Venue: MP702, 7th Floor, Town Hall, Mulberry Place, London E14 2BG
Contact: Matthew Mannion, Democratic Services
Tel: 020 7364 4651 Email: matthew.mannion@towerhamlets.gov.uk
Items
No. |
Item |
1. |
APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
To receive any apologies for
absence.
Minutes:
Apologies for absence were received from Sir
Ken Knight and Alan Wood.
An apology from the following invited Members
and officers was also noted:
Councillors Rachael Saunders,
Josh Peck, Shiria Khatun, Whitelock-Gibbs, Sirajul Islam, Danny
Hassell and John Pierce, Melanie Clay and Minesh Jani.
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2. |
DECLARATIONS OF DISCLOSABLE PECUNIARY INTERESTS PDF 70 KB
To note any declarations of
interest made by Members, including those restricting Members from
voting on the questions detailed in Section 106 of the Local
Government Finance Act, 1992. See attached note from the Monitoring
Officer.
Minutes:
No declarations of disclosable pecuniary interests were made.
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3. |
UNRESTRICTED MINUTES PDF 85 KB
To confirm as a correct record
of the proceedings the unrestricted minutes of the Best Value
Review Board Quarterly Meeting held on 19 April 2016.
Minutes:
The minutes of the meeting held on 19 April
2016 were agreed and approved as a correct record.
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4. |
REPORTS FOR CONSIDERATION
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4.1 |
Elections Update
To receive a presentation from the Head of
Electoral Services.
Minutes:
A presentation was made by the Chief Executive
as the Counting Officer for the EU Referendum and the Head of
Electoral Services concerning the delivery of the poll, informing
all that:
- improved practices
arising from lessons learned had been applied to all elections
delivered by the Authority since June 2015. e.g. registration was now promoted through a wider
range of the Council’s customer facing venues.
- further checks and
balances continued to be introduced to achieve ever stronger
practices. e.g. an hour mark was now
incorporated into the Corresponding List to better trace timings of
where electoral fraud might occur at a poll.
- each element from
registration to poll had its own plan and risk
assessment.
- follow up procedures
for postal registrations had been introduced. These have resulted in the lowest level of postal
vote rejections and the highest postal vote outturn to
date.
- feedback from polling
station visits was given to polling staff at the pre-election
training to improve and standardise practices at the
stations.
- there had been
comprehensive joint working with the Police, Council’s own
security and Canary Wharf security at the count and at the planning
stages. This included undertaking joint
training and planning. Police support
had been provided by the local Force in the main.
- noting the adverse
weather on polling day, proactive steps were taken to ensure that
all polling stations were properly staffed and open on
time. It was noted that, due to travel
disruption caused by the weather, there was a delay in providing
papers at one station for 9 minutes however no voters were
lost.
- staffing levels at
polling stations were in accordance with Electoral Commission
recommendations.
- the count was
appropriately staffed and movements of staff and observers overseen
to ensure that the count was delivered in an appropriate and timely
manner. Results were declared within
the expected timescale.
- statistics of the
progress of the count would be analysed and inform staffing levels
at future counts.
- the suitability of
venues in the borough for use as future count venues was being kept
under review.
Concerning how the Council would ensure that
it was able to supply an up-to-date register at a polling station
in the event of an emergency or at short notice, Commissioners
heard that:
·
only experienced staff would be asked to carry out this task
ensuring that all CML checks had been properly completed.
·
the Council completes all required checks and runs a mock register
before the poll.
·
the Returning officer and Electoral Services will have regard to
unforeseen errors in their plans.
Commissioner Allison encouraged the authority
to use debriefs to ensure that partners were reminded to retain
focus.
RESOLVED
- That the feedback and discussion be
noted.
- That Commissioners’ feedback
be noted
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4.2 |
Best Value Plan Update PDF 75 KB
Additional documents:
Minutes:
The Chief Executive introduced the item which
asked the Board to consider the current draft Best Value Action
Plans update prior to its submission to the Secretary of State in
September 2016.
Procurement - the Board
noted:
·the achievements reported
to date,
·intentions around lifting
the directions relating to procurement and
·that outstanding work on
declarations of interest fell within the ‘organisational
culture’ theme.
Grants - the Board noted:
- a report proposing transitional
arrangements for the return of grants to the Council had been
presented at the recent Commissioners’ Decision Making
Meeting (CDMM) and would be discussed at a future Best Value
Programme Review Board. Commissioner
Caller noted that the report should provide detailed steps and
expressed concern that the Grants Service should have the necessary
skills to carry out the process.
- the transfer of decision making to
the elected CDMM members overseen by Commissioners would be
incorporated into the current schedule of CDMM meetings.
- Mayor Biggs advised that grant
making, when returned to the Council would be undertaken in a
public manner with clear record keeping. Commissioner Caller noted that the directions
concerning grants covered many types of payments and it would be
necessary for to ‘grants’ to be properly
identified.
Communications - the Board noted:
- significant work on the this element
of the action plan while recruitment of a new Head of
Communications was carried out
- the Interim Head of Communications
was overseeing the redesign of the Communications Team in
accordance with the LGA review and staff consultations were
currently underway.
- a permanent appointee would take up
this post at the end of July.
Property - the Board noted:
- compliance testing using revised
protocols was completed at the end of June.
- some further recommendations were
being made in relation to HRA and a report presented to Cabinet in
September 2016.
- community buildings remained an area
outstanding. Commissioner Caller
expressed concern that the Council had yet to adopt a corporate
approach in managing property and wished to see evidence that all
service areas were consulting on property matters with the
Corporate Property Team who were appropriately qualified to engage
with the management of all property arrangements. It was agreed that processes of the Council would
be examined to ensure that the principles were applied consistently
across all areas involving property. A
report back would be made in September 2016.
Organisational Culture - the Board noted:
- further progress would be made on
the structure of the Clean Up Team.
Commissioner Caller requested a more detailed description of the
matters that this team would address.
- proposals relating to changes to
delegations would require a change of the Council’s
constitution. Detailed discussions in
this area were pending and a report back would be made to BVRB in
September 2016. It was acknowledged
that the Council’s constitution required
strengthening. Commissioner Caller
referred to the Secretary of State’s letter of 11 April 2016
which indicated that delegation of powers would mark a turning
point. Additionally concerns elsewhere
had been expressed to the Secretary concerning ...
view the full minutes text for item 4.2
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4.3 |
Best Value Plan Themes and Milestones Forward Plan PDF 51 KB
Minutes:
The Interim Service Head, Corporate Strategy
and Equality introduced the report. He
informed the Board that he action plan hither to enforce was
complete and invited members to consider what matters should be
added to the new plan.
The following were discussed:
·
Relevant reports to include proposals for the removal of the
directions
·
Spotlight Sessions to look at the elements of the Culture Plan,
Property Plan and Communications Plan
·
Completed client brief for the New Town Hall, Whitechapel
RESOLVED
That the suggested matters be incorporated
into the new Forward Plan.
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