No disclosures of interest in matters under consideration were received.

There were no appeals submitted by the public to review decisions to restrict documents.

The following referrals to the Executive were considered:

Regeneration & Environment O&S Ctte – 22 June 2022

(i)         FOOD SAFETY IN THE BRADFORD DISTRICT

Resolved: -

That the Executive be requested to consider the implications of City of Culture and the increase in the number of food services businesses on the workforce issues within the Environmental Health Food Safety Service and that consideration also be given to supporting the apprenticeship scheme for this service.

Action: Strategic Director, Health and Wellbeing

Note: In receiving the above recommendation the Leader stated that the request will be considered as part of the 2023/2024 budget setting process.

Action: Strategic Director Health and Wellbeing / Director of Finance

Keighley Area Committee on Thursday, 23 June 2022

 (ii)       STEETON WITH EASTBURN - PETITION REGARDING PERMIT   PARKING SCHEME

Resolved –

1.    That, in light of the issues raised by residents in Steeton with Eastburn, the Executive be requested to amend the Parking Policy to increase the number of visitors permitted to park at any one time.

2.    That a sum of £7,000 be allocated from devolved budgets to allow the amendment of the Traffic Regulation Order permitting parking in Steeton with Eastburn.

3.    That the Strategic Director, Place, be requested to review the existing Traffic Regulation Order to increase the hours of permitted parking in the Steeton with Eastburn parking scheme. 

ACTION: Strategic Director, Place

Note: In receiving the above recommendation the Leader stated that the matter be referred to officers within the Parking and Highways Service to look at.

Action: Assistant Director Transportation Design and Planning.

(Councillor Hinchcliffe)

The Director of Finance will submit a report (Document “H”) which provides Members with an update on the year-end financial position of the Council for 2021-22.

It outlines the revenue and capital budgets and the year-end financial position based on information at the end of March 2022. It states the Council’s current balances and reserves and school balances. 

Recommended –

That the Executive note the contents of this report and the actions taken to manage the issues highlighted.

Overview and Scrutiny Committee: Corporate

(Andrew Cross - 07870 386523)

The Director of Finance submitted a report (Document “H”) which provided Members with an update on the year-end financial position of the Council for 2021-22.

The report outlined the revenue and capital budgets and the year-end financial position based on information at the end of March 2022. It also stated the Council’s current balances and reserves and school balances. 

The Director stated that the Council balanced the £385.4m net revenue budget in 2021-22. This was after taking account of the c£27m of Covid related funding that’s been carried forward from 2020-21, and c£58m of additional Covid related funding that was received in 2021-22.  The Executive also approved £4m of additional reserve use to fund some Covid related investments in the Qtr 1 Finance Position Statement. At year end, only £3.5m of this was required to be drawn down to balance the budget.

Although the Council balanced its budget overall, there were however some significant overspends in a number of service areas.  Most notably, Children’s Services overspent by £15.5m due largely to agency staffing costs and increased Child Looked After Placements, both of which have increased significantly in recent years. 

The Leader thanked officers in Finance and in the Council’s Revenues and Benefits Service for their work in ensuring and delivering a balanced budget and the work done during the pandemic to support businesses in the district.  She added that although the use of reserves was not ideal, the demand for services was increasing and the Government had not factored the continuing impacts of covid. Significant financial challenges remained for Local Government in the context of increasing costs.

In response to a question from an opposition group Councillor regarding the staffing situation in a number of service areas, it was stressed that there had been some pressures in recruiting to specialist roles, however efforts were ongoing to fill these posts.

Resolved –

That the contents of Document “H” and the actions taken to manage the issues highlighted be noted.

ACTION: No Action

Overview and Scrutiny Committee: Corporate

The Director of Finance will submit a report (Document “I”) which provides Members with an update on the forecast year-end financial position of the Council for 2022-23.

It outlines the revenue and capital budgets and the year-end financial position based on information at the end of May 2022. It states the Council’s current balances and reserves and school balances. 

