Apologies for absence were received on behalf of:

·         Councillor Rania Khan, Cabinet Member for Culture

·         Councillor Oliur Rahman, Cabinet Member for Children’s Services

None were declared.

The unrestricted minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on 9 October 2013 are presented for information.

Subject to a request to include an ‘Any Other Business’ item from the meeting, the unrestricted minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on 9 October 2013 were noted.

To receive any petitions.

Nil items.

Councillor Motin Uz-Zaman, Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee (OSC), provided an update on the discussions that had taken place at their last meeting.

In particular he:

·         Thanked Councillors Alibor Choudhury and Peter Golds for their presentations in relation to the Call-In of the Community Event Fund (Round 3) Individual Mayor’s Executive Decision. He reported that after a discussion it had been decided to refer back the decision due to concerns about its consistency and clarity of the awards. He also reported that the Committee felt more clarity was needed on criteria for future rounds.

·         Thanked Councillor Rabina Khan for presenting the key challenges to delivering sufficient affordable housing during her spotlight session. Members were pleased with the progress although there were slight concerns around access to information for residents without internet access and allocation of officer responsibility for engaging with residents.

·         The Committee had received a report on the Watts Grove project as requested by Council. Members felt that the restrictions placed on some papers had impacted on their ability to scrutinise them.

·         Requested that the Overview and Scrutiny Committee  be filmed in the same way as Cabinet.

·         Again requested that the Mayor accept an invitation to attend Overview and Scrutiny.

The Mayor thanked Councillor Motin Uz-Zaman for his update presentation.

The Clerk advised that no requests had been received to ‘call-in’ for further consideration, by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, any provisional decisions taken by the Mayor in Cabinet at the meeting held on 9 October 2013.

DECISION

1. To note the total grant of £1,950,000. from the GLA towards the development of 65 Council homes for rent at the Bradwell Street and Ashington House East sites under the Building the Pipeline Supply programme

2. To agree the resulting contribution from the Council of £1,991,000 for the development of the Bradwell Garage site

3. To adopt a total capital estimate of £2,451,000 in order to deliver the Bradwell Street scheme. This represents the total scheme costs of £2,351,000 plus a suggested contingency of £100,000 (paragraph 1.8).

4. To authorise the Director, Development & Renewal to take the necessary actions to deliver the scheme within the timescale of the funding programme including negotiating with Network Rail for the acquisition of amenity land for the Bradwell Street project and dealing with the settlement of any existing rights on both projects

5. To authorise officers to proceed with the procurement of the required professional and technical services and works contracts and utilising suitable procurement frameworks available to the public sector.

6. To agree to set aside £200,000 of funding from within available existing HRA Overcrowding Initiatives / Affordable Housing budgets in order to complete the preliminary design, site assembly and survey costs on the Ashington House East project pending a future report to Cabinet.

7. To authorise the Director, Development & Renewal in consultation with Legal Services to agree the terms of

i)             the GLA Funding Agreement

ii)            the contracts for the required professional and technical services for both schemes

iii)           the works contracts for both schemes, (subject to funding being agreed for Ashington House East scheme )

iv)           the land transactions with Network Rail

v)            the settlement of any existing rights over land to be used for the schemes

8. To authorise the execution of the documents referred to at paragraph 7 above on behalf of the Council

Action by:

CORPORATE DIRECTOR, DEVELOPMENT AND RENEWAL (A. DALVI)

(Strategic Housing Manager (J. Coker)

(Strategic Housing Manager (G. Le Tissier)

Councillor Rabina Khan, Cabinet Member for Housing, introduced the report. She explained how the Council had been able to secure the funding from the Greater London Authority (GLA) and highlighted the hard work from officers in achieving this result.

The Mayor highlighted that the Council had now delivered 3300 new homes and that it clearly demonstrated its commitment to helping families in overcrowded households. He agreed the recommendations as set out in the report.

RESOLVED

1. To note the total grant of £1,950,000. from the GLA towards the development of 65 Council homes for rent at the Bradwell Street and Ashington House East sites under the Building the Pipeline Supply programme

2. To agree the resulting contribution from the Council of £1,991,000 for the development of the Bradwell Garage site

3. To adopt a total capital estimate of £2,451,000 in order to deliver the Bradwell Street scheme. This represents the total scheme costs of £2,351,000 plus a suggested contingency of £100,000 (paragraph 1.8).

