Agenda and draft minutes
Venue: Room M71 7th Floor, Town Hall, Mulberry Place, 5 Clove Crescent, London, E14 2BG
Contact: Simone Scott-Sawyer, Democratic Services Tel: 020 7364 4651 E-mail: simone.scott-sawyer@towerhamlets.gov.uk
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APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE To receive any apologies for absence. Minutes: Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Tim Archer and Canon Michael Ainsworth. |
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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: Councillor Rachael Saunders declared a personal interest in respect of agenda item 7 as she was a Councillor representative on the Richmix Board. |
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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 3rd April 2012. Minutes: The Chair Moved and it was:-
RESOLVED
That the unrestricted minutes of the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 3rd April 2012 be approved and signed by the Chair as a correct record of the proceedings.
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REQUESTS FOR DEPUTATIONS To be notified at the meeting. Minutes: There were no requests. |
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SECTION ONE REPORTS 'CALLED IN' There were no Section One reports ‘called in’ from the meeting of Cabinet held on 4th April 2012. Minutes: There were no called-in reports. |
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REPORTS FOR CONSIDERATION |
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Scrutiny Spotlight A verbal presentation will be given by Mayor Luftur Rahman. Minutes: The Chair welcomed the Mayor, Lutfur Rahman, who was in attendance with Aman Dalvi, the Interim Chief Executive. Mayor Rahman gave a verbal presentation to the Committee.
He outlined the following key points:
1. The role of Overview and Scrutiny in a Mayoral System
· Acts as a critical friend and an important check and balance on the Executive; · Ensures that the Mayor delivers his mandate for the residents of Tower Hamlets and adds value through scrutiny reviews.
2. Working more productively together
Prior to the start of this Committee meeting, the Mayor had a meeting with the Chair and it was agreed that he would build on his relationship with the OSC. To do this the following was agreed:
I. The Mayor’s office would see any call-in reports earlier to enable them to respond more effectively to OSC’s recommendations. II. The OSC would receive updates from Cabinet on actions taken in response to call-in report recommendations ; III. The Mayor and senior officers would consider more proactive engagement with the OSC in respect of key decisions, discussing issues with the Committee earlier in the process.
The Mayor welcomed the apolitical and neutral role of the OSC as key to the success of the relationship with the Executive.
3. Progress on priorities
· Housing - 2010 affordable homes were delivered in 2011/12; · ACA target was exceeded by 771 homes made decent in year 1; · Blackwall Reach – planning permission was obtained from Thames Gateway and the GLA in March for the project to go ahead.
Jobs/Industry
· 1,541 Olympic jobs for residents; · The London Living Wage had been expanded – at the December 2011 Cabinet meeting, 64 contracts were awarded with LLW; · Graduate Scheme and Apprenticeships – 20 local graduates were in post with the Council and 28 new apprentices started today.
Education/Youth
· Two new Youth Centres opened – the London Metropolitan University Youth Venue and Osmani Youth Centre; · Educational attainment had improved significantly – Tower Hamlets had the second most improved GCSE results in the country; · £400,000 had been invested in 1:1 tuition; · NEETs – current rate is 4.9%, improved from last year’s figure of 5.3%.
Community Safety/Cohesion
· 17 new police officers had been agreed through the budget; · Dealer-a-day - a total of 433 were arrested in the last financial year; · Partnership approach to English Defence League - successfully banned from marching in the borough.
Environment
· Altab Ali Park re-opened on 27th March; · Victoria Park fully re-opened on 5th May.
Health and Wellbeing
· Quit-smoking services were exceeding their targets; · Free homecare saved despite the budget constraints; · Health and Wellbeing Board developing our partnership strategy to reduce health inequality in the borough.
Arts, Heritage and Leisure
· Procurement underway for Poplar Baths; · Cable Street Mural completed last October; · Bethnal Green Memorial was given £100,000 and started in February.
New Initiatives
Looking to the next year:
· Mayor’s Education Award- 711 young people paid and awaiting schools to confirm attendance; · Aim higher - providing 4 new advisors to schools, introducing master-classes, increasing university ... view the full minutes text for item 6.1 |
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Asset Management and Value for Money Minutes: Councillor Sirajul Islam, Scrutiny Lead Resources, and Adam Walther, Strategy Policy and Performance Officer, introduced the report.
The Chair welcomed the recommendation of the corporate landlord scheme and Members commended the report and highlighted a number of issues to which the following responses were given:
Ms Pipe further explained that York Hall was not on the list as it did not make the top ten. Ms Pipe recently had a meeting with Thames Water and she notified Members that water reduction was next on the agenda.
