Agenda and 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-Gibbs (Scrutiny Lead Member for Children’s Schools & Families). · Councillor Stephanie Eaton (Scrutiny Lead Member for Resources). · Dr Phillip Rice (Co-opted Member - Church of England Diocese Representative). · Mayor Lutfur Rahman. · Councillor Ohid Ahmed (Deputy Mayor). · Councillor Alibor Choudhury (Cabinet Member for Resources). · Councillor Rabina Khan (Cabinet Member for Housing). · Aman Dalvi (Corporate Director Development and Renewal) for whom Ann Sutcliffe (Service Head Strategic Property, Development & Renewal) andJackie Odunoye (Service Head Strategy Regeneration & Sustainability, Development & Renewal) were deputising.
· Memory Kampiyawo (Co-opted Member – Parent Governor Representative) would be leaving the meeting early to attend another engagement.
The Chair informed OSC members that: - · Cabinet Members with portfolio for items on the agenda had given apologies for absence due to other commitments/ annual leave, despite notice being given well in advance of the meeting that attendance was required by the OSC. The OSC was therefore unable to fulfil its constitutional function of undertaking full and appropriate scrutiny, by asking them questions/ holding them to account for decisions made by the Executive. Officers were only able to provide factual information and could not answer questions about the political rationale for decisions taken. · One Cabinet member had indicated that he would be happy to attend a special OSC meeting on an alternative date to discuss Watts Grove Depot and the Mayor’s Car. His regular past attendance at OSC, when requested, was appreciated; however this suggestion was absolutely unacceptable. How would it be perceived if the OSC Chair said he was unable to attend Cabinet to fulfil his role and could a special Cabinet meeting be arranged to accommodate this? · The OSC meeting dates were set will in advance and if the OSC required Cabinet Members to be present to allow for appropriate scrutiny, they should attend. All the dates should be diarised and this would prevent most reasons for non-attendance occurring. Therefore with OSC agreement he intended to ask Cabinet members to diarise all future OSC meetings as a formal invitation from OSC, that they should assume their attendance was required until told otherwise, and that they treat this commitment as their priority engagement should they be asked to attend.
Clarification was sought and given as to the constitutional provisions for the OSC to require the attendance of Members and Officers at OSC meetings, the provisions for addressing non-attendance in such instances and whether case law existed on this matter. OSC could require attendance of both, and non-attendance in such instances may be a matter for the Council’s standards framework, if there was misconduct. Officers were unaware of any pertinent case law but could look into this at the request of the OSC.
The Chair Moved and it was:-
Resolved
That the apologies for absence be received and noted.
Action by: Angus Taylor (Principal Committee Officer, Democratic Services, CE’s)
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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 Interim Monitoring Officer.
Minutes: No declarations of Disclosable Pecuniary Interest or other declarations of interest were made.
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UNRESTRICTED MINUTES PDF 177 KB To confirm as a correct record of the proceedings the unrestricted minutes of the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 5th November 2013.
