Agenda Document Pack - Midlothian Council - 27/08/2024
Midlothian Council · 27 August 2024
Back to Midlothian Council — 27 August 2024 and its agenda
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Notice of Meeting and Agenda Midlothian Council Venue: Council Chambers/Hybrid, Midlothian House, Dalkeith, EH22 1DN Date: Tuesday, 27 August 2024 Time: 11:00 Executive Director : Place Contact: Clerk Name: Democratic Services Clerk Telephone: Clerk Email: democratic.services@midlothian.gov.uk Further Information: This is a meeting which is open to members of the public. Privacy notice: Please note that this meeting may be recorded. The recording may be publicly available following the meeting. If you would like to know how Midlothian Council collects, uses and shares your personal information, please visit our website: www.Midlothian.gov.uk Page 1 of 126
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1 Welcome, Introductions and Apologies 2 Order of Business Including notice of new business submitted as urgent for consideration at the end of the meeting. 3 Declaration of Interest Members should declare any financial and non-financial interests they have in the items of business for consideration, identifying the relevant agenda item and the nature of their interest. 4 Deputations 5 Minutes 5.1 Minute of Midlothian Council 25 June 2024, submitted for approval 5 - 30 5.2 Minute Volume Index - No minutes submitted 5.3 Action Log 31 - 34 6 Questions to the Council Leader 7 Motions 7.1 Reports for Noting 35 - 36 8 Public Reports 8.1 Financial Monitoring 2024/25 – General Fund Revenue, report by Chief Financial Officer / Section 95 Officer 37 - 48 8.2 Housing Revenue Account – Revenue Budget and Capital Plan 2024/25, report by Chief Financial Officer / Section 95 Officer 49 - 54 8.3 General Services Capital Plan - 2024/25 Quarter 1 Monitoring, report by Chief Financial Officer / Section 95 Officer 55 - 66 8.4 The Education (Scotland) Bill, report by Executive Director Children, Young People and Partnerships 67 - 74 8.5 United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (“UNCRC”) (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act, report by Executive Director Children, Young People and Partnerships 75 - 82 Page 2 of 126
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8.6 Children’s Services 2024/25 Service Plan, report by Executive Director, Children, Young People and Partnerships 83 - 104 8.7 Fair Work First – Implementation Update, report by Chief Officer Corporate Solutions 105 - 114 8.8 Housing Programme Update, report by Executive Director Place 115 - 126 8.9 Exclusion of Members of the Public (A) TO CONSIDER RESOLVING TO DEAL WITH THE UNDERNOTED BUSINESS IN PRIVATE IN TERMS OF PARAGRAPHS 6, 9 AND 11 OF PART 1 OF SCHEDULE 7A TO THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT (SCOTLAND) ACT 1973 - THE RELEVANT REPORTS ARE THEREFORE NOT FOR PUBLICATION; AND (B) TO NOTE THAT NOTWITHSTANDING ANY SUCH RESOLUTION, INFORMATION MAY STILL REQUIRE TO BE RELEASED UNDER THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION (SCOTLAND) ACT 2002 OR THE ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION REGULATIONS 2004. 9 Private Reports 9.1 Mavisbank House – Compulsory Purchase Order, report by Executive Director Place 9.2 Beeslack Community High School Replacement – Contract Tender, report by Executive Director Place 9.3 Destination Hillend – Alpine Coaster Pricing, report by Executive Director Place 10 Date of Next Meeting The next meeting will be held on Tuesday 8th October 2024 at 11am. Page 3 of 126
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Minute of Meeting Midlothian Council Date Time Venue Tuesday 25 June 2024 11:00 am Council Chamber, Midlothian House/Hybrid Present: Provost McCall (Chair) Depute Provost Bowen Councillor Parry (Council Leader) Councillor Cassidy (Depute Council Leader) Councillor Alexander Councillor Curran Councillor Drummond (joined at 11.39am) Councillor Imrie Councillor McEwan Councillor McKenzie Councillor McManus Councillor Milligan Councillor Pottinger (attended virtually) Councillor Russell Councillor Scott Councillor Smaill Councillor Virgo Councillor Winchester Religious Representatives: Anne-Theresa Lawrie In attendance: Dr Grace Vickers, Chief Executive Kevin Anderson, Executive Director Place Fiona Robertson, Executive Director Children, Young People and Partnerships Morag Barrow, Director of Health & Social Care: Midlothian HSCP / Chief Officer to Midlothian IJB Alan Turpie, Legal and Governance Manager / Monitoring Officer David Gladwin, Chief Financial Officer (Section 95 Officer) Janet Ritchie, Democratic Services Officer Hannah Forbes, Assistant Democratic Services Officer Midlothian Council Tuesday 27 August 2024 Item No 5.1 Page 5 of 126
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1. Welcome, Introductions and Apologies The Provost welcomed everyone to this meeting of the Midlothian Council and advised that the meeting was open to the public and would be webcast live. The Provost welcomed the guests from the twin town of Jarnac and wished them a very safe journey home with best wishes, repeating this introduction to them in French. The Provost took the opportunity to congratulate Willie Reid, Waste Services 50 years’ service at Midlothian Council. The Provost congratulated Chief Superintendent Catriona Paton for promotion to Assistant Chief Constable and receiving the King’s Policing medal. The Provost expressed their best wishes on their promotion. The Provost also recognised in the King’s Birthday Honours List Dr Jasmin Paris. The ultra runner received an MBE. The Provost also recognised Alastair Davis, Social Investment Scotland, who received an OBE and Professor Donald Campbell from Edinburgh University who was awarded an OBE for services to music and expressed congratulations to all recipients. 2. Order of Business The order of business was as per the agenda previously circulated. 3. Declarations of interest None. 4. Deputations A late deputation was received from the Midlothian Federation of Community Councils. The Provost asked Council whether it wished to hear the deputation. The Council unanimously agreed, and the Provost invited the representative from the Midlothian Federation of Community Councils to speak advising that they had 10 minutes to present. The Document MLDP2 Midlothian new Housing Target 2026-2036 was distributed. Stephen Liddell thanked the Council for hearing the deputation. Mr Liddell explained that they were representing the Midlothian Federation of Community Councils to raise its concerns relating to the recent housing allocation decision which forms part of the MLDP2. The representative stated that in November last year, following widespread public consultation with fifteen community councils the Federation wrote to the Planning Service and all Councillors expressing serious concerns regarding the further allocation of new housing sites being allocated in MLDP2. Page 6 of 126
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The view of the Federation was that, while it shares concerns over the impact of additional housing on local infrastructure, it believed there was still a need for properly affordable housing, particularly for young people starting out on the housing ladder. It also requested a dialogue with Planning Officers on the types of housing that are approved and whether they are appropriate for their community. The representative stated that the decision made by the Planning Service regarding the housing numbers was misleading and that the Federation request this be raised today, and further information was contained within the document which was distributed in the Council Chamber prior to the deputation. (‘MLDP2 Midlothian New Housing Target 2026-2036’, appended to the minute). The representative further explained the table of numbers in the handout stating that the numbers were from the evidence report, the 2023 housing land audit and the 2023 Scottish Government’s vacant and derelict land survey and the Scottish Government’s target was for 8,850 houses. The representative stated that several categories of new housing were not included in these numbers which was windfall sites, constrained sites, impact of densification of sites and brownfield sites. The representative continued on to say that the decision made by the Planning Service to completely exclude all these sources of new housing from the forecast summary is misleading, stating that if the brownfield sites were disregarded, the total is 10,900, then with an extra 2000 houses added which was agreed by the Planning Committee, the total becomes 12,900. The representative stated that this is a 4,000 surplus over the target, which equates to 45% more new houses than the Scottish Government request. The Provost thanked Mr Liddell and opened it up to Members for questions. Councillors asked whether officers could respond to some of the points raised, with regards to the implication that Planning Officers moved policy due to pressures by developers. The Legal and Governance Manager advised that the Deputations Process did not state a position on this and suggested that questions were taken at this time and that the relevant officers who were in the Council Chambers were given the opportunity to respond to these points and also stated that this would, if required and appropriate, allow the Federation to further respond. The Provost reminded Members that there was 10 minutes allocated for questions and answers. In responding to a further question from Members about the appropriateness of this discussion the Legal and Governance Manager confirmed that this was a policy strategy matter, therefore the quasi-judicial rules do not apply. The Chief Officer, Place and the Planning, Sustainable Growth and Investment Senior Manager responded to each of the points. The Chief Officer Place started by highlighting the good relationship and engagement that the Council had with Community Councils and the Federation throughout the consultation and engagement process of the local development plan and that the term misleading was disappointing and unjustified. Page 7 of 126
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The Planning, Sustainable Growth and Investment Senior Manager responded to the all the points raised by the Federation of Community Councils stating the that the figures presented to members in October 2023, November 2023 and June 2024 were correct and provided an explanation on the variation and why the figures presented by the Federation in the handout are incorrect. The Planning and Sustainable Growth and Investment Senior Manager explained why windfall sites and constrained sites are excluded and provided clarification on densification. They went on to respond to the other points including the additional burden because of development, housing numbers and surpluses, the allocation of new sites and how this is considered in relation to existing sites in the plan and the final point about smaller sites or smaller allocations. The Planning and Sustainable Growth and Investment Senior Manager confirmed that Planning Officers are working closely with Homes in Scotland and explained that there is a requirement in MPF4 under regulations that the Council negotiate and engage with all relevant parties, whether they are key agencies or communities, and the Council have been doing this. It was explained that there had been disagreements between the Planning Authority and Homes in Scotland, which is the umbrella group that represents the housebuilding industry, and this is set out in the Evidence Report. The Provost asked if there were any further questions. The representative was asked if the explanation by the Planning Sustainable Growth and Investment Senior Manager gives a better understanding of the dispute with regards to the figures. The representative commented on the individual numbers put together and the total figure. The representative further highlighted although windfall sites are unpredictable, they still occur and stated that alongside brownfield sites and constrained sites these should all be included in the summary and that all numbers are in the report, and this should be looked at in more detail and see what can be produced. 11.31am – The Representative from the Federation of Community Councils and the guests from the twin town of Jarnac left the Council Chamber. 5. Minutes of Previous Meetings Item No. Report Title Submitted by: 5.1 Minute of Midlothian Council of 7 May 2024 Executive Director Place Outline and Summary of Discussion Councillor Pottinger intimated his apologies for the last meeting of Council when he mistakenly had his camera on whilst eating and drinking. Councillor Pottinger advised that this was not intentional and did not mean to cause upset and hoped that the council would accept his apologies. The Provost thanked Councillor Pottinger and was happy to accept their apologies on behalf of the Council. Page 8 of 126
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The Minute of the Special Meeting of Midlothian Council held on the 7 May 2024 was submitted for approval, moved by Councillor Parry and seconded by Councillor McManus. Decision The Minute of the Meeting of Midlothian Council held on 7 May 2024 was approved. Action Democratic Services Item No. Report Title Submitted by: 5.2 Minute Volume Index Executive Director Place Outline and Summary of Discussion The following minutes were previously circulated to Elected Members and subsequently noted and/or the recommendations contained therein approved: • Minute of Police Fire and Rescue Board Meeting of 29 January 2024 • Minute of Cabinet Meeting of 5 March 2024 • Minute of Planning Committee Meeting of 12 March 2024 • Minute of General Purposes Committee Meeting of 19 March 2024 • Minute of Performance, Review and Scrutiny Committee Meeting of 19 March 2024 • Minute of Local Review Body Meeting of 25 March 2024 • Minute of General Purposes Committee Meeting of 30 April 2024 • Minute of Planning Committee Meeting of 30 April 2024 • Minute of the Special Planning Committee Meeting of 21 May 2024 • Minute of MIJB Audit and Risk Committee Meeting of 7 March 2024 Moved by Councillor Parry and seconded by Councillor McManus. Decision Minute Volume Index was noted. Action Democratic Services Page 9 of 126
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Item No. Report Title Submitted by: 5.3 Action Log Executive Director Place Outline and Summary of Discussion In responding to a question raised with regards to Item 5 Tenancy Agreement, The Executive Director Place confirmed that a briefing will be held post recess and will combine Tenancy Agreement and Anti-Social Behaviour. Capital Plan Prioritisation (item 1) was also raised, and several Councillors expressed their frustration that they still did not have a completion date and that they required assurances on an exact date so decisions could be made. The Executive Director Place advised that this would be post recess and advised that officers were aiming to present this to August Council, but this may be September, and outlined the work in progress and the elements which are contributing to the delay. Further comments were made with regards to the budget gap and the Capital Plan was required to be presented to Councillors to allow them to understand the Council’s affordability. The Executive Director Place in responding provided an outline of the ongoing work to date, confirmed that business cases were progressing and as soon as the final Plan was ready it would be presented in a meaningful and factual format to allow Councillors to make those informed decisions. A further question was raised with regards to the interlinking nature of the Capital Plan Prioritisation and the Medium-Term Financial Strategy. The Chief Financial Officer, in responding, advised that in terms of the budget gap there are a number of levers which can be used by the Council for financial sustainability and one of these was to reduce capital expenditure. It was also highlighted that Audit Scotland would continue to comment on the Council not being financially sustainable whilst there is a budget gap and that officers need to come forward with viable options to allow Councillors to make decisions. Decision The Action Log was noted. Action Democratic Services During the above discussion Councillor Drummond joined the meeting at 11.39 am 6. Questions to the Leader of the Council None received. Page 10 of 126
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7. Motions Report No. Report Title Submitted by: 7.1 School Uniforms Councillor Drummond and Councillor Curran Outline and Summary of Discussion The Notice of Motion was proposed by Councillor Drummond and seconded by Councillor Curran. Councillor Drummond and Councillor Curran spoke in support of this motion explaining that in the past, Midlothian Council agreed to introduce school uniforms to schools and the reasons for this as contained within the Motion. The motion outlines that embroidered items were much more expensive to purchase and examples the expense of this and the issues this cause families. Discussion took place with regards to the costs of the embroidered uniforms, and it was noted that some parents would already have purchased their uniforms. It was also noted that some families will not be able to afford these embroidered uniforms. Comments were expressed in support of this motion but also with regard to further work being carried out to ensure the voices of the schools, families and young people are heard. It was suggested that a report was taken to the Cost of Living Task Force for further discussion and update on actions. It was noted that a consultation was in progress with parents, young people and schools and that discussions were ongoing at COSLA and Scottish Government, but Members stated that this ongoing national work should not hold up the Council adopting non- embroidered clothing. Further discussion took place around the holistic approach and the barriers in accepting this motion today. It was also noted that there was no procurement for school uniforms at present by the Council. Further comments were expressed in support of this motion. Decision The Notice of the Motion was moved. Action Executive Director Children, Young People and Partnerships to notify schools to ensure this position is adopted for the school term following summer recess. Page 11 of 126
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Report No. Report Title Submitted by: 7.2 Midlothian Indoor Bowling Club Councillor Curran and Councillor Russell Outline and Summary of Discussion The Notice of Motion was proposed by Councillor Curran and seconded by Councillor Russell. Councillor Curran and Councillor Russell spoke in support of this motion praising Midlothian Men’s Indoor Bowling Team’s successive Scottish Premier League and Scottish Cup wins. It was also noted that the level of competition and the number of elite bowlers in Scotland (including Midlothian) was a fantastic achievement. Council agreed to write to the team to congratulate them on their incredible success. Decision The Notice of the Motion was moved and agreed that Council will write to the team to congratulate them on their incredible success. Action Chief Executive/Leader of the Council Report No. Report Title Submitted by: 7.3 Gala Days Councillor Parry and Councillor Scott Outline and Summary of Discussion The Notice of Motion was proposed by Councillor Parry and seconded by Councillor Scott. Councillor Parry and Councillor Scott spoke in support of this motion highlighting the dedication and hard work of volunteers and the community to organise gala days and children’s days across Midlothian, commenting that the gala days this year were excellent. The Motion recognises that these events are an important part of the culture of Midlothian and congratulates the event organisers on their outstanding success. Also highlighted in the Motion was the hard work undertaken by young people, parents, carers, schools, local businesses and Midlothian Council staff to make these events happen. Councillors spoke in support of this motion highlighting all the work done by the volunteers across Midlothian and the importance of gala days in bringing the community together. Several Councillors declared transparency with working with gala day committees and other local community committees and spoke in favour of this motion. It was highlighted that gala days are mainly run by volunteers and the question was raised on sustainability, in particular if the main volunteers running these events moved on what would then happen to the future of the gala days and queried if there was something which could be done by the Council to support these Page 12 of 126
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volunteers. It was also noted the good work done by council employees in supporting the community with these events. Decision The Notice of the Motion was moved. Action Report No. Report Title Submitted by: 7.4 Volunteer Week Councillor McCall and Councillor McManus Outline and Summary of Discussion The Notice of Motion was proposed by Councillor McCall and seconded by Councillor McManus. As the motion was moved by the Provost, the Depute Provost assumed the position of Chair for this item. Councillor McCall in speaking in support of this motion, commented positively on Volunteer Week. As Midlothian’s Volunteer Champion, the Provost explained how they enjoyed assisting in the award ceremony where many adults and young people received awards and gave recognition to the number of people from many organisations who supported this event. Councillor McCall also expressed their congratulations to Lorna Greig, a volunteer from girl guiding who won the dedicated service to volunteering. Lorna has volunteered for 57 years. The Provost commented on the number of volunteers who have done this for many years and congratulated all volunteers. Councillor McManus formally seconded this motion and added their congratulations to all volunteers who received an award and commented positively on the number of young people involved in volunteering. Councillor Parry paid tribute to a volunteer, Shiela Broadfoot who recently passed away and did a lot of voluntary work in the Woodburn area and was a huge support to many people especially during the Miner’s strike. Decision The Notice of the Motion was moved. Action Page 13 of 126
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8. Reports Report No. Report Title Submitted by: 8.1 Financial Monitoring 2023/24 – General Fund Revenue Chief Financial Officer/ Section 95 Officer Outline and Summary of Discussion The Chief Financial Officer/Section 95 Officer presented the report. The purpose of this report was to provide Council with information on performance against service revenue budgets in 2023/24 and to provide commentary on areas of material variance against budget. The budget performance figures as shown in Appendix 1 result in a net underspend of £0.134 million which is an improvement of £0.006 million from projections at quarter 3. The underspend represents 0.05% of the revised budget. The Chief Financial Officer advised on a typo at the top of p42 of the report at the end of item 3.3. which referred to planning fees exceeding budget by £0.181 million but explained that this was the Q3 figure and should not have been included in this report. Council is recommended to note the contents of the report. The Provost thanked the Chief Financial Officer for the report and opened it up for questions and comments. In responding to a comment from Councillor Parry with regards to a paper being brought back in August, the Chief Financial Officer confirmed that the paper regarding Dalkeith Office Campus was still scheduled to be reported to Council in August. Members highlighted concerns around the overspends in fleet due to the hiring of vehicles and the importance of the Capital Plan coming to Council for decision and the review of transport requires to be progressed, however it was also acknowledged that there were some positive messages in the report. In responding to a question regarding housing revenue benefit overpayment, the Chief Officer Financial explained there is a complex rule to determine what is included in the calculation and at the end of every financial year there is a slight variance between what was budgeted for. There followed a discussion regarding Hillend and the Alpine Coaster and the Chief Financial Officer advised that there was no income received in the last financial year hence the variance and advised on some of the issues that caused the delay of the opening of the Alpine Coaster. It was further advised that the Hillend Project was on pause and that this was imposed while the business cases were being looked at and that the Hillend Project was getting redesigned to something which was affordable, it was also noted that there was no income for 23/24 due to delays in the programme but some of the loss of income may be recompensed. Following a further question with regards to the total overspend and underspend the Chief Financial Officer advised that the in - year the overspend was £2.937 million offset by loan charges and some minor variances and Scottish Government grant. Members queried why variances explained in the main text of the report do Page 14 of 126
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not add up to the total overspend. The Chief Financial Officer explained that these were only the material variances against budget and the full variance, at service level, is shown at Appendix 1. In responding to a comment on Loan Charges, the Chief Financial Officer explained the positive variance for Loan Charges was for a couple of main reasons - the value of surplus cash and the high interest rate environment and a delay in capital expenditure. Decision The Council noted the contents of this report. Action Chief Financial Officer/Section 95 Officer Report No. Report Title Submitted by: 8.2 Housing Revenue Account Chief Financial Officer/Section 95 Officer Outline and Summary of Discussion The Chief Financial Officer/Section 95 Officer presented the report. The report provides Council with: • The final outturn position for 2023/24 for both the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) Capital Plan and the Revenue Account. • A revised capital plan for 2024/25 to 2026/27 reflecting the cross-year budget movements and the latest capital plan delivery programmes. The summarised financial performance for 2023/24 is: • Capital investment in the year totalling £50.412 million. • A net overspend of £1.479 million on the Revenue Account; • An HRA reserve at 31st March 2024 of £33.181 million, the majority of which is committed to finance investment in the new build programme. Council is recommended to note the contents of the report. The Provost thanked the Chief Financial Officer/Section 95 Officer for the report and opened it up for questions and comments. In responding to a question raised with regards how Midlothian is affected by the £196 million cut in the housing programme and the additional housing programmes, the Chief Financial Officer advised that the Scottish Government will no longer fully fund the affordable housing supply programme. Decision The Council noted the contents of this report. Action Chief Financial Officer/Section 95 Officer Page 15 of 126
