Agenda item

Report of the Leader of the Council, attached.

The report of the Leader of the Council was submitted setting out the details of the business undertaken by the Executive.

 

The Leader and the Cabinet made statements and responded to Questions.

 

The following questions were then submitted in accordance with Council Procedural Rule 11.1:

 

1.  Band 3 Payments to Special Schools

 

Question from Councillor White to Councillor Jeffery

 

There are significant differences in the band 3 payments to the special schools in the City e.g. one feeder school gets 32% more than its associated school. Can the Cabinet Member explain why this happens and what steps are being taken to adjust the payments to reflect the needs of these special schools in an equitable way?

 

Answer

 

There are differences in the rates of ‘top-up’ funding between each of the maintained special schools in the city (which relates to the size and type of school as well as to the needs of pupils) and these rates haven’t been reviewed for 9 years.

At the meeting between the City Council and the head-teachers of special schools on Oct 23rd, there was a discussion about this issue, the need for the situation to be looked at and unanimous agreement that the Council’s SEND service should lead a Special Schools Funding Review, supported by council finance staff and reporting its findings and options for future funding back to the meeting of Heads of special schools, to Schools Forum and to the Council.

 

2.  Townhill Park Regeneration

 

Question from Councillor Baillie to Councillor Payne

 

What is the delivery model and budget for the Townhill Park Estate Regeneration?

 

Answer

 

Finances of nearly £60M are already in place for this scheme. A budget of £11.8M was approved by Council on 14 November 2012 for site preparation costs to progress this scheme. In addition, it was noted that a provision of £47.7M would be included in the HRA Business Plan for the acquisition of units. This provision is being increased annually in line with inflation and the money is available. Before proceeding with the scheme, a report will come to full council with the detailed financial case, which is likely to be in early 2015. This may include the use of a development company, as set out in greater detail in the response to question 3.

 

 

3.  Millbrook/Maybush Regeneration

 

Question from Councillor Baillie to Councillor Payne

 

What is the delivery model and budget for the Millbrook/Maybush Regeneration?

 

Answer

 

The Council is considering as an option setting up a development company to deliver the upcoming improvements to Millbrook and Maybush, including new council housing. Such a delivery model would ensure the Housing Revenue Account’s budget cap, set by Government, would not be a barrier to delivering significant modernisation and improvement. The council’s strategic partner, Capita, is already engaged in investigating this approach and more information should be available in the New Year, after which, it will also be determined if such a delivery model could have a role to play in the Townhill Park redevelopment.  It is also worth noting that £10m already exists in the Housing Revenue Account budget to support the citywide estate regeneration process, including the ongoing preparation work for Millbrook and Maybush.

 

4.  Financial contributions to regeneration schemes

 

Question from Councillor Baillie to Councillor Payne

 

How much is the HRA and General Fund expected to contribute in each of the Townhill Park and Millbrook/Maybush Regeneration Schemes?

 

Answer

 

For Townhill Park, the report to Council in November 2012 noted that the General Fund would need to cover estimated costs of £2.6M. For the HRA, finances of nearly £60M are already in place for this scheme, as already covered in detail in the reply to question two.

For Millbrook and Maybush, the full cost of the scheme will be known once the emerging plans are finalised. A budget of £10m to support citywide estate regeneration already exists in the HRA budget to support this process, and no costs to the general fund have been identified at this stage.

 

 

 

5.  Affordable homes in Townhill Park

 

Question from Councillor Baillie to Councillor Payne

 

What is the Cabinet Member going to do to make the new homes in Townhill Park affordable, assuming that if they are built it will take 5-10 more years to build them?

 

Answer

 

Detailed market appraisals were carried out in 2013 and 2014 to look at potential sales values for the new market homes in the light of changes in the housing market. Looking at comparable properties and canvassing the views of agents, sales values were calculated on a competitive basis. It is expected that sale prices will be around 15 per cent less than surrounding neighbourhoods, as properties on Southampton council estates often change hands for less than other areas, so the new homes will be more affordable than most other new-builds in the city and should represent good value for money, given the upcoming investment in Townhill Park.

As for Council-owned properties, rents will be charged at Affordable Rent (80% of market rent) in line with Government guidance for new-build social housing. Figures previously supplied to the Overview Scrutiny and Management Committee showed projected rents would not be high enough to trigger the benefit cap for those claiming housing benefit. Running costs of the new properties (i.e. fuel bills) should also be cheaper compared to most existing council housing in the city, improving their affordability.

