Apologies for absence were received on behalf of:

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

·         Stephen Halsey, Head of Paid Service and Corporate Director, Communities, Localities and Culture

Action by:

SERVICE HEAD, DEMOCRATIC SERVICES (J. WILLIAMS)

(Committee Services Manager (M. Mannion)

Apologies for absence were received on behalf of:

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

·         Councillor Motin Uz-Zaman, Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

·         Stephen Halsey, Head of Paid Service and Corporate Director, Communities, Localities and Culture.

None were declared.

None were declared.

The unrestricted minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on 11 September 2013 are presented for information.

The unrestricted minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on 11 September 2013 were presented for information.

The unrestricted minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on 11 September 2013 were presented for information.

To receive any petitions.

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No petitions were received.

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Councillor Amy Whitelock Gibbs, Scrutiny Lead for Children, Schools and Families, tabled an update report on behalf of the Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee (OSC) reporting on the discussions that had taken place at their last meeting.

In particular she:

·         Thanked Councillor Abdul Asad, Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing, for attending the Scrutiny Spotlight session on the key challenges facing the Education, Social Care and Wellbeing directorate, which had resulted in a valuable discussion and identified areas for OSC to monitor in the future.

·         Highlighted OSC’s concerns that the Health and Wellbeing Board had not yet been formally established.

·         Reported that OSC had received a report on Early Years provision that demonstrated problems with the government’s pledge to provide 15 hours learning for all eligible two year olds.

·         Explained that the Committee had had a detailed discussion on the efforts of the Electoral Registration Service to mitigate against fraudulent activity and to ensure a higher return of registration forms.

The Mayor thanked Councillor Amy Whitelock Gibbs for her presentation and for the work of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

Nil items.

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 11 September 2013.

DECISION

1.            Subject to the amendment tabled, to approve the Tower Hamlets Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) Revised Draft Charging Schedule (Appendix 1 of this report) for a 6 week public consultation.

2.            To note the Summary of Consultation Responses October 2013 Report attached at Appendix 2.

3.            To note the Infrastructure Planning and Funding Gap Report attached at Appendix 3, as amended. This document explains the infrastructure planning criteria Tower Hamlets must meet in order to implement a CIL Charging Schedule.

4.            To note BNP Paribas Real Estate’s Viability Study that forms part of the supporting evidence for the Draft Charging Schedule.

5.            To authorise the Corporate Director of Development and Renewal to make any minor modifications to the Revised Draft Charging Schedule following the public consultation and to submit the Revised Draft Charging Schedule, the representations made and evidence base together with any proposed modifications to the Planning Inspectorate for public examination.

Action by:

CORPORATE DIRECTOR DEVELOPMENT AND RENEWAL (A. DALVI)

(Service Head, Planning and Building Control (O. Whalley)

Councillor Rabina Khan, Cabinet Member for Housing, introduced the report. She highlighted the opportunity this provided to ensure developers helped to improve the facilities available in the borough and she also reported on the results of the consultation exercise that had taken place.

Two updates to the report were tabled at the meeting as follows:

Amendment 1: Inclusion of explicit definition of convenience retail.

The following definition is proposed to be included in the Revised Draft

Charging Schedule (page 2 - s5.3):

Superstores/supermarkets are defined as shopping destinations in their

own right where weekly food shopping needs are met and which can

also include non-food floorspace as part of the overall mix of the unit.

Retail warehousing is defined as shopping destinations specialising in

the sale of household goods (such as carpets, furniture and electrical

goods), DIY items and other ranges of goods, catering for a significant

proportion of car-borne customers.

Amendment 2: Amend the Infrastructure Planning and Funding Gap Report

to clarify the impact of Wood Wharf in a CIL context.

The following clarification is proposed to be included in the

Infrastructure Planning and Funding Gap Report (Page 10 - s2.11 and

2.12, Pages 17 and 19 - Appendices B and C):

The projected CIL receipt for Wood Wharf of £56,738,487 would increase

the CIL projections figure from £148,277,130 to £205,015,617 and reduce

the funding gap from £228,950,000 to £172,211,513.

Following discussion around how the Council would work to ensure maximum benefits were realised and how the charging rates were calculated, the Mayor welcomed the report and the benefits it could bring to the community and agreed the amendments and the recommendations set out in the report.

RESOLVED

1.            Subject to the amendment tabled, to approve the Tower Hamlets Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) Revised Draft Charging Schedule (Appendix 1 of this report) for a 6 week public consultation.

2.            To note the Summary of Consultation Responses October 2013 Report attached at Appendix 2.

3.            To note the Infrastructure Planning and Funding Gap Report attached at Appendix 3, as amended. This document explains the infrastructure planning criteria Tower Hamlets must meet in order to implement a CIL Charging Schedule.

4.            To note BNP Paribas Real Estate’s Viability Study that forms part of the supporting evidence for the Draft Charging Schedule.

