3 February 2017
Members who use 2 Factor Authentication (mainly Citrix uses) will notice a small change after the 4 February. If you receive your tokencode as a text message it will no longer come from a mobile phone number instead it will be from a name eg. SICT. If you do experience any problems with tokencode delivery please contact Lynne Coates on 01785 276139.
Please be aware that there is a tax refund email scam doing the rounds.
The email is designed to look like it is from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).
The emailsays that HMRChave had no response to several notification letters informing you of a tax refund and that you haveonly a certain amount of timeto claim viaan online form.
This formasks for personal information and bank details.
Do not complete this form as HMRC have confirmed that it is a scam.
If you receive one of these emails, pleaseforward the emailto
The need for more Foster Cares was highlighted on BBC Midlands today last night which featured Councillor Mark Sutton. The Fostering recruitment team have asked for your support to maximise the coverage of the interview by sharing the tweets and Facebook posts which they are sending out today and over the weekend.
The Facebook page is the twitter feed is @staffordshirecc
The Chairman’s Diary is now available on the Internet. You can view events scheduled for 2017 and find out more about events undertaken in 2016.
Saturday 4 February / Burntwood Charity Evening – St. Matthew’s Sport and Social Club (Chairman)Wednesday 8 February / Citizenship Ceremony – Burton Library (Vice-Chairman)
Friday 10 February / Stafford Borough Council Charity Horse Racing Night – White Eagle Club
County Council
All meetings are held at County Buildings unless otherwise stated. Click on the blue highlighted text to open up the agenda, minutes and reports for that meeting. Please ensure that you refer to your agenda to confirm the start date.
Monday 6 February / 2.00 pm Corporate Review Committee - Oak RoomTuesday7 February / No meetings
Wednesday 8 February / 2.00 pm Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education - Kingston Centre, Fairway, Stafford ST16 3TW
Thursday9 February / 10.30 am Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Joint Archives Committee - City Central Library, Stoke-on-Trent
Friday 10 February / No meetings
Fire Authority Meetings (to be held at Pirehill unless otherwise stated)
Monday 6 February / No meetingsTuesday 7 February / 2.15 pm Staff Consultation and Negotiating Forum
Wednesday 8 February / 10.00 am Strategic Risk Register Meeting
Thursday 9 February / No meetings
Friday 10 February / No meetings
The Countryside and Rights of Way Committee scheduled for Friday 10 February has been cancelled.
StrategicPlan and the Medium Term Financial Strategy 2017-2022
Developing a long-term strategic plan is fundamental to delivering the County Council’s vision of “a connected Staffordshire, where everyone has the opportunity to prosper, be healthy and happy”; and its three priority outcomes which aim to ensure that the people of Staffordshire will:
- be able to access more good jobs and feel the benefits of economic growth;
- be healthier and more independent; and
- feel safer, happier and more supported in and by their community.
The Cabinet have referred the refresh of the Strategic Plan 2017/18 to the County Council for approval at its meeting on 16 February 2017. The financial implications of delivering the Strategic Plan are set out in the Medium Term Financial Strategy and Cabinet have therefore also resolved to recommend to the County Council:
- a net revenue budget of £490.632m for 2017/18;
- a contingency provision of £4.500m for 2017/18;
- a net contribution from reserves of £ 9.333m for 2017/18;
- a budget requirement of £466.299m for 2017/18; and
- a council tax requirement of £312.826m for 2017/18; an increase of 4.95% - the equivalent to around £1 per week for the average taxpayer.
The delegated decision by the Cabinet Member for Health, Care and Wellbeing to approve the Better Care Fund plan for Staffordshire and the subsequent transfer of £16.514m as part of a range of funding for the protection of adult services has been published and is available for call-in until midnight tonight. Find out more about this decision.
There are no officer delegated decisions this week.
The Corporate Review Committee met to consider their working group’s report on the scrutiny of the Medium Term Financial Strategy.
The Director of Finance and Resources briefed the Committee on the size of the challenge this year budget had been and the timescales involved. He gave his assurance in relation to the budget being presented however continued close monitoring would be required. In addition to the usual challenges the major pressures had been with Adult Social care and the National Living Wage. Members raised issues concerning the estimates in relation to income, capital receipts, valuefor money, savings targets and the corporate responsibility to ensure the delivery of adult social care.
