Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Sufia Alam and Councillor Andrew Wood.

To note any declarations of interest made by Members, including those restricting Members from voting on the questions detailed in Section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act, 1992.  See attached note from the Monitoring Officer.

The following Councillors declared an interest that must be registered in Agenda Item 10

1.    Cllr James King;

2.    Cllr Tarik Khan;

3.    Cllr Dipa;

4.    Cllr Chaudhary;

5.    Cllr Eve McQuillan;

6.    Cllr Mohamed Pappu; and

7.    Cllr Marc Francis.

The following Councillor declared an interest that must be declared in Agenda Item 10

1.    Cllr Bex White

To confirm as a correct record of the proceedings the unrestricted minutes of the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 24^th June, 2019.

The Chair Moved and it was:

RESOLVED

That the unrestricted minutes of the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on June 24^th 2019 were confirmed as a correct record and the Chair was authorised to sign them accordingly.

To receive any petitions (to be notified at the meeting).

Nil items

To note the current Forthcoming Decisions Plan (or 'Forward Plan').

Noted

No decisions of the Mayor in Cabinet 26^th June, 2019 in respect of unrestricted reports on the agenda were ‘called in’.

Nil items

Councillor David Edgar (Cabinet Member for Environment) gave a presentation on the creation of an in-house service for the integrated delivery of the waste, recycling and cleansing functions within Tower.  Dan Jones (Divisional Director, Public Realm) and Mark Griffin (Waste Mobilisation Advisor) were also present to provide an update and respond to questions.

The Committee then asked several questions about the Service and the points raised are summarised below:

The Committee

• Asked about the financial risks of this process as councillors get a significant number of complaints on waste, recycling and cleansing, therefore it would be good to know what improvements that we should expect to see;
• Was informed that the Strategy gives areas of improvements e.g. the collection of household waste as per the schedule and a depot that functions properly and effectively.  In addition, (i) the “Modular Buildings” at the depot are an interim measure intended to improve the work areas and staff accommodation; (ii) Regarding employees may be protected under the transfer of the service back in house, LBTH are awaiting the information from Veolia’s July Payroll which will provide LBTH with a set of data in accordance with the requirements of the transfer process;
• Was concerned that between now and the 31^st March 2019 there might be a deterioration in the service provide;
• Noted that LBTH wants to see improvements in the Service and have asked for and received the level of detail that LBTH have an effective overview of performance.  Whereas in the past LBTH had not been given the information that was needed to evaluate the service and had the required IT software to effectively gather the data to scrutinise the Service;
• Noted that LBTH (i) is building effective relationships with the staff that will transfer over; (ii) recognises the need to improve Service with better vehicles; (iii) acknowledges the need to ensure there are supervisors to monitor the performance; and (iv) will have Street Scene Neighbourhood Managers who will have oversight of how things are going in a particular neighbourhood.
• Noted the latest monitoring statistics will be provided once they are available in August.
• Wanted to see more meaningful figures on performance and how issues have been rectified (e.g. incomplete rounds);
• Noted that there had been a week slippage on making improvements at the Depot as costs had been higher than anticipated and therefore additional resources had to be allocated to the budget;
• Commented that Councils vehicle fleet is old, and needs replacing urgently and wished to know when the fleet would become as carbon neutral;
• Noted that LBTH are ensuring that future purchases of vehicles will meet the current standards and deliver the expected level.  Whilst going forward the Service is looking at the developments within the market for capable Hybrids; Electric and Hydrogen powered vehicles.  In addition, the Council wants to ensure that there is the necessary supporting infrastructure for the vehicle fleet to ensure the Council has a practical and well-regarded service.

As a result of discussions  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.1

8.1         OSC Work Programme Report

The Work Programme was agreed subject to the addition of the Partnership Agreement for the provision of Mental Health and Learning Disabilities Services in Tower Hamlets as part of the pre-decision scrutiny of the September Cabinet papers.

The Committee also noted the positive feed-back that had been received on the OSC Work Programme from the local community.

Councillor Dipa Das Scrutiny Lead for Housing & Regeneration

·         Noted that at the first meeting on 22^nd July 2019 the Housing & Regeneration Scrutiny Sub Committee had considered (i) the Fire Safety Scrutiny Review Action Plan; (ii) the proposed amendments to Tower Hamlets CHR Allocations Scheme; and (iii) the Social Housing Landlords Performance Report – Quarter 4 2018/19.  In addition, it had been decided that implementation of Homeless Reduction Act one year on should be the challenge session topic for 2019/20;

·         Whilst at the next meeting the spotlight session would be focusing on High Streets and Town Centres with reference to supporting new and existing business;

·         The Lead Member had informed the Committee that she had, had a meeting with Corporate Director for Place Ann Sutcliffe and she had requested that a briefing to be provided on the delivery of 2,000 new home and Rent Levels; and

·         It was noted that Cabinet at its meeting on the 31^st July 2019 would be considering a report on the Strategic Review of Housing Management and once that is agreed the KPI’s will be set.

