Agenda and minutes
Venue: Room C1, 1st Floor, Town Hall, Mulberry Place, 5 Clove Crescent, London, E14 2BG
Contact: David Knight, Democratic Services Tel: 020 7364 4878 E-mail: david.knight@towerhamlets.gov.uk
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APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE To receive any apologies for absence. Minutes: Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Maium Miah and Councillor Oliur Rahman. |
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VOTE OF THANKS Minutes: The Chair, Councillor John Pierce on behalf of the Committee thanked Reverend James Olanipekun for his service, commitment and time given to the Committee and its functions through scrutiny reviews and challenge sessions.
Agreed that an official letter be written on behalf of the Committee, by the Chair, Councillor John Pierce to Rev. James Olanipekun expressing the Committee’s gratitude.
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DECLARATIONS OF DISCLOSABLE PECUNIARY INTEREST PDF 64 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: There were no declarations of disclosable pecuniary interests. |
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UNRESTRICTED MINUTES PDF 107 KB To confirm as a correct record of the proceedings the unrestricted minutes of the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 1st February, 2016. Minutes: The Chair Moved and it was:-
RESOLVED
That the unrestricted minutes of the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 1st February 2016 be approved and signed by the Chair as a correct record of the proceedings subject to the following amendments being made: -
1. Minutes from 4th January 2016 - Nozrul Mustafa enquired about the proposed amendments to the minutes of the 4th January meeting, which was raised at the previous meeting relating to the Co-opted Members being omitted from the attendance list on the minutes.
Agreed that the minutes of the 4th January 2016 be checked and confirmation be given at the next meeting regarding the amendments being made.
2. Minute No. 7.3 – Recruiting more diverse school governors - Dr Philip Rice requested that the following sentences be included in the minutes as part of the discussion held relating to the school governors, a. “expressed a view that the feedback of the governors be sought as soon as possible over their perceptions of diversity”; and b. “Over 92.5% of Headteachers are reported as being White British and the ethnic diversity of the governors is a prior problem, but the ethnic diversity of the Headteachers needs to be addressed as well.”
Agreed that the audio of the meeting held on 1st February 2016, be checked to confirm the points raised by Dr Philip Rice and the comments made by the representative of the Bangladeshi Governors and also to confirm the actions arising out of the item.
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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 on 2nd February, 2016 in respect of unrestricted reports on the agenda were ‘called in’.
Minutes: Nil items. |
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SCRUTINY SPOTLIGHT |
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Crime and disorder spotlight (second) with Borough Commander and Safer Communities PDF 81 KB Additional documents:
Minutes: The Committee received a briefing paper in relation to the ASB Operational Group that outlined details relating to the Operational Group, the Neighbourhood Priorities, current issues, the membership and the ASB product. Andy Bamber, (Service Head, Community Safety) informed the Committee that: -
· Community Safety and Police do not always agree and are always challenging each other, but share a good working relationship and want to see the issues in the Borough dealt with and resolved; · Hoping to resolve the contractual issues and move forward with the Partnership Task Force as soon as possible; · The previous administration made arrangements for 20 police officers to be contracted with 1 in each ward; · Due to the change in administration discussions were held with the Mayor elect to seek clarity and direction relating to the previous arrangement and it was felt that only six police officers were needed; and · Given these events, the police now wanted to take extra care to ensure that the terms of the Task Force were absolutely clear and finalised on both sides before moving forward.
Superintendent Peter Turner informed the Committee that: -
· The former Borough Commander left last Friday and the new Borough Commander Detective Superintendent Langworthy was now in post; · ASB has reduced by 12.8% in comparison to last year · Calls to the service are high, mainly because there is only 1 number to call #101; · Repeat calls have been reduced by 15%; · Over 1,000 ASB call have been received which averages over 30 a day and it is difficult to respond to all calls, so calls and workloads must be prioritised and investigated accordingly; · The partnership approach has worked previously and will continue to work to improve the Borough; · Meetings are held every 2 weeks and there is a small number of deployable resources; · There are improvements that need to be made to provide feedback to the community; and · There have been some issues with the contract and it has been going forwards and backwards from each legal department.
Trevor Kennett, (Head of Street Enforcement) informed the Committee that there were ASB hotspots in the Borough and that there was an agreement for additional support to deal with the issues and that the teams were making sure that all complaints were assessed and looked into within each cluster.
The Committee:
1. Congratulated the partnership working between the police and the community safety team and also thanked local police officers PC Perry and PC Cruickshank for the good work being done with the Licensing Committee; 2. Raised a number of outstanding ward issues with Superintendent Turner, Andy Bamber and Trevor Kennett; 3. Referred to electoral malpractice being reported by councillors to the police in the past and nothing being done; 4. Expressed concern in relation to feedback following ward-walkabouts not being fed back to councillors and issues in the Borough not being communicated to the local residents and councillors regularly; and 5. Informed Superintendent Turner, Andy Bamber and Trevor Kennett that local residents were frustrated and ... view the full minutes text for item 6.1 |
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UNRESTRICTED REPORTS FOR CONSIDERATION |
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Find it, Fix it, Love it (FIFLI) PDF 139 KB Minutes: The Committee received a report relating to Find it, Fix it, Love it (FIFILI) which highlighted the use of FIFILI, key links and the impact. Fiona Heyland (Head of Waste Management) highlighted the following: -
· The FIFILI app had an upgrade in 2015 which included road closure access and green cleaner services information; · There has been an increase in staff reporting matters using the app; · Peak times are usually between 10am – 2pm each day; · Majority of the issues being logged refer to the cleansing services, fly tipping and dumping of rubbish; · In 2014/15 there were more “find it and fix it” complaints and fewer “love it”, but in 2015/2016 there are more than 900 “love it” · The app links directly to Veolia services who are then able to deal with issues directly or pass them onto waste management; and · Future upgrades include quick response codes and an improvement to the app on the smartphone technology.
