Agenda, decisions and minutes

The Deputy Leader of the Council, Councillor Quesir Mahmood, welcomed all present to the meeting.

Apologies were received from the Leader, Councillor Phil Riley, and Councillor Damian Talbot.

The Minutes of the Meeting held on 11^th June 2024 were agreed as a correct record.

The Minutes of the Meeting held on 13^th June 2024 were agreed as a correct record.

No Declarations of Interest were submitted.

The Chair will ask Members to confirm that they have considered and understood any Equality Impact Assessments associated with reports on this agenda ahead of making any decisions.

The Chair asked Members to confirm that they had considered and understood any Equality Impact Assessments associated with reports on the agenda ahead of making any decisions.

To receive written questions or statements submitted by members of the public no later than 4pm on the day prior to the meeting.

No Questions were submitted by Members of the Public.

To receive written questions submitted by Non-Executive Members no later than 4pm on the day prior to the meeting.

No Questions had been submitted by Non-Executive Members.

To receive an update from the Youth MPs along with any issues they would like to raise.

The Youth MP and Deputy Youth MPs verbally updated the Executive Board on recent events and activities including:

·       Consultation on redesigning the Bill Hunt barge through the Superslow way and UCLan university.  Young people gathered ideas on how to make the barge more appealing to young people and more suitable to be used for musical performances and how to get greater usage.

·       Work with the BwD Public Health team and Healthwatch to co-design the suicide prevention and mental health strategy. The forum gave their opinions on the teams key aims and objectives and helped construct/summarise the overall aims and outcomes for mental health services across the Borough.  Members of the leaving care forum have undertaken two Total Respect training sessions this month.  One with police officers at Hutton headquarters and done with the YPS staff team. 

·       Young people had also been involved in a Youth Inspection this week at Earcroft Children’s Centre.  Findings would be presented at the next meeting.

·       Following the recent insolvency of the British Youth Council, the National Youth Agency had now been commissioned to continue the provision.  Zainab would be attending the Annual UK Youth Parliament sitting in the House of Commons next March, and attending Warwick University in October along with members of youth parliament from across the UK.  Motions would be put forward for the Make your Mark campaign.

·       Attendance at the recent meeting of the Children and Young People Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

·       A bid had been submitted to the Kings Heritage Fund to receive funding to plant 25 fruit trees within the Borough to help mitigate the effects of climate change and promote environmental sustainability.

·       At the end of June, hosting of the regional Youthforia event in the Town Hall, 126 young people from across the North West discussed jobs, opportunities and social media. 

Members of the Executive Board commended the Youth MP’s and Youth Forum on the work undertaken and Councillor Jackie Floyd invited them to lead on the organisation of the Food Alliance Conference in 2025.

Verbal updates may be given by each Executive Member.

Councillor Quesir Mahmood verbally referred to the 5^th Festival of Making which had been held at the weekend and which was a fantastic success.

That the Executive Board:

a) Note the contents of this report.

b) Consider the advantages and implications of the addition of Care Experience to the locally defined protected characteristics.

c) Subject to the decision at 2(b) above, if the Executive Board is so minded, recommend to Council Forum on 25th July 2024 that care experience is adopted as a locally protected characteristic.

A report was submitted which provided an overview of the benefits and implications of making the care experience a locally protected characteristic. If approved, it would be added to the definitions already outlined in the Equality Act and the three local characteristics currently in place. These were carers, vulnerable communities and deprived communities. The paper sought approval from Executive Board on the recommended options.

RESOLVED –

That the Executive Board:

a) Note the contents of this report.

b) Consider the advantages and implications of the addition of Care Experience to the locally defined protected characteristics.

c) Subject to the decision at 2(b) above, if the Executive Board is so minded, recommend to Council Forum on 25th July 2024 that care experience is adopted as a locally protected characteristic

It is recommended that the Executive Board:

1. Notes the legislative requirements to introduce a food waste collection service from 2026.

2. Notes the indicative capital transitional costs of £1,157,421 which has been provided by Government for the introduction of weekly food waste collections. 3. Gives approval to a supplementary capital estimate of £1,453,000 to fund the estimated capital transitional costs on the provision of vehicles, items, and equipment necessary to enable food waste collections to commence within Blackburn and Darwen in June 2026.

4. Give delegated authority to the Strategic Director Finance and Resources to determine the most appropriate method of finding unfunded additional capital expenditure required to implement this Scheme;

5. Delegates authority to the Strategic Director of Environment and Operations in consultation with the Executive Member for Environment and Operations, to procure the necessary equipment, items, and vehicles.

