Apologies for absence were received on behalf of:

·         Councillor Mufeedah Bustin (Cabinet Member for Social Inclusion)

·         Councillor Kahar Chowdhury (Cabinet Member for Highways and Public Realm)

·         Kevin Bartle (Corporate Director, Resources) for whom Nisar Visram (Director of Finance, Procurement and Audit) was deputising.

Members are reminded to consider the categories of interest, identified in the Code of Conduct for Members to determine; whether they have an interest in any agenda item and any action they should take. For further details, see the attached note from the Monitoring Officer.

Members are also reminded to declare the nature of the interest at the earliest opportunity and the agenda item it relates to. Please note that ultimately it is the Members’ responsibility to identify any interests and also update their register of interests form as required by the Code.

If in doubt as to the nature of an interest, you are advised to seek advice prior to the meeting by contacting the Monitoring Officer or Democratic Services.

There were no Declarations of Disclosable Pecuniary Interests, however, Councillor Sirajul Islam noted in relation to Agenda Item 6.8 (Tenancy Agreement Review and Recommendations) that he was a Council tenant.

The unrestricted minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on Tuesday 18 January 2022 are presented for approval.

RESOLVED

1.    That the unrestricted minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on Tuesday 18 January 2022 be approved and signed by the Chair as a correct record of proceedings.

The Mayor made a number of announcements including that:

·       The Mayor of London had visited the Reach Community Centre in relation to work on mentoring young people and to see project work funded by City Hall.

·       He noted issues raised on child safeguarding by a national review. He welcomed the report and highlighted the importance of child safety to the Council. He thanked those who worked to keep children safe.

·       The Executive was bringing a number of growth bids forward as part of the budget process on areas including; special educational needs, community safety, fire safety, waste and recycling, anti-poverty programmes and more. The Budget will be determined by Council on 2 March.

·       Concerns were growing around the cost of living especially as inflation rates were increasing.

·       New grants were available for hospitality businesses to support them following the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Chair of Overview and Scrutiny Committee (OSC) to report on any issues  raised by the OSC in relation to unrestricted business to be considered.

Pre-Decision Scrutiny Questions and officer responses were tabled in relation to items:

·       6.1 – Delivery Report – Housing and Homes

·       6.2 – Delivery Report – Community Safety

·       6.3 – Council’s Budget 2022-23

·       6.5 – Leisure Estate Investment Plan

·       6.9 – Disposal of Property at 53 Antill Road

·       6.10 – Future of Commercial Road Car Pound

·       6.11 – LGA Corporate Peer Review Challenge

In addition, Councillor Mohammed Pappu, Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, provided Cabinet with an update from his Committee’s last meeting earlier in the week. He reported on a number of issues discussed including:

·       Joint Community Safety Spotlight with an overview of issues that policing in Tower Hamlets had to deal with. They welcomed the ongoing engagement of the Police with the work of the Committee.

·       Mayor’s Spotlight – which particularly looked at the many challenges encountered in relation to waste collection. It was recommended a clear improvement plan be provided to residents.

·       The Committee welcomed the Executive’s response to the Scrutiny review of swimming provision in the borough.

The Mayor thanked Councillor Mohammed Pappu for his update.

(Under provisions of Section 30, Rule 59 of the Constitution).

Nil items.

The Pre-Decision Scrutiny Questions and officer responses were noted.

DECISION

1.    To note the progress and actions taken by officers over the course of the last year in terms of the provision of housing and homes.

Action by:

CORPORATE DIRECTOR, PLACE (A. SUTCLIFFE)

(Director of Housing and Regeneration (K. Swift)

(Strategy and Policy Officer (U. Bedford)

Councillor Danny Hassell, Cabinet Member for Housing, introduced the report setting out the Council’s delivery against key housing targets and challenges faced by the borough. Particular issues including; the impact of Covid, use of foodbanks, Brexit (in particular around construction costs), fire safety and delivering net zero carbon amongst other issues.