Minutes: The Chair informed OSC members that: · At the last OSC meeting he had indicated that: o He would be inviting the Mayor to attend the next OSC meeting [3rd December], for one of a series of ‘spotlight sessions’ during the year. o He would again be requesting the Mayor’s diary commitments on future scheduled OSC meeting dates, so as to identify an OSC meeting he could attend, if he could not attend on 3rd December, and if necessary would submit a Freedom of Information request for this information. · He had extended the invitation at Cabinet on 6th November and formalised this in a subsequent letter. Unfortunately the Mayor had declined the invitation, because of prior commitments and this was the sixth such declined invitation. · He had received no response to his written request for the Mayor’s diary sheets, and consequently had submitted a Freedom of Information Act request for this information. As yet there had been no response to the FOI request and the information had not been provided. · The Mayor’s absence was extremely disappointing, as the OSC had constantly asked him to attend so he could be held to account for his decisions, including his decision on Watts Grove Depot (to be discussed later in the meeting) to scrap 149 affordable new homes badly needed by the community, but he had refused to attend. The OSC’s role was to hold the Executive to account, but it was clear the Mayor was not interested in the democratic process, he just wanted power without a care for the consequences of his decisions. The Mayor had also refused to answer questions at full Council so there was no public forum where he was prepared to answer questions, it was not just an issue relating to OSC. · The Chair considered that as the 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, with the passage of time the spotlight theme would be less meaningful. Additionally the Chair felt that the Mayor’s attendance should be congruent with the 2013/14 OSC Work Programme and to determine this he required details of the Mayor’s diary commitments on other scheduled OSC meeting dates. He considered that this OSC request/ FOI request were important, and the diary sheets should have been provided. · Therefore, with OSC agreement, he intended to invite the Mayor to the next OSC meeting [7th January} for the spotlight session, but also to press for a response to his Freedom of Information request for details of the Mayor’s diary commitments on future scheduled OSC meeting dates, should he not be able to attend the meeting on 7th January.
The Chair Moved and it was:-
Resolved
That the unrestricted minutes of the ordinary meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, held on 5th November 2013, be agreed as a correct record of the proceedings, and the Chair be authorised to sign ... view the full minutes text for item 3. |
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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 - 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 (6th November 2013) in respect of unrestricted reports on the agenda were ‘called in’.
Whether any recent unrestricted decisions of the Mayor outside Cabinet, taken under executive powers, were “Called In” will be notified at the meeting.
Minutes: The clerk informed OSC members that: · No unrestricted decisions of the Mayor in Cabinet on 6th November 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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Report to Follow - To consider the information presented in the report and prepare a response for submission to Council.
Additional documents:
Minutes: Please note that an element of OSC deliberations relating to this item of business took place in Part Two of the proceedings or “closed session” (Exempt/ Confidential Section of the agenda), for the reasons outlined by the Chair below. However, for ease of reference, the deliberations/ decision taken that pertain to the unrestricted report are set out below in the order detailed in the agenda.
The Chair informed the OSC that: · The report comprised of two parts: an unrestricted report now before the OSC for consideration, and two appendices thereto which contained exempt/ confidential information (as defined in Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972) due to its commercially sensitive nature, the consideration of which was required in “closed session” (Exempt/ Confidential Section of the agenda: agenda Item 14.1). After an initial introduction of the unrestricted report and any discussion thereof in “open session”, it would therefore be necessary to exclude the public and press during consideration of the exempt/ confidential appendices. However he considered it was important that as much of the discussion as possible took place in “open session”. · It was disappointing that the Mayor and Cabinet Members with portfolio for this matter, nor any members of the Executive, were in attendance for this item. He reiterated that their absence meant that the OSC was unable to fulfil its constitutional function of undertaking full and appropriate scrutiny, by asking them questions/ holding them to account for decisions made by the Executive. In their absence he would ask Officers to introduce the report, but emphasised/ asked the OSC to note that Officers were only able to provide factual information eg on financial / contractual / process issues, and could not answer questions about the political rationale for decisions taken.
Special Circumstances and Reasons for Urgency The Chair informed OSC members that the special circumstances and reasons for urgency associated with consideration of the report were set out on the front of the report as below:-.
“This matter was considered by the OSC at its meeting on 5 November 2013, following which, the matter was adjourned with requests for action as outlined in this report. Unfortunately, the time taken to complete the work was such that this report was not published with the main agenda for the Committee’s meeting of 3 December 2013. Given that the Committee is responding to a request from Council, the Committee may wish to deal with the item at its meeting of 3 December 2013 rather than waiting to a later meeting so as to allow the statutory notice period to be met.”
