No disclosures of interest in matters under consideration were received.

Legislation requires each Billing Authority to consider, annually, whether it wishes to revise its Council Tax Reduction scheme. 

The report of the Finance Director (Document “Y”) explores options to revise or retain the current scheme; which may, to a greater or lesser extent, impact on the funding gap forecast in the Medium Term Financial Strategy.

Executive is asked to consider the report and to make a Decision to maintain the current scheme, or alternatively, to make provision for a change to the scheme for 2017/18.

Recommended –

That Executive

(1)          instructs the Director of Finance to continue operating the Council Tax Reduction scheme, without change, for 2017/18 (Option 1 as set out in Document “Y”)

(2)          requests that the Director of Finance bring a report detailing the options for a new model of Council Tax Support, including an analysis of the impact on the Medium Term Financial Strategy, within the next twelve months

(Corporate Overview & Scrutiny Committee)       

(Martin Stubbs - 01274 432056)

Legislation required each Billing Authority to consider, annually, whether it wished to revise its Council Tax Reduction scheme.  The report of the Finance Director (Document “Y”) explored options to revise or retain the current scheme; which may, to a greater or lesser extent, impact on the funding gap forecast in the Medium Term Financial Strategy.

Executive was asked to consider the report and to make a Decision to maintain the current scheme, or alternatively, to make provision for a change to the scheme for 2017/18.

The Director of Finance summarised the options and implications of the proposals as contained in the report.  The Leader explained that, in recent times amendments had been made to the Council Tax Reduction Scheme and that no further changes were proposed at that time.

Resolved –

(1)          That the Director of Finance be instructed to continue operating the Council Tax Reduction scheme, without change, for 2017/18 (Option 1 as set out in Document “Y”).

(2)          That the Director of Finance be requested to submit a report detailing the options for a new model of Council Tax Support, including an analysis of the impact on the Medium Term Financial Strategy, within the next twelve months.

Action:            Director of Finance

Overview & Scrutiny Committee:    Corporate     

(Martin Stubbs - 01274 432056)

The Council is in the process of preparing a new Local Plan which will replace the current statutory development plan for Bradford District (the Replacement Unitary Development Plan) which was adopted in 2005.

The first of the Local Plan documents is the Core Strategy which sets out the strategic approach to managing development and change to 2030.  It was submitted for Examination in December 2014 with Hearings held in March 2015. Proposed modifications were published in November 2015 and resumed hearings held in May 2016.

The Council has now received the Inspector’s final Report and recommendations. The Inspector has considered all the matters before him including the plan, the evidence underpinning it, and the objections and representations made and the published modifications. In his report he concludes that the Plan can be considered to be legally compliant and sound, providing a limited set of Main Modifications are made to the plan, as submitted.

The purpose of the report of the Strategic Director Regeneration (Document “Z”) is for the Executive to note the contents of the Inspector’s report and to seek authority to proceed to Full Council to request the legal adoption of the modified Core Strategy in line with the Inspector’s recommendation.

Recommended –

(1)       The Executive is recommended to note the contents of Document “Z” and contents of the Inspector’s Report and recommend that Full Council formally adopt the Core Strategy as approved by Full Council on December 2013 and submitted to the government for examination with the Main Modifications contained in Appendix 1, as proposed by the Inspector pursuant to Section 23 of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004.

(2)       That the Assistant Director (Planning Transportation and Highways) in consultation with the relevant Portfolio Holder be authorised to make other minor amendments of redrafting or of a similar nature as may be necessary prior to formal publication.

The Council was in the process of preparing a new Local Plan which would replace the current statutory development plan for Bradford District (the Replacement Unitary Development Plan) which was adopted in 2005.

The first of the Local Plan documents was the Core Strategy which set out the strategic approach to managing development and change to 2030.  It was submitted for Examination in December 2014 with Hearings held in March 2015. Proposed modifications were published in November 2015 and resumed hearings held in May 2016.

The Council had received the Inspector’s final Report and recommendations. The Inspector had considered all the matters before him including the plan, the evidence underpinning it, and the objections and representations made and the published modifications. In his report he concluded that the Plan could be considered to be legally compliant and sound, providing a limited set of Main Modifications were made to the plan, as submitted.

The purpose of the report of the Strategic Director Regeneration (Document “Z”) was for the Executive to note the contents of the Inspector’s report and to seek authority to proceed to Full Council to request the legal adoption of the modified Core Strategy in line with the Inspector’s recommendation.

The City Solicitor reported that a temporary Holding Direction had been received from the Department of Communities and Local Government under S21A of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004.  The Direction was made by Gavin Barwell MP Minister of State for Housing and Planning following a request from Philip Davies MP.  As a result of the Direction the Executive was not able to consider this item.

The Leader expressed concern at the actions of the MP for Shipley in requesting the holding direction as he had already had the opportunity to make recommendations on the Core Strategy and she would take up her concerns with the government.

The Regeneration, Planning & Transport Portfolio Holder stressed that the actions of the Local MP would not stop houses being built but would only hinder the Council in ensuring that houses were built in appropriate places.  He added that without a Core Strategy the green belt could not be protected from inappropriate development.  He went on to state that the MP wanted no development of the green belt until all brown field sites were developed which he stressed was illegal and confirmed that the Planning Inspector had agreed with the Council in this regard.  He added his concerns that the actions in issuing a Holding Direction could delay the Bradford City Centre and the Shipley and Canal Road Development Plans and that it increased the possibility of poor quality development in the MP’s own constituency.

The Health and Wellbeing Portfolio Holder referred to the Housing and Planning Act 2016 in accordance with which the Secretary of State would intervene if the Local authority did not have a Core Strategy in place.  She stressed the authority’s desire to prioritise building on brown field sites.  She emphasised that there had been two  ...  view the full minutes text for item 41.