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Report No. Report Title Submitted by: 8.3 General Services Capital Plan 2023/24 Final Outturn. Chief Financial Officer/Section 95 Officer Outline and Summary of Discussion The Chief Financial Officer/Section 95 Officer presented the report. The purpose of this report was to provide Council with: • Information on the final outturn performance against budget for 2023/24 (Section 3.1-3.5); • An update on the capital fund balance at 31 March 2024 (Section 4). Council is recommended to note the General Services Capital Plan outturn position for 2023/24 as set out in Section 4. The Provost thanked the Chief Financial Officer/Section 95 Officer for the report and opened it up for questions and comments. There being no questions raised the recommendations were noted. Decision The Council noted the contents of this report. Action Chief Financial Officer/Section 95 Officer Report No. Report Title Submitted by: 8.4 Annual Treasury Management Report 2023/24 Chief Financial Officer/Section 95 Officer Outline and Summary of Discussion The Chief Financial Officer/Section 95 Officer presented the report. The purpose of this report was to inform members of the Council of the Treasury Management activity undertaken in 2023/24 and the year-end position. It was noted that the Audit Committee scrutinised the report on 24 June 2024. Council is recommended to note the Annual Treasury Management Report 2023/24. The Provost thanked the Chief Financial Officer/Section 95 Officer for the report and opened it up for questions and comments. Councillor Virgo commented on the positive report and passed their thanks and congratulations on the loan charges being significantly less than the Scottish average and states that this is a testament to the work that had taken place. Decision The Council noted the contents of this report. Page 16 of 126
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Action Chief Financial Officer/Section 95 Officer Report No. Report Title Submitted by: 8.5 Internal Audit Shared Service Arrangement Continuation Chief Executive Outline and Summary of Discussion The Chief Executive presented this report advising that this had been presented to Audit Committee on 24 June 2024. The purpose of the report was to provide Council with the appraisal of the first 18 months of the Shared Service arrangement for the Chief Internal Auditor between Midlothian and East Lothian Council. Significant budget savings have been delivered within the Internal Audit and Counter Fraud team over the 18-month period whilst continuing to deliver a service that meets the requirements of the Public Sector Internal Audit Standards (PSIAS). Council is recommended to: a) Note the agreement of Midlothian Council Audit Committee on 24 June 2024, following the 18-month initial period, to the continuation of the Chief Internal Auditor Shared Service on an ongoing basis. b) Approve the continuation of the Chief Internal Auditor Shared Service between Midlothian and East Lothian Council on an ongoing basis. c) Note that flexibility will be considered as part of the ongoing Internal Audit annual planning process to widen the agreement to the sharing of Internal Audit and Counter Fraud resource staffing, when the potential allows. The Provost thanked the Chief Executive for the report and opened it up for questions and comments. Moved by Councillor Parry, seconded by Councillor Smaill. Decision The Council approved the recommendations as stated in the report. Action Chief Executive Report No. Report Title Submitted by: 8.6 Cost of Living Update Chief Officer Corporate Solutions Outline and Summary of Discussion The Chief Officer Corporate Solutions presented this report. The purpose of this report was to provide Council with options for future poverty reduction interventions and associated costs. Council is asked to: Page 17 of 126
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• Note the research and analysis of findings related to poverty as set out at 3.3-3.7. • Recognise the significant work undertaken around employability support as set out at 3.8-3.11. • Agree to fund £462,500 to support Cost of Living interventions detailed in 3.22-3.24, from COVID recovery funds. • Agree to delegate authority of allocation of funding to the Cost of Living Task Force. The Provost thanked the Chief Officer Corporate Solutions for the report and opened it up for questions and comments. Councillors commented positively on the report and the collaborative work in the cross-party Cost of Living Task Force and also noted the income maximisation figures and the money this has brought in for the people in Midlothian. Moved by Councillor Parry, seconded by Councillor Virgo. Decision The Council approved the recommendations as stated in the report. Action Chief Officer Corporate Solutions Report No. Report Title Submitted by: 8.7 Replacement Beeslack Consultation Executive Director, Children, Young People and Partnerships Outline and Summary of Discussion The Executive Director, Children, Young People and Partnerships presented the report. This report advised on the outcome of the statutory consultation on the proposal to relocate Beeslack Community High School and realign the associated primary catchment areas as well as the secondary catchment areas of Penicuik and Lasswade High Schools and seeks approval for the recommendations. Council is recommended to approve the following: i. Beeslack Community High School will be relocated from its current site to land adjacent to Easter Bush from August 2026 or as soon as possible thereafter; ii. A new additional support needs (ASN) stage will be established at Beeslack Community High School when the school opens in August 2026 or as soon as possible thereafter; iii. The catchment area of Beeslack Community High School will be realigned to include the catchment areas of Loanhead and Paradykes Primary Schools; Page 18 of 126
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iv. The catchment area of the closed Glencorse Primary School will be realigned to the Mauricewood Primary School catchment area; v. The catchment area of Penicuik High School will be realigned to include the catchment areas of Mauricewood and the closed Glencorse Primary Schools; vi. A new ASN stage will be established at Penicuik High School. The Provost thanked the Executive Director, Children, Young People and Partnerships for the report and opened it up for questions and comments. Councillor Scott in moving the paper, commented positively on the new school and raised a question with regards to safe routes to the schools and the ASN facility as well as the transition to these schools. The Executive Director, Children, Young People and Partnerships confirmed that safer routes and traffic management will be established and provided an update on the work ongoing with Midlothian Travel Team and Lothian Buses and confirmed that they will continue to engage with key stakeholders to share updates on the safer routes to school. With regards to the provision for complex and medical needs the Executive Director, Children, Young People and Partnerships advised on the specialist architect who is part of the project team to ensure that these needs are considered in terms of the design of the facility. Members commented that while a new school would be welcome without having all the available information it is difficult for the Council to decide on the recommendations proposed and it was suggested that this item is deferred for decision at a later date. It was further highlighted that school estate condition surveys were still outstanding, and it was also noted the last time the Learning Estate Strategy was discussed there has been changes to the school estate with the removal of schools. It was also noted that this is one of the biggest spends the Council will make in 25 years and Members require all the information to make this decision. Councillor Parry in seconding the recommendations, commented in support of this being progressed and that a debate had taken place last year when the new school was approved. In responding to a question raised the Executive Director Children, Young People and Partnerships confirmed that the recommendation was to approve the new Beeslack High School being relocated to Easter Bush and to change the catchment areas which would require a new build. The Executive Director Children, Young People and Partnerships explained that the legislation states as there are changes in the Learning Estate the Education Authority must carry out a new consultation in relocating that school even although the new school build was previously approved by the Council. The Executive Director Place advised that the Council’s capital funding would be £75.64 million, expected developer’s contributions to the Council of £23.07 million and the Scottish Learning Estate Investment Programme funding of £17.1 million, totalling the £115.8 million for the project. There followed a debate on the new school and whether the Council has contractually committed to already to building a new Beeslack School and if not is Page 19 of 126
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there an alternative option for Members to consider. The Executive Director Place advised on the two-stage procurement process - the first stage being pre- construction services and is a low value and does not breach the position that the Council took for the £6 million spend limit and confirmed once the Council proceeded on to the main contract work stage this would exceed £6 million, and this would be brought back to Council and confirmed there would be no contractual penalty at this time. The Executive Director Place further advised in terms of abortive costs those are estimated at approximately £3 million. The Executive Director Place also advised on the building condition surveys for the schools and advised the High School surveys are complete, but the Primary School surveys are still in progress, and they would come forward as part of the Capital Plan. In terms of Beeslack the estimated total over the next 3 years would amount to 5.1 million in terms of suitability and condition work that would be required at the existing school. The Executive Director Place confirmed that in contractual terms the Council is not committed beyond what is agreed today and the tender report would be brought back to Council and with regards to the terminology of recommendations 1 and 2 they advised this would need to be deferred to the Monitoring Officer in terms of what commitments they may lead to. Further comments were raised with regards to the school not being developed and the reputational damage to the Council as well as the impact this will have on the community. The Executive Director Children, Young People and Partnerships with regards to the question raised on the Edge Analytics pupil product validation provided an explanation on the work undertaken to date. It is estimated to take 4-6 weeks and confirmed that they had benchmarked against other Local Authorities in terms of methodology to check the current figures. The Provost moved to a vote advising that the recommendations were moved by Councillor Scott, seconded by Councillor Parry. On a vote being taken 10 voted for the recommendations and 7 against the recommendations with 1 abstention. Decision The Council approved the recommendations as stated in the report. Action Executive Director, Children, Young People and Partnerships The Meeting adjourned for lunch at 1.05pm and reconvened at 1.25 pm. The Provost welcomed the Head Teachers, Ms Walker and Ms McGuire from St Mary’s Primary School and St Luke’s Primary School. Report No. Report Title Submitted by: 8.8 Mayfield Early Learning Centre Consultation Executive Director, Children, Young People and Partnerships Outline and Summary of Discussion Page 20 of 126
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The Executive Director, Children, Young People and Partnerships presented the report. This report advised on the outcome of the statutory consultation on the proposal to close Mayfield Nursery School and re-designation to Mayfield Early Learning Centre and seeks approval for the recommendations. Council is recommended to approve the following: • The closure of Mayfield Nursery School from August 2025 or as soon as possible thereafter; • Mayfield Early Learning Centre will be established from August 2025 or as soon as possible thereafter; • Mayfield Nursery School will be closed and re-designated to Mayfield Early Learning Centre within the Mayfield Learning Community Campus; • The Speech and Language Communication provision hosted within Mayfield Nursery School will close with effect from August 2024 or as soon as possible thereafter; • The re-designation of Mayfield Nursery School to Mayfield Early Learning Centre will take effect from August 2025 or as soon as possible thereafter; • The new Mayfield Early Learning Centre will be under the leadership of the Head Teacher of St Luke’s RC Primary School The Provost thanked the Executive Director, Children, Young People and Partnerships for the report and opened it up for questions and comments. In moving the report Councillor Scott commented positively on the indoor and outdoor facilities and highlighted that the Speech and Language Service would be offered as an outreach service. In responding to a question with regards to the Nursery arrangements the Executive Director Children, Young People and Partnership advised that they have been proactive in meeting with the families concerned and that the same staff team will work with the children to support the transition and that they will continue to liaise with families at an individual level to ensure they are supported during this period of transition. Councillor McKenzie in seconding the motion spoke positively with regards to this change and added that this is supported by the community. The Executive Director Children, Young People and Partnerships in responding to a further question provided clarity on the balance of the range of provisions that Head Teachers lead and mange within each establishment. They explained that the proposed new Mayfield Primary School will have a new Additional Support Needs provision and there will be non-denominal early learning childcare at St. Luke’s, and this ensures that both schools provide an educational service out with mainstream education. The Executive Director Children, Young People and Partnerships further advised that collaboration is encouraged as a campus, and this does not impact on the identity of each school in terms of learning and teaching and is seen as good practice. They further explained the benefits for the children in providing an outreach Speech and Language Service and also that this will build the capacity of staff within mainstream schools who support children that require speech and language communication support. Page 21 of 126
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In responding to a follow up question with regards to setting dates, the Executive Director Children, Young People and Partnerships provided an explanation advising that in terms of statutory consultation when it relates to a new build it is good practice to identify a date as soon as possible thereafter and that this is something that is done nationally and allows for any delays. Ms Smith, the Quality and Improvement Officer for the Speech and Language Service joined the meeting and provided clarity that the level of support the children receive will continue and in providing assurances advised on discussions that are taking place with NHS speech and language therapy support and the Mayfield speech, language and communication team and that each child will have a package of care with targets and outcomes and that will continue when they transfer to this new model. The Executive Director Children, Young People and Partnerships in responding to a further comment confirmed that the Speech and Language Service is a Midlothian wide service and there is no catchment area. Moved by Councillor Scott, seconded by Councillor McKenzie Decision The Council approved the recommendations as stated in the report. Action Executive Director, Children, Young People and Partnerships Report No. Report Title Submitted by: 8.9 Mayfield Additional Support Needs Consultation Executive Director, Children, Young People and Partnerships Outline and Summary of Discussion The Executive Director, Children, Young People and Partnerships presented the report. This report advised on the outcome of the statutory consultation on the proposal to establish a new Additional Support Needs (ASN) stage at Mayfield Primary School on the new Mayfield Learning Community Campus and close the Speech and Language Communication provision within Mayfield Primary School and seeks approval for the recommendations. Council is recommended to approve the following: i. A new Additional Support Needs (ASN) stage will be established on the Mayfield Learning Community Campus; ii. The ASN stage will be under the leadership of the Head Teacher of Mayfield Primary School; iii. The Speech and Language Communication provision hosted within Mayfield Primary School will close with effect from August 2024 or as soon as possible thereafter; Page 22 of 126
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iv. The Speech and Language Communication provision hosted within Mayfield Nursery School will close with effect from August 2024 or as soon as possible thereafter; v. The Speech and Language Communication provision will move to an outreach service from August 2024 or as soon as possible thereafter. The Provost thanked the Executive Director, Children, Young People and Partnerships for the report and opened it up for questions and comments. Councillor Scott in moving the report commented positively on the specialist provision and that the existing buildings will be replaced with a new state of the art campus and community facilities in the heart of Mayfield. It was also noted that communication with stakeholders was very important, and Members requested that the staff undertake training from the outreach service. Councillor McKenzie formally seconded the report. Councillor Virgo also commented on the incorrect terminology ‘Her Majesty’s Inspectors of Education’. Councillor Scott moved the report, seconded by Councillor McKenzie. Decision The Council approved the recommendations as stated in the report. Action Executive Director, Children, Young People and Partnerships It was noted that Mr Campbell Hornell, Head Teacher, Lasswade High School Centre was available on MS Teams for any questions. Report No. Report Title Submitted by: 8.10 Lasswade High School Childcare Service - Consultation Executive Director, Children, Young People and Partnerships Outline and Summary of Discussion The Executive Director, Children, Young People and Partnerships presented the report. Under the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010 any proposal to permanently discontinue all nursery classes in a school require a statutory consultation. The purpose of this report was to seek approval for the recommendation outlined above, that Council approve the undertaking of statutory consultation on the closure of Lasswade High School Childcare Service. Council is recommended to Authorise the Executive Director Children, Young People and Partnerships to undertake statutory consultation on the proposal to close Lasswade High School Childcare Service, which is treated as a closure under the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010. Page 23 of 126
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The Provost thanked the Executive Director, Children, Young People and Partnerships for the report and opened it up for questions and comments. Cllr Scott in moving the report noted the number of children in the setting was low and asked what transition arrangements would be in place to move young children to another early years childcare setting if the Lasswade setting closed. The Executive Director Children, Young People and Partnerships explained that the school has found it extremely difficult to achieve the income target and that if this was taken out of the school and manged by the Local Authority or partner provider it would become more viable in terms of the hours it could operate. It was also explained that with regards arrangements for Parent/Carers there would be close contact with them ensuring that the correct communication is provided around the longer term and that they would be fully involved in the consultation process. Councillor Virgo in seconding the report asked what would happen to this space and the Executive Director Children, Young People and Partnerships advised that they would look to retain the space as an early learning and childcare space and once the outcome of the consultation was known all options will be considered before a decision is made on utilising the space. A further question was raised with regards to who uses this provision, and it was confirmed that this was used by a mix of members of the public and Midlothian staff. Councillor Scott moved the report, seconded by Councillor Virgo. Decision The Council approved the recommendations as stated in the report. Action Executive Director, Children, Young People and Partnerships Also in attendance during this report were High School Head Teachers – Mr Hornell, Mr MacDonald, Mr Biddick and Mr Nicol. Report No. Report Title Submitted by: 8.11 Attainment Update for Secondary School leavers in Midlothian Education Chief Operating Officer Outline and Summary of Discussion The Executive Director, Children, Young People and Partnerships presented this report and advised that the Secondary Head Teachers were also present online to answer any questions. The purpose of this report was to present the annual update on leavers attainment for Midlothian, from the Senior Insight Update. This provides the achievement for our young people at the point of leaving school in 2023/23, highlighting the successes and challenges, along with plans for the future to improve the outcomes of our young people. Council is recommended to note the data for school leavers (2022/23) and agree the proposed next steps to further improve outcomes for young people. Page 24 of 126
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The Provost thanked the Executive Director Children, Young People and Partnerships for the report and opened it up for questions and comments. Councillor Scott in moving the report commented positively on the number of leavers from Midlothian schools with an initial destination which was the third highest ever recorded in Midlothian and expressed her thanks to everyone for the hard work ensuring that Midlothian young people get off to a good start. Councillors commented positively on the report and raised a question with regards to the closure of the Esk Valley College, Edinburgh College. The Executive Director Children, Young People and Partnerships confirmed that there have been no discussions with regards to Edinburgh College and that the school/college partnership has expanded. There followed a brief discussion on Edinburgh College and the comment that it was closing, and it was confirmed that there had been no formal discussion in any meeting regarding this. Thereafter Head Teachers commented on questions raised by Councillors with regards to final destinations and Edinburgh College. The Head Teachers advised that there are better links with Edinburgh College and that more courses are being transferred to the Midlothian Campus which is positive, and Edinburgh College are now working in the 6 Secondary Schools which allows all leavers to see a visible link to College. They also advised on the attainment in Level 6 in literacy and numeracy being lower and that this was a national issue and provided an explanation on the work which was underway to improve the quality of passes at Level 5 and to ensure the right students are studying the right courses to give them the practical skills they require to achieve Level 6. It was also noted that last year Lasswade Level 6 was above the virtual comparative, and this is due to the school being one of the pathfinder schools for the higher applications and that once the right pathways are in place there should be an improvement in Level 6 passes. Members raised that previously courses were removed from Edinburgh College and the Midlothian students did not have access to all courses and it was expressed to the Director of Children, Young People and Partnerships and Head Teachers to continue to use this college as much as possible. The Council Leader expressed their thanks to all the Head Techers and specialists in attendance today as well as the staff and support staff that work across the school estate who do an exceptional job which is displayed in this report and the importance of pathways for all students. The Provost took the opportunity to thank the Head Teachers for joining the meeting today and wished them a peaceful and restful holiday period. Decision The Council approved the recommendations as stated in the report. Action Executive Director, Children, Young People and Partnerships Page 25 of 126
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Report No. Report Title Submitted by: 8.12 Single Midlothian Plan H2 Performance Report (Half year October 2023 to March 2024) Chief Executive Outline and Summary of Discussion The Chief Executive presented this report. The purpose of this report is to draw to elected members attention to the Single Midlothian Plan 2023/27 and the H2 performance report of Midlothian Community Planning Partnership. It is a statutory duty for the partnership to publish performance reports. The Community Planning Partnership Board would like Council to note the excellent partnership working which has produced the Single Midlothian Plan 2023/27, enabling local communities to be well supported. In addition, the community planning partnership would like you to note the H2 Performance Report (October 2023 to March 2024), which highlights progress on indicators and actions in H2. The Chief Executive thanked members and partners for their hard work over the course of the year. The Provost thanked the Chief Executive for the report and opened it up for questions and comments. Decision The Council noted the recommendations as stated in the report. Action Executive Director, Children, Young People and Partnerships Report No. Report Title Submitted by: 8.13 Midlothian Local Development Plan 2 – Submission of Evidence Report to Scottish Ministers for “Gate Check” Chief Officer Place Outline and Summary of Discussion The Chief Officer Place presented this report. This report asks Council to approve the MLDP2 Evidence Report and associated documents (which includes the set LHLR), MLDP2 Participation Report and MLDP2 Children and Young Person’s Participation Report for submission to Scottish Ministers for Gate Check. The report provides details of a “Call for Ideas” to be undertaken during July- October 2024 for MLDP2. Council is asked to note the “Call for Ideas” exercise. Council is recommended to: i. Endorse and approve the Midlothian Local Development Plan 2 (MLDP2) Evidence Report and all the associated documents referred to in it, for submission to Scottish Ministers for Gate Check – noting that the indicative Local Housing Land Requirement (LHLR) agreed by Planning Committee at its meeting of 4 June 2024 will be included in the Evidence Report submitted for Gate Check; Page 26 of 126
