Issue - decisions

(1) To NOTE the results of the consultation processes and the range of views expressed by respondents, both for and against each element of the proposed changes;

(2) To AGREE to implement the new proposed service model, in order to deliver the cost savings approved in the Council’s approved Medium Term Service and Resource Plan;

(3) To NOTE the ‘Right to Provide’ proposal submitted by Children’s Centre staff who wish to explore the development of a ‘staff mutual’, (which could help to enable some elements of universal provision to be delivered without direct Council funding), and to AGREE to permit the staff to develop a business case;

(4) To DELEGATE authority to the Strategic Director (People and Communities) and Cabinet Member for Early Years, Children and Youth, in consultation with the Section 151 Officer, to have discretion at key stages to halt the process if it becomes evident that the business case is not going to be viable;

(5) To AGREE in light of the above that the Council will continue to be the direct provider of Children’s Centre Services for 9 Children’s Centres until March 2018 unless a staff mutual is established at an earlier date for an appropriate procurement process to be undertaken;

(6) To AGREE in light of the above the continuation of the Bath West Children’s Centre Services (the 2 Children’s Centres contracted from an external provider) through appropriate procurement mechanisms to run until March 2018 in order to align with the in-house service;

(7) To AGREE that both the Council service and commissioned provider will be required to work together to enable the new two-service model to be progressively implemented ahead of a full re-commissioning process to let a contract that runs from April 2018 onwards;

(8) To APPROVE the inclusion of further transitional funds of £104,000 in 2015/16 and plan for transitional funding of £76,000 in the Council Budget for 2015/16, with transitional funding to be spread over the following 2 financial years to support these measures, due to the resulting delay in achieving the full implementation of the new two-service model;

(9) To INSTRUCT officers and commissioned providers to continue to promote and explore opportunities to enable some universal services, such as groups and peer networks, to be delivered without direct Council funding; and

(10) To ASK the Early Years, Children and Youth Policy Development and Scrutiny Panel to receive a report and review implementation of new models a year following implementation.

(1)  to include within its budget proposals to Council, the proposed adjustment which permanently deletes the £500,000 savings originally required from the Early Years and Children’s Centres base budget in 2014/15 and subsequent years;

(2)  to note and accept the emerging models and proposals for each of the five service areas;

(3)  to instruct officers to formally consult on the proposals for these services; and

(4)  to instruct officers to bring back to Cabinet fully developed models and proposals for the future delivery of each service.

(1) To NOTE the outcome of the call-in by the Early Years, Children and Youth PDS Panel;

(2) To AGREE the response to each of the recommendations of the Panel report and the Minority report (Appx 2 of the report);

(3) To AGREE the consultation and decision timeline (Appx 3 of the report); and

(4) To REQUEST that the Early Years, Children and Youth PDS Panel receive a presentation from Officers on the developing model at its meeting in January 2014.

(1) To NOTE that the Early Years, Children & Youth Policy Development and Scrutiny Panel had a number of questions, in particular which services will be provided at the Children’s Centres under the proposed new model, who will run the various Children’s Centres, and to whom these services will be available;

(2) To NOTE the issues raised in the Minority Report; and

(3) To FORMULATE their response to the Panel's recommendations and to the Minority Report.