6. Agree that a further report on the operational costs of operating the Food Waste Collection Scheme is submitted to the Executive Board once the Government has confirmed the New Burdens Revenue Funding.

The Executive Board was advised that the Government, via the Environment Act 2021, had mandated that Councils in England commence weekly food waste collections in 2026.

Under the new legislation, Waste Collection Authorities (WCAs) in England must arrange a weekly collection of food waste for recycling or composting from households from year 2026. All ‘non-household municipal premises’, e.g. businesses in England where businesses have 10 or more employees working at the respective site, must arrange for the separate collection of food waste from April 2025. For those businesses with less than 10 persons employed at the site, they must arrange for food waste collections from 2027.

Businesses were not required to have weekly collections. The Council had received capital funding from Government of approximately £1.1M for the purchase of bins, kitchen caddies and vehicles. The funding provided was unlikely to cover the capital needed. New Burdens Funding to cover the ongoing revenue need for the new service was expected to be announced by Government later in 2024.

RESOLVED –

It is recommended that the Executive Board:

1. Notes the legislative requirements to introduce a food waste collection service from 2026.

2. Notes the indicative capital transitional costs of £1,157,421 which has been provided by Government for the introduction of weekly food waste

collections.

3. Gives approval to a supplementary capital estimate of £1,453,000 to fund the estimated capital transitional costs on the provision of vehicles, items, and equipment necessary to enable food waste collections to commence within Blackburn and Darwen in June 2026.

4. Give delegated authority to the Strategic Director Finance and Resources to determine the most appropriate method of finding unfunded additional capital expenditure required to implement this Scheme;

5. Delegates authority to the Strategic Director of Environment and Operations in consultation with the Executive Member for Environment and Communities, to procure the necessary equipment, items, and vehicles.

6. Agree that a further report on the operational costs of operating the Food Waste Collection Scheme is submitted to the Executive Board once the Government has confirmed the New Burdens Revenue Funding.

That the Executive Board:

• Approves the acceptance and spending of the DfT Traffic Signals Obsolescence Grant funding of £555,185 awarded to the Council in 24/25 and 25/26 on the upgrading and future proofing works set out in section three of the report submitted.

• Approves a supplementary capital estimate of £555,185 to be funded from the grant. Given the extant technologies for the Borough’s Traffic Signals and the specialist nature of this work, note the award of the contract to deliver these works to Yunex, the Council’s incumbent provider.

Following a bidding process, the Council had received notification in March 2024 that the Council had successfully been awarded £555,185 of Department for Transport (DfT) Traffic Signals Obsolescence Grant (TSOG) funding.

Currently 67.45% of the traffic signal sites required funding for future proofing. Works required on the signals fall into three categories:

 • 31.4% of the sites have halogen lamps, of which 83.3% could be retrofitted. The remaining 16.7% required full electrical installation replacement.

 • 57% required communication renewal or upgrading.

• 11.6% had street equipment structural issues which required rectifying.

The funding was capital funding and would be used to carry out the necessary works to upgrade and future proof traffic signals network over 57 sites that had been approved by the DfT as part of the bidding process.

RESOLVED –

That the Executive Board:

• Approves the acceptance and spending of the DfT Traffic Signals Obsolescence Grant funding of £555,185 awarded to the Council in 24/25 and 25/26 for the upgrading and future proofing works set out in section three of the report submitted.

• Approves a supplementary capital estimate of £555,185 to be funded from the grant. Given the extant technologies for the Borough’s Traffic Signals and the specialist nature of this work, note the award of the contract to deliver these works to Yunex, the Council’s incumbent provider.

That the Executive Board:

 i. Note the progress made in 2023/24;

ii. Approve the Climate Emergency Action Plan for 2024/25;

iii. Authorise the Strategic Director for Growth & Development, in conjunction with the Leader of the Council, to finalise the details of the agreed Action Plan;

iv. Delegate authority to the Strategic Director for Growth & Development, in conjunction with the Executive Member for Growth & Development to implement the agreed Action Plan.

The Council’s first Climate Emergency Action Plan (CEAP) was published in February 2020 in support of the Council’s Climate Emergency Declaration, committing to a target of making Blackburn with Darwen carbon neutral by 2030. The progress report updated on the Action Plan’s implementation in 2023/24 and proposed Climate Emergency Action Plan for 2024/25.

RESOLVED –

That the Executive Board:

 i. Note the progress made in 2023/24;

ii. Approve the Climate Emergency Action Plan for 2024/25;

iii. Authorise the Strategic Director for Growth & Development, in conjunction with the Leader of the Council, to finalise the details of the agreed Action Plan;

iv. Delegate authority to the Strategic Director for Growth & Development, in conjunction with the Executive Member for Growth & Development to implement the agreed Action Plan.

