Apologies were received from Councillor S Davenport.

Members are reminded that they must not participate in the discussion or voting on any matter in which they have a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest and should leave the room prior to the commencement of the debate. 

None were declared.

To approve as a correct record and sign the Minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on 1 May 2019, attached

RESOLVED:  That the minutes of the meeting held on 1 May 2019 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Leader. 

RESOLVED:  That the minutes of the meeting held on 1 May 2019 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Leader. 

There were no scrutiny items.

To receive any questions or petitions from members of the public, notice of which has been given in accordance with Procedure Rule 14.  Deadline for notification for this meeting is no later than 24 hours prior to the commencement of the meeting. 

It was agreed to receive the public question related to the Shropshire Hills Federation at the time this item was considered on the agenda.

To receive any questions of which members of the Council have given due notice, the deadline for notification for this meeting is 5pm on Friday 17 May 2019. 

There were no questions from Members.

Lead Member – Councillor D Minnery – Portfolio Holder for Finance and Corporate Support

Report of Director of Finance, Governance and Assurance, TO FOLLOW

Contact:  James Walton, tel 01743 258915

RESOLVED:

A  To note that the outturn for the revenue budget for 2018/19 is a controllable underspend of £0.167m.  This represents 0.03% of the original gross budget of £561.950m.

B  To note that the level of the General Fund balance after adjusting for the outturn underspend and insurance position stands at £15.537m, which is above the anticipated level assessed in February 2019

C  To note that the Outturn for the Housing Revenue Account for 2018/19 is an underspend of £3.859m and the level of the Housing Revenue Account reserve stands at £9.813m (2017/18 £8.225m).

D  To note the increase in the level of Earmarked Reserves and Provisions (excluding delegated school balances) of £4.986m in 2018/19 and the reasons for this.

E  To note that the level of school balances stand at £4.178m (2017/18 £5.381m).

F  To approve net budget variations of £0.848m to the 2018/19 capital programme, detailed in Appendix 5 / Table 11 and the re-profiled 2018/19 capital budget of £60.703m.

GTo approve the re-profiled capital budgets of £69.243m for 2019/20, including slippage of £15.728m from 2018/19, £22.181m for 2020/21 and £16.001m for 2021/22 as detailed in Appendix 5 / Table 15.

H  To accept the outturn expenditure set out in Appendix 5 of £50.975m, representing 76% of the revised capital budget for 2018/19.

I   To approve retaining a balance of capital receipts set aside of £20.515m as at 31^st March 2019 to generate a one-off Minimum Revenue Provision saving of £0.621m in 2019/20.

The Portfolio Holder for Finance and Corporate Support presented the report of the Director of Finance, Governance and Assurance providing details of the revenue and capital outturn position for Shropshire Council for 2018/19.  He thanked the Director of Finance, Governance and Assurance and his team, Cabinet colleagues and all officers who had pulled together and worked very hard over the last 12 months to achieve a better than break even position.

In responding to questions from Group Leaders, the Chief Executive said it was important to understand that reserves were increasing year on year and that areas of overspend were in children’s and adults demand-based services where the Council was needed to step in and assist.  The volatility of the budget had been managed in year by taking other measures.   

RESOLVED:

A  To note that the outturn for the revenue budget for 2018/19 is a controllable underspend of £0.167m.  This represents 0.03% of the original gross budget of £561.950m.

B  To note that the level of the General Fund balance after adjusting for the outturn underspend and insurance position stands at £15.537m, which is above the anticipated level assessed in February 2019

C  To note that the Outturn for the Housing Revenue Account for 2018/19 is an underspend of £3.859m and the level of the Housing Revenue Account reserve stands at £9.813m (2017/18 £8.225m).

D  To note the increase in the level of Earmarked Reserves and Provisions (excluding delegated school balances) of £4.986m in 2018/19 and the reasons for this.

E  To note that the level of school balances stand at £4.178m (2017/18 £5.381m).

F  To approve net budget variations of £0.848m to the 2018/19 capital programme, detailed in Appendix 5 / Table 11 and the re-profiled 2018/19 capital budget of £60.703m.

