Find out everything that was discussed at the meeting of WCC Cabinet on Thursday 13 February 2025.
The performance of the County Council over the last quarter; measures to improve the maintenance of the county’s highways; a fairer system for allocating school places and removing barriers to employment for some of the county’s more disadvantaged residents were the talking points at today’s meeting of Cabinet.
Cllr Peter Butlin, Warwickshire County Council’s deputy leader, presented the report detailing how the council was performing against its key actions in the Council Delivery Plan. 90% of the actions were completed or on track as of the end of Quarter 3. Progress was noted in the home to school transport plan, which is now set to move to the delivery phase, and the completion of the fire and rescue service’s Minerva training unit.
Cabinet gave approval to tender for the county’s highways maintenance contract running from 2026 for ten years which will make better use of AI and data to help prioritise works and improve efficiencies (link to release).
Changes to the criteria governing school admissions were agreed, refining the process for parental disputes as well as clarifying who can be termed a ‘parent’. New measures will see increased support for families of service personnel and greater clarity on applying for places from abroad. (link to release).
Funding for the Connect to Work programme was agreed to enable supported employment services to engage with 700 people with health conditions each year until 2027, with a possible extension into 2029. The scheme is part of the government’s ‘Get Britain Working’ initiative and will make use of Department for Work and Pensions grant funding to build on the work already put in place by Warwickshire Supported Employment Service.
Cllr Butlin said: “ After last week’s budget meeting it was good to get back to business as usual. The performance of the council in the last three months of 2024 was strong despite market pressures. It was also good to see the progress made around fair processes for our school admissions and in procuring a more efficient contract for the maintenance of our highways.
“Since its launch, the Warwickshire Supported Employment Service has done sone excellent work in creating opportunities for many people who were otherwise struggling to find employment. It’s exciting that they have funding to continue that work with the Connect to Work programme and we look forward to that launching later in the year.”
The papers and recorded livestream of this meeting can be found here: WCC Cabinet February 13 2025