Agenda and minutes

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Items
No. Item

12.

Welcome and introductions

Minutes:

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting by explaining that this meeting is being held under The Local Authorities and Police and Crime Panels (Coronavirus)(Flexibility of Local Authority and Police and Crime Panel Meetings) (England and Wales) Regulations 2020. The Council has agreed a protocol to cover virtual meetings and this meeting would operate in line with that protocol. The meeting has the same status and validity as a meeting held in the Guildhall.

13.

Apologies for Absence

Minutes:

There were no apologies for absence.

14.

Declarations of Interest

At this point in the meeting declarations of interest are received from Members in any of the agenda items under consideration at the meeting. Members are asked to indicate:

(a) The agenda item number in which they have an interest to declare.

(b) The nature of their interest.

(c) Whether their interest is a disclosable pecuniary interest or an other interest,  (as defined in Part 2, A and B of the Code of Conduct and Rules for Registration of Interests)

Any Member who needs to clarify any matters relating to the declaration of interests is recommended to seek advice from the Council’s Monitoring Officeror a member of his staff before the meeting to expedite dealing with the item during the meeting.

Minutes:

The Legal Services Manager issued a dispensation on behalf of the Monitoring Officer in relation to any Councillors, including their family members, that were in receipt of any grants that had been awarded by the government under the COVID-19 Regulations, such as business grants or furloughing or were in receipt of Council services, to allow all Members of the Cabinet to take part in the debate.

15.

RULE 16 Covid19 Local Outbreak Management Plan (LOMP) - Urgent Business Agreed by the Chair

The Cabinet is asked to:

2.1  Accept the Covid-19 Local Outbreak Management Plan as a suitable framework plan on which to base further planning of the local response to this pandemic.

2.2  Commit the Council to providing local leadership during this period of crisis, working with communities and other stakeholders in order to protect the health, wellbeing and prosperity of people in Bath and North East Somerset.

2.3  Commit to the provision of adequate material support for the implementation of this plan, while also taking into account other Council needs and pressures.  (This is a commitment in principle: the framework plan does not detail any specific requests, but these will follow and be subject to separate decision making processes).

 

This decision is to be made under Part 4B Rule 16 of the Council’s Constitution as an urgent decision. This matter is urgent because of the expectation that the Council would need to have an agreed plan in place for the beginning of July 2020 in light of the Covid19 pandemic.

Minutes:

The Chair informed the meeting that she has agreed to bring Covid-19 Local Outbreak Management Plan under urgent business agreed by the Chair.

This decision would be made under Part 4B Rule 16 of the Council’s Constitution as an urgent decision. This matter was urgent because of the expectation that the Council would need to have an agreed plan in place for the beginning of July 2020 in light of the Covid19 pandemic.

 

The report has received an endorsement from the Health and Wellbeing Board on 23rd June.

 

Councillor Rob Appleyard said that the COVID situation has always been fast moving and clarity on what was required from all of us was not always been as we would have liked it. The Council were tasked by the government to have a Local Outbreak Management Plan (LOMP). The Director of Public Health, Dr. Bruce Laurence, and his team have been working very hard over the last few weeks to bring this quite comprehensive document together, which should give an indication of actions needed. This document was not just about the Council; it's about working with partners such as the CCG, hospitals, Virgin Care and a range of other partners.

 

Councillor Rob Appleyard moved the recommendations.

 

The Chair seconded the motion by saying a particular thank you to Dr Bruce Laurence, and also to officers who have managed to put this plan together in record time, in order to meet the demand of government to have this plan published by the beginning of July. The Chair thanked to all those who have been part of the pandemic stakeholders’ group (group that will form the basis for the local outbreak engagement board) and for their continued commitment to working together. The Chair also thanked all those that have worked above and beyond to help and support others and provide services during this crisis, such as staff and a wide range of volunteers and many others, including those who think they have just helped their neighbours.

 

 

RESOLVED (unanimously) that the Cabinet agreed to:

 

2.1  Accept the Covid-19 Local Outbreak Management Plan as a suitable framework plan on which to base further planning of the local response to this pandemic.

2.2  Commit the Council to providing local leadership during this period of crisis, working with communities and other stakeholders in order to protect the health, wellbeing and prosperity of people in Bath and North East Somerset.

2.3  Commit to the provision of adequate material support for the implementation of this plan, while also taking into account other Council needs and pressures.  (This is a commitment in principle: the framework plan does not detail any specific requests, but these will follow and be subject to separate decision making processes).

 

16.

Questions from Public and Councillors

Questions submitted before the deadline will receive a reply from an appropriate Cabinet member or a promise to respond within 5 days of the meeting.  Councillors may ask one supplementary question for each question they submitted, up to a maximum of two per Councillor.

Minutes:

There were 15 questions from Councillors and 1 question from member of the public.

[Copies of the questions and responses, including supplementary questions and responses if any, have been placed on the Minute book as Appendix 1 and are available on the Council's website.]

Appendix 1 - Cabinet questions and answers 2nd July 2020 pdf icon PDF 206 KB

17.

