Apologies for absence were received on behalf of:

·         Councillor Ohid Ahmed

·         Councillor Aminur Khan

·         Robert McCulloch-Graham (Corporate Director, Education, Social Care and Wellbeing)

None were declared.

The unrestricted minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on 2 April 2014 are presented for information.

The unrestricted minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on 2 April were noted.

To receive any petitions.

Nil items.

Pre-Scrutiny Questions in respect of Items 7.1 (Discretionary Wards 2014/15) and 7.2 (Education, Social Care and Wellbeing Capital Programme 2014/15) were tabled by Councillor Joshua Peck, Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee (OSC). The questions were addressed during discussion of the relevant items.

In addition Councillor Joshua Peck addressed Cabinet to provide an update on the Overview and Scrutiny Committee’s meeting the previous evening. He emphasised the desire of the Committee to work together with the Administration to improve the work of the Council. In particular he encouraged the Administration to see OSC as a useful resource for supporting policy development.

Finally, he stated that OSC were considering a report on the sale of Poplar Old Town Hall.

Nil items.

Nil items.

DECISION

1.            To agree that the Council takes up the power to make discretionary awards in respect of specified groups of students over compulsory school age in 2014/2015.

2.            To approve the policy in Appendix 1 for the provision by the Council of school clothing grants in 2014/2015 within the budget specified in paragraph 5.2 of the report.

3.            To approve the policy in Appendix 2 for the provision of the Budget Holding Lead Professional Scheme for Attendance Support in 2014/2015 within the budget specified in paragraph 5.2 of this report.

4.            To approve the policy in Appendix 3 for the provision by the Council of discretionary awards in support of education travel in 2014/2015 within the budget specified in paragraph 5.2 of the report.

5.            To approve the policy in Appendix 4 for the provision by the Council of the Mayor’s Education Award (MEA) in 2014/2015 if Cabinet wishes the scheme to continue having determined that funding is available to support applicants for the academic year 2014-15.

6.            To approve the policy in Appendix 5 for the provision of the Mayor’s Higher Education Award Scheme in 2014/2015 if Cabinet wishes the scheme to continue and has funds to support it.

Action by:

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

(Service Head, Learning and Achievement Early Years (A. Canning)

(Head of Secondary Learning and Achievement (D. Warne)

Councillor Gulam Robbani, Cabinet Member for Children’s Services, introduced the report. He highlighted that Tower Hamlets was in the top ten boroughs in terms of people moving on to Higher Education with 68% going to university and he congratulated all the students and those who supported them.

In response to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee’s Pre-Scrutiny Questions, officers reported that they had good cost control measures in place to prevent overspending including data on the number of young people who could apply for the grants. It was confirmed that awards could be refused if the budget had been spent.

During discussion Members welcomed the report. The Mayor welcomed the report as a demonstration of how young people could be supported and that deprivation should not be a barrier to achievement. He highlighted the important efforts of successive administrations over the last twenty years on tackling educational attainment. The Mayor agreed the recommendations as set out in the report.

RESOLVED

1.            To agree that the Council takes up the power to make discretionary awards in respect of specified groups of students over compulsory school age in 2014/2015.

2.            To approve the policy in Appendix 1 for the provision by the Council of school clothing grants in 2014/2015 within the budget specified in paragraph 5.2 of the report.

3.            To approve the policy in Appendix 2 for the provision of the Budget Holding Lead Professional Scheme for Attendance Support in 2014/2015 within the budget specified in paragraph 5.2 of this report.

4.            To approve the policy in Appendix 3 for the provision by the Council of discretionary awards in support of education travel in 2014/2015 within the budget specified in paragraph 5.2 of the report.

5.            To approve the policy in Appendix 4 for the provision by the Council of the Mayor’s Education Award (MEA) in 2014/2015 if Cabinet wishes the scheme to continue having determined that funding is available to support applicants for the academic year 2014-15.

6.            To approve the policy in Appendix 5 for the provision of the Mayor’s Higher Education Award Scheme in 2014/2015 if Cabinet wishes the scheme to continue and has funds to support it.