2.1 It is recommended that Executive Board:-

a) give approval to the Portfolio Cash Limit Adjustments as outlined in Appendix 1;

b) note the General Fund Budget Outturn for 2023/24;

c) note the Earmarked Reserves and General Fund Balance position at 31st March 2024.

A report was provided which gave the Executive Board an update on the Council’s draft General Fund Revenue Outturn for 2023/24 following the closure of accounts for the year.

RESOLVED -

2.1 It is recommended that Executive Board:-

a) give approval to the Portfolio Cash Limit Adjustments as outlined in Appendix 1;

b) note the General Fund Budget Outturn for 2023/24;

c) note the Earmarked Reserves and General Fund Balance position at 31st March 2024.

The Executive Board is asked;

• to approve the revised capital programme as per Appendix 1,

• to approve the variations to the programme as outlined in the report and detailed in Appendix 2.

Members received a report on the overall financial position of the Council in respect of the capital programme as at 31st March 2024, highlighting key issues and explaining variations at the year-end with regard to scheme under/overspends and slippage since the last report to the Executive Board in February 2024.

RESOLVED –

The Executive Board is asked;

• to approve the revised capital programme as per Appendix 1,

• to approve the variations to the programme as outlined in the report and detailed in Appendix 2.

The Executive Board is asked to note the Treasury Outturn position for 2023/24.

A report was submitted advising of the Treasury Outturn position for 2023/24.

RESOLVED –

The Executive Board is asked to note the Treasury Outturn position for 2023/24.

That the Executive Board note the content of the report.

The Executive Board received a report which provided an update on the mobilisation of the 0-19 Healthy Child Programme following the transfer of provider to East Lancashire Hospitals Trust (ELHT) from 1st April 2024 from the outgoing provider, Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust (LSCFT).

RESOLVED –

That the Executive Board note the content of the report.

That the Executive Board:

 • Endorse the Blackburn with Darwen Carers Strategy as a key strategy to guide PBP delivery.

• Agree the following next steps and take collective responsibility for their delivery:

i. Support the co-production of a Delivery Plan with service users from across the breadth of the Place-based Partnership.

ii. Support the development of a Carers Board to oversee the delivery of the strategy.

iii. Extend their thanks to all those involved so far in developing the strategy.

Members received a report, the purpose of which was to share the final BwD Carers Strategy and seek endorsement from the Executive Board.

The Blackburn with Darwen Carers strategy had been co-produced across service users and partners and was designed to demonstrate The Council’s commitment to supporting and empowering carers within the Borough. The strategy encompassed the geographical scope of Blackburn with Darwen, aiming to address the unique needs and challenges faced by carers within the diverse community of the Borough.

RESOLVED -

That the Executive Board:

 • Endorse the Blackburn with Darwen Carers Strategy as a key strategy to guide Placed Based Partnership delivery.

• Agree the following next steps and take collective responsibility for their delivery:

i. Support the co-production of a Delivery Plan with service users from across the breadth of the Place-Based Partnership.

ii. Support the development of a Carers Board to oversee the delivery of the strategy.

iii. Extend their thanks to all those involved so far in developing the strategy.

That the Executive Board:

• Approves the procurement of the new software through the Crown Commercial Services (CCS) Vertical Application Solutions (VAS) framework RM6259 for a 5-year period with the option to extend for a further five number one-year periods.

• Approves a supplementary capital budget of £559k for the scheme.

• Notes that an Executive Member Decision will be submitted by the Executive Member for Digital and Customer Services and the Executive Member for Growth & Development following the tender exercise to award the contract confirming the final financial implications.

A report was submitted seeking approval to procure a new software system to manage the provision of planning, land charges and building control along with the estimated associated budget requirements.

Due to the risks and costs of keeping the current system as it was, a replacement system needed to be purchased and implemented. Over recent years suppliers were no longer investing in on premise systems meaning that, to have the most up to date system which was fully supported by the supplier,  - a shift to a cloud based system was required.

After considering the procurement options, the suggested option was to tender through the Crown Commercial Service, an executive agency of the Cabinet Office. 

RESOLVED –

That the Executive Board:

• Approves the procurement of the new software through the Crown Commercial Services (CCS) Vertical Application Solutions (VAS) framework RM6259 for a 5-year period with the option to extend for a further five number one-year periods.

• Approves a supplementary capital budget of £559k for the scheme.

• Notes that an Executive Member Decision will be submitted by the Executive Member for Digital and Customer Services and the Executive Member for Growth & Development following the tender exercise to award the contract confirming the final financial implications.

None.