Councillor Kahar Chowdhury Scrutiny Lead for Health & Adults

·         Noted that at the first meeting on 8^th July, 2019 Health & Adults Scrutiny Sub Committee had received and considered (i) Healthy Life Expectancy in Tower Hamlets - Annual Public Health Report of the Director of Public Health 2018; (ii) the Work Programme and (iii) Adult Social Care Charging Impact Assessment and asked for feed-back on certain areas where it was felt clarity was required; and

·         In September the Sub-Committee will be considering Childhood Obesity and All Age Physical Activity in order to review the actions that the Council has taken and review actions for future planning.  Also agreeing the finding and recommendations of the 2018/19 Diabetes Challenge and imputing into the Health and Well Being Strategy

Councillor Alam Scrutiny Lead for Children & Education

·         Although absent she had asked that her congratulations on the Ofsted rating of the Council’s Children’s Services department as ‘good’ be placed on record which Ofsted had said was 'remarkable progress' and was committed to working with Children’s Services to towards achieving “outstanding” in the very near future.

Councillor Bex White Scrutiny Lead for Community Safety & Environment

·         Noted that the Lead Member was currently working on the development of several coherent themes from within her portfolio;

·         Noted that there had been three scoping session in preparation for the October challenge session on Safer Communities and how the Council; ward councillors and partner agencies can develop a meaningful infrastructure so that resident’s voices are heard;

·         Noted that the Lead Member had, had meetings Councillor David Edgar (Cabinet Member for Environment) on the Parking Review and Councillor Rachel Blake (Deputy Mayor and Cabinet Member for Planning, Air Quality and Tackling Poverty) on the Air Quality Delivery Plan and the reasons for the move of the Air Quality Action Plan monitoring to the Health and Well-Being;

·         Noted that the Lead Member was working with Councillor Asma Begum (Deputy Mayor  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

To consider and agree pre-decision scrutiny questions/comments to be presented to Cabinet.

(Time allocated – 30 minutes).

The Committee received and noted those questions to be presented at Cabinet by the Chair in relation to unrestricted business on the agenda with reference to the Local Community Fund (LCF).  Tania Shaikh Operations Director of the Attlee Centre and Peter Okali Chief Executive of Tower Hamlets Council for Voluntary Services (THCVS) were also in attendance and highlighted several points in relation to the LCF report.

Councillor Bex White left the meeting during the consideration of the LCF Report.

The Committee then asked a series of questions about LCF report and they may be summarised as follows:

The Committee

• Noted that the LCF report presented proposals for funding fifty projects to be run by voluntary and community sector (VCS) organisations through the Local Community Fund (LCF) for the period 1^st October 2019 to 31^st March 2023 amounting to £9.31m over the 42-month period;
• Noted that despite many councils reducing their funding for the voluntary and community sector, Tower Hamlets has protected the current level of spending investing £2.6m a year to fund LCF projects;
• Was concern at the situation in the Borough with particular reference to (i) the lack of adequate funding for the provision of staffed play provisions; (ii) those Services recommended for funding 0-18 are all focused on arts and sports (iii) Services for under 5s and their parents are missing, including the youngest with severe disabilities;
• Noted that the Third Sector have requested that this be looked in to with reference to (i) Free unstructured play; (ii) More spaces and affordable activities; and (iii) Information of where families can attend together to improve family life;
• Noted the importance of play on mental health, building resilience, improving concentration, healthy relationships and behaviour;
• Noted that play needs to be considered as separate from sports; arts; drama and culture;
• Noted that despite the high level of funding available, the programme was significantly oversubscribed with bids for 240 projects submitted by over 130 organisations totalling more than £10m a year.  Which was almost four times the available budget and it was noted that has meant that some strong bids were unfortunately unsuccessful;
• Noted that the outcome of a review of the process undertaken by THCVS is awaited and LBTH will need to consider how it can assist in the leverage of funds from outside sources;
• Noted that THCVS has been tasked to support those groups through the process and establish a funder’s forum and look at how LBTH can use its influence to leverage monies out of other funders;
• Noted that the intention was for funding to be aligned with the Councils priorities;
• Noted that LBTH as a Living Wage Funder is committed to tackle low pay by encouraging those organisations it funds to pay the real Living Wage to their employees;
• Noted with concern that the lack of successful bids which specifically target older people in the south of the borough and that this may have a disproportionate negative impact.  However, it was noted that this would be  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

To consider any other unrestricted business that the Chair considers to be urgent.

The Committee noted the closure of the 1 O’clock Club and asked for details of the rationale for this decision who authorised the closure?

As the agenda circulated contained no exempt/confidential business and there was therefore no requirement to exclude the press and public to allow for its consideration.

Nil items

Nil items

Nil items

Nil items

To consider and agree pre-decision scrutiny questions/comments to be presented to Cabinet.

(Time allocated 15 minutes).

Nil items

To consider any other exempt/ confidential business that the Chair considers to be urgent.

Nil items