Agenda and draft minutes
Venue: C1, 1st 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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APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE To receive any apologies for absence. Minutes: Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Ahmed Omer and Fozol Miah.
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DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST 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: Councillors Alibor Choudhury, Rabina Khan and Rania Khan declared personal and prejudicial interests in agenda item 6.1 on the basis that they were Members of the Cabinet when the original decision was taken, and all left the room during the Committee’s decision making and voting on this item.
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UNRESTRICTED MINUTES To confirm as a correct record of the proceedings the unrestricted minutes of the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 8 March 2011.
Minutes: The Chair Moved and it was:-
RESOLVED
That the unrestricted minutes of the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 7 March 2011 be approved and signed by the Chair as a correct record of the proceedings.
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REQUESTS TO SUBMIT PETITIONS To be notified at the meeting. Minutes: There were no petitions formally received under this item however Councillor Marc Francis submitted a petition containing 400 signatories as part of the Call-in requisition detailed at 5.1 on the agenda.
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SECTION ONE REPORTS 'CALLED IN' |
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Report Called In - Commercial Activities in Victoria Park (Time allocated – 30 minutes)
Additional documents: Minutes: Further to their respective declarations of personal and prejudicial interests, Councillors Alibor Choudhury, Rabina Khan and Rania Khan left the room during the Committee’s decision making and voting on this item.
Councillor Ohid Ahmed who had not been present for the previous agenda item also left the room during this time.
The Committee considered a presentation of the Call-in by Councillors Marc Francis and Amy Whitelock who detailed the reasons for the Call-in and the alternative courses of action proposed. Councillor Francis also submitted a petition on behalf of four hundred local residents.
Committee Members put detailed questions to both Councillors on a number of issues including the historical use of the site, the growth of annual events, whether or not the London Borough of Hackney had been approached regarding a financial contribution, the amount of income Tower Hamlets actually received, whether or not consultation had taken place with residents adjacent to the four proposed new sites, and why alternate methods of funding had not been sought for Paradise Gardens.
The Lead Member for Regeneration, Councillor Rania Khan, and Heather Bonfield, Interim Service Head - Cultural Services, responded on behalf of the Cabinet commenting that the policy sought to achieve a careful balance between the needs of the local community and that of the Council to generate income, with the number of commercial and non commercial events proposed making this viable.
The Council was required to find savings of £72 million over the next 3 years and to achieve this income needed to be generated. It was not possible to hold all the free community events as well as reducing the number of commercial events.
After the ‘Radiohead’ event the Council had commissioned a specialist external review of the Park to determine the optimum location of the infrastructure for events, the maximum sound levels that should be permitted, a risk assessment relating to the number of events that should be permitted and arrangements to ensure that robust controls were in place during events to ensure that sound limits were not exceeded. These had operated successfully and in 2010 an average of less than ten complaints per event had been received.
The noise in parks was monitored by sound specialists at specific points throughout the event season and a report prepared suggesting any improvements which could be made for the following year. Victoria Park was 218 acres whereas the shielded site was around 39 acres, which is only 18% of the park.
Approval for ‘Lovebox’ had not been granted primarily to fund the Fireworks event. One of the benefits of the programme was that it had enabled the promotion of community events including the annual Fireworks event, but the two were not inextricably linked. One of the problems with the Fireworks event was that its attendance has grown exponentially over the past three years – from 45,000 in 2008, to over 60,000 in 2009 and over 90,000 in 2010, and there was no way to ... view the full minutes text for item 5.1 |
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SCRUTINY SPOTLIGHT Councillor Rabina Khan, Cabinet Member for Housing, will attend to report on her portfolio.
(Time allocated – 30 minutes)
Minutes: Councillor Rabina Khan, Lead Member for Housing, had circulated a detailed presentation on aspects of her portfolio prior to the meeting which focused on areas set out below:-
Achievements
• Tower Hamlets Homes awarded 2 stars and £94.5m Decent Home Funding secured. • Awarded £96.8m in 10/11 delivering over 600 affordable homes in Tower Hamlets. • Progress on Ocean and Blackwall Reach Regeneration Schemes. • Over 230 overcrowded households re-housed through RTB Buy Back. • New Lettings Policy Implemented. • Number of Households in T.A. dropped below 1,800. • 190 DFGs approved and 137 delivered. • Cost of T.A. re-negotiated saving £1.5M and £0.9M savings made from the Lean Programme.
Priorities
• New Housing Strategy to reflect Localism Bill. • Delivering Decent Homes. • Options Appraisal for Housing Management. • Reduce Overcrowding. • Develop an affordable housing product for Tower Hamlets. • Continue to deliver 1000 units of affordable units per year. • Implement changes to Leaseholder Services. • Oceans Estate refurbishment works.
Challenges
• Welfare Reform. • Delivery of Decent Homes. • Continue Supply of New and Affordable Housing. • Manage Demand for Housing. • Reduce Carbon Emissions. • Improve Health and Reduce Inequality for Elderly and Children.