The Chair subsequently agreed the special circumstances and reasons for urgency, indicating that he was satisfied that the matter was urgent, as defined in the Authority’s Constitution (Part 4 Rules of Procedure, Section 4.2 Access to Information Procedure Rules, Rule 6 Items of Business, sub paragraphs 6.3 and 6.5. The special circumstances justifying urgency being as detailed above.
Ann Sutcliffe (Service Head Strategic Property) in ... view the full minutes text for item 7.1 |
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Reference from Council - Executive Mayor's Car PDF 88 KB To consider the information presented in the report and prepare a response for submission to Council.
Additional documents: Minutes: Chris Holme (Acting Corporate Director Resources) in introducing the report, which provided:- · An explanation of why this matter had been referred to OSC to investigate and report back to full Council. · All relevant information on the matter to enable OSC to undertake full scrutiny of the issues and reach an informed conclusion as requested by OSC (October meeting). summarised the salient points contained therein and highlighted key points for the information of the OSC. Paul Thorogood (Interim Service Head Finance & HR Development) and Martin McGrath (Finance Manager Chief Executive’s and Resources Directorates) were also in attendance for this item.
The following points were highlighted by Chris Holme: · The decision to provide suitable transport facilities for the Executive Mayor, and separate arrangement for the Speaker of the Council was made in 2011 following a detailed options appraisal. · Business case/ value for money offered by the current arrangements for transporting the Executive Mayor [Mayor’s car]: o The current arrangements comprised of over 90% fixed costs including employee costs [driver salary], vehicle lease, insurance, and variable costs being fuel; with the total cost approximately £42,000 per annum. There would be significant redundancy costs if the current arrangements ceased and a termination cost of approximately £5,000 for the lease, which tapered off as the lease agreement neared expiry in October 2014. o Were the driver to return to his role of driving the Speaker he would be utilised less, as the Speaker attended fewer engagements and this would be wasteful of Council resources. o The LBTH arrangements for transport of the Executive Mayor were not unique and a review had shown the costs were comparable with neighbouring local councils. · The decision that there should be separate arrangements for the Mayor and Speaker did however result in two lease cars currently and the OSC might wish to consider if that merited review in the future.
A comprehensive discussion followed which focused on the following points:- · Clarification sought and given as to whether the current arrangements for transporting the Mayor (car and driver), at an approximate cost of £176 per working day represented value for money, particularly if compared to the costs of using a taxi instead. A large element of the cost of current arrangements was fixed, such as employee costs and lease-hire charges and consequently significant redundancy and premature contract termination costs would be incurred if these arrangements ceased. · Consideration that one premise underpinning the business case/ value for money assessment of the current arrangements, that driver redundancy costs needed taken into account when assessing the costs of terminating the arrangements was flawed, as the driver could revert to the former role of driving the Speaker, and this would also yield a saving in relation to the substantial insurance costs of the Speaker’s lease car relating to the Speaker’s chain of office. This should be explored and factored into the review requested by full Council. Were the driver to return to his role of driving the Speaker he would be utilised less, as the ... view the full minutes text for item 7.2 |
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Budget Update · To consider a verbal report on the 2014/15 Budget scrutiny process and note the presentation made.
