Agenda item
TO RECEIVE WRITTEN QUESTIONS FROM MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL
The questions which have been received from Councillors to be put at this Council meeting are set out in the attached report.
A maximum period of 30 minutes is allocated to this agenda item.
Decision:
8.1 Question from Councillor Motin Uz-Zaman on the promotion of the ‘Curry Capital’ during the Olympics.
8.2 Question from Councillor David Snowdon about the new ‘Paths to Gold’ smartphone app.
8.3 Question from Councillor Carlo Gibbs on the medium term budget outlook.
8.4 Question from Councillor Fozol Miah on the withdrawal of London Metropolitan University’s licence.
The questioner was not in attendance so this question fell.
8.5 Question from Councillor Sirajul Islam on work undertaken to bring properties up to Decent Homes standards.
8.6 Question from Councillor Craig Aston regarding Barbican College who were occupying the old Poplar Town Hall.
8.7 Question from Councillor Amy Whitelock about action being taken to tackle child sexual exploitation.
8.8 Question from Councillor Harun Miah regarding the interview process for Work Capability Assessments (No supplementary question was put).
8.9 Question from Councillor Ann Jackson about the situation relating to One Housing Group.
The questioner was not in attendance so the question fell.
8.10 Question from Councillor Peter Golds about the Armed Forces event on Sunday 12 August.
8.11 Question from Councillor Khales Uddin Ahmed on the reduction in flower beds. (No supplementary question was put)
The above questions and in each, except where indicated, a supplementary question were put and were responded to by the relevant executive Member.
The remaining questions 8.12 to 8.21 were not put due to lack of time. Written responses will be provided.
(Action by: John S. Williams, Service Head, Democratic Services – to arrange written responses).
Minutes:
8.1 Question from Councillor Motin Uz-Zaman on the promotion of the ‘Curry Capital’ during the Olympics
What steps did the Mayor take to promote Curry Capital during the Olympics? What was the total budget allocated to promoting Curry Capital and Brick Lane and will the Mayor provide a breakdown of what this budget was spent on?
Response by Councillor Rania Khan, Cabinet Member for Culture
The Mayor was successful in ensuring Brick Lane and Spitalfields received the honour being designated Curry Capital 2012. This was in addition to ensuring local businesses had an opportunity to access the procurement processes set out by Locog.
As already set out in the public questions there was no external funding given to the council to promote Curry Capital 2012. Tower Hamlets Council had to identify resources from existing funds which was also used to promote other businesses. This was done following consideration by the Mayor of the need to promote Brick Lane and Banglatown Brick Lane as a key visitor destination. Brick Lane was featured widely in media as diverse as the New York Times to China Daily.
Summary of Supplementary Question from Councillor Motin Uz-Zaman
Is the Mayor aware that some businesses are now at threat of closure because of his failure to properly promote Brick Lane?
Summary of Councillor Rania Khan’s response to the Supplementary Question
I am saddened to hear about any businesses potentially closing down however I disagree about the cause. A major cause was the failure of the Mayor of London in scaring off people from going out in London during the Games.
8.2 Question from Councillor David Snowdon about the new ‘Paths to Gold’ smartphone app
Regarding the borough's mobile phone 'App' entitled 'Paths To Gold', seemingly produced by an outfit called Captive Minds on behalf of Tower Hamlets Council, may I please be informed:
A) Whether this application was in fact written by Tower Hamlets, and if so, who authorised expenditure on it?
B) How much was spent on this 'App'? Please detail both in house and out of house costs, and who the contractors were.
C) What was the rationale for developing it?
D) What benefits are expected to accrue to Tower Hamlets Council or the Borough more widely?
E) Was this 'App' linked to a payment of £54,000 by the Communications Team for Software to Captive Minds Communications Group in May 2012, as published on the Tower Hamlets website: http://www.towerhamlets.gov.uk/lgsl/800001-800100/800043_transparency/payments_to_suppliers-1.aspx If this payment is not linked to this 'App', what was it for?
Response by Councillor Alibor Choudhury, Cabinet Member for Resources
The Council has developed the App for smartphones to promote the borough. It is designed to help promote the borough’s attractions which will benefit from the increased exposure the Olympics has brought to Tower Hamlets and East London in general.
Captive Minds is a Tower Hamlets based business who built the App and generated some of the content at a cost of £54,000. The App has been accessed 7,000 times since launch in July 2012 and will continue to be used as a tool for our promotion of the Borough and the visitor opportunities.