4. To authorise the Director, Development & Renewal to take the necessary actions to deliver the scheme within the timescale of the funding programme including negotiating with Network Rail for the acquisition of amenity land for the Bradwell Street project and dealing with the settlement of any existing rights on both projects

5. To authorise officers to proceed with the procurement of the required professional and technical services and works contracts and utilising suitable procurement frameworks available to the public sector.

6. To agree to set aside £200,000 of funding from within available existing HRA Overcrowding Initiatives / Affordable Housing budgets in order to complete the preliminary design, site assembly and survey costs on the Ashington House East project pending a future report to Cabinet.

7. To authorise the Director, Development & Renewal in consultation with Legal Services to agree the terms of

i)             the GLA Funding Agreement

ii)            the contracts for the required professional and technical services for both schemes

iii)           the works contracts for both schemes, (subject to funding being agreed for Ashington House East scheme )

iv)           the land transactions with Network Rail

v)            the settlement of any existing rights over land to be used for the schemes

8. To authorise the execution of the documents referred to at paragraph 7 above on behalf of the Council

DECISION

1. To approve the Fuel Poverty Strategy and Action Plan as attached in Appendix 1

Action by:

CORPORATE DIRECTOR, DEVELOPMENT AND RENEWAL (A. DALVI)

(Sustainable Development Manager (A. Khan)

Councillor Rabina Khan, Cabinet Member for Housing, introduced the report. She highlighted that fuel poverty had been a long-standing concern of the Mayor. She also reported that over 3500 had signed up to the fuel switch campaign which was now to be launched London wide.

The Mayor welcomed the report and agreed the recommendations as set out.

RESOLVED

1. To approve the Fuel Poverty Strategy and Action Plan as attached in Appendix 1

DECISION

1. To agree to proceed with public consultation with regard to the addition of War Memorials to the Local List as set out in Appendix  1.

2. To agree to proceed with public consultation on the removal of selected existing entries on the local list as set out in Appendix 2.

3. To authorise the Corporate Director of Development and Renewal, after consultation with the Lead Member for Housing, Development and Renewal, to make the necessary and appropriate minor amendments to the draft lists, prior to public consultation.

Action by:

CORPORATE DIRECTOR DEVELOPMENT AND RENEWAL (A. DALVI)

(Borough Conservation Officer (A. Hargreaves)

Councillor Rabina Khan, Cabinet Member for Housing, introduced the report. In particular she highlighted that the forthcoming 100^th anniversary of the First World War was an appropriate time to look at adding war memorials to the revised local list.

The Mayor welcomed the proposal as an appropriate way to remember those who had given so much and he agreed the recommendations as set out in the report.

RESOLVED

1. To agree to proceed with public consultation with regard to the addition of War Memorials to the Local List as set out in Appendix  1.

2. To agree to proceed with public consultation on the removal of selected existing entries on the local list as set out in Appendix 2.

3. To authorise the Corporate Director of Development and Renewal, after consultation with the Lead Member for Housing, Development and Renewal, to make the necessary and appropriate minor amendments to the draft lists, prior to public consultation.

DECISION

1. To approve the Bartlett Park Landscape Improvement Plan derived from the public consultation process.
   
   
2. To adopt a capital estimate of £3.71m for Phase 1 works.

Action by:

CORPORATE DIRECTOR, COMMUNITIES, LOCALITIES AND CULTURE (S. HALSEY)

(Senior Strategy, Policy and Performance Officer (E. Wildish)

Shazia Hussain, Service Head, Culture, Learning and Leisure, introduced the report. She highlighted the way the improvement plans would provide high quality open space to cater for an increasing range of needs from the local community.

Following discussion during which Members expressed support for the proposals, the Mayor welcomed the report and its demonstration of a commitment to the whole Borough and he agreed the recommendations set out in the report.

RESOLVED

1. To approve the Bartlett Park Landscape Improvement Plan derived from the public consultation process.
   
   
2. To adopt a capital estimate of £3.71m for Phase 1 works.

DECISION

1. To note the contents of this report;

2. To authorise the Corporate Director Education, Social Care and Wellbeing to agree revised Governors’ Agreements with the 24 schools in the Grouped Schools PFI Contract and with Mulberry School to reflect the current position regarding the contributions made by the schools to the costs of those contracts;

3. To authorise the Head of Legal Services (Environment) to execute all necessary documents to implement paragraph 2 above.

Action by:

CORPORATE DIRECTOR, EDUCATION, SOCIAL CARE AND WELLBEING (R. McCULLOCH-GRAHAM)

(Head of Building Development (P. Watson)

Robert McCulloch-Graham, Corporate Director, Education, Social Care and Wellbeing, introduced the report. Stating that the PFI projects were progressing satisfactorily.

