Agenda and minutes

An apology for absence was received from Councillor C E Lloyd.

http://www.swansea.gov.uk/DisclosuresofInterests

In accordance with the provisions of the Code of Conduct adopted by the City and County of Swansea, the following interests were declared:

Councillors

1)       Councillors D H Hopkins and R C Stewart declared a Personal and Prejudicial Interest in Minute 150 “Local Authority Governor Appointments” and withdrew from the meeting prior to its consideration.

Officers

1)       Huw Evans, Head of Democratic Services declared a Personal and Prejudicial Interest in Minute 150 “Local Authority Governor Appointments” and withdrew from the meeting prior to its consideration;

2)       Jack Straw, Chief Executive declared a Personal Interest in Minute 151 “21^st Century Schools Programme - Contract Award and Capital Programme Authorisation for the Design and Refurbishment of Pentrehafod Comprehensive Schools Existing School Buildings.  21^st Century Schools Update - FPR 7 - Pentrehafod Comprehensive”.

To approve and sign as correct records the Minutes of the previous meetings of Cabinet.

RESOLVED that the Minutes of the meeting(s) listed below be approved as a correct record:

1)       Cabinet held on 10 December 2015;

2)       Cabinet held on 17 December 2015.

The Leader of the Council made no announcements.

No questions were asked.

Councillor C L Philpott, Education Inclusion Scrutiny Inquiry Panel Convenor, asked question in relation to item 7 “Response to the Report of the Education Inclusion Scrutiny Inquiry Panel”.  She queried why recommendation 15 was “not agreed and also sought clarity in relation to recommendation 17.

The Education Cabinet Member stated that she would amend the response to recommendation 15 to read “querying” as this would allow the Panel to provide her with greater clarity in relation to their recommendation.

She also outlined the rationale behind her response to recommendation 17.

The Cabinet Member for Education presented a report which outlined a response to the scrutiny recommendations and to present an action plan for agreement.

RESOLVED that:

1)       The response as outlined in the report and related action plan be agreed subject to the response to recommendation 15 being amended to read “querying”.

(Note:  This amendment allow the Panel to provide the Education Cabinet Member with greater clarity in relation to its recommendation.)

The Cabinet Member for Education presented a report which sought approval of the nominations submitted to fill Local Authority (LA) Governor vacancies on School Governing Bodies.

RESOLVED that:

1)       The following nominations be approved as recommended by the LA Governor Appointments Panel:

The Cabinet Member for Education presented a report which sought to approve and commit to the Capital Programme the scheme for the refurbishment of Pentrehafod Comprehensive School subject to confirmation of the grant and entering into a contract with Welsh Government (subject to planning approval).

The report also sought authorisation to award a contract for the works to Tender No. 1, under the agreement that following the contract award the contractor must obtain planning approval and all risks associated with not achieving planning approval are those of the contractor, and subject top confirmation of the grant and entering into a contract with Welsh Government (subject to planning approval).

RESOLVED that:

1)       The capital scheme as detailed together with the financial implications set out in Appendix A of the report be approved, subject to confirmation of the grant and entering into a contract (subject to planning approval) with Welsh Government;

2)       The 1^st Stage Contract for the design of refurbishment, remodelling and extension works for Pentrehafod Comprehensive School be awarded to Tender No. 1 under the agreement that following the contract award the contractor must obtain planning approval and all risks associated with not achieving planning approval are those of the contractor, and subject to confirmation of the grant and entering into a contract (subject to planning approval) with Welsh Government;

3)       The Cabinet Member for Education be authorised to approve the award of the stage 2 construction contract for the new school Pentrehafod School, subject to the granting of planning permission for the main works, and subject to confirmation of grant and contract with Welsh Government;

4)       The Head of Legal and Democratic Services be authorised to enter into any necessary documentation required to complete the contract and achieve the scheme;

5)       A detailed Cabinet Report on the total costs for the scheme and outcomes of the Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) report be submitted in late 2016 for information prior to any construction works being carried out.

The Cabinet Member for Finance and Strategy presented a report which provided details of the closure report and demonstrated that the Move to an In-house ICT Service project had achieved what it set out to deliver.

RESOLVED that:

1)       The report be noted.

Councillor U C Clay, Transformation of Adult Social Services (TASS) Scrutiny Inquiry Panel Convenor, stated that a Pre decision Panel had met on 11 January 2016.  She outlined the views of the Panel and raised specific concerns in relation to Personal Development and Safeguarding.

The Cabinet Member for Services for Adults and Vulnerable People presented a report which sought agreement to consolidate the Beeches and Abergelli Day Services into one service.  It also sought agreement that the Beeches is declared surplus for service use.  It set out the rationale behind the service remodelling; the likely workforce implications of the service remodelling and outlined the approach to communicating the change to the workforce.

RESOLVED that:

1)       The proposed remodelling of Abergelli and The Beeches Alternative Day Service by consolidating the two services, using the Abergelli building as the premises be agreed;

2)       Under the Council’s Disposal Procedure Rules, the Chief Operating Officer undertake an initial feasibility test to establish if the surplus property, the Beeches, should be disposed of.