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 MOTIN UZ ZAMAN (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 Amy Whitelock, Scrutiny Lead for Children & Adults, for whom Councillor Judith Gardiner was deputising. · Mayor Lutfur Rahman. · Stephen Halsey, Head of Paid Service and Corporate Director Communities Localities and Culture, for whom Andy Bamber, Service Head Safer Communities, Communities Localities and Culture, was deputising.
· Apologies for lateness were received on behalf of Councillor Gardiner.
Noted
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DECLARATIONS OF DISCLOSABLE PECUNIARY 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: Councillor Gardiner declared a personal and professional interest in agenda item 8.1 Community Safety Partnership Plan 2013-16 as the content/ recommendations in the report were pertinent to the future of the Probation Service in Tower Hamlets and Councillor Gardiner was a serving Probation Officer.
Action by: Angus Taylor (Principal Committee Officer, Democratic Services, CE’s)
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UNRESTRICTED MINUTES PDF 112 KB To confirm as a correct record of the proceedings the unrestricted minutes of the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 23rd July 2013. Minutes: Matter Arising
The Chair: · Informed OSC members that at the last OSC meeting Councillor Rachael Saunders, Vice-Chair OSC (in the Chair), had indicated that he would be inviting the Mayor to attend the next OSC meeting [10th September], for one of a series of ‘spotlight sessions’ during the year. This spotlight was intended to focus on the challenges and opportunities the Mayor foresaw for delivery of improved quality of life for local people in the year ahead, and consequently with the passage of time the spotlight theme would be less meaningful. Councillor Rachael Saunders, Vice-Chair (representing the Chair) had extended the invitation at Cabinet on 31st July and the Chair had formalised this in a subsequent letter. Unfortunately the Mayor had declined the invitation, because of prior commitments and this was the third such declined invitation. The Mayor had indicated he was available on several future dates, but these were not scheduled OSC meeting dates and the Chair considered that the Mayor should attend one of the latter. Therefore, with OSC agreement, he intended to invite the Mayor to the next OSC meeting [1st October} for the spotlight session, but also to request details of the Mayor’s diary commitments on future scheduled OSC meeting dates, should he not be able to attend the meeting on 1st October. This was in order to identify a meeting he could attend, and thereby prevent non-attendance and disrespecting of the OSC through this.
The Chair Moved and it was:-
Resolved
That the unrestricted minutes of the ordinary meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, held on 23rd July 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, Democratic Services, CE’s)
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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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SCRUTINY SPOTLIGHT - COMMUNITY SAFETY To receive an oral presentation from Mr Stringer , Borough Commander of the Metropolitan Police and Councillor Ohid Ahmed, Deputy Mayor. Minutes: 8.1 Community Safety Partnership Plan 2013-16
Variation of Order of Business At this juncture the Chair informed OSC members that he considered it appropriate that the Order of Business be varied so that agenda item 8.1 “Community Safety Partnership Plan 2013-16” be considered in conjunction with agenda item 5 “Scrutiny Spotlight - Community Safety” because the content of the items was thematically linked. Accordingly the Chair Moved and it was:-
Resolved
1. That the order of business be varied to allow for Agenda Items 5 and 8.1 below be considered in conjunction: · Agenda item 5. Scrutiny Spotlight - Community Safety · Agenda item 8.1 Community Safety Partnership Plan 2013-16
2. Subsequently return to the order of business detailed in the agenda.
Special Circumstances and Reasons for Urgency The Chair informed members of the Committee that the special circumstances and reasons for urgency associated with the proposals were detailed on the front page of the report and that the Constitution required that he agree these before OSC consideration of the report could take place. The Chair subsequently agreed the special circumstances and reasons for urgency as set out on the front page of the report and also set out below:
The Community Safety Plan is a statutory document that the Council is obliged to deliver at the earliest available opportunity. A request was made by the Chair of Overview and Scrutiny to clarify the public consultation section of the plan; this was done by amending the appendices requiring additional legal input. Deferment would adversely impact on the Council’s ability to engage with the Partnership to reduce crime and anti-social behaviour.
Declaration of Interest Councillor Gardiner declared a personal and professional interest in agenda item 8.1 Community Safety Partnership Plan 2013-16 as the content/ recommendations in the report were pertinent to the future of the Probation Service in Tower Hamlets and Councillor Gardiner was a serving Probation Officer.