Minutes: Chris Holme (Acting Corporate Director Resources) and Paul Thorogood (Interim Service Head Finance & Human Resource Development)gave a detailed presentation (PowerPoint slides Tabled, a copy of which would be interleaved with the minutes) which focused on:- · The current financial context for Budget proposals being developed by the Executive, to be published on 24 December 2013 and considered by the Mayor in Cabinet on 8th January. · The proposed public consultation process and process for OSC Budget Scrutiny in January. The following points were highlighted:-
A discussion followed, which focused on the following points: · Assurance sought and given that the proposed approach for OSC Budget scrutiny in January, as with previous years, would allow for OSC consideration of current savings targets and related performance, together with the validity of assumptions underpinning financial planning and in particular future savings targets. The report on the Budget presented to January OSC should include a table of savings and identify those not met. · Clarification sought and given as to whether the level of savings identified as required in 2015/16 (£28.5 million) might change; and whether this might provide scope to allocate additional resources for Council priorities. The planned level of savings was absolute as it represented 5 to 7 percent of the net General Fund, a parameter which the Acting Corporate Director Resources was required to keep within. Similarly with the level of savings identified as required in 2016/17 (£42.5 million). It might be possible to review this in 2017/18 as the scale of the Council reduced. · Clarification sought and given as to whether there was any intention to identify further savings with a view to reducing the £7.5 million to be used from Reserves in 2014/15 to manage the Council’s funding gap. Discussions with the Executive and directorates were ongoing and the sooner savings were agreed the sooner planning for 2015/16 could commence. Provided there were no surprises in the Government Settlement announcement in December no further savings would be needed in 2014/15. · Consideration that the proposed approach of using reserves to meet any Budget gap was not prudent and the rationale for this was unclear. Would It not be a better approach to identify savings that could be made in the near future thereby reducing the pressure to find savings of a larger scale later. The financial strategy agreed by the Council in March 2013 was being adhered to. · Clarification sought and given as to whether there were areas where agreed savings had not been achieved. Approximately £91 million of savings had been identified for delivery since 2010 and ... view the full minutes text for item 7.3 |
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VERBAL UPDATES FROM SCRUTINY LEADS To receive an oral update from each of the Scrutiny Lead Members.
Minutes: Scrutiny Lead Children Schools and Families – Cllr Amy Whitelock-Gibbs The Chair informed OSC members that Councillor Whitelock-Gibbs had held an informative challenge session on School Places with Officers from Education, Social Care and Wellbeing Directorate and London Councils. A report was currently being prepared and would be submitted for OSC and Cabinet consideration in due course.
The Chair Moved and it was:-
Resolved
That the verbal update 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.
Minutes: No pre-decision questions submitted to the Mayor in Cabinet [04 December 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: 1) Electoral Registration and Election Arrangements report The Chair commented that the OSC had agreed at its October meeting to include a further comprehensive report on arrangements to ensure the integrity of electoral registration and the 2014 elections in its current work programme. Officers had not indicated when the report would be presented for OSC consideration, and with the 2014 elections approaching he considered it important for the OSC to receive this report as soon as possible, to ensure proactive steps were being taken to ensure the integrity of arrangements. Therefore with OSC agreement he intended to include this report on the OSC agenda for consideration in January 2014.
2) Deferred & Outstanding Items report The Chair commented that the OSC had requested other reports, briefing papers and information at meetings over the past year and he considered it would be helpful to receive a short “Deferred and Outstanding Items” report at future OSC meetings which allowed the OSC to track progress with its requests.
Action by: John Williams (Service Head Democratic Services, Returning Officer, Electoral Registration Officer) [Item 1 above] Louise Stamp (Electoral Services Manager) [Item 1 above]
Angus Taylor (Principal Committee Officer, Democratic Services, CE’s) [Item 2 above]
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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 meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 5th November 2013.
Minutes: Exempt/ confidential minutes of the OSC meeting held on 5th November 2013 approved subject to a minor amendment.
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EXEMPT/ CONFIDENTIAL REPORTS 'CALLED IN' There were no decisions of the Mayor in Cabinet (6th November 2013) in respect of exempt/ confidential reports on the agenda, and therefore none eligible for ‘Call In’.
Whether any recent exempt/ confidentialdecisions of the Mayor outside Cabinet, taken under executive powers, were “Called In” will be notified at the meeting.
Minutes: Nil items.
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EXEMPT REPORTS FOR CONSIDERATION |
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Reference from Council - Watts Grove Depot Project and financial mechanisms for Dame Colet House and Poplar Baths projects Report to follow - To consider the information presented in the report and prepare a response for submission to Council.
Minutes: Motion from Chair agreed which is set out in the unrestricted minute at agenda item 7.1 above.
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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.
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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