He noted many areas of good performance including around supporting the homeless, dealing with overcrowded households, improvements to telephone and appointment systems and general customer access. A comprehensive programme for delivering new homes was now in operation with nearly 1000 new homes already delivered and another 1000 planned. The report also set out how the Council was supporting residents living in private rented accommodation. Over £360,000 had been levied in court charges against rogue landlords.

Cabinet also heard from a local resident who, in particular, expressed concern about the proposed changes to tenancy agreements and in particular the very low consultation responses did not give sufficient justification for such changes.

More generally he noted that housing policy was an extremely important area for Councils and the changes being made did not reflect the needs of the borough. He also questioned whether the number of new homes noted was a proper reflection of the situation. Finally, he requested that local people be prioritised for decanting to new properties.

The Mayor thanked him for his presentation and the Cabinet Member for Housing responded to the concerns raised, in particular in relation to the efforts made to ensure a good response to the consultation exercise and noting that the response levels were in line with other authorities.

The Mayor noted that there was a slide presentation attached to the report with more details on the issues covered. He noted the Pre-Decision Scrutiny Questions and officer responses and moved the recommendation as set out in the report. This was unanimously approved by the Members present and it was:

RESOLVED

1.    To note the progress and actions taken by officers over the course of the last year in terms of the provision of housing and homes.

The Pre-Decision Scrutiny Questions and officer responses were noted.

DECISION

1.            To note the contents of this report outlining delivery and achievements across the Community Safety Service in the Council over the past eighteen months.

Action by:

CORPORATE DIRECTOR, HEALTH, ADULTS AND COMMUNITY (D. RADLEY)

(Strategy and Policy Manager (J. Kerr)

Councillor Sirajul Islam, Cabinet Member for Community Safety, introduced the report providing an overview of the Council’s achievements in supporting community safety. The report was broken down into the key priority areas covering issues such as hate crime, reoffending, safeguarding and similar.

He paid tribute to officers and the previous Cabinet Member who had worked hard on these issues. He roll-called many of the individual officers who worked for Denise Radley and Ann Corbett who were the relevant Corporate Director and Director respectively. Officers then took the Cabinet through the details of the report.

The Mayor thanked officers for their presentation and the work they supported and noted that the Council provided more resources to support community safety than many authorities. He noted the Pre-Decision Scrutiny Questions and officer responses and proposed the recommendation as set out. This was unanimously agreed by the Members present and it was:

RESOLVED

1.             To note the contents of this report outlining delivery and achievements across the Community Safety Service in the Council over the past eighteen months.

The Pre-Decision Scrutiny Questions and officer responses were noted and the Scrutiny response to the draft budget presented at Cabinet on Tuesday 18 January was also noted.

DECISION

1.    To propose a General Fund Revenue Funding Requirement of £388.964m for 2022-23 subject to any remaining changes arising from the final Local Government Finance Settlement.

2.    To propose to freeze the Tower Hamlets element of Council Tax and to only levy a 1% Adult Social Care precept for 2022-23. This will result in a Band D Council Tax of £1,124.39 (Council share) 2022-23 to be referred to Full Council for approval.

3.    To propose that the Interim Corporate Director – Resources, after consultation with the Mayor and Lead Member of Resources, makes any changes required to the budget following the final settlement announcement expected in February.

4.    To note that the Council is joining the 8 Authority Pool for Business Rates with seven other London Local Authorities for 2022-23 and note that delegated authority has been given to the Section 151 Officer to implement the Council’s inclusion in the pool.

5.    To approve the 2022-23 transfers to and from corporate reserves as set out in section 3.9 of the report.

6.    To approve the continuation of £1m funding from the Public Health grant to the Key Stage Two extension of Free School Meals.

7.    To approve that the increase in the Social Care Grant for 2022-23 is allocated in full to the services (75% to adult social care and 25% to children’s social care).

