At the start of the meeting, the Leader of the Council announced that agenda items 5 and 6 would be taken after item 8 on the published agenda.

No apologies were received.

There were no declarations of interest.

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting held on 27 June 2022 are agreed as an accurate record.

RESOLVED:

Members endorsed the progress towards delivering the council’s priority to invest in Merton as the ‘Borough of Sport’.

The Cabinet Member for Sport and Heritage presented the report, thanking officers for their work on the report. The Cabinet Member outlined the aims and ambitions within the report and of the new administration in this area as well as an overview of some of the statistics contained within the report.

The Interim Director Environment and Regeneration spoke to the report, noting the report outlined Merton’s Sporting Heritage, its’ current offer and future achievable aspirations. It was noted that there remained a large number of inactive adults and children within the Borough and the objective would be to encourage these to increase their participation in physical activities.

Each Cabinet Member spoke to the report in turn and asked questions of the Cabinet Member for Heritage and Sport who responded

·         Current facilities were being reviewed to assess whether they were fully used and how best to utilise these.

·         The Cabinet Member for Heritage and Sport had met with a number of Cabinet members to explore how they could work together.

·         Parks and open spaces would be highly used and needed to be within communities, so users did not have to travel far to access sporting opportunities.

·         It was outlined within the report the funding which had been used for different activities including the Ward allocation scheme and Neighbourhood fund.

·         The Council would be looking at families and their individual needs and requirements and encouraging them to be involved together in activities for example in Parkruns.

The Leader of the Council thanked the Cabinet Member and officers for the report.

RESOLVED:

Members endorsed the progress towards delivering the council’s priority to invest in Merton as the ‘Borough of Sport’.

RESOLVED:

A. That Cabinet noted the financial reporting data for month 2, May 2022, relating to revenue budgetary control, showing a forecast net adverse variance at 31 May on net expenditure of £4,951m when corporate and funding items are included.

B. That Cabinet noted the contents of Section 5 and Appendix 5b of the report and approve the adjustments to the Capital Programme in the Table below:

C. That Cabinet ask CMT to investigate and report back on measures to reduce the adverse variance, recognising that CSF have set some actions out already in Section 4.

D. That approval be given to: i. the virement of £70,000 from the Unallocated Capital Maintenance Budget to the Melrose Capital Maintenance Budget ii. the increase of the Melrose Expansion Budget by £422,000, the funding of this additional expenditure will initially be met from the high needs grant. (As this funding is reworked through the whole SEN approved programme it will result in an additional drawdown of SCIL Funding in 2025-26) These adjustments will be detailed in the June 2022 Monitoring Report to September 2022 Cabinet

E: That cabinet recognises that the Period 2 outturn report assumes the use of a £2m inflation protection reserve to part cover the potential pay award and a further £1.412m from a PFI equalisation reserve to cover the excess inflation on the scheme. That Cabinet further note that the use of reserves to cover these costs is a one off solution and that permanent funding will be required within the MTFS. The potential use of these reserves will be kept under review during the financial year as the financial position is reported.

The Cabinet Member for Finance and Corporate Services presented the report and thanked officers for their work. It was noted that an adverse variance of £4.9 million was currently projected and that the cost of covid and the inflationary pressures continued to be a challenge for forecasting. Pressures on the Dedicated Schools Grant were being closely monitored. The Cabinet Member gave an overview of the departmental forecasts and outlined the recommendations.

The Director of Corporate Services spoke noting the position was expected to change as the report was early in the financial year with a further report due to Cabinet in September 2022.  

RESOLVED:

A. That Cabinet noted the financial reporting data for month 2, May 2022, relating to revenue budgetary control, showing a forecast net adverse variance at 31 May on net expenditure of £4,951m when corporate and funding items are included.

B. That Cabinet noted the contents of Section 5 and Appendix 5b of the report and approve the adjustments to the Capital Programme in the Table below:

C. That Cabinet ask CMT to investigate and report back on measures to reduce the adverse variance, recognising that CSF have set some actions out already in Section 4.

D. That approval be given to: i. the virement of £70,000 from the Unallocated Capital Maintenance Budget to the Melrose Capital Maintenance Budget ii. the increase of the Melrose Expansion Budget by £422,000, the funding of this additional expenditure will initially be met from the high needs grant. (As this funding is reworked through the whole SEN approved programme it will result in an additional drawdown of SCIL Funding in 2025-26) These adjustments will be detailed in the June 2022 Monitoring Report to September 2022 Cabinet

E: That cabinet recognises that the Period 2 outturn report assumes the use of a £2m inflation protection reserve to part cover the potential pay award and a further £1.412m from a PFI equalisation reserve to cover the excess inflation on the scheme. That Cabinet further note that the use of reserves to cover these costs is a one off solution and that permanent funding will be required within the MTFS. The potential use of these reserves will be kept under review during the financial year as the financial position is reported.

