Agenda and minutes

There were no disclosable pecuniary interests.

(a)  To agree the minutes from the meeting of Cabinet on 27^th August 2024

(b)  Matters arising

The minutes of the meeting held on 27^th August 2024 were agreed and signed as a true record. There were no matters arising.

Report of the Director of Public Health and Wellbeing

Cabinet considered a report of the Director of Public Health and Wellbeing that was also considered by Scrutiny Co-ordination Committee at its meeting on 25^th September 2024, which set out the progress made towards the One Coventry Plan. The One Coventry Plan Bi-Annual Performance Report April 2023-March 2024 was attached as an Appendix to the report.

The One Coventry approach helped to shape the way the Council worked with its partners to improve the city and improve people’s lives. It included the Council’s vision and priorities, new ways of working, and core areas of activity to deliver the One Coventry Plan objectives, key strategies, and approaches. A One Coventry approach put the needs of communities at the heart of the continued vision to improve the health and wellbeing of residents.

Historically, an annual performance report had set out the progress made towards the One Coventry Plan priorities. The last performance report was presented to all members in February 2024, and it was agreed that performance reporting should be twice yearly going forward. This increased frequency was to provide members, partners and residents with timelier assurance that progress was being made towards the priorities in the One Coventry Plan, and an opportunity to understand more quickly if envisioned impact was not being realised and to review plans accordingly. The data within this report was from April 2023- March 2024 and the next annual report would include data for the year Oct 2023-Sept 2024 and presented in Jan 2025, repeating this bi-annual pattern going forward.

For each objective within the One Coventry Plan, the report set out the trends, actions taken, and performance metrics to provide an assessment of the progress made against previous years and to benchmark against other places. The report also included case studies to capture impacts that were less easy to measure numerically.

Cabinet considered a briefing note detailing Scrutiny Co-ordination Committee’s consideration of the report (their Minute 32/24 referred), which had been circulated, setting out the areas of discussion at their meeting, further areas assigned to Scrutiny, and their recommendations for Cabinet’s consideration. The Committee recommended that Cabinet agree the recommendations in the report.

RESOLVED that Cabinet:

1)  Approves the recommendations made by Scrutiny Co-ordination Committee.

2)  Approves the performance report.

Report of the Director of Law and Governance

Further to minute 9/24, Cabinet considered a report of the Director of Law and Governance, that had also been considered by Scrutiny Co-ordination Committee at their meeting on 25^th September 2024, which sought authority to create a new city-wide Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) as the previous Order had expired. Appendices to the report provided: the Proposed Draft Order; a Map showing the Area Covered by the Order; Responses from Key Partners; Consultation Responses; and an Equality Impact Assessment. 

The new PSPO had conditions within it to address the unauthorised use of offroad motorbikes and other specific mechanically propelled vehicles (MPV) in the city. It would also seek to control the drinking of alcohol in public spaces.

Under the Anti-Social Behaviour Crime and Policing Act 2014 local authorities must carry out a statutory consultation before implementing a PSPO. A period of public consultation took place between 22nd July and 19th August 2024.

Cabinet received a briefing note from Scrutiny Co-ordination Committee’s consideration of the report (their Minute 33/24 referred), which had been circulated, together with an Addendum to the report’s Appendix that related to Responses from Key Partners, headed ‘Consultation Response from the Police and Crime Commissioner for the West Midlands’, which had also been considered by Scrutiny Co-ordination Committee. The briefing note set out areas of discussion at their meeting, further areas assigned to Scrutiny, and the Committee’s recommendations for Cabinet’s consideration. The Committee recommended that Cabinet consider the additional information circulated in respect of the ‘Consultation Response from the Police and Crime Commissioner for the West Midlands’, and agree the recommendations in the report.

RESOLVED that Cabinet:

1)  Approves the recommendations from Scrutiny Co-ordination Committee following their consideration of the report at their meeting on 25th September 2024.

2)  Notes the results of the consultation, including the Consultation Response from the Police and Crime Commissioner for the West Midland, and grants the creation of a city-wide PSPO to commence from 2nd October 2024 for a period of three years.

3)  Requests that the operation of the PSPO should be subject to the oversight of Scrutiny Co-ordination Committee as appropriate, as with other PSPO’s.

Report of the Director of Childrens Services and Education

Cabinet considered a report of the Director of Childrens Services and Education, that would also be considered at the meeting of the Council on 15^th October 2024, which gave notification that the Coventry Youth Justice Service (CYJS) - Youth Justice Plan had been agreed and signed off by its Chair, the previous Interim Director of Childrens Services, and sought Council endorsement of the Plan. Appendices to the report provided: the Coventry Youth Justice Plan - 2023-25 Strategy – Update 2024; and an Equality Impact Assessment.

Youth Justice Services were established under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 with the principal aim being to prevent offending behaviour by children and young persons [s.37(1) Crime and Disorder Act 1998].  The Act imposed a duty on each local authority (with its statutory partners: Police, Health, and Probation) to ensure that adequate Youth Justice Services were available in the area. The key tasks of the service were:

•  Management and delivery of diversion work to children at risk of entering the youth justice system and children subject to an out of court disposal, community sentences, and a secure estate sentence

•  Servicing the Youth Court and Crown Courts (in terms of provision of the court team, Bail & Health Assessments, provision of Court Reports)

•  Parenting services and management of Parenting Orders

•  Victim services

The legislation also imposed a duty to complete and submit a Youth Justice Plan each year. The Youth Justice Board (YJB) provided a grant to the Service, outlined delivery expectations and oversaw performance for Services; the plan followed a YJB mandated template.