Recommended –

That the Executive

(1)       Note the contents of this report and the actions taken to manage the issues highlighted.

(2)       Approve the following capital expenditure schemes as outlined in section 11.8 and 11.9. to Document “I”:

• £0.23m for new enforcement camera equipment. This will be funded by invest to save borrowing.

• £1.427m additional budget for the completion of Highways works. This will be funded by WYCA grant and £0.28m Council borrowing.

• £0.085m to improve the process of managing medicines in care homes. This will be funded by the General Contingency Budget. 

• £0.213m to complete essential works at the Beckfield Resource Centre. This will be funded by the General Contingency Budget. 

• £6.8m to continue with the core IT Refresh Programme. This capital project has previously been approved and was held as a ‘reserve’ scheme pending the final case being presented.

• £0.25m for ensuring that the appropriate charging infrastructure is in place to support the change in the Council fleet to electric vehicles. This will be funded by a mixture of invest to save and corporate borrowing.

Overview and Scrutiny Committee: Corporate

(Andrew Cross - 07870 386523)

The Director of Finance submitted a report (Document “I”) which provided Members with an update on the forecast year-end financial position of the Council for 2022-23.

It outlined the revenue and capital budgets and the year-end financial position based on information at the end of May 2022. It also stated the Council’s current balances and reserves and school balances. 

Based on a projection at the May 28th 2022, the Council is forecasted to overspend the £388.5m net revenue budget by £55.9m in 2022-23.

c£20m of this is due to the expected extraordinary impact of inflation above budgeted levels.

The Council approved a budget increase for inflation of c£22m for 2022-23, to pay for a 2% pay award; the impact of National Insurance increases, National Living Wage increases, contract price inflation based on CPI inflation of 4% and Energy price inflation 5%.

The largest forecast overspend is c£33m in Children’s Services as a result of continuing increases in agency staffing costs and increased Child Looked After Placements, both of which have increased very significantly in recent years.

The Department of Place also has a number of pressures and is forecast to overspend by £8.9m, with the main issues being Street lighting energy costs (£3.7m), and a £2.4m forecast overspend in Waste Services due in part to higher waste tonnages and recycling income losses which were supported by Covid funding in 2021-22 that has now ceased (£1.2m), and inflationary cost increases above those budgeted (£1.2m). Additionally, there are undelivered savings in Sport and Culture, and on-going pressures in Housing and Markets amongst others.

The Leader stated that this was a challenging report for the Council and that Services were stretched across a number of areas; in particular, the pressures in Children’s and Adults Social Care were acute and reforms were crucial as a way out of the current situation.

The Children’s and Family Portfolio Holder added that despite the additional funding added to the Budget; the significant rise in the cost of placements for Looked After Children and the reduction in the number of foster carers, as well as the continuing reliance in agency staff, meant cost pressures remained.

The cost in providing specialist placements were significant, depending on need, although there had been a concerted effort to try and provide more care in residential settings this had not always been possible and ultimately the needs dictated the type of setting suitable for an individual.

The Leader acknowledged that the cost of specialist provision had risen significantly and this was a national issue, which Government had to address.  In relation to Adult Social Care she added that the Council was working closely with our NHS partners to ensure that more and more people stayed and received care in their own homes for longer.

The Regeneration, Planning and Transport Portfolio Holder stated that the replacement of street lighting to more energy efficient units was progressing well and that the programme would result in significant savings both in terms energy use and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 135.

The Chief Executive will submit a report (Document “J”) which provides a summary of the Council’s overall achievements in the Financial year 2021/2022. Alongside this is an overview of performance against the Council’s Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for 2021/2022. This overview focuses on measures where there has been new, comparable data since the update provided at December’s Executive Committee.

Recommended –

That the baseline of the key performance indicators in the 2021/25 Council Plan be noted.

Overview and Scrutiny Committee: Corporate

(Ruth Davison - 01274 432111)

The Chief Executive submitted a report (Document “J”) which provided a summary of the Council’s overall achievements in the Financial year 2021/2022.  Alongside this was an overview of performance against the Council’s Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for 2021/2022. This overview focused on measures where there has been new, comparable data since the update provided at December’s Executive Committee.

