Apologies for absence were received on behalf of:

·         Councillor Asma Begum (Cabinet Member for Culture)

·         Councillor Joshua Peck (Cabinet Member for Work and Economic Development)

·         Will Tuckley (Chief Executive)

·         Aman Dalvi (Corporate Director, Place) for whom Andy Scott (Acting Service Head, Economic Development) was substituting.

There were no Declarations of Disclosable Pecuniary Interests.

The unrestricted minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on 7 March 2017 are presented for approval.

DECISION

1.    That the unrestricted minutes for the Cabinet meeting held on Tuesday 7 March 2017 be approved and signed by the Mayor as a correct record.

RESOLVED

1.    That the unrestricted minutes for the Cabinet meeting held on Tuesday 7 March 2017 be approved and signed by the Mayor as a correct record.

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

Councillor John Pierce, Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, provided Cabinet with an update on their meeting the previous week, including:

·         Thanking the Mayor for attending the Spotlight session.

·         That the Committee had a good discussion on the new housing delivery model and its role in tackling the housing crisis. Concerns were expressed that scrutiny had not been brought into the discussions around setting up the new bodies at an early enough stage to help guide the arrangements to ensure transparency and good governance.

·         Concern was also expressed about the extent to which the Council will have influence on these new private organisations.

·         The Committee reviewed the Council’s performance monitoring in particular challenges on affordable housing and wheelchair adaptations.

·         There had been a discussion about the Strategic Plan and welcomed the good accessibility of the report.

·         Consideration of the quarterly budget monitoring report.

·         There was a quick discussion about support for business but the Committee would likely look at this in more detail at a future meeting.

Finally Councillor John Pierce updated Cabinet on some upcoming Scrutiny events and highlighted that all Members were welcome to attend.

The Mayor thanked Councillor John Pierce for his update.

 (Under provisions of Article 6 Para 6.02 V of the Constitution).

Nil items.

DECISION

1.    To approve the Local Account as attached at Appendix A to the report for publication.

2.    To endorse the communication plan for the Local Account as attached at Appendix B to the report.

Action by:

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

(Service Manager, Policy, Programmes and Community Insight (L. Richards)

Councillor Amy Whitelock Gibbs, Cabinet Member for Health and Adults Services, introduced the report. She stressed that this was an important document for the Council demonstrating how services were supplied and it set out future plans as well. The document also set out insights from people who used the services and in general the update this year had received much greater involvement from local people in its preparation.

Particular positives noted were high and increasing satisfaction levels and higher spending levels than the London average. Key challenges were on maintaining quality with reducing budgets and the high levels of need in the Borough.

It was noted that the foreword would be altered to include a picture of the Mayor. Officers would also investigate whether information in relation to translation services should be added.

The Mayor welcomed the report and the superb work it highlighted. He agreed the recommendations as set out in the report.

RESOLVED

1.    To approve the Local Account as attached at Appendix A to the report for publication.

2.    To endorse the communication plan for the Local Account as attached at Appendix B to the report.

DECISION

1.    To approve the recommendation for a direct award to the Tower Hamlets GP Care Group for the delivery of the Public Health NIS services.

2.    To authorise the Director of Public Health, after consultation with the Interim Corporate Director, Governance, to execute and enter into all necessary agreements for a three year period.

3.    To note that funding for the Public Health NIS Services will be met within the Public Health Grants budgets for the next three years.

Action by:

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

(Drugs and Alcohol Action Team Co-ordinator (R. Sadegh)

(Associate Director of Public Health (C. Lovitt)

Councillor Amy Whitelock Gibbs, Cabinet Member for Health and Adults Services, introduced the report. She explained that as well as the core GP services commissioned by NHS England, the Council also provided some funding to GPs for specific enhanced services. The report provided details on the services to be provided. There was to be a direct contract award as only GPs could provide these services.

The Mayor agreed the recommendations as set out in the report.

RESOLVED

1.    To approve the recommendation for a direct award to the Tower Hamlets GP Care Group for the delivery of the Public Health NIS services.

2.    To authorise the Director of Public Health, after consultation with the Interim Corporate Director, Governance, to execute and enter into all necessary agreements for a three year period.

3.    To note that funding for the Public Health NIS Services will be met within the Public Health Grants budgets for the next three years.

