Agenda and minutes

To approve as a correct record and sign the Minutes of the meeting held on 13 March 2018.

The Minutes (copies of which had been circulated) of the meeting held on 13 March 2018 were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

Councillors and officers to declare any interests which they have in any of the items on the agenda for the meeting.

No declarations of interest were made.

To report any urgent action taken under the Constitution since the last meeting of the Cabinet.

No urgent decisions were reported.

Members of the public are invited to put questions to the Chair and Cabinet Members on any matters within the powers and duties of the Cabinet, subject to the exclusions set out in the Code of Practice.  (Questions must be submitted no later than 30 minutes prior to the commencement of the meeting on the card provided.  These are available at the meeting. You can also submit via the Council’s website at www.stockport.gov.uk/publicquestions)

Three public questions were submitted.

The first public question had been submitted by a member of the public who was not present at the meeting. The Chair advised that, in accordance with the Code of Practice, a written response would be provided to the questioner.

Two other public questions were submitted as follows:-

• Requesting whether the Council was complying with Article 24 of the United Nations Convention of Human Rights for People with Disabilities which required local authorities to provide appropriate support in order that disabled children and young people, and children and young people with learning difficulties, including people with autism, attend mainstream schools (with staff who have the capacity to meet the needs of all children) and therefore be a part of the local community.
• Whether the proposed new special school in Stockport would be a local authority maintained special school, a ‘free’ special school or a special school that had academy status.

The Cabinet Member for Education (Councillor Dean Fitzpatrick) responded to these public questions as follows:-

Under Articles 7 and 24 of the UN Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the U.K. Government was committed to inclusive education of disabled children and young people and the progressive removal of barriers to learning and participation in mainstream education. The Children and Families Act 2014 secured the general presumption in law of mainstream education. Placements in special schools would depend on the needs of the children and young people and would require the agreement of parents and the young people.

In Stockport there were approximately 7,000 children and young people, aged 0-25 years, who had identified Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). Of these 2127 (January 2018 return) had their needs, outcome and provision described through an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHC). The vast majority of children and young people accessed mainstream nurseries, schools or colleges and needs were met through enhanced resources from the local authority or health services and/or through schools funding. At the January 2018 count 674 (January 2018) children or young people attended a designated special school. Of the 674 in special settings 103 were in non-maintained, independent special schools of which only eight attended as residential placements due to special educational needs. A range of services in Stockport were key to ensuring the continued development of mainstream settings and schools to support children and young people with SEND.

For all pupils who attended a special school the needs, outcomes and provision required to meet need had been agreed with parents and the child/ young person (where possible) following a detailed needs assessment process. For those pupils who required a special school place this had been defined in the EHC plan and should an appropriate place not be available in Stockport then a placement would be identified at a non-maintained, independent or out of borough special school. All maintained special schools in Stockport were Ofsted registered as at least ‘Good’ and the majority being described as ‘Outstanding’. Temporary solutions to increasing demand for all these schools had been created but a more permanent solution had been sought through this proposal to build.

The new school would cater for the same population as the current school, i.e. primary age with severe and complex special educational needs. All these pupils had significant learning difficulties which may be combined with other difficulties, including social and communication, physical needs, sensory needs or medical difficulties. All these children required high levels of adult support, a personalised curriculum, specialist teaching, equipment and resources and high levels of input from health services. These specialist schools provided a wide range of opportunities for children as well as providing additional support for parents.

This proposal aimed to ensure sufficient local provision for the most vulnerable children so that they could access high quality education within the Stockport community. It was proposed that Lisburne School, which was a local authority maintained  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

To consider whether it is in the public to exclude the public during consideration of the following agenda items which contain information “not for publication” and to consider any representations received to the notice of the intention to consider exempt information at this meeting.

At the time of publication no representations have been received.

RESOLVED – That in order to prevent the disclosure of information which was not for publication relating to the financial or business affairs of the any particular person (including the authority), the disclosure of which would not be in the public interest, would not be fair and would be in breach of Data Protection principles, the public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the ‘not for publication’ appendix to agenda item 10 ‘Sale of the former Booth Street Depot’ in the event that the appendix was discussed.

To consider a report of the Children & Families Scrutiny Committee.

The report outlines the findings and recommendations of arising from the Scrutiny Review about provision for 14-19 year olds in local open space. The report is presented to the Cabinet for consideration following approval by the Children and Families Scrutiny Committee on 11 April 2018.