RESOLVED:

A. This is an update on the Merton Treasury management activity during 2021-22 and details any activities in accordance with the Treasury management strategy approved in March 2021.

B. That Cabinet noted the report together with compliance with the CIPFA code

The Cabinet Member for Finance and Corporate Services presented the report noting the Council had continued to manage its’ invested funds for the 2021/22 financial year and had received a larger income return than had been anticipated with the budgeted. No new loans had been taken out since 2007. The Cabinet Member thanked the Director and her team for their work.

The Cabinet Member for Transport spoke to this achievement and thanked the Director and the Cabinet Member.  

RESOLVED:

A. This is an update on the Merton Treasury management activity during 2021-22 and details any activities in accordance with the Treasury management strategy approved in March 2021.

B. That Cabinet noted the report together with compliance with the CIPFA code

RESOLVED:

A. That Cabinet approved the extension of the contract with Central London Community Healthcare NHS Trust (CLCH) for the provision of the Integrated Sexual Health (ISH) Service within the boroughs of Merton, Richmond upon Thames and Wandsworth for a period of 18 months, from 01 October 2022 until 31 March 2024.

B. That  Cabinet approved the variation of the existing contract to enact the following: 1. To move from an activity based to a block payment mechanism constituted of the elements outlined in Table 1at  6.1.5 below.

2. Addition of a service development fund with the aim of beginning to shape future service delivery post 31st March 2024. Payment will only be made if actions in the agreed action plan are achieved.

3. To re-allocate resources so that patients are seen at Wideway Medical Practice which allows better access to routine contraception and aligns with the future direction of sexual health services.

4. To maintain four day per week provision at Patrick Doody clinic in Wimbledon by providing a small additional payment.

5. Amendment to the age range for bespoke young people’s clinics from 21 and under to 19 and under based on patient feedback regarding access for the most vulnerable.

6. To note the removal of the ‘aligned’ community based services from the contract. Approval was given by Procurement Board in December 2021 to commission these under a wider South West London contract for those at highest risk of poor sexual health. The same resources have been allocated.

C. That Cabinet approved the financial contribution from Merton Local Authority which is in part 2 of this report.

The Cabinet Member for Health and Social Care presented the report which set out the proposal to extend the current contract. The Cabinet Member noted that the service was highly regarded by service users and gave an overview of the recommendations.

RESOLVED:

A. That Cabinet approved the extension of the contract with Central London Community Healthcare NHS Trust (CLCH) for the provision of the Integrated Sexual Health (ISH) Service within the boroughs of Merton, Richmond upon Thames and Wandsworth for a period of 18 months, from 01 October 2022 until 31 March 2024.

B. That Cabinet approved the variation of the existing contract to enact the following: 1. To move from an activity based to a block payment mechanism constituted of the elements outlined in Table 1at  6.1.5 below.

2. Addition of a service development fund with the aim of beginning to shape future service delivery post 31st March 2024. Payment will only be made if actions in the agreed action plan are achieved.

3. To re-allocate resources so that patients are seen at Wideway Medical Practice which allows better access to routine contraception and aligns with the future direction of sexual health services.

4. To maintain four day per week provision at Patrick Doody clinic in Wimbledon by providing a small additional payment.

5. Amendment to the age range for bespoke young people’s clinics from 21 and under to 19 and under based on patient feedback regarding access for the most vulnerable.

6. To note the removal of the ‘aligned’ community based services from the contract. Approval was given by Procurement Board in December 2021 to commission these under a wider South West London contract for those at highest risk of poor sexual health. The same resources have been allocated.

C. That Cabinet approved the financial contribution from Merton Local Authority which is in part 2 of this report.

RESOLVED:

A. That Cabinet agreed an exemption from Contract Standing Order 19 to directly award Central London Community Health Trust (CLCH) a contract which extends their existing contract for the delivery of Health Visiting, School Nursing and Young Parents Service in the London Borough of Merton for the period 1st April 2023 to 31st March 2024.

B. The extension will ensure continuity of these essential public health services for children whilst a robust review is undertaken, and a commissioning and procurement plan is developed and implemented.

C. The value of the Exemption is provided in Appendix B (Exempt)

The Cabinet Member for Health and Social Care presented the report and gave an overview of the recommendations.

RESOLVED:

A. That Cabinet agreed an exemption from Contract Standing Order 19 to directly award Central London Community Health Trust (CLCH) a contract which extends their existing contract for the delivery of Health Visiting, School Nursing and Young Parents Service in the London Borough of Merton for the period 1st April 2023 to 31st March 2024.

B. The extension will ensure continuity of these essential public health services for children whilst a robust review is undertaken, and a commissioning and procurement plan is developed and implemented.

C. The value of the Exemption is provided in Appendix B (Exempt)

To RESOLVE that the public are excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following report(s) on the grounds that it is (they are) exempt from disclosure for the reasons stated in the report(s).

The meeting proceeded entirely in public and therefore this item was not required.