Statements, Deputations or Petitions from Public or Councillors

Councillors and members of the public may register their intention to make a statement if they notify the subject matter of their statement before the deadline.  Statements are limited to 3 minutes each.  The speaker may then be asked by Cabinet members to answer factual questions arising out of their statement.

Minutes:

David Redgewell in a statement [a copy of which is attached to the Minutes as Appendix 2 and on the Council's website] addressed the issues around bus travel around West of England Combined Authority during Covid-19 pandemic.

Councillor Eleanor Jackson in a statement [a copy of which is attached to the Minutes as Appendix 3 and on the Council's website] brought up some issues that residents and traders from Radstock and Westfield were facing during Covid-19 pandemic.

 

Appendix 2 - David Redgewell statement pdf icon PDF 57 KB

Appendix 3 - Cllr Jackson Cabinet speech July 2020 pdf icon PDF 55 KB

18.

Minutes of Previous Cabinet Meeting pdf icon PDF 185 KB

To be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chair

Minutes:

 

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on Friday 29th May 2020 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

19.

Consideration of Single Member Items Requisitioned to Cabinet

This is a standard agenda item, to cover any reports originally placed on the Weekly list for single Member decision making, which have subsequently been the subject of a Cabinet Member requisition to the full Cabinet, under the Council’s procedural rules

Minutes:

There were none.

20.

Matters Referred by Policy Development and Scrutiny Bodies

This is a standing agenda item (Constitution rule 14, part 4D – Executive Procedure Rules) for matters referred by Policy Development and Scrutiny bodies.  The Chair of the relevant PDS Panel will have the right to attend and to introduce the Panel’s recommendations to Cabinet.

Minutes:

The Chair invited Councillor Paul Myers (Chair of the Corporate Policy Development and Scrutiny Panel) to address the Cabinet.

 

Councillor Myers read out the statement [a copy of which is attached to the Minutes as Appendix 4 and on the Council's website] in which he summarised findings by the Panel from its meeting on 30th June 2020, and the recommendations made by the Panel to the Cabinet.

 

The Chair thanked Councillor Myers for the statement and said that the Cabinet have noted comments and recommendations from the Corporate PDS Panel.

Appendix 4 - Corporate PDS Meeting Summary for Cabinet 2nd July 2020 pdf icon PDF 90 KB

21.

Single Member Cabinet Decisions Taken since Previous Cabinet Meeting pdf icon PDF 101 KB

A list of Cabinet Single Member decisions taken and published since the last Cabinet meeting to note (no debate).

Minutes:

The Cabinet agreed to note the report.

 

22.

Covid-19 2020/21 Financial Recovery plan pdf icon PDF 403 KB

This report sets out the financial impacts of Covid-19 on the Council’s revenue budgets. The Council is anticipating a £42.13m pressure on its revenue budget and £7.5m on the Collection Fund before government grant and the proposed financial recovery measures. The report sets out the gross impact of Covid-19 restrictions and social distancing measures and the planned mitigations to present a fully funded net budget position.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chair invited Councillor Richard Samuel to introduce the report.

 

Councillor Richard Samuel read out the following statement:

 

‘The COVID crisis has wreaked havoc across our economy and throughout our populations in the UK with this Council being no exception. So, just as businesses and households have to repair the damages to their finances, we have to do the same to ensure that we remain financially viable today, and ways ahead. Now. there are some who say that this shouldn't could been anticipated. However, those people are flying in the face of the facts globally no country, no government, a local administration, fully anticipated the scaling problem, and none was able to set aside funds to cover the current scale of the crisis. Those who make such arguments are seeking to make cheap, political capital, out of the misery of a truly global crisis. It could have been different if the UK acted more quickly, as countries such as New Zealand did well probably, but that's a debate for a different day.

Now, as members will know pressure has been building on the government to honour the commitments they gave at the start of the pandemic. And we have played our part in lobbying our special case for this little assistance. We are delighted that the detailed work we have carried out with government officials, finally appears to have paid off with the announcement of new assistance this morning by Robert Jenrick.

 

It is actually too early to interpret exactly what the additional local additional funding announcement means for the council and the detail is yet to be published. However, on the face of it, it seems that we are now more in the green scenario we originally planned, where budget reductions will still be required, but will be less severity yet it remains unlikely that all the losses that we have identified will be covered. And there will still be a need to reduce expenditure this year.

 

However, it was never the case that we should do nothing and rely on hope that at the end on finances would magically return to balance because income has returned to pre COVID levels, and our government has provided lots of unexpected funds. Well the choice we had was to take control of that situation and take decisive actions to secure our finances thus securing a quicker return to stability. It was never an option to do nothing.

 

I want to turn to the root of the difficulties faced by the Council because this is relevant in the light of today's announcement.

 

As members will know the council achieved the highest levels of externally generated income of all unitary councils in proportion to its budget. This means that our budget was one of the most exposed to reductions in income, and why we have had a particularly difficult position to deal with. And those income reductions can be exactly traced to the government's decision to lock down population thus choking off  ...  view the full minutes text for item 22.