A detailed overview of the key performance indicators and achievements for 2021/2022 was provided along with those areas that required improvement.

The Leader in welcoming the report, alluded to the significant achievements to date, however inflationary cost pressures and the cost of living crisis would have a significant impact on our performance going forward.

Portfolio Holders acknowledged the achievements in their respective service areas. 

In the area of school absenteeism, the Strategic Director Children’s Services stated that some progress had been made in stemming the tide, and although it was early days the rate of improvement was an encouraging one.

Resolved –

That the baseline of the key performance indicators in the 2021/25 Council Plan be noted.

ACTION: No Action

Overview and Scrutiny Committee: Corporate

(Councillor I Khan)

The Strategic Director Children’s Services will submit a report (Document “K”) which provides the Executive with an update on the SEND Inspection and proposed changes to SEND Services following the Ofsted Inspection

Recommended –

(1)       The Executive to note the contends of the report and the SEND            letter.

(2)       The local authority and CCG/ICS need to consider if further       financial investing is required to support the delivery of the five    written statement of action areas in preparation for the next area     inspection.

(3)       Expenditure retreating to services delivered by the council it is            recommended that power are delegated to the Executive to            approve appropriate levels of funding. To support the delivery          services for children with SEND.

Overview & Scrutiny Committee:  Children’s Services

(Stu Barrat - 01274 4341175)

The Strategic Director Children’s Services submitted a report (Document “K”) which provided the Executive with an update on the SEND Inspection and proposed changes to SEND Services following the Ofsted Inspection.

The SEND Inspection was undertaken by Ofsted and the CQC on the 7th March 2022 to the 11th March 2022.  Bradford was identified with 12 service areas being identified as strengths, compared to 18 areas for development that have led to the generation of five areas that will require a Written Statement of Action (WSOA). 

The Education, Employment and Skills Portfolio Holder thanked all parties who had had an input and provided feedback on SEND provision, in particularly parents feedback was central to this. He added that a number of partners were involved in SEND provision, and it was important that they all refocussed their energies in undertaking the improvement journey. That parents recognised action needed to be taken and that he was happy to meet with the Parents’ Forum on the issues of importance.

The main opposition group leader stated that she welcomed the hundreds of parents that had provided feedback, however lack of communication had been cited as a big issue by parents, and there was an opportunity through the Action Plan to make the necessary improvements.

The Portfolio Holder stressed that providing excellent services was the primary focus in the improvement journey and good dialogue and engagement with service users were central to this.

Resolved –

(1)      That the contents of Document “K” and the SEND letter be noted.

(2)      The local authority and CCG/ICS need to consider if further        financial investment is required to support the delivery of the five    written statement of action areas in preparation for the next area     inspection.

(3)       Expenditure related to services delivered by the council it is                recommended that power be delegated to the Executive to approve appropriate levels of funding. To support the delivery          services for children with SEND.

ACTION: Strategic Director Children’s Services

Overview & Scrutiny Committee:  Children’s Services

The Strategic Director Place will submit a report (Document “M”) which provides an overview of the current work in Bradford and the wider West Yorkshire region on the Vision Zero 2040 Strategy.  The Strategy which is being progressed by the Combined Authority at present is designed to allow partner agencies to sign up to a joint vision in removing fatal and serious injuries from the road network.  The ask of the Executive is to adopt the Principality of the Vision Zero Strategy and progress a local Bradford District Strategy and stakeholder consultation.

Recommended –

(1)       That the Executive note the content of the report;

(2)       That the Executive endorse and adopt Vision Zero formally in   Bradford.

(3)       That the Executive agree to the development of a Vision Zero    Strategy for Bradford referencing and underpinning the West         Yorkshire Vision Zero Strategy.

(4)       That the Executive agrees the design and development of          stakeholder events to develop a whole systems approach to            casualty prevention.

