Venue: Committee Rooms 2 & 3, Civic Offices, New Road, Grays, Essex, RM17 6SL. View directions
Contact: Lucy Tricker, Democratic Services Officer Email: Direct.Democracy@thurrock.gov.uk
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To approve as a correct record the minutes of Cabinet held on 10 October 2018. Minutes: The minutes of the Meeting of Cabinet held on 10 October 2018 were approved as a correct record. |
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Items of Urgent Business PDF 90 KB To receive additional items that the Chair is of the opinion should be considered as a matter of urgency, in accordance with Section 100B (4) (b) of the Local Government Act 1972. Minutes: The Leader began by stating
that one urgent item had been received, which was the Monitoring
Officer’s report on whistleblowing allegations. He apologised
for the lateness of the report and explained this was because the
necessary information had only been received at the end of last
week and officers had then had to check it. He described that two
whistleblowing allegations had been received, one in January 2018
which related to recruitment and HR matters, and one in August 2018
which had been received by the CEO in September 2018, and related
to an in-depth Children’s Services case. The Leader continued
by stating that the Monitoring Officer had reviewed and assessed
both cases, and then passed on to an independent barrister who was
a specialist in child social care and had received unrestricted
access to all files relating to the allegations. He continued by
mentioning that the files had been locked once the allegations had
come to light so information could not be tampered or altered with.
He also mentioned that the allegations were reported to Ofsted, who
were kept fully appraised of the investigation and were happy with
the work completed. He summarised and stated that the independent
barrister had found both whistleblowing allegations
unsubstantiated. |
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Declaration of Interests Minutes: There were no interests declared, although the Leader asked Democratic Services if this item could be placed above the item of urgent business in future. |
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Statements by the Leader Minutes: The Leader began his statement
by discussing the Remembrance commemorations held across the
borough on Sunday 11November. He mentioned
that specialist cleaning had taken place and new planters installed
on memorials in the area, and 834 poppies had been placed in
cemeteries and memorials to commemorate every life lost from
Thurrock. He went on to discuss the new railings that had been
placed around the memorial in Grays, to stop it being a place of
anti-social behaviour, and to restore it as a place of quiet
reflection. He added that new signs would also be installed asking
people to be respectful to the fallen soldiers. The Leader then
detailed the £150,000 budget, and only £80,000 of this
had been used, with the remainder of the money going into the
maintenance of the memorials. He congratulated Thurrock Local
Community Groups for their remembrance displays across the borough,
in places such as Stifford, and discussed how the council were
looking at areas where the displays could become permanent. He
thanked the Director of Environment and Highways for all her hard
work over the year to make the commemorations happen. He then
described how officers had been working at 6am on Sunday morning
clearing leaves and ensuring there was disabled access to the
memorial at Turps Corner. He again thanked all staff and
Member’s and felt they should be proud of all the hard work.
He added he would be formally writing to officers to thank them
again. |
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Briefings on Policy, Budget and Other Issues Minutes: Councillor Watkins began by
echoing sentiments made by other Members on the remembrance
services and all the hard work that had been put in prior to the
events to make them fantastic. He stated that he had attended the
Ockendon Memorial and felt proud of the
department and the work they had done. He stated that residents
should also feel proud, and hoped those that had lost their lives
would have been proud too. He then thanked the Environment and
Highways Department, particularly Susan Newton, for all their hard
work. |
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Petitions submitted by Members of the Public Minutes: There were no petitions submitted by members of the public. |
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Questions from Non-Executive Members Minutes: No questions had been received from non-Executive Members. |
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Matters Referred to the Cabinet for Consideration by an Overview and Scrutiny Committee Minutes: No matters had been referred to the Cabinet for consideration by an Overview and Scrutiny Committee. |
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Further Transformation to Continue Improving Standards in Primary Care (Decision 110484) PDF 353 KB Minutes: Councillor Halden introduced
the report by stating this was good news as this report ensured
work could continue on the programme until 2021. He stated that in
2016 only 2 GP’s in Thurrock had been rated as
‘good’, but now 21 out of 29 GP’s had achieved a
‘good’ rating. He commented that the UK and Thurrock
had an aging population, as healthcare improved and people lived
longer, this meant that care for long-term illnesses had to improve
too. Councillor Halden went onto mention how this report improved
standards of primary care and reduced variation across GP surgeries
in the borough. He stated the council were working with the NHS to
implement new scorecards, which 85% of GP’s had done, which
would help with long-term health problems such as hypertension, but
the ambition was for 100% of GPs to use the scorecard. Councillor
Halden added that the scorecard was changing as it was no longer
benchmarked with other local authorities, but now benchmarked
internally. He also described how volunteer aided blood pressure
checks were in place, which have been predicted to diagnose an
additional 400 people with high blood pressure by the end of the
financial year. Councillor Halden then commented that this was
predicted to save an additional 20 people from a stroke. |
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Short Breaks and Support Services for Disabled Children (Decision: 110485) PDF 82 KB Additional documents: Minutes: Councillor Little explained
that this report was coming to Cabinet because it was above the
£750,000 spend limit. She described that this report is a
statutory duty for the council to improve the outcomes for disabled
children and young people aged between 0 and 18. She explained that
a procurement exercise needed to be undertaken to replace the
current contract which expires in March 2019, and the contract aims
to improve the health and wellbeing of disabled children and their
carers by offering additional support. Councillor Little clarified
that there were currently only two providers, but that she wanted
more providers to increase competition, which would hopefully
include activities outside the borough. She added that there was
the option to increase the new contract for a further year if it
was successful. |
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Approval to Increase the Current Scope of the Schools Capital Programme (Decision 110486) PDF 82 KB Additional documents: Minutes: Councillor Halden introduced
the report and stated that it would increase the amount invested in
education by almost £7 million, and would facilitate the
expansion at St Clere’s school and the Orsett Free School. He
stated that the council were working with the Education Skills
Funding Agency (ESFA) to deliver difficult projects such as Thames
Park School and Orsett Heath School, and whilst these projects were
being finalised, this report would ensure there were enough school
places for every child. He described how temporary accommodation at
the Orsett Heath site would mean permanent buildings that would
complement the school in the long term, for example expand the
sporting element of Orsett Heath and their relationship with
Thurrock Rugby Club. He added that £500,000 was being
invested in a 3G pitch at Harris Riverside, and in rebuilding the
nursery at Corringham Primary School. He added there were also
plans to expand Benyon Primary in South Ockendon, to alleviate
placement issues, rather than building a new school on the site at
Brandon Groves. Councillor Halden felt that as all these projects
were being undertaken at the same time, it was an impressive list
of options. He added that in addition 90% of all schools had now
received a ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ rating
by Ofsted, and the borough had seen an improvement in GCSE results,
even with the difficulty in changes to GCSE marking and
criteria. |