Apologies for absence were received on behalf of:

·         Ann Sutcliffe (Dan Jones, Divisional Director, Public Realm) is deputising.

·         Asmat Hussain (Janet Fasan, Divisional Director, Legal) is deputising.

·         Tom McCourt (Dan Jones also deputising)

There were no Declarations of Disclosable Pecuniary Interests.

The unrestricted minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on Wednesday 27 February 2019 are presented for approval.

RESOLVED

1.    That the unrestricted minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on Wednesday 27 February 2019 be approved and signed by the Chair as a correct record of proceedings.

The Mayor made a number of announcements including that:

·         The Council’s work tackling hate crime and violence against women and girls had been recognised at the Local Government Chronicle (LGC) Awards ceremony with a ‘Team of the Year’ award. He highlighted how important this issue was to the Council and congratulated the team, volunteers and champions for their hard work.

·         Two Individual Mayoral Decisions had recently been taken. The information was available on the website for those who wished to view them.

·         The Council had held a successful staff awards ceremony earlier in the day and it had been uplifting seeing the good work that was being championed from across the Council.

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

No Pre-Decision Scrutiny Questions were tabled.

Councillor Abdal Ullah, Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, provided the meeting with a verbal update on the recent work of the Committee. In particular he reported that the Committee were considering ideas for the future of Overview and Scrutiny to ensure it is able to robustly perform its work. A report on this was expected soon.

In addition he highlighted a number of issues that the Committee had discussed at its last meeting including:

·         A discussion on progress made in respect of Children’s Services and he thanked the Lead Member and officers for the time they had given to the Committee on this issue.

·         A discussion on community safety in light of recent terrorist attacks across the world.

·         A spotlight session on street cleanliness, waste collection and recycling.

·         A discussion on parking issues.

·         An interesting spotlight session with the Chief Executive and he was grateful to the Chief Executive for making time available to attend the meeting.

The Mayor thanked him for his update and in particular highlighted the concern the Council placed on community safety.

Nil items.

DECISION

1.    To agree the Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy 2019-24

2.    To agree that the Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy 2019-24 be published.

Action by:

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

(Violence Against Women and Girls Co-ordinator (S. Bradburne)

Councillor Asma Begum, Deputy Mayor and Cabinet Member for Community Safety and Equalities, introduced the report on the new Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Strategy 2019-24. She highlighted that the strategy was linked to the Council’s Strategic Plan and that some actions, such as the signing of the VAWG Charter, had already been delivered.

She highlighted how the Council had worked to cover the biggest concerns raised by those impacted such as on potential homelessness and it had looked at how to overcome barriers to seeking support.

During discussion a number of points were noted including:

·         This was a high level strategy and the underpinning action plan would follow.

·         It was also noted that the strategy had been developed as a partnership approach.

·         Working with schools to educate young people was vitally important.

·         Violence took in a wide range of issues including actions such as coercive control.

·         The Council worked to ensure services were available for both men and women who were victims of violence.

The Mayor thanked everyone for their contributions, welcomed the report and agreed the recommendations as set out.

RESOLVED

1.    To agree the Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy 2019-24

2.    To agree that the Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy 2019-24 be published.

DECISION

1.    To endorse the progress made in delivering the children’s services improvement programme. 

2.    To agree the next steps in the improvement journey which will be updated on in the next report. 

Action by:

CORPORATE DIRECTOR CHILDREN AND CULTURE (D. JONES)

(Children’s Services Improvement Manager (N. Rabbani)

(Divisional Director for Children’s Social Care (R. Baldwin)

Councillor Danny Hassell, Cabinet Member for Children, Schools and Young People, introduced the report setting out the latest update on the Children’s Services Improvement Programme. He took Members through a number of the areas of improvement demonstrated including around staff recruitment and retention and culture change.

He also highlighted areas where work was ongoing such as on investigating new ideas around restorative justice and the much stronger auditing of cases working through the systems.

Finally he noted that there were a number of areas that required further improvement including ensuring a consistent service quality for all service users.

The Mayor welcomed the report and discussion of the topic and highlighted that he and Lead Members had been involved in many meetings examining progress against this improvement plan. He agreed the recommendations as set out.

RESOLVED

1.    To endorse the progress made in delivering the children’s services improvement programme. 

2.    To agree the next steps in the improvement journey which will be updated on in the next report. 

DECISION

1.    To note the Brexit Commission report attached in in Appendix 1 to the report.

Action by:

CHIEF EXECUTIVE (W. TUCKLEY)

(Head of Corporate Strategy and Policy (A. Hoque)

Councillor Amina Ali, Cabinet Member for Culture, Arts and Brexit, introduced the report from the Tower Hamlets Brexit Commission. She highlighted that the exact nature of the country’s exit from the European Union had not yet been confirmed which added to the risks for the Council and the potential local impact.

She explained that the report looked to identify both risks and opportunities for the local area and local businesses.