DECISION

1. To note the contents of this report and specifically the out-turn for the 2013/14 ESCW Capital Programme (detailed in Appendix A) and proposed allocation of the funding available in 2014/17 (as detailed in Appendix B) (paragraph 3.1);

2.    To approve the adoption of capital estimates for the 2014/15 capital condition and improvement programme schemes in schools and service premises as shown in Appendix C and authorise expenditure (paragraph 3.6);

3.    To approve the adoption of a capital estimate of £100,000 to provide items of equipment and assistive technology to support people with care needs in their own homes and authorise expenditure (paragraph 3.7);

4.    To approve the adoption of a capital contribution of £250,000 to supplement the Disabled Facilities Grant allocation (paragraph 3.8);

5.    To note the remaining projects within the Primary Capital Programme (PCP) schemes as shown in Appendix D (paragraph 3.10);

6.    To note the Primary School Expansion Programme as detailed in Appendix E (paragraph 3.12) ;

7.    To approve the adoption of a capital estimate of £4.5m for the provision of additional 6^th form accommodation at Stepney Green School (paragraph 3.17);

8.    To approve the adoption of a capital estimate of £290,000 for the works at Marner School to provide the satellite classes for Phoenix School (paragraph 3.21);

9.    To approve the adoption of a capital estimate of £750,000 to cover the costs of developing proposals to be considered for inclusion in the capital programme and authorise expenditure (paragraph 3.27);

10.To approve the adoption of a capital estimate of £200,000 for the costs of providing additional short term accommodation if required for additional pupils until major works have been carried out to provide permanent additional school places and authorise expenditure (paragraph 3.28);

11.To note progress with creating early education provision and further consultation with providers as shown in Appendix D (paragraph 3.30);.

12.To approve the adoption of a capital estimate of £100,000 in respect of Swanlea School (paragraph 3.32);

13.That the Corporate Director of ESCW, in respect of all proposed tenders referred in this report, is authorised to agree tenders for projects within the approved programmes and capital estimate;

14.That any scheme exceeding the approved budget, the Corporate Director of ESCW is authorised to prepare and carry out a Bill of Reductions where relevant to ensure expenditure is contained within the agreed costs

Action by:

CORPORATE DIRECTOR, EDUCATION, SOCIAL CARE AND WELLBEING

(Service Head Resources, ESCW (K. Bingham)

Anne Canning, Service Head, Learning and Achievement, introduced the report. She noted that the report contained detailed information on the proposed projects and that much of the work would take place during the summer school holidays. In response to the Pre-Scrutiny Questions from the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, she reported that there was a £200,000 contingency for bulge classes in the unlikely event that they would be required, that the budget for supporting people with care needs was not oversubscribed and that s106 funding was pooled but was usually spent where new housing was built.

The Mayor welcomed the report as a demonstration of the Council’s commitment to the Borough’s young people. He agreed the recommendations as set out in the report.

RESOLVED

1. To note the contents of this report and specifically the out-turn for the 2013/14 ESCW Capital Programme (detailed in Appendix A) and proposed allocation of the funding available in 2014/17 (as detailed in Appendix B) (paragraph 3.1);

2.    To approve the adoption of capital estimates for the 2014/15 capital condition and improvement programme schemes in schools and service premises as shown in Appendix C and authorise expenditure (paragraph 3.6);

3.    To approve the adoption of a capital estimate of £100,000 to provide items of equipment and assistive technology to support people with care needs in their own homes and authorise expenditure (paragraph 3.7);

4.    To approve the adoption of a capital contribution of £250,000 to supplement the Disabled Facilities Grant allocation (paragraph 3.8);

5.    To note the remaining projects within the Primary Capital Programme (PCP) schemes as shown in Appendix D (paragraph 3.10);

6.    To note the Primary School Expansion Programme as detailed in Appendix E (paragraph 3.12) ;

7.    To approve the adoption of a capital estimate of £4.5m for the provision of additional 6^th form accommodation at Stepney Green School (paragraph 3.17);

8.    To approve the adoption of a capital estimate of £290,000 for the works at Marner School to provide the satellite classes for Phoenix School (paragraph 3.21);

9.    To approve the adoption of a capital estimate of £750,000 to cover the costs of developing proposals to be considered for inclusion in the capital programme and authorise expenditure (paragraph 3.27);

10.To approve the adoption of a capital estimate of £200,000 for the costs of providing additional short term accommodation if required for additional pupils until major works have been carried out to provide permanent additional school places and authorise expenditure (paragraph 3.28);

11.To note progress with creating early education provision and further consultation with providers as shown in Appendix D (paragraph 3.30);.

