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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APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE Minutes: Apologies for absence were received from Cllr Mohammed Pappu.
Apologies for early departure were received from Cllr Sufia Alam and Cllr Ehtasham Haque who needed to attend another meeting.
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APPOINTMENT OF VICE-CHAIR Minutes: In light of Cllr Mohammed Pappu stepping down from the vice-chairmanship, Cllr Marc Francis proposed and Cllr Kahar Chowdhury seconded the nomination of Cllr Ehtasham Haque, being elected as vice-chair of the Sub-Committee.
Cllr Ethasham Haque accepted the nomination which was agreed by all Members of the Sub-Committee.
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DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST PDF 74 KB Minutes: Councillor Marc Francis declared an interest in item 6.2 on the basis that his wife is the Deputy Mayor with responsibility for this area. Councillor Francis left the meeting room when the item was discussed, which was presided over by the newly elected vice-chair Councillor Ehtasham Haque.
Kim Hayman, Co-opted Member of the Sub-Committee declared a personal interest in item 6.1, in that she is an employee of the Bromley-by-Bow Centre, which works with organisations receiving grants.
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MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING PDF 100 KB To approve as a correct record of proceedings, the minutes of the meeting held on 20th September 2018. Minutes: The minutes from the meeting held on the 20th September 2018 were agreed has 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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Event Fund - Quarter 4 & Annual Report 2017/18 PDF 113 KB Additional documents:
Minutes: Alison Denning, Festival and Events Officer presented her report in relation to the Event Fund. She informed Members the report encompassed the activities over the last quarter and also provided a summary of the events that had taken place throughout the year – 1st April 2017 to 31st March 2018. Ms Denning informed Members the Event Fund was a small grant which funded community events
In particular, Ms Denning referred Members to point 3.2 of the report and stated the total fund was £52,000 per year. She referred Members to the information provided at 3.5 which gave a breakdown on the number of applications received, the number of applications awarded and the number of applications refused per quarter. Ms Denning said events took place in 81 venues across the 20 wards however there was a disparity in the number of events held in the North East and Southern parts of the borough when comparing this to the rest of the borough.
In response to questions asked by Members the following was noted:
· 44 out of 50 organisations had returned their evaluation forms. Of the six that did not, Members enquired if they would be written off and not grant-funded again. Ms Denning stated that whilst the non-compliance would be taken into account, any new application would be considered on its merits.
· The dip in applications in the first quarter was due to the change from monthly to quarterly deadlines however the number of applications received as evened out over the year. The introduction of workshops to raise awareness of the Event Fund has helped.
· Feedback is given to all applicants of ineligible applications. Examples of ineligibility can be due to the event being held outside the borough, being a closed event or not having a clear community benefit.
· There is a good demographic spread among the events supported but some wards have far more than others. This can be because some wards do not have the venues to hold events and indeed the data does not reflect groups who partner with others, with the event happening in another ward to the one in which they are based. Members were told efforts to encourage applications from the under-represented areas including the workshops held with the Tower Hamlets Community and Voluntary Sector. Newsletters and the website have been used and networking events to which successful projects are invited to share their experience. It was noted that applications can fall down on the requirement for events to be genuinely participatory; simply watching and enjoying a performance is not usually enough to be awarded a grant.
Members of the Sub-Committee ENDORSED and AGREED to recommend to the Grant’s Determination Sub-Committee to:
1. Note the report.
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Payment of Historic Buildings Grant to St. Mary and Holy Trinity Church, Bow PDF 435 KB Additional documents:
Minutes: Cllr Ehtasham Haque, vice-chair invited the Officer to present the report. Mr Michael Ritchie, Principal Officer Place Shaping Team stated that this report concerned the release of grant money to St Mary and Holy Trinity Church. He said phase 1 of the project had been satisfactorily completed and the report was seeking approval for £20,000 to be released to the Church.
