Agenda and minutes

Members will disclose any pecuniary and any other significant interests they may have in relation to the matters to be considered at this meeting.

None.

To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting of the Cabinet held on Wednesday 6 September 2023.

The minutes of the meeting of Cabinet held on 6 September 2023 were confirmed as a correct record by those who were in attendance.

Rebecca Huddleston, Chief Executive made an announcement regarding the minutes of a Cabinet meeting held on 27 March 2019.

The Chief Executive announced that under the Council’s Constitution, she was responsible, together with the Monitoring Officer, for a system of record keeping for all the Authority’s decisions. At the 27th of March 2019 Cabinet meeting, the then Chief Executive and the then Resources Portfolio Holder took a report on the Appropriation of Land at Bourne Hill, Fleetwood. This was recorded as item CAB.53 in the Agenda.

It recently came to light that a Land Registry reference in the report was incorrect and in an effort to clarify this, the following footnote was added to both the minutes of the meeting and the summary on the website on 4 October 2023. The footnote included the following wording:

“The minutes of this meeting were edited in October 2023 to acknowledge a typo in the land registry title number of the Land at Bourne Hill, Fleetwood. This was due to a typing error at the time.

The correct title is LAN34532 as shown on the title plan, Appendix 1 attached to the report within the agenda pack.”

This wording had led to some confusion as it incorrectly stated that the minutes of the meeting were edited, which implied a change to the contemporary narrative content approved by Cabinet at the time. Rebecca reassured Cabinet that ordinarily, any change to the body of the minutes themselves would require a resolution to be passed by Cabinet itself.

Rebecca confirmed that no change had been made to the contemporary narrative content of the minutes of the Cabinet meeting on 27 March 2019. However, a clarification footnote concerning a reference number in item CAB.53 had been added. This was made to address an inaccuracy which the council was made aware of by a member of the public. The action was taken in order to fulfil the responsibilities of the Monitoring Officer and Chief Executive to ensure accurate records were kept.

Acknowledging that although the intention was to be helpful to the reader and address the concern raised by a member of the public, the wording and resulting misunderstanding could have been avoided. As such a review of the process was undertaken. The review found that while there was no specific guidance of how inaccuracies within report should be noted, best practice would have been to report this matter back to Cabinet, before adding the footnote.

Decision

Cabinet agreed:

·         To approve the removal of the footnote which has been added to the minutes and the landing page on the website;

·         To note the correct land registry title number for the Land at Bourne Hill, Fleetwood of LAN34532; and

·         To note that a link to a clarification footnote will be added against item CAB.53 of the 27 March 2019 agenda to note the inaccuracy  ...  view the full minutes text for item CAB.14

To receive and respond to any questions from members of the public.

Public questions for Cabinet may be submitted at any time by writing to Democratic Services or via email democratic.services@wyre.gov.uk. Public questions for this meeting must be received by noon on the Thursday before the meeting is held and do not need to specifically relate to items on this agenda. Questioners should provide their name and address and indicate to which Cabinet member the question is to be directed.

The total period of time allocated for public questions will not normally exceed 30 minutes.

None received.

Report of the Leisure, Health and Community Engagement Portfolio Holder and the Corporate Director Communities.

The Leisure, Health and Community Engagement Portfolio Holder and the Corporate Director Communities submitted a report to seek Cabinet’s approval and endorsement of the Wyre Moving More Strategy 2023-2028.

Decision

Cabinet agreed:

To approve and endorse the Wyre Moving More Strategy 2023-2028.

Report of the Resources Portfolio Holder and the Corporate Director Resources.

The Resources Portfolio Holder and the Corporate Director Resources (and S.151 Officer) submitted a report seeking Cabinet to consider the council’s Medium Term Financial Plan for the financial years 2023/24 to 2027/28.

Decisions

Cabinet agreed:

·         To consider the attached Medium Term Financial Plan and the consequential action required in order to address the issues resulting from the five year Financial Forecast (current year plus four years);

·         To note the revised expenditure projections incorporating the slippage from 2022/23, and the resulting impact on the level of the council’s Reserves and Balances at 31 March 2023; and,

·         The top-up and use of all Reserves and Balances as indicated in Appendix 3 to the Medium Term Financial Plan.

Report of the Resources Portfolio Holder and the Corporate Director Resources.

The Resources Portfolio Holder and the Corporate Director Resources (and S.151 Officer) submitted a report seeking Cabinet to consider the review of the 2023/24 Capital Programme and progress of schemes for the five month period covering the period from April 2023 to 31 August 2023, undertaken by spending officers. Noting amendments to the Capital Programme since it was last reported to Cabinet and the financial impact over the term of the Programme, through to the end of 2027/28.

Decisions

Cabinet agreed:

·         That the 2023/24 Capital Programme, and its funding, totalling £18,027,390 be noted.

·         That re-profiling of multi-year schemes detailed below are approved.

·         That additional funds allocated to the capital programme through Portfolio Holder reports be noted.

·         That the progress of, and expenditure incurred on, capital schemes for the first five months of the 2023/24 financial year be noted.

Report of the Chair of the Promotion of Self-Care and Social Prescribing in Wyre Task Group and the Corporate Director Resources.

The Corporate Director Resources and the Chair of the Promotions of Self-Care and Social Prescribing in Wyre Task Group submitted a report detailing the work of the Promotion of Self-Care and Social Prescribing in Wyre Task Group.

Councillor Bowen, Leisure, Health and Community Engagement Portfolio Holder, discussed the council's position regarding self-care and social prescribing in Wyre. She mentioned the relationship between social prescribing and the Wyre Moving More Strategy.

Decisions

Speaking on behalf of Cabinet, Councillor Bowen confirmed that Cabinet accepted and made comments on the following recommendations (numbered as per the report):

3.1 That the council continues to promote its ongoing work with its primary care networks, local GP practices and other link/community organisations; that the council supports these groups by continuing to advertise its services via different methods.

She stated that the council would continue to work with the Primary Care Networks, GPs and the voluntary care sector. She informed members of the formation of a new Fylde and Wyre Health and Wellbeing Partnership. She assured that this effort would be supported and promoted in the future.

3.2 That the council should ensure that its health and wellbeing services and offers are well promoted on its website and social media. The council’s services and offers should also be specifically promoted to local NHS social prescribing teams. If and when an opportunity to refresh a local directory of services presents itself, it is recommended that the council supports this work.

The Wyre website and social media accounts would be reviewed to ensure that officers promoted services as widely as possible. She informed members that conversations with the NHS were progressing to ensure that suitable Wyre Council services were included in the service directory.

3.3 That the work of the council in relation to social prescribing be monitored by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee and be made a strategic priority.

She suggested that a project aimed at reducing loneliness and isolation be included in the new Council Plan, and that any future project be monitored annually by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

Councillors Bowen and Berry praised the task group for their efforts, as well as the officers who assisted the task group.