Agenda and draft minutes
Venue: M71, 7th Floor, Town Hall, Mulberry Place, 5 Clove Crescent, London, E14 2BG
Contact: Amanda Thompson, Democratic Services Tel: 020 7364 4651, E-mail: amanda.thompson@towerhamlets.gov.uk
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OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY EVALUATION Minutes: The Chair advised that an evaluation session had been arranged for all Committee Members on 19 May at 6.30pm and he hoped all would be able to attend.
The aim of the session was to establish what had worked well and not so well during the year, and to start developing the work programme for the new municipal year.
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APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE To receive any apologies for absence.
Minutes: Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Bill Turner and Co-opted Member Mr Ahbab Miah.
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DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST PDF 30 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 Oliur Rahman declared a personal interest in agenda item 8.1 which referred to a school in his ward, and a personal and prejudicial interest in agenda item 8.4 because he was an employee of Jobcentre Plus. Councillor Rahman left the room during the Committee’s decision making and voting on this item.
Councillor Abdal Ullah declared a personal and prejudicial interest in agenda item 6.1 on the basis that he was a Member of the Cabinet when the original decision was taken, and left the room during the Committee’s decision making and voting on this item.
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UNRESTRICTED MINUTES PDF 64 KB To confirm as a correct record of the proceedings the unrestricted minutes of the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 7th April 2009.
Minutes: RESOLVED
That the unrestricted minutes of the meeting held on 7 April 2009 be agreed as a correct record.
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REQUESTS TO SUBMIT PETITIONS To be notified at the meeting.
Minutes: None
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REQUESTS FOR DEPUTATIONS To be notified at the meeting.
Minutes: None.
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SECTION ONE REPORTS 'CALLED IN' |
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(Time allocated – 30 minutes)
Additional documents:
Minutes: Further to his declaration of a personal and prejudicial interest, Councillor Abdal Ullah left the room during the Committee’s decision making and voting on this item.
The Chair outlined the call-in procedure to the Committee.
Councillor Ahmed Hussain for the Call-in Members referred to the reasons in their requisition and highlighted the main issues that they held with the provisionally agreed decision to agree a number of schemes which would form the Communities Localities and Cultural Services Directorate’s 2009/2010 Capital Programme.
Councillor Hussain stated that none of the improvement schemes included areas in his ward and he had identified a number of key areas which required improvement. These were:
Councillor Hussain advised the Committee that the improvement agenda had been established from a 2005 Cabinet meeting and was therefore out of date, and there were now a number of areas in the Borough that were in desperate need of an upgrade in terms of parks, roads and streets.
Councillor Hussain then responded to questions from the Committee and stated that his objection was not just due to the fact that there were no improvements planned for his ward, but because the agenda was out of date and it was likely that there were also other areas that the schemes would not cover.
He stated that people with pushchairs and wheelchairs experienced problems trying to cross Burdett Road and St Paul’s Way and that the pedestrian crossing needed upgrading. The contribution from TfL meant that there was no reason why the Council couldn’t improve the mentioned areas, especially the traffic calming on Bow Road.
Councillor Abdul Ullah, Lead Member for Cleaner, Safer, Greener, and Margaret Cooper, Head of Transportation and Highways, then addressed the Committee on behalf of the Cabinet in response to the Call-in and made the following points:
The improvement document was a five year plan required by the Mayor for London setting out how the Council intended to deliver his transport strategy at the local level, and it followed specific guidance issued by the Mayor and set out core themes and priorities. The Mayor was currently reviewing his Transport Strategy and would only issue instruction to the local authority to review their LIP when his own strategy was published.
In the meantime, a bid to TfL for funding was made annually and was last agreed by Cabinet in May 2008. The bid was consistent with the themes set out in the 5 year plan but the specific projects included took account of local priorities and issues identified through on-going liaison with Members, LAPs and other stakeholder groups.
ADJOURNMENT
The Chair announced that there would be a five minute adjournment following a discussion with Councillor Ahmed Hussain regarding his conduct during the meeting.
Councillor ... view the full minutes text for item 7.1 |
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REPORTS FOR CONSIDERATION |
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Development of Pan Disability Panel PDF 48 KB (Time allocated – 15 minutes)
Additional documents: Minutes: Afazul Hoque, Acting Scrutiny Policy Manager, introduced a report concerning the development of the Tower Hamlets Pan Disability Panel (THPDP).