In response to questions from Members the following was noted:
· This grant scheme is targeted at buildings on the Historic England Heritage at Risk (HAR) Register and that 29 buildings are on the HAR currently. Applying for grant funding is a complex process because the Historic Buildings Grant can only fund up to 60% of the costs. It can take a lot of work to attract funding for the rest of the costs and time to put such packages in place. In this case, the Council’s grant is only 8% of the project cost.
· Members enquired if there were concerns that the second phase of the project might not complete and were told that it is a very important building, Grade II* listed, and the completion of this work will allow it to come off the HAR, a major achievement for all associated with it, so the risk is very low. It is possible the costs might overrun but the church may have a contingency that could be used if necessary. Given the standard of the work completed so far, there are no concerns in relation to the quality of the restoration and repair. It is also closely scrutinised.
Members of the Sub-Committee ENDORSED and AGREED to recommend to the Grants Determination Sub-Committee to:
1. Approve the grant payment of £20,000 to St Mary and Holy Trinity, Bow, as a contribution to vital repair works to the exterior of the west tower.
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Additional documents:
Minutes: Dr Somen Banerjee, Director of Public Health introduced this report stating that the report was seeking approval for a ‘Change Note’ in relation to the Aberfeldy Village Health Centre. He said that since the original PID was agreed in August 2017, there had been significant delays to the programme due to the vision being revised with health partners. NHS East London Foundation Trust were identified to replace NHS Property Services as the new delivery partners and Poplar HARCA to replace NHS Property Services as the leaseholder. Dr Banerjee stated there were no other changes to the PID.
In response to questions asked by Members the following was noted:
· There were various inaccuracies in the report, in particular the map on page 93. Members believed it did not reflect the latest situation with regard to the location of the new Aberfeldy Practice. The significance of this relates to the statement in the table on page 87 (PA/06/02068) that reasonable endeavours had been made to spend the funding in Blackwall and Cubitt ward. The view was expressed that reasonable endeavours had not been made and the latest location for the new Aberfeldy site will lengthen the journey for those residents.
o ACTION: Officers were asked to check the report for accuracy and ascertain the location of the new Aberfeldy practice for Grants Determination (Cabinet) Sub-committee on Wednesday.
· The new practice will reach capacity quickly and it is expected the CCG will promote the new practice in the run-up to its opening to encourage registrations.
Members of the Sub-Committee AGREED to ENDORSE the recommendation to the Grants Determination Sub-Committee subject to responses to the questions raised.
1. To approve the grant funding of £3,119,421 to NHS Tower Hamlets CCG to deliver increased capacity, access and service provision in primary care and maintain continuity of local GP Services
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Minutes: Dr Somen Banerjee, Director for Public Health informed Members the report provided an update on the Maximising Healthcare infrastructure PID that was agreed in 2016. He said the PID related to the health infrastructure in Tower Hamlets and was proposing changes to the scope of the projects detailed in the PID, so to mitigate the impact of current and future increases in population.
In response to questions asked by Members the following was noted:
· As a result of some elements of the programme no longer going ahead there is an underspend. It is proposed that this be redirected to the Island Medical Centre. There are no other changes to the PID.
· Members expressed concern that the benefits reported in relation to the works at Island Health (page 117) were not an accurate reflection of the reasons for the changes that the practice made.
· Members also noted the number of cost overruns across the tables in 3.3 and expressed concern that less would be achieved for the money in terms of the goal of delivering much needed additional capacity.
o ACTION: Officers were asked to clarify these points for Grants Determination (Cabinet) Sub-committee on Wednesday.
Members of the Sub-Committee AGREED to ENDORSE the recommendation to the Grants Determination Sub-Committee subject to the clarifications requested, to:
1. Approve the change note that grant funds £1,871,948 to NHS Tower Hamlets CCG to deliver increased capacity, access and service provision in primary care and maintain continuity of local GP services.
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Additional documents: Minutes: Dominic Hinde, National Management Trainee Public Health presented his report relating to the release of grant funding of £1,502,608 of section 106 and CIL resources to NHS Tower Hamlets CCG to develop and deliver ICT infrastructure in primary care and to improve digital access to health services.