 

6.  Cobbett Road Library

 

Question from Councillor Baillie to Councillor Barnes-Andrews

 

What will be the yearly revenue saving achieved by closing Cobbett Road Library?  What is the yearly cost of closing Cobbett Road Library?

 

Answer

 

The annual cost of operating Cobbett Road Library is £52,300. This figure has been calculated by disaggregating a range of centralised costs that serve all libraries and apportioning these to each library.  The cost therefore includes staffing, IT, stock, professional support, supplies and services.

The cost of closing Cobbett Road depends on what decision is taken as to the future of the service.  Should the proposals proceed, the intention is that the building will be transferred to a community group with the aim of there being no cost retained by the Council.

 

7.  Local Availability of Treatment in Hospitals

 

Question from Councillor Keogh to Councillor Shields

 

A recent audit by the Royal College of Surgeons tracking the treatment and survival chances of men suffering with prostate cancer concluded there are vast variations in the treatment of this disease with the consequence that some men are not receiving the health care they should.  Only 20% of English hospitals offer the advanced high dose brachytherapy which reduces the side effects of alternative treatments.  

Would the Cabinet Member be able to inform Council if this treatment is available at any of the two main hospitals in Southampton and how does Southampton compare in its treatment and survival of prostate cancer with other similar authorities.

 

Answer

 

There are continuing advances in the treatment of prostate cancer, and the Cancer Centre in Southampton provides a range of treatments for different stages of the disease.  These currently include advanced high dose brachytherapy as well as some of the most advanced forms of treatment available anywhere in the country.

The most recent data for Wessex (which includes Southampton patients) shows a 5-year survival rate of 79.0% for men diagnosed with prostate cancer between 2005 and 2007 (similar to the England average of 78.8%).

 

8.  Bitterne Walk-in Centre

 

Question from Councillor Smith to Councillor Letts

 

What date did you meet with the CCG to discuss the proposal to close the Bitterne Walk-in Centre?

 

Answer

 

I have had no formal meetings with the CCG regarding the closure of the Bitterne Health Centre – I was informed by the CCG of the intention to seek a temporary closure of the walk in centre from December 1st in a brief encounter at the Civic centre on the afternoon of October 2nd.

 

9.  Traffic Management

 

Question from Councillor Smith to Councillor Rayment

 

How many instances of traffic chaos have you now presided over?

 

Answer

 

Councillor, you could not improve the network, redesign roads, introduce major schemes and invest £45M into the roads network in Southampton and not see some slowing of the traffic, some confusion and problems.

 

Clearly we have to do everything that we can to ensure that disruption is avoided and where this is not possible it is minimised and this will continue to be a focus and priority for us.

 

But what I can assure you is that when the problem has been our fault we have been quick to respond, learn the lessons and apologise.

 

10.Exford Avenue

 

Question from Councillor Smith to Councillor Payne

 

When will the Harefield regeneration scheme at Exford Avenue be complete?

 

Answer

 

Due to the size of the Exford Avenue regeneration site (127 homes and 3 – 4 shops), the development will be completed over two phases:

Phase 1 = 41 units (34 affordable and 7 private) due to complete by the end of June 2015

Phase 2 = 86 units (38 affordable and 48 private) due to complete by the end of July 2017.

It is anticipated that the affordable homes in Phase 1 will be completed by the end of March 2015.  The private homes and retail units will be completed by June 2015.

 

11.Council Employees

 

Question from Councillor Smith to Councillor Barnes-Andrews

 

How many people will be directly employed by the Council by the end of the financial year 2018/19?

 

Answer

 

Future funding settlements yet to be announced will impact on the overall financial position of the Authority, which in turn will impact overall spend, service delivery and ultimately staff numbers.

However, based on what we know, I would anticipate that by 2019 the Council will directly employ significantly less people than we do now.

As we continue work on proposals beyond 2015/16 financial year, it would be unwise to predict the absolute number or range at this stage and place in the public domain. As members are aware the Cabinet will be bringing forward its Target Operating Model and Transformation Plans in the near future, and this will inform how staffing numbers may be impacted through until 2017.

The Cabinet remains of the view that the Council will remain a mixed economy of services provided both by direct employees and by other organisations external to the Council, be they private, mutual, partnership etc. Therefore any overall reduction in directly employed staff does not necessarily correlate to redundancies’.