Find out what was discussed at the latest meeting of Warwickshire County Council's Cabinet.
Getting the best value for money was at the heart of discussions at Cabinet today. Spending on education settings, highways and infrastructure specialists and home to school transport was discussed alongside an overall picture of the council’s financial position ahead of the refresh of its Medium-Term Financial Strategy.
A report detailed how the Council’s £702.3m Revenue budget will be allocated, and how financial pressures will be mitigated. The Value for Money programme, recently unveiled in the new Council Plan, is key to that.
Getting optimum value out of schools and educational settings saw the addition of £2.21m of developer funding to the Council’s Capital programme, to be spent on adaptations to four settings to increase local SEND provision. This helps reduce longer term spending on expensive alternative school placements and transport. Read more on that here: Council approves investment to enhance Warwickshire schools and SEND provision
£8.232m was also added to the nursery building programme to safeguard 500 Early Years nursery places, alleviating pressures on working parents and boosting the economy.
A new Home to School Transport Policy was approved, making arrangements for taking young people to school more consistent across the county. It will also seek to encourage alternative means of travelling, where appropriate, through training to enhance young people’s confidence and independence while significantly alleviating pressure on the budget. Read more on that here: Cabinet Approves New Travel Assistance Policy
A procurement contract for the short-term services of highways and infrastructure experts was agreed. This allows expertise to be brought in as and when needed, enabling the council to temporarily bolster its workforce to move schemes on without incurring the costs of taking on full-time staff. Sharing the framework across local partner organisations will also bring further efficiencies to the County Council.
Cllr James Crocker, Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Finance and Property said: “It was great to see members and officers alike embracing the Value for Money programme; making every effort to look at all areas and consider how things might be done differently and more efficiently while still providing great benefits to the county’s people and places.
“Empowering young people to travel independently, giving parents of nursery aged children the freedom to work, making sure that our construction projects can hire the most suitable personnel were all elements of the discussion and will all greatly benefit daily lives, drive the economy and help us to maintain financial stability.”
Elsewhere in Cabinet, a scheme to introduce traffic lights at an accident blackspot in Fillongley was rejected with officers instructed to return with a scheme that would address the potential for long delays.
Lighthorne Heath Primary School reduced its age range from 3-11 years to 4-11 years to enable governors to run the nursery, increase the offer in the local area and meet demand. Cabinet also agreed the Adult Skills Commissioning and Funding plan which will use £7.7m of money, devolved from Government, to best upskill Warwickshire’s adults.
Full link to papers here. Watch the broadcast here
Watch Cllr Crocker discuss the latest Cabinet meeting here: https://youtube.com/shorts/eN4fOg6C2G0