8.    To propose the 2022-23 Housing Revenue Account budget as set out in Appendix 6 to the report to be referred to Full Council for approval.

9.    To approve the HRA housing rent and service charge increases as outlined in section 3.11 of the report.

10.To approve the 2022-23 Management Fee payable to Tower Hamlets Homes (THH) of £33.236m as set out in paragraph 3.11.16 of the report.

11.To note that under the Management Agreement between the Council and THH, THH manages delegated HRA income and expenditure budgets on behalf of the Council.  In 2022-23, THH will manage delegated income budgets totalling £98.842m and delegated expenditure budgets totalling £32.128m.

12.To propose the 2022-23 Schools Budget.

13.To agree that the National Schools Funding Formula (NSFF) adopted by Tower Hamlets originally in 2019-20 continues for 2022-23. The only changes included are increases to the factor values in line with the NSFF and the use of the mobility factor in the NSFF for the first time.

14.To agree that the Minimum Funding Guarantee (the mechanism that guarantees schools a minimum uplift in per-pupil funding) is set at 2.0%, the maximum allowed after consideration for growth and factor changes in School allocations.

15.To agree that the structure of the Early Years Funding Formula remains unchanged except that the two year old hourly rates will increase in line with the Early Years National Funding Formula. 

16. To note that the Local Council Tax Reduction Scheme will  ...  view the full decision text for item 6.3

Councillor Candida Ronald, Cabinet Member for Resources and the Voluntary Sector, introduced the report. She highlighted that there were two key changes since the initial draft budget had been presented at the last Cabinet meeting. These were the updated capital programme and a number of new growth bids to support front-line services.

She highlighted that December’s local government settlement had provided more money for the authority which was welcome but as it was only for one year there was a lot of uncertainty for the future. This meant that the Executive was proposing a one-year budget rather than the normal three-year medium term financial plan. She also highlighted £18 million in growth proposals including for services highlighted by residents during the recent budget consultation.

She thanked officers for their hard work to ensure the Council was able to propose the budget set out including freezing the main Council Tax charge and that overall the budget supported the goal of making Tower Hamlets safer, cleaner and fairer.

Councillor Rachel Blake, Cabinet Member for Adults, Health and Wellbeing (with responsibility for capital programmes), took Cabinet through the Cabinet Programme set out in the report and appendices. The Council was prudent to make sure resources were appropriately allocated to relevant capital projects.

Councillor Danny Hassell, Cabinet Member for Housing, then took Members through the Housing Investment Plans with significant investment planned to provide new council housing.

Cabinet heard from Councillor Peter Golds, Leader of the Conservative Group, who highlighted concerns about the costs associated with the liveable streets programme and the need to set out the cost of each scheme. 

The Mayor thanked everyone for their comments. He noted the Pre-Decision Scrutiny Questions and officer responses and noted the Scrutiny response to the draft budget presented at Cabinet on Tuesday 18 January.

He proposed the recommendations as set out to forward the budget to Council for agreement, subject to Overview and Scrutiny Committee reviewing those areas which were new to this version of the report (The Capital Schemes and additional growth bids). The recommendations were unanimously agreed by the Members present and it was:

RESOLVED

1.    To propose a General Fund Revenue Funding Requirement of £388.964m for 2022-23 subject to any remaining changes arising from the final Local Government Finance Settlement.

2.    To propose to freeze the Tower Hamlets element of Council Tax and to only levy a 1% Adult Social Care precept for 2022-23. This will result in a Band D Council Tax of £1,124.39 (Council share) 2022-23 to be referred to Full Council for approval.

3.    To propose that the Interim Corporate Director – Resources, after consultation with the Mayor and Lead Member of Resources, makes any changes required to the budget following the final settlement announcement expected in February.

4.    To note that the Council is joining the 8 Authority Pool for Business Rates with seven other London Local Authorities for 2022-23 and note that delegated authority has been given to the Section 151 Officer to implement the Council’s inclusion  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.3

The reasons for urgency were agreed.