Summary of Supplementary Question from Councillor David Snowdon
When I was provided with this information in a Members’ Enquiry I was told that I could not reveal it. Why is the Cabinet Member allowed to reveal this information tonight?
Summary of Councillor Alibor Choudhury’s Response to the Supplementary Question
Officers will be able to respond to that question outside of the meeting however I note Councillor Snowdon’s continued desire to keep the people in the borough in the dark. New technology can be used to take the borough forwards.
8.3 Question from Councillor Carlo Gibbs on the medium term budget outlook
How does the Mayor plan to fill the budget deficit in the medium term financial plan, with tax rises or service cuts? When will he outline these plans?
Response by Councillor Alibor Choudhury, Cabinet Member for Resources
As you rightly identify, the onslaught of budget reductions from the Coalition government is continuing.
Whilst the budget we all agreed in February provides us with a balanced budget for both this year and next.
We are concerned that the strange profile of government cuts, does leave us with savings to be found after that date.
We have already started to plan for how we will steadily resolve this budget reduction over the next few years and this will be developed through the usual budget process, which I am sure we can all agree, worked so effectively last year.
I would like to reassure residents and Councillors that any measures put in place will still be in line with our existing principles to protect frontline services, low paid staff and vulnerable residents.
Summary of Supplementary Question from Councillor Carlo Gibbs
The Council has a duty to balance the budget and on current projections could have a potential black hole of up to £100 million. Is the Mayor’s pledge not to cut front line services still deliverable?
Summary of Councillor Alibor Choudhury’s Response to the Supplementary Question
The Mayor is still aiming to meet this pledge.
8.4 Question from Councillor Fozol Miah on the withdrawal of London Metropolitan University’s licence
The questioner was not in attendance so this question was not put. A written answer would be provided after the meeting.
8.5 Question from Councillor Sirajul Islam on work undertaken to bring properties up to Decent Homes standards
What was the average cost per home for the Decent Homes work undertaken in the borough each year between 2008 and 2012?
Response by Councillor Rabina Khan, Cabinet Member for Housing
The Decent Homes Pilot programme commenced in 2009-10 (not 2008) followed by the Decent Homes Backlog Programme which began in 2011-12.
Under the pilot scheme the Council was provided with £7.3 million in funding which was a very small amount for the work that was needed. That is a small figure to cover a marginal number of homes. Only 504 homes had work done, of which 349 were made decent. This gave an average of £13,300 per home.
In 2010 £94.5 million was provided which covered 8,400 homes although the gap in funding had to be made up by the Council through other schemes. The large contract entered into by the Council gave the best value for money at an average spend of £9,785.
Summary of Supplementary Question from Councillor Sirajul Islam
I am concerned about the balance between quantity and quality of work as a number of my residents have complained about the quality of the work. Does the Cabinet Member have any comment on that issue? Also, can you confirm that the Decent Homes work is still going to plan?
Summary of Councillor Rabina Khan’s response to the Supplementary Question
I am concerned that you have waited until full Council to raise concerns about the building work. If any resident or Councillor has any concerns they should contact me straight away and I will look into it. The Contractors must deliver the work and we will monitor that.
8.6 Question from Councillor Craig Aston regarding Barbican College who were occupying the old Poplar Town Hall
At the last Council Meeting a question was asked regarding the current occupiers of the old Poplar Town Hall, 117 Poplar High Street. The response was that the building was unoccupied. Will the Mayor explain his relationship to the so called Barbican College who were and are occupiers of the old Poplar Town Hall?
Response by Councillor Alibor Choudhury, Cabinet Member for Resources
At the time of the last meeting the Mayor was not aware that the building was occupied. However, we are now aware that it is occupied by Barbican College and that they have outstanding issues that officers are attempting to resolve.
Summary of Supplementary Question from Councillor Craig Aston
Information from Companies House suggests that Barbican College registered address and staff names are similar to those of Channel S. Can the Mayor confirm if he has any relationship to Barbican College?
Summary of Councillor Alibor Choudhury’s Response to the Supplementary Question
The Mayor has no relationship, and has never had any relationship, with Barbican College.
8.7 Question from Councillor Amy Whitelock about action being taken to tackle child sexual exploitation
Can the Mayor/lead member advise on what action the council is taking to tackle child sexual exploitation in the borough? What systems are in place to monitor the number of young people at risk of sexual exploitation, and what support is available to children who suffer this horrific abuse?
