Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Shafi Ahmed, Councillor Muhammad Ansar Mustaquim and Councillor Ayas Miah. Apologies were also received from Jen Pepper, Affordable Housing and Partnerships Manager.

Councillor Candida Ronald declared an interest in relation to item 5.1 – Event Fund Report stating that she is a member of the Board for Rich Mix - a multi arts centre.

To approve as a correct record of proceedings, the minutes of the meeting held on 19^th October 2017.

The minutes from the previous meeting of 19^th October 2017 were approved as a correct and accurate record of the meeting.

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]

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.)

Alison Denning, Events and Festivals Officer presented her report which reported on the number of applications received for Quarters 1 - 3 in 2017-18.

She said the Event Fund is a small grant fund, totalling £52,500 per annum, for community arts events. It worked on a rolling programme operating to quarterly deadlines from the 1^st April 2017.

Alison Denning referred members to point 3.4 of the report and the table showing the number of application received and the number awarded. She said applications were received for events in all 20 wards however following assessment, events receiving awards were due to take place in 19 wards with the exception of Bromley North. She also made reference to the various appendices in particular the equalities analysis appended at appendix G. She said the information should be viewed as raw data as the information needed to be uploaded onto the GIFTS system.

Members of the Sub-Committee made the following comments and asked questions in relation to the report:

·         What is the process for deciding the applications?

·         Do you feel what has been funded is a fair representation of Arts in the Borough?

·         It would be useful to have some feedback at the end of the cycle on the types of events funded and where there are gaps.

·         Not all organisations are looking for a monetary award. Do we record ‘grants in kind’ information?

o   ACTION: Steve Hill said the GIFTS system would capture this type of data however he would investigate this further in order to ensure the information reflects grants made in kind – such as venues offered or technical advice given. The GIFTS software comes into effect at the beginning of April 2018.

·         Do the assessors go to the events they have assessed, in order to check if the scores on paper match up with the expectations of what the events intend to deliver?

·         It would be useful of know of up and coming events which the Council has funded, so Members can attend.

·         In reference to appendix D and the ward breakdown, it would be useful to double check the geographical boundaries as some of the venues are not in the wards stated.

Members of the Sub-Committee AGREED to recommend the Grant’s Determination Sub-Committee to:

1.    NOTE the contents of the report.

Carrie Kilpatrick, Deputy Director for Mental Health and Joint Commissioning stated the mental health user led grants programme enabled user led groups to provide a range of social and therapeutic activities to promote social inclusion, well-being and independence for people with mental health problems aged over 18.

She said the grant scheme had been running for 10 years and had steadily increased the level of peer support available in Tower Hamlets. The scheme invites small user-led groups for people with mental health problems to apply for a maximum grant of £5,000 per year to develop peer support networks.

She informed Members the grants were awarded using a outcomes framework which is now a mandatory part of the process.

Members of the Sub-Committee made the following comments and asked questions in relation to the report:

·         In reference to point 3.2 which states “45% of people claiming incapacity benefit … are doing so due to a mental health problem”  Is it solely in relation to mental health or is mental health one element of them receiving the benefit?

·         Who is responsible for the monitoring of the grants awarded under this scheme?

The Health and Wellbeing Board have responsibility for this grant scheme.

·         In reference to Page 88, point 6.3 what other networks are being used to promote the grant scheme?

GP surgeries and Healthwatch were suggested as networks to be used to disseminate the promotion of the grant scheme.

·         Members commended the quality of the report and the infographics used in the report and stated they would like to see reports of this standard coming to the Grants Scrutiny sub-committee.

Abigail Knight, Associate Director for Public Health presented this report stating that the report related to the release of up to £7,454,475.06 of section 106 resources to the NHS Tower Hamlets Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) to deliver increased capacity, access and service provision via a number of premises improvements across primary care to enhance local GP services.

She said the funding would be divided up between three health centres:

·         Wellington Way Health Centre - £1,493,700

·         Aberfeldy Village Health Centre - £3,119,421 and

·         Suttons Wharf Health Centre - £2,841,354.06

Members of the Sub-Committee made the following comments and asked questions in relation to this report:

·         Do we have the health professionals to fill the centres being proposed?

·         How will the relocation of the health facilities benefit those who are house-bound? Better integration of community services is needed.

·         In reference to pages 34-35 and population growth, is the Council behind the curve in predicting where growth will happen and the amenities required?