Members were advised that the THPDP had been designed to improve engagement with the local disabled population by increasing the actual numbers the Council spoke to and the methods for doing so. It was expected that around 500 members would be consulted on issues by post, phone and email. The structural and operational aspects of the model had been further developed in recent months to reflect the views of local disabled people and those with an interest in disability issues.
Tower Hamlets Council and the Primary Care Trust were the main drivers behind the establishment of the THPDP, which had a key role to play in ensuring that disability equality was delivered in multiple services across the Council and the services of partner organisations.
In response to questions Mr Hoque advised that adverts seeking the 500 members would be placed in newspapers and local disabled groups would also be targeted. The Panel would also have a direct link to the Council’s Health Scrutiny Panel as a member of the steering group would be co-opted onto it.
The Chair moved and it was RESOLVED
1) That the work in developing the Tower Hamlets Pan Disability Panel be noted; and
2) That a link with Overview and Scrutiny be achieved by
(i) inviting the THDPD to report on its work as part of the Diversity and Equality Action Plan (DEAP) six-monthly monitoring; (ii) involving the THPDP in review work when appropriate and (iii) including a scrutiny challenge session within the 2009/2010 work programme to help ensure that the THPD can contribute to the ongoing work of the Council and Partnership be included.
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SCRUTINY MANAGEMENT (Time allocated – 10 minutes per report)
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Parental Engagement in Secondary Education - Report of the Scrutiny Working Group PDF 179 KB Minutes: Councillor A A Sardar, Scrutiny Lead, Prosperous Communities, introduced the report to the Committee and additionally took the opportunity to thank all the Council officers who contributed to undertaking the review.
Councillor Sardar advised that the scrutiny review topic was identified to help ensure the right support was provided to parents to help their children reach their full educational potential.
The Committee noted that the recommendations covered three main areas:
Members of the Committee expressed their support for the recommendations and thanked Councillor Sardar and the Working Group for their work on such an important issue.
The Committee
RESOLVED
1. To agree that the draft report be taken forward for submission to Cabinet; and
2. That the Service Head for Scrutiny and Equalities be authorised to agree the final report before its submission to Cabinet, after consultation with the Scrutiny Lead for Prosperous Communities.
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End of Life Care - Report of the Health Scrutiny Panel PDF 225 KB Minutes: The Chair introduced the report submitting the recommendations of the Health Scrutiny Panel’s review on End of Life Care.
Members of the Committee expressed their thanks to Councillor Stephanie Eaton and officers for all their hard work, and
RESOLVED
1. To agree that the draft report be taken forward for submission to Cabinet, and
2. That the Service Head for Scrutiny and Equalities be authorised to agree the final report before its submission to Cabinet, after consultation with the Chair of the Health Scrutiny Panel.
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Early Intervention, Child Protection - Report of the Scrutiny Working Group PDF 258 KB Minutes: The Chair introduced the report submitting the recommendations of the Early Intervention – Child Protection Working Group
Members of the Committee expressed their thanks to Councillor Bill Turner and officers for all their hard work, and
RESOLVED
1. To agree that the draft report be taken forward for submission to Cabinet, and
2. That the Service Head for Scrutiny and Equalities be authorised to agree the final report before its submission to Cabinet, after consultation with the Scrutiny Lead for Excellent Public Services.
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Child Poverty - Report of the Scrutiny Working Group PDF 38 KB Additional documents: Minutes: Further to his declaration of a personal and prejudicial interest, Councillor Oliur Rahman left the room during the Committee’s decision making and voting on this item.
David Galpin, Legal Advisor to the Committee, informed Members that as this report had only be made available at the start of the meeting, it did not satisfy the requirements of paragraph 5.1 of the Access to Information Procedure Rules detailed within Part 4 of the Council’s Constitution, and therefore the Chair would need to decide whether or not it should be accepted under the ‘special circumstances’ detailed at paragraph 6.5.
At the request of the Chair, Lutfur Ali, Assistant Chief Executive, advised the Committee that the report had been unavailable for public inspection within the standard timescales set out in the Constitution, because the Working Group were reliant on vital information not received in time by one of the partner agencies.