With minor amendments, the report was agreed for submission to the Cabinet.
The Healthy Staffordshire Select Committee considered an update on the Cancer and End of Life Care Programme. Four Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) – NHS Stafford and Surrounds, NHS Cannock Chase, NHS Stoke-on-Trent, NHS North Staffordshire and NHS England West Midlands Specialised Commissioning Team (the commissioners) have been working with Macmillan Cancer Support and local authorities across Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent to transform cancer and end of life care so that care could be integrated, co-ordinated and personalised around people’s needs . Members heard how the procurement process was paused in January 2016 following the collapse of a contract in Cambridge and Peterborough and there had been a number of reviews. It was reported to the Committee that NHS England had now lifted the pause on the procurement. Members sought reassurances regarding how contracts would be performance managed, access to screening and early diagnosis and if cancer services would be cut in response to the savings proposed in the Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Sustainability and Transformation Plan. The CCG Accountable Officer clarified that the provider would be asked to increase the work undertaken within the resources available. It was agreed that an update would be provided to the Committee when appropriate.
The Committee considered the proposed delegated decision of the Cabinet Member for Health, Care and Wellbeing on a new configuration of drug and alcohol treatment services for 2017/18 and beyond, following the funding reductions associated with the Better Care Fund. The Cabinet Member emphasised that it was a difficult decision to make but the plans were a way to use the available resources in order to determine the key balance between providing a service capacity so that high risk people were not required to wait and ensuring that the service were able to cope safely and effectively with the number of people in treatment. Members raised concerns regarding the implications on individuals and their families and acknowledged the difficult financial position. It was agreed that the Committee would write a letter to MPs regarding licensing regulations as unlike in Scotland, in England health and wellbeing implications was not a consideration.
There have been six Joint Health Scrutiny Accountability Sessions held this year, providing District/Borough Council and County Council Health Scrutiny Members the opportunity to collectively hold to account the six NHS Trusts in Staffordshire. Members reflected on the outcomes of the sessions and made a number of suggestions to be considered in next year’s Work Planning discussions.
Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) Asset Pooling
The Committee received a report from the Director of Finance and Resources updating them on progress with regard to LGPS asset Pooling.
The government has issued guidance and criteria to help administering authorities to develop proposals for pooling aimed at reducing costs and improving efficiency. Initial proposals were required by February 2016, followed by more detailed business case submissions in July 2016, with a target implementation date of 1 April 2018.
The LGPS funds from Cheshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, West Midlands and Worcestershire have agreed to enter into pooling arrangements and have created ‘LGPS Central’, with combined assets of £35 billion.
The government also announced that ‘backstop’ powers would be introduced to allow the Secretary of State to intervene where authorities failed to bring forward sufficiently ambitious proposals in accordance with the guidance and criteria issued.
Your Committee have agreed to request the Audit and Standards Committee to recommend to the County Council the necessary changes to the Council’s Constitution in relation to the establishments of a Joint Committee to provide joint oversight of the Pool.
An update from this meeting will be included in next week’s bulletin.
Applications for Permission
Your Committee have resolved to permit the retrospective application not to comply with/to vary Condition 6 (restriction on imported aggregates) of planning permission CH.00/0588 in order to allow the limited importation of aggregates for bagging in the aggregates packing plant at Rugeley Quarry, Wolseley Road, Rugeley, subject to conditions.
Update on the new Minerals Local Plan for Staffordshire (2015 - 2030) Inspector's Report and Proposed Adoption of new Plan
Your Committee have resolved to recommend to the County Council the adoption of the new Minerals Local Plan for Staffordshire (2015 to 2030). If adopted, the policies and proposals in the new Plan will replace the saved policies in the Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Minerals Local Plan (1994 to 2006) which was adopted in December 1999.
There are no new consultations published this week.
People are being invited to nominate work colleagues, carers, friends and family members who put dignity at the heart of everything they do for a special award.
The County Council’s Dignity in Care Awards recognise care services and individuals who ensure people in care are treated with dignity and respect, and are given choice, control and a sense of purpose in their daily lives.
The Awards, which have now been running for over 5 years, were launched the 1 February as part of national Dignity Action Day.