During discussion a number of particular issues were noted including:

·         The need to work with other London Boroughs to lobby for funding to replace European funding streams.

·         Lobbying in other areas such as to have the skills budgets devolved to Councils and to lift the immigration salary cap.

·         The ongoing work to publicise the rights of EU citizens, including those who were staff.

·         It was important to take opportunities that arose especially in encouraging new businesses to open in the area from around the world.

The Mayor thanked everyone for their contributions. He highlighted the importance of the Council showing leadership to deal with whatever scenario was finally agreed at a national level. He agreed the recommendations as set out.

RESOLVED

1.    To note the Brexit Commission report attached in in Appendix 1 to the report.

The exempt appendices were noted.

The decisions were amended and then agreed.

DECISION

Wayside Gardens

1.            To agree in principle that the land at Wayside Gardens is declared surplus to the Council’s requirements and is sold to the developer’s property holding subsidiary, Drakar Limited, on the basis set out in this report.

2.            To note that a final decision will be taken via an Individual Mayoral Decision subject to final consultation between the Mayor and lead officers.

Pat Shaw House and 401 Mile End Road

1.            To agree to the Council entering into leases of two properties owned by Gateway Housing Association at the rents and other main terms set out in paragraph 3.3 of the report and the exempt Appendix 4 to the report. 

2.            To note that the properties will be manged by the Council’s Housing Options Service to provide 40 units of temporary accommodation for people in priority housing need.

3.            To delegate authority to the Acting Corporate Director, Place to agree all other terms of the leases.

4.            To authorise the Corporate Director, Place in liaison with the Corporate Director, Governance to enter into the necessary legal agreements required to implement the recommendations above

Action by:

ACTING CORPORATE DIRECTOR, PLACE (A. SUTCLIFFE)

(Interim Head of Asset Management (A. McCarthy)

(Interim Divisional Director, Housing and Regeneration (M. Baigent)

The Mayor introduced the report on two proposed property leases and a land disposal. He took the report in two parts.

Pat Shaw House and 401 Mile End Road

In terms of taking on leases at the above properties the Mayor welcomed the report. He highlighted that the proposals had been scrutinised by Lead Members and were seen as offering value to the authority. He noted the exempt appendix and agreed the recommendations as set out.

Wayside Gardens

In relation to the proposed disposal of land, the Mayor considered that on balance this was the right approach in order to enable the development to go ahead. However, he was acutely aware of the lack of open space in the borough and welcomed the work officers were undertaking to explore options for recreating this space. He also asked for more details on the agreement with the developer including in respect of control over future use of the disposed site. Finally, he also noted the exempt appendix.

Following discussion, the Mayor agreed the decision in principle but asked for more information in relation to the issues highlighted above. Following the satisfactory conclusion of that discussion he proposed taking an Individual Mayoral Decision to confirm his view.

RESOLVED

Wayside Gardens

1.            To agree in principle that the land at Wayside Gardens is declared surplus to the Council’s requirements and is sold to the developer’s property holding subsidiary, Drakar Limited, on the basis set out in this report.

2.            To note that a final decision will be taken via an Individual Mayoral Decision subject to final consultation between the Mayor and lead officers.

Pat Shaw House and 401 Mile End Road

1.            To agree to the Council entering into leases of two properties owned by Gateway Housing Association at the rents and other main terms set out in paragraph 3.3 of the report and the exempt Appendix 4 to the report. 

2.            To note that the properties will be manged by the Council’s Housing Options Service to provide 40 units of temporary accommodation for people in priority housing need.

3.            To delegate authority to the Acting Corporate Director, Place to agree all other terms of the leases.

4.            To authorise the Corporate Director, Place in liaison with the Corporate Director, Governance to enter into the necessary legal agreements required to implement the recommendations above

DECISION

1.    To note the contracts summary at Appendix 1 to the report.

2.    To confirm that all contracts set out in Appendix 1 to the report can proceed to contract award after tender

3.    To authorise the Divisional Director, Legal to execute all necessary contract documents in respect of the awards of contracts referred to at Recommendation 2 above

4.    To note the procurement forward plan 2019-2022 schedule detailed in Appendix 2 to the report.

Action by:

CORPORATE DIRECTOR, RESOURCES (N. MURTON)

(Head of Procurement (Z. Ahmed)

Councillor Candida Ronald introduced the report. She highlighted the contracts set out in the Appendices to the report including in the forward plan of contracts.

The Mayor agreed that all listed contracts set out in Appendix 1 could proceed to contract award after tender.

RESOLVED

1.    To note the contracts summary at Appendix 1 to the report.

2.    To confirm that all contracts set out in Appendix 1 to the report can proceed to contract award after tender

3.    To authorise the Divisional Director, Legal to execute all necessary contract documents in respect of the awards of contracts referred to at Recommendation 2 above

4.    To note the procurement forward plan 2019-2022 schedule detailed in Appendix 2 to the report.

Nil items.

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.

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.