Overview and Scrutiny Committee:  Regeneration & Environment

(Simon D’Vali - 01535 618375)

The Strategic Director Place submitted a report (Document “M”) which provided an overview of the current work in Bradford and the wider West Yorkshire region on the Vision Zero 2040 Strategy.  The Strategy which is being progressed by the Combined Authority at present is designed to allow partner agencies to sign up to a joint vision in removing fatal and serious injuries from the road network.  The ask of the Executive was to adopt the Principality of the Vision Zero Strategy and progress a local Bradford District Strategy and stakeholder consultation.

It was stated that in the first three months from January to March, there have been 64 recorded killed and serious injuries on Bradford roads. Not taking into account the 2021 (Pandemic year), this is the highest level of actual recorded KSIs in the last twenty years.  Work is currently being progressed to understand the reason for this sudden uplift. 

With Vision Zero, the council is setting out the principles of a whole systems approach to Safer Roads utilising multi-disciplinary partnership work and data sharing that reduces serious injury and death on the road network with the ultimate aim of removal of road death.

Since its inception in 1995 in Sweden, Vision Zero had revolutionised conventional thinking around road safety. The basic starting point for Vision Zero is from an ethical standpoint that no-one should be killed or suffer lifelong injury in a road traffic incident. According to Vision Zero the main problem is not that accidents occur it is instead whether the accidents lead to death or serious injury. Vision Zero stresses the fact that the road transport system is an entity in which the components such as roads, vehicles and users must be made to interact so that safety can be guaranteed.

The Deputy Mayor of West Yorkshire was present at the meeting and stated that the Vision Zero Board acknowledged the work being done across West Yorkshire around improving road safety and reducing casualties and that this new approach aimed to reinforce and build on measures that would improve driver behaviour, enforcement and ultimately reduced casualties.

The Leader in welcoming the initiative, stressed the need to tackle dangerous driving which had blighted many communities in the district.

The Portfolio Holder stated that Vision Zero was part of whole systems approach, which included extending 20mph zones.

An opposition group Councillor was present at the meeting and stated that speeding late at night was a particular issue that needed tackling and questioned the road safety work being undertaken in schools and the road safety budget pertaining to Area Committees.  In response it was stated that the criteria used for the installation of speed camera was currently quite rigid and although we were awaiting an outcome of a review on the issue, there was also lobbying taking place to create our own local guidelines; in terms of road safety education in schools, the schools with the highest casualty figures were being targeted, however the offer was also available to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 138.

The Council has adopted the Bradford Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL), which has now been in place and applies to new development since July 2017.

The Strategic Director Place will submit a report (Document “L”) which relates to the investment of the CIL Infrastructure Fund and seeks Executive approval for the investment of the Fund collected 1^st April 2021 to 31^st March 2022.

Recommended –

(1)       That the Executive agree the allocation of the CIL Infrastructure Fund as set out in Tables 2 and 3 to Document “L” (up to March 2022)be used to contribute to education, recreation and open space, active travel, habitat mitigation, and libraries.

(2)       That the decision on the spend of the Strategic CIL Pot in Table 1 and Table 2 to Document “L” be delegated to the Strategic Director (Place) in consultation with the Portfolio holder.

(3)       That the Strategic Director (Place) delegates to the Assistant Director of Planning Transportation and Highways to liaise with other Assistant Directors and Portfolio Holders to remind of the purpose of the Strategic CIL Pot and how the funds retained within it may be accessed to help deliver infrastructure projects.

Overview and Scrutiny Committee – Regeneration & Environment

(Michala Bartle - 01274 432522)

The Council had adopted the Bradford Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL), which had now been in place and applied to new development since July 2017.

The Strategic Director Place submitted a report (Document “L”) which related to the investment of the CIL Infrastructure Fund and sought Executive approval for the investment of the Fund collected 1^st April 2021 to 31^st March 2022.

The Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) was intended as a means of contributing to the funding of infrastructure required to support the delivery of the Local Plan, including the adopted Core Strategy and other Development Plan Documents. It replaces part of the system of Planning Obligations (S106 Agreements), the scope of which has been restricted since 6 April 2015.