The original review of the effectiveness of current arrangements to support school improvement in Bradford was completed in September 2014 by Professor David Woods.  An interim report on progress made towards meeting the recommendations form the initial report was provided to the Committee in September 2015.

The report of the Deputy Director of Children’s Services (Document “AA”) is the final part of the reporting cycle: reviewing the progress made towards meeting the outstanding recommendations from the initial report.  The report also sets out the next steps in Bradford’s school improvement journey, recognising where achievements have been made and where further work is required.

Recommended -

(1)       That it be noted that, with the completion of the recommendations by Professor Woods this is the final report on his paper.

(2)       That further developments regarding school improvement will be reported through the Education Improvement Strategic Board and the Education Standards report.

(Children’s Services Overview & Scrutiny Committee)

                                                                                    (Judith Kirk – 01274 431078)

The original review of the effectiveness of current arrangements to support school improvement in Bradford was completed in September 2014 by Professor David Woods.  An interim report on progress made towards meeting the recommendations form the initial report was provided to the Committee in September 2015.

The report of the Deputy Director of Children’s Services (Document “AA”) was the final part of the reporting cycle: reviewing the progress made towards meeting the outstanding recommendations from the initial report.  The report also set out the next steps in Bradford’s school improvement journey, recognising where achievements had been made and where further work was required.

The Education, Employment and Skills Portfolio Holder commended the positive report and the fact that all of the recommendations of Professor Woods had been implemented.  He stressed however that this was not the end of the process but it gave schools a sound base to move on and he was confident that an improvement will be seen in educational standards.

The Leader stressed that education remained a key priority for the district and that the emphasis should be on raising standards regardless of the school setting that the children were in.

The Strategic Director of Children’s Services stressed that every school and every child was in the authority’s line of sight and that real improvements had been made in early years foundation Key stages 1 and 2.

The Deputy Director of Children’s Services referred to the continued journey of improvement and raising standards across the board.  She highlighted the improvement in standards in early years Key stage1.  She reported that a cultural shift had taken place and that the authority had strong relationships with schools in all sectors and worked well with the Department of Education and the Regional Schools Commissioner.  She added that improved results were starting to be seen and that they would continue to improve moving forward.

The head teacher of Carlton Bolling College attended the meeting and outlined the school’s improvement journey from 2013-2016.  He set out the issues faced by the school in 2013, the foundations for success and the impact on results, attendance, teaching, finance, staff training, safeguarding, and sport. He concluded by outlining future developments at the school. 

The Leader thanked the staff team at Carlton Bolling for the  improvements that had taken place and continued to take place at the school.

The Education, Employment and Skills Portfolio Holder noted the a clear focus on good discipline and behaviour and concentrating on teaching and learning at the school was having demonstrable results.

The Independent Chair of the Education Improvement Strategy Board attended the meeting and explained that the Board met five times a year and had a membership across all phases and included Councillors and senior officers and the Regional Schools Commissioner.  The purpose of the Board was to hold the authority to account in meeting key priorities.  Evidence had been taken from case studies, features of Professor Woods report had been implemented and were beginning to bear  ...  view the full minutes text for item 42.

The following report has not been included on the published forward plan as an issue for consideration. However due to the increasing number of Academy conversions and to enable a policy to be drawn up without delay this report has been drafted as a matter of urgency.  As it is impractical to defer the decision until it has been included in the published Forward Plan the report is submitted in accordance with paragraph 10 of the Executive Procedure Rules set out in the Council’s Constitution.

The following report had not been included on the published forward plan as an issue for consideration. However due to the increasing number of academy conversions and to enable a policy to be drawn up without delay this report has been drafted as a matter of urgency.  As it is impractical to defer the decision until it has been included in the published Forward Plan the report was submitted in accordance with paragraph 10 of the Executive Procedure Rules set out in the Council’s Constitution.

The number of maintained schools in the district converting to academies is rising and capacity for Council services such as Human Resources, Estates and Legal are extremely stretched. As a result, it is proposed that the Authority implements a charging policy.  The  Director of Children’s Services will present Document “AB” requesting that approval be given to introduce a charging policy for Academy conversions.

Recommended -

(1)       That option b contained in Document “AB” is approved, to allow the introduction of a charging policy for Academy Conversions.

(2)       That the Strategic Director, Children’s Services is instructed to develop and implement a charging policy in consultation with the City Solicitor, the Director of Finance and the Portfolio Holder for Education, Employment and Skills.

(Children’s Services Overview & Scrutiny Committee)

                                                                        (Terry Davis - 01274 437170)

The number of maintained schools in the district converting to academies was rising and capacity for Council services such as Human Resources, Estates and Legal were extremely stretched. As a result, it was proposed that the Authority implement a charging policy.  The  Director of Children’s Services  presented Document “AB” requesting that approval be given to introduce a charging policy for academy conversions.

The Education, Employment and Skills Portfolio Holder commended the proposal to charge schools for the work associated with academy conversion and noted that other authorities already levied a charge.

The Deputy Director of Children’s Services added that there were a large number of conversions in the system and that officers would look at good practice in other authorities in developing a charging policy. 

Resolved -

(1)       That option b contained in Document “AB” be approved, to allow the introduction of a charging policy for Academy Conversions.

(2)       That the Strategic Director, Children’s Services be instructed to develop and implement a charging policy in consultation with the City Solicitor, the Director of Finance and the Portfolio Holder for Education, Employment and Skills.

Action:            Strategic Director, Children’s Services/City Solicitor/Director of Finance

Overview & Scrutiny Committee:    Children’s Services