Find out what was agreed at the WCC Cabinet meeting on Thursday 11 May 2023
Support for allocating over £2.7m towards a new facility for young people with SEND in Nuneaton and an important step towards ensuring the Council’s adult community learning service’s delivery is in line with local priorities were among the key items discussed at the Cabinet meeting of Warwickshire County Council today.
At the meeting, chaired by Leader of the County Council Cllr Izzi Seccombe and attended by representatives of other political groups and senior officers within the council, Cabinet agreed a raft of proposals, with officers taking those decisions away to implement in line with the areas of focus agreed in the Council Plan.
The additional £2.7m funding saw adjustments proposed to the Council’s annual education capital budget. The proposal is to develop two units at the Bermuda Innovation Centre and accommodate a further 50 young people with SEND for their post-16 vocational education. This is in line with the County Council’s commitment to improve life opportunities for young people with SEND through education. Because the additional funding proposed is in excess of £2m, it will need to be approved by Full Council at its next meeting on Tuesday 16 May.
Adult Community Learning (ACL) enables adults aged 19 and over to continue their formal and informal learning in over 30 community venues. Cabinet approved the Accountability Agreement which is necessary to demonstrate that the council is ensuring that ACL is delivering services in line with local and national priorities.
Progress on the development of options and priorities for a potential future Devolution Deal for Warwickshire was discussed. Warwickshire will look to develop proposals to support the following priorities - inclusive, green economic growth, good jobs, and skills for the future; improving infrastructure, transport, and connectivity; delivering net zero; educational attainment; improving health and well-being; regenerating priority communities, planning and meeting future housing need. As well as noting the progress so far Cabinet also agreed to further engagement with partners on this subject.
Cabinet also approved a refreshed Integrated Delivery Plan (IDP), which supports the delivery of the Council Plan over a two-year rolling period. The IDP covers the seven areas of focus set out in the Council Plan with specific and trackable actions and responsibilities for delivery. A live and dynamic piece of work, the Integrated Delivery Plan will support the council’s strategic priorities and provide focus for the Council’s aim of being a ‘great council and partner’.
Cabinet also has a role in considering recommendations emerging from work undertaken by the Council’s Overview and Scrutiny Committees (OSCs). In this instance, Cabinet approved the recommendations of the task and finish group set up by the Adult Social Care and Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee into GP services with patient engagement, communication, involvement of Public Health in the broader Integrated Care Strategy and the sufficiency of properties to meet public need among the key recommendations.
Cabinet also supported a bid to develop a supported housing scheme in North Warwickshire that will create accommodation for people with autism. This scheme, in which residents will be living independently but with round the clock support when needed, aligns with one of the Council’s priority areas, to enable some of the county’s most vulnerable residents to live as independently as possible.
Cllr Izzi Seccombe, Leader of Warwickshire County Council, said: “Today’s Cabinet meeting was an excellent sample of some – but by no means all – of the work that goes on to support the Council’s priorities and the democratic process that underpins that.
“While specific agenda items covered some of the Council’s main areas of focus – supporting our most vulnerable residents and opportunities for lifelong learning – there are also more generic items such as approving the Integrated Delivery Plan and developing a devolution deal for the county, where Cabinet has to oversee and steer the overall performance of the Council ,and consider how national issues might affect the county.”
Papers for the Cabinet Meeting on 11 May 2023 can be found here: https://democracy.warwickshire.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=146&MId=3641&Ver=4
Watch the livestream of Cabinet here: https://warwickshire.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast_interactive/760424