DECISION

1.    To note the Overview and Scrutiny Challenge Session Report (Appendix 1 to the report) on Swimming Provision in the Borough.

2.    To agree the Action Plan (Appendix 2 to the report) in response to the recommendations.

Action by:

CORPORATE DIRECTOR, CHILDREN AND CULTURE (J. THOMAS)

(Head of Sports and Physical Activity (L. Pottinger)

The Mayor agreed to consider this item alongside Agenda Item 6.5 (Leisure Estate Investment Plan) and the combined minute is set out under that item.

The reasons for urgency were agreed in that the report was only finalised recently but the Chair of Overview and Scrutiny requested that it be brought to this meeting to enable it to be considered alongside the Leisure Estate Investment Plan report.

RESOLVED

1.    To note the Overview and Scrutiny Challenge Session Report (Appendix 1 to the report) on Swimming Provision in the Borough.

2.    To agree the Action Plan (Appendix 2 to the report) in response to the recommendations.

The Pre-Decision Scrutiny Questions and officer responses were noted.

The exempt appendices were noted.

In respect of Recommendations 2, 6 and 7 the Mayor agreed for officers to undertake a ‘desktop review’ (simultaneously with preparation works being undertaken) to consider the value for money of any representations made by 25 March to refurbish as opposed to rebuild the St George’s Leisure Centre. A briefing on this work would be presented to the Mayor who will provide an update to a summer Cabinet meeting on whether an alternative course of action was now being considered.

DECISION

1.    To agree that officers further develop a ten-year detailed investment plan, as part of an overarching 30-year rolling programme for the whole Leisure estate based on the model set out in this report, to be brought back to Cabinet in summer 2022.

2.    Subject to approving the Council’s 2022-23 Budget Report and Medium Term Financial Strategy 2022-25, which contains a request for £25.163m of capital funding for this project over the next three financial years, agree to the building of a new leisure centre on the St George’s Leisure Centre site at a total cost of c. £35m.

3.    To approve further work to investigate options for investing in the leisure facilities on the John Orwell Sports Centre site.

4.    Subject to approving the Council’s 2022-23 Budget Report and Medium-Term Financial Strategy 2022-25, which contains a request for £3m of capital funding for these works, agree to address the existing condition needs of the rest of the leisure estate in the financial years 2022/23, 2023/24 and 2024/25.

5.    Subject to agreement of the need to develop a ten-year detailed investment plan, authorise the establishment of a programme team with external consultancy support to oversee the development of the investment plan through to Cabinet approval in c. July 2022, in line with the resource schedule in Appendix 1 to the report, with a funding requirement of c. £130,000 for external support. This is included in the £25.163m referred to in recommendation 2 above.

6.    Subject to approving the Council’s 2022-23 Budget Report and Medium Term Financial Strategy 2022-25, to allocate funding to build a new leisure centre, authorise the procurement of an architect and multi-disciplinary design team to take the design and construction of a new build proposal through to RIBA Stage 4 and gain planning permission, in line with the resource schedule in Appendix 1 to the report, with a funding requirement of c. £1.3m for that phase, as set out in the capital budget report being considered separately at this Cabinet meeting. This is included in the £25.163m referred to in recommendation 2 above.

7.    To authorise the Corporate Director Children and Culture to instruct the execution of any necessary documentation and agreements required to give effect to recommendation 6 following an appropriate procurement process

8.    To note the Equalities Impact Assessment set out in Paragraph 4.1 of the report.

Action by:

CORPORATE DIRECTOR, CHILDREN AND CULTURE (J. THOMAS)

(Director, Commissioning and Culture,  ...  view the full decision text for item 6.5

The Mayor agreed to consider this report alongside Agenda Item 6.4 (Overview and Scrutiny review of Swimming Provision in the Borough) and the combined minute is presented here.

