cash balances calculated at the average rate of interest (approximately 0.5% p.a.) earned on temporary investments with effect from 1 April 2014.

That approval be given to the proposed budget variations to the capital programme totalling £27.2m (summarised in Table 1 and detailed in Appendix 2).

1.1.        That the General Fund Capital Programme budget at £31.7m for 2015/16 (paragraph 5.1, Table 2 and Appendix 1), be approved.

1.2.        That the continuation of the Council’s rolling programmes and the continued use of internal funding for 2015/16 General Fund Programme as set out in Table 3 (paragraph 5.2) and specifically as follows, be approved:

·         Capital receipts amounting to £5.48m to fund the Council’s rolling programmes as follows:

·         Contributions from revenue amounting to £0.544m to fund the Council’s rolling programmes as follows:

1.3.        That the existing capital receipts funded schemes in the Schools programme of £441,000 previously approved, but now scheduled for 2015/16 (paragraph 5.2, Table 3), be noted.

1.4.        That the Housing Programme at £94.2m for 2015/16 as set out in Table 5 (paragraph 7.2) and Appendix 1 of the report, be approved.

1.5.        That the annual Minimum Revenue Provision policy statement for 2015/16 in Appendix 4 of the report, be approved.

1.6.        That the Chartered Institute of Public Finance & Accountancy (CIPFA) Prudential Indicators as set out in Appendix 5 to the report, be approved.

1.1       That approval be given to 2015/2016 Corporate Planned Maintenance Programme and project budgets as set out in Appendix A to the report, subject to any amendments as agreed for operational reasons by the Executive Director of Finance and Corporate Governance and the Director for Building and Property Management.

1.2       That the 2015/2016 Corporate Planned Maintenance Programme will be monitored, incorporating operational changes made by the Executive Director of Finance and Corporate Governance and the Director for Building and Property Management, via progress reports to Corporate Asset Delivery Team and the appropriate Cabinet Member, be noted.

Cabinet welcomed the report which had a lot of input from the children who access the service.

1.1.        That approval be given to undertake a tender exercise for a Multi-Supplier Framework Agreement for Semi-independent Living Services for LAC 16+ and Care Leavers.

1.2.        That approval be given to name the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and Westminster City Council as participating authorities on the framework.

1.3.        That the Leader of the Council and the Cabinet Member for Children and Education appoint suppliers onto the Framework for Semi-independent Living Services in line with the procurement process outlined in this report up to a maximum value of £5,000,000 (in excess of this figure the decision will be for full Cabinet).

1.4.        That Cabinet delegate to the Cabinet Member for Children and Education the authority to enter into call-off contracts, with no volume guaranteed with all providers appointed to the framework agreement.

1.5.        That Cabinet delegate to the Executive Director of Children’s Services authority to issue individual placement agreements with call-off providers in line with section 24 of the Councils Contract Standing Orders.

That the Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Health and Adult Social Care, in conjunction with the Executive Director for Adult Social Care & Health, award the H&F Call Off Agreement for the Home Care Management System.

The Cabinet expressed delight that another manifesto commitment was delivered within a short space of time.  The proposal will remove an indirect tax on the elderly and disabled.  This was a clear message that the Council’s mission is to be a voice for the voiceless, reduce inequality in society and ensure better access to services for residents.

1.1       That that abolishment of charging for home care services provided to customers of the Borough on 31^st March 2015, be approved.

1.2       To note that for services delivered up to 31^st March 2015, charges will still apply, and that these charges be pursued for a period of 3 months ending 30 June 2015, be approved.

1.3       To write-off total estimated outstanding home care debt of £133,000 as at 1^st July 2015 and delegate authority to write-off the debts to the Executive Director of Finance and Corporate Governanceand Deputy Executive Director and Director of Finance and Resources, Adult Social Care and Health.

1.4      To request additional provision for bad debt of £91,000 from Corporate Finance from the bad debt provision account.

That the Council sign the London Councils Transport and Environment Committee variation agreement attached as Appendix 1, delegating general wellbeing power under Section 1 of Localism Act 2011 to enable it to arrange appeal provisions under the Parking on Private Land Appeals (POPLA).

The Key Decision List was noted.

That under Section 100A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public and press be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the remaining items of business on the grounds that they contain information relating to the financial or business affairs of a person (including the authority)] as defined in paragraph 3 of Schedule 12A of the Act, and that the public interest in maintaining the exemption currently outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

[The following is a public summary of the exempt information under S.100C (2) of the Local Government Act 1972.  Exempt minutes exist as a separate document.]

That the minutes of the meeting of the Cabinet held on 5^th January 2015 be confirmed and signed as an accurate record of the proceedings, and that the outstanding actions be noted.

That the recommendations in the exempt report be approved.