The Cabinet is invited to receive the final report and request that officers prepare a response to the detailed recommendations contained therein for consideration at a future Cabinet Meeting.

Officer contact: Stephen Fox, 0161-474-3206, Stephen.fox@stockport.gov.uk

A report of the Children and Families Scrutiny Committee was submitted (copies of which had been circulated) outlining the findings and recommendations of the final report arising from the Scrutiny Review ‘Open Space Provision for 14-19 Year Olds’. The report was presented to the Cabinet for consideration following approval by the Children and Families Scrutiny Committee on 11 April 2018.

RESOLVED – (1) That the Corporate Director for Place Management and Regeneration be requested to prepare a response to the ‘Open Space for 14-19 Year Olds’ Scrutiny Review and the recommendations contained therein for consideration by the Cabinet.

(2) That the gratitude of the Cabinet be recorded for the work undertaken by the Scrutiny Review Panel ‘Open Space Provision for 14-19 Year Olds’ and others involved in the Review.

To consider a report of the Corporate, Resource Management & Governance Scrutiny Committee.

The report will set out the findings and recommendations of the Scrutiny Committee following the completion of the Review Panel’s investigation into how to optimise the relationship between the Council’s scrutiny arrangements and the Greater Manchester Combined Authority and its scrutiny committees.

Officer Contact: Jonathan Vali, 0161 474 3201, jonathan.vali@stockport.gov.uk

The Chair of the Corporate, Resource Management and Governance Scrutiny Committee (Councillor John McGahan) attended the meeting to present the final report of the Scrutiny Review ‘How Scrutiny in Stockport interacts with Scrutiny at AGMA/GMCA level’ (copies of which had been circulated) and to answer questions from Cabinet Members.

RESOLVED – (1) That the report and recommendations in Appendix 1 to the Scrutiny Review ‘How Scrutiny in Stockport interacts with Scrutiny at AGMA/GMCA level’ be referred to the appropriate individuals and organisations for their comments, and the outcomes reported back to the Corporate, Resource Management and Governance Scrutiny Committee and to the Cabinet for consideration.

(2) That the gratitude of the Cabinet be recorded for the work undertaken by the Scrutiny Review Panel ‘How Scrutiny in Stockport interacts with Scrutiny at AGMA/GMCA level’ and others involved in the Review.

To consider a report of the Cabinet Member for Education.

The report outlines the challenges the Council faces in relation to placements of pupils with SEND.

It considers a series of options and concludes with a business case for the preferred option which is to expand, rebuild and relocate Lisburne School, and undertake the necessary public consultations.

The Cabinet is invited to:-

·             approve development of the proposal for an expanded and re-built Lisburne School on an alternative site subject to consultation in line with School Organisation Regulations;

·             approve the funding model for the proposal in line with the financial evaluation provided in Section 5.

Officer contact: Phil Beswick, 0161-474-3832, phil.beswick@stockport.gov.uk

The Cabinet Member for Education submitted a report (copies of which had been circulated) outlining the challenges that the Council faced in relation to the placement of pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), considered a series of options and concluded with a business case for the preferred option which was to expand, rebuild and relocate Lisburne School, and undertake the necessary public consultations.

The new building would bring increased capacity and it would reduce the transportation of pupils with SEND to expensive, independent special school placements. The investment would be supported by the Special Provision Capital Fund, the ring fencing of any capital receipts from the sale of land, and corporate borrowing. The cost of corporate borrowing would be funded through cost avoidance from the transport budgets.

Cabinet Members praised the extensive amount of work which had gone into arriving at this solution to the operational and financial challenges faced by the Council as the number of pupils who required special educational need places expanded beyond the current capacity.

RESOLVED – (1) That the development of the proposal for an expanded and re-built Lisburne School on an alternative site be approved, subject to consultation in line with School Organisation Regulations.

(2) That the funding model for the proposal, in line with the financial evaluation provided in Section 5 of the report, be approved.

To consider a joint report of the Cabinet Members for Communities & Housing and for Economy & Regeneration.

This purpose of this report is to accelerate Brownfield First delivery in relation to a number of development opportunities to the west of the town centre including Weir Mill and sites within the Rail Station Masterplan.

The approach set out in this report relates to the use of tools and powers at the Council’s disposal and is consistent with the Brownfield First approach and the emerging Town Centre Living Development Framework and Town Centre Living Scrutiny Review.

The report also seeks to gain resolution to use Compulsory Purchase powers, if required, for the delivery of key schemes within the area including Weir Mill.

