During the meeting the Mayor varied the order of business. To aid clarity the minutes are presented in the order the items appeared on the agenda.

At the meeting Agenda Item 5.9 (Sustainability and Transformation Plan) was taken straight after Agenda Item 5.1 (Ageing Well in Tower Hamlets). All other items were taken in order.

Apologies for absence were received on behalf of:

·         Councillor Asma Begum (Cabinet Member for Culture)

·         Councillor Ayas Miah (Cabinet Member for Environment)

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

There were no Declarations of Disclosable Pecuniary Interests.

The unrestricted minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on Tuesday 4 April 2017 are presented for approval.

RESOLVED

1.    That the unrestricted minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on Tuesday 4 April 2017 be approved and signed by the Mayor as a correct record of proceedings.

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 respect of the following reports on the agenda:

·         5.3 – Approval to proceed with guidance on new rent levels

·         5.4 – Approval of S106 Funding to Cycle and Pedestrian Improvement Project 2017.

The questions and responses were considered during discussion of the relevant items.

In addition, Councillor John Pierce, Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee (OSC), provided Cabinet with an update on the Committee’s most recent meeting. The meeting had been set up specifically to discuss the concerning results of the recent OFSTED inspection into services provided for vulnerable children and a review of the Local Safeguarding Children Board. The meeting had provided a first opportunity for Scrutiny Members to discuss the issue with the Chief Executive, senior officers and the Executive.

The meeting provided a good first session on the issue and OSC would be exploring how it could best support the Council’s work to take action from the findings.

There had also been a Spotlight session with the Chief Executive exploring the work to improve the Council’s Organisational Culture.

Nil items.

DECISION

1.    To note the contents of this report and approve ‘Ageing Well in Tower Hamlets: A Strategy for Improving the Experience of Growing Older in Tower Hamlets 2017 – 2020’, attached as Appendix 1 to the report.

2.    To note that following approval of the strategy work will continue with a range of stakeholders to finalise detailed implementation plans for each of the ten key themes contained in the strategy.

Action by:

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

(Acting Divisional Director, Integrated Commissioning (K. Sugars)

Councillor Amy Whitelock Gibbs, Cabinet Member for Health and Adult Services, introduced the report on the commissioning strategy for social care related services for older residents. It was noted that, for a number of reasons, residents experienced signs of ageing in the borough earlier than in other parts of the Country. The Council was committed to helping older people continue to play an active role.

Angela Hancock (Chair), Pauline Canning, Elizabeth Adebisi and Diane Hackney from the Older People’s Reference Group provided Cabinet with a more detailed presentation on the strategy, looking at key themes and priorities. They also thanked the Council for the way the strategy had been produced and stated it was a great example of co-production with service users.

Councillor Amy Whitelock Gibbs thanked them for their presentation and their support in building the strategy. She also thanked Keith Burns (Programme Director, Special Projects) and all the officers in the team who had worked to develop the strategy.

During discussion a number of issues were noted including:

·          The challenge of dealing with the Borough’s changing demographics.

·         The need to ensure all communities were engaged with a particular focus on older residents of Bangladeshi background.

The Mayor thanked everyone involved for their hard work in putting this strategy together. He noted the discussion and agreed the recommendations as set out in the report.

RESOLVED

1.    To note the contents of this report and approve ‘Ageing Well in Tower Hamlets: A Strategy for Improving the Experience of Growing Older in Tower Hamlets 2017 – 2020’, attached as Appendix 1 to the report.

2.    To note that following approval of the strategy work will continue with a range of stakeholders to finalise detailed implementation plans for each of the ten key themes contained in the strategy.

DECISION

1.    To note the analysis and strategic objectives identified in the Indoor Sports Facilities Strategy.

2.    To agree the Indoor Sports Facilities Strategy in Appendix 1 of the report.

3.    To note the importance of the Indoor Sports Facilities Strategy to the emerging Local Plan.

Action by:

CORPORATE DIRECTOR, CHILDREN’S SERVICES (D. JONES)

(Acting Divisional Director, Sports, Leisure and Culture (J. St John)

Councillor David Edgar, Cabinet Member for Resources, introduced the report looking at indoor sports facilities for the Borough. He highlighted the analysis on current provision and proposed action plan set out in the report. The action plan included opportunities to engage with residents, which was important as people often had an attachment to a particular facility.