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ii. Endorse and approve for submission to Scottish Ministers for Gate Check the MLDP2 Participation Report and MLDP2 Children and Young Person’s Participation Report; iii. Instruct the Planning, Sustainability and Investment Service Manager to submit the approved MLDP2 Evidence Report and associated documents to Scottish Ministers for Gate Check: and iv. Note that a “Call for Ideas” for MLDP2 will be undertaken during July-October 2024. The Provost thanked the Chief Officer Place for the report and opened it up for questions and comments. The Council Leader thanked officers for the time taken in the members briefings and thanked the Community Councils and Federation for their engagement. It was also commented on that when Councillors make decisions some people do not like the decision, but they do so for a variety of different reasons and highlighted that Members acknowledge the increasing demand on Midlothian’s infrastructure. Councillor Parry moved the recommendations with the possibility of giving further consideration to the smaller numbers of housing. Councillor Milligan advised they would second the motion if it was for the minimum number of houses, this was agreed by Councillor Parry. There followed a discussion with regards to the criteria and it was confirmed that that as the sites come forward there is a criteria in place and if the criteria was not met then the sites would not be considered. Members raised further queries regarding the constrained and windfall sites and social housing sites and infrastructure requirements and that this does not follow the growth of Midlothian. Officers confirmed that the Federation of Community Council’s earlier deputation on the agenda was in response to the Planning Committee report and that the Planning Service had engaged with all Community Councils prior to the report being finalised. Councillor Parry moved the report for 8,850 houses plus 1, seconded by Councillor Milligan. Decision To approve the recommendations set out in the report with the amendment to approve only 8,850 houses plus 1. Action Chief Officer Place Report No. Report Title Submitted by: 8.14 Whitecraig Traveller Site Executive Director Place Outline and Summary of Discussion The Executive Director Place presented the report. The purpose of this report was to evaluate Gypsy/Traveller accommodation options which meet need and demand Page 27 of 126
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based on current guidance and stakeholder data. The report will include recommendations on future housing provision(s) for Gypsy/Travellers in Midlothian. Council is recommended to: a. Authorise the Executive Director – Place, or nominee, to seek an early termination of the Whitecraig Traveller Site lease with Buccleuch Property Estate Office. b. Midlothian Council to agree a formal unauthorised encampment process between colleagues from housing, education, health, social work and Police Scotland. c. Midlothian Council to develop a code of conduct for those living on unauthorised sites to be highlighted and implemented as part of initial site visits. d. Commence discussions between Midlothian Council, University of Edinburgh and Police Scotland to ensure future unauthorised sites are managed following Scottish Government guidance. e. Any future Gypsy/Traveller site requirement and search can be undertaken through the development of the Local Development (LDP2) Proposed Plan which will allow a decision to be taken on whether a site is needed through LDP2 preparation. f. If demand exists, any future Gypsy/Traveller housing provision should have five or more pitches for both short and longer term use. g. If evidence suggests that a site is required, touring caravan facilities may be considered. The Provost thanked the Executive Director Place for the report and opened it up for questions and comments. Councillor Cassidy moved this report. Councillor Curran proposed an amendment to recommendation a) to add in ‘that will be undertaken in conjunction with East Lothian Council and a full cost report to come back to Council for final approval to include early termination cost and reinstatement cost unless the cost is nil’. Councillor Cassidy confirmed he agreed with the amendment to the recommendation a). Councillor Cassidy moved the report, seconded by Councillor Curran. Decision The recommendations were approved with an additional sentence added to recommendation a) Authorise the Executive Director – Place, or nominee, to seek an early termination of the Whitecraig Traveller Site lease with Buccleuch Property Estate Office and that this will be undertaken in conjunction with East Lothian Council and a full cost report to come back to Council for final approval to include early termination cost and reinstatement cost unless the cost for this is nil. Action Executive Director Place Page 28 of 126
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Report No. Report Title Submitted by: 8.15 Medium Term Financial Strategy Chief Financial Officer/Section 95 Officer Outline and Summary of Discussion The Chief Financial Officer/Section 95 Officer presented the report. The report sets out the outcome of a recent review of the Council’s financial planning assumptions pointing to an increased budget gap of £9.406 million in 2025/26 rising to £20.645 million by 2028/29. Council is recommended to: a) Note that the Business Transformation Steering Group (BTSG) will continue to consider measures necessary to support delivery of a balanced Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) before any policy measures are presented to Council. b) Note that the financial outlook remains challenging for this term of Council and note the recommendation of the external Auditor that, “as a matter of urgency, officers and elected members need to work together to develop and agree the medium-term financial strategy and progress the Council’s transformation plans”. c) Note the MTFS planning assumptions set out in the report (section 4.2). d) Note the planned engagement on demographic pressures relating to Additional Support Needs (ASN) and transitions to adult services (section 4.4). e) Note that the budget gap for 2025/26, incorporating the planned use of service concession retrospection and a 5% annual Council Tax increase is projected to be £9.406 million, rising to a projected £20.645 million by 2028/29 (section 4.1). f) Note the urgent need to finalise savings proposals, many of which will involve extremely difficult choices, to achieve equilibrium between expenditure and income (sections 5.6 and 5.7); and g) Otherwise note the remainder of the report. The Provost thanked the Chief Financial Officer/Section 95 Officer for the report and opened it up for questions and comments. There followed a brief discussion on the financial severity and the budget gap and clarification was asked with regards to the transition of children moving into adulthood and the large figures regarding this. The Joint Director Health and Social Care advised that with Children, Young People and Partnerships they have established a transition group to look at how processes can be improved processes advised on the increase on the adult social care budget and that the figures in the paper were correct. Decision To note the recommendations as detailed in the report. Page 29 of 126
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Action Chief Financial Officer/Section 95 Officer The Public section of the meeting concluded at 14.58 pm. 9. Private Exclusion of Members of the Public In view of the nature of the business to be transacted, the Committee agreed that the public be excluded from the meeting during discussion of the undernoted item, as contained in the Addendum hereto, as there might be disclosed exempt information as defined in paragraphs 3, 6 and 14 of Part I of Schedule 7A to the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973:- 9.1 Mavisbank House – Update on proposed restoration by Landmark Trust, report by Executive Director Place 9.2 Transport Transformation Update, Executive Director, Children, Young People and Partnerships 9.3 Appointment of Chief Officer Children’s Services, Partnerships and Communities Date of Next Meeting The next meeting will be held on Tuesday 27 August 2024 at 11.00am The meeting concluded at 15.45 pm. Page 30 of 126
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Midlothian Council Action Log No Date of meeting Item No and Title Action Action Owner Expected completion date Comments 1 21/02/2023 Capital Plan Prioritisation Refer approved Council report to BTSG on additional affordability scope and projects. Executive Director Place October 2024 UPDATE: June 2024 – Executive Director provided an update and as soon as ongoing work was concluded would be presented to August or October Council 2 19/12/2023 8.4 Non-Domestic Rates Relief Policy Review of policy to be undertaken in 6 months – 1 year. Chief Officer Corporate Solutions No later than April 2025 Report to council to be submitted 3 19/12/2023 8.8 Fleet and Plant Asset Replacement Plan Considerations around increasing fleet capacity to be brought to BTSG. Chief Officer Place Report to BTSG in September and to Council in October 2024 Fleet Management Plan will follow Climate Action Plan as proposing all Refuse Collection Vehicles and Heavy Goods Vehicles remain diesel. September BTSG for Fleet Management Plan. Midlothian Council Tuesday 27 August 2024 Item No 5.3 Page 31 of 126
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No Date of meeting Item No and Title Action Action Owner Expected completion date Comments 4 26/03/2024 8.3 Midlothian Council Housing Allocation Policy Review 2023/24 1. provide further information in relation to the viability of the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) in the long term 2. consider providing physical assistance for moving as an incentive for tenants to downsize 3. consider increasing the financial incentive for downsizing 4. audit of tenancy allocations 5. arrange an Elected Member briefing on tenancy agreements 6. review benefit in kind. Executive Director Place August Council updated No.1. Report to Council in August 2024 No. 2/3/6 The budget in the HRA for financial incentive for downsizing is £65k, last year we spent £33k against this budget, this financial year it appears spend will be higher at around the £55k as value was already increased and extended to mutual exchanges. Action included in the review process for the rent strategy to also pick up the physical assistance element. No.4. Assurance Exercise in progress however there has been some delay as a result of new systems implementation so not all relevant data is readily accessible. No.5. A Briefing scheduled on Tenancy Page 32 of 126
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No Date of meeting Item No and Title Action Action Owner Expected completion date Comments Agreements and Anti- Social Behaviour. 5 26/03/2024 8.4 Midlothian Council Mixed Tenure Strategy Arrange an Elected Member briefing on arms length organisations (ALEOs) Executive Director Place Briefing date to be scheduled post Summer recess. Currently scoping option for special purpose vehicle in development and management & maintenance of Mid Market Rent 6 07/05/2024 8.10 Glyphosate Paper on neighbourhood service operatives would be undertaking a targeted winter programme of work in springtime 2025. Chief Officer Place Springtime 2025 Report to council to be submitted 7 25/06/2024 7.1 School Uniforms Executive Director Children, Young People and Partnerships to notify schools to ensure this position is adopted for the school term following summer recess. Executive Director Children, Young People and Partnerships Summer 2024 Recommend for closure – non embroidered uniforms adopted for August 2024 term onwards. A school uniform policy will be presented to November council. 8 25/06/2024 7.2 Midlothian Indoor Bowling Club Motion Council will write to the team to congratulate them on their incredible success. Chief Executive/ Leader of Council Complete – letter issued Page 33 of 126
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No Date of meeting Item No and Title Action Action Owner Expected completion date Comments 9 25/06/2024 8.14 Whitecraig Traveller Site A full cost report to come back to Council for final approval to include early termination cost and reinstatement cost unless the cost for this is nil. Executive Director Place When termination costs are known Align to action jointly with ELC Page 34 of 126
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Midlothian Council Meeting Tuesday 27 August 2024 Reports for Noting Motion That Midlothian Council explores alternative mechanism for the presenting and approval of “Reports for Noting” out with Council or Committee meetings unless otherwise required by statute. Proposed by: Cllr Virgo Seconded by: Cllr Smaill Page 35 of 126
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Midlothian Council Tuesday 27 August 2024 Item No 8.1 Financial Monitoring 2024/25 – General Fund Revenue Report by David Gladwin, Chief Financial Officer and Section 95 Officer Report for Decision 1 Recommendations Council is recommended to: a) Approve a supplementary estimate of £0.330 million to provide an additional 0.2% budget to fund pay costs; and otherwise b) Note the contents of this report. 2 Purpose of Report / Executive Summary 2.1 The purpose of this report is to provide Council with information on projections of performance against service revenue budgets in 2024/25 and to provide commentary on areas of material variance against budget. The budget performance figures as shown in appendix 1 result in a projected net overspend of £1.773 million which represents 0.6% of the revised budget. 2.2 Some areas of projected overspend relate to recurring areas of financial pressure or slower than planned delivery of savings measures. The Corporate Management Team have discussed these in depth and, where possible, put in place recovery actions. 2.3 The projection of the General Fund balance at 31st March 2025 is £21.966 million, of which £14.783 million is earmarked for specific use leaving a non-earmarked General Fund balance of £7.183 million. Date: 13 August 2024 Report Contact: David Gladwin, Chief Financial Officer and Section 95 Officer David.Gladwin@midlothian.gov.uk 0131 271 3113 Page 37 of 126
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2 3 Background 3.1 This report encompasses all performance against revenue budget for General Fund services. 3.2 In response to the immediate and challenging financial outlook the Chief Executive, during the financial year 2022/23, introduced a moratorium on non-essential spend and a freeze on non-essential vacancies. This moratorium remains in place and delivered some staffing related and more general areas of underspend during the last financial year. Performance against budget 3.3 The material areas of projected variance against budget at quarter 1 are outlined in table 1 below which also describes mitigating measures and next steps. Accurate projections early in a financial year are difficult in many areas and come with a degree of uncertainty. Table 1: Material cost variances against budget Budget Overspend Reason Action Plan / Mitigating Measures Next Steps Staff Costs £1,021,000 Maternity cover in schools (£673,000), absence cover costs for cleaning and janitorial services (£229,000), additional resource in Building Maintenance Services (£250,000) and higher costs from temporary resources to cover service areas with permanent recruitment challenges (£150,000). Partially offset by vacancies across the Council. Strategic Workforce Plan is being developed. Continuation of enhanced level of vacancy control. Continual review of service costs. Review of interaction between the General Fund and the Housing Revenue Account for Building Maintenance. Insurance £693,000 The volume of insurance claims settled, particularly relating to potholes has increased considerably during quarter 1. Internal processes to consider each claim are being reviewed with potential to increase repudiation rates and consequently reduce projected costs in 2024/25. Officer review meeting linking in with professional insurer advice. Pupil Transport £657,000 Volume and value of school pupil transport invoices higher than budgeted. Council approval to proceed with the transport review was granted on 25th June 2024. This will include a root and branch review of practices, processes and costs. Appointment of delivery partner. Where possible, early implementation of identified efficiencies. Page 38 of 126
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3 Council Tax Income £325,000 Whilst the Council Tax Base continues to grow total projected income is lower than budgeted. Slower than anticipated growth, timing of processing changes in household circumstances and increased pressure on household budgets will all be factors. A detailed review is underway to develop a fuller understanding of influencing factors. Recent softening of interest rates will stimulate the new house build market. Fleet £307,000 Ageing vehicles and higher volumes of external contracting than planned. External vehicle hire to support service continuity. Areas of service have been re- provisioned. Cost containment measures in place. Fleet Maintenance Review underway. Multi-year Fleet Asset Management Plan being developed. Fleet replacement for ageing and costly maintenance has been accelerated as approved by Council on Tuesday 21st November. Items are now operational. Building Repairs £139,000 Costs in 2024/25 relating to scaffolding for Midlothian House. A report with recommendations on the future use of Midlothian House is scheduled for Council consideration in October. Options for changing the use of Midlothian House are linked to the Estate Rationalisation strand of the Transformation Blueprint. Table 2: Shortfalls against income targets in the Budget Budget Overspend Reason Action Plan / Mitigating Measures Next Steps Cafes £32,000 Income is lower than budgeted targets. New menus have been introduced as a trial and will be fully implemented if successful. It is anticipated this development will move income received to targeted levels. Trial underway and outcomes to be evaluated later in 2024/25. Page 39 of 126
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4 There also remains £1.483 million of Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) cost reductions either to be finalised or to be fully implemented. A number of these are taking longer than planned to implement with an impact on the 24/25 financial position. A detailed report on this will be presented to the Business Transformation Steering Group (BTSG) on Monday 19th August. Council on 4th October 2022 agreed a saving of £0.250 million for rationalisation of the office estate. Delivery of this remains at risk. Underspends • Loan Charges are projected to underspend by £1.648 million in 2024/25. There are three main factors: o Deferral of borrowing to later years to match timing of capital expenditure; o A reduction of £22.2 million in the borrowing requirement for 2024/25; o Higher than forecast surplus cash related directly to timing of capital expenditure thus providing opportunity to generate some deposit income. • With the exception of Additional School Needs (ASN), costs across the spectrum of learning settings for children and young people are lower than provided for in the budget mainly due to lower than expected pupil numbers thus giving rise to a positive variance of £0.974 million. As projections are in advance of the new school year they carry a heightened risk; • The cost of residential and day education placements for children and also for some non-residential services is projected to be £0.248 million less than budget. 3.4 The Corporate Management Team met on Wednesday 7th August to consider the financial position agreeing, alongside the continued financial discipline measures referenced in section 3.2, a range of recovery actions and some areas of enhanced monitoring. Pay and funding 3.5 Employees whose pay negotiations are covered by the Scottish Joint Council (SJC) trade unions have not yet agreed a pay award for 2024/25 and the agreed award for those covered by the Scottish Negotiation Committee for Teachers (SNCT) ended on 31st July 2024. The latest employer offer to SJC unions equates to a total uplift of 4.27% in-year with, at each Spinal Column Point (SCP), a £0.67 uplift to the hourly rate or 3.6% (whichever is better). This offer is currently being considered by unions. A revised offer has not yet been made to SNCT. Page 40 of 126
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5 3.6 Funding for the 2024/25 offer as it stands involves an assumption of 3% in council budgets, another 0.2% funded from Council Reserves and the remaining costs provided by the Scottish Government with mechanisms to deliver this to be finalised. Midlothian Council budgeted at 3% for pay in 2024/25. The additional 0.2% equates to costs of approximately £0.330 million and this is recommended to be added to the approved budget by way of a supplementary estimate. Destination Hillend 3.7 The wider Destination Hillend project approved by Council in December 2022 has been paused pending a review of tendered costs with an updated business case to be developed prior to further elected member engagement. 3.8 The first phase of the project included work on the road infrastructure and installation of an alpine coaster. This phase is almost complete and the coaster is due to open in the coming weeks. Whilst the 24/25 budget was set based on an opening date in July and reflected customer income projections embedded in the approved business case there was an expectation of a high initial level of interest on opening. Rather than re-engineer projected numbers to derive a variance at quarter 1 it feels more appropriate to wait for actual customer numbers on opening and to use these to inform a more accurate projection for 2024/25 at quarter 2. 4 Delegation of resources to Midlothian Integration Joint Board 4.1 The approved budget provided for the allocation of £63.535 million to the Midlothian Integration Joint Board (MIJB) for the provision of delegated services. 4.2 In accordance with the Integration Scheme the MIJB is required to deliver delegated services within the budget allocations from the Council and NHS Lothian and where any overspend is projected to put in place a recovery plan to address that. As a last resort the integration scheme allows for the MIJB to seek additional financial support from its partners, either by way of an additional budget allocation or by “brokerage” (provision of additional resources in a year which are repaid in the following year). 4.3 Financial Monitoring reports covering all of the MIJB activities are presented to the Integration Joint Board and are available on the committee management section of the Council website:- Midlothian Integration Joint Board (cmis.uk.com) 4.4 MIJB next meet on Thursday 22nd August and will discuss projections for 2024/25 which show a very significant overspend albeit with mitigating actions underway. At this stage there is a heightened risk of MIJB requiring additional resource from Midlothian Council to be able to fund costs in 2024/25. Further information will be provided to Elected Members in a briefing scheduled for Tuesday 3rd September and in future financial monitoring reports. Page 41 of 126
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6 5 General Fund Reserve 5.1 The projected balance on the General Fund as at 31 March 2025 is as follows: £ million £ million General Fund Reserve at 1 April 2024 46.338 Planned movements in reserves Application of Budgets carried forward from 2023/24 for use in 2024/25 (15.366) Utilisation of reserve to balance 2024/25 budget (2.680) Utilisation of retrospective service concessions to fund costs in 2024/25 (4.093) Transformation funding applied to date during 2024/25 (0.130) Funding for pay (0.2%) – supplementary estimate (0.330) (22.599) Overspend per appendix 1 (1.773) General Fund Balance at 31 March 2025 21.966 An element of the General Fund is earmarked for specific purposes and this is shown below: £ million General Fund Balance at 31 March 2025 21.966 Earmarked for specific purposes To support Council Transformation Blueprint (2.506) Planned use of Service Concession Retrospection (12.277) General Reserve at 31 March 2025 7.183 5.2 The Reserves Strategy approved by Council on 12th February 2019 requires Council to maintain an adequate level of General Reserve to provide a contingency for unforeseen or unplanned costs. In the financial context at that time Council approved the adoption of 2% of the approved budgeted net expenditure (excluding resources delegated to the IJB) to be considered a minimum. This now equates to £4.743 million. Council also agreed that where projections indicate that should the 2% minimum General Reserve balance be breached an immediate recovery plan be implemented to recover the position, failing which, the next available budget would need to provide for the reinstatement of reserve position. 5.3 The General Reserve of £7.183 million is £2.440 million above the minimum set in the Reserves Strategy. Considering current financial pressures, the General Reserve must be viewed both in the context of £3.096 million of underlying service pressures in 2024/25 (Appendix 1 - General Fund Services Net Expenditure), the latest Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) projected gap of approximately £20.6 million through to 2028/29 and also the severe in-year pressure faced by MIJB. Until there is significant progress towards a balanced MTFS it remains sound financial practice to maintain a substantial buffer in the Page 42 of 126
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7 General Reserve to offset any further adverse performance against budget or delays in delivering savings measures. 6 Report Implications (Resource, Digital and Risk) 6.1 Resource The projected performance against budget set out in this report presents the initial projections for the year. Work continues across the council to reduce overspends and to progress at pace delivery of approved savings. Council is asked to provide additional funding of £0.330 million for pay costs in 2024/25 to increase total funding to 3.2%. 6.2 Digital Increased reliance and investment in digital solutions and digital first solutions will be a key element of future plans. 6.3 Risk The 2024/25 Budget was finalised with some assumptions on Scottish Government Grant Funding. The Scottish Government removed £145 million of funding for teachers from General Revenue Grant to Ring- Fenced Revenue Grant (£2.786 million for Midlothian) with a wish to attach conditions around teacher numbers to this funding. Discussions have not been concluded and grant offer letters remain unsigned. Whilst this situation persists there remains a risk of not receiving all the expected funding. Further Scottish Government funding, via UK Government consequentials, is due to pass to Councils to fund the Employers Superannuation increase for Teachers. Funding for this has not yet been received and Councils have not been advised of timescales. The additional cost to Midlothian Council is approximately £1.8 million. Section 95 of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 requires all Local Authorities in Scotland to have adequate systems and controls in place to ensure the proper administration of their financial affairs. The assessment of performance against budgets by services is underpinned by comprehensive financial management and budgetary control arrangements. These arrangements are central to the mitigation of financial risk. Ensuring that adequate systems and controls are in place reduces the risk of significant variances arising, and where they do arise they help to ensure that they are identified and reported on and that appropriate and robust remedial action is taken. The primary purpose of this report is to provide an assessment of performance against budget for the full year. The material variances detailed in the report highlight that the Page 43 of 126