RESOLVED that Cabinet endorses acceptance of the Coventry Youth Justice Plan - 2023-25 Strategy – Update 2024 and recommends that Council endorse the Plan.

Report of the Director of Adult Services and Housing

Cabinet considered a report of the Director of Adult Services and Housing, that had been considered by Health and Social Care Scrutiny Board (5) at their meeting on 4^th September 2024 and would also be considered at the meeting of the Council on 15th October 2024, which detailed the Adult Social Care Annual Report 2023/24 (also referred to as the Local Account). This year the Annual Report mirrored the content of the Self-Assessment, highlighting some of the work being done through examples and spotlights on the support provided. It was intended that the annual report be read alongside the Self-Assessment. Appendices to the report provided: the Annual Report (Local Account) 2023/24; and the Adult Social Care Self-Assessment 2023/24.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) were responsible for assessing Local Authorities’ delivery of their adult social care functions and had produced a framework to assess how well Local Authorities were performing against their duties under Part One of the Care Act 2014. As part of these arrangements Local Authorities were required to complete a Self-Assessment for issuing to the Care Quality Commission following receipt of the ‘Notification of Inspection’ by the Local Authority. Coventry City Council had not yet received a ‘Notification of Inspection’ letter but preparation for inspection was an ongoing process of which the production of a self-assessment was part.

Coventry City Council Adult Social Care had for many years produced an Annual Report which covered performance and activity for the previous year along with examples and case studies of where positive impact had been made to people’s lives. Although the production of an Annual Report was not a requirement it had always been well received by stakeholders so was something that was being continued with but had restructured the format to cover each of the four CQC themes for inspection and the quality statements associated with these themes. However, as the CQC self-assessment process also required the provision of a range of operational detail, the Annual Report had also been produced to mirror this detail. The Self-Assessment and Annual Report provided the totality of the City Councils Self-Assessment in preparation for CQC inspection. 

The Self-Assessment would be updated annually and presented alongside the Annual Report and provided to the CQC when the Council was selected for an inspection.

The approach taken to the both the Self-Assessment and Annual Report demonstrated an open approach to successes, challenges and where the Authority could develop further in order to improve outcomes for people with care and support needs and their unpaid carers within Coventry. The Self-Assessment also provided the opportunity to present the context within which CQC would be inspecting Adult Social Care in Coventry.

The production of the 2023/24 report has drawn on the pool of feedback and information that was gathered over the year from a range of sources including social care staff, Partnership Boards, Adult Social Care Stakeholder Group, providers, partner organisations and people who had been in contact with Adult Social Care, along with their families and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 27.

Report of the Director of City Services and Commercial

Cabinet considered a report of the Director of City Services and Commercial that had been considered at Business, Economy and Enterprise Scrutiny Board (3) at their meeting on 26^th September 2024 and would also be considered at the meeting of the Council on 15^th October 2024, which provided an update on progress achieved since the Coventry Transport Strategy was adopted, including the latest available performance information. The report also sought approval to update the Implementation Plan which accompanied the Strategy to reflect the Council’s latest plans. Appendices to the report provided: the Coventry Transport Strategy Key Performance Indicators Progress Report; and the Coventry Transport Strategy Implementation Plan Update.

The Coventry Transport Strategy was approved by Council in December 2022 (their minute 83/22 referred). It was a 15-year strategy which set out plans to fundamentally change the city’s transport system, including by investing in significant improvements to public transport, walking and cycling and by accelerating the transition to zero emission vehicles.

The Implementation Plan set out the ‘pipeline’ of specific improvements that the Council intended to deliver over the lifetime of the Strategy. The proposed changes to this included updating the expected timescales for the delivery of various schemes and the addition of a small number of new actions. These additions included reform of the region’s bus services and several additional walking and cycling schemes, for which funding had now been secured. The specific changes that Council was being asked to approve were detailed in the Coventry Transport Strategy Implementation Plan Update that was appended to the report.

Cabinet received a briefing note from Business, Economy and Enterprise Scrutiny Board (3) consideration of the report (their Minute 3/24 referred), that had been circulated, setting out the areas of discussion at their meeting, and their recommendations for Cabinet’s consideration. The Board recommended that Cabinet agree the recommendations in the report, and find opportunities to promote the innovative projects being delivered to support active travel in the city, such as VLR, Ring and Ride schemes and WM On Demand.

RESOLVED that Cabinet recommends that Council:

1)  Approves the updated and amended Implementation Plan (set out in Appendix 2 to the report) which was previously approved by Council on 6th December 2022, and which accompanies the Coventry Transport Strategy.

2)  Delegates authority to the Director of City Services and Commercial and the Director of Finance and Resources, following consultation with the Cabinet Member for Jobs, Regeneration and Climate Change and the Cabinet Member for City Services, to make variations from time to time to the Coventry Transport Strategy and Implementation Plan.

There are no outstanding issues

There were no outstanding issues.

There were no other items of public business.