During discussion a number of issues were noted including how to ensure proper public access to facilities on school sites.

The Mayor welcomed the report, thanked officers for their hard work in producing the strategy and agreed the recommendations as set out.

RESOLVED

1.    To note the analysis and strategic objectives identified in the Indoor Sports Facilities Strategy.

2.    To agree the Indoor Sports Facilities Strategy in Appendix 1 of the report.

3.    To note the importance of the Indoor Sports Facilities Strategy to the emerging Local Plan.

DECISION

1.    To note the content of this report and to authorise the  Divisional Director, Housing and Regeneration to advise  developers and registered providers to move to the monetary values in the tables below with relation to affordable rented housing in the Borough.

Action by:

CORPORATE DIRECTOR, PLACE (A. DALVI)

(Affordable Housing and Partnerships Manager (J. Pepper)

Councillor Rachel Blake, Cabinet Member for Strategic Development, introduced the report. She explained the desire to ensure the Council was able to secure genuinely affordable homes from new developments. The paper would filter through to the overarching Housing Strategy. She highlighted the preferred 70/30 mix in favour of rented homes and also the graph in the report showing the balance of different types of properties in a model development.

Finally she thanked officers for their work on the report and noted a slight correction on page 191 of the agenda where the third item down on the chart should read ‘Tower Hamlets Living Rent’.

The Mayor noted the Overview and Scrutiny Pre-Decision Questions and agreed the recommendations as set out in the report.

RESOLVED

1.    To note the content of this report and to authorise the Divisional Director, Housing and Regeneration to advise developers and registered providers to move to the monetary values in the tables below with relation to affordable rented housing in the Borough.

DECISION

1.    To approve the allocation of £1,130,854 of S106 funding to the Cycle and Pedestrian Improvement Project 2017 as profiled in the PID attached at Appendix A to the report, and in Table 1 of the report..

2.    To approve the adoption of a capital budget of £1,130,854 as profiled in the PID attached at Appendix A to the report, and in Table 2 of the report.

Action by:

CORPORATE DIRECTOR, PLACE (A. DALVI)

(Head of Engineering, Public Realm (M. Cooper)

The Mayor introduced the report proposing funding for cycling and pedestrian improvements. He highlighted the increase in transparency he had encouraged in how S106 money was spent. Finally, he noted the Overview and Scrutiny Committee’s Pre-Decision Scrutiny Questions and agreed the recommendations as set out.

RESOLVED

1.    To approve the allocation of £1,130,854 of S106 funding to the Cycle and Pedestrian Improvement Project 2017 as profiled in the PID attached at Appendix A to the report, and in Table 1 of the report..

2.    To approve the adoption of a capital budget of £1,130,854 as profiled in the PID attached at Appendix A to the report, and in Table 2 of the report.

DECISION

1.    To approve the draft Single Equality Framework and its accompanying delivery plan.

Action by:

ACTING CORPORATE DIRECTOR, GOVERNANCE (G. WHITE)

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

(Service Manager, Research and Equality (S. Matin)

The Mayor introduced the report on the Single Equalities Framework. He explained that it was important to have an authoritative statement of equalities principles and to show how the Council was meeting its public duty.

It was noted that the report set out how the Council was doing in trying to meet its corporate priorities and highlighted particular areas of focus for the years ahead including white British attainment in schools, employment of BME women and obesity in children.

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

RESOLVED

1.    To approve the draft Single Equality Framework and its accompanying delivery plan.

DECISION

1.    To approve to award a new temporary agency service provider by using the LOT2 MSTAR2 LCC Further Competition Award to contract with Adecco as master MSP for the duration of the LCC framework.

Action by:

CORPORATE DIRECTOR, RESOURCES (Z. COOKE)

(L&D Commissioning Manager (T. Alam)

Councillor David Edgar, Cabinet Member for Resources, introduced the report. He explained that use of regional frameworks helped ensure the Council had greater ‘purchasing power’. The proposal was to use Adecco who would supply workers as well as acting as a broker for other agencies. He explained that the Council would still be looking to use various small and medium sized suppliers through this process.