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8 financial management and budgetary control arrangements require continual review and enhancement if financial risk is to be effectively mitigated during the year. There are some areas where effective forecasting of spend against budget is hindered due to incomplete service information which in previous years has resulted in previously unreported or significantly adjusted variances at the financial year end. Financial Management CMT continues to consider these areas and supports actions to address the underlying issues and mitigate the risk associated with them. At quarter 1 there is insufficient quality data to make meaningful projections for energy costs and building maintenance recharges are under review. Activity is in place to ensure this will be rectified for quarter 2. The financial projections are predicated on new burdens, including those arising from the Government’s 100 day commitments to be fully funded. The position with outstanding pay awards and the potential for unfunded costs arising presents a significant and ongoing risk to the Council’s financial position. The Council recognises the potential for compensation claims deriving from Scottish Government’s Limitation (Childhood Abuse) (Scotland) Act 2017 which removes the three year time limit on claims of child abuse. Some claims will be historic and relate to Lothian Regional Council, Midlothian District Council or their predecessors and some will date post reorganisation and relate to Midlothian Council, and so presents a risk that would further reduce reserves from those currently projected. Further financial obligations may also arise as the implications associate with the The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Incorporation) (Scotland) Bill, which has yet to secure Royal Assent, are more fully understood. 6.4 Ensuring Equalities As changes to existing plans are developed the assessment of the impact of these proposals in relation to their impact on equalities and human rights will be carried out. This will help to ensure wherever possible that there are no negative impacts on equality groups or potential for infringement of individuals’ human rights from the any of the proposals. 6.5 Additional Report Implications See Appendix A Appendices Page 44 of 126
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9 APPENDIX A – Report Implications A.1 Key Priorities within the Single Midlothian Plan The existing financial plans support the delivery of the key priorities in the Single Midlothian Plan. As the impact on the Council of the pandemic and recovery continues to unfold over the financial year any changes in the availability and allocation of resources will need to be considered in parallel to the actions proposed to continue to delivery key priorities. A.2 Key Drivers for Change Key drivers addressed in this report: Holistic Working Hub and Spoke Modern Sustainable Transformational Preventative Asset-based Continuous Improvement One size fits one None of the above A.3 Key Delivery Streams Key delivery streams addressed in this report: One Council Working with you, for you Preventative and Sustainable Efficient and Modern Innovative and Ambitious None of the above A.4 Delivering Best Value The report does not directly impact on Delivering Best Value. A.5 Involving Communities and Other Stakeholders The development of the Medium Term Financial Strategy reflects community consultation exercises carried out in 2019 and again in 2022 to help shape the drafting of the “Midlothian Promise” and the development of the Council’s Longer Term Financial Strategy. In addition, there is continued engagement with the recognised Trade Unions on the financial position. Page 45 of 126
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10 A.6 Impact on Performance and Outcomes The Financial Strategy facilitates decisions on how Council allocates and uses its available resources and as such has fundamental implications for service performance and outcomes. The lasting financial consequences of the pandemic will impact on the availability and allocation of resources in pursuit of key outcomes as set out in the Single Midlothian Plan for both the immediate and longer term and therefore the ability of the Council to continue to deliver services in a financial sustainable manner. A.7 Adopting a Preventative Approach Maintaining the effectiveness of the Financial Strategy will support the prioritisation of resources to support prevention. A.8 Supporting Sustainable Development There are no direct sustainability issues arising from this report and we will work to mitigate as far as feasible any sustainability issues which arise as a consequence of any of the changes to existing plans. Page 46 of 126
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Appendix 1 financial tables – Midlothian Council General Fund 2024/25 – Performance against budget Revised Budget Revised Budget Revised Budget (Underspend) Function Approved Budget Expenditure Income Net Outturn / Overspend £ £ £ Management and Members 1,701,791 1,701,819 0 1,701,819 1,782,819 81,000 Place Corporate Solutions 25,455,179 49,103,422 (24,665,446) 24,437,976 25,276,976 839,000 Place 43,290,284 66,091,037 (17,282,056) 48,808,981 50,238,981 1,430,000 Central Costs (504,556) 4,270,341 0 4,270,341 4,963,341 693,000 People and Partnerships Midlothian Integration Joint Board 63,534,354 72,156,673 (8,621,856) 63,534,817 63,534,817 0 Non-Delegated Services - Community Safety and Welfare Rights 710,635 861,208 (53,102) 808,106 808,106 0 Childrens Services, Partnerships and Communities 20,171,442 22,669,838 (765,932) 21,903,906 21,578,906 (325,000) Education 144,975,521 158,434,635 (9,256,856) 149,177,779 149,580,779 403,000 Lothian Valuation Joint Board 581,659 581,659 0 581,659 581,659 0 Non Distributable Costs 898,936 898,936 0 898,936 873,936 (25,000) GENERAL FUND SERVICES NET EXPENDITURE 300,815,246 376,769,568 (60,645,248) 316,124,320 319,220,320 3,096,000 Loan Charges 5,460,091 5,460,091 0 5,460,091 3,812,091 (1,648,000) NDR Discretionary Relief 70,300 70,300 0 70,300 70,300 0 Investment Income (110,736) 0 (110,736) (110,736) (110,736) 0 Allocations to HRA, Capital Account etc. (5,536,901) (5,536,901) 0 (5,536,901) (5,536,901) 0 300,698,000 376,763,058 (60,755,984) 316,007,074 317,455,074 1,448,000 Page 47 of 126
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12 less Funding: Scottish Government Grant (226,443,000) 0 (226,331,937) 226,331,937 226,331,937 0 Council Tax (64,686,000) 0 (64,686,000) 64,686,000 64,361,000 325,000 Service Concessions - in-year (2,796,000) 2,796,000 0 2,796,000 2,796,000 0 Service Concessions - retrospection (4,093,000) 4,093,000 0 4,093,000 4,093,000 0 Utilisation of Reserves 2,680,000 383,652,058 (351,773,921) 18,100,137 26,762,137 1,773,000 Page 48 of 126
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Midlothian Council Tuesday 27 August 2024 Item No 8.2 Housing Revenue Account Revenue Budget and Capital Plan 2024/25 Report by David Gladwin, Chief Financial Officer and Section 95 Officer Report for Information 1 Recommendations Council is recommended to note the contents of this report. 2 Purpose of Report / Executive Summary The purpose of this report is to provide Council with a summary of expenditure and income to 6th July 2024 for the Capital Plan and a projected outturn for both the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) and Capital Plan for 2024/25. The summarised financial performance for 2024/25 is: • Capital Investment in the year totalling £65.707 million; • A net overspend of £0.417 million on the Revenue Account; • A projected HRA general reserve at 31st March 2024 of £35.058 million. Date 05th August 2024 Report Contact: Name Lisa Young Tel No 0131-271-3111 lisa.young@midlothian.gov.uk Page 49 of 126
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2 3 Background 3.1 Capital Plan 2024/25 The Capital Plan Budget has been revised to reflect the current profile of spend as shown in Appendix B. Capital investment in the year is projected to be £65.707 million. The council has been awarded £0.825 million grant funding from Scottish Government for contribution towards net- zero emissions in the Council’s housing stock. This grant will subsequently reduce the overall borrowing requirement for 2024/25. There are currently no other material variances to be reported. At present there is no budget available within the 2024/25 Scottish Government’s Affordable Housing Supply Programme to subsidise the open market purchases in 2024/25. However, the Scottish Government have announced a possible fund of £40 million which can be used to subsidise open market purchases and this may result in receipt of some funding during 2024/25. The Housing Revenue can sustain a small number of purchases (approximately 6 units) during 2024/25 should no funding be received or can access future year open market purchase budgets in the HRA should a good value opportunity arise. 3.2 Revenue Account 2024/25 For 2024/25 there is currently a projected overspend of £0.417 million against budget, as shown in Appendix C, this is due to:- • Ongoing complex works required to bring properties to appropriate condition as well as continuous improvement in void turnaround times resulting in an overspend in general repairs of £0.513 million; • Supervision and management costs is expected to be roughly in line with 2023/24 outturn resulting in a projected overspend of £0.150 million; • Insurance premiums have increased by £0.121 million. This is offset by:- • Reflection of the latest delivery programme for the HRA capital plan will result in lower borrowing costs of £0.330 million. The HRA general reserve balance is projected to be £35.058 million at 31st March 2025, which is committed to finance existing investment commitments to 2039/40. Page 50 of 126
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3 4 Report Implications 4.1 Resource There are no direct resource implications arising from this report. 4.2 Digital There are no direct digital implications arising from this report. 4.3 Risk The principal risks are around the issue of affordability, ensuring that the investment in new build and the existing stock can be made without having to impose unacceptable increases on weekly rents. This is mitigated by the adoption of a long term financial strategy and modelling which demonstrates that existing investment commitments are sustainable. There is also the risk of capital spend being lower than projected due to delays on projects, particularly in the current climate , this could result in lower debt charges causing the Housing Revenue Account Reserve balance to increase by more than projected. 4.4 Ensuring Equalities There are no equality issues arising directly from this report. 4.5 Additional Resource Implications See Appendix A. Appendices Appendix A – Additional Resource Implications Appendix B - Capital Plan 2024/25 Appendix C – Revenue Account 2024/25 Page 51 of 126
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4 APPENDIX A – Report Implications A.1 Key Priorities within the Single Midlothian Plan Not applicable A.2 Key Drivers for Change Key drivers addressed in this report: Holistic Working Hub and Spoke Modern Sustainable Transformational Preventative Asset-based Continuous Improvement One size fits one None of the above A.3 Key Delivery Streams Key delivery streams addressed in this report: One Council Working with you, for you Preventative and Sustainable Efficient and Modern Innovative and Ambitious None of the above A.4 Delivering Best Value The report does not directly impact on Delivering Best Value. A.5 Involving Communities and Other Stakeholders The report does not directly relate to involving communities. A.6 Impact on Performance and Outcomes The report does not directly impact on Midlothian Council’s performance and outcomes. A.7 Adopting a Preventative Approach The report does not directly relate to adopting a preventative approach. A.8 Supporting Sustainable Development The report does not directly relate to supporting sustainable development. Page 52 of 126
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5 MIDLOTHIAN COUNCIL Appendix B HOUSING REVENUE ACCOUNT CAPITAL PLAN 2024/25 Revised Budget Actuals to Date Projected Outturn Variation (Under)/Over £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 FUNDING Grants - Incentivising New Build 7,287 2,624 7,287 0 - Off Market Purchases Funding 715 0 715 0 - Social Housing Net-zero Funding 0 0 825 825 Council Tax on Second Homes 90 0 90 0 Borrowing Requirement 57,615 2,545 56,790 (825) TOTAL AVAILABLE FUNDING 65,707 5,169 65,707 0 APPROVED EXPENDITURE £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 New Build Houses Phase 2 - Phase 5 45,564 3,694 45,564 0 Dalkeith Town Centre Regeneration - Social Housing 500 0 500 0 Backdated Developer Contribution 724 0 724 0 Off Market Purchases 1,950 0 1,950 0 Aids & Adaptations 519 53 519 0 Environmental Improvements 500 0 500 0 BDHS Meters 1,300 0 1,300 0 Homelessness - Temporary Accommodation Provision 30 0 30 0 Scottish Housing Quality Standard -Upgrade Central Heating Systems 1,677 0 1,677 0 -Energy Efficiency Standard for Social Housing (EESSH) 6,778 0 6,778 0 -SHQS Repairs 6,165 1,422 6,165 0 TOTAL EXPENDITURE 65,707 5,169 65,707 0 Page 53 of 126
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6 MIDLOTHIAN COUNCIL Appendix C HOUSING REVENUE ACCOUNT 2024/25 Revised Budget Projected Outturn Variation (Under)/Over Average Number of Houses 7,664 7,613 (51) £'000 £'000 £'000 Repairs and Maintenance General Repairs 8,237 8,750 513 Decant/Compensation 71 66 (5) Grounds Maintenance 603 600 (3) 8,911 9,416 505 Administration and Management 5,537 5,687 150 Loan Charges 16,568 16,238 (330) Other Expenses 2,856 2,954 98 TOTAL EXPENDITURE 33,872 34,295 423 Rents Houses (35,299) (35,303) (4) Garages (690) (690) 0 Others (176) (178) (2) TOTAL RENTS (36,165) (36,171) (6) NET EXPENDITURE/(INCOME) (2,293) (1,876) 417 Movement in HRA Reserve Opening HRA Reserve (33,182) Enhancement during 2024/25 as above (1,876) Reserve earmarked to fund capital investment plans (35,058) Page 54 of 126
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Midlothian Council Tuesday 27 August 2024 Item No 8.3 General Services Capital Plan – 2024/25 Quarter 1 Monitoring Report by David Gladwin, Chief Financial Officer & Section 95 Officer Report for Decision 1 Recommendations It is recommended that the Council: 1. Note/approve the adjustments to the project expenditure budgets in the GSCP as set out in Section 3.1; 2. Approve the inclusion of the project in Section 3.2 in the GSCP; 3. Note the forecast outturn for expenditure, funding and borrowing, as outlined in Section 4. 2. Purpose of Report The purpose of this report is to provide Council with: • An update of the GSCP incorporating information on further additions to the Plan for approval and adjustments to existing project budgets (Section 3); • Information on the projected performance against budget for 2024/25 (Section 4); • Update on the Capital Fund (Section 5). Date 7 August 2024 Report Contact: Gary Thomson, Senior Finance Business Partner gary.thomson@midlothian.gov.uk Page 55 of 126
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2 3 Update of GSCP 3.1 Adjustments to existing project budgets The following adjustments to existing project expenditure and income budgets are included in the GSCP: • Loanhead Memorial Park Pitch: Capital expenditure budget increased from £0.004 million to £0.066 million to install vertical drainage using ECO90 technology in support of the Council’s pitch needs assessment. Capital expenditure budget to be fully phased in 2024/25 and fully funded by already-collected community facility developer contributions. Approved by Capital Plan & Asset Management Board on 8 August 2024. 3.2 Projects presented for endorsement in the Plan The following projects are presented for endorsement to be fully adopted within the GSCP: • Active Travel Tier 1 Infrastructure Fund 2024/25: £0.655 million of new active travel infrastructure across the county, full phased in 2024/25 and fully funded in full by £0.655 million of Scottish Government Active Travel Infrastructure fund, replacing the previous Cycling, Walking & Safer Routes (CWSR) fund. • Road Safety Improvement Fund 2024/25: £0.169 million of new infrastructure to reduce accident potential within Midlothian, capital expenditure budget to be fully phased in 2024/25 and fully funded by £0.169 million of Scottish Government Road Safety Improvement Fund grant. Approved by Capital Plan & Asset Management Board on 8 August 2024. 4 2024/25 Projection against budget 4.1 2024/25 Budget After accounting for the following: • Rephasing of budgets from 2023/24 to 2024/25, and new projects added to the plan, both as reported to Council on 25 June 2024; • Including the new projects & adjustments to project budgets as outlined in Section 3; • Rephasing of budgets based on the latest information available from project managers as noted in Table 1 below the capital plan expenditure budget for 2024/25 is £80.665 million. Page 56 of 126
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3 Table 1: Rephasing of project expenditure budgets Project Description of amendment to budget Previous 2024/25 Budget £000’s Revised 2024/25 Budget £000’s 2024/25 Budget Movement £000’s CHILDREN, YOUNG PEOPLE & ESTATES PROGRAMME BOARD Beeslack Community High School Replacement Some programme slippage associated with procurement process, with project team aiming to recover during remainder of project programme 12,824 11,743 -1,081 Penicuik High School No requirement for enabling works in 2024/25 linked to modular units 2,329 2,058 -271 Learning Estate Strategy: Development Budget Realignment of budget across current life of capital plan 1,602 400 -1,202 ASSET MANAGEMENT PROGRAMME BOARD TRANSPORT, ENERGY & INFRASTRUCTURE PROGRAMME BOARD REGENERATION & DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME BOARD Destination Hillend Re-design of building taking place with deferral of any associated expenditure until later years of GSCP 12,707 4,975 -7,732 OTHER Others Minor variances 7,521 7,543 +22 Total 36,983 26,719 -10,264 In line with this, the expected level of funding available to finance the plan has also been rephased and totals £30.188 million. This results in an in-year budgeted borrowing requirement of £50.477 million. The projected performance against budget for 2024/25 is shown in table 2 below:- Table 2: GSCP Projected Performance against Budget 2024/25 – as at Quarter 1 Item 2024/25 2024/25 Actual 2024/25 2024/25 2024/25 Initial Rephased To Projected Variance Carry Budget*1 Budget 23.06.24 Outturn £000’s Forward £000’s £000’s £000’s £000’s £000’s Expenditure 90,929 80,665 10,047 77,208 -3,457 -10,264 Funding 32,375 30,188 4,944 26,737 -3,451 -2,187 Borrowing Required 58,554 50,477 5,103 50,471 -6 1 With new projects added Page 57 of 126
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4 4.2 Expenditure Expenditure to 23 June 2024 is £10.047 million with a projected expenditure outturn of £77.208 million, £3.457 million less than the rephased budget. At this stage it is anticipated that all budgets for the projects detailed in Appendix 1 will be fully spent in the current year, other than:- • Burnbrae Primary School External Works: Minor underspend of £0.001 million against project expenditure budget • 2-4 West Street, Penicuik: Minor underspend of £0.006m with reduction in application of developer contributions • Shawfair Town Centre Land Purchase: Part of the land acquisition (£3.451 million) was funded directly by a payment from SLLP to Network Rail. Subsequent underspend of £3.451 million in both capital expenditure and funding budgets which offset each other. The expenditure to Quarter 1 (£10.047 million) equates to 13% of the forecast outturn expenditure (£77.208 million). This means that the remaining £67.161 million, or 87% of expenditure, is projected to be incurred by the end of the financial year, with only 77% of the financial year remaining. The expenditure forecasts are based on the latest assessment of project expenditure by service leads and project managers. The risk in these forecasts is that expenditure is materially less than forecast, with overly optimistic forecasts from service leads and project managers resulting in underspends within the current financial year and/or rephasing from 2024/25 back to 2025/26. The actual outturn position will be presented as part of the General Services Capital Plan – Outturn 2024/25 report to Council in June 2025, with prior reporting, challenge and assessment at Capital Plan & Asset Management Board. 4.3 Funding The funding available to finance the Capital Plan in 2024/25 is expected to total £26.737 million, £3.451 million less than the rephased budget, accounting for the direct receipt of grant from SLLP to Network Rail for the Shawfair Town Centre Land Purchase. Funding of £4.944 million has been received to 23 June 2024. 4.4 Borrowing The budgeted level of borrowing for 2024/25 is £50.477 million. Based on the forecast expenditure and funding levels as noted above, the revised estimate of the level of borrowing required for 2024/25 is forecast to be £50.471 million, £0.006 million less than budgeted and reflecting the variance as noted in Section 4.2 above. The impact on the Page 58 of 126
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5 Council’s borrowing costs is reflected in the Financial Monitoring 2024/25 General Fund Revenue report elsewhere on today’s agenda. 5 Capital Fund The Capital Fund at the start of the 2024/25 financial year was £17.242 million. £7.694 million of this is committed to fund the City Deal, with a further £7.061 million committed to support capital investment. The forecast non-committed capital fund balance at 31 March 2025 is £2.778 million, as shown in the table below. Item Amount £000’s Balance at 01 April 2024 17,242 Forecast Capital Receipts 2024/25 895 Forecast Balance at 31 March 2025 18,137 Committed to fund City Deal Project -7,694 Committed to support Capital Investment -7,061 Developer Contributions earmarked for specific purposes -604 Forecast non-committed balance at 31 March 2025 2,778 Page 59 of 126
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6 6. Report Implications 6.1 Resource The borrowing required to finance the planned investment in 2024/25 is reflected in the Financial Monitoring 2024/25 – General Fund Revenue report elsewhere on today’s agenda. 6.2 Digital There are no Digital Services implications arising from this report. 6.3 Risk The construction materials supply chain has already been subject to unprecedented disruption through a combination of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic, the UK leaving the European Union, the conflict in Ukraine and the global inflationary picture, which is only now starting to ease but the cumulative/compound effects of the inflationary environment of the last few years remain locked into current construction/material prices. The Construction Leadership Council (CLC) continues to report shortages of construction materials and forecasts this disruption to continue for the foreseeable future. Ongoing engagement with suppliers confirms that materials shortages, longer lead times and steep price increases are highly likely to continue to impact the supply chain. This potentially exacerbates the inherent risk in the Capital Plan that projects will cost more than estimated thus resulting in additional borrowing or will be subject to significant delay. Strengthened financial monitoring & governance procedures have been approved by CP&AMB, which will ensure that significant variations in project expenditure and funding can be captured and reported to Programme Boards and CP&AMB so that remedial action can be taken to mitigate the risks. In developing the strategy and taking cognisance of the longer term affordability gap it is clear that a number of potential projects which are currently included will only be able to be progressed if they can be delivered on a spend to save basis (i.e. where income or cost savings more than offset the cost of funding the investment) or where they can be delivered on a cost neutral basis or through alternative funding mechanisms. The Capital Plan includes a provision for the return of contingencies of £13.081 million over the period 2024/25 to 2027/28, equating to 2.5% of all project expenditure. This includes a provision for the return of contingencies of £2.539 million in 2024/25. The risk is that projects throughout the plan are unable to deliver this which could be in part due to factors outwith the Council’s control. Capital Plan & Asset Management Board will review the level of return of contingencies Page 60 of 126
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7 against the £13.081 million provision on an ongoing basis to ensure that projects can, where possible, deliver against this provision and that the provision continues to be appropriate. 6.4 Ensuring Equalities There are no equalities issues arising directly from this report. 6.5 Additional Report Implications See Appendix A. Page 61 of 126
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8 Appendix A: Report Implications A.1 Key Priorities within the Single Midlothian Plan Not applicable. A.2 Key Drivers for Change A.3 Key Delivery Streams Themes addressed in this report: One Council Working with you, for you Preventative and Sustainable Efficient and Modern Innovative and Ambitious None of the above A.4 Delivering Best Value The report does not directly impact on Delivering Best Value. A.5 Involving Communities and Other Stakeholders No external consultation has taken place on this report. A.6 Impact on Performance and Outcome There are no issues arising directly from this report. A.7 Adopting a Preventative Approach Not applicable. A.8 Supporting Sustainable Development Not applicable. Background Papers: Appendix 1 –GSCP 2024/25 – Quarter 1 Monitoring Page 62 of 126
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Appendix 1: GSCP 2024/25 – Quarter 1 Monitoring Budget is approved in principle - requires approval of OBC before budget is fully approved Budget is a "Project Under Development" - requires approval of SOBC before budget is fully approved Rephased 2024/25 2024/25 2024/25 2024/25 2024/25 2024/25 Note/ GENERAL SERVICES CAPITAL PLAN Budget Budget Actual Forecast Variance Carry Explanation Q1 Monitoring Q1 to P3 Outturn Q1 Q1 Forward Q1 for £'000 £000's £000's £000's £000's £000's Variance/Carry Forward CHILDREN, YOUNG PEOPLE & ESTATES PROGRAMME BOARD FULLY APPROVED PROJECTS Education - Primary Woodburn Primary 9 class & activity hall extension 7,329 7,372 1,031 7,372 - (43) Minor adjustment to project expenditure profile Easthouses Primary School 5,446 5,446 3,251 5,446 - - Mayfield & St. Luke's School Campus 10,268 10,268 173 10,268 - - Burnbrae Primary - Conversion of ASN to GP Space 55 55 - 55 - - Modular Units 2023/24 344 344 77 344 - - Education - Secondary Lasswade High - Toilets & Changing to 1,800 Pupil Capacity 452 452 - 452 - - Beeslack CHS Replacement 12,824 11,743 104 11,743 - 1,081 Some programme slippage associated with procurement process, with project team aiming to recover during remainder of project programme Penicuik High School 2,329 2,058 214 2,058 - 271 No requirement for enabling works in 2024/25 linked to modular units Education - ASN Hawthornden Primary - ASN Unit 24 24 13 24 - - Education - Early Years King's Park Primary School 6 6 - 6 - - Settings/Catering Kitchens 382 382 0 382 - - Mauricewood Primary School 125 125 - 125 - - Vogrie Outdoor Early Learning Centre 81 81 - 81 - - Education - Primary - Projects near completion Paradykes Primary Replacement 69 69 3 69 - - New Danderhall Primary hub 61 61 (62) 61 - - Acoustic Upgrades 95 95 4 95 - - Education _ General - Learning Estate Strategy: Development Budget 1,602 400 - 400 - 1,202 Realignment of budget across current life of capital plan Burnbrae Primary School External Works 2 2 - 1 (1) - Project expenditure complete with minor underspend against budget TOTAL - CHILDREN, YOUNG PEOPLE & ESTATES PROGRAMME BOARD41,492 38,981 4,807 38,981 (1) 2,511 Rephased 2024/25 2024/25 2024/25 2024/25 2024/25 2024/25 GENERAL SERVICES CAPITAL PLAN Budget Budget Actual Forecast Variance Carry Q1 Monitoring Q1 to P3 Outturn Q1 Q1 Forward Q1 £'000 £000's £000's £000's £000's £000's PROJECTS APPROVED IN PRINCIPLE Education - Primary Bilston Primary School Extension - - 26 26 - - Mauricewood Refurbishment 807 807 27 807 - - Hopefield Farm Primary 2 (HS12) 500 500 - 500 - - St Davids Primary - 4 class & EY extension 784 784 - 784 - - Education - ASN ASN Provision - Social Complex Needs 250 250 - 250 - - TOTAL - CYPP APPROVED IN PRINCIPLE 2,341 2,341 53 2,341 - - Rephased 2024/25 2024/25 2024/25 2024/25 2024/25 2024/25 GENERAL SERVICES CAPITAL PLAN Budget Budget Actual Forecast Variance Carry Q1 Monitoring Q1 to P3 Outturn Q1 Q1 Forward Q1 £'000 £000's £000's £000's £000's £000's PROJECTS UNDER DEVELOPMENT Education - Primary Bonnyrigg Catchment Primary Schools Expansion - - 1 - - - Education - Secondary Shawfair All-through Campus 1,652 1,652 - 1,652 - - Identification of a site for a Gorebridge High School - - - - - - TOTAL - CYPP PROJECT UNDER DEVELOPMENT 1,652 1,652 1 1,652 - - CYPP - OVERALL TOTAL 45,485 42,974 4,862 42,974 (1) 2,511 Page 63 of 126