Response by Councillor Oliur Rahman, Cabinet Member for Children’s Services
I take this issue very seriously as do all Members and officers.
Local action to tackle child sexual exploitation in Tower Hamlets includes:
· Raising awareness of child sexual exploitation; seminars and workshops are regularly held with parents; carers and faith and community leaders.
· LSCB Multi-Agency Training is provided on Sexual Exploitation and Trafficking.
· Sexual Exploitation Multi-Agency Practitioner’s Forum – lead by Children’s Social Care and coordinates intelligence sharing and multi-agency case response.
· The NSPCC Street Matters Service works with over 250 girls who are victims of or at risk of child sexual exploitation identified through individual, group, school-based work in Tower Hamlets and across London.
· Options Sexual Health Service is a lead agency in early identification of victims
· Children’s Social Care provides a Lead Officer for Child Sexual Exploitation to centralise local knowledge, act as a consultant on child protection cases where abuse is suspected and chairs child protection case conferences.
· The Integrated Pathways & Support Team has a designated social worker for sexual exploitation.
· Independent Reviewing Officer – designated IRO with specialist knowledge to review looked after children plans where sexual exploitation risk and indicators is a feature.
· Social Care Outreach Team has substantial local expertise on working with CSE and has been further strengthened to facilitate rehabilitation of young people back to their families and communities.
I pay tribute to the work our officers do to tackle this issue and the successful Ofsted report reflects that could work.
Summary of Supplementary Question from Councillor Amy Whitelock
I also congratulate officers on their Ofsted report. Will the Council commit to Barnardo’s ‘Cut them free’ campaign? Also, when will a Service Head of Children’s Social Care be appointed?
Summary of Councillor Oliur Rahman’s Response to the Supplementary Question
We will support any initiatives in this field. In respect of the Head of Service post, the Council will have to go through the usual process to appoint a Service Head.
8.8 Question from Councillor Harun Miah regarding the interview process for Work Capability Assessments
Would the Mayor agree with me that the current process of interviewing for the Work Capability Assessment (WCA) by employees of ATOS places those suffering mental health conditions at a very substantial disadvantage and that this is adversely affecting a significant number of Tower Hamlets residents and would he agree to write to the relevant ministers urgently to ask them to instruct or legislate to require independent medical evidence to be sought at an early stage in the WCA process?
Response by Councillor Abdul Asad, Cabinet Member for Health & Wellbeing
The Mayor shares your concern and is willing to write a letter expressing this to the Minister for Disabled People but he does not have any confidence that she will listen.
It is clear that the Work Capability Assessments are not working. The Mayor has previously highlighted the Trades Union Congress’s national campaign on this issue and he is supporting it. He encourages residents to do the same.
(No supplementary question was put)
8.9 Question from Councillor Ann Jackson about One Housing Group
The questioner was not in attendance so this question was not put. A written response would be provided after the meeting.
8.10 Question from Councillor Peter Golds about the Armed Forces event on Sunday 12th August
Would the Mayor provide details to the Council of the dates and times of the invitations that were sent out regarding the thanks to the Armed Forces event on Sunday 12th August?
Response by Councillor Rania Khan, Cabinet Member for Culture
All Members already have the information requested.
The Communications team sent out the invitations to all members by way of an email, which had a date and time stamp.
Summary of Supplementary Question from Councillor Peter Golds
Why did the Mayor use council facilities (his blog) to launch a smear attack on other Members of the Council which demeans us and his office?
Summary of Councillor Rania Khan’s Response to the Supplementary Question
I am sorry that you were not able to attend. Local residents were informed of the event on the Saturday and turned up in numbers as did public sector workers. We are grateful for their attendance.
8.11 Question from Councillor Khales Uddin Ahmed on the reduction in flower beds
How many flower beds in the borough have been grassed over due to budget cuts and how much is this estimated to have saved?
Response by Councillor Shahed Ali, Cabinet Member for Environment
In the course of this year 8 flower beds have been grassed over out of a total of 79.
Should this remain the case it would result in a total budget saving of £13,613.
(No supplementary question was put)
Time limit for item
At this point the Speaker informed the meeting that the time allocated for Members’ Questions had expired.
Questions 8.12 to 8.21 were therefore not put at the meeting due to lack of time. Written responses would be provided to these questions after the meeting. [Note: the written responses subsequently provided are appended to these minutes as Appendix ‘A’.]
Supporting documents: