There were no apologies for absence.

There were no Declarations of Disclosable Pecuniary Interests.

The unrestricted minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on Wednesday 24 April 2019 are presented for approval.

RESOLVED

1.    That the unrestricted minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on Wednesday 24 April 2019 be approved and signed by the Chair as a correct record of proceedings.

The Mayor made a number of announcements at the meeting:

·         As it was the first meeting since the Council’s Annual Meeting, he took the opportunity to welcome Councillor Sabina Akhtar to Cabinet as the new Lead Member for Culture, Arts and Brexit. He also highlighted that Councillor Amina Ali had moved across to become the Lead Member for Adults, Health and Wellbeing). Finally he thanked Councillor Denise Jones, who was stepping down from Cabinet, for all her hard work over many years of leadership roles at the Council. He explained that she would now be focussing her work on her role as older persons champion.

·         He noted that there was a consultation taking place in respect to the future of Raines School. He encouraged everyone to submit their views for the Council to consider.

·         He reported that he had received a response from the Mayor of Christchurch, New Zealand, thanking him for the letter of condolence the Council had sent.

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 Agenda Items:

·         6.2 – Chrisp Street Regeneration Scheme

·         6.3 – Safeguarding Adults Board Strategy 2019-24

·         6.5 – Quarterly Performance and Improvement Monitoring

·         6.6 – Revenue and Capital Budget Outturn

·         6.7 – Approval of change to the Servelec Contract

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

The Mayor welcomed Councillor James King as the new Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee (OSC). Councillor James King in turn thanked Councillor Abdal Ullah for the work he had undertaken as the Chair of OSC over the previous year.

Councillor James King then proceed to provide Cabinet with an update on the OSC meeting that had taken place earlier that week including that:

·         OSC had agreed to vary its Lead Member portfolios and Sub-Committees to better align with the Council’s priority areas, including by setting up a new Children and Education Scrutiny Sub-Committee which would be important in supporting the Council’s improvement journey in that area.

·         The Committee had considered a number of reports including

o   A report on the Council’s Revenue and Capital Budget Outturns. It had noted areas of good work but had also expressed concerns in particular around the need to meet savings targets and on how quickly capital budgets were spent.

o   The Quarterly Performance Monitoring report and looked at how performance indicators interacted with strategic plan targets.

o   The Safeguarding Adults Board Strategy including looking at direct payments and training for those acting as carers.

·         Finally he noted that the new Children and Education Sub-Committee would be looking into the issues raised by the proposed potential closure of Raines School.

The Mayor thanked Councillor James King for his update.

Nil items.

DECISION

1.    To approve the amendment to the East Shoreditch Neighbourhood Area.

2.    To note the specific equalities considerations as set out in paragraphs 7.1 to 7.3 of the report.

Action by:

CORPORATE DIRECTOR, PLACE (A. SUTCLIFFE)

(Strategic Planning Manager (A. Maher)

(Planning Officer (S. Heywood)

Councillor Rachel Blake, Cabinet Member for Planning, Air Quality and Tackling Poverty, introduced the report proposing amendments to the East Shoreditch Neighbourhood Area. In particular, the proposed change removed the portion of the original area which was in the Borough of Hackney. The proposals had been through a consultation process and was now presented for approval.

The Mayor welcomed the report and agreed the recommendations as set out.

RESOLVED

1.    To approve the amendment to the East Shoreditch Neighbourhood Area.

2.    To note the specific equalities considerations as set out in paragraphs 7.1 to 7.3 of the report.

Pre-Decision Scrutiny Questions and officer responses were noted.

DECISION

1.    To authorise the Corporate Director Place to trigger the Borough’s powers under s203 of the Housing and Planning Act 2016 in relation to the Chrisp Street site, as part of the ongoing Chrisp Street Regeneration Scheme prior to the confirmation of a full Compulsory Purchase Order.

2.    To authorise the Corporate Director, Place in consultation with the Corporate Director Governance to enter into any ancillary agreements necessary to give effect to this decision

3.    To authorise the Corporate Director Place to allocate compensation if necessary resulting from the use of the Borough’s powers under s.203 subject to the agreement to pay such compensation by the developer.

4.    To authorise the Corporate Director Place to enter into any documentation required to transfer and effect the transfer of any land interests as referred to at 3.19 -3.20 in the report.

5.    To authorise the Corporate Director Place to make any other decisions ancillary to and required to facilitate recommendations 1 to 4.

Action by:

CORPORATE DIRECTOR, PLACE (A. SUTCLIFFE)

(Divisional Director, Strategy, Regeneration and Sustainability (M. Baigent)

(Housing Regeneration Manager (N. McGowan)

(Project Manager (A. Cahill)

(Housing Regeneration Project Officer (M. Ali)

Councillor Rachel Blake, Cabinet Member for Planning, Air Quality and Tackling Poverty, introduced the report on matters relating to the Chrisp Street Regeneration Scheme. The report provided an update on progress and in particular was proposing agreement to authorise use of Section 203 powers to expedite the scheme as this reduced the risks for the development. She noted the pre-decision question and suggested she would look into that issue further.

The Mayor welcomed the report, he noted the reasons for the decision as presented and also noted the challenge of ensuring the different stakeholders were engaged with efficiently, including the role of Poplar HARCA. He agreed the recommendations as set out.

RESOLVED

1.    To authorise the Corporate Director Place to trigger the Borough’s powers under s203 of the Housing and Planning Act 2016 in relation to the Chrisp Street site, as part of the ongoing Chrisp Street Regeneration Scheme prior to the confirmation of a full Compulsory Purchase Order.

2.    To authorise the Corporate Director, Place in consultation with the Corporate Director Governance to enter into any ancillary agreements necessary to give effect to this decision

3.    To authorise the Corporate Director Place to allocate compensation if necessary resulting from the use of the Borough’s powers under s.203 subject to the agreement to pay such compensation by the developer.

4.    To authorise the Corporate Director Place to enter into any documentation required to transfer and effect the transfer of any land interests as referred to at 3.19 -3.20 in the report.

5.    To authorise the Corporate Director Place to make any other decisions ancillary to and required to facilitate recommendations 1 to 4.

Pre-Decision Scrutiny Questions and officer responses were noted.

DECISION

1.    To note the Safeguarding Adults Board Strategy 2019-24, which was agreed by the Safeguarding Adults Board in March 2019.

Action by:

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

(Joint Adults Safeguarding Governance and Strategy Manager (S. Ahmed)

Councillor Amina Ali, Cabinet Member for Adults, Health and Wellbeing, introduced the report on the new Safeguarding Board Strategy. She explained that this replaced the strategy for 2016-19 which had now expired. This area of work was a key priority for the Council and the Strategy had been refreshed in particular to support work to tackling trending and emerging issues such as around trafficking, neglect and safeguarding.

She provided a brief summary of the priority areas in the report and recommended the Strategy for approval.

The Mayor, welcomed the report as a key document for the Council. He also noted the Pre-Decision Scrutiny Questions and officer responses and suggested that the Overview and Scrutiny Committee may wish to undertake a scrutiny review in relation to direct payments. He agreed the recommendations as set out.

RESOLVED

1.    To note the Safeguarding Adults Board Strategy 2019-24, which was agreed by the Safeguarding Adults Board in March 2019.

DECISION

1.    To note the business case for participating in the London Counter Fraud Hub.

2.    To approve the proposal to join the London Counter Fraud Hub as a participating authority through the collaborative contract let by the London Borough of Ealing and awarded to CIPFA Business Ltd (“the Agreement”).

3.    To authorise the provision of council data extracts to CIPFA for the purposes of preventing and detecting fraudulent or erroneous activity.

4.    To note that the contract will be for a period of seven years.

Action by:

CORPORATE DIRECTOR, RESOURCES (N. MURTON)

(Head of Audit and Risk (S. Tinkler)

Councillor Candida Ronald, Cabinet Member for Resources and the Voluntary Sector, introduced the report on the London Counter Fraud Hub. She highlighted that this proposal was seen as an important tool in targeting cross-London fraud for example around housing sub-letting, business rate relief and other fraudulent activities.

Councillor Andrew Wood, Leader of the Conservative Group, welcomed the proposal and highlighted the usefulness in making the public aware of this initiative in order to deter people from attempting fraud in the first place.

The Mayor welcomed the report and the comments received during discussion. He agreed the recommendations as set out.

RESOLVED

1.    To note the business case for participating in the London Counter Fraud Hub.

2.    To approve the proposal to join the London Counter Fraud Hub as a participating authority through the collaborative contract let by the London Borough of Ealing and awarded to CIPFA Business Ltd (“the Agreement”).