Ms Ann Sutcliffe, Service Head, Building Schools for the Future, added that all the secondary schools now had controlled and metered flushes in the bathrooms to reduce water use.
Councillor Islam explained that moveable assets had not been covered by the review.
The Chair thanked Councillor Islam and the officers for the report.
RESOLVED
That the report be noted.
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Arts and Events Scrutiny Challenge Session Minutes: Councillor Zenith Rahman, Scrutiny Lead, Communities Localities and Culture, and Paul Gresty, Strategy Policy and Performance Officer presented the report.
The Chair acknowledged that arts and events had a large part to play in bringing different strands of the Tower Hamlets community together in an exciting and innovative way. One Member[m1] asked if it was it possible to offer art therapy to help children, young people and families. Mr Gresty was not aware of such an initiative, but said he would pass this suggestion back to the arts and events team.
The Chair thanked the Councillor and officer for presenting the report.
RESOLVED
That the report be noted.
[m1]? |
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VERBAL UPDATES FROM SCRUTINY LEADS (Time allocated – 5 minutes each) Minutes: Scrutiny Lead, Development and Renewal – Councillor Helal Uddin
Councillor Uddin said he and Cllr Saunders had met with Colin Cormack from the Housing Options Service to discuss housing issues for people with mental health problems in particular, and how we could ensure better housing provision for people with these issues. They discussed how the health assessments were made and reported to the service – they found that doctors were not obliged to provide a breakdown of factors affecting a patient. They were also concerned about the ability of people with mental health problems to participate in the bidding process and whether this affected their prospects of obtaining suitable housing. Cllr Uddin said he would continue to look into this issue.
Scrutiny Lead, Children Schools and Families - Councillor Amy Whitelock
Councillor Whitelock discussed the review of children’s centres which she had undertaken this year, addressing concerns in relation to the process, communication with members and parents and outcomes in terms of provision of different services. She said she would be submitting the final report to the OSC in June.
Scrutiny Lead, Adults Health and Wellbeing [HWB] - Councillor Rachel Saunders
Councillor Saunders outlined the following points for the Committee:
· There had been one Health Scrutiny Panel [HSP] and a meeting with officers since the last OSC, which focused on service users, their views and their influence; · There was a presentation by the Barts Health Trust at the last meeting and it was hoped that the HSP would continue to have a good dialogue with them; · The relationship between the HSP and the Health and Wellbeing Board was in need of clarification.
One Member [m1] enquired if it was possible to benchmark with other boroughs to ascertain the right way forward with regards to Health scrutiny functions.
Councillor Saunders explained that as the Chair of the HSP, she was able to attend meetings of the HWB, albeit in a non-voting capacity. It was currently a shadow board, soon to be placed on a statutory footing from which point the relationship should become more formalised.
The Chair updated the Committee on the work she had carried out to date in relation to the referral from full Council about funding for the Rich Mix and Bancroft Library. She had met with Rich Mix and CLC officers . She had found that Rich Mix had met their required targets and should therefore receive the monies. The problems stemmed from an oversight by the LDA, but the management of the centre was much improved.
RESOLVED
That the verbal presentations be noted.
[m1]? |
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PRE-DECISION SCRUTINY OF SECTION ONE (UNRESTRICTED) CABINET PAPERS (Time allocated – 30 minutes). |
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Section 1 Pre-Decision Questions be Submitted to Cabinet on 9th May 2012 To consider any Section 1 pre-decision questions that the Committee may wish to submit to Cabinet at its meeting on 9th May 2012.
Minutes: Nil items.
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Mayoral Decisions
i. To note that no Mayoral decisions have been published.
ii. To receive a verbal update on recent Mayoral decisions which have been called-in.
Minutes: Nil items.
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ANY OTHER SECTION ONE (UNRESTRICTED) BUSINESS WHICH THE CHAIR CONSIDERS TO BE URGENT Minutes: The Chair drew Members’ attention to the tabled list of draft dates for the new municipal year.
In conclusion, the Chair noted:
· That it had been a successful year with regards to the budget; · Additional work had been undertaken with TfL successfully; · The OSC had made some inroads with regards to youth service provision[m1] ; · However, there had been poor reporting of key decisions and it was hoped that this would improve, thereby improving the relationship with the Mayor; · It was anticipated that the issues facing workers in third sector organisations would be looked at.
Ms Sarah Barr, Senior Strategy Policy and Performance Officer reminded Members that the Annual Report would be submitted to the next Committee in June.
Finally, the Chair thanked all the Members and officers for all their hard work throughout the municipal year.
The meeting ended at 8.50 pm.
Chair – Councillor Ann Jackson Overview & Scrutiny Committee
[m1]What this mean and refer to? |