Mr Dave Stringer, Borough Commander Metropolitan Police, gave a detailed presentation on performance relating to crime/ community safety and associated challenges/opportunities in Tower Hamlets as follows: · Providing a comparative analysis (with neighbouring boroughs) of levels of reported crime summarised in a Tabled colour version of the chart set out at Appendix 5 to the report (pg 114 agenda pack). Also highlighting the detection level for reported crime (26% of overall crime solved over the past 12 months, one of the highest rates in London). · Highlighting challenges and opportunities relating to Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB):-
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SCRUTINY SPOTLIGHT - MAYOR To receive an oral presentation from Mayor Lutfur Rahman. Minutes: The Scrutiny Spotlight did not proceed as Mayor Lutfur Rahman had been unable to attend.
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UNRESTRICTED REPORTS 'CALLED IN' No decisions of the Mayor in Cabinet (31st July 2013) in respect of unrestricted reports on the agenda were ‘called in’.
Minutes: The clerk informed OSC members that: · No unrestricted decisions of the Mayor in Cabinet on 31st July 2013 had been “Called In”. · No recent unrestricted decisions of the Mayor outside Cabinet, taken under executive powers, had been “Called In”.
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UNRESTRICTED REPORTS FOR CONSIDERATION |
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Community Safety Partnership Plan 2013-16 PDF 97 KB To consider and Comment on the proposed Community Safety Partnership Plan 2013-16 in accordance with the Budget and Policy Framework Procedure Rules contained in the Authority’s Constitution. Additional documents: Minutes: Please note that the order of business was varied by resolution of the OSC earlier in the proceedings in order to allow this item of business to be considered in conjunction with the first item of substantive business: agenda item 5 “Scrutiny Spotlight – Community Safety”. For ease of reference OSC deliberations in respect of the CSSP 2013-16, and subsequent decisions taken, are recorded in the minutes at agenda item 5 and not set out below in the order detailed in the agenda.
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Licensing Policy Review PDF 116 KB To consider and comment on the proposed Statement of Licensing Policy in accordance with the Budget and Policy Framework Procedure Rules contained in the Authority’s Constitution. Also to consider and comment on the proposed ‘No Casino’ resolution. Additional documents:
Minutes: David Tolley, Head of Consumer and Business Regulations, introduced, and highlighted key points, in the report which set out:- · The statutory requirement for the Council to review and adopt its Statement of Licensing Policy’ at this point, and the purpose of the Statement. · Stakeholder consultation undertaken to date and inclusion of potential revisions reflecting this. Consultation with OSC under the Budget and Policy Framework contained in the Council’s Constitution, was an element of this. · The background and outcome of consultation on the proposed ‘No Casino’ resolution, which would amend the Council’s Gambling Policy, a Budget and Policy Framework matter requiring consultation with OSC. Andy Bamber, Service Head Safer Communities, was also in attendance for this item.
The following points were highlighted by David Tolley: · Statutory changes to the Licensing Policy summarized at Appendix 4. · Other key proposals for consultation:- o Late night levy and the associated allocation of income generated between the Metropolitan Police and the Council (ratio of 70% to 30%) o Early morning restriction orders which would enable the Council to limit the sale of alcohol from midnight in some areas.
A discussion followed which focused on clarification being sought and given on the following points:- · Proposals welcomed by Councillor Snowdon, a member of the Licensing Committee, including use of Ultra Violet pens to check duty paid stamps. · Acknowledging the difficulty of imposing conditions on establishments selling single items of alcohol under the provisions of the Licensing Act 2003, clarification/ assurance sought and given on proposals / plans to impose conditions under Public Health (PH) provisions, now the Council was a PH authority. Officers had examined this, and although the Council could make comments in its PH role such circumstances were not covered by the 4 Objectives of the Licensing Act 2003. The Council would endeavour to address the issue through pricing via a voluntary Community Alcohol Partnership Scheme and try to roll this out in key areas eg vicinity of hostels. The Licensing Committee could also address by adding conditions when granting applications for a license to sell alcohol. · Clarification/ assurance sought and given that the proposed Licensing Policy had not been skewed by the resident led organisations consulted, as listed at Appendix1 (32 being boroughwide, 15 being from Brick Lane, with only 5 from other areas). Comment that concern had been expressed previously over Metropolitan Police weighting of resources to the Brick Lane area, with residents elsewhere not receiving the attention they were due. Wide consultation had been undertaken including all license holders, publicity in East End Life and responses facilitated through online submission. · Given the level of campaigning/ lobbying by the local community for a policy on sex entertainment venues (SEVs) little appeared to have been done to address this. There appeared to be a holding policy where restrictions were imposed on such venues but this implied a right for them to exist/ conduct business. Why had the Council not progressed a SEV Policy and why had it not invoked the additional ... view the full minutes text for item 8.2 |
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To consider the quarterly monitoring report containing the financial position of the Council at the end of Quarter 1 compared to budget, and service performance against targets and includes year-end projection updates for the General Fund Revenue and Housing Revenue Account; and an overview of performance for all reportable strategic measures.