The Cabinet is recommended to:-

·         resolve to make full use of the various tools available to the Council to support the unlocking of the Town Centre West sites.

·         approve the use of Compulsory Purchase powers, if required, for the delivery of key schemes within the Town Centre West Residential area including Weir Mill to secure the HIF funding.

·         delegate responsibility to the Corporate Director for Place Management & Regeneration in consultation with the Portfolio Holders for Economy & Regeneration and Housing and Communities to utilise powers of the Council in relation to CPO and unlocking Brownfield delivery as outlined in this report.

Officer contact: Paul Richards, 0161-474-2940, paul.richards@stockport.gov.uk

A joint report of the Cabinet Members for Communities & Housing and for Economy and Regeneration was submitted (copies of which had been circulated) setting out a proposal to accelerate Brownfield First delivery in relation to a number of development opportunities to the west of the town centre including Weir Mill and sites within the Rail Station Masterplan.

The approach set out in the report related to the use of tools and powers at the Council’s disposal and was consistent with the Brownfield First approach and the emerging Town Centre Living Development Framework and Town Centre Living Scrutiny Review.

The report also sought approval to use Compulsory Purchase powers, if required, for the delivery of key schemes within the area including Weir Mill.

Cabinet Members emphasised the need to take account of the people who already lived in the town centre, the amenities and greenspace available to them and the need to ensure that the development did not adversely impact upon them. The need to adhere to quality standards for the development was also of paramount importance.

RESOLVED – (1) That approval be given to make full use of the various tools available to the Council to support the unlocking of the Town Centre West sites.

(2) That approval be given to the use of Compulsory Purchase powers, if required, for the delivery of key schemes within the Town Centre West Residential area, including Weir Mill, to secure the Housing Infrastructure Fund (HIF) funding.

(3) That authority be delegated to the Corporate Director for Place Management & Regeneration, in consultation with the Portfolio Holders for Economy & Regeneration and Communities & Housing, to utilise powers of the Council in relation to Compulsory Purchase Orders and unlocking Brownfield delivery, as outlined in the report.

(4) That the Chairs of the Corporate, Resource Management & Governance Scrutiny Committee and the Planning and Highways Regulation Committee be consulted on the proposals.

To consider a report of Cabinet Member for Reform & Governance.

(note: the report includes information ‘not for publication’ in its appendix that has been circulated to cabinet members only)

The report sets out a proposal to dispose of the former Booth Street Council depot to Stockport Homes for residential development to be delivered by the Viaduct Housing Partnership.

The Cabinet is recommended to:-

•      approve a the sale of the land as shown in on the attached plan to Stockport Homes Ltd for a consideration of £1.2M less any abnormal costs;

•      authorise the Head of Legal and Democratic Governance to attend to the legal formalities.    

Officer contact: Charlotte Cordingley, 0161 474 4240, charlotte.cordingley@stockport.gov.uk

The Cabinet Member for Reform & Governance submitted a report (copies of which had been circulated) setting out a proposal to dispose of the former Booth Street Council depot to Stockport Homes for residential development to be delivered by the Viaduct Housing Partnership.

The report stated that having regard to the independent valuation of the site and the increased levels of affordable housing provision made by the proposed scheme, that the offer was reflective of the market value of this site for the proposed use.

RESOLVED – (1) That approval be given to the sale of the land, as shown in the plan attached to the report, to Stockport Homes Ltd for a consideration of £1.2M, less any abnormal costs.

(2) That the Head of Legal and Democratic Governance be authorised to attend to the legal formalities.

To consider a report of the Cabinet Member for Health.

The Stockport Health and Wellbeing Board has a statutory duty to publish a Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment (PNA) every three years. The Stockport PNA 2018 has been formally consulted upon and is now ready for publication.

The Cabinet is asked to note findings and publication of the Stockport PNA 2018.

Officer contact Eleanor Banister, 0161 474 2447, eleanor.banister@stockport.gov.uk

The Cabinet Member for Health submitted a report (copies of which had been circulated) setting out the Stockport Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment 2018 which the Stockport Health and Wellbeing Board had a statutory duty to publish every three years.

The need for more pharmacies in the town centre as town centre living expanded, the general change to people’s working patterns and the growth of online pharmacies were issues which would affect the assessment in future years and would continue to be monitored.

RESOLVED – That the findings and publication of the Stockport PNA 2018 be noted.

On:-

(a)  Matters (if any) referred to the Cabinet Meeting

(b)  Any called-in Cabinet Executive Decisions

There were none to consider.