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.

No declarations of disclosable pencuniary interest were received at this meeting.

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

Nil items

Apologies for absence were received from Shabbir Chowdhury (Parent Governor) ; Councillor Oliur Rahman and Councillor Helal Uddin

To confirm as a correct record of the proceedings the unrestricted minutes of the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 1^st February, 2017.

The Chair Moved and it was:-

RESOLVED

That the unrestricted minutes of the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 1^st February, 2017 be approved as a correct record of the proceedings.

No decisions of the Mayor in Cabinet 7^th February, 2017 in respect of unrestricted reports on the agenda were ‘called in’.

Nil items

Noted

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

(Time allocated – 30 minutes).

The Committee received and noted the agenda for the Cabinet meeting on 7^th March, 2017 with particular reference to Item 5.9 Draped Seated Woman “Old Flo” - selection of local hosting partner.  The discussion on this item maybe summarised as follows:

The Committee:

• Noted that a decision is required on this issue in order to implement the Mayor’s pledge to return Draped Seated Woman by Henry Moore back to Tower Hamlets. In line with the decision taken by the Mayor on 1st December 2016, which set the contract approach.  It was noted that officers have now completed a procurement exercise. The report outlined the outcome of that procurement process and recommended to the Mayor that the highest scoring bidder be appointed to host Draped Seated Woman “Old Flo”;
• Noted that “Old Flo” has for a number of years been on public display at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park;
• Indicated that it wanted “Old Flo” to be used as a basis for educational purposes;
• Noted that the Henry Moore Foundation has done a considerable amount of work regarding the publicity regarding “Old Flo” and that will include publicity around the centenary of Henry Moore’s birth in 2018;  and 
• Noted that there is no budgetary provision associated with “Old Flo” and no budgets for maintaining public art. The parameters agreed by the Mayor are that all costs set out in this report will be borne by the successful hosting organisation including the provision of an education and outreach programme agreed by the Arts and Events Service.

Finally, the Committee also noted that regarding Item 5.1 Tower Hamlets Carers’ Strategy 2016-2019 that this had been considered at the last meeting of the Councils Health Scrutiny Committee and is available on the website

The Committee received and noted a report that provided an update on the implementation of recommendations from the scrutiny review into how the council, police and social landlords promote the reporting of incidents of drug dealing, drug taking and related ASB in communal spaces and communicate the outcome of this reporting. It was noted that the report and recommendations were agreed by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee in May 2015. An action plan was then developed to address the recommendations, and the report and accompanying action plan were agreed by Cabinet in November 2015. Accordingly, the Committee noted the progress against the recommendations from the scrutiny review. The main points of the discussion may be summarised as follows:

The Committee Noted:

• That the mechanisms used by Crime Reduction Partnerships to address the cause and effect of ASB can vary dependent on a community’s particular situation or circumstance;
• That the way ASB is managed across the Crime Reduction Partnership is now subject to change to address those particular challenges and circumstances unique to the Borough;
• Work is being undertaken to improve the tasking of resources in a co-ordinated manner e.g. regular Partnership Action Groups to support victims of ASB; developing mechanisms to support stakeholders and partners in addressing ASB and support for repeat victims;
• That the MPS see the addressing of ASB to be a significant priority given how ASB is addressed will have a major impact on how the public perceive the Police Service;
• That Tower Hamlets Homes (THH) accept the importance of the role that they must play in addressing the process including how housing stock is maintained and developed e.g. Physical measures to address ASB; 
• That there had been 1,283 calls regarding ASB to the THH ASB Team and that the “call handlers” are now part of that Team.  The Team provides important support to victims throughout the process of addressing these incidents and works closely with the Tower Hamlets Enforcement Officers (THEOs) and the Police to address the cause and effect of ASB;
• That the4 review of ASB has considered what works in addressing ASB and what does not;
• That the Government has introduced new guidance for dealing with ASB with a greater emphasis on community engagement;
• That across the Borough there is from stakeholders and the partners to make a real difference in addressing ASB e.g. how to make enforcement measures effective and make residents feel confident in reporting ASB;
• That the majority of those perpetrating ASB of locals and the kind of gang related crime not as serious as elsewhere.  However, the trade in Class A drugs is not as significant as in other Boroughs;
•  That the police Service are working to proactively address localised drug dealing balanced with the support for those wishing to break their addiction;
• That the partners are working to formalise the processes to be used that would effectively address the causes and not only the effect of ASB e.g. Greater central co-ordination;
• That a better communications programme was needed  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.1

The Committee received and noted a report that provided a summary of the Council’s use of those powers and other activities under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (“RIPA”). It was noted that the codes of practice issued by the Home Office in relation to Part 2 of the Act 2000 recommend that elected members have oversight of the Council’s use of these provisions.  As a result of discussions on this report the Committee indicated that it would wish to see how RIPA can be used to address ASB and under aged sales.

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

The Committee noted the following updates from Lead Members:

1. 6:00 p.m. 16^th March, 2017 Review in Cohesion;
2. 5:30 p.m. 9^th March, 2017 Review into the Social Value Act;
3. Health Enablement Review nearing completion;
4. Pre-school Review final meeting 10^th March, 2017; and
5. Late Night Economy Review to be held at St. Leonards in Shoreditch.

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

No decisions of the Mayor in Cabinet 7^th February, 2017 in respect of exempt/ confidential reports on the agenda were ‘called in’.

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