12.To approve the adoption of a capital estimate of £100,000 in respect of Swanlea School (paragraph 3.32);

13.That the Corporate Director of ESCW, in respect of all proposed tenders referred in this report, is authorised to agree tenders for projects within the approved programmes and capital estimate;

14.That any scheme exceeding the approved budget, the Corporate Director of ESCW is authorised to prepare and carry out  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.2

Nil items.

DECISION

1. To approve the award of contract for the care provision in the four ECSH schemes to the successful bidder, whose bid represented the most economically advantageous tender based on price and quality.

2.    To authorise the Corporate Director of Education, Social Care and Wellbeing, after consultation with the Service Head - Legal Services, to finalise the terms and conditions of the contract for this service

3. To authorise the Service Head - Legal Services to execute all necessary contract documents to implement this decision.

4. To authorise a four month extension (see paragraph 1.2 in the report) of the current contract in order for mobilisation of the new contract (including TUPE issues where applicable) to be executed.

Action by:

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

(Service Head, Commissioning, Health Commissioning and Strategy (D. Cohen)

Councillor Abdul Asad, Cabinet Member for Adult Services, introduced the report. He reported that the schemes provided individual and communal facilities and they offered opportunities for local employment. He noted the exempt appendix later on the agenda.

In response to questions, officers explained that they regularly monitored how the providers were recruiting staff to ensure they were recruiting locally.

Members welcomed the report but asked officers to ensure any transition periods were handled carefully to ensure no disruption of service.

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

RESOLVED

1. To approve the award of contract for the care provision in the four ECSH schemes to the successful bidder, whose bid represented the most economically advantageous tender based on price and quality.

2.    To authorise the Corporate Director of Education, Social Care and Wellbeing, after consultation with the Service Head - Legal Services, to finalise the terms and conditions of the contract for this service

3. To authorise the Service Head - Legal Services to execute all necessary contract documents to implement this decision.

4. To authorise a four month extension (see paragraph 1.2 in the report) of the current contract in order for mobilisation of the new contract (including TUPE issues where applicable) to be executed.

Nil items.

Nil items.

DECISION

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

Action by:

CORPORATE DIRECTOR, RESOURCES (C. HOLME)

RESOLVED

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

DECISION

1. To note the report.

Action by:

SERVICE HEAD, DEMOCRATIC SERVICES (J.S. WILLIAMS)

RESOLVED

1. To note the report.

RESOLVED

That pursuant to regulation 21(1)(b) of the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Access to Information) (England) Regulations 2000, the press and public be excluded from the remainder of the meeting:

(a)  As it was likely, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted in Section Two of the agenda, that if members of the public were present during consideration of this business there would be disclosure of exempt information.

• Exempt information is defined in section 100I and, by reference, Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 (“the 1972 Act”). To be exempt, information must fall within one of the categories listed in paragraphs 1 to 7 of Schedule 12A, must not fall within one of the excluded categories in paragraphs 8 and 9 and the public interest in maintaining the exemption must outweigh the public interest in disclosing the information.
  • Agenda item 19.1 “Extra Care Sheltered Housing – Exempt Appendix” contained information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information). In particular information relating to the financial affairs of the Council.

(b)  As although there is a public interest favouring public access to local authority meetings, in this case the Cabinet concluded that given the information contained in the above listed reports that the  public interest in maintaining the exemption on the information outweighed the public interest in disclosing it.

Nil items.

Nil items.

Nil items.

Nil items.

Nil items.

Nil items.

Nil items.

Nil items.

Nil items.

Nil items.

Nil items.

Nil items.

Nil items.

DECISION

1.    To note the exempt appendix.

Action by:

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

(Service Head, Commissioning, Health Commissioning and Strategy (D. Cohen)

RESOLVED

1.    To note the exempt appendix.

Nil items.

Nil items.

Nil items.

Nil items.

Nil items.

Nil items.