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10 Rephased 2024/25 2024/25 2024/25 2024/25 2024/25 2024/25 GENERAL SERVICES CAPITAL PLAN Budget Budget Actual Forecast Variance Carry Q1 Monitoring Q1 to P3 Outturn Q1 Q1 Forward Q1 £'000 £000's £000's £000's £000's £000's ASSET MANAGEMENT PROGRAMME BOARD Digital Business Applications 235 235 23 235 - - Front Office - Hardware, Software & Services 160 160 - 160 - - Back Office - Hardware, Software & Services 55 55 - 55 - - Network, Software & Services 528 528 - 528 - - Schools - Hardware, Software & Services 356 356 20 356 - - Recharge of Staffing 110 110 - 110 - - Digital: Equipped for Learning 2,120 2,120 - 2,120 - - Roads & Street Lighting Street Lighting and Traffic Signal Upgrades - New 1,015 1,015 119 1,015 - - Footway & Footpath Asset Management Plan - New 542 542 (89) 542 - - Road Upgrades - Asset Management Plan 1,598 1,598 129 1,598 - - Accelerated Roads Residential Streets 76 76 76 76 - - Roads: Potholes & Upgrades / Residential Streets 4,687 4,687 245 4,687 - - Roads Asset Management Plan - Temple Ground Stabilisation309 309 - 309 - - Roads Asset Management Plan - B6372 Arniston Embankment Stabilisation593 593 - 593 - - Fleet Vehicle & Plant Replacement Programme 4,062 4,062 137 4,062 - - Property Property Upgrades 1,034 1,034 17 1,034 - - Property Upgrades - LES 843 843 - 843 - - Open Spaces / Play Areas Outdoor Play Equipment - Rosewell 44 44 - 44 - - Roslin Wheeled Sports Facility 59 59 - 59 - - Mauricewood Road Bus Shelter 4 4 - 4 - - Millerhill Park Asphalt Path 100 100 2 100 - - Birkenside Play Equipment 72 72 - 72 - - Welfare Park, Newtongrange 39 39 - 39 - - Play Park Upgrades: Clarinda Gardens & Ironmills Park 51 51 - 51 - - Play Park Renewal 2023/24+ 123 123 - 123 - - Nature Restoration Fund 2023/24 43 22 - 22 - 21 Majority of works to be complete by October 2024 - remainder by May 2025 Contaminated Land 70 70 12 70 - - Sport & Lesiure Loanhead Memorial Park Pitch 66 66 - 66 - - Flotterstone Car Park Infrastructure & Charging 16 16 - 16 - - TOTAL - ASSET MANAGEMENT PROGRAMME BOARD19,011 18,990 691 18,990 - 21 TRANSPORT, ENERGY & INFRASTRUCTURE PROGRAMME BOARD Transport A701 Relief Road: Bush Loan Junction 61 61 54 61 - - A701 Relief Road: A701 Active Travel Corridor 36 36 - 36 - - A7 Urbanisation 187 187 - 187 - - Active Travel Infrastructure 655 655 10 655 - - Community Bus Fund 4 4 - 4 - - Road Safety Improvement Fund 169 169 - 169 - - FCC Zero Waste - Heat Offtake Facility 1,040 1,040 - 1,040 - - TOTAL - TRANSPORT, ENERGY & INFRASTRUCTURE PROGRAMME BOARD2,153 2,153 64 2,153 - - REGENERATION & DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME BOARD Regeneration Place Based Investment Fund 2021/22 298 298 - 298 - - Place Based Investment Fund 2022/23 182 182 67 182 - - Place Based Investment Fund 2023/24 149 149 31 149 - - Development - Destination Hillend 12,707 4,975 1,775 4,975 - 7,732 Re-design of building taking place with deferral of any associated expenditure until later years of GSCP Shawfair Town Centre Land Purchase 5,573 5,573 2,122 2,122 (3,451) - SLLP funding transferred directly from SLLP to Network Rail TOTAL - REGENERATION & DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME BOARD18,910 11,178 3,995 7,726 (3,451) 7,732 Page 64 of 126
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11 Rephased 2024/25 2024/25 2024/25 2024/25 2024/25 2024/25 GENERAL SERVICES CAPITAL PLAN Budget Budget Actual Forecast Variance Carry Q1 Monitoring Q1 to P3 Outturn Q1 Q1 Forward Q1 £'000 £000's £000's £000's £000's £000's OTHER (PROGRAMME BOARD NOT YET DEFINED) PLACE Digital Council Hybrid Meetings 22 22 - 22 - - Property/Development - Midlothian & Fairfield House Shower Upgrades 5 5 - 5 - - 32-38 Buccleuch Street Ground Floor Redevelopment - - 1 1 1 - Public Sector Housing Grants 291 291 50 291 - - Penicuik THI: Public Realm Scheme 171 171 - 171 - - CCTV Network 146 146 - 146 - - 2-4 West Street, Penicuik 26 26 1 20 (6) - Projected minor underspend with reduction in application of developer contributions EWiM - Buccleuch House Ground Floor 33 33 - 33 - - Millerhill Pavilion 7 7 - 7 - - PEOPLE & PARTNERSHIPS - Education - Free School Meal Provision 210 210 - 210 - - Communities & Partnerships - Members Environmental Improvements 251 251 17 251 - - Adult Social Care - Assistive Technology 102 102 - 102 - - Analogue to Digital Transition 851 851 - 851 - - Highbank Intermediate Care Reprovisioning 5,082 5,082 352 5,082 - - Day Care Centre 464 464 - 464 - - General Fund Share of Extra Care Housing 248 248 13 248 - - TOTAL NOT ALLOCATED TO PROGRAMME BOARDS 7,909 7,909 435 7,904 (5) - SUBTOTAL - PRE RETURN OF CONTINGENCIES 93,468 83,204 10,047 79,747 (3,457) 10,264 Provision for Return of Contingencies (2,539) (2,539) - (2,539) - - - GENERAL SERVICES CAPITAL PLAN TOTAL 90,929 80,665 10,047 77,208 (3,457) 10,264 Page 65 of 126
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Midlothian Council Tuesday 27 August 2024 Item No 8.4 The Education (Scotland) Bill Report by Michelle Strong Education Chief Operating Officer Report for Information 1 Recommendations Council is requested to: • note the Education (Scotland) Bill which will bring a new agency Qualifications Scotland and His Majesty’s Chief Inspector for Education in Scotland; • note the response by officers to the Call for Views on the Education (Scotland) Bill; including assurance that Qualification Scotland will be based at Wester Shawfair, Danderhall, currently used by the Scottish Qualification Authority (SQA) 2 Purpose of Report/Executive Summary To inform elected members of the Scottish Government’s Education (Scotland) Bill call for views which opened on 28th June 2024 and the response developed by officers. 07 August 2024 Report Contact: Michelle Strong, Education Chief Operating Officer michelle.strong@midlothian.gov.uk Page 67 of 126
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2 3 Background/Main Body of Report 3.1 The Education (Scotland) Bill was introduced on 4 June 2024. The call for views opened on 28 June 2024 and closes on 30 August 2024. The Bill was created to support the education and skills reform being taken forward by the Scottish Government. The changes brought in by the Bill respond to a range of reports and reviews, including the OECD Review of the Curriculum for Excellence and Professor Ken Muir’s report, Putting learners at the Centre: Towards a Future Vision for Scottish Education. The Bill is in two main parts: Part 1 of the Bill establishes Qualifications Scotland. Qualifications Scotland will: • Replace the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA). • Develop and award qualifications (other than university degrees). • Have an independent Accreditation Committee to regulate qualifications and the organisations that award them. • Give advice to Scottish Ministers. • Produce charters setting out what learners, teachers and practitioners should expect from Qualifications Scotland. • Involve learners, teachers and others in decision making through a Board of Management, committees and an advisory council. Part 2 of the Bill establishes the Chief Inspector and sets out what they will do and how they will operate. The Chief Inspector will: • Inspect places where education is provided and education services. • Have an Advisory Council. • Publish an inspection plan and reports on inspections. • Publish an annual report, and reports on the performance of the Scottish education system. • Tell Scottish Ministers when a school or education authority is not making necessary improvements. The Bill also gives Scottish Ministers the powers to require that improvements are made. Although the Bill establishes a new body called Qualification Scotland and a new office His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education in Scotland, its provisions largely replicate existing legislation. 3.2 The Education (Scotland) Bill - Call for Views The Call for views focuses on the two parts of the Bill relating to establishing Qualifications Scotland and new duties / powers of the Chief Inspector. Unfortunately, the Call for views opened on 28 June 2024, the same day that Midlothian schools closed for the summer holidays. Therefore the engagement with those most affected by the proposed changes has not been possible. The Call for Views has been circulated to schools, parents and partner agencies for individuals to respond by 30 August. Page 68 of 126
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3 Call for views - there are two options available: Detailed call for views: • Several reports, including the OECD Review of the Curriculum for excellence and Professor Ken Muir’s report Putting Learners at the Centre:Towards a Future vision for Scottish Education, have recommended reforming the current Scottish Qualifications Authority. How well do you think the Bill addresses the concerns raised in those reports? • The Bill sets out measures designed to better involve learners, teachers and others in the new body’s decision-making. What do you think about these measures? • The Bill creates several charters, designed to let people know what they can expect when interacting with Qualifications Scotland. What is your view of these charters? • Part 2 of the Bill establishes the role of HM Chief Inspector of Education in Scotland, setting out what they will do and how they will operate. What are your views of these proposals? E.g. do they allow for sufficient independence? • What are your views on the reporting requirements set out in the Bill, including the requirement to report on the performance of the Scottish education system? • Are there any powers HM Chief Inspector should have that are not set out in the Bill? • Do you have any other comments on the Bill? Shorter call for views: • What are your views on the proposals for Qualification Scotland? • What are your views on the proposal for a new HM Chief Inspector of Education in Scotland? 3.3 Midlothian officer response Question 1. Several reports, including the OECD Review of the Curriculum for Excellence and Professor Ken Muir’s report Putting Learners at the Centre Towards a Future vision for Scottish Education, have recommended reforming the current Scottish Qualifications Authority. How well do you think the Bill addresses the concerns raised in those reports? Response Although the Bill details the functions and governance of the new agency, these duties appear similar to the existing functions of the Scottish Qualifications Agency (SQA). It is hoped that greater involvement and engagement with stakeholders will lead to the reformation referenced in the OECD review and Professor Ken Muir’s report. Question 2. The Bill sets out measures designed to better involve learners, teachers and others in the new body’s decision-making. What do you think about these measures? Response Midlothian Council’s education service welcome the introduction of a teacher and practitioner interest committee. It is pleasing that the majority of this committee will be non- Qualifications Scotland members. Page 69 of 126
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4 Question 3. The Bill creates several charters, designed to let people know what they can expect when interacting with Qualifications Scotland. What is your view of these charters? Response Midlothian Council’s education service support the introduction of learner and teacher/practitioner charters. It is pleasing that through consultation key stakeholders (learners and teachers) will inform the functions of Qualifications Scotland and decisions made by the new agency. Question 4. Part 2 of the Bill establishes the role of HM Chief Inspector of Education in Scotland, setting out what they will do and how they will operate. What are your views of these proposals? E.g. do they allow for sufficient independence? Response Midlothian Council’s education service supports the establishment of The Office of His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education in Scotland. The rationale for a Depute Chief Inspector of Education in Scotland is unclear and comes at a time of fiscal challenge for national and local government. The duties of the HM Chief Inspector of Education in Scotland are clearly defined in the Education (Scotland) Bill however the inspection of Early years settings and the interface with other bodies such as the Care Inspectorate is unclear. There is also lack of clarity on what powers the Chief Inspector of Education in Scotland will have with regard to the introduction of new inspection activity and whether there will be a duty placed on this postholder to involve key stakeholders from the outset in considering new themes, services or bodies to be inspected. Question 5. What are your views on the reporting requirements set out in the Bill, including the requirement to report on the performance of the Scottish education system? Response Midlothian Council’s education service believes that inspection carried out by knowledgeable, experienced HMI supports improvement and provides assurance on quality. Reporting inspection outcomes and the performance of the Scottish education system provide assurance and accountability to Ministers and to the public. A significant change detailed in the Bill relates to Enforcement action, this is a new approach for the inspectorate and further clarity is required to better understand expectations, timescales and responsibilities Question 6. Are there any powers HM Chief Inspector should have that are not set out in the Bill? Response As previously stated, not all aspects of education are covered and consideration should be given to who has responsibility for the inspection of early years and other day services for children. It makes sense to have one inspection body, reporting on one Scottish education system. Question 7.Do you have any other comments on the Bill? Page 70 of 126
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5 The Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) operates two sites in Scotland – Dalkeith and Glasgow. The Bill (page 33) references the transfer of property that was owned by SQA and the assumption is that Qualifications Scotland will occupy the current SQA building at Wester Shawfair. However, Midlothian Council seeks assurance that Qualification Scotland will operate at their Wester Shawfair, Danderhall in the longer term. 4 Report Implications (Resource, Digital and Risk) 4.1 Resource There are no direct resource implications from this report. 4.2 Digital There are no direct digital implications arising from this report. 4.3 Risk 4.4 Ensuring Equalities There are no equality issues arising directly from this report. 4.4 Additional Report Implications (See Appendix A) See Appendix A Appendices Appendix A – Additional Report Implications Appendix B – Background information/Links Page 71 of 126
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6 APPENDIX A – Report Implications A.1 Key Priorities within the Single Midlothian Plan N/A A.2 Key Drivers for Change Key drivers addressed in this report: Holistic Working Hub and Spoke Modern Sustainable Transformational Preventative Asset-based Continuous Improvement One size fits one X None of the above A.3 Key Delivery Streams Key delivery streams addressed in this report: One Council Working with you, for you Preventative and Sustainable Efficient and Modern Innovative and Ambitious X None of the above A.4 Delivering Best Value This report does not directly impact on delivering Best Value A.5 Involving Communities and Other Stakeholders This report does not directly relate to involving communities. Schools and Parent Councils have been informed of the Call for Views and encouraged to respond directly. A.6 Impact on Performance and Outcomes This report does not directly impact on Midlothian Council’s performance and outcomes. A.7 Adopting a Preventative Approach This report does not directly impact on adopting a preventative approach. A.8 Supporting Sustainable Development This report does not directly impact on supporting sustainable development. Page 72 of 126
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7 APPENDIX B Background Papers/Resource Links (insert applicable papers/links) Education (Scotland) Bill - Detailed call for views - Scottish Parliament - Citizen Space Scotland’s Curriculum for Excellence | OECD Putting Learners at the Centre: Towards a Future Vision for Scottish Education - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) Page 73 of 126
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Midlothian Council Tuesday 27 August 2024 Item No 8.5 United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (“UNCRC”) (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act 2024 Report by Fiona Robertson, Executive Director, Children, Young People and Partnerships Report for Information 1 Recommendations Council are recommended to note the contents of this report as set out below. 2 Purpose of Report/Executive Summary The purpose of this report is to: (i) update elected members on the incorporation of UNCRC into Scots law; (ii) inform elected members of the actions required to be taken by the Council in response to the incorporation of the UNCRC into Scottish law; and (iii) the current plan for the delivery of those actions. Date Thursday 8 August 2024 Report Contact: Fiona Robertson, Executive Director, Children, Young People and Partnerships Fiona.Robertson@midlothian.gov.uk Page 75 of 126
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2 3 UNCRC legislation 3.1 The UNCRC was adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations in 1989 and ratified by the UK Government in 1991. It is the most widely ratified human rights treaty in the world. The UNCRC was a landmark treaty, recognising the importance of childhood and the unique needs of children across the globe. It sets out the civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights that all children, everywhere, are entitled to. The rights in the UNCRC are guaranteed to every child, whatever their ethnicity, gender, religion, language, abilities or any other status. 3.2 The UNCRC can be broadly broken down into 3 areas: i. Protection (from harm and exploitation) ii. Participation (an active participant in own lives and society) iii. Provision (education, health care, shelter and nutrition) 3.3 Since 1991, the UK has been obliged to give effect to the UNCRC as part of its international treaty obligations. As a result of this, much of our legislation is already compatible with UNCRC. In particular, the focus in most legislation impacting children on the best interests of the child as paramount consideration is a well settled feature of our law and is a cornerstone of UNCRC. While the UNCRC and the first and second optional protocols apply in the UK as a matter of international law, because they had not been incorporated into domestic law they could not be enforced directly in the Scottish courts. The UNCRC Act now directly incorporates the UNCRC into domestic law to the maximum extent possible within the powers of the Scottish Parliament. The UNCRC Act places legal duties on public authorities to act compatibly with UNCRC requirements and provides legal remedies where they fail to do so. 3.4 The Community Planning Partnership Single Midlothian Plan 2023-27 sets out the Partnership’s commitment to realising the children’s rights approach to all of our work and making sure that we embed the principles of the UNCRC. 3.5 The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Incorporation) (Scotland) Bill was passed on 16 March 2021. It was to have received Royal Assent in mid-April and was due to come into force 6 months after Royal Assent (October 2021). The UK government announced on 13 April 2021 that it was referring the legislation to the Supreme Court, on the basis that they considered the legislation exceeded the Scottish Parliament’s devolved powers. In October 2021 the Supreme Court issued their decision which held that certain aspects of the Bill were out with the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament. In June 2023 the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs set out the Government’s intention to amend the Bill to ensure that the compatibility duty in the Bill would only apply when public authorities are exercising their functions/carrying out duties under powers in an Act of the Scottish Parliament. The Bill passed the Reconsideration Stage in Parliament on 7 December 2023, and Page 76 of 126
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3 subsequently became an Act on 16 January 2024. The Act came into force on 16 July 2024. Compatibility duty on public authorities Part 2 Section 6 3.6 Section 6 of the Act places a duty on public authorities not to act incompatibly with the UNCRC requirements. The ‘UNCRC requirements’ are defined within the Schedule 1 of the Act, which incorporates the direct text of the UNCRC to the maximum extent possible. Following the Supreme Court decision, some aspects of the UNCRC text have required to be ‘carved out’ (for example articles which relate to reserved matters including abduction of children (international relations), war and armed conflicts (defence), or wording within articles including the right to acquire a nationality (immigration)). 3.7 The compatibility duty (also being referred to as the “section 6 duty”) will therefore apply when a public authority is delivering devolved functions conferred under: Acts of the Scottish Parliament, a provision of secondary legislation made under such Acts (unless made under a power inserted by an Act of the UK Parliament), or common law powers. It will not apply when functions are delivered under Acts of the UK Parliament, even in devolved areas, including where text is inserted by Acts of the Scottish Parliament (or subordinate legislation made under powers in Acts of the Scottish Parliament) into other enactments (such as UK Acts or subordinate legislation made under powers in a UK Act). 3.8 Only those duties which fall within the compatibility duty can be challenged under the UNCRC Act in court. This means for example that the compatibility duty does not apply to services being delivered under the Education (Scotland) Act 1980, nor the Children (Scotland) Act 1995. The Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 will be within the compatibility duty. In order to determine whether the duty applies, the local authority will need to identify whether the statutory function in question was enacted by the Scottish Parliament or UK Parliament. 3.9 The section 6 incompatibilty duty applies to those who meet the definition of a public authority and includes those delivering “functions of a public nature” and accordingly can extend to private, voluntary and independent organisations. It applies to both actions and failures to act. Child rights reporting duty on listed authorities in Part 3, section 18 3.10 Section 22 of the Act has repealed Part 1 of The Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014, including the section 2 reporting duty on public authorities. Page 77 of 126
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4 3.11 Section 18 of the UNCRC Act now requires public authorities listed at section 19 (which includes local authorities) to produce a children’s rights report every three years which addresses the following four areas: 1. Action taken in the previous reporting period to ensure compatibility with UNCRC requirements 2. Action taken to secure better or further effect of children’s rights 3. Actions that will be taken in the next year reporting period to ensure continuing compatibility with UNCRC requirements 4. Actions planned in that period to secure better or further effect of children’s rights. The Act includes a new duty to submit such reports to Scottish Ministers. Both the standard report and a child friendly version must be published and submitted. The first children’s rights reports will be due as soon as practicable from the 31 March 2026. Support for public authorities 3.12 The Scottish Government has published non statutory guidance in implementing a children's human rights approach and have committed to publishing statutory guidance to support public authorities in the implementation and operation of their duties. Other resources in development include a Children’s Rights Skills and Knowledge Framework and a child friendly model complaints process. Actions required by the Council 3.13 This is a high-profile piece of legislation and significant work is being undertaken by Council officers to ensure that the Council proactively considered its readiness for implementation and that appropriate systems are established to assess the impact of both current and new policies and practices for compatibility with UNCRC, in the same way that it already does for equality, fairness and human rights. 3.14 It is important that UNCRC is not viewed solely as a piece of legislation that affects Education and Children’s Services. The Council will have to exercise all of its powers and duties in line with the UNCRC compatibility duty. In addition to services which are delivered specifically for children and young people, there are areas where more specific assessment of the impact on children and young people will likely be required. Page 78 of 126