The two appendices exempted by virtue of paragraph 3 of Part 1 Schedule 12(A) of Local Government Act 1972 (financial impact on the authority) were considered.

Councillor Sabina Akhtar, Cabinet Member for Culture, Arts and Sports, introduced the reports. Initially she presented the Executive’s response to the Scrutiny review on Swimming provision. She welcomed the report and the proposed action plan. She recognised the importance of providing opportunity for healthy activities such as swimming and welcomed the Mayor’s commitment to retaining 5 swimming pools in the borough. The Council also had many activities, such as during school holidays, to encourage use of the borough’s pools.

The Mayor proposed the recommendations set out in Agenda Item 6.4. These were unanimously agreed by the Members present. [Note - the resolution is under Agenda Item 6.4]

Councillor Sabina Akhtar then introduced the Leisure Estate Investment Plan which set out commitments for both short- and longer-term investments in the borough’s leisure estate. The Covid pandemic had highlighted the importance of ensuring a healthy borough.

The Council was committed to providing a report to a future meeting on a ten-year investment plan in leisure services with a rolling programme of investment for the following 20 years. It will prioritise investment in the existing leisure estate. The first part of this work will be to replace the existing, uneconomic and unsatisfactory St George’s Leisure Centre with a new building to better meet the needs of local people.

The Mayor welcomed the report, he highlighted that as well as 5 swimming pools it also covered all other leisure estate assets. The growing population of the borough needed good leisure services. The future of St George’s Baths was a key issue at present.

Cabinet heard from a number of Members and residents (representing the Friends of St George’s Group) who raised a number of questions and concerns including:

·       Requests for an independent feasibility study on the option of refurbishing the existing St George’s Baths.

·       Questions as to whether a full feasibility study had yet been undertaken and how the Council was able to make a decision without that information and to see what information the council had used to take its decision not to bring forward a refurbishment option.

·       Refurbishment removes the disruption of a new build and enables a pool to be available sooner and new facilities could be provided using the existing buildings and they could be made more environmentally sustainable.

·       The proposed new building removed some of the current facilities such as diving and spectator areas.

·       A request to see details of the breakdown of respondents to the consultation.

·       Should action have been taken under the Leisure contract in relation to failures to maintain the pool.

·       Noting that every few years a report keeps coming back to Cabinet requesting further refurbishment funding for St George’s.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.5

DECISION

1.    To note the Overview and Scrutiny Challenge Session Report (Appendix 1 to the report) on Empowering Communities – engaging our diverse community at a locality level.

2.    To agree the Service Action Plan (Appendix 2 to the report) in response to the scrutiny report recommendations.

3.    To note the specific equalities considerations as set out in Paragraph 4.1. of the report.

Action by:

DIRECTOR STRATEGY, IMPROVEMENT AND TRANSFORMATION (S. GODMAN)

(Strategy and Policy Officer (F. Miah)

Councillor Asma Islam, Cabinet Member for Environment and Planning, introduced the report setting out the Executive’s response to the Overview and Scrutiny Challenge Session on empowering communities which particularly looked at how the Council engages with residents on planning and development matters.

She highlighted that the Council engages with residents in many different ways in relation to planning and development but that it was always willing to look at new ideas. The report in particular looked at the value of the Community Development Panel on the Isle of Dogs and the Local Infrastructure Fund. A number of recommendations were set out in the report to build from the work already been undertaken. Future updates would also be provided.

The Mayor welcomed the report. He proposed the recommendations as set out in the report. These were unanimously agreed by the Members present and it was:

RESOLVED

1.    To note the Overview and Scrutiny Challenge Session Report (Appendix 1 to the report) on Empowering Communities – engaging our diverse community at a locality level.

2.    To agree the Service Action Plan (Appendix 2 to the report) in response to the scrutiny report recommendations.

3.    To note the specific equalities considerations as set out in Paragraph 4.1. of the report.

[A date was corrected in the recommendation.]

