Agenda, decisions and minutes

There were no declarations of interest.

It was moved by Councillor Taylor and seconded by Councillor Harris and it was

RESOLVED that the minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on 11 May 2022 were correctly recorded and that they be signed by the Chairman.

It was moved by Councillor Taylor and seconded by Councillor Harris and it was

RESOLVED that the minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on 11 May 2022 were correctly recorded and that they be signed by the Chairman.

The Leader welcomed Members to the meeting and hoped all had enjoyed the recent Platinum Jubilee celebrations.

The Leader then took the opportunity to welcome Councillor Gardner to his first Cabinet meeting, in his new role of Cabinet Member for Economy.

In respect of the previous week’s Royal Cornwall Show, the Leader had been able to meet Cornwall’s MPs who had been in attendance.  Everyone had missed the key event for the last two years due to the pandemic and the Leader felt it was wonderful to see it return stronger than ever, as a real showcase for Cornish produce, food, agriculture livestock and business.

There had also been a surprise visit from the Prime Minister during the show and the Leader felt it would be of no surprise that she used the opportunity to bang the drum for Cornwall by asking for a “big deal for Cornwall” as the Council continued to negotiate with Westminster for that all-important County Deal.

In the past few weeks, the Leader had been delighted to begin the ‘Meet the Leader’ sessions, where events had already taken place in Penzance and Newquay.  Those sessions had been well attended and, the Leader was pleased to say, they had been well received by those who had come along.  The Leader felt it had been a real pleasure to meet with residents face-to-face, which was something Members did all of the time within their own wards, but so rarely was there a chance to do so further afield.  It had been fascinating to hear about the issues which impacted on people’s lives, both local and Cornwall-wide and to be able to understand what really mattered to Cornish residents.

Nine more sessions had already been planned but the Leader stated that she was looking to add more events to the schedule.  Furthermore, she hoped to see local Members join her at those sessions as it was a wonderful opportunity to meet and talk to people.

The Leader had been pleased to see the first two houses at West Carclaze Garden Village handed to the Council last week, with a further ten set to follow imminently.  A deal to purchase 130 low-carbon homes last year, as part of work to tackle the housing crisis, had been agreed and it was fantastic to see the project coming to fruition.

The rest of the homes would follow over the next three or four years and, alongside other work including providing modular homes, the Leader hoped it would make a real difference for local people who had been struggling to find affordable accommodation.

There was also good news recently from Perranporth, where a site had been secured for the construction of a new secondary school for the area.  The Leader felt that was not only excellent news for the immediate local area but that it would also benefit Truro and Newquay by freeing up capacity in their schools as they deal with ever-growing demand.

Finally, the Leader had been recently asked  ...  view the full minutes text for item CAB/151

(to be received by the Monitoring Officer by midday on Friday, 10 June 2022)

No questions had been received from members of the public.

No questions had been received from members of the public.

Reason for the Decision: 

As contained within the report.

Alternative options considered:

None other than contained within the report.

Conflicts of interest declared:

None.

Dispensations granted in respect of a conflict of interest:

N/A

The Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Resources introduced the report, which highlighted the performance of the Council and arms-length companies for Quarter 4 of 2021/22 and the financial year ending of 31 March 2022.

The Deputy Leader drew Members’ attention to the Council’s Annual Report for 2021/22, which was published a few days after the Annual Council meeting and was available to view on the Council’s website via the link in the report.

Of the 24 key performance indicators being reported for Quarter 4 and year end, 71% had either achieved or exceeded their targets or were slightly off target.

Despite the continued impact of Covid-19 during the last 12 months, the Deputy Leader stated that a high level of performance had been maintained, with a few exceptions where the impact of the pandemic had been more acute.  Understandably, adult social care performance continued to be directly impacted by the pandemic, however, the Council continued to perform significantly better than both England and the Southwest averages for those metrics.

As in the previous quarter, Cornwall continued to experience a late surge in Covid-19 infection in care homes, which had led to over 50% of homes closing to new admissions to manage the infection levels safely.  The levels of Covid positive patients in the hospitals was not particularly high but infection control practices caused further loss of escalation space.

The Deputy Leader stated that the Council had completed the partner panel stage of the Safeguarding Adults Board (SAB) Audit.  That Board acknowledged considerable progress had been made in a number of areas within Council services (as set out in the recommendations of the 2019 peer review).  The Council had also acknowledged that more work was required and that it would continue to strive forward, ensuring people were included in planning the services they received.

Further, Cornwall’s housing crisis continued to be an area of concern.  Whilst there was a decrease in homeless approaches to the Council in previous quarters, the Deputy Leader stated that Quarter 4 showed a worrying increase and he believed that, since then, nothing had improved.

The Deputy Leader felt the position was not helped by the cost-of-living crisis.  In response, the Council continued to support residents and businesses as much as funding and powers allowed.  Recent help from White Hall in terms of energy grants had also helped.  However, the Council had no control who would receive those grants but letters would be written to second homeowners suggesting that they might wish to give their grants to local charities instead.

