Agenda and draft minutes
Venue: Room C1, 1st Floor, Town Hall, Mulberry Place, 5 Clove Crescent, London, E14 2BG
Contact: Angus Taylor, Democratic Services Tel: 020 7364 4333 E-mail: angus.taylor@towerhamlets.gov.uk
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COUNCILLOR ANN JACKSON (CHAIR) IN THE CHAIR
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APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE To receive any apologies for absence. Minutes: Apologies for absence were received on behalf of: • Councillor Stephanie Eaton (Scrutiny Lead Communities Localities and Culture). • Councillor Fozol Miah.
Noted |
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DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST PDF 56 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 Monitoring Officer.
Minutes: No declarations of interest were made. |
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UNRESTRICTED MINUTES PDF 96 KB To confirm the following as a correct record of the proceedings: · The unrestricted minutes of the extraordinary meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 17th December 2012 (attached). · The unrestricted minutes of the ordinary meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 8th January 2013 (attached). · The unrestricted minutes of the extraordinary meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 21st January 2013 (to follow). · The unrestricted minutes of the extraordinary meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 22nd January 2013 (to follow).
Additional documents:
Minutes: The Chair informed OSC members that the unrestricted minutes of the extraordinary meetings of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, held on 21st and 22nd January 2013, had been Tabled, a copy of which would be interleaved with the minutes.
The Chair Moved and it was:-
Resolved
1. That the unrestricted minutes of the extraordinary meetings of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, held on 17th December 2012, 21st January 2013, 22nd January 2013, be agreed as a correct record of the proceedings, and the Chair be authorised to sign them accordingly; and
2. That the unrestricted minutes of the ordinary meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, held on 8th January 2013, be agreed as a correct record of the proceedings, and the Chair be authorised to sign them accordingly.
Action by: Angus Taylor, Principal Committee Officer |
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REQUESTS TO SUBMIT PETITIONS To receive any petitions (to be notified at the meeting).
Minutes: There were no petitions. |
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UNRESTRICTED REPORTS 'CALLED IN' No decisions of the Mayor in Cabinet (9th January 2013) in respect of unrestricted reports on the agenda were ‘called in’.
Minutes: No decisions of the Mayor in Cabinet on 9th January 2013 had been “called in”. |
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UNRESTRICTED REPORTS FOR CONSIDERATION |
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OSC Comments on Initial 2013/14 Budget Proposals To endorse OSC comments on the Mayor’s Initial 2013/14 Budget proposals, arising from Extraordinary Budget OSC meetings held on 21st and 22nd January 2013, and to consider further comments on the Budget proposals.
Minutes: The Chair outlined: · The process to date in formulating the OSC response to consultation on the Mayor’s initial 2013/14 Budget proposals. · The purpose of this Budget session: to finalise and formally endorse the OSC response to consultation. · The next steps in the formal Budget making process. · The potential for/ purpose of a third Extraordinary Budget OSC meeting. · That the February Cabinet had been postponed, the agenda papers had not yet been published, and therefore the OSC had not had an opportunity to pre-scrutinise Budget proposals contained therein. In this context the Chair commented that it would be important for Councillor Choudhury, Cabinet Member for Resources, to attend any third extraordinary Budget OSC meeting to provide an opportunity for the OSC to receive a response to any questions/ comments it had.
The Chair informed OSC members that: · Notes, in Question and Answer format, from the two extraordinary Budget OSC meetings held on 21st and 22nd January 2013, together with a related sheet of Chair’s “summary comments” had been Tabled, a copy of which would be interleaved with the minutes. · Officer responses to outstanding questions raised at the two extraordinary Budget OSC meetings held on 21st and 22nd January 2013 had been Tabled, a copy of which would be interleaved with the minutes.
Councillor Alibor Choudhury (Cabinet Member Resources), Chris Holme (Acting Corporate Director Resources), and Alan Finch (Interim S151 Officer & Service Head Financial Services, Risk & Accountability) were in attendance to answer questions from the OSC.
