Agenda item

Youth Connect Public Service Mutual

Consideration of whether a Public Service Mutual should be established for the future delivery of youth services.

Minutes:

Councillor Eleanor Jackson made an ad-hoc statement where she said that young people across the area would be able to access youth services if this report is adopted, and urged the Cabinet to support the Strategy which would provide support to young people who need it at the earliest opportunity.

 

Councillor Dine Romero made an ad-hoc statement where she said that proposals looked good on a face of it, though the report has been driven by cuts from the Council, which were due to reduction in funding from the central Government.  Councillor Romero expressed her concern about the longevity of the project, in particular if it would be the subject of future cuts or be taken over by another provider.  Councillor Romero concluded her statement by asking the Cabinet to publish the business plan before making the decision, and that the decision should be made in public.

 

Councillor Joe Rayment asked what would be, in unlikely event, if the decision to establish final approval of the project was not delegated to the Corporate Director.  Councillor Rayment also felt that workers should be sitting on the Board of Trustees for Public Service Mutual.

 

Councillor Paul May said that last year there was a £500k cut in the budget with £517k left for the service.  Councillor May asked if the approved document would be commercially sensitive and subject to scrutiny.

 

Maria Lucas, Monitoring Officer of the Council, responded that the relevant Policy Development and Scrutiny Panel would be able to scrutinise the business case though it would have to be in confidential/exempt session.

 

Councillor Paul May introduced the report by saying that it would come back to the Cabinet if the risks were unreasonable for Corporate Director to approve the project.  The project would eradicate any flexibility for further budget cuts, and it would be a dedicated youth service project.  There was an effective work with a number of agencies and also with a number of voluntary services across the area.  The project was set to move the agenda forward in reasonable way and the Council would support the staff as much as it could.

 

Councillor Paul May moved the recommendations.

 

Councillor Karen Warrington seconded the motion by saying that she was pleased that people could run their own organisation though she expressed slight concern in the due diligence of the project.

 

Councillor Tim Warren welcomed the report by saying that this would be an excellent opportunity for the staff to take on the project and that he had confidence that the project would be successful. 

 

RESOLVED (unanimously) that the Cabinet agreed to:

 

1)  Confirm in principle its support for Youth Connect becoming an independent Public Service Mutual, subject to further due diligence/assurance;

2)  Delegate to the Corporate Director, in consultation with Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, and the Section 151 Officer the final approval to establish the Public Service Mutual and the allocation of transitional funding to support its establishment;

3)  Note that a further report may come forward for approval for funding when the “due diligence” process has been completed.

Supporting documents: