No apologies were received.

Members are reminded to consider the categories of interest in the Code of Conduct for Members to determine whether they have an interest in any agenda item and any action they should take. For further details, please see the attached note from the Monitoring Officer.

Members are reminded to declare the nature of the interest and the agenda item it relates to. Please note that ultimately it’s the Members’ responsibility to declare any interests form and to update their register of interest form as required by the Code.

If in doubt as to the nature of your interest, you are advised to seek advice prior to the meeting by contacting the Monitoring Officer or Democratic Services

No declarations of disclosable pecuniary interest were received at the

Meeting.

The Tower Hamlets Partnership Plan was presented by Cllr Maium Talukdar, Frances Winter, Strategy & Improvement Lead and Abidah Kamali, Senior Strategy and Policy Officer.

The committee raised the following comments and questions:

·       What lessons have been learned from the previous plan and how did that inform the new plan? Officers detailed how they worked with the feedback from the last plan, including the partnership working around the community response to Covid-19.

·       Members discussed the opportunities and challenges that partners can bring:

o   Partners and stakeholders should be signing up to Tower Hamlets values and priorities, rather than driving down standards, particularly when working with partners in housing. o How do we hold partners accountable in housing?

o   How much power does the council have to ensure partners are holding up the council’s standards?

o   Accessibility and language is very important for ensuring our residents can engage in a way that they understand the service.

o   Obesity is an issue within the borough, what can we do to work with our partners to deal with this issue?

o   Community wellbeing and cohesion should be a long term aim of the new plan. There needs to be a victim focus when the council looks at crime.

o   Family and childcare support needs to be a priority to ensure that many residents are taken out of poverty. Working closely with schools to help identify concerns earlier.

·       Cllr Maium Talukdar confirmed that he would take feedback back to partners and agreed the council needs to do more for residents in ensuring standards are raised for housing and GPs in the community.

The Committee is asked to review the Council's 2023-24 Budget Report and Medium-Term Financial Strategy 2023-26

Members are asked to refer to the report included in the Tower Hamlets Council - Agenda for Cabinet on Wednesday 25 January 2023

The Council’s 2023-24 Budget and Medium Term Financial Strategy 2023-26 was presented by Cllr Saied Ahmed and Nisar Visram, Director of Finance Audit and Procurement.

The committee raised the following comments and questions:

·       With the growth predicted in the report, but also the large amount of savings needing to be found, how did the council rationalise this? Officers stated a number pressures the council is currently under, including from adult social care, which has created a funding need. This has presented a need for council to find savings across the organisation.

·       What plans are there to curb the spending in the forecasted years? Officers detailed the process around the reporting that is carried out to both officer and member leadership teams and how spending is discussed and actioned in these meetings. There is a strong budget management process across these meetings and it allows for all parts of the council to take part.

·       What investment will there be in youth services over the next few years? Cllr Saied Ahmed detailed the planned investments, highlighting an additional £8.5m in young Tower Hamlets.

·       Are the current reserves of the council sustainable? Officers stated that while the council’s constitution details what is the reserves policy, over the next few years, the council will have around £53m of reserves.

·       Could the plans for the rollout of free home care be detailed? Cllr Saied Ahmed stated how budget pressures have meant free home care will not be able to start till the following year. Officers stated that the charging policy has meant that free home care would take more time to implement. Officers will provide members with a response on the consultation around home care chargers.

·       What is the criteria about the schools within the school investments in the capital program? Why are some schools being prioritised over schools like George Green's School? Officers stated that programs like this are always under review, and based on the strategic plan some schools are prioritised.

·       Will the current spending on staffing across the council, support the need to increase on core staffing? Officers detailed the current staffing plans including the statutory services, however the council will be looking at staffing when savings are needed and statutory staffing will be generally protected across the organisation, but budgets will be reviewed. · How will the new grants funding be funded and what will the governance arrangements around it? Officers detailed how the spend has been allocated, but this is pending the recent resident consultation. The plans for the governance arrangements is to ensure it is open and transparent, these are still being finalised and officers confirmed this will be sent to members.

·       Is the cost for covering free school meals sustainable? Officers reported the breakdown of the costs around free school meals, with around £2m for primary and £3.2m for secondary school meals. These costs have been built into the medium-term strategy. · How achievable is the council’s saving plan and what are the other areas of risk? Officers detailed the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.2

RESOLVED:

Members Noted the forward plan

This item will be presented at a future committee meeting.

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

(Time allocated – 30 minutes).

Members Noted the Cabinet Papers and did not wish to raise any questions.

RESOLVED:

Members Noted the Report

RESOLVED:

Members Noted the Report

Nil items

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

Nil items

Minutes will be presented at future meeting of the committee.

As the agenda circulated had no exempt/confidential reports and there was

therefore no requirement to exclude the press and public to allow for its

consideration

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.

Nil items.