Agenda and minutes
Venue: Room M71 7th Floor, Town Hall, Mulberry Place, 5 Clove Crescent, London, E14 2BG
Contact: Antonella Burgio, Democratic Services Tel: 020 7364 4881, E-mail: antonella.burgio@towerhamlets.gov.uk
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APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE To receive any apologies for absence. Minutes: Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Stephanie Eaton and Co-opted Member Canon Michael Ainsworth.
Peter Hayday Service Head, Financial Risk and Accountability apologised that he was unable to attend to present the report at agenda item 6.1.
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DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST PDF 53 KB 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 Chief Executive.
Minutes: Councillor Ann Jackson declared a personal interest in regard to agenda item 5.1 in that she was newly employed by Deloitte. Deloitte had been involved in a review carried out in 2008 which had assessed the management of the Mela event under the previous operational Trust.
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UNRESTRICTED MINUTES PDF 94 KB To confirm as a correct record of the proceedings the unrestricted minutes of the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 2 August 2011. Minutes: The Chair Moved and it was:-
RESOLVED
That the unrestricted minutes of the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 2nd August 2011 be approved and signed by the Chair as a correct record of the proceedings.
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REQUESTS TO SUBMIT PETITIONS To be notified at the meeting. Minutes: Nil items |
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SECTION ONE REPORTS 'CALLED IN' One Section One report was ‘called in’ following the meeting of Cabinet held on 3 August 2011. |
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To consider a call-in request made in respect of Cabinet’s decision o the Baishakhi Mela festival.
(Time allocated – 30 minutes)
Additional documents: Minutes: The Chair invited Councillor Peter Golds, on behalf of the Call-in Members, to present the reasons for the call-in requisition.
Councillor Golds highlighted the following issues that had caused the request to be made:
· There was insufficient evidence to demonstrate that the community management issues by the Baishakhi Mela Trust had been resolved. These had necessitated that the Council take over the management of the event and this had been reported to Cabinet in November 2008 (CAB 065/089) · There were issues concerning the inappropriate media use of the Baishakhi Mela as a platform for political purposes and an Ofcom investigation was being undertaken. · The length of the agreement was too long and raised operational and contractual risks · The issues identified in Cabinet’s report in 2008 had not been resolved
The Committee did not wish to ask any questions of Councillor Golds.
Councillor Rania Khan, Cabinet Member for Culture and Heather Bonfield, Interim Head of Culture responded to the issues raised. The following information was given: · The Council’s management of the event had been undertaken as a temporary measure; it was always the Council’s intention that the management of the Mela be returned to the community. The decision put before Cabinet fulfilled this intention. · The Ofcom investigation had not raised any concerns around the Council's running of the Mela for political gain but had criticised media coverage of the event by Channel S broadcaster · The proposed 9 year agreement allowed sponsorship relationships to be developed. Any potential risks had been mitigated by the incorporation of reviews after 1, 3 and 6 years within the 9 year period. The agreement concerned permission to use Weavers Field and was not a contractual term. · Since the Council had been managing the Mela, a new Trust had been established. The Council intended to consider applications from the community/non profit sector to manage the Mela under an SLA."
It was the Mayors wish that the Mela be delivered independently from the Council therefore the Interim Head of Culturewas investigating external organisers, through a competitive commissioning process, who would bring a fresh approach and understood the business.
In response to questions to the Cabinet Member and Interim Head of Culture, the Committee received the following information:
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REPORTS FOR CONSIDERATION |
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Strategic Performance and Corporate Revenue and Capital Budget Monitoring Q1 2011/12 PDF 130 KB To consider the first quarter performance and budget monitoring report. Additional documents:
Minutes: Co-opted Member, Mr Mushufique Uddin joined the meeting at 7:55 p.m., during the presentation of this item.
Councillor Choudhury, Cabinet Member for Resources, Chris Naylor, Corporate Director for Resources and Kevin Kewin, Strategy and Performance Manager presented the report circulated at item 6.1.
The Committee was invited to comment on the style of presentation of the performance data which had been adapted in order to give year-on-year comparison for the same time at each reporting period (current performance could be compared to that in the same period in the previous year). No comments were made.
In response to Members’ questions on the performance monitor, the Committee received the following information:
The Cabinet Member for Resources informed the Committee that the Council presently was on track to achieve savings targets but the economic prospects were unfavourable. The Council had vired some funds from its growth provision to some other budgets. The Corporate Director, Resources informed the Committee that Section 3 of the report gave data on the expected General Fund outturn position in the first quarter and Directorates’ forecasts this year incorporating a higher level of budget scrutiny. The Council was reviewing its spending profiles and looking at what plans were in place to ensure that savings were delivered against these. This year, budgets had been scrutinised before allocating them in order to test that specified funds were needed. There was also a higher level of scrutiny of employment costs. Monitoring of the forthcoming quarter would give an indication of how performance was progressing.