Councillor Anne Jackson, Scrutiny Lead, One Tower Hamlets, further advised that it was important that the report be considered prior to consideration of the Child Poverty Strategy by the Cabinet at it’s meeting the following evening.
The Chair subsequently agreed the special circumstances and reasons for urgency as reported to the meeting and determined that the item should be considered at the meeting.
Councillor Jackson introduced the report to the Committee and additionally took the opportunity to thank all the Council officers who contributed to undertaking the review.
The Committee noted that the main aim of the review was to consider a community leadership model which contributed to creating One Tower Hamlets using child poverty as a case study. In focusing on this, the Working Group considered the following:
· Key issues related to child poverty including:
- English for Speakers of other Languages and courses to improve literacy and numeracy skills; - Access to employment, including childcare provisions; - The London Child Poverty Pledge; - The Employment Strategy; - The role of Job Centre Plus.
· Use of Members’ experience to develop a greater understanding, through research, focus groups and interviews, of the experience of local people living in poverty; · Establish how the research and casework element of Members’ work can be used to help develop the Tackling Child Poverty Strategy; · Access information available to Members to exercise their community leadership role; · Develop and test and evaluate a model of community leadership role for strengthening One Tower Hamlets.
Members of the Committee expressed their support for the recommendations and thanked Councillor Jackson and the Working Group for their work on addressing child poverty.
The Committee
RESOLVED
1. To agree that the draft report be taken forward for submission to Cabinet, and
2. That the Service Head for Scrutiny and Equalities be authorised to agree the final report before its submission to Cabinet, after consultation with the Scrutiny Lead for One Tower Hamlets.
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Overview and Scrutiny Committee Annual Report PDF 43 KB Additional documents: Minutes: The Chair presented the draft report detailing the work undertaken by both the Committee and the Scrutiny Lead Members and their working groups during the year.
The Committee discussed the ongoing progress that had been made in embedding Overview and Scrutiny within the Council, and the fact that the majority of the work programme agreed at the start of the year had been delivered. It was noted that although some Members did not have Scrutiny Leads roles, they had made significant contributions to the work of the Committee.
The Chair thanked the Committee for their efforts over the last 12 months.
Before agreeing the recommendations Councillor Waiseul Islam asked that the final report be circulated to all Members of the Committee before it’s submission to Council.
On a vote of 5 FOR and 1 ABSTENTION the Committee
RESOLVED
To endorse the draft report and authorise the Service Head, Scrutiny and Equalities to agree the final report before its submission to Council, following consultation with the Chair and relevant Scrutiny Leads.
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PRE-DECISION SCRUTINY OF SECTION ONE (UNRESTRICTED) CABINET PAPERS (Time allocated – 10 minutes)
Minutes: The Chair moved and it was RESOLVED
That the following pre-decision questions be submitted to Cabinet for consideration:
Agenda Item 7.1 Tower Hamlets 2009/12 Housing Strategy (CAB 146/089)
1. Did the Cabinet consider whether we would have been better off building new large family size homes rather than buy back properties?
2. As part of this scheme will the Council buy back RSLs properties which were sold under the right to buy scheme?
Agenda Item 11.1 Five Boroughs Olympic Joint Committee (CAB 149/089)
1. Can the Cabinet Clarify why Newham and Hackney are leading on this and how the decision to make Sir Robin Wales the Chair of the Committee was agreed?
2. How much will Tower Hamlets contribute towards this Committee and what is the expected benefit as this does not seem to be clear?
Agenda Item 11.2 High Street 2012 Historic Buildings Conservation Scheme ( CAB 150/089)
1. Can the Cabinet clarify why the St Clements Hospital site is not on the list of the High Street 2012 historic buildings conservation scheme?
2. What measure is the Council taking to re-open the Bow road toilets under the high street 2012 scheme?
Agenda Item 13.1 Review of the Council’s Lettings Policy (CAB 152/089)
1. Will the Cabinet consider giving greater priority to waiting time within our Lettings Policy as a consideration in allocating properties
The meeting ended at 8.55pm
Chair, Councillor Abdul Asad Overview and Scrutiny Committee |