Additional documents:
Minutes: Councillor Alibor Choudhury, Cabinet Member for Resources, introduced, and highlighted key points, in the monitoring report which detailed the financial position of the Council at the end of Quarter 1 2013/14 compared to budget, and service performance against targets. Paul Thorogood, Interim Service Head Finance and Human Resources, and Louise Russell, Service Head Corporate Strategy and Equality, were also in attendance for this item.
A discussion followed which focused on the following point:- · Council disposals were clearly a key way to generate income in the current environment of budgetary constraint and the OSC felt greater transparency was required in this area to facilitate scrutiny of the Council’s approach to this. Accordingly OSC requested that a breakdown of all Council disposals (sale of assets), capital receipts accruing, and allocations thereof be provided to OSC members and included in future reports. Paul Thorogood to provide in writing.
The Chair Moved and it was:-
Resolved
1. That Quarter 1 performance for 2013/14 be noted; and
2. That the Council’s financial position as detailed in section 3 and Appendices 1-4 of the report, be noted.
Action by: Chris Holme, Acting Corporate Director Resources Louise Russell, Service Head Corporate Strategy and Equalities
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VERBAL UPDATES FROM SCRUTINY LEADS (Time allocated – 5 minutes each) Minutes: Scrutiny Lead Member Health – Cllr Saunders Reported that Barts and the London NHS Trust had attended the Health Scrutiny Panel and advised that they had voluntarily gone into a process of ‘Financial Turn Around’. (FTA) The Trust remained in control of its finances, unlike other trusts where the Government had appointed independent administrators. The Trust had appointed financial consultants to assist it with the FTA process. However the Trust Board priorities were no longer change and development but identifying savings. This circumstance had been created by Government requirements for in year one off savings from the existing Budget and ongoing issues with a Private Finance Initiative. More work was required to identify and scrutinise the savings and there were concerns regarding false economies of freezing posts and filling these with temporary staff during the FTA process.
Scrutiny Lead Member Communities, Localities and Culture – Cllr Helal Uddin Youth Provision, which had been returned in-house for a year was being examined and it was expected there would be a Challenge Session or Spotlight later in the year.
Scrutiny Lead Member Resources – Cllr Eaton The support given to Council staff with autism and dyslexia was being examined.
The Chair Moved and it was:-
Resolved
That the verbal updates be noted.
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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: No pre-decision questions submitted to the Mayor in Cabinet [11 September 2013].
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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 commented that the role/ function of Scrutiny was important and it was essential that OSC meetings were facilitated through appropriate provision of equipment, and the Executive was responsible for ensuring this. In this context the Chair noted that the microphones had not been working properly and this had disrupted the transaction of OSC business. Accordingly he requested that the Executive ensure that microphones fit for purpose were provided at the next and future OSC meetings as a matter of priority.
Action by: Angus Taylor (Principal Committee Officer, Democratic Services, CE’s) Jean Waterson (East India Dock Manager, Facilities Management)
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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 agenda circulated contained no exempt/ confidential business and there was therefore no requirement to exclude the press and public to allow for its consideration.
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EXEMPT/ CONFIDENTIAL REPORTS 'CALLED IN' No decisions of the Mayor in Cabinet (13th March 2013) in respect of exempt/ confidential reports on the agenda were ‘called in’.
Minutes: Nil items. |
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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: Nil items.
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