3.    To authorise the provision of council data extracts to CIPFA for the purposes of preventing and detecting fraudulent or erroneous activity.

4.    To note that the contract will be for a period of seven years.

Pre-Decision Scrutiny Questions and officer responses were noted.

DECISION

1.         To note the end of year summary status as set out at the beginning of the attached monitoring report; and

2.         To note the performance of the strategic measures at the end of the year, including those measures where the minimum expectation has been missed; and

3.         To note the progress in delivering Strategic Plan activities, including those activities that have been re-profiled to be completed in 2019/20.

Action by:

CHIEF EXECUTIVE (W. TUCKLEY)

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

(Head of Intelligence and Performance (T. Dreyer)

The Mayor introduced the regular quarterly performance monitoring report. He noted the good progress the Council had made in a large number of areas but also highlighted those areas that were still falling short.

He explained as well that some targets were deliberately stretching and so not meeting them did not automatically mean a service was failing.

During discussion a number of issues were considered including:

·         The need to target staff sickness levels and the value of promoting general staff wellbeing.

·         Whether reports that showed trends over longer periods of time would be useful.

The Mayor noted the Pre-Decision Scrutiny Questions and officer responses and agreed the recommendations as set out.

RESOLVED

1.         To note the end of year summary status as set out at the beginning of the attached monitoring report; and

2.         To note the performance of the strategic measures at the end of the year, including those measures where the minimum expectation has been missed; and

3.         To note the progress in delivering Strategic Plan activities, including those activities that have been re-profiled to be completed in 2019/20.

Pre-Decision Scrutiny Questions and officer responses were noted.

DECISION

1.    To note the Council’s provisional outturn position for the General Fund, Dedicated Schools Budget and HRA budgets agreed for 2018-19, based on information as at the end of March 2019 and subject to the ongoing closure process as detailed in the appendices.

2.    To note the summary savings position.

Action by:

CORPORATE DIRECTOR, RESOURCES (N. MURTON)

(Chief Accountant (K. Miles)

Councillor Candida Ronald, Cabinet Member for Resources and the Voluntary Sector introduced the report providing the provisional budget outturn for 2018-19 compared to the overall budget. She highlighted the small overall overspend. She also noted a number of specific issues including:

·         Disappointment where savings targets had slipped.

·         The Capital expenditure was slightly better than forecasted.

·         The planned use of reserves.

·         Pressure on the schools’ grant.

During discussion Members noted a number of further points including that:

·         Improved monitoring and systems should help increase financial discipline.

·         After nine years of austerity, savings were getting even more difficult to find.

·         Foresight had been shown in increasing the planned purchasing of property in the current markets.

·         The known risk of an overspend on the new Town Hall due to asbestos removal.

The Mayor welcomed the report, noted the pre-decision scrutiny questions and officer responses and agreed the recommendations as set out.

RESOLVED

1.    To note the Council’s provisional outturn position for the General Fund, Dedicated Schools Budget and HRA budgets agreed for 2018-19, based on information as at the end of March 2019 and subject to the ongoing closure process as detailed in the appendices.

2.    To note the summary savings position.

Pre-Decision Scrutiny Questions and officer responses were noted.

DECISION

1.    To approve the proposed change to the existing contract with Servelec and authorise the Divisional Director for IT to award the amended contract to Servelec.

Action by:

CORPORATE DIRECTOR, RESOURCES (N. MURTON)

CORPORATE DIRECTOR, CHILDREN AND CULTURE (D. JONES)

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

(Interim Divisional Director, Adult Social Care (D. Jones)

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

(Divisional Director, Corporate IT (A. Gorst)

(Social Care IT (A. Cross)

Councillor Candida Ronald, Cabinet Member for Resources and the Voluntary Sector, introduced the report on a proposed change to the Servelec Contract. The intention of the proposal was to look to reduce the risks from working across multiple suppliers and move to more modern software and databases.

The Mayor noted the Pre-Decision Scrutiny Questions and officer responses and agreed the recommendation as set out.

RESOLVED

1.    To approve the proposed change to the existing contract with Servelec and authorise the Divisional Director for IT to award the amended contract to Servelec.

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.

Nil items.

Nil items.