Agenda and minutes

Members and officers must declare any disclosable pecuniary interests in relation to any business on the agenda.  Declarations should also be made at any stage such an interest becomes apparent during the meeting.

If in doubt, contact the Legal or Democratic Services representative for this meeting.

There were no declarations of interest.

To approve the minutes of the Adur Joint Strategic Sub Committee meeting held on 7 December 2023, copies of which have previously been circulated.

The minutes of the Adur Joint Strategic Sub-Committee meeting held on 7 December 2024 were agreed as a correct record.

To receive any questions from members of the public.

Questions should be submitted by noon on Monday 29 January 2024 to  Democratic Services, democratic.services@adur-worthing.gov.uk   

(Note: Public Question Time will operate for a maximum of 30 minutes.)

There were no questions from the public

Pre-submitted Members questions are pursuant to rule 12 of the Council & Committee Procedure Rules.

Questions should be submitted by noon on Monday 29 January 2024 to  Democratic Services, democratic.services@adur-worthing.gov.uk   

(Note: Member Question Time will operate for a maximum of 30 minutes.)

There were no pre-submitted questions from Members.

To consider any items the Chairman of the meeting considers to be urgent.

There were no urgent items raised.

To consider a report by the Director for Housing and Communities, copy attached as item 6

Before the Committee was a report by the Director for Housing and Communities, copies of which had been circulated to all Members and a copy of which is attached to the signed copy of these minutes as Item 6.

The report sought approval of, a budget to complete and virement of £1.776m from capital budgets applied to the Small Sites project. The report sets out the background to the project which had been under construction since March 2021 but which had stalled due to the contractor's insolvency in August 2023.

Members were given an outline of the options which had been considered to ensure it was completed in the most timely and cost effective manner possible, and set out the financial implications.

Decision

1)    That the virement of a budget for this project of £1.776m to enable the project at Albion Street to be completed be approved. It was noted that the Authority would  look to claim £998k back through an insolvency bond.

2)    That the net increase in budget to cover the additional cost of completing the project of £778,000, and that the project remains viable even with the additional spend be noted.

3)    That authority be delegated to the Director for Housing and Communities to enter into all necessary contracts and associated legal documentation to enable the project to progress through the remaining construction phase to completion.

Call-in

The call-in deadline for the decisions will be 5.00pm on Tuesday 13 February 2024

To consider a report by the Director for Housing and Communities, copy attached as item 7

Before the Committee was a report by the Director for Housing and Communities, copies of which had been circulated to all Members and a copy of which is attached to the signed copy of these minutes as Item 7.

The report before Members gave an update on findings from the motion carried on November 7th 2023, whereby officers were instructed to investigate and outline how Adur District Council could better support care leavers by engaging directly with West Sussex County County (WSCC), to proactively help the Care Leavers service move towards Good and on to Outstanding status as assessed by Ofsted, through the implementation of the following initiatives.

The development of a shop front facing community base for our care leavers

Develop an apprenticeship or work-based opportunity provided by the district council for any care leaver who wanted to explore this as an alternative employment, education and training option

Decision

1)    That officers continue to engage and work with WSCC to proactively support care leavers so that they have the same opportunities and ambition as other young people do.

2)    That it be recognised that it is not cost effective to open, maintain and resource a shop front for care leavers and instead seek alternative ways to improve outcomes for care leavers through existing mechanisms already at the council’s disposal and by working with statutory partners to explore County wide potential.

3)    That officers seek alternatives to embark upon a localised stand alone apprenticeship scheme and find alternative ways to improve routes to training and employment for care leavers, for example through positive recruitment approaches such as is found in the guaranteed interview scheme.

Call-in

The call-in deadline for the decisions will be 5.00pm on Tuesday 13 February 2024