The report included a summary for the amount of CIL monies collected up to March 2022 and outlined recommendations for the allocation of monies from the Fund to infrastructure priorities to support growth.

In response to a question regarding spend, it was stated that an amount was top sliced for meeting identified strategic objectives, however it was stressed that CIL money alone could not adequately cover the plethora of funding requests across the district, unless Government funding was forthcoming.

Resolved –

(1)       That the allocation of the CIL Infrastructure Fund as set out in Tables 2 and 3 to Document “L” be agreed (up to March 2022) to be used to contribute to education, recreation and open space, active travel, habitat mitigation, and libraries.

(2)      That the decision on the spend of the Strategic CIL Pot in Table 1 and Table 2 to Document “L” be delegated to the Strategic Director (Place) in consultation with the Portfolio holder.

(3)      That the Strategic Director (Place) delegates to the Assistant Director of Planning Transportation and Highways to liaise with other Assistant Directors and Portfolio Holders to remind of the purpose of the Strategic CIL Pot and how the funds retained within it may be accessed to help deliver infrastructure projects.

ACTION: Strategic Director Place

Overview and Scrutiny Committee – Regeneration & Environment

As part of the Council-wide programme of ‘Strengthening Locality Working’, the Neighbourhood Service is working with other Council services and partner agencies, to develop five Locality Plans, one for each constituency that make up the Bradford District. 

The Strategic Director Place will submit a report (Document “N”) which sets out the Keighley Locality Plan, and the associated Ward Plans, for 2022-25.

Recommended –

(1)       The Executive is invited to comment on the Keighley Locality Plan 2022-25, as set out in Appendix A to Document “N”.

(2)       The Executive requests that the Keighley Area Co-ordinator, accompanied by the Chair of Keighley Area Committee, presents a progress report to the Executive in 12 months time, setting out the progress and achievements made for each of the priorities detailed in the Keighley Locality Plan 2022-25.

Overview and Scrutiny Committee: Health & Social Care

(Jonathan Hayes - 01535 618008)

As part of the Council-wide programme of ‘Strengthening Locality Working’, the Neighbourhood Service is working with other Council services and partner agencies, to develop five Locality Plans, one for each constituency that make up the Bradford District. 

The Strategic Director Place submitted a report (Document “N”) which set out the Keighley Locality Plan, and the associated Ward Plans, for 2022-25.

The Locality Plans was being developed in consultation with a wide variety of partners, community groups and residents with the aim of ensuring that the voices of all communities in the Area are heard. This has included specific targeting, to ensure the views of minority groups, and those whose voices are seldom heard, were engaged in the process.

The report presented the Keighley Locality Plan 2022-25 (Appendix A) which included a set of 18 locality-wide priorities and the 6 Ward Plans covering the Keighley Area. The priorities set out in the Locality Plan and the Ward Plans align with the six ‘priority outcome areas’ that make up the Council Plan 2021-25.

The Chair of the Keighley Area Committee was present at the meeting and stated that some excellent work had been done, and although the plan was a challenging one, with high ambitions, it was a starting point.

The Keighley Area Committee had approved the Keighley Locality Plan 2022-25 at its meeting held on 23 June 2022.

The Leader stressed that the Council’s ambition for Keighley were high and inward investment in the form of the Towns Fund were greatly received.

Resolved –

(1)      The Executive commented on the Keighley Locality Plan 2022-25, as set out in Appendix A to Document “N”.

(2)      The Executive requests that the Keighley Area Co-ordinator, accompanied by the Chair of Keighley Area Committee, presents a progress report to the Executive in 12 months’ time, setting out the progress and achievements made for each of the priorities detailed in the Keighley Locality Plan 2022-25.

ACTION: Strategic Director Place

Keighley Overview and Scrutiny Committee: Health & Social Care

To receive the minutes of the meeting(s) of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority held on 17 March 2022 (Link to Minutes).