Agenda and minutes
Venue: Room C1, 1st Floor, Town Hall, Mulberry Place, 5 Clove Crescent, London, E14 2BG
Contact: Angus Taylor, Democratic Services Tel: 020 7364 4333 E-mail: angus.taylor@towerhamlets.gov.uk
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The Chair advised that the regular Scrutiny Spotlight item had been missed off the agenda in error. He wanted to record his disappointment that the Mayor was not available to attend the meeting and advised that the Mayor would be invited to attend the next meeting of the Committee.
Action by: Louise Fleming (Senior Committee Officer, Democratic Services)
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APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE To receive any apologies for absence. Minutes: Apologies for absence were received from · Councillor Fozol Miah · Councillor Abdal Ullah · Councillor David Snowden
The Chair Moved and it was
Resolved
That the apologies for absence be received and noted
Action by: Louise Fleming (Senior Committee Officer, Democratic Services)
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DECLARATIONS OF DISCLOSABLE PECUNIARY INTEREST PDF 56 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 Interim Monitoring Officer.
Minutes: Nozrul Mustafa declared a personal interest in item 6.1 (Project Information Report – Community Chest and Community Events) due to being an Executive Member of the Collective of Bangladeshi School Governors, which had applied for and had been granted funds from the Mayor’s Community Chest and Events fund.
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UNRESTRICTED MINUTES PDF 102 KB To confirm as a correct record of the proceedings the unrestricted minutes of the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on …………….. Minutes: Councillor Amy Whitelock-Gibbs advised that she had given her apologies prior to the meeting and that they had not been recorded.
The Chair Moved and it was:-
RESOLVED
That the unrestricted minutes of the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 20th January 2014 be approved and signed by the Chair as a correct record of the proceedings, subject to being amended to record Councillor Amy Whitelock-Gibb’s apologies.
Matters Arising
The Chair advised that a Freedom of Information request had been submitted on his behalf in respect of diary/timesheets for the Mayor, specifically in relation to community events at which he had used the Mayoral Car.
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REQUESTS TO SUBMIT PETITIONS To receive any petitions (to be notified at the meeting).
Minutes: Nil items.
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UNRESTRICTED REPORTS 'CALLED IN' No decisions of the Mayor in Cabinet (13th March 2013) in respect of unrestricted reports on the agenda were ‘called in’.
Minutes: Nil items.
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UNRESTRICTED REPORTS FOR CONSIDERATION |
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Project Information Report - Community Chest & Community Events PDF 131 KB To note the contents of the report and the inclusion of the Community Chest and Community Events programmes in the 2014/15 Audit Plan. Additional documents:
Minutes: Councillor Alibor Choudhury, Cabinet Member for Resources, and Dave Clark, Acting Service Head Resources, Development and Renewal presented a report which set out information requested by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee at its meeting on 7th January 2014.
The report focussed on bidding rounds 1 to 4 of the Community Chest and Community Events funding streams and reviewed the approved projects and initiatives in relation to the levels of the awards; the type of events’ the agreed outputs and the geographical spread of the awards. The report also clarified the processes and procedures relating to the management and administration of the 2 funding streams and the pre-election guidance pertaining to funded events. Members were advised that the minutes of the relevant Corporate Third Sector Grants Programme Board had been circulated electronically by email in January. Members requested that hard copies of the minutes also be circulated.
The Chair apologised for the lack of refreshments at the meeting and the lack of papers and asked officers to ensure that papers were sent to all Members of the Committee and that the appropriate arrangements were made for future meetings.
Action by: Louise Fleming (Senior Committee Officer, Democratic Services)
Dave Clark, Acting Service Head Resources, Development and Renewal, advised that projected dates for forthcoming community events would be added to the appendix to the report when they became known and would send a list of all those events to Members.
Members asked for clarification regarding the outputs of the event organised by Mulberry School as this was not clear in the report. Councillor Choudhury and Everett Haughton, Third Sector Programme Manager, advised that the event had taken place in the summer of 2012 and the grant had been paid retrospectively. An application form had been submitted by the Headteacher of the School, but was not dated. The Chair requested further information, in particular whether the outputs had been monitored and what the conditions for funding had been. A letter which had been submitted by the School in relation to the aims of the event would be circulated to Members of the Committee. The Chair asked for further information on exactly what the money had been used for as it was not clear from the report. Members requested a breakdown of the expenditure for this grant.
Action by: Dave Clark (Acting Service Head, Resources, Development and Renewal) Everett Haughton (Third Sector Programme Manager, Development and Renewal)
Members asked for clarification on the number of outputs which had been verified and the number of grants to be paid which were still outstanding. Mr Haughton advised that 50% of the grant was paid in advance and the remaining 50% was paid on receipt of evidence, for example invoices for equipment or services. 100% of the grants have been closed. The Council would only pay for what had been spent, if the final total was less than the grant originally applied for.