·         Cabinet has already approved the S106 so what value is the scrutiny process adding to this at this stage?

o   ACTION: Johnathan Fox, legal advisor stated the constitution was being reviewed and he would report back the comments made to the Monitoring Officer.

The Sub-Committee AGREED to recommend to the Grant’s Determination Sub-Committee to:

1.    Approve the grant funding of £7,454,475.06 to NHS Tower Hamlets CCG to deliver increased capacity, access and service provision in primary care and maintain continuity of the local GP service.

With the proviso to NOTE

·         Money is not being spent within Blackwall & Cubitt Town ward and

·         In reference to page 26 point 2.5 what has the council done to explore additional capacity within the ward?

Alison Thomas, Service Head for Private Sector Affordable Housing presented this report stating that the Commissioners in December 2015 agreed £7.06m of retained Right to Buy receipts could be used to set up a Local Housing Affordable Grant programme for the period of 2016/19 for the provision of affordable housing in Tower Hamlets.

She said there had been considerable interest in the scheme when it was launched and a report to Cabinet in February 2017 had requested an increase to the amount of grant.

She referred Members to point 4.3 of the report and said that Swan and East End Homes had been awarded grant funding for amounts detailed in the table. She made reference to point 6.4 of the report and said the ARHAG scheme had run into some difficulty and were now asking for a lesser amount.  With regard to East End Homes they want to make purchases in other areas of the borough because the high value of properties on their estates have prohibited them in buying back ex right to buy homes.

Members of the Sub-Committee made the following comments and asked questions in relation to the report:

·         With respect to East End Homes buybacks (page 113 point 7.3) would the Council also be competing or bidding for those homes?

·         Can you say more about ARHAG? Who are they and how big is their portfolio?

·         In reference to point 7.4 and the increase in the capital budget, are you confident that the monies allocated will be spent by the 2020 deadline?

·         How does the Council build on its relationship with registered providers such as Swan and East End Homes?

·         Why did East End Homes not buyback their own properties on their estates?

Members of the Sub-Committee AGREED to recommend the Grants Determination Sub-Committee to

2.1       Consider and endorse Officers’ recommendations to award, subject to the necessary budget approval by the Mayor in Cabinet in January 2018, Right to Buy grant funding for the amounts listed to the Registered Providers outlined in point 4.3 of the report. In addition, allow 10% uplift to the agreed amounts to take account of potential increases in build or acquisition costs.

2.2       Note the variations to the bid submitted by the Registered Provider Arhag that were subsequently approved by the Mayor on the 11^th August 2017.

2.3       Note the change in scheme completion date for 34-40 Bow Road E3 being delivered by Arhag.

2.4       In respect to an existing grant approval to East End Homes, approve the change in purchase completion date and the grant purpose to be extended to include the purchase of residential properties on the open market.

2.5       Authorise the Corporate Director of Place to agree extensions of time on schemes approved for grant funding, which shall not in any event exceed December 2020.

2.6       Authorise the Corporate Director of Place, to agree the terms of and enter into, any contractual or ancillary documentation to give effect to the above recommendation, with recommendations 2.1 to be  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.4

Steve Hill, Head of Benefits Service reported the Grants Register was a central database of all live Council grants. The register had been updated on a quarterly basis and disseminated to grant managers for information.

The register had undergone a number of iterations and now includes further information such as whether the grant is delegated or not. He said the GIFTS system would be live by April 2018 and this would provide real time information on grant funding.

Members of the Sub-Committee made the following comments:

·         The Chair requested a meeting with Steve Hill prior to the GIF software going live.

·         It would be helpful to have information on Grants which have been discussed by the sub-committee; how these fit into the cycle, the date when they were last reviewed and when they are next to be reviewed.

·         The column stating cost centre should be removed.

The Sub-Committee AGREED to recommend to the Grants Determination Sub-Committee to:

1.    NOTE the grants register and comment on what additional information the grants register could contain for future meetings.

There were no Grants Scrutiny Sub-Committee reports to consider.

Councillor Wood stated the planned challenge session examining the Youth Sport Grants will come back to the next meeting of the sub-committee.

He also informed Members he had asked the Strategy, Policy and Performance Officer – Ludovica Orlando to devise an action plan to keep track of the actions arising from the sub-committee meetings.

Cllr Clare Harrisson requested that the March meeting of the sub-committee be moved up the municipal calendar, in order to avoid purdah. The Senior Committee Officer confirmed she would investigate further and would email the membership.