DECISION

1.    To agree to make a Direct Award of a contract for the delivery of the

borough’s Community Vaccination Programme to Tower Hamlets GP Care Group for the period 1^st February 2022 to 31^st January 2023.

2.    To note the specific equalities considerations as set out in Paragraph 4.1 set out in the report

Action by:

CORPORATE DIRECTOR, HEALTH, ADULTS AND COMMUNITY (D. RADLEY)

(Joint Director of Integrated Commissioning (W. Tomsett)

.

Councillor Rachel Blake, Cabinet Member for Adults, Health and Wellbeing, introduced the report on the enhanced community vaccination programme. She highlighted how important it was to ensure residents were able to access the vaccine programme. She noted the Covid ambassadors and other methods the Council would use to encourage take-up.

This report was proposing some specific clinics and outreach to support the vaccine programme. The investment was vital to support local residents. She noted that a date in recommendation one should state 2022 not 2021. The direct award was required due to the short time to get the contract in place and the suitability of the service being provided.

The Mayor welcomed the report, he proposed the recommendations as set out (subject to the date change). These were unanimously agreed by the Members present and it was:

RESOLVED

1.    To agree to make a Direct Award of a contract for the delivery of the

borough’s Community Vaccination Programme to Tower Hamlets GP Care Group for the period 1^st February 2022 to 31^st January 2023.

2.    To note the specific equalities considerations as set out in Paragraph 4.1 set out in the report

DECISION

1.    To approve the revised tenancy agreement for council tenants which has been subject to consultation with residents in accordance with S.103 Housing Act 1985.

2.    To approve the rescission of the 1994 second succession policy.

3.    To approve the service of a formal notice of variation of tenancy upon the council’s tenants.

Action by:

CORPORATE DIRECTOR, PLACE (A. SUTCLIFFE)

(Director of Housing and Regeneration (K. Swift)

(Strategy and Policy Manager (M. Slowikowski)

Councillor Danny Hassell, Cabinet Member for Housing, introduced the report providing an update on responses to the consultation on the new proposed tenancy agreement. There are a number of changes that are proposed to the policy which hasn’t been updated for many years. All tenants were written to and online webinars were also held. An equalities impact analysis has been published.

The consultation levels were not very high but were in line with numbers seen at other authorities. The report proposes the amendments that are set out.

The Mayor thanked Councillor Danny Hassell for his introduction. He also noted the earlier presentation by a local resident who had expressed concerns about the changes. He proposed the recommendations as set out. These were unanimously agreed by the Members present and it was:

RESOLVED

1.    To approve the revised tenancy agreement for council tenants which has been subject to consultation with residents in accordance with S.103 Housing Act 1985.

2.    To approve the rescission of the 1994 second succession policy.

3.    To approve the service of a formal notice of variation of tenancy upon the council’s tenants.

The Pre-Decision Scrutiny Questions and officer responses were noted.

DECISION

1.    To approve the disposal of the property on the open market.

Action by:

CORPORATE DIRECTOR, PLACE (A. SUTCLIFFE)

(Head of Housing Supply (R. Brandon)

(Service Manager, Housing Management and Procurement (A. Kalam)

Councillor Danny Hassell, Cabinet Member for Housing, introduced the report proposing the disposal of a property at 53 Antill Road. Having assessed the cost of refurbishing the property it was not considered suitable for the Council and it was now proposed to dispose of the property.

The Mayor thanked Councillor Danny Hassell for his introduction. He expressed his frustration that the Council would potentially be disposing of the asset at a loss. He noted the Pre-Decision Scrutiny Questions and officer responses and proposed the recommendation as set out. It was unanimously agreed by the Members present and it was:

RESOLVED

1.    To approve the disposal of the property on the open market.

The Mayor introduced the report on the future of Commercial Road Car Pound. He noted the Pre-Decision Scrutiny Questions and officer responses. The report was looking at options for the site with the recommendation being to for disposal to allow the creation of new housing by a private provider more quickly than the council could do it.