Categories in this year’s awards include: Learning, Creativity, Community, Young Dignity Champion and overall Carer
Each nomination will be reviewed by the judging panel. Those shortlisted will be invited to the celebration event at Newcastle College on 2 August 2017 where the winners will be announced and presented with their prizes.
The closing date for nominations is Friday 26th May 2017. Further details and nomination forms are available at , by emailing , or calling 01785 355795.
People can find out more about national Dignity Action Day at:
A forum which will continually assess the impact of heavy commercial vehicles (HCVs) on Staffordshire roads and agree realistic mitigation measures has been launched with a successful first meeting.
The Staffordshire Freight and Community Forum met for the first time last month. It is the first group of its kind to be set up in Staffordshire and follows community sessions to discuss the issue which led to a county council select committee report. Forum members include the county council, Highways England, relevant parish councils, police, fire and rescue service, the Freight Transport Association, Road Haulage Association, chambers of commerce and HS2 group.
With one of the busiest motorways in the country running through Staffordshire as well as major trunk roads such as the A38 and A50, the forum will aim to gain a better understanding of planned maintenance programmes of Highway England, which manages them. These works have significant impact on Staffordshire and the communities living on or near diversion routes.
Among the initial subjects discussed were the impact of HCVs on the A515, the future siting of lorry parks, planning conditions for future developments including HS2 and future traffic surveys. The forum has made a request to the county council to update Staffordshire’s Freight Strategy as soon as funding is available.
The county council’s Prosperous Staffordshire Select Committee held two day-long consultation sessions in the autumn of 2015 with residents, local councillors, highways officers, emergency services and Highways England. This led to a report being published by the committee and the formation of the freight forum.
The next meeting of the forum will take place in March.
People in Staffordshire are being challenged to go sugar free for a week – all in the name of encouraging a debate about obesity in the county.
Staffordshire’s Health and Wellbeing Board is launching the Big Fat Chat, a series of events culminating in a live debate on how the council should tackle obesity in Staffordshire, where the responsibilities lie and how far people are willing to go to make change happen.
People are being asked to take up the sugar free challenge with the help of a new website , which contains information on how to avoid added sugar.
In Staffordshire, 1 in 4 adults and 1 in 5 children aged 10 are considered obese. It is also estimated that it costs Staffordshire’s health and social care services over £100million per year to deal with obesity related issues.
The Big Fat Chat Live event will take place at the Aquarius Ballroom, Hednesford on March 1.
Work to improve main road junctions as part of a major growth project in Stafford begins this month.
The upgrade to the junctions of the A34 Foregate Street with Greyfriars Place and Browning Street north of the town centre will improve traffic flow and form part of the Stafford Western Access Route project – providing the gateway to the new road.
The new route will link Foregate Street and the north of the town centre with the Newport Road on the western side of Stafford. This phase of the project will see signals upgraded and lead to improved vehicle capacity at the junctions. A new left turn lane will be created on Browning Street on the approach to the A34. Work will start in the week beginning February 20 and be carried out in phases before completion in the summer.
People can view plans and find out more at:
The A34 work is being carried out before the start of the M6 Smart Motorway scheme between junctions 13 and 14. Highways England plans to deliver this scheme in 2018.
Last week198potholerepairs were carried out across Staffordshire.
You can find a full list of both potholes we have repaired and defects reported from the link here.
Information on the latest road traffic regulation order in Stafford is available below:-
B5026 Eccleshall Road, Norton Bridge
Proposed 30 mph Speed Limit
- Draft Notice and Order (20 KB)
- Statement of Reasons (10 KB)
- Engineers Plan (499 KB)
The closing date for any objections is Wednesday 22 February 2017.
There are no new planning applications this week.
Rugeley QuarryApplication No: CH.00/0577 & S.40018 D19 | Received: 07 October 2016 | Status: Approve details
Submission of details in compliance with condition 30 of planning permission CH.00/0577 & S.40018 relating to noise monitoring
View on Map
Get up to date roadworks information from
Monday 6 February10.15 am – 12 noon / Card Making
Wednesday 8 February
10.30 am – 11.30 am / Reading Group
There are no new events published this week.
There are no new events published this week.
Tuesday 7 February6.00 pm - 7.00 pm / J. R.R. Tolkien in Staffordshire 1915 -1918 – local historian, David Robbie, will discuss Tolkein’s time in the County during the great War. £2.00 per person – booking essential
There are no new events published this week.