One of the Council’s annual performance measures that showed positive progress was the ‘Warmer Homes’ project.  That project had supported over 500 more homes than targeted – ensuring investment was directly reducing household costs for those living in fuel poverty.

Further, the Deputy Leader stated that the Council had ensured that over half of its local spending had been with local suppliers to ensure the majority of the Council’s expenditure was retained in Cornwall’s economy.

The  ...  view the full minutes text for item CAB/153

Reason for the Decision: 

As contained within the report.

Alternative options considered:

None other than contained within the report.

Conflicts of interest declared:

None.

Dispensations granted in respect of a conflict of interest:

N/A

The Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Resources was pleased to present Outcome Delivery Plan (ODP) report to Cabinet and, more importantly, the four Outcome Delivery Plans that accompanied it.

The Deputy Leader referred to the Council Business Plan that was adopted by Members in February 2022, which set out the high-level priority outcomes for the Council for the following four years.  However, the Business Plan was a strategic document and therefore understandably light on detail.  The Deputy Leader stated that the idea of introducing the new public facing Outcome Delivery Plans was that each one amplified and gave further expression to the very succinct wording set out in the Business Plan.  The wording in the Business Plan was more about “why” and “what we want to achieve”.

Crucially the ODPs set out the “how” the Council was going to deliver those outcomes and by what measure – essentially what the ‘yardsticks’ were to determine the Council’s success.

Since the approval of the Council Business Plan, the Deputy Leader reflected that cross-council teams had brought together the component parts of each ODP, ensuring that consideration was given to the implications of recent White Papers.  The ODPs were public facing and, as such, could be viewed as the Council’s contract with the public in terms of what the Council was seeking to achieve using the council tax and business rates residents paid over the course of the year.

The Deputy Leader confirmed that all of the ODPs had been considered by the relevant Overview and Scrutiny Committees over the past few weeks, starting with the Children and Families Overview and Scrutiny Committee, which had thought the ODP for ‘A brilliant place to be a child and grow up’ was “an excellent and far-reaching document”.

Officers had addressed the key comments and concerns made by the Overview and Scrutiny Committees in the designed versions presented to Cabinet today, with the exception, of course, for the comments made by the Economic Growth and Development Overview and Scrutiny Committee, which had only met the previous day.  In that respect, the Deputy Leader confirmed he would invite the Portfolio Holder for Housing and Planning to outline the discussions from that Committee on the ‘Thriving, sustainable Cornwall’ ODP.

The Deputy Leader noted that the Council was committed to tackling the climate and ecological crises and, following comments made at the Customer and Support Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 7 June 2022, officers had amended the relevant risk in the report to reflect the comments made.

The strong desire, across all the Overview and Scrutiny Committees, for Member sessions on the detail and process sitting under the ‘bonnet’ of the ODPs was recognised and the Deputy Leader confirmed such sessions would be arranged. 

Along with the ODPs, the Deputy Leader confirmed Outcome Delivery Boards had been set up to review the progress of ambitions and budgets. 

Finally, the Deputy Leader took the opportunity to congratulate all the officers involved in crafting the four ODPs, which had  ...  view the full minutes text for item CAB/154

Reason for the Decision: 

As contained within the report.

Alternative options considered:

None other than contained within the report.

Conflicts of interest declared:

None.

Dispensations granted in respect of a conflict of interest:

N/A

The Leader was pleased to present the new Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy to Cabinet as it was a key part of the Council’s mission to ensure that everyone in Cornwall could start well, live well and age well.

The Strategy set out what the Council planned to do over the next four years to deliver that mission and the Council’s four priorities, through levelling up life chances across the diverse communities of Cornwall.

The Leader recognised that some people faced additional barriers, perhaps because of their race, sex, age, sexual orientation or disability and stated that the Council would be tackling inequality at the heart of its everyday business.

The draft Strategy presented was the result of the work of an Inquiry Panel set up by the Customer and Support Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee.  The Leader confirmed that the Strategy was discussed at that Committee on 7 June 2022 and it had been unanimously recommended that the Strategy be submitted to Cabinet for approval.  The Leader took the opportunity to thank the Inquiry Panel Members (Councillors Cole, Crabtree, Glasson, Marrington and Worth) for their invaluable work on the Strategy. 

The Leader believed the result of the Inquiry and draft Strategy was a strong statement of the Council’s commitment to tackling inequality, celebrating diversity and building cohesive communities.

There was much work to do and the draft Strategy laid out the change that was hoped to be seen.  The Leader knew that could not be achieved by the Council alone and work would continue with partners and communities.  It was important that everyone’s views were heard, which was why a public consultation was proposed.

Finally, the Leader believed the draft Strategy would support the Council’s continued efforts to celebrate Cornwall’s unique culture and heritage, as well as ensuring Cornwall was a place where everyone felt heard, supported and included.

Cabinet was being asked to approve the draft Strategy and to agree to a public consultation over the Summer.  In that time, Census 2021 data would start to be released, which would provide more robust data about the population in Cornwall and, for that reason, a refreshed version of the Strategy would be presented to Cabinet in February 2023.