During discussion the Mayor noted the need to be transparent on why the Council was employing agency workers and to show how the need for agency staff was being reduced. He also noted that the Council was not looking to squeeze out local providers from the market and that it was important to link to the Council’s WorkPath Service. He agreed the recommendation as set out in the report.

RESOLVED

1.    To approve to award a new temporary agency service provider by using the LOT2 MSTAR2 LCC Further Competition Award to contract with Adecco as master MSP for the duration of the LCC framework.

DECISION

1.    To note the contracts listed in Appendix 1 and Appendix 2 to the report.

2.    To agree that contract CS5218 Youth Activity Hubs should be presented to Cabinet as an individual report for consideration.

3.    To agree that all other contracts listed in Appendix 1 to the report can proceed to contract award after tender.

4.    To note that the Mayor may request officers to provide more information on any of the remaining contracts in Appendix 1 or Appendix 2 to the report.

5.    To authorise the Divisional Director, Legal Services to execute all necessary contract documents in respect of the awards of contracts referred to above.

Action by:

CORPORATE DIRECTOR, RESOURCES (Z. COOKE)

(Head of Procurement (Z. Ahmed)

Councillor David Edgar, Cabinet Member for Resources, introduced the quarterly Contracts Forward Plan report. He asked Members to indicate if they wished to receive more information at Cabinet on any of the contracts before they proceeded to award.

There was a discussion during which the Youth Activity Hubs contract was identified as one where Members would like to receive an individual report.

The Mayor agreed to that proposal and adjusted the recommendations as required. He indicated that if Members wished for information on other contracts they should let him know.

RESOLVED

1.    To note the contracts listed in Appendix 1 and Appendix 2 to the report.

2.    To agree that contract CS5218 Youth Activity Hubs should be presented to Cabinet as an individual report for consideration.

3.    To agree that all other contracts listed in Appendix 1 to the report can proceed to contract award after tender.

4.    To note that the Mayor may request officers to provide more information on any of the remaining contracts in Appendix 1 or Appendix 2 to the report.

5.    To authorise the Divisional Director, Legal Services to execute all necessary contract documents in respect of the awards of contracts referred to above.

DECISION

1.    To note the Individual Mayoral Decisions set out in the Appendices to the report.

Action by:

COMMITTEE SERVICES MANAGER (M. MANNION)

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

RESOLVED

1.    To note the Individual Mayoral Decisions set out in the Appendices to the report.

This report sets out a formal position on the involvement of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in the North East London Sustainability & Transformation Plan (STP) and broader collaboration around health and social care. 

DECISION

1.    To note the Sustainability & Transformation Plan (STP) submitted in October 2016 – www.nelstp.org.uk/progress-to-date.htm

2.    To agree that the Council will continue to engage as a key partner in both Tower Hamlets Together and the Transforming Services Together programme across three boroughs where appropriate

3.    To agree that the Council will not endorse the STP at this time, until the concerns identified within this report have been fully addressed - including thorough public consultation on any proposed changes - but will continue to engage with the STP process and participate in the governance arrangements proposed; continuing to highlight the issues identified in this report with the expectation they are resolved

Action by:

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

Councillor Amy Whitelock Gibbs, Cabinet Member for Health and Adult Services, introduced the report. She took Cabinet through the three key strands of the Plan around Health & Wellbeing, Care & Quality and Funding. She also explained that pan-London work was going on that she, and officers, were linking into.

She welcomed the relatively open engagement from the local Sustainability and Transformation Team compared to some other parts of the Country but explained that there were still a number of concerns not least the financial challenges. She stated that at this stage the Council was not endorsing the Plan due to the concerns set out but dialogue would continue with NHS partners to look to tackle these.

Following discussion the Mayor noted the points raised and agreed the recommendations as set out in the report.

RESOLVED

1.    To note the Sustainability & Transformation Plan (STP) submitted in October 2016 – www.nelstp.org.uk/progress-to-date.htm

2.    To agree that the Council will continue to engage as a key partner in both Tower Hamlets Together and the Transforming Services Together programme across three boroughs where appropriate

3.    To agree that the Council will not endorse the STP at this time, until the concerns identified within this report have been fully addressed - including thorough public consultation on any proposed changes - but will continue to engage with the STP process and participate in the governance arrangements proposed; continuing to highlight the issues identified in this report with the expectation they are resolved

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.

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

Nil items.

Nil items.