Members of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee then posed a series of questions to which Councillor Khan, supported by Ms Jackie Odunoye, ServiceHead Strategy, Regeneration and Sustainability, and Mr Colin Cormack, Head of Homeless and Housing Advice Services responded. The question and answer session was centred on the following points:
The Chair thanked Councillor Khan and officers for the presentation and their responses to questions.
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REPORTS FOR CONSIDERATION |
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Draft Employment Strategy (Time allocated – 20 minutes)
Additional documents: Minutes: Councillor Rania Khan, Lead Member for Regeneration, and Mr Nick Smales, Service Head, 2012 Olympic & Paralympic Games, had been invited to the meeting at the request of the Chair to enable the Committee to comment on the Council’s draft Employment Strategy which had recently been out for consultation.
Mr Smales gave a detailed presentation in addition to the written report setting out how the Council would attempt to meet its strategic aim of increasing the employment rate of residents in the Borough over the next five years.
The question and answer session focused on the following points:
Members of the Committee thanked Councillor Khan and Mr Smales for providing a clear and concise report which had given an excellent snapshot of the challenges ahead.
RESOLVED
That the comments of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee be submitted to the Cabinet for consideration.
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PERFORMANCE MONITORING |
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Strategic Plan 2011/12: Outline Plan and Year 1 Action Plan (Time allocated – 15 minutes)
Additional documents:
Minutes: Councillor Alibor Choudhury, Lead Member for Resources, and Michael Keating, Service Head One Tower Hamlets, presented the report detailing the Council’s overall aims and objectives, the outcomes intended for people living and working in the Borough, and the actions to be taken in 2011/12 to deliver those outcomes.
The Outline Plan was accompanied by an Action Plan of key activities and milestones which had been created in line with the Mayor’s priorities and following consultation with residents, third sector organisations and partner agencies.
Arising from the discussion the following points were made:
· While it was right to place the emphasis on moving the bottom up it was also important to promote higher aspirations and excellence for all
· In addition to improving the educational aspirations of young people it was also important to encourage entrepreneurship and apprenticeships which a lot of young people wanted to pursue.
· The transformation programme was citizen centred and therefore consultation with residents was crucial to the delivery of the strategy. This would also require conveying the real meaning of the strategy so it was not seen as just another example of bureaucracy.
· In monitoring the implementation of the Strategy it will be crucial for the Committee to help deliver more fully the community leadership role of councillors, particularly how they continue to drive improvement against a context of reduced resources.
The Chair Moved and it was:
RESOLVED
That the report be noted.
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OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY MANAGEMENT |
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Safeguarding Adults at Risk - Report of the Scrutiny Working Group (Time Allocated – 10 minutes)
Additional documents: Minutes: The report was presented by Councillor Pavitt, who had acted as Chair of the working group.
She advised the Committee that the recommendations focused on the users themselves whom it was felt needed to be more involved in service planning and be part of the Safeguarding Adults Board.
The need to preserve advocacy work in the current period of public sector cuts was also acknowledged, and also given the low number of self referrals it was recommended that an independent point of contact be set up for adults who found it difficult to disclose abuse. Finally that greater training be given to adults at risk on what actually constitutes abuse so they are aware and recognise it.
Councillor Pavitt additionally took the opportunity to thank all the Council officers who contributed to undertaking the review.
After further discussion, the Chair Moved and it was:
RESOLVED
(1) That the report be agreed.
(2) That the Service Head for One Tower Hamlets be authorised to amend the draft report before submission to Cabinet, after consultation with the Scrutiny Lead for Safe and Supportive Communities.
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(Time Allocated – 10 minutes)
Minutes: Councillor Tim Archer introduced the report detailing the outcome of the Scrutiny Challenge Session on the Development of early diagnosis and preventative service held on 18 January 2011.
The session had taken place at the Mile End Hospital to enable local residents and patients to attend, and was structured to enable an exchange of information about the local approach to addressing cancer issues and an opportunity to hear stories from residents and patients about their experience of using local health services.
RESOLVED
1) That the recommendations contained within the report be agreed, and
2) That, in addition to the Cabinet, the recommendations be given to Barts and the London NHS Trust and NHS Tower Hamlets, and a written response be requested from each.
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PRE-DECISION SCRUTINY OF SECTION ONE (UNRESTRICTED) CABINET PAPERS (Time allocated – 5 minutes).
Minutes: The Chair Moved and it was –
RESOLVED
That the following Section 1 pre-decision questions be submitted to Cabinet on 6 April 2011 for consideration:
8.1 Supporting People Strategy 2011-16 (CAB 106/101)
With regards to the spending on domestic violence services, could we have more information about what services are being decommissioned and the proposed replacements, and the equality impact of these changes?
10.1 Strategic Plan 2011/12: Outline Plan and year 1 Action Plan(CAB 108/101)
With targets around educational attainment being focussed on minimum standards and tackling underachievement, why are there not targets around excellence and achieving the greatest possible number of the highest grades?
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ANY OTHER SECTION ONE (UNRESTRICTED) BUSINESS WHICH THE CHAIR CONSIDERS TO BE URGENT Minutes: Nil items.
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