The Mayor welcomed the report as demonstrating the Council’s commitment to the Borough’s children and agreed the recommendations as set out in the report.

RESOLVED

1. To note the contents of this report;

2. To authorise the Corporate Director Education, Social Care and Wellbeing to agree revised Governors’ Agreements with the 24 schools in the Grouped Schools PFI Contract and with Mulberry School to reflect the current position regarding the contributions made by the schools to the costs of those contracts;

3. To authorise the Head of Legal Services (Environment) to execute all necessary documents to implement paragraph 2 above.

Nil items.

DECISION

1.    To approve the Tower Hamlets Food Law Enforcement Plan 2013/2014 and Food Sampling Policy attached at the Appendix of the report.

Action by:

CORPORATE DIRECTOR COMMUNITIES, LOCALITIES AND CULTURE (S. HALSEY)

(Service Head, Community Safety (A. Bamber)

(Head of Consumer and Business Regulations (D. Tolley)

Andy Bamber, Service Head Community Service, introduced the report. He highlighted that 100% of Band A sites and 99% of Band B sites had been inspected and that as well as undertaking inspections, officers were involved in offering training, running an award scheme and other work.

The Mayor welcomed the report and agreed the recommendation as set out.

RESOLVED

1.    To approve the Tower Hamlets Food Law Enforcement Plan 2013/2014 and Food Sampling Policy attached at the Appendix of the report.

DECISION

1. To agree to offer new 12 month, spot contractual arrangements from 1^st April 2014 to 31^st March 2015, with three current day service providers for older people which are currently block contracted.  These providers are:

All provide borough wide services to older residents who meet FACS[1] eligibility criteria.

2. To agree that extensive consultation with current day service users and other stakeholders, and outcomes from the review and vision of The Care Bill should inform the model for a potential service redesign.

3.    To agree a further paper to Cabinet in September 2014 with recommendations to be discussed and permission sought to go to the Market with clear outcomes for future Older Peoples Day Opportunities.

Action by:

CORPORATE DIRECTOR, EDUCATION, SOCIAL CARE AND WELLBEING (R. McCULLOCH-GRAHAM)

(Service Manager, Strategic Commissioning (B. Disney)

Councillor Abdul Asad, Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing, introduced the report. He highlighted that it was important that the Mayor was kept updated about the pricing on the contracts on a regular basis.

The Mayor agreed that pricing, in particular spot pricing was an area that he wanted to keep updated with and officers promised to monitor them on a monthly basis. The Mayor agreed the recommendations as set out in the report.

RESOLVED

1. To agree to offer new 12 month, spot contractual arrangements from 1^st April 2014 to 31^st March 2015, with three current day service providers for older people which are currently block contracted.  These providers are:

All provide borough wide services to older residents who meet FACS[1] eligibility criteria.

2. To agree that extensive consultation with current day service users and other stakeholders, and outcomes from the review and vision of The Care Bill should inform the model for a potential service redesign.

3.    To agree a further paper to Cabinet in September 2014 with recommendations to be discussed and permission sought to go to the Market with clear outcomes for future Older Peoples Day Opportunities.

DECISION

1. To note that further work will be required to determine the optimum configuration for mental health day opportunities and support services following the adoption of the Health and Wellbeing Board Mental Health Strategy;

2. To agree that new short-term contracts be let to existing providers of mental health day opportunities and support services, for the period from current contract expiry to 31 March 2015, in order to ensure continuity of support for mental health service users.

Action by:

CORPORATE DIRECTOR, EDUCATION, SOCIAL CARE AND WELLEBEING (R. McCULLOCH-GRAHAM)

(Service Head Commissioning and Health (D. Cohen)

Councillor Abdul Asad, Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing, introduced the report. He confirmed that the report had been through a number of discussion stages.

The Mayor agreed the recommendations as set out in the report.

RESOLVED

1. To note that further work will be required to determine the optimum configuration for mental health day opportunities and support services following the adoption of the Health and Wellbeing Board Mental Health Strategy;

2. To agree that new short-term contracts be let to existing providers of mental health day opportunities and support services, for the period from current contract expiry to 31 March 2015, in order to ensure continuity of support for mental health service users.

DECISION

1.    To agree the Young Peoples Supported Accommodation Commissioning Plan for 2013 – 2016 and the specific 11 recommendations listed below which set out the future design of the young people’s sector:

•       Review the eligibility criteria of young peoples supported accommodation services to better target complex need and align the service with other key services; reducing the access threshold from 23 to 20 years of age.