The meeting heard a number of questions as to whether this was the most appropriate solution as there was a big need for new council housing and there was a request for a deferral to allow the Overview and Scrutiny Committee to review the alternative options.

The appendix exempted by virtue of paragraph 3 of Part 1 Schedule 12(A) of Local Government Act 1972 (financial impact on the authority) was noted.

The Mayor thanked everyone for their contributions. He considered that the current proposal was the preferable option but he proposed that the report be deferred to allow the Overview and Scrutiny Committee to further examine the issue.

RESOLVED

1.    To agree to defer a decision for one month to allow for further review by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

The Pre-Decision Scrutiny Questions and officer responses were noted.

DECISION

1.    To note the LGA Peer Review revisit report and recommendations as set out in Appendix 2 to the report.

2.    To note the council’s high-level response to the recommendations.

Action by:

CHIEF EXECUTIVE (W. TUCKLEY)

(Director, Strategy, Improvement and Transformation (S. Godman)

(Strategy and Policy Manager (D. Kerr)

The Mayor introduced the report on the LGA Corporate Peer Review re-visit. He explained that the Council had been on an improvement journey over the last few years which was being supported by the LGA. As well as the progress made, there were some ongoing recommendations which the Mayor took the meeting through. After the upcoming election it would be expected that the new Administration would set out its own priorities and actions against these issues and he welcomed the proposal for a new Peer Review in the autumn.

He noted the Pre-Decision Scrutiny Questions and officer responses and then proposed the recommendations as set out. These were unanimously agreed by the Members present and it was.

RESOLVED

1.    To note the LGA Peer Review revisit report and recommendations as set out in Appendix 2 to the report.

2.    To note the council’s high-level response to the recommendations.

[Recommendation 2 was deleted. It was not required as Recommendation 1 was agreed.]

DECISION

1.    To agree that Tower Hamlets, as one of the ten Constituent Authorities of the LHC Joint Committee, withdraws from the LHC Joint Committee, resulting in its potential disbandment in December 2022 at the earliest.

2.    That Tower Hamlets notifies LHC of this decision by 25^th February 2022 at the latest.

3.    Agrees that Tower Hamlets will consider in a future meeting, the options for continued participation in the new LHC corporate entity when it is known in March 2022.

Action by:

CORPORATE DIRECTOR, PLACE (A. SUTCLIFFE)

(Director of Housing (K. Swift)

(Head of Democratic Services (M. Mannion)

Councillor Danny Hassell, Cabinet Member for Housing, introduced the report. He explained that the London Housing Consortium had undertaken a governance review which had determined that the current joint committee was no longer the most appropriate approach so a new corporate entity was to be established. The Council therefore needed to withdraw from the current committee so that it could be reconstituted.

The Mayor welcomed the report and proposed the recommendations as set out. These were unanimously agreed by the Members present and it was:

RESOLVED

1.    To agree that Tower Hamlets, as one of the ten Constituent Authorities of the LHC Joint Committee, withdraws from the LHC Joint Committee, resulting in its potential disbandment in December 2022 at the earliest.

2.    That Tower Hamlets notifies LHC of this decision by 25^th February 2022 at the latest.

3.    Agrees that Tower Hamlets will consider in a future meeting, the options for continued participation in the new LHC corporate entity when it is known in March 2022.

Nil items.

Should the Mayor in Cabinet consider it necessary, it is recommended that the following motion be adopted to allow consideration of any exempt/restricted documents.

“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)

Nil items.

Nil items.

Nil items.

Chair of Overview and Scrutiny Committee (OSC) to report on any issues  raised by the OSC in relation to exempt/confidential business to be considered.

Nil items.

(Under provisions of Section 30, Rule 59 of the Constitution).

Nil items.

Nil items.