DECISION

1.    To note the revised Strategic Plan (appendix 1 to the report);

2.    To agree the Delivery Plan (appendix 2 to the report)

Action by:

ACTING CORPORATE DIRECTOR, GOVERNANCE (G. WHITE)

(Divisional Director, Strategy, Policy and Partnership (S. Godman)

(Interim Service Manager, Strategy, Policy and Performance (A. Hoque)

The Mayor introduced the 2017/18 Delivery Plan (Year Two) for the 2016/19 Strategic Plan. He noted that it had been discussed at the Overview and Scrutiny Committee. Cabinet Members had been involved in conversations about their areas of responsibility and the Mayor reminded officers to ensure that the recent minor changes to responsibility areas for Cabinet Members were picked up in the report. He then agreed the recommendations as set out in the report.

RESOLVED

1.    To note the revised Strategic Plan (appendix 1 to the report);

2.    To agree the Delivery Plan (appendix 2 to the report)

DECISION

1.    To note the progress made to date in developing the Town Centre Strategy for Tower Hamlets.

2.    To note the draft Town Centre Strategy included as Appendix 1 to the report.

3.    To note the outcomes of the application of the ATCM indicators of a successful town centre across the 10 District Centres as shown at Appendix 2 to the report.

4.    To agree to undertake formal consultation with regard to the adoption of the Town Centre Strategy.

Action by:

CORPORATE DIRECTOR, PLACE (A. DALVI)

(Interim Divisional Director, Growth and Economic Development (A. Scott)

(Business and Town Centre Manager (M. Aust)

The Mayor introduced the report on the Town Centre Strategy setting out a list of town centres and the resources available to them, the approach to managing them over the next few years and also the links to wider regeneration.

During the discussion Councillor John Pierce, Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee highlighted that the area around Redchurch street was changing significantly and officers reported that it would be part of the Brick Lane regeneration programme because of that, however they would also look to see if it should be included elsewhere in the strategy.

Councillor Peter Golds, Leader of the Conservative Group, highlighted the additional challenge facing the Borough due to the lack of larger scale town centres. He reported on work undertaken in other Boroughs by residents looking to develop their own areas. He also noted the problems with fast food outlets and fixed odds betting terminals.

The Mayor thanked all Members for their contribution to the debate and also noted the point about the need to be careful on how the Whitechapel area developed. He agreed the recommendations as set out in the report.

RESOLVED

1.    To note the progress made to date in developing the Town Centre Strategy for Tower Hamlets.

2.    To note the draft Town Centre Strategy included as Appendix 1 to the report.

3.    To note the outcomes of the application of the ATCM indicators of a successful town centre across the 10 District Centres as shown at Appendix 2 to the report.

4.    To agree to undertake formal consultation with regard to the adoption of the Town Centre Strategy.

DECISION

1.    To note the latest quarterly position of the Council’s CIL and S106 income and balance.

Action by:

CORPORATE DIRECTOR, PLACE (A. DALVI)

(Infrastructure Planning Manager (M. Pullen)

(Business Improvement and S106 Programme Manager (A. Simpson)

Councillor Rachel Blake, Cabinet Member for Strategic Development, introduced the report. She welcomed the increased transparency the report provided.

The Mayor welcomed the report and highlighted the need to look for additional investment to secure necessary infrastructure improvements beyond the money identified in the report.

During discussion of the report Councillor Andrew Wood, Ward Councillor for Canary Wharf Ward, highlighted the need to be bold in negotiations with developers and to look to adjust agreements where funding for different infrastructure requirements became apparent. Members also looked at other issues such as the balance between spending on large and small projects and the levels of specifically allocated funds.

The Mayor thanked all Members for their contributions and stated he was always happy to talk to Councillors on ideas for infrastructure spending. He agreed the recommendation as set out.

RESOLVED

1.    To note the latest quarterly position of the Council’s CIL and S106 income and balance.

DECISION

1.    To note the Corporate Directors’ decision set out in Appendix 1 to the report.

Action by:

CORPORATE DIRECTOR, RESOURCES (Z. COOKE)

(Accountant – Financial Planning (A. Miah)

The Mayor introduced the report and agreed the recommendation as set out.

RESOLVED

1.    To note the Corporate Directors’ decision set out in Appendix 1 to the report.

Nil items.

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.

Nil items.

Nil items.