Agenda and minutes
Venue: Committee Room One - Town Hall, Mulberry Place, 5 Clove Crescent, London, E14 2BG. View directions
Contact: Farhana Zia, Democratic Services Tel: 020 7364 0842, E-mail: farhana.zia@towerhamlets.gov.uk
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APPOINTMENT OF VICE-CHAIR Minutes: Councillor Marc Francis proposed Councillor Mohammed Pappu for vice-chair, which was seconded by Councillor Andrew Wood.
· Members voted to appoint Cllr Mohammed Pappu as the vice-chair of the Grants Scrutiny Sub-Committee for the remainder of the municipal year 2018/19.
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APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE Minutes: Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Sufia Alam, Ehtasham Haque and Kahar Chowdhury.
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DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST PDF 74 KB Minutes: Kim Hayman, newly appointed co-optee declared a non-pecuniary interest in items 6.2 and 8. For item 6.2 she stated she has been involved with Poplar HARCA board for Bow Bridge and has heard representations from the community group involved. With regard to item 8, Ms Hayman declared she was involved in a decision to grant fund the radio station as part of the Bromley-by-Bow centre, however that was 10 years plus.
Kim Hayman declared a pecuniary interest as she is an employee of the Bromley-by-Bow centre.
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MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING PDF 138 KB To approve as a correct record of proceedings, the minutes of the meeting held on 4th June 2018. Minutes: The minutes from the meeting held on the 4th June 2018 were agreed and as an accurate record of the meeting.
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CONSIDERATION OF PUBLIC SUBMISSIONS Consideration of any written comments received from members of the public in relation to any of the reports on the agenda.
[Any submissions should be sent to the clerk listed on the agenda front page by 5pm the day before the meeting] Minutes: The Sub-Committee noted that no public submissions had been submitted to the Committee Officer by the deadline. (5:00 p.m. the day before the meeting.)
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GRANTS DETERMINATION SUB-COMMITTEE MEETING REPORTS FOR CONSIDERATION |
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Island Medical Centre: Approval of the Allocation of S106 PDF 108 KB Additional documents: Minutes: Matthew Phelan, Healthy Environment’s Programme Lead, Public Health presented his report in relation to the Island Medical Centre and the approval of the allocation of S106 monies totalling £985,839.
Mr Phelan explained grant funding was sought to extend and re-model the Island Medical Centre in order to provide for increasing demand in the primary care sector. He referred Members to the reasons listed at point 1 of the report and drew attention to point 2.3 with respect to population growth and tables at 3.5 and 3.6. He stated the facility would be operational by 2020.
Members of the sub-committee made the following comments and asked questions in relation to the report:
· The total value for the works, when compared with other similar projects seems on the high side. Why is that? · Will any unused monies be returned to the S106 pot? · How far does the redesign of this particular centre meet the needs of people in the south east of the borough? · This is an old building and is not an ideal size for a GP surgery. Would it not be better to invest in larger surgeries rather than lots of small ones? · Will the new service include or be able to increase, if already offering, out of hours and weekend services for future patients? · How will this project and others meet the overall needs of the borough?
Members of the Sub-Committee AGREED to NOTE and ENDORSE the recommendations to the Grant’s Determination Sub-Committee to:
1. Approve the grant funding of £985,839 to NHS Tower Hamlets CCG to deliver increased capacity, access and service provision in primary case and maintain continuity of GP services.
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Marner Family and Community Space PDF 108 KB Additional documents:
Minutes: Melanie Sirinathsingh, Public Health Programme Officer presented her report in relation to the Marner Family and Community Space Project. Ms Sirinathsingh explained the project was seeking approval of £34,000 grant of section 106 monies. This would help to deliver community engagement, co-design and delivery of a mixed-use, accessible community garden on the St Leonards Priory Park site in Bromley North.
Members of the Sub-Committee made the following comments and asked questions in relation to the report:
· This is a positive project and it’s good to see community involvement. However it is clear there have been issues with maintenance of the space. How will this be rectified going forward? · What has the response to the community consultation been? · Has any air-testing of the site been carried out?
Members of the Sub-Committee AGREED to NOTE and ENDORSE the recommendations to the Grant’s Determination Sub-Committee to:
1. Approve the grant funding of £34,000 to Public Health to complete the community engagement phase of the project and deliver co-designed improvements to the site to improve the look and feel, improve accessibility and safe use, increase biodiversity/counteract air pollution through wild planting, and provide needed outdoor green space for the local community.
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MSG Project Performance Report - Period 10 (Jan 2018 to March 2018) PDF 137 KB Additional documents:
Minutes: Steve Hill, Head of Benefit Services presented his quarterly report on the Main Stream Grant (MSG) 2015/18 for period 10, quarter January to March 2018.
Mr Hill provided an update in relation to each of the recommendations within the report, pages 83 – 87, explaining what was being requested and the progress made to date.
The Chair, Councillor Marc Francis invited members to comment upon the recommendations within the report and for any questions that members had:
Recommendation 1: Teviot British Bangladesh Association
· Members had no questions in relation to this recommendation.
Members of the Sub-Committee AGREED to NOTE and ENDORSE the recommendation made to the Grant’s Determination Sub-Committee.
Recommendation 2: Shadwell Basin Outdoor Activity Centre
· The centre has a good history and gave advance notice. Why is it amber rated?