A discussion followed which focused on the following points, considered beyond the scope of the tabled Q&A notes and Officer responses and requiring further clarification to be sought and given:-
CLC · Referencing the tabled Officer response on the Council’s new public health roles for infection control and prevention, and the comment therein that “The Council needs to determine if there is a budget issue before it can act”, whether the new roles went beyond that provided for in the budget of £31.2 million transferring from the NHS to the Council to accompany the transfer of PH responsibilities.(Ms Cohen, SH Commissioning & Health - AHWB). · Referencing the tabled Officer response on levels of rubbish dumping and any correlation of this to the introduction of charging for bulk rubbish collection, it was noted that call volumes reporting all “fly tipping” had increased by 10%, and although no significant increase in “fly tipping” or additional costs had been identified by Officers, consideration that further monitoring was needed to ensure that costs were contained, and this phenomena factored into the letting of bulk waste contracts. CSF · Referencing the tabled Officer response on Mayor’s Education Allowance (MEA): whether unused funding allocated for MEA (due to the linkage with student attendance) could be used in another way for the benefit of the young people it was intended to help. Also, referencing the Chair’s tabled summary comments highlighting OSC concern that monies earmarked for MEA were not being used, when this appeared predictable given the spend ... view the full minutes text for item 6.1 |
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Scrutiny Challenge Session - Mental Health and Housing
Minutes: Sarah Barr, Senior Strategy Policy and Performance Officer, gave a detailed Powerpoint presentation outlining the rationale, scope and key questions for the Challenge Session (CS) and summarising its main discussion points, key findings and recommendations. The slides were also Tabled, a copy of which will be interleaved with the minutes.
A discussion followed which focused on the following points:- · Consideration that:- ØThe finding and recommendation relating to the need for Mental Health (MH) training for Housing Options staff should be extended to include training on housing for health practitioners. A multi-agency approach would be beneficial in obtaining information about individuals as they would engage more positively with those professionals who they knew and trusted. However this would be resource intensive. ØMembers were supportive of a move away from a 3 stage to a 2 stage process, so long as there is greater transparency for residents. · Concern that the needs of prison leavers with MH issues were not met/ captured within the current system of support provided by the council or the voluntary sector. · The health prioritisation form was focused on questions regarding physical functioning and interaction with physical environment. There was now a need to progress the revision of the form to enable people to articulate any mental health problems and link MH to housing need, in order to ensure more information was obtained to inform decision making on health prioritisation; · Consideration that: ØEqualities monitoring data was required in relation to the applicants completing the health prioritisation form and those obtaining health prioritisation for housing, to determine if MH factors were exacerbated by cultural barriers. ØThere are links between MH problems and overcrowding and it was an inadequate approach to rely on priority status gained by being overcrowded to address this. More thought was needed on how to support those with a previous or existing MH condition caused by housing.There was a need to maintain a spotlight on this issue and consolidate progress to date, and therefore the recommendations should build in a future review of progress. ØThe Chair suggested that the Council could issue a statement onMH and housing and what was needed to demonstrate a MH condition that would result in prioritisation for housing. The issues were complex, and could not be ignored given the level of overcrowding in Tower Hamlets. The Committee could consider doing a full scrutiny review on this issue in 2013/14. ØThose with the most severe MH were supported by the current system eg dedicated accommodation and supported living arrangements, but a significant number of people with more subtle MH conditions were not, and supporting cases were cited. There may be insufficient housing stock to allow them to move, but if they were supported to articulate their needs and listened to this would be positive. Consideration that anyone receiving Disability Living Allowance should be prioritised for housing. Also perhaps a specialism was needed to support the tranche of people with more subtle MH conditions. |
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VERBAL UPDATES FROM SCRUTINY LEADS (Time allocated – 5 minutes each) Minutes: Health Scrutiny The Health Scrutiny Panel had met on 22nd January and both Barts NHS Trust and the NHS Tower Hamlets Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) had provided an update. Both were waiting for information on the level of future Government funding before they could form a full picture of the impact for health service provision. ,but work was underway to identify how health services would be delivered to the community in the context of reduced funding.
Two areas of enquiry work relating to Health Assets and how Public Health would work with the Voluntary Sector and using the Healthy Borough Programme model for PH were outlined.
Concern was expressed at the HSP regarding the imminent transfer of PH responsibilities to the Council in the context of a lengthy period of interim leadership. The OSC agreed that it was important that the Director of Public Health be recruited to lead the transition period on PH, and certainly before PH transferred to the Council on 1st April 2013.
Scrutiny Review - Post-16 attainment · 2 review group meetings in near future: Ø First focusing on post 16 attainment stats and the underlying reasons for poor performance compared to GCSE Ø Second focusing on external factors affecting attainment. · Also to be a site visit to engage with students and headteachers, a focus group with young people and a concluding session on recommendations. The review would complete in March.