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5 For example: i. Housing and Estates ii. Sport and Leisure iii. Libraries and Communications iv. Environmental Health and Trading Standards v. Land and Countryside vi. Planning vii. Transport viii. Culture ix. Events x. Climate Change 3.15 The Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland (“CYPCS”) has a particular interest in monitoring how public authorities will implement UNCRC. Children and their families will be able to take civil action and seek remedies (including damages) where a public authority has acted, or was proposing to act, incompatibly with the UNCRC. Third party organisations carrying out functions on behalf of a local authority under a contract will also be required to act compatibly. 3.16 There are two main areas where work is needed to ensure compatibility. These are relevant to all of the Council’s functions. i. Participation and engagement of children and young people. This will impact on a wide range of the Council’s functions – from processes where the views of individual children are sought (e.g. a pupil in relation to their additional support needs), to public consultation and engagement exercises involving the whole community. A child-friendly complaints process will be required, as well as ensuring the information is published in child-friendly formats. ii. Ensuring that the best interests of children are considered when making decisions. This is relevant both for decisions affecting individual children but also for decisions which affect or are relevant to the whole population of children and young people in Midlothian. The Act now requires us to separately consider the impact on children and young people, including in situations where decisions are being made which affect the whole population. This is likely to require a form of Children’s Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment. The policies and procedures of the Council will require to reviewed to ensure that they implement a children’s human rights approach and that they reflect the duties under the Act. Next steps 3.17 In order to be prepared for implementation the following actions are being taken forward: (i) Nominated lead officers from relevant services sit on the UNCRC Working Group (ii) Awareness raising and training for staff with the following aims: Page 79 of 126
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6 (a) Assessing how complaint current policies and practices are; (b) Equipping staff with information about UNCRC and what it means in practice for the Council; (c) Bringing about any necessary changes in practice and culture relating to participation/engagement with children and young people; (d) Developing and implementing a children’s rights and wellbeing assessment framework; (e) Developing appropriate models to ensure active participation and engagement with children and young people across all of the Council’s functions; and (f) Developing an appropriate reporting format, to comply with the reporting requirements set out in the Act. 4 Report Implications (Resource, Digital and Risk) 4.1 Resource No additional funding is available to undertake the significant amount of professional learning and development required for all Council staff and our partners or the review and updating of current policies. Resources have been made available by national bodies, but this will require to be delivered by officers from within the council. 4.2 Digital There are no direct digital implications arising from this report. 4.3 Risk The Council will update its risk register to take account of potential liability if any court actions are raised. 4.4 Ensuring Equalities (if required a separate IIA must be completed) There are no equality issues arising directly from this report. The Council is currently developing a revised integrated equality impact assessment framework to take cognisance of the duties placed on it. 4.4 Additional Report Implications (See Appendix A) See Appendix A Appendices Appendix A – Additional Report Implications Page 80 of 126
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7 APPENDIX A – Report Implications A.1 Key Priorities within the Single Midlothian Plan Reducing the gap in learning outcomes Reducing the gap in health outcomes Reducing the gap in economic circumstances A.2 Key Drivers for Change Key drivers addressed in this report: Holistic Working Hub and Spoke Modern Sustainable Transformational Preventative Asset-based Continuous Improvement One size fits one None of the above A.3 Key Delivery Streams Key delivery streams addressed in this report: One Council Working with you, for you Preventative and Sustainable Efficient and Modern Innovative and Ambitious None of the above A.4 Delivering Best Value Not applicable at this stage. A.5 Involving Communities and Other Stakeholders No requirement at this stage A.6 Impact on Performance and Outcomes No impact A.7 Adopting a Preventative Approach As stated within the Single Midlothian Plan 2023-27 the Getting it Right for Every Midlothian Child Board is fully committed to realising the children’s rights approach to all of our work and making sure that we embed the principles of the United Nations Conventions on the Rights of the Child. A.8 Supporting Sustainable Development No impact Page 81 of 126
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Midlothian Council 27 August 2024 Item No 8.6 Children’s Services 2024/25 Service Plan Report by Joan Tranent, Head of Children’s Services, Children, Young People and Partnerships Report for Decision 1. Recommendation • Council is asked to note the progress made towards improving outcomes for children and families within Midlothian Council; • approve the priority actions set out the Children’s Services Improvement Plan 2024/25; and • that the Children’s Services Improvement Plan will be shared more widely, including on the Council’s website. 2 Purpose of Report/Executive Summary The purpose of the attached report is to: • provide Council with an update on work undertaken to support Midlothian’s children and families 2023/24; and • seek Council’s approval of the priority actions as set out in the Children Services 24/25 Service Improvement Plan. 3 Background 3.1 This Children’s Service Plan links to and complements the actions being undertaken to deliver the outcomes set out in the Midlothian Community Partnership Plan 2023-2027: • Individuals and communities have improved health and skills for learning, life and work • No child or household living in poverty • Significant progress is made towards net zero carbon emissions by 2030 3.2 This Children’s Services Improvement Plan brings together the medium and long-term activities to ensure our children, young people, families and our communities are provided with a variety of supports and services to enable them to build a sustainable future that is equitable and provides opportunities for all. 3.3 We will continue to embed a culture of continuous improvement and innovation across the Directorate, in partnership with colleagues and services within the Place Directorate. The Plan sets out how we will achieve our vision, what actions we will undertake and how we will measure our success. Page 83 of 126
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Update 3.4 There have been a number of successes and achievements within the service over the past year. The strengthened partnership working within the wider Children, Young People and Partnership Directorate has been key to us being able to offer the right support at the earliest opportunity to children, young people and their families within our communities. A review of the differing referral routes into children’s services has successfully enabled the service to redirect referrals into appropriate services such as Income maximisation, Scottish Welfare Fund, Family Wellbeing Service and Early Intervention. Whilst there continues to be a significant and unparalleled increase in referrals into children’s services the number of children’s names on child protection register remains consistent reflecting the impact of effective early intervention. The numbers of children’s names on the Child Protection Register at the end of Q4 reporting was 42 which equates 2.2 per 1,00 population of Midlothian, comparable with the Scottish average which is 2.3. This is a similar picture with looked after at home, our numbers equate to 2.1 per 1000 population which Scottish average is 2.6. For looked after and accommodated children the Midlothian data reports 7.4 per 1000 children whilst the Scottish average is much higher at 9.7. This data supports our theory that we are accommodating less children and therefore are supporting families to remain together where safe to do so. As with all data the numbers change on a daily basis therefore a degree of caution is required. Midlothian’s Promise workstreams are well underway and continue to drive forward the wider partnership and children’s services improvement actions. The Family Wellbeing Service is more established and beginning to have an impact. A key focus has been working in partnership with education colleagues to improve children’s attendance and wellbeing. Over 100 families and 177 children ad young people are being supported through this integrated service. A key aim over the past year was to increase the number of families who utilised self-directed support, option 1. This is where families are assessed and choose to take the funding to organise their own support. Over the reporting year there was over a 10% increase in families choosing this option which in equates to 87 families. The Midlothian House Project continues to be held as an example of excellent practice, as recognised following a recent visit by Fraser McKinley, Chief Executive of the Promise Scotland. Further details about our achievements and challenges can be found in the Children’s Services Improvement Plan 2024-2025 (Appendix B). Page 84 of 126
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4 Report Implications (Resource, Digital and Risk) 4.1 Resource While funding is in place for the Whole Family Support Service until the end of financial year 2025, the long-term funding implications need to be considered. There is also ongoing recruitment issues where the public sector is competing with the salaries provided by the private sector and agencies, leading to staffing shortages in key areas. 4.2 Digital There are no digital implications directly arising from this report. Digital Services are involved in the delivery of individual projects in line with requirements. 4.3 Risk The key risk is budget efficiencies leading to gaps in key service areas, overwhelming the wider Children’s Services provision, and impacting our ability to deliver parts of the service plan. The cost-of-living crisis could also see large increases in demand on the service, which will be difficult to manage given current recruitment difficulties. 4.4 Ensuring Equalities We are fully committed to realising a children’s rights approach to all of our work and ensuring that we embed the principles of the United Nations Conventions on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). 4.4 Additional Report Implications (See Appendix A) See Appendix A Page 85 of 126
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APPENDIX A – Report Implications A.1 Key Priorities within the Single Midlothian Plan Reducing the gap in learning outcomes Reducing the gap in economic circumstances A.2 Key Drivers for Change Key drivers addressed in this report: Holistic Working Hub and Spoke Modern Sustainable Transformational Preventative Asset-based Continuous Improvement One size fits one None of the above A.3 Key Delivery Streams Key delivery streams addressed in this report: One Council Working with you, for you Preventative and Sustainable Efficient and Modern Innovative and Ambitious None of the above A.4 Delivering Best Value Every decision involved in delivering the service plan is considered from a Best Value perspective. A.5 Involving Communities and Other Stakeholders The development of this service plan has been driven by the needs of our community and will be delivered in partnership with private and voluntary providers. A.6 Impact on Performance and Outcomes The delivery of this service plan will result in medium and longer-term positive impacts upon the two key related priorities of the Single Midlothian Plan. A.7 Adopting a Preventative Approach Providing a high-quality service to our children and wider community is, by its very nature, preventative. A.8 Supporting Sustainable Development Not applicable. Page 86 of 126
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CHILDREN’S SERVICES SERVICE PLAN 2024-25 OUR VISION All children, young people, adults and families in Midlothian are supported to be the best they can be. This is achieved through a nurturing, respectful and collaborative approach that promotes wellbeing, equity and inclusion. Joan Tranent CSWO & Chief Officer Children’s Services, Partnerships & Communities Midlothian Council Fairfield House 8 Lothian Road Dalkeith EH22 3Z Page 87 of 126
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CONTENTS Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 1 Success and Achievements: April 2023- March 2024 ..................................................................... 3 Challenges ........................................................................................................................................ 7 Children’s Services Structure ........................................................................................................... 9 Key priority areas for 2024/25 ........................................................................................................ 11 Key Drivers ...................................................................................................................................... 13 Children’s Services Improvement Plan for 2024/25 ...................................................................... 14 Page 88 of 126
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1 INTRODUCTION This document provides the reader with a basic understanding of the service. The purpose of this service plan is to: ▪ Clearly show the key tasks and challenges of the service. This provides direction and an overview of the service’s plans to those within and out with the service. ▪ Provide a basis for measuring and reporting on the progress of the service in achieving its priorities. ▪ Provide an overarching plan which supports the link between individual staff performance and development plans, work plans, team plans and Council and Community Planning priorities. The Community Planning Partnership (CPP) draw together public, voluntary, and private sector bodies, and local communities to deliver a shared ‘plan’ to improve the lives of local people based on evidence. In Midlothian, the plan is called the Single Midlothian Plan (SMP). This is a shared partnership plan of how we will meet the needs of our local communities and brings together all the priorities for Midlothian into one place. Our outcomes for the next five years are: ▪ Individuals and communities have improved health and learning outcomes, ▪ No child or household need live in poverty, ▪ Significant progress is made towards net zero carbon emissions by 2030. In Midlothian the Getting It Right for Every Child (GIRFEC) Board is one of the subgroups of the CPP, and one of the main drivers for the effective delivery of services to children. The GIRFEC Plan also known as the Integrated Children’s Service Plan 2023-26, is a statutory three-year plan devised by the local authority and health. The plan outlines four priority themes and several actions which are designed to improve the lives of children, young people, and families and in doing so, deliver on the three outcomes already outlined in the Single Midlothian Plan. The priority themes are as follows. 1. Children and Young People’s Rights 2. Children and Young People’s Mental Health and Wellbeing 3. Whole Family Wellbeing 4. Information Sharing and Commissioning We continue to be fully committed to realising a children’s rights approach to all our work and ensuring that we embed the principles of the United Nations Conventions on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and remain fully committed to our Promise commitments. Like the rest of Scotland, we continue to experience the impact of the pandemic aftermath, the cost-of-living crisis, and the unprecedented changes within the economic, political, and social Page 89 of 126
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2 landscape which brings both opportunities and challenges. Midlothian is one of the fastest growing Councils and has a relatively young population, with around 26% of residents aged between 0-21 years of age. This has increased over recent years, and the trend is expected to continue. Midlothian Council continues to face demands and pressures never previously experienced. We are extremely proud to report that we have risen to each challenge and developed new and innovative approaches and services to meet the growing strain on service. This is due to the commitment and sheer determination of our workforce, our partners and not least our kinship and fostering population. This annual Children’s Services Plan 2024-25 describes how Children’s Services will continue to build on this learning moving forwards, harnessing the energy, flexibility and creativity demonstrated by our workforce and key stakeholders. Embedding a culture of continuous improvement and innovation across the Directorate, in partnership with colleagues and services within the Place Directorate. The plan sets out how we will achieve our vision, what actions we will undertake and how we will measure our success. Page 90 of 126
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3 SUCCESS & ACHIEVEMENTS: APRIL 2023-MARCH 2024 General There have been many successes and achievements over the past year, as well as many changes. While the following is not an exhaustive list it provides a snapshot of some our achievements Referrals -Child Protection A key workstream for 2023-24 was to map and review the differing referral routes into Children’s Services to support us have a clearer overview and understanding of the significant increase in referrals. This piece of work proved to be successful and enabled us to redirect referrals into the appropriate services, such as Income Maximisation, Scottish Welfare Fund, Family Wellbeing Service and Early Intervention. This also meant families who required targeted social work intervention got the support they needed. This has led to greater confidence that referrals coming into Children’s Services are appropriate leading to greater efficiency and better outcomes. While we have experienced a significant and unparalleled increase in referrals into the services, the number of children’s names on the child protection register has remained consistent. This strongly suggests that the investment into services at an earlier stage to promote families remaining together, continues to reap rewards. Services such as Family Wellbeing Service, Family Systemic Work, Family Group Decision Making and the Income Maximisation Officers, continue to go from strength to strength. As always, the child protection numbers do come with a health warning as these number can be impacted by larger families. The main reason for registering a child’s name on the register continues to be the risk posed by domestic abuse although the impact of poverty remains a constant feature for those using our services. In 2023, Children’s Services were also involved in developing and implementing the revised Edinburgh and the Lothians Multi-agency Child Protection Procedures. The Promise Midlothian’s Promise workstreams are well underway and continue to drive forward the wider partnership and Children’s Services improvements. The 2024-30 priority areas are: • A Good Childhood • Whole Family Support • Supporting the Workforce • Planning • Building Capacity Midlothian’s Looked after Children and Young People As of March 2024, there were 194 looked after children in Midlothian, which equates to 0.95% of the 0–17-year-old population. As with our child protection figures these numbers have remained consistent over the last few years. Therefore, despite the increase in referrals the figure would suggest that realigning services and budgets towards earlier interventions is proving to be successful. Our underpinning principle continues to be that wherever it is safe to do so children and Page 91 of 126
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4 young people will live in a safe, stable, and nurturing family environment. If it is not possible for a child to remain within their birth families, we would always seek to place the child with their own kin before exploring any other alternative arrangement. In line with the foundations of The Promise, we firmly believe that children should be able to maintain their relationships with friends, siblings, family, school, and communities and for that reason we are unwilling to place a child far from Midlothian. There are some occasions when we may have to place a child further than we would like although this is rare and often linked to particular care needs. Looked after Population Numbers Percentage Total 194 At home with parents 42 22% Friends and relatives 69 36% Foster Carers 57 29% Prospective adopters 6 3% Residential, Schools & Secure 20 10% Aftercare/Continuing Care 198 Receiving Aftercare Services 61 31% Continuing Care 117 59% After Care/National Housing Project 20 10% We have striven to focus our attention upon the overview and scrutiny of permanence planning for our children and young people, whether this be within the family home, kinship care or out with the family. Family Wellbeing Services The Family Wellbeing Service which was softly launched in 2023 is beginning to have an impact. The investment of resources provided by Education has meant that the team can support schools to improve children’s attendance and wellbeing. While still in its infancy a significant amount of investment has gone into the team to ensure the team and others have a good understanding of their role and remit. They are already working with 100 families and 177 children and young people; this equates to 172 referrals over the past year. We were fortunate to appoint a permanent Team Leader into the Family Wellbeing Service in January 2024 who has a wealth of experience. Work is well underway with our 3rd sector partners to agree how we allocate funding to support a holistic approach to working with families in Midlothian. The aspiration is that as the Family Wellbeing Service consolidates and expands their reach, there will be a reduction of referrals into Children’s Services. Self-Directed Support for children impacted by Disability. There has been an 80% increase in the number of families using Self Directed Support options which is a great achievement, thus allowing families to determine how and when they wish to utilise funding to support their children and young people. Page 92 of 126
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5 Family Group Decision Making We continue to commit to having Family Group Decision Making as a core part of Children’s Services. We have committed to providing ongoing funding for this area of work going forward. Midlothian Housing Project In June 2023, a report was taken to Council to approve the Midlothian Housing Project becoming a permanent element of the Children’s Services structure. During this reporting period we now have a total of 30 young people having moved into their own permanent home through the intensive support from Housing Project team. The Midlothian House Project continues to be held an example of excellent practice, as recognised following a recent visit by Fraser McKinley, Chief Executive of the Promise Scotland. Children and Young People in Conflict with the Law Our local, collaborative approach towards youth justice, which involves key partners; Education, Community and Lifelong Education, 3rd Sector, Police Scotland, Children’s Services, and Business owners continues to develop creative approaches to reduce youth offending. This has been achieved through using a successful, restorative approach to reduce crimes involving shoplifting, weapons, or anti-social behaviour. We have engaged with CYCJ and colleagues in neighbouring authorities to share experiences and learning with a view to ensuring that we continue to provide a robust response to our children and young people in conflict with the law. Care Homes In 2022 our two Children’s Houses were inspected by the Care Inspectorate and received ‘very good’ grades. This was a significant achievement. Foster Care In February 2024 the Council approved a 5.5% fee increase for foster carers this was in addition to the Scottish Recommend Allowance being agreed by Scottish Government. We plan to embark on a recruitment campaign for foster carers, short break carers and carers who may wish to foster unaccompanied asylum seeking children in Summer 2024. Income Maximisation and Child Poverty Our earlier identification of families who may need additional support from the Scottish Welfare Fund means that families are provided with earlier supports to prevent poverty crisis. In 2023, the Income Maximisation Officers within Childrens’ Services assisted 48 families through 429 individual advice sessions. In total they advised on 1095 issues and achieved £130,123 in financial gain for local families. Hawthorn Family Learning Centre During 2023, both the operational and service manager returned to work having been on maternity leave. This has enabled several service developments to take place and plans are well underway to Page 93 of 126
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6 ensure the service can meet the increased demands as well as pressure on resources during 2024- 25. The centre continues to be a pivotal part of the community and is instrumental in developing initiatives to support local children and families. Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children We continue to support and identify accommodation for our unaccompanied asylum-seeking children and young people who come to Midlothian via the national transfer scheme. This scheme mandates all local authorities to accept children and young people who arrive in the UK, mainly on the small boats arriving in Kent. In addition, we also support families arriving from Afghanistan and the many families fleeing from Ukraine because of the war. Many of the Ukrainian families arrived in Midlothian as part of the Scottish Government hosting scheme which was a significant piece of work. The work involves a very small team of staff who work tirelessly to ensure that all families who were placed with a host in Midlothian were welcomed and reassured that the relevant checks had been undertaken prior to their arrival. They were further supported by a variety of different agencies to enrol their children in nurseries and schools, find employment, and integrate into their new communities. Page 94 of 126