Members of the Sub-Committee AGREED to NOTE and ENDORSE the recommendations to the Grant’s Determination Sub-Committee.
Recommendation 3: Bethnal Green Weightlifting Club
· Members had no questions in relation to this recommendation.
Members of the Sub-Committee AGREED to NOTE and ENDORSE the recommendations to the Grant’s Determination Sub-Committee.
Tower Hamlets Youth Sports Foundation
· The Foundation is still red rated. Is the monitoring information being evaluated? · Are payments made in advance or in arrears?
Recommendation 4: organisations receiving rent subsidy
· Members had no questions in relation to this recommendation.
Members of the Sub-Committee AGREED to NOTE and ENDORSE the recommendations to the Grant’s Determination Sub-Committee.
Recommendation 5: Family Action
· Members had no questions in relation to this recommendation.
Members of the Sub-Committee AGREED to NOTE and ENDORSE the recommendations to the Grant’s Determination Sub-Committee.
In addition to the questions raised above, the Chair asked:
· Can the Grants Scrutiny Sub-Committee be provided with information on the green rated projects in order for these to be reviewed? o ACTION: Steve Hill stated he would forward to members the 1 page summary of all projects to members of the sub-committee. · In reference to variances in the detailed performance report, can you explain why projects are rated green but have a negative variance?
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PLACE Ltd Modular Temporary Accommodation GLA Sub-Grant Agreement PDF 93 KB Additional documents:
Minutes: Chloe Lianos, Project Manager – PLACE (modular housing) presented her report on PLACE Ltd Modular Temporary Accommodation GLA Sub-Grant Agreement.
Ms Lianos stated the Mayor in Cabinet had in March 2018, approved for Tower Hamlets to be the lead borough of the Pan-London Accommodation Collaborative Enterprise (PLACE) programme and approved the incorporation of PLACE Ltd to deliver modular temporary accommodation on meanwhile sites.
Ms Lianos said the GLA had awarded £11m to the programme and as a lead borough Tower Hamlets is the grant recipient. However the Mayor acknowledged there was need for further discussion and scrutiny of the Sub-Grant agreement to allow PLACE Ltd to draw on the GLA grant.
Ms Lianos said there was intense pressure on temporary accommodation and PLACE Ltd had identified 5 possible meanwhile sites in London, of which 2 were located in Tower Hamlets. She said the aim was to provide high quality temporary accommodation, via modular homes which could be moved to new sites across London, as required.
Members of the Sub-Committee AGREED to NOTE and ENDORSE the recommendation to the Grants Determination Sub-Committee to:
1. Authorise the award of grant funding of £11 million to PLACE Ltd through a Sub-Grant Agreement; drawing on the £11 million grant from the GLA awarded to Tower Hamlets, Lead Borough of the Pan-London Modular Temporary Accommodation on meanwhile sites programme.
2. Authorise the Corporate Director Place to enter into a grant agreement and make decisions relating to any associated matter to paragraph 1 above.
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SUB COMMITTEE REPORTS FOR CONSIDERATION Minutes: There were no Grants Scrutiny Sub-Committee reports for consideration.
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ANY OTHER BUSINESS THE CHAIR CONSIDERS TO BE URGENT - Emergency Funding - Betar Bangla PDF 103 KB Additional documents:
Minutes: EMERGENCY FUNDING APPLICATION – PHASE 12, BETAR BANGLA
Steve Hill, Head of Benefits Services explained an emergency funding application had been received in relation to Betar Bangla, a community radio station which operated within the borough. He informed members the applicants had requested a sum of £20,000 to cover unforeseen increase in their rent costs.
However it was recommended emergency funding of £10,000 be provided to Betar Bangla instead, based on the analysis provided in the table on page 5, of the supplementary agenda. In particular, Mr Hill referred members to point 6.2 and said they would be referring the organisation to THCVS for further support.
Members of the Committee made the following comments and asked questions in relation to the report:
· Does Pearl Blue Ltd hold the freehold to the land? · How much notice was Betar Bangla given in relation to the increase in rent? · Whereabouts is the location of the radio station? From which venue do they operate from? · Is the Council still in negotiation with the landlord Pearl Blue Ltd about the increase in rent?
Members of the Committee AGREED to NOTE and ENDORSE the recommendation to the Grants Determination Committee to:
1. Approve the officer recommendation to award emergency funding of £10,000 to Betar Bangla based on the analysis set out in paragraph 5.2 of this report.
NEXT MEETING DATE FOR GRANTS SCRUTINY SUB-COMMITTEE
The Chair, Councillor Marc Francis informed members that in light of the Grants Determination Sub-Committee moving its meeting from the 12th September to the 27th September 2018, the Grants Scrutiny Sub-Committee would need to move its meeting to align with this change.
Councillor Francis informed members an e-mail had been sent to members asking if the proposed change of meeting, for Grant’s Scrutiny Sub-Committee from the 10th September to the 20th September 2018, would be acceptable and asked members for their view. Councillor Francis said he was aware there were other meetings listed for the 20th September however this would be the best date to hold the meeting.
Councillor Wood said he had another meeting on the 20th September and as such Councillor Francis asked the Committee Clerk to canvass the membership again to see if an earlier start time of 4:30 p.m. instead of 6:30 p.m. would be agreeable.
· The Committee Clerk to re-canvass the membership with regard to an earlier start time. Members of the Sub-Committee will be informed of the new date and time of the next meeting via email.
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