Scrutiny Review - Co regulation and the Accountability of Registered Housing Providers (RPs) Second review group meeting held recently with presentations from Swan Housing and One Housing. Also heard from representative of Tower Hamlets Tenants Federation on ways to improve partnership relations, with an RP forum an emerging suggestion. The review group would visit a residents scrutiny panel shortly. A strand was emerging on the benefits of a housing qualification.
Scrutiny - Chief Executive’s Following the Councils appointment of a Head of Paid Service work would resume a review on the role/ function of a Chief Executive in a local authority generally, but with particular focus on the Mayoral model of governance. It was intended to interview former CEs to strengthen recommendations on how arrangements might operate at Tower Hamlets and examine the arrangements at other council’s with a directly elected Mayor.
Scrutiny Review - Removing the barriers to youth and graduate employment- The scoping had been further refined: · A visit to Skills Match was intended to inform recommendations, as currently young people were confused about its role and there also appeared to be a disconnect between the DWP, Skills Match and the Council to the detriment of young people. · A visit to Stepney Green School was intended to engage with leavers to determine if there was sufficient information advice and mentoring available to them. The Chair Moved and it was:-
Resolved
That the verbal updates be noted. </AI10> <AI11>
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PRE-DECISION SCRUTINY OF UNRESTRICTED CABINET PAPERS To consider and agree pre-decision scrutiny questions/comments to be presented to Cabinet.
(Time allocated – 30 minutes).
Minutes: The Chair commented that the agenda papers for the February Cabinet had been published that day, and therefore the OSC had not yet had an opportunity to pre-scrutinise the reports and submit questions/ comments; and accordingly the Chair Moved and it was:-
Resolved
That any pre- scrutiny questions or comments that OSC members had, relating to either the unrestricted or the exempt/ confidential part of the Cabinet agenda, be submitted by email to the Chair and Ms Barr, Senior SPP Officer, so that they could be put forward at the February Cabinet meeting.
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ANY OTHER UNRESTRICTED BUSINESS WHICH THE CHAIR CONSIDERS TO BE URGENT To consider any other unrestricted business that the Chair considers to be urgent.
Minutes: The Chair informed OSC members that a full response from the Mayor in respect of his reconsideration of the Strategic MSG Programme 2012-15, following referral by the OSC (17th December 2012), and subsequent reaffirming of his previous decision taking account of the correct referral document, would be circulated to them shortly.
Noted
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EXCLUSION OF THE PRESS AND PUBLIC In view of the contents of the remaining items on the agenda the Committee is recommended to adopt the following motion:
“That, under the provisions of Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended by the Local Government (Access to Information) Act 1985, the press and public be excluded from the remainder of the meeting for the consideration of the Section Two business on the grounds that it contains information defined as Exempt in Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act, 1972.”
EXEMPT/CONFIDENTIAL SECTION (Pink Papers)
The exempt committee papers in the agenda will contain information, which is commercially, legally or personally sensitive and should not be divulged to third parties. If you do not wish to retain these papers after the meeting, please hand them to the Committee Officer present. Minutes: The Chair Moved and it was: -
Resolved:
That in accordance with the provisions of Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended by the Local Government (Access to Information) Act 1985, the press and public be excluded from the remainder of the meeting for the consideration of the Section Two business on the grounds that it contained information defined as exempt or confidential in Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government, Act 1972.
SUMMARY OF EXEMPT PROCEEDINGS |
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EXEMPT/ CONFIDENTIAL MINUTES To confirm as a correct record of the proceedings: · The exempt/ confidential minutes of the extraordinary meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 17th December 2012 (attached). · The exempt/ confidential minutes of the ordinary meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 8th January 2013 (attached).
Minutes: Minutes of extraordinary OSC 17th December 2012 and ordinary OSC 8th January 2013 approved. |
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EXEMPT/ CONFIDENTIAL REPORTS 'CALLED IN' No decisions of the Mayor in Cabinet (9th January 2013) in respect of exempt/ confidential reports on the agenda were ‘called in’.
Minutes: None |
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PRE-DECISION SCRUTINY OF EXEMPT/ CONFIDENTIAL CABINET PAPERS To consider and agree pre-decision scrutiny questions/comments to be presented to Cabinet.
(Time allocated 15 minutes).
Minutes: Agreed that OSC members submit pre scrutiny questions/ comments to the Chair by email. |
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ANY OTHER EXEMPT/ CONFIDENTIAL BUSINESS THAT THE CHAIR CONSIDERS URGENT To consider any other exempt/ confidential business that the Chair considers to be urgent.
Minutes: None |