5.            To authorise the Corporate Director of Development and Renewal to make any minor modifications to the Revised Draft Charging Schedule following the public consultation and to submit the Revised Draft Charging Schedule, the representations made and evidence base together with any proposed modifications to the Planning Inspectorate for public examination.

DECISION

1.    To note the review report.

Action by:

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

(Service Head, Corporate Strategy and Equality (L. Russell)

Senior Strategy Policy and Performance Officer (S. Barr)

Councillor Amy Whitelock Gibbs, Scrutiny Lead for Children, Schools and Families, introduced the report. She summarised the work of the task group in looking at how to improve post-16 attainment. She thanked all those who had given up their time to support the investigation.

The two main trends highlighted were around some students not matching good GCSE grades at A level and also a problem with a narrow range of higher education choices and ensuring students were presented with a full range of options. It was noted that there were a whole set of complex reasons for the issues highlighted and that this was reflected in the  recommendations and action plan set out at the end of the report.

After discussion of the report the Mayor highlighted the importance he placed on education and investing in children’s attainment, for example through the education maintenance allowance. He welcomed the report and agreed to examine the recommendations. He then noted the report.

RESOLVED

1.    To note the review report.

Nil items.

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DECISION

1.    To note the content of the Safeguarding Children Board Annual Report and be advised of the appointment of the new Independent LSCB Chair by the Head of Paid Service.

Action by:

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

(Senior Strategy, Policy and Performance Officer (Safeguarding Children Board Business Lead) (M. Bakht)

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

RESOLVED

1.    To note the content of the Safeguarding Children Board Annual Report and be advised of the appointment of the new Independent LSCB Chair by the Head of Paid Service.

DECISION

1.    To approve the publication of the Safeguarding Adults Board Annual Report.

Action by:

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

(Safeguarding Adults and MCA Co-Ordinator (M. Gomes)

Councillor Abdul Asad, Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing, introduced the report. He commended the good work being undertaken in safeguarding both children and adults and highlighted that both reports had been submitted to the Shadow Health and Wellbeing Board for approval.

The Mayor thanked all those involved in the work and agreed the recommendation as set out in the report.

RESOLVED

1.    To approve the publication of the Safeguarding Adults Board Annual Report.

To consider and comment on the draft Medium Term Financial Plan set out in paragraph 6 and Appendix 1 of the report, in the context of the Spending Review 2013.

To consider the financial outlook and medium term projections set out in this report and agree that, on this basis, no immediate action is required to develop additional savings for 2014/2015.

To note that the financial position is subject to many unknowns and that officers will monitor the financial position closely and report to the Corporate Management Team and the Mayors Advisory Board for Strategic and Resource Planning during the financial year on developments in Government policy and their implication on the medium term financial plan.

To agree that officers, after consultation with the Mayor and Lead Member for Resources continue to develop further spending reduction options for the 2015/2016 financial year and the medium term.

Action by:

ACTING CORPORATE DIRECTOR RESOURCES (C. HOLME)

(Interim Service Head for Finance and HR Development (P. Thorogood)

Councillor Alibor Choudhury, Cabinet Member for Resources, introduced the report. He highlighted the sound financial planning that was in place to try and weather the storm of the government’s cuts to the Council’s budget whilst still trying to meet the diverse needs of the borough.

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

RESOLVED

1.    To consider and comment on the draft Medium Term Financial Plan set out in paragraph 6 and Appendix 1 of the report, in the context of the Spending Review 2013.

2.    To consider the financial outlook and medium term projections set out in this report and agree that, on this basis, no immediate action is required to develop additional savings for 2014/2015.

3.    To note that the financial position is subject to many unknowns and that officers will monitor the financial position closely and report to the Corporate Management Team and the Mayors Advisory Board for Strategic and Resource Planning during the financial year on developments in Government policy and their implication on the medium term financial plan.

4.    To agree that officers, after consultation with the Mayor and Lead Member for Resources continue to develop further spending reduction options for the 2015/2016 financial year and the medium term.

DECISION

1.            To approve that all the contracts set out in Appendix 1 can go to tender.

2.            That the Corporate Director for the service has delegated power to award the contracts subject to consultation with the Mayor and the relevant lead member and a Head of Legal Services.

3.            To authorise a Head of Legal Services to execute all necessary contract documents in respect of the awards of contracts referred to at recommendation 1 above.

Action by:

ACTING CORPORATE DIRECTOR RESOURCES (C. HOLME)

(Senior Procurement Manager (Z. Ahmed)

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

RESOLVED

1.            To approve that all the contracts set out in Appendix 1 can go to tender.

2.            That the Corporate Director for the service has delegated power to award the contracts subject to consultation with the Mayor and the relevant lead member and a Head of Legal Services.

3.            To authorise a Head of Legal Services to execute all necessary contract documents in respect of the awards of contracts referred to at recommendation 1 above.

Nil items.

DECISION

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

Action by:

ACTING CORPORATE DIRECTOR RESOURCES

(Chief Financial Strategy Officer (O. Shonola)

(Finance Officer (L. Stone)

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

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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