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7 CHALLENGES Workforce Like the national and UK-wide landscape, Midlothian continues to experience the same workforce issues encountered by other Councils. There is a general lack of experienced and skilled staff across the sector, which has inadvertently led to higher rates of absence due to the pressures and demand placed on our experienced, permanent staff. This means we have had to increasingly rely on locum workers. National Care Service While we are yet to discover whether Children’s Services and Justice will become part of the National Care Service, discussions are already underway regards a National Social Work Agency which would offer national workforce terms and conditions for social work across Scotland. As the national debates progress, we will continue to focus our efforts locally to recruit and retain staff. Recruitment of Foster Carers Another significant challenge is unsurprisingly the recruitment of foster carers which again, is also a national issue. As the current fostering population ages, it is becoming increasing difficult to replace our existing cohort which is mainly due to a range of social, economic, and political factors, A key priority for Midlothian in 2024 is to create and launch an innovate local recruitment campaign, utilising social media in a bid to attract bespoke and varied foster carers. The Care Inspectorate inspected our Fostering, Adoption and Continuing Care services in September 2023. The grades awarded were 3 (adequate). This was disappointing however should be considered in the context of this being a very unsettled time within the team with many staffing changes. An improvement plan is in place with progress regularly reported to the Social Work Assurance Group (SWAG). Poverty Despite the investment into Income Maximisation Officer the cost-of-living crisis continues to add significant pressures and demands on all our services. While we have realigned budgets to focus on earlier intervention services, we are aware that the pressures and demand associated with poverty will continue. This is an area we will monitor and review throughout 2024-25. Child and Mental Health Service – Waiting Times The number of children on the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) waiting list is monitored and reported on to Scottish Government. The ever-increasing waiting list for children and young people awaiting a neurodevelopmental assessment is the biggest concern with an average of 200 names being added to this waiting list every quarter. Whilst this is not unique to Midlothian, there are real concerns that children will be ‘aged out’ before they are ever offered an appointment. Whilst not all cases will require clinical input the concerns are around how we support children and families in the interim. A key priority is the Lothian wide workstream who are looking at the development of a neurodevelopmental pathway to support local children and young people with ASN and Complex and Enduring Needs. Page 95 of 126
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8 We are working with CAMHS at establishing a Single Point of Access which shall initially only deal with mental health referrals but will through time include all referrals into children’s services, education and family support services. Children and Families impacted by Disability We have seen an increase in the numbers of families being provided Section 23 assessments of unmet need and choosing to use Self-Directed Support. While this is a positive move, a major challenge has been the lack of resources within communities to support families with short breaks or clubs for children who have additional support needs. Many organisations do not provide services for families of children impacted by disability because of the expenditure needed in terms of staffing, skill, and equipment. As the numbers of children being diagnosed with an additional support need increases, we need to be more creative and innovative around providing services. During 2024, we will develop a longer-term vision for children with disabilities that includes strengthening the interface within the Council, Education, Adult Health & Social Care and the 3rd Sector. We have restructured the Children’s Services senior team to include a dedicated Service Manager to focus on this area. Page 96 of 126
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9 CHILDREN’S SERVICES STRUCTURE Duty and Early Assessment Teams This team consists of social workers and children and families’ practitioners who undertake all initial assessments, child protection, short term work and report writing. At the time of writing, we have developed a bespoke, small team to focus on the Section 23 assessment, packages of care and/or any accompanying Self-Directed Support. This will become part of the wider 2024-25 Disability strategy and work streams. Early Intervention & Prevention Manager and Promise Lead This officer supports the Corporate Parenting and Promise workstream throughout the Midlothian partnership and is responsible for ensuring the priorities and actions identified as part of #Keeping the Promise in Midlothian, are on track. The officer also plays a key role in supporting and progressing the agenda for children and young people in conflict with the law. The officer has robust links with internal and external services and partners and manages service contracts. Practice Team The social workers and children and family practitioners within the practice team support children who are on the child protection register or at risk of becoming accommodated or looked after either at home or away from home. Adopting a children’s rights approach and with the Promise at the centre of all of their work, the team strive to achieve permanent outcomes for children and young people, ideally within their family but where necessary in alternative placements. This involves robust assessment and presentation of information to inform decision making at children’s hearings, permanence panels and court. The team supports several unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, as well as young people in continuing care, and providing aftercare support to eligible care experienced young people. The team also supports children and young people in conflict with the law. Midlothian House Project This service is aligned with the Practice Team and supports young people exiting the care system to live connected and fulfilling lives, in line with our Promise and corporate parenting responsibilities. The young people are supported by a holistic team to enable them to fulfil their potential and to ensure that no care leaver becomes homeless. This project has been recognised nationally. There is also a dedicated worker who supports our unaccompanied asylum-seeking children and young people. Family Group Decision Making Service This group of social workers and children and families’ practitioners who provide a service that is founded on a rights based approach. They work with families to ensure children and young people are placed with extended family or friends, when safe to do so, before looking at any alternative arrangement. The team manager also has oversight of kinship care and lifelong links and systemic Family support. Page 97 of 126
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10 Systemic Family Support This small team also works to support families find their own solutions through an enabling, facilitated approach. Care Homes for Children and Young People Our two local care homes offer care and support to children and young people aged 8-18 to ensure they remain within Midlothian, within their communities and close to family and friends. The last inspection awarded grades of 5 (Very Good) and commented positively on their nurturing and trauma informed approach. Family Centred Care– Fostering/ Adoption/ Continuing Care This team of social workers ensure there are sufficient carers and adopters to meet the needs of children and families. They also offer ongoing support and training to foster carers including kinship carers. This team offers a critical resource to children’s services. An inspection was held in 2023, where the grades awarded were 3 (adequate). This was at a time when there were several changes associated with the team. Since this date there has been an investment into the carers population, recruitment of workers and an improvement plan is in place with progress regularly reported to the Social Work Assurance Group (SWAG). Reviewing Officers (RO) The RO’s are qualified social workers, and chair all child protection, looked after away from home and looked after at home reviews. They ensure that planning is being progressed and highlight and report on any drift or barriers within the care planning. They provide a monthly quality assurance report to senior officers highlighting good practice, areas for development and any particular trends within practice. This information is shared with team leaders and our learning and development colleagues to inform future training needs. Midlothian Family Wellbeing Service This team was set up through the Whole Family Wellbeing Funding (WFWF) and additional resource provided by Education as part of its restructure, and a commitment to design a new service that offers support at a much earlier point of contact. Though we have recruited the team, it is still in its infancy and will inform the 2024-25 actions going forward. Page 98 of 126
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11 KEY PRIORITY AREAS FOR 2024/25 Families Impacted by Disability This is a key priority for 2024-25. We intend to reshape the senior manager structure to include an additional Service Manager within the current budget who will work with Education, Adult Health and Social Care, and the 3rd Sector to deliver a model of care that focuses on providing seamless transitions for children and young people who have additional support and complex needs. The model will incorporate the underpinning principle of good transitions and provide a pathway to improve support as well as manage expectations for both families and workers. Neurodevelopmental pathway As already highlighted the number of children awaiting an appointment for a neurodevelopmental assessment is increasing at a worrying rate. It is anticipated that not all cases will require a clinical input from CAMHS so a key priority for 2024/25 will be the development of a neurodevelopmental pathway to support local children and young people with ASN and Complex and Enduring Needs. Family Wellbeing Service During 2024-25 we will continue to consolidate and expand the service to ensure that is truly holistic in its support of families who need to access support and resources when they require them. A key workstream will be the collaboration with the 3rd sector to ensure our joint resources can respond to need. We want to deliver a service that is both creative and trauma informed in its approach and can demonstrate that it empowers families to find solutions through a range of support and interventions. Key actions will include how we continue to support families and employees through the cost-of-living crisis that is impacting Midlothian and beyond. Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children (UASC) This is an area of work that has grown exponentially over the past few years and the team have worked hard to meet the ongoing requests for placements. The number of young people arriving in Midlothian who require to be looked after in a safe environment has increased leading to a strain on resources and, like Councils across Scotland, the pressure is unsustainable long term. In addition to this we continue to resource a team for those arriving from Ukraine and Afghanistan. The increased pressure on resources across Midlothian is significant as we adapt and create different models of working to ensure we can meet future demand. Foster Carer Recruitment There is a national shortage of foster carers across Scotland and despite many attempts to find a national solution to recruiting more foster carers this continues to be an ongoing challenge. We increased our foster care fees foster care in 2023-24 and agreed a key priority for 2024-25 isa to invest in a online and social media campaign in an effort to increase our foster care population. This recruitment strategy is due to commence in May/June 2024. The impact of this is that we have very limited resources within Midlothian and need to enhance and therefore need to ensure we have sufficient care placements to keep all children and young people within Midlothian. Page 99 of 126
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12 Workforce There is a national shortage of workers within social work and social care across Scotland. Recruitment and retention of social workers is a concern. Scottish Government are supporting the development of a national social work agency which would offer the same working terms and conditions to all workers across the nation. This would benefit Midlothian who are in constant competition with larger neighbouring local authorities’ salaries which are significantly greater than ours. In addition, we are committed to supporting our existing workforce with their health and wellbeing. We want to ensure we have a workplace culture that is supportive, inclusive and focused on learning and improvement. In 24/25 we will undertake consultation to explore ways to improve staff wellbeing and the workplace culture. Page 100 of 126
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13 KEY DRIVERS United Nation Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) The Convention has 54 articles that cover all aspects of a child’s life and set out the civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights that all children everywhere are entitled to. It also explains how adults and governments must work together to make sure all children can enjoy all their rights. Adopting and embedding the UNCRC articles will be a key focus going forward. The Promise In October 2016, the First Minister announced an independent ‘root and branch’ review of the children’s care system (“The Care Review”). The review concluded that while much had been done to support children and young people who became part of the care system it was piecemeal and inconsistent across Scotland. The ‘Independent Care Review’ concluded that services needed to improve as a matter of urgency. Consequently ‘The Promise’ emerged as a key driver for transformational change. The Promise provides a strong basis for transforming and strengthening services to support parenting and ultimately, improve the lives of looked after and care experienced children and young people in Midlothian. National Care Services The Scottish Government have laid a Bill in parliament which seeks to establish a National Care Service. The Bill essentially provides a brief outline as to what a National Care Service could look like in terms of power and responsibilities for Scottish government and Councils, though further discussion is to take place. There will also be further consultation as to whether Children’s Services and Justice Services would transfer over to the National Care Service. We await further details on the proposal and will make sure all workforce and other stakeholders are kept informed. Mental Health Services The increase in requests for mental health support continues to be a challenge, not just within Midlothian but across the country. Additional funding from Central Government has enabled us to collaborate and work with our 3rd Sector colleagues to develop a range of less stigmatising services that children and families can access at an early stage to support their mental health and wellbeing. Discussions are ongoing to further develop services, and this remains a priority area of work over the coming year. Children's Care and Justice Bill The age of criminal responsibility was raised from 8 years of age to 12 years of age in 2021. The intention of the Children's Care and Justice Bill is to divert children and those under 18 from becoming involved with justice services by supporting them through age-appropriate systems and services. The Children's Care and Justice Bill also aims to reduce the number of children in Young Offenders’ Institutions and reform the placement of children in secure care. We welcome the legislation which endorses our local services which are founded on diverting children away from criminal proceedings. Page 101 of 126
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14 CHILDREN’S SERVICES IMPROVEMENT PLAN FOR 2024/25 Service Priority Actions Performance Indicator Due Date Target Baseline Previous Trend Data Managed By Source New Indicator for 2023/24 yes or no 1 Ensure the Midlothian Wellbeing Service is aligned with other family supports across Midlothian Develop transparent pathway to ensure 3rd sector partners have equitable access to funding resources within the Family Wellbeing Service. 31/03/25 New Measure 23/24 0 Rebecca Hooton Chief Officer Internal Systems No Develop a series of performance indicators and baseline figures to measure outcomes for Family Wellbeing Service 31/03/25 New Measure 0 N/A Rebecca Hooton Chief Officer Internal Systems Yes 2 Develop a transitions strategy and pathway across Children’s Services, Education and Adult Health & Social Care 1st Phase Map and review existing interface to support the proposal for standalone disability/transitions team. 31/03/25 New Measure o Emma Clater Service Manager Internal Systems No Develop a disability transition policy that supports children moving into adult services who have additional support needs 31/03/25 Linked to disability and ND workstreams N/A N/A Emma Clater Service Manager Yes Page 102 of 126
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15 3 Maintain supports offered by Family Group Decision Making and Kinship staff to ensure children remain with birth/ kin families. Increase the number of families who participate in Family Group Decision Making 31/03/25 2023-24 Figures 23/24 data Lesley Watson Service Manager Internal Systems Yes Increase the number of families who have a Family plan included in their care plan 31/03/25 2023-24 Figures 23/24 data Lesley Watson Service Manager Internal Systems Yes Increase the number of Kinship assessment undertaken. 31/03/25 Increase by 30% 22/23 22/23 data Lesley Watson Service Manager Internal Systems Yes Develop and implement permanence process to formally secure children in kinship 31/03/25 1 X clear policy (linked to perm. policy N/A 0 All Service Managers Internal Systems Yes Evidence learning from complaints and unplanned endings is shared across the service. 31/03/25 100% learning shared New Measure N/A (new Measure) All Service Managers Internal systems Yes Continue to review and develop the support offered by the Practice Team 31/03/25 Ongoing review of progress New measure Lorrette Nicol Service Manager Internal systems Yes Strengthen the number staff who understand the Increase the number of staff and carers trained in using a trauma informed approach 31/03/25 25 20 N/A All Service Managers Internal systems Yes Page 103 of 126
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16 importance of trauma informed practice Continue to promote training opportunities and development for all Children’s Services staff 31/03/25 23/24 figures 23/24 Learning and Development /Service Managers Yes Offer a range of activities and sessions that support staff wellbeing 31/05/25 Service Managers/OD Yes Page 104 of 126
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Midlothian Council Tuesday 27 August 2024 Item No 8.7 Fair Work First – Implementation Update Report by Saty Kaur, Chief Officer Corporate Solutions Report for Information 1 Recommendations Council is asked to: • note the good practice areas with regards to the Fair Work First agenda; • note the ongoing work to continue to embed Fair Work First across the organisation; and • note the work in progress to develop the Workforce Strategy, linked to the Blueprint Transformation Theme 2 – 21st Century Workforce which will be drafted in Autumn 2024. 2 Purpose of Report/Executive Summary To provide Council with information on the steps taken to achieve the Fair Work First requirement. Date Monday 5 August 2024 Report Contact: Saty Kaur, Chief Officer Corporate Solutions Saty.Kaur@midlothian.gov.uk Page 105 of 126
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2 3 Background/Main Body of Report 3.1 Fair Work First is the Scottish Government’s policy for driving high quality and fair work, and workforce diversity across the labour market in Scotland by applying fair work criteria to grants, other funding and public contracts being awarded by and across the public sector, where it is relevant to do so. Through this approach, the Scottish Government is supporting employers who adopt fair working practices, specifically: • payment of at least the real Living Wage (RLW) • provide appropriate channels for effective workers’ voice, such as trade union recognition • investment in workforce development • no inappropriate use of zero hours contracts • action to tackle the gender pay gap and create a more diverse and inclusive workplace • offer flexible and family friendly working practices for all workers from day one of employment • oppose the use of fire and rehire practice. 3.2 The Fair Work Convention’s Framework defines Fair Work as work that offers effective voice, fulfilment, opportunity, respect and security. These dimensions will be present in different ways in different workplaces, aiming to balance the rights and responsibilities of workers and employers. They should be visible in the attitudes, behaviours, culture, policies and practices within an organisation – demonstrating the value placed on fair work and equal opportunity in work. The Fair Work First criteria align with the dimensions of Fair Work, and are focused on: • providing a decent standard of living and income • offering security of contract, including hours and earnings; other entitlements including sick pay and pension • fostering an environment where workers’ views are actively sought, listened to and can make a difference, including through a stronger role for trade unions • giving opportunities for all to learn, develop and progress • creating a healthy and safe environment, where individuals’ wellbeing is actively supported • enabling people to have a good work-life balance • supporting people to feel valued and respected and that they have a sense of purpose in work and wider society • creating fair, diverse and inclusive workforces • promoting innovation and productivity. Page 106 of 126
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3 Examples of best practice 3.3 The Scottish Government has provided resources on Fair Work First including best practice examples for the Fair Work First criteria. 3.4 Appropriate channels for effective workers’ voice, such as trade union recognition: Collective voice channels • Providing access to trade unions and making workers aware that they can join a union of their choice. • Involving trade union/worker representatives in key governance and decision-making structures. • Recognising trade unions for the purpose of collective bargaining and encouraging membership, where this is the workforce’s preferred route, and providing appropriate facility time for supporting regular engagement between union/s and members. • Constructive dialogue between the employer, workers and where appropriate a relevant trade union/s to address workplace issues or disputes, e.g. absence management, grievance, health & safety. Individual voice channels • Regular surveys are carried out to understand worker views, including how well they feel effective voice is facilitated in the organisation, and are involved in agreeing and progressing improvement action. • Formal and informal arrangements are in place through which meaningful individual and collective dialogue take place, including one-to-ones between workers and management, appraisal/feedback processes, team/organisation meetings. • Appropriate collective consultation and a clear route for resolving issues at both individual and collective levels, such as through a grievance or collective disputes procedure. • The organisation promotes a strong culture of openness and transparency and encourages acceptance of different viewpoints. 3.5 Investment in workforce development: • Learning & development is integrated in the organisation’s strategic planning and workers and management jointly identify development needs and priorities, ensuring both individual and organisational needs are met. • Regular equality and diversity training is provided for all staff. • Learning & development opportunities are provided, and regularly reviewed, to help build the organisation’s resilience and responsiveness to change. • Managers have development discussions with individuals and teams and prioritise this as part of operational activity. Page 107 of 126
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4 • Workforce Development Plans and Succession Management Plans are in place. • Formal and informal learning is offered across the workforce, relating to people’s particular role and wider development. • The organisation is committed to providing apprenticeships. • The organisation is committed to supporting the Young Person’s Guarantee. • Staff are supported to keep their professional qualifications up- to-date. • The organisation has an appropriate charter mark achievement such as Investment in People or EFQM. • The organisation invests in and utilises the skills and knowledge of union equality, learning and other workplace representatives and resources. • Constructive engagement with union learning reps and Scottish Union Learning activities. • Carbon literacy training is provided for all staff. 3.6 No inappropriate use of zero-hours contracts: • All staff are employed on open-ended or fixed term contracts with confirmed hours and work pattern. • All staff have a contract which accurately reflects the hours worked, guarantees a fair minimum number of hours per week and does not involve compulsory overtime. • Staff get reasonable notice of shifts – at least 4 weeks ahead of time and are paid for cancelled shifts within this period. • Core and flexible staff resources are reviewed at least annually to determine if any staff on a zero-hours or minimum-hours contract can be moved to a permanent or fixed-term contract with a fixed number of hours and/or a regular pattern. • Zero-hours contracts are not used to the detriment of workers with protected characteristics and where this is happening, the organisation is taking remedial action. • Zero-hours contracts are not used to fill actual longer-term vacancies. • There is a clear, published policy and process to enable someone to request a move from a zero-hour contract with guaranteed and set hours. • Gained or working to gain Living Hours Accreditation. 3.7 Action to tackle the gender pay gap and create a more diverse and inclusive workplace: • Recruitment, retention and promotion processes prevent bias and barriers, for example, ’blind’ recruitment; providing additional support/adjustments at application and interview stages; diversity in interview panels; and exit interviews are used to understand why a person is leaving. • Workplace adjustments are in place and made for disabled staff or those with long term health conditions who need it. Additional support for adjustments are accessed through Access to Work. Page 108 of 126
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5 • Flexible working - which could be a reasonable adjustment to some – is encouraged across the organisation from day one of employment, subject to business need. • Workers have opportunities to influence the organisation’s approach to workplace equality, including by sharing their own experiences. • The organisation gathers data to understand its workforce diversity and has a plan in place to address under- representation. • Governance structures are gender balanced and the organisation is working to ensure parity for racialised minorities, disabled, young people and workers over 50 years. • Enhanced maternity, parental and adoption leave and pay are available for all staff, and staff are supported to return to work through keep in touch days and refresher courses. • A private, healthy and safe environment is provided for breastfeeding mothers to express and store milk. • Everyone has equal access to appropriate learning & development opportunities. • All staff have opportunities to discuss their support needs with management. • There are clear career pathways for women, with support for those returning to work after maternity or a career break and to help minority ethnic, disabled and workers over 50 years to progress. • The organisation is a recognised Carer Positive employer. • Employers are able to provide safe spaces for workers to express their concerns and raise issues and where workers are confident that their concerns are dealt with appropriately by trained personnel. • Policies are in place that align with Equally Safe, Scotland’s strategy for preventing and eradicating violence against women and girls (VAWG). • Staff and policies recognise Commercial Sexual Exploitation as a form of VAWG and support the policy principles, applying these to relevant policy and practice. • The organisation gains Equally Safe at Work accreditation to prevent workplace sexual harassment. • Employers promote and support mentally healthy workplaces where mental health and wellbeing is meaningfully discussed and where stigma and discrimination is addressed. • The organisation provides support to women experiencing menopause in the workplace. Information is available from NHS Inform and Close the Gap. • The organisation has a safety policy for workers who finish work outside of public transport hours to enable them to get home safely. Page 109 of 126