GTo approve the re-profiled capital budgets of £69.243m for 2019/20, including slippage of £15.728m from 2018/19, £22.181m for 2020/21 and £16.001m for 2021/22 as detailed in Appendix 5 / Table 15.

H  To accept the outturn expenditure set out in Appendix 5 of £50.975m, representing 76% of the revised capital budget for 2018/19.

I   To approve retaining a balance of capital receipts set aside of £20.515m as at 31^st March 2019 to generate a one-off Minimum Revenue Provision saving of £0.621m in 2019/20.

Lead Member – Councillor E Potter - Portfolio Holder for Children’s Services

Report of Director of Children’s Services

Contact: Karen Bradshaw tel 01743 252407

RESOLVED: 

To note the feedback received from the various consultees and stakeholders, detailed in Appendix

A of the report and to approve the amended recommendations as follows:-

A    To set the lower rate of the contribution to £280 per student, whilst maintaining the upper limit of the Post 16 mainstream scheme at its current £875 pa.

B    To expand the contribution scheme to include SEND Post 16 students at the contribution rates, ensuring a consistent approach across all Post 16 transport, whilst also reflecting practice in a number of other councils.

C    To continue to support nursery SEND transport assistance, incorporating nursery school SEND transport within the Council’s contribution scheme for discretionary travel as laid out in the amended recommendation above.

D    That any changes come into effect from 1 September 2019 and will only be applicable to new applicants.  As with previous practice, the removal of provision will be on a phased basis, protecting all those pupils and students entitled within the existing schemes.

The Portfolio Holder for Children’s Services presented the report of the Director of Children’s Services on Discretionary School and College Transport.  He explained how the responses to the consultation, discussion at Scrutiny Committee, and input from individual members had helped form the recommendations. 

RESOLVED: 

To note the feedback received from the various consultees and stakeholders, detailed in Appendix

A of the report and to approve the amended recommendations as follows:-

A    To set the lower rate of the contribution to £280 per student, whilst maintaining the upper limit of the Post 16 mainstream scheme at its current £875 pa.

B    To expand the contribution scheme to include SEND Post 16 students at the contribution rates, ensuring a consistent approach across all Post 16 transport, whilst also reflecting practice in a number of other councils.

C    To continue to support nursery SEND transport assistance, incorporating nursery school SEND transport within the Council’s contribution scheme for discretionary travel as laid out in the amended recommendation above.

D    That any changes come into effect from 1 September 2019 and will only be applicable to new applicants.  As with previous practice, the removal of provision will be on a phased basis, protecting all those pupils and students entitled within the existing schemes.

Lead Member – Councillor E Potter - Portfolio Holder for Children’s Services

Report of Director of Children’s Services

Contact:  Karen Bradshaw  Tel 01743 252407

RESOLVED:

A  to note the outcomes from the statutory consultation undertaken by the Shropshire Hills Federation

B  to agree to the prescribed alteration to transfer education provision from Stiperstones CE Primary to Norbury Primary from January 2020, with the option for parents to elect for their children to be educated at the Federation’s other site at Chirbury CE Primary.

The Leader invited member of the public, Rebecca Burrell, to ask her question regarding the recognition of work put into the proposals by communities of the Shropshire Hills Federation and about children’s education.  A full copy of the question and answer provided by the Portfolio Holder for Children’s Services is attached to the signed minutes.  Councillor Heather Kidd, Local Member, also spoke, referring to a previous campaign to save Stiperstones School and praised the approach which had allowed the local community to work together and find a sustainable solution and enable children to continue to access a very good education.

The Portfolio Holder for Children’s Services presented the report of the Director of Children’s Services and said that the Federation had led in finding a way to achieve the best outcomes for children. 

RESOLVED:

A  to note the outcomes from the statutory consultation undertaken by the Shropshire Hills Federation

B  to agree to the prescribed alteration to transfer education provision from Stiperstones CE Primary to Norbury Primary from January 2020, with the option for parents to elect for their children to be educated at the Federation’s other site at Chirbury CE Primary.