Members were informed the project aimed to manage the demand for face to face GP appointments by developing a Tower Hamlets health app to enable patients to access more services remotely through digital mediums. It also aimed to tackle health inequalities by targeting increased ease of access to GP Services, including online registration in multiple languages.
In response to questions asked by Members the following was noted:
· Whilst Members were in favour of the proposals of harnessing the opportunities offered by technology generally, they questioned the £650,000 cost related to the development of a mobile application (para 3.5, line 10 in the table on page 129) when so many similar apps already exist. Had sufficient consideration been given to whether an existing one could be adapted for Tower Hamlets? The sub-committee was advised that the NHS has a London digital board and so officers will ensure that this is shared with that forum.
· Members asked about those who will not want to access services in the new ways. An important goal of the project is to free up capacity so that those with the more complex needs – estimated to be around 20% - can continue to access services as before and hopefully experience a better service as a result of the healthier residents using the new digital tools.
o ACTION: Officers were asked to clarify what the £650,000 for the mobile app comprises and whether the CCG have explored adapting an existing app.
Members of the Sub-Committee AGREED to ENDORSE the recommendation to the Grants Determination Sub-Committee subject to the clarification requested, to
1. Approve the grant funding of £1,502,608 to NHS Tower Hamlets CCG to provide digital access for healthcare services and to increase capacity in primary care through ICT infrastructure.
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MSG Performance Report - Period 11 (April - June 2018) PDF 120 KB Additional documents:
Minutes: Steve Hill, Head of Benefits presented his report on the Mainstream Grant funding programme. Mr Hill informed Members the report covered Red and Amber performance projects and currently there were 5 red rated projects. He said three of the projects related to the Tower Hamlets Youth Sport Foundation (THYSF) and two related to Family Action.
Mr Hill referred Members to points 3.8 and 3.10 which set out the reasons and the recommendations. Mr Hill said premises agreements were still an on-going issue for the Youth Sports Foundation who also had complex financial issues. Mr Hill informed Members the organisation was presently winding down and consequently had not been considered for the MSG extension period.
Family Action were engaging with their premises issues and the recommendation being put forward was for the decision to be delegated to officers so that this can proceed in a timely manner without having to return to the committee.
In response to questions asked by Members the following was noted:
· That the rent subsidy for organisations mentioned at 3.9 of the report, were now in place.
· In relation to the THYSF payments had been released until August 2018.
Members of the Sub-Committee AGREED to ENDORSE the recommendations to the Grants Determination Sub-Committee to:
1. Consider and agree the three recommendations relating to the releasing of MSG payments to projects as set out in section 3.8 and 3.10 of the report.
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Proportionate Monitoring Arrangements PDF 123 KB Minutes: Steve Hill, Head of Benefits Service informed Members this report related to the monitoring arrangements in place for the Mainstream Grant programme.
The Sub-Committee were told the proposal was to reduce the burden on grant recipients by introducing a more nuanced approach to monitoring with an increased level of monitoring as the grant increases.
In response to questions asked by Members the following was noted:
· Mystery Shoppers would be used as part of the evaluation process and grant recipients will be aware of this.
· Assurances were given that the new regime of monitoring were robust and would deliver what was required, when compared to the system in place during the previous administration.
· Mr Hill said that with the previous three years’ experience of grants administration, organisations have become more professional and have successfully complied with a far more onerous monitoring regime to date. The sector has lobbied extensively for a more proportionate approach. They will be freed up from a considerable administrative burden and will instead be able to focus more on delivery.
· It is expected that organisations will be responsible for flagging issues as they arise in order to work with the Council to address them and in doing so, not jeopardise their green performance rating, for example, the onus being on them to advise of the loss of key members of staff.
Members of the Sub-Committee AGREED to ENDORSE the recommendations to the Grant Determination Sub-Committee to
1. Consider and agree the proposals outlined to rationalise grant monitoring arrangements making them proportionate to the level of risk.
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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 Minutes: No other business was discussed at the meeting.
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