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6 3.8 Offer flexible and family friendly working practices for all workers from day one of employment: • Organisational policies and practice are in place to support flexible and family working, developed collaboratively by the employer, workers, where present, trade union or other worker representative, in line with legal requirements in terms of reasonable adjustments, and are regularly reviewed. • Jobs are designed around business outcomes, not based on fixed locations or times to provide flexibility. • Flexible working and family friendly policies are highlighted in job adverts. • Employers and workers have constructive conversations about requests for flexibility. Trial periods or pilots can be used to test workable solutions for the individual, team and employer. • Managers get appropriate training and support to enable them to effectively manage individuals who work flexibly. • Flexible and family friendly options are available at all levels in the organisation and for all staff – not just women or mothers, and to encourage partners to share caring responsibilities • Flexible working can be offered as a temporary arrangement to accommodate particular circumstances with review points agreed at the outset by the employer and the worker. • Learning and development is arranged to accommodate different flexible working arrangements and, where practicable, technology is used to facilitate access. • Enhanced provision is available to support workers with families, such as more tailored maternity, adoption, and shared parental leave and pay. • Accessible systems and protocols, such as IT equipment and digital diaries, are used to facilitate effective work practices, enabling remote workers to participate alongside their site-based colleagues. • Meetings are arranged at times that enable workers to attend (in person, by phone or virtually) so everyone can contribute and feel included. • Effective use of flexible and family friendly practice is modelled from the top down. • Employers develop and maintain a home and other remote working policy with consideration given for workers with protected characteristics and suitable provision to support workers’ mental health and overall wellbeing. • Working from home and other remote working is not monitored by invasive worker monitoring software. • Employers, workers and, where present, union or other worker representative, collaborate to agree an approach to flexible and out-of-hours working, with clear boundaries between work and non-work time - enabling workers to disconnect outside working hours. • Employers with international connections provide flexibility on hours to manage time differences. Page 110 of 126
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7 3.9 Midlothian current position Real Living Wage evidence • Living Wage Accreditation – the Council is a recognised Living Wage Employer, and this is renewed annually • The Council pays Living Wage for all apprenticeships and 16– 17-year-old workers, as all staff are paid within the current grading system. • All agency/contractors are paid in line with the relevant FTE role therefore RLW applies. Individual Voice • Project specific staff engagement where people can submit individual feedback i.e. hybrid working survey, listen and learn exercises (i.e. Neighbourhood Services. Building Maintenance Services) • Manager forum (established in 2024) brings together Team Leaders and Service Managers to widen their knowledge, build management skills and resilience, talk to Senior Managers and the Corporate Management Team and develop relationships with peers • Leadership forum brings together officers in senior leadership roles to discuss strategic issues affecting the organisation, inform and influence the strategic direction of the organisation and the priorities, discuss the financial challenges and identify new ways of working and innovative cross Council solutions. • Directorate drop in sessions lead by the Executive Directors with all staff to update on Council issues, priorities and listen to issues that staff have identified Collective voice • Employee benefits information posted with all job vacancies on MyJobScotland which references the Council’s commitment to Trade Union membership • Induction checklist which references Trade Union membership • Recognition and Procedural Agreement which has a Fair Work Statement signed by Trade Unions and outlines reasonable time off for Trade Union duties • JCG exists, chaired by the Council Leader, meets every 6-8 weeks and is actively attended by Trade Unions, elected members and Council officers • Other Trade Union forums that meet regularly include Midlothian Negotiating Committee for Teachers (MNCT) chaired by the Education Chief Operating Officer, Corporate Joint Working Group (CJWG) chaired by the Chief Officer Corporate Solutions and Directorate Consultative Group (DCG) chaired by the Executive Director Place. Page 111 of 126
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8 There is a short statement on the Council’s website highlighting the Council’s commitment to advancing the Fair Work First criteria, including the real Living Wage and effective voice conditions. This has been developed with and signed off by Trade Union representatives and included in the Recognition and Procedural Agreement: Fair Work practices | Fair work practices (midlothian.gov.uk) Other actions • A short statement is to be added to the Council’s website to state that the Council does not use zero hours contracts and opposes the use of hire and rehire practice • A range of family friendly policies have been adopted by the Council demonstrating action to tackle the gender pay gap and create a family friendly workplace including: o Adoption Policy o Carer Policy o Family Leave Policy o Flexible Retirement Policy o Hybrid Working Policy o Maternity Policy o IVF and Miscarriage Policy o Equalities and Diversity Framework o Gender Based Violence Policy o Menopause Policy o Mental Health and Wellbeing Policy o Recruitment and Selection Policy o Sexual Harassment Policy o Transgender Equality Policy • The Council is also Equally Safe accredited (Bronze). 3.10 Areas for improvement Workforce is a key enabler for change and is a significant area of focus in the Council’s Transformation Blueprint (agreed in 2022). Under Theme 2 – 21st Century Workforce, a range of areas are being progressed to strengthen the capacity of the workforce, address recruitment and retention challenges and ensure that Midlothian Council is an ‘Employer of Choice’. The principles of Fair Work ensure that all employees are treated fairly, free from inequality and that the Council advances opportunities for all. Areas of focus under the Blueprint Transformation include: • Investment in development for employees at all levels of the organisation, including specific development programmes for managers and leaders • Further investment in apprenticeships, building on the success of the Foundation and Modern Apprenticeship programmes lead by Communities, Lifelong Learning and Employability, particularly with increased adoption of Graduate Apprenticeship Page 112 of 126
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9 opportunities that tackle sectors where recruitment is more challenging. • Long term staff engagement programme to ensure that every employee’s voice is heard • Launch of a new Equalities programme linked to recruitment, gender pay gap, race pay gap and ensuring that the workforce is more diverse and representative of the communities that we serve • Review of overtime, casual workers, agency and fixed term contracts to ensure services have clear, sustainable workforce plans linked to service delivery • Review of HR policies to ensure that all policies have Fair Work principles embedded and that they are cognisant of the needs of the organisation The Council’s new Workforce Strategy will include the above points and other areas as identified through the development of the strategy. This will be supported by a clear delivery plan, linked to Theme 2 – 21st Century Workforce. It is anticipated that the new Workforce Strategy will be in draft form in Autumn for consideration and adoption. 4 Report Implications (Resource, Digital and Risk) 4.1 Resource There are no additional resource requirements for developing the Workforce Strategy and the Fair Work First elements that are currently implemented. All new initiatives as part of the delivery plan will be costed accordingly and resourced (where required). 4.2 Digital No digital impacts. 4.3 Risk Workforce is highlighted as a risk in the Council’s Strategic Risk Profile and reported quarterly to Audit Committee. 4.4 Ensuring Equalities (if required a separate IIA must be completed) No Integrated Impact Assessment required at this stage however as new initiatives are designed; appropriate equalities impact assessments will be carried out. 4.4 Additional Report Implications (See Appendix A) See Appendix A Appendices Appendix A – Additional Report Implications Page 113 of 126
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10 APPENDIX A – Report Implications A.1 Key Priorities within the Single Midlothian Plan Not applicable A.2 Key Drivers for Change Key drivers addressed in this report: Holistic Working Hub and Spoke Modern Sustainable Transformational Preventative Asset-based Continuous Improvement One size fits one None of the above A.3 Key Delivery Streams Key delivery streams addressed in this report: One Council Working with you, for you Preventative and Sustainable Efficient and Modern Innovative and Ambitious None of the above A.4 Delivering Best Value Not applicable A.5 Involving Communities and Other Stakeholders Not applicable A.6 Impact on Performance and Outcomes Not applicable A.7 Adopting a Preventative Approach Not applicable A.8 Supporting Sustainable Development Not applicable Page 114 of 126
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Midlothian Council 27 August 2024 Item No 8.8 Housing Programme Update 2024 Report by Kevin Anderson, Executive Director - Place Report for Noting 1 Recommendations 1.1 It is recommended that Council notes the contents of this report. 2 Purpose of Report 2.1 In approval of the Midlothian Housing Allocation Policy review by Council in March 2024, elected members requested that further information is provided in relation to the viability of the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) in the long term. On 21st Feb 2023 Council approved the Rent Setting Strategy for Midlothian Council 2022/23-2025/26. The rent strategy beyond 2026/27 will be reviewed next year and will consider the continuing investment in the Council’s existing housing stock as well as a significant programme of refurbishment, while also determining any level of new build investment beyond the Council’s current social housing programme commitment. Date: 6 August 2024 Report Contact: Name : Kevin Anderson, Executive Director, Place Tel No : 0131 271 3102 kevin.anderson@midlothian.gov.uk Page 115 of 126
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2 3 Background There are various barriers to the ongoing delivery of affordable housing, such as access to suitable land to develop with the necessary infrastructure and while appreciating that the pressure on budgets across national and local government levels is severe, investment in housing allows councils to meet some housing needs in their areas, and can also evidence wider positive benefits to tenants, local communities, and the economy. The uncertainty In funding arrangements at national levels is affecting councils’ and RSLs‘ ability to plan future developments and may result in a slowdown in the planning and supply of affordable housing. Scottish Government housebuilding statistics published at the end of June 2024 reveal a picture of housebuilding decline across Scotland. In 2023-24 private sector completions were down by 13% and site starts were down 16% on the previous year. New build completions are the second lowest since 2017-18, with the lowest being in 2020-21 when Covid restrictions impacted housebuilding. Starts were also at the lowest point since 2014-15. Statistics for the social housing sector in 2023-24 reveal that building completions were down 27% and starts down by 14% than the previous financial year. Completions were the lowest since 2020-21 and starts the lowest since 2012-13. The number of homes being constructed in Scotland across all tenures is in decline and is combined with reduced industry capacity to deliver new homes in the future. 4 Affordable Housing Funding On the 15th of May 2024, the Scottish Parliament declared that Scotland is experiencing a housing emergency, recognising the significance of the challenge that exists. The consequences of exceptional growth in Midlothian, combined with high inflation, labour shortages, supply chain disruption and a cost of living crisis is causing unprecedented pressure on the existing housing stock and potential for future affordable housing delivery. At the beginning of this calendar year the Scottish Government announced a budget cut of around £200m from the national affordable housing programme budget, which experienced around a 24% cut to the local authority’s affordable housing programme budget/Resource Planning Assumptions (RPAs). At the end of April 2024, the Scottish Government announced an allocation of £80m over two years to enable Councils to acquire properties and bring them into use for affordable housing and help reduce homelessness. Page 116 of 126
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3 At the time of writing there has been no detail from Scottish Government on how this funding can utilised by Local Authorities, which has implications as affordable housing approvals will be down for future years and completions across affordable housing and housing of all tenures will also be reduced. Housing Revenue Account Financial Model For many years the Council have operated a 15 year rolling financial model which has provided the strategic financial backdrop to capital investment and rent levels. The model is refreshed on an annual basis, or more regularly if there are materially changing circumstances. Financial projections are based on a combination of known events (eg agreed rent increase) and modelling assumptions. The main assumptions are: • Inflationary increases using published statistics. • Rental income streams based on agreed or estimated increase in annual rents. Currently a rental increase of 4.8% to the end of financial year 2025/26 is approved with a planning assumption of 4.5% thereafter to 2031/32 and 1.7% thereafter. • Borrowing costs from capital expenditure incurred or approved through to the end of phase 5 of the new build programme with continuing investment to meet Scottish Housing Quality Standards (SHQS) • Rent levels for new build properties will converge with those for existing stock 15 years from handover. • External funding via Scottish Government schemes. The model forecasts a gradually eroding HRA reserve from its current projected balance of £35 million in 2024/25 to £2 million in 2039/40. 5 Affordable Housing Delivery The level of future years Affordable Housing Supply Programme budget is still to be determined by Scottish Government resulting in an element of risk that the Phase 5 New Social Housing Programme in Midlothian will become unaffordable unless future rents are increased to support the investment. This risk has been somewhat negated by the recent announcement that projects can now be approved from future years budgets at a rate of 80% for 2025/26, 60% for 2026/27 and 40% from 2027/28 which helps to remove some degree of uncertainty and risk with regard to future funding for New Social Housing, although there will be some element of forward funding required for some of our housing sites in scope for Phase 5. Financial modelling suggests the HRA can support forward funding for Phase 5 of New Social Housing project to 2027/28 (see Table 2). There is currently no budget available within the 2024/25 Scottish Government’s Affordable Housing Supply Programme to subsidise the open market purchases in 2024/25, however there has been announcement by Scottish Government that there is potentially a fund of £40 million being made Page 117 of 126
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4 available which can be used to subsidise open market purchases, hopefully resulting in receipt of some level of funding during 2024/25, although the level and criteria for spending this is still to be announced. The Housing Revenue Account can sustain a small number of purchases (approximately 6 units) during 2024/25 should no funding be received, or can access future year open market purchase budgets in the HRA should a good value opportunity arise. During recent times the construction industry in Scotland and the UK has experienced unprecedented adverse market conditions, which has led to significant rises in tender prices for a wide range of materials. There is evidence that inflation of between 10% and 15% beyond BCIS predictions is affecting projects and whilst measures such as value engineering are partially mitigating cost increases, there is a risk that the capital budgets provided for delivery of the New Social Housing project will need to be increased with a resultant impact on the funding strategy. Strategic Local Programme Agreement 2024/25 The Strategic Local Programme Agreement (SLPA) for this Financial Year reflects the 26% reduction in funding that has been applied across all local authorities. This has resulted in a resource planning assumption (total grant assumption) for Midlothian of £7.998m for 2024/25. This contrasts with the 2023/24 SLPA of £10.534m. The reduction in grant affects both the Council’s own housing programme and that of our partners such as Registered Social Landlords. Table 1 Sites that will draw down on Scottish Government funding this year Site Developer Number Tenure ASHP Grant Funding Bonnyrigg One Dalhousie - (P47487) MLC 3 SR 0.301 Gorebridge Newbyres Crescent - T34262 MLC 72 SR 1.928 Mayfield Easthouses Road (Former Newbattle High School Site) (MLC) - P42523 MLC 90 SR 5.109 Total £7.338m As noted above, there is no grant available for Off Market Purchases due to the level of committed projects already receiving funding. Page 118 of 126
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5 There remains £0.660m to be allocated to capital projects through the AHSP in this financial year. The SLPA also confirms that sites to be approved for funding in 2024/25 (with funding to be drawn down in 2025/26) include: • Bonnyrigg Polton St (Complex Care) • Danderhall Newton Church Road (Leisure Centre) • Mayfield Easthouses Road (Melville Housing Association) • Auchendinny Phase 1 (Wheatley Group Phase 5 Funding Following the cut to funding, a review of Midlothian Council’s Phase 5 sites was undertaken. As a result, some sites were deferred or removed from the Council’s programme, with a focus on Section 75 sites, where sites delivering private housing by the private sector are required to deliver 25% of units as affordable. The revised Phase 5 is shown below. The uncertainty around future funding remains, therefore this phase is liable to change over time. In addition to Phase 5 funding, there is also currently £20m budgeted for Housing Led Town Centre Regeneration work. Feasibility work is currently underway to establish the means of delivering the first phase of this in Dalkeith Town Centre. Page 119 of 126
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Table 2 Phase 5 Sites Review – Outcome Site Units Y/N/D Rationale Site 148 - Newton Church Road Leisure Centre 23 Yes Smaller site, Council owned. Grant approval confirmed in SLPA 24/25 Site 155 - Muir Homes Crichton Road 11 Yes Grant Allocated and fully drawn down. Site 142 - Stewart Milne (Shawfair) (in administration) 28 Yes Acquisition cost allocated but full grant outstanding. Forward funding until grant allocated. Site 153 - Newtongrange Church Hall 6 Yes Not on site, however grant allocated in form of site acquisition. Low value grant outstanding, which can be forward funded. Edmonstone Road, Danderhall (Bellway AA2/AA3) 34 Yes Will forward fund. Is a priority for securing grant funding with SG in future years. Regional Delivery Alliance sites 9 Yes Forward funding due to small size / unit numbers. Shawfair (Lovell) – HARP Ref P43738 38 Yes MLC has made taking this site forward conditional on timing in 26/27 to ensure affordability to HRA. The Brae Auchendinny (Bellway) 55 Defer – review required. Grant approval 25/26, subsidy available 26/27. In discussion on phasing / timing of delivery with developer. Newtongrange (swimming pool site and Top Club) HARP Ref P47183 20 Defer – review required No grant allocation approved, will require forward funding. Affordability to be reviewed once costs ascertained. Certainty around 26/27 funding needed. Rullion Road HARP Ref P46386 48 Defer – review required No grant allocation approved, will require forward funding. Affordability to be reviewed once costs ascertained. Certainty around 26/27 funding needed. Page 120 of 126
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7 Area C, Newton Farm / Wellington Farm 25 Defer – review required Timing of housing delivery to be confirmed. No grant allocation approved. Affordability to be reviewed once costs ascertained. Certainty around 26/27 funding needed. Site 128 Shawfair , Old Craighall Road, MacTaggart & Mickel P41836 48 No MLC no longer seeking to take this site forward. Site 149 – Barratt Danderhall (Block R – HARP ref P42532) 33 No MLC no longer seeking to take this site forward. Lingerwood Springfield NA NA Timing of delivery of this site not known. MLC not currently seeking to take this site forward. Page 121 of 126
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Ongoing Delivery While the cut to the affordable housing delivery programme has resulted in Midlothian Council withdrawing its interest in sites coming forward or deferring delivery, sites with an existing commitment continue to deliver new, high quality homes to those in housing need. Between August 2023 to August 2024, the Council has built and handed over 388 new homes from 10 sites detailed in table below. Page 122 of 126
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Site Name Aug-22 Sep-22 Oct-22 Nov-22 Dec-22 Jan-23 Feb-23 Mar-23 Apr-23 May-23 Jun-23 Jul-23 Aug-23 Sep-23 Oct-23 Nov-23 Dec-23 Jan-24 Feb-24 Mar-24 Apr-24 May-24 Jun-24 Jul-24 Totals Newmills Road, Dalkeith 42 42 Dalhousie Mains, Bonnyrigg 25 19 9 17 70 Morris Road, Newtongrange 19 60 79 Conifer Road, Mayfield 0 24 0 18 30 72 Hopefield Yard, Bonnyrigg 16 16 High Street, Bonnyrigg 20 20 Burnbrae, Hopefield 10 10 20 Wester Cowden, Dalkeith (Remaining) 6 Barratt Homes, Moat View, Roslin 21 9 23 53 Buccleuch Street, Dalkeith 6 4 10 0 Total Handovers August 2023 to August 2024 25 19 9 17 19 60 0 0 0 0 21 0 16 10 42 19 23 6 0 24 4 18 30 20 388 Page 123 of 126
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Energy Efficiency Standard for Social Housing (EESSH2) In addition, the programme of upgrades to the Council’s existing housing stock to enhance energy efficiency has advanced. In 2023/24, 118 Council homes had energy efficiency measures implemented, with a focus on external wall insulation and window and door replacement on homes in Danderhall where there us a high incidence of poor energy efficiency in homes and fuel poverty. This investment is supported by the Scottish Government’s Social Housing Net Zero Heat Fund (SHNZHF). In addition, a further 55 private homes were upgraded, with all associated costs covered by the Scottish Government’s Area Based Scheme (ABS) grant and owner contributions. This is used to facilitate the upgrade of private properties that are in or at risk of fuel poverty. This also used where there are mixed tenure blocks and owners meet the funding criteria. In total, Midlothian Council spent £1.172m on energy efficiency measures through our EESSH2 programme and received £0.488m in grant. It also spent £0.705m on area based scheme measures on homes in private ownership. Total spend was £1.1876m and total grants received was £1.193m. The programme will continue to grow in 2024/25 with an additional 182 Council homes and 46 homes in private ownership to be upgraded with further grant support valued at £0.705m (ABS) and £0.825m (SHNZHF). 6 Report Implications (Resource, Digital and Risk) 6.1 Resource There are no resource implications arising directly from this report. 6.2 Digital Not applicable 6.3 Risk There is regular review of risk to ensure the retained risk in the new house building programme is of an acceptable and tolerable level to maximise opportunities and have full consideration of risk implications in achieving our aims and objectives 6.4 Ensuring Equalities (if required a separate IIA must be completed) Equality is central to all housing and housing services delivery. An Integrated Impact Assessment (IIA) has been undertaken on the Local Housing Strategy 2021-26 to ensure that the needs of local communities have been fully considered. The SHIP reflects identified needs and draws on findings from the IIA when considering the implications flowing from the translation of strategic aims into housing policies. 6.5 Additional Report Implications (See Appendix A) See Appendix A Page 124 of 126
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11 APPENDIX A – Report Implications A.1 Key Priorities within the Single Midlothian Plan Affordable housing, homelessness and health and social care outcomes through the provision of specialist housing. A.2 Key Drivers for Change Key drivers addressed in this report: Holistic Working Hub and Spoke Modern Sustainable Transformational Preventative Asset-based Continuous Improvement One size fits one None of the above A.3 Key Delivery Streams Key delivery streams addressed in this report: One Council Working with you, for you Preventative and Sustainable Efficient and Modern Innovative and Ambitious None of the above A.4 Delivering Best Value We manage all aspects of our business so that tenants and other customers receive services that provide value for money in the rent and other charges they pay. A.5 Involving Communities and Other Stakeholders A full consultation in the current Rent Setting Strategy 2023/24-2025/26 and the Housing Allocation Policy 2024 was available to Midlothian Council tenants and waiting list applicants. Stakeholders are informed of outcomes at the regular Local Housing Strategy Forum meetings. A.6 Impact on Performance and Outcomes Not applicable A.7 Adopting a Preventative Approach Not applicable A.8 Supporting Sustainable Development Good practice in relation to energy efficiency and sustainability is contained in the SHIP and Local Housing Strategy 2021/22 – 2025/26. Page 125 of 126
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