Agenda and minutes

There were no apologies for absence. 

There were no declarations of pecuniary interest.  However, Councillor Wood wished to record that his son-in-law works for the Harbour School, his daughter works for Motiv8 and his Step Grandson works for the Housing team and his sister-in-law is the head of the education funding agency.   He also wished to record that he is a local authority governor at both Charter Academy and Ark Dickens Primary Academy.  

The decision relating to the report entitled " Authority to spend in relation to the procurement of an intensive family support service for Portsmouth" is a Key Decision for the purposes of the Forward Plan as defined in Article 13 of the Constitution but was not included in the Forward Plan for the period from 28 November 2016 until 28 February 2017 and is therefore an omission from the Forward Plan. It is also an omission of explanation of exempt information contained in the exempt appendix. 

Article 13 defines a Key decision as an Executive decision which is likely to:

·         result in the Council incurring expenditure or the making of savings which are significant having regard to the local authority's budget for the service or function to which the decision relates, or

·         be significant in terms of its effects on communities living or working in an area comprising 2 or more wards in the city's administrative area.

The Chair of the City Council's Scrutiny Management Panel has been notified of the decision being made, in accordance with the City Council's Constitution (General Exceptions, Section 15).

As the decision must be taken by such a date that it is impracticable to defer the decision until it has been included in the next forward plan, this decision will not be subject to call-in. 

'The report, "Authority to spend in relation to the procurement of an intensive family support service for Portsmouth" (from the Director of Children's Services), explains that an urgent decision is required due to the procurement timetable necessary to ensure service continuity, which depends on the contract being let no later than the beginning of April 2017 (if the council is to meet its commitment to allow the successful provider a three-month mobilisation period, as per the Portsmouth Compact).'

The Cabinet Member explained that as set out on the agenda and in the notice of omission, this decision is a Key Decision for the purposes of the Forward Plan as defined in Article 13 of the Constitution but was not included in the Forward Plan for 28 November 2016 until 28 February 2017 and is therefore an omission from the Forward Plan. The Chair of the City Council's Scrutiny Management Panel had been notified of the decision being made, in accordance with the City Council's Constitution (General Exceptions, Section 15). As the decision must be taken by such a date that it is impracticable to defer the decision until it has been included in the next Forward Plan, this decision will not be subject to call-in. 

The report by the Director of Children's Services includes the reasons why urgent action has to be taken in connection with this proposal.

The Cabinet Member noted the Forward Plan Omission.

(NB Please note that appendix 1 of this report is Exempt and if Members wish

to refer to it, there is provision to do so following the exclusion of the press and public)

That in view of the contents of the following item on the agenda the

Portfolio Holder is RECOMMENDED to adopt the following motion:

“That, under the provisions of Section 100A of the Local Government

Act, 1972 as amended by the Local Government (Access to Information)

Act, 1985, the press and public be excluded for the consideration of the

following item on the grounds that the appendix to the report contains

information defined as exempt in Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local

Government Act, 1972”.

Under the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Meetings and

Access to Information) England Regulations 2012, regulation 5, the

reason for exemption of the listed item is shown below.

(NB The exempt/confidential committee papers on the agenda will

contain information which is commercially, legally or personally

sensitive and should not be divulged to third parties. Members are

reminded of standing order restrictions on the disclosure of exempt

information and are invited to return their exempt documentation to the

Local Democracy Officer at the conclusion of the meeting for shredding.)

The public interest in maintaining the exemption must outweigh the

public interest in disclosing the information.

Item                                                                                        Exemption Para No.*

5.                     Authority to spend in relation                             3

 to the procurement of an intensive

family support service for Portsmouth

*Paragraph 3 - Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information)

The Cabinet Member advised that he would consider this matter in open session as far as possible.  If members or officers needed to discuss the exempt appendix in any detail, the meeting would need to move into exempt session. This was agreed.

Purpose of report

(1)   To secure authority to spend from the Cabinet Member for Children's Social Care in relation to the procurement of a new intensive family support service.

(2)  An urgent decision is required ahead of the next scheduled Portfolio Meeting due to the procurement timetable necessary to ensure service continuity (the current contract ending on 1 July 2017), which depends on the contract being let no later than the beginning of April 2017 if the council is to meet its commitment to allow the successful provider as close to a three-month mobilisation period as possible (as per the Portsmouth Compact).

RECOMMENDED

The Cabinet Member is recommended to give authority to spend up to the maximum contract value proposed for the procurement of a new intensive family support service.

(TAKE IN REPORT)

The report was introduced by Nicola Waterman (Head of Troubled Families). 

The Cabinet Member invited Councillor Wood as opposition spokesperson to ask questions. 

Councillor Wood said that it was clear that the Council is seeking to do more for less in relation to the provision of intensive family support and asked officers to give a brief explanation of how this will be achieved.  Nicola Waterman and Alison Jeffery (Director of Children's Services) outlined the changes to the current service model, advising that they are not unprecedented and that the current provider, Barnardo's, is already working differently to increase the service's capacity in response to increased demand.  Additionally, children's centres and public health delivery has been re-shaped to provide a much stronger early help offer that will complement the external contract.  Councillor Wood commented that it was important to note that doing more for less may have unintended consequences in relation to the outcomes families achieve but recognised the necessity for doing so in the current financial climate.

The Cabinet Member thanked officers for their report and said that he felt that the proposals were pragmatic and risk sensible on how the council will achieve the targets set by the government. 

DECISION: The Cabinet Member gave authority to spend up to the maximum contract value proposed for the procurement of a new intensive family support service.