Furthermore, following discussions with Cabinet colleagues, the Leader proposed an additional fifth recommendation that would ensure Members were specifically recognised in the objectives to improve knowledge about equality across the Council. 

The Leader invited the Chairman of the Inquiry Panel, Councillor Cole, to speak as follows.

Councillor Cole agreed that Equality Diversity and Inclusion was a very important area for the Council and the issues looked at by the Inquiry Panel were very complex and he had no doubt that the Strategy would be made even better following consultation.  He was very pleased that there would be genuine conversations to hear from individuals, families and special interest groups and that Census data would be included. 

Discussion followed, which included reference to

a)  The Portfolio Holder for Children and Families made reference  ...  view the full minutes text for item CAB/155

Reason for the  ...  view the full decision text for item CAB/156

The Portfolio Holder for Housing and Planning introduced the report and stated the Langarth Garden Village was a key project for the Council and for Cornwall.  Rather than to allow piecemeal development on the site, in January 2019, the Council had taken the decision to intervene in the project, allocating £165m to ensure the delivery of much needed homes for residents of Cornwall. 

By setting higher standards for placemaking and design, Langarth would create a vibrant, co-ordinated and sustainable community, with low carbon homes which would meet the needs and budgets of all sectors of the community.  That would include 35% affordable housing for local people, extra care and other forms of accommodation for older people and people with disabilities, together with accommodation for student health workers and other key workers.

The Portfolio Holder confirmed there would also be two new primary schools, new health and leisure facilities, sustainable transport links, with new cycle, bus and walking connections, an extension to the park and ride, a new renewable energy centre, parks and public open spaces, street furniture, cultural facilities and a mix of community buildings. 

The latest stage of the Langarth Garden Village project required the Council to make sure it had all the land and rights needed to deliver the scheme.  The Council was confident that it had the capital funding, resources and capacity to deliver the scheme.  Furthermore, the Portfolio Holder stated that the political will was also there to deliver the scheme as a part of the pipeline of homes required in accordance with the adopted business plan.  Although, the Council owned a large proportion of the land, including the majority of the land required for key infrastructure, there were some areas that had not been secured through negotiation and that presented the main remaining risk to delivery.  Compulsory purchase and the use of other related powers were an important way of securing delivery where agreement could not otherwise be reached.  The report provided the next steps in that process.

During the development of the Masterplan, there had been extensive engagement with landowners and tenants and the Council had acquired a significant proportion of the site through negotiation.  That included the majority of the land required for the development of the Northern Access Road, the two primary schools, the park and ride extension, the energy centre, the key utilities and the housing, as well as the green and community spaces.  However, the Portfolio Holder stated that there were still some areas of land (especially the remainder of the corridor for the Northern Access Road) which the Council had not yet been able to acquire and there were some other remaining rights and interests which had not been fully resolved.

While the Council continued to try and resolve those issues through negotiation, in some cases that may not be possible.  In those circumstances, the Council would need to use statutory powers to acquire the outstanding land and rights (or extinguish/override existing interests) to ensure that the scheme  ...  view the full minutes text for item CAB/156

Reason for the Decision: 

As contained within the report.

Alternative options considered:

None other than contained within the report.

Conflicts of interest declared:

None.

Dispensations granted in respect of a conflict of interest:

N/A

The Portfolio Holder for Adults and Public Health introduced the report.  The proposal set out in the paper was not only about the closure of day services but also about a refresh of and improvement to the offer the Council provided to people with learning difficulties and autism.

Day Services helped people to lead fulfilling lives.  They provided the opportunity for service users to take part in various interests and activities, make friends, develop relationship, gain new skills and enable people to make a positive contribution to the community.  Day Services also provided support to carers by creating a respite from caring so that they could pursue their own interests outside their caring responsibilities.  Day Services across Cornwall benefited approximately 520 residents, with a wide range of support needs including for older people, people with learning difficulties, autism, physical disabilities and people with mental ill health across Cornwall. 

12 services were delivered directly by the Council.  However, a larger proportion was delivered by approximately 22 organisations, largely in the charity and voluntary sector.

The Council’s in house model was predominantly building based, often offering limited choice for those attending and had recently seen a decline in numbers of service users choosing to attend.  Furthermore, during the Covid-19 pandemic, Day Services had to be temporarily closed for a period of 14 months as many service users had been deemed to be high risk.  During that time, work had continued with those service users via outreach, particularly to those with greater need with more personal support in the community.

When the lockdown restrictions lifted, many of the service users had not returned to Day Services (Launceston remained closed and Bude, Bodmin and Newquay opened with a limited offer for a small number of service users).

The proposal was to permanently close services at Launceston, Bude, Newquay, Bodmin, where there were already many services provided by the charity and voluntary sector.

Finally, the Portfolio Holder took the opportunity to recognise the work of officers on the matter, particularly their engagement with affected families.  Furthermore, the Portfolio Holder was heartened to hear at the recent Health and Adult Social Care Overview and Scrutiny Committee that Health Watch had positive feedback in the manner that engagement had been carried out.

It was moved by Councillor Virr, seconded by Councillor Ellenbroek and it was

RESOLVED that the model for the Council’s reshaped day services provision is approved.