In response to Members’ questions on financial performance for the quarter, the Committee received the following information:
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Sex Establishments - A Consultation PDF 57 KB To consider the consultation documentation, currently being used to consult the residents of Tower Hamlets on a new policy in relation to sex establishments in the borough. Additional documents:
Minutes: Colin Perrins Head of Commercial Services presented the report circulated at agenda item 6.2.
The Committee was informed that, as a result of new legislation on the regulation of sex establishments; the Council had produced a draft policy. Overview and Scrutiny Committee was invited to submit its comments as part of the consultation. The community would also be consulted by utilising focus groups and East End Life publication.
Councillors requested that supermarkets, day centres, hospitals and doctors surgeries be added to the consultation scope and asked to be informed of consultation outcomes.
Action: Colin Perrins Head of Commercial Services
In response to Members’ questions, the Committee received the following information:
RESOLVED
1. That the report be noted
2. That the Committee's consultation response be completed, collated and submitted to Colin Perrins Head of Commercial Services
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Executive Decision Making by the Mayor PDF 67 KB To informs the committee of the process that has been established by which the Mayor may take decisions outside the context of the Cabinet meeting when necessary Additional documents:
Minutes: John Williams, Service Head, Democratic Services presented the report circulated agenda item 6.3 outlining a new process that enabled the Mayor to take individual executive decisions. A process, set out in the report, had been established to ensure that decisions were transparent and could be scrutinised. Once taken, the decisions could also be called-in.
Mayoral decisions would be reported regularly as part of Overview and Scrutiny Committee business
Action: Democratic Services
In response to Members’ questions, the Committee received the following information:
RESOLVED
1. That the report be noted.
2. That a standing item be added to the agenda so that key decisions taken by the Mayor may be reported to the committee.
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Re-established Inner North East London Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee as a Standing Committee To receive a verbal update on the re-established Inner North East London Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee as a standing joint committee and appointments to this body. Minutes: John Williams, Service Head Democratic Services gave a verbal update on appointments to the North East London Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Standing Committee. He informed the Committee that powers of appointment to this external body lay with Council. A report would be presented to the next Council meeting to formally approve its establishment, note the number of representatives allocated to London Borough of Tower Hamlets which were to be politically proportionate and delegate powers of appointment to Overview and Scrutiny Committee. The Authority had not been advised of any future meetings at this time; therefore appointments would be undertaken within the normal cycle of meetings.
RESOLVED
That the verbal update be noted. |
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Overview and Scrutiny Committee Work Programme PDF 63 KB To receive work programme for the Overview and Scrutiny Committee for the municipal year 2011-12. Minutes: Sarah Barr, Senior Strategy Policy and Performance Officer presented the report circulated agenda item 6.5. Following the Committee's workshop held in August 2011, a work programme had been proposed containing work which would be undertaken by the committee throughout the year. Reports and findings from this work would be reported at the Committee’s monthly meetings. The work programme circulated at appendix A was divided according to the relevant portfolio areas.
To ensure that scrutiny remained reactive Members were asked to have regard to over-commitment to the work programme.
The Chair invited Co-opted Members to indicate any areas of the work programme in which they wish to become involved. The following responses were given:
Rev James Olanipekun indicated that he wished to participate in the topics concerned with One Tower Hamlets matters and as well as education matters.
On behalf of Canon Ainsworth the Chair advised that he wished to participate in work with cultural issues.
Jake Kemp indicated that he would be interested to participate in broader topics involved with children's schools and families in addition to education matters.
RESOLVED
That the work programme be noted.
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PRE-DECISION SCRUTINY OF SECTION ONE (UNRESTRICTED) CABINET PAPERS (Time allocated – 40 minutes). Minutes: Nil items.
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VERBAL UPDATES FROM SCRUTINY LEADS (Time allocated – 5 minutes each) Minutes: The following updates were given by Committee Members in regard to their Scrutiny Lead areas:
Councillor Uddin had recently met with Sarah Barr to progress housing policy scrutiny and would be looking to scrutinise S106 matters.
Councillor Whitelock was monitoring how the Children's Centres were progressing following their restructuring.
Councillor Z Rahman was pursuing her investigations on cultural matters relating to the Authority’s services.
Councillor Saunders informed the Committee that a letter had been drafted to the mergers and competition commission concerning the merger between Newham, Barts and the Royal London and Whipps Cross NHS Hospital Trusts
RESOLVED
That the report be noted
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ANY OTHER SECTION ONE (UNRESTRICTED) BUSINESS WHICH THE CHAIR CONSIDERS TO BE URGENT Minutes: Nil items.
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