Members asked for clarification on whether the Council for Voluntary Services had expressed a ... view the full minutes text for item 6.1 |
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To note the contents of the attached log of actions that have been requested in the current municipal year and the progress made on actions that remain outstanding. Additional documents: Minutes: The Chair briefly outlined some proposed points and recommendations which would form part of a report to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee in March on the Executive Mayor’s Car, of which the Committee Members were broadly in support.
Louise Russell, Service Head Corporate Strategy and Equalities, updated the Committee on the outstanding actions in the report and advised that they would be followed up with the relevant officers.
The Chair requested that the action relating to the TV advert on the Decent Homes Programme be progressed as soon as possible. In response, officers advised that a report would be submitted to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 4th March in relation to this issue.
The Chair also requested that the points made at the meeting on 7th January 2014 in relation to electoral fraud and the Committee’s request to see the related communications strategy should be added to the action log.
The Chair then Moved and it was
Resolved
1. That the contents of the log of actions attached to the report be noted, subject to the above comments.
2. That the progress made on actions that remain outstanding and the completion of the actions as indicated in the log attached to the report.
Action by: Louise Fleming (Senior Committee Officer, Democratic Services)
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VERBAL UPDATES FROM SCRUTINY LEADS (Time allocated – 5 minutes each) Minutes: Nil items.
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PRE-DECISION SCRUTINY OF UNRESTRICTED CABINET PAPERS To consider and agree pre-decision scrutiny questions/comments to be presented to Cabinet.
(Time allocated – 30 minutes). Minutes: Members made the following comments and asked the Chair to raise at the meeting of the Cabinet on 5th February: · expressed concern that the exempt report relating to the new Civic Centre and was too brief and did not contain enough financial information in order for Members to properly scrutinise the decision particularly in relation to the costs of the proposals. · The proposals in the report had budget implications and as the final decision on the budget was the responsibility of full Council, Members needed more information in order to make an informed decision. There should be information on the pros and cons of the proposals and alternative options considered. · Information relating to an audit of the Council’s assets was needed to give context for the decision.
In addition the Chair made the following comments:
· It was important for the decision to made with the proper information being available, and that the decision process made should be as clear and as transparent as possible. Therefore the information contained in the pink paper should be reviewed to ensure it met the criteria for exemption. If not, the information should be put into the unrestricted part of the report. · It was important to understand what assets had been sold and what the receipts had been used for. Information should be provided on future potential sales of assets to provide reassurance to Members. · A clear picture was needed on the Council’s assets, why the Council was selling and what the receipts would be used for.
The Chair Moved and it was
Resolved
That the comments above be passed on to the Cabinet at its meeting on 5th February 2014.
Action by: Mark Cairns, Senior Strategy, Policy and Performance Officer
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ANY OTHER UNRESTRICTED BUSINESS WHICH THE CHAIR CONSIDERS TO BE URGENT To consider any other unrestricted business that the Chair considers to be urgent.
Minutes: Nil items.
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EXCLUSION OF THE PRESS AND PUBLIC In view of the contents of the remaining items on the agenda the Committee is recommended to adopt the following motion:
“That, under the provisions of Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended by the Local Government (Access to Information) Act 1985, the press and public be excluded from the remainder of the meeting for the consideration of the Section Two business on the grounds that it contains information defined as Exempt in Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act, 1972.”
EXEMPT/CONFIDENTIAL SECTION (Pink Papers)
The exempt committee papers in the agenda will contain information, which is commercially, legally or personally sensitive and should not be divulged to third parties. If you do not wish to retain these papers after the meeting, please hand them to the Committee Officer present. Minutes: 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.
SUMMARY OF EXEMPT PROCEEDINGS
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EXEMPT/ CONFIDENTIAL MINUTES To confirm as a correct record of the proceedings the restricted minutes of the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on ……………..
Minutes: Nil items.
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EXEMPT/ CONFIDENTIAL REPORTS 'CALLED IN' No decisions of the Mayor in Cabinet (13th March 2013) in respect of exempt/ confidential reports on the agenda were ‘called in’.
Minutes: Nil items.
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PRE-DECISION SCRUTINY OF EXEMPT/ CONFIDENTIAL) CABINET PAPERS To consider and agree pre-decision scrutiny questions/comments to be presented to Cabinet.
(Time allocated 15 minutes). Minutes: Nil items.
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ANY OTHER EXEMPT/ CONFIDENTIAL BUSINESS THAT THE CHAIR CONSIDERS URGENT To consider any other exempt/ confidential business that the Chair considers to be urgent.
Minutes: Nil items.
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