•       Commission an assessment facility and a “crash pad” type facility through the reconfiguration of existing services.

•       Reconfigure services to enable a balance of high, medium and low support services that offers young people opportunities to move between high and low support as their needs change.

•       Establish an Inclusion Panel to reduce evictions and youth homelessness.

•       Increase the amount of high support provision to meet the needs of those with complex support needs.

•       Work with Providers to develop the interface with specialist services. So improving outcomes for service users.

•       Re-configure or replace the existing Drapers City Foyer service to provide 2 smaller units of high support accommodation based services: the timescale being a 3 year period.

•       Re-commission the teenage parents service.

•       Maintain access to a move on quota, improve throughput and access.

•       Commission personalised services.

•       Improve Service User Outcomes.

2.    To agree to maintain the annual revenue budget of £1.7m for these services over the  next year three year period.

3.    To agree that procurement can commence under the Supporting People Framework Agreement.

Action by:

CORPORATE DIRECTOR, EDUCATION, SOCIAL CARE AND WELLEBEING (R. McCULLOCH-GRAHAM)

(Commissioning Manager (C. Kilpatrick)

(Commissioning Manager (S. Graden)

Councillor Abdul Asad, Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing, introduced the report.

Following questions, officers confirmed that any review of the services would take into account actual needs and changing entitlement rules to ensure there was no overall impact.

Following discussion where Members highlighted the importance of culturally sensitive service provision, the Mayor agreed the recommendations in the report.

RESOLVED

1.    To agree the Young Peoples Supported Accommodation Commissioning Plan for 2013 – 2016 and the specific 11 recommendations listed below which set out the future design of the young people’s sector:

•       Review the eligibility criteria of young peoples supported accommodation services to better target complex need and align the service with other key services; reducing the access threshold from 23 to 20 years of age.

•       Commission an assessment facility and a “crash pad” type facility through the reconfiguration of existing services.

•       Reconfigure services to enable a balance of high, medium and low support services that offers young people opportunities to move between high and low support as their needs change.

•       Establish an Inclusion Panel to reduce evictions and youth homelessness.

•       Increase the amount of high support provision to meet the needs of those with complex support needs.

•       Work with Providers to develop the interface with specialist services. So improving outcomes for service users.

•       Re-configure or replace the existing Drapers City Foyer service to provide 2 smaller units of high support accommodation based services: the timescale being a 3 year period.

•       Re-commission the teenage parents service.

•       Maintain access to a move on quota, improve throughput and access.

•       Commission personalised services.

•       Improve Service User Outcomes.

2.    To agree to maintain the annual revenue budget of £1.7m for these services over the  next year three year period.

3.    To agree that procurement can commence under the Supporting People Framework Agreement.

DECISION

1.    To agree the proposed Council Tax Replacement scheme for 2014/15 for consideration by full council.

2.    To note feedback on the public consultation on the proposed scheme for 2014/15.

3.    To refer the scheme to full Council for agreement.

Action by:

ACTING CORPORATE DIRECTOR RESOURCES (C. HOLME)

(Head of Benefit Services (S. Hill)

Councillor Alibor Choudhury, Cabinet Member for Resources, introduced the report. He expressed support for the proposal to absorb the cost of the Government’s cut to its funding of the scheme saying that it was important to protect the poor and vulnerable from this cut.

Following a discussion where Members welcomed the proposals and suggested that other Boroughs be actively encouraged to adopt the same, the Mayor welcomed the report and the commitment shown to protecting the vulnerable and agreed the recommendations as set out in the report.

RESOLVED

1.    To agree the proposed Council Tax Replacement scheme for 2014/15 for consideration by full council.

2.    To note feedback on the public consultation on the proposed scheme for 2014/15.

3.    To refer the scheme to full Council for agreement.

Nil items.

DECISION

1.    To note the exercise of Corporate Directors’ discretions as set out in Appendix 1.

Action by:

CORPORATE DIRECTOR RESOURCES

(Chief Financial Strategy Officer (O. Shonola)

(Finance Officer (L. Stone)

Councillor Alibor Choudhury, Cabinet Member for Resources, introduced the report and the Mayor agreed the recommendation as set out.

RESOLVED

1.    To note the exercise of Corporate Directors’ discretions as set out in Appendix 1.

No motion to exclude the press and public was passed.

No motion to exclude the press and public was passed.

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