The Chair, Councillor John Pierce commented that the report originally presented to him at the “Chair’s Call Over” meeting was different and contained more information that he found useful.
The Committee:
1. Congratulated the team on the usefulness of the app and how well it worked; 2. Indicated that there needed to be more awareness raised regarding the app and its uses among councillors, staff and local residents; 3. Enquired about – a. plans for the future b. any statistics regarding the number of users c. working with schools and young people offering a competition regarding improvements and logo etc d. look at ways to improve its growth e. linking the app with member enquiries 4. Expressed concern that the app should not be over complicated and should be kept simple.
Fiona Heyland informed the Committee that: -
· The fundamental part of the delivery of the app involves no additional cost and is not volume based, but just provides a different medium to report issues · Services would be re-commissioning soon so there is an opportunity to look at all the issues raised and services being provided by the app. · The app allows for written text and it is not just pictures. · The app logs are treated as issues being raised to be dealt with and responded to fairly urgently; and · If the issues remain unresolved and app users persistently raise the same issues, then these would be raised as a complaint.
The Committee agreed to note the report. |
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Welfare Reform Task Group Update PDF 243 KB Minutes: The Committee received a report in relation to the Welfare Reform Update that outlined details relating to the impact of the Welfare Reform in Tower Hamlets (TH), the key support measures currently in place, the future welfare reform changes and the Council’s planned response.
Councillor Sirajul Islam, Deputy Mayor and Cabinet Member for Housing Management and Performance introduced the report and highlighted the following: -
· Government announced a number of welfare changes in their Emergency Budget and Autumn Statement; · The existing changes are already having a significant impact on some residents in the borough and council and partner services; · In 2014/15, 45,500 residents in TH were economically inactive of which 69% were women; · In January 2016, 35,320 residents were in receipt of Housing Benefits of which 35% were in work; · There are approximately 19,000 residents on the current housing waiting list in TH; · The 2015/16 Discretionary Housing Payments Budgets was £2.7m; and · The council has taken a cross council partnership approach to responding to welfare reform and this has been co-ordinated by the Welfare Reform Task Group.
Kevin Kewin (Interim Service Head, Corporate Strategy & Equality) presented the following information to the Committee in relation to the Welfare Reform in TH: -
· Implemented Reforms and Impact – o Benefit Cap – 501 households impacted, average weekly reduction of £72 o Bedroom Tax – 2,100 households affected, average weekly loss £23 o Local Housing Allowance (LHA) Cap – 1,878 LHA capped, average weekly shortfall of £42 (dependent on bedrooms) o Non Dependent Deductions – 4,495 households affected, average weekly reduction is £45 o Incapacity Benefit to Employment Support Allowance (ESA) – majority of recipients (around 12,000) have moved onto ESA o Universal Credit – 1,368 claims to date, 50% 18-24 year olds · The Council’s response through the Welfare Reform Task Group includes information and advice, financial support, employment and skills support and prevention and resilience support; · Proposed reforms – o Benefit Cap reduced to £23k o Minimum wage earners exempt from income tax o LHA cap applied to Housing Benefit in Social Sector o Reduced entitlement to housing benefit for 18-21 year olds · Cumulative impact – o Reducing incomes o Increasing gap between housing costs and benefit payments o More residents need to seek employment · Proposed responses – o Information and advice – communication, drop-in sessions across the Borough, targeted contact o Financial support – review of discretionary housing payments, council tax benefit scheme and crisis and support grants o Employment and skills support – raising aspirations employment project, expansion of DHP employment case managed support project o Prevention and resilience support – digital inclusion, financial inclusion, community mentor training and workshops o Strategic response – affordability commission, housing strategy, early years childcare review and refreshed employment and enterprise strategy
The Committee discussed the following:
· Why is the Crisis Support Grant underspent by £200k? · Could something be done about childcare hours, it is currently being offered at 3 hours over 5 days, more needs to be done especially for single parents and ... view the full minutes text for item 7.2 |
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VERBAL UPDATES FROM SCRUTINY LEADS (Time allocated – 5 minutes each) Minutes: The Committee noted the scrutiny update from Councillor Danny Hassell. |
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PRE-DECISION SCRUTINY OF UNRESTRICTED CABINET PAPERS Cabinet on 1st March, 2016 has been cancelled therefore there will be no reports for pre-decision scrutiny. Minutes: The Committee noted that Cabinet due to be held on 1st March 2016 had been cancelled and there were no reports for pre-decision scrutiny. |
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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: The Committee noted that there was no other unrestricted business that the Chair considered to be urgent. |
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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.
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EXEMPT/ CONFIDENTIAL MINUTES Nil items. Minutes: Nil items. |
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EXEMPT/ CONFIDENTIAL REPORTS 'CALLED IN' No decisions of the Mayor in Cabinet 2nd February, 2016 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 Cabinet on 1st March, 2016 has been cancelled therefore there will be no exempt/confidential reports for pre-decision scrutiny.
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. |