There were no declarations of interest by Members in terms of Standing Order 10 and Section 5 of the Code of Conduct for Councillors.

The accuracy of the Minutes of the meeting of the Cabinet held on 23 January 2018 were confirmed and the Minutes signed in accordance with Paragraph 7 (1) of Schedule 7 of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973.

Joe Cullinane, John Bell, Robert Foster, Louise McPhater and Jim Montgomerie.

Shaun MacAulay, Jean McClung, Davina McTiernan and Donald L. Reid.

Elma Murray, Chief Executive; L. Friel, Executive Director, Maurice McTeague, Category Manager/Team Leader (Supplies and Services) and S. Wallace, Category Manager (Construction and Property Maintenance) (Finance and Corporate Support);  K. Yeomans, Executive Director, A. Sutton, Head of Service (Connected Communities) and M. Strachan, Senior Business Manager (Economy and Communities); D. MacRitchie, Senior Manager (Criminal Justice Services) (Health and Social Care Partnership); L. Cree, Senior Manager (Property Management and Investment) (Place); A. Fraser, Head of Democratic Services; A. Beveridge, Communications Support Officer and D. McCaw, Committee Services Officer (Chief Executive's Service).

Joe Cullinane in the Chair.

Alex Gallagher.

Please note - this item was heard by the Audit & Scrutiny Committee on on 6 March 2018, please refer to the minute for the decision.

Submitted report by the Interim Director (Health and Social Care Partnership) on amendments required to the North Ayrshire Integration Scheme to include new duties put in place by the Carers (Scotland) Act 2016 and which require to be delegated. The Act comes into effect on 1 April 2018.

The Cabinet agreed to (a) note that duties under the Carers (Scotland) Act 2016 require to be delegated to the Integration Joint Board; (b) recommend to the Council that appropriate changes to the Council's Scheme of Administration and Scheme of Delegation to Officers are made as part of the next review of governance documents; and (c) to amend the North Ayrshire Integration Scheme to include new duties under the Carers (Scotland) Act 2016 and, subject to the agreement of NHS Ayrshire and Arran, to submit the revised Integration Scheme for the approval of Ministers.

Submitted report by the Interim Director (Health and Social Care Partnership) on the work undertaken in the last year through Community Payback Orders with a particular focus on unpaid work requirement.  The Annual Report prepared by the Chief Social Work Officer was set out at Appendix 1 to the report.

Members reflected on the positive performance and success of the programme in terms of partnership working with service users in relation to project based work.

Members asked questions and were provided with further information in relation to:-

• flexibility around chosen projects; and
• the breakdown between supervisions and the element of unpaid work.

The Cabinet agreed to (a) endorse the Annual Report set out at Appendix 1 to the report; and (b) congratulate the Social Work Justice Team on their work over the past year.

Submitted report by the Executive Director (Place) on progress made following the Council's humanitarian commitment to participate in the Syrian Resettlement Programme since 2015 and seeking approval to extend this commitment.

Members expressed their thanks to the task force in relation to the partnership working carried out since 2015 to establish support packages.

The Cabinet agreed to (a) note the progress made on the Syrian Resettlement Programme to date; and (b) extend the Resettlement Programme within North Ayrshire by up to a further 60 refugees by 2021.

Submitted report by the Executive Director (Economy and Communities) on the reconvening of a short life working group from 1 March 2018 comprising of North Ayrshire Council and the North Ayrshire Federation of Community Organisations (NAFCO) to address financial challenges faced by the public and voluntary sector in relation to the role of Community Associations and how they provide services to our communities.

Councillor McPhater proposed that the Working Group should have cross-party Elected Membership and that the format of the Group should be:-

• 3 x NAFCO
• 3 x NAC Officer
• 3 x Elected member (Chair - Cllr McPhater, 1 x SNP; 1 x Scottish Conservative and Unionist - with an Independent Member being offered a place if none of the Conservatives take up the place)

Members of the Cabinet unanimously agreed to this amendment.

Accordingly, the Cabinet agreed to (a) approve the request to reconvene the short life working group from 1 March 2018 comprising North Ayrshire Council and the North Ayrshire Federation of Community Organisations as proposed by Councillor McPhater; (b) that the Clerk contact the SNP and Conservative and Unionist Group Leaders asking for their nominations to the Working Group; and (c) receive future reports in relation to themes which may emerge from the recommendations of the working group.

Submitted report by the Executive Director (Economy and Communities) on the Articles of Association of the West of Scotland Loan Fund Ltd to enable member authorities to access funds no longer required for lending purposes.  The draft Special Resolution was set out at Appendix 1 to the report.  Appendix 2 detailed  financial calculations for all member authorities at December 2017.

Members asked a question and were provided with further information in relation to other Councils who had still to approve the change.

The Cabinet agreed (a) to approve the proposal to amend the Articles of Association of the West Of Scotland Loan Fund (WSLF) as detailed in Appendix 1 to the report; (b) that NAC withdraws their unused funds subject to all Board members agreeing the amendment; (c) that unused funds are earmarked to be utilised for the purposes outlined in the objects of the WSLF company and to support new EU applications being submitted in 2018; (d) to delegate to the Executive Director (Economy and Communities) to ensure the draft resolution is signed in accordance with the requirements of WSLF.

Submitted report by the Executive Director (Economy and Communities) on the establishment, membership and approach in relation to a YoYP Strategic group.

The Chief Executive advised that, in terms of Membership of the Strategic Group, all Members identified had agreed to their representation on the Group.

The Cabinet agreed (a) to approve the establishment of the YoYP Strategic group; and (b) to receive a future report in 2019 on the legacy contribution made by the group to young people in North Ayrshire.

Submitted report by the Executive Director (Finance and Corporate Support) on the result of the tender exercise for the Framework Agreement for the Professional Consultancy Services Partnership – Civil Engineering.

The Cabinet agreed to approve the award of Framework Agreement to RPS Consulting Services Ltd.

Submitted report by the Executive Director (Finance and Corporate Support) on the outcome of the tender for Interim Residual Waste Management Services.

The Cabinet agreed to (a) note the outcome of the tender process; and (b) approve the award of contract to Barr Environmental Ltd.

The Chair agreed that the following item be considered as a matter of urgency to allow the award of contract to be progressed.