Decisions

The purpose of this report is to inform the Executive about the Government’s Waste and Resources Strategy and to agree how the Council will respond to the related consultations.

The Government published its Resources and Waste Strategy for England on 18 December 2018.  The Strategy sets out how the country will preserve material resources by minimising waste, promoting resource efficiency and moving towards a circular economy.  The aim is to achieve a recycling rate in England of 65% by 2035.

Four consultations relating to the strategy were released by DEFRA on 18 February 2019, with a 12-week consultation period.  They cover Deposit Return Schemes (DRS); Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR); Consistency in collection; and the proposed tax on plastic packaging.  A summary of the key proposals is included in the report.

There are a total of 286 questions across the four separate consultation documents.  These cover a very wide range of varied and complex issues that affect both local authorities and business.  The deadline for submitting the responses to the consultations is 13 May 2019, except for the plastics tax consultation, which is 12 May 2019.

Given the timescales and the range of issues, the proposal is to seek Executive approval to delegate authority to the Head of Streetscene, following consultation with the Executive Member for Streetscene, to prepare and submit the response from the Council.

All Members were invited to attend the Streetscene Scrutiny Panel meeting on 14 March 2019 which considered the Resources and Waste Strategy consultations.

The Members’ comments from the meeting have been collated and attached to this report as Appendix A and will be incorporated into the Council’s response to the consultations.

RESOLVED that the Executive agrees to delegate authority to the Head of Streetscene, following consultation with the Executive Member for Streetscene, to submit the response to the consultations on behalf of the Council.

The purpose of this report is to seek Executive approval to allocate funds from the Flexible Homeless Support Grant to ensure the continuation of homelessness support services in Fareham following the reduction in funding for Social Inclusion Services by Hampshire County Council.

In November 2017, Hampshire County Council (HCC) agreed a £2m reduction in the Adult Health and Care budget for Social Inclusion services.  These services provide support for homeless people living in supported housing schemes across the county together with community support to vulnerable individuals or families requiring help to access or maintain accommodation.

The decision by HCC to reduce funding for Social Inclusion services from 2019 was part of a set of broader savings options (known as Transformation to 2019 Programme) to reduce spending.  Although HCC has no direct statutory responsibilities to deliver homelessness support services, they accept that as these services are relied upon by some of the most vulnerable in society, they will continue to invest, albeit at a much-reduced rate.

In September 2017, HCC set up a Social Inclusion Advisory Group, comprising representatives from Adult Social Care, Mental Health and Substance misuse, Public Health, Children’s Services, Probation, Department for Work and Pensions as well as the district/borough Housing teams.   This group was tasked with providing input into the reconfiguration of the existing Social Inclusion Services in preparation for public consultation.  Following the public consultation on the proposed changes to the existing services, a decision was taken by HCC in December 2018 to deliver a financial saving of £1.8million per annum from 01 August 2019 (the savings figure was reduced following an Equality Impact Assessment in May 2018).

To achieve this level of savings, HCC agreed to cease funding some of the services for homeless people and those threatened with homelessness that are currently available in Fareham.   This report sets out the changes that will take effect from 01 August 2019 and how the proposals for additional investment by Fareham Borough Council will ensure the continuation of homelessness support services for our most vulnerable residents.

RESOLVED that the Executive approves:

(a)  the commissioning of Social Inclusion Services in partnership with Hampshire County Council from 01 August 2019; and

(b)  a budget allocation of £70,000 from the Flexible Homeless Support Grant to fund the additional investment required for the period 01 August 2019 to 31 March 2021.

The purpose of this report is to agree the Council’s Safeguarding Policy.

The Council’s Safeguarding Policy has been updated in accordance with new legislation and is set out at Appendix A.  Clear safeguarding procedures are also proposed to make reporting easy to follow, and are set out at Appendix B.

RESOLVED that the Executive:

(a)  considers the updated Safeguarding Policy (set out at Appendix A to the report);

(b)  recommends the Policy to Council for adoption; and

(c)  recommends an All Member briefing is arranged in respect of this new Safeguarding policy and procedures.