Members are reminded to consider the categories of interest in the Code of Conduct for Members to determine whether they have an interest in any agenda item and any action they should take. For further details, please see the attached note from the Monitoring Officer.

Members are reminded to declare the nature of the interest and the agenda item it relates to. Please note that ultimately it’s the Members’ responsibility to declare any interests and to update their register of interest form as required by the Code.

If in doubt as to the nature of your interest, you are advised to seek advice prior to the meeting by contacting the Monitoring Officer or Democratic Services

There were no declarations on interest declared.

To approve the minutes of the sub committee meeting, 9 September 2021.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the sub committee, 9 September 2021 were approved as a correct record of the proceedings.

Matters arising

Further to Item 3.2 - Fire Safety Scrutiny Report, the vice chair suggested it may be appropriate for the Committee to invite residents of Clare House to come and speak to us about their experiences of the recent fire-safety related incident. He indicated he would consult the Chair about putting this on the sub committee’s work plan.

A representative of Spitalfields Housing Association will be invited to attend the meeting.

It was noted that the invitations to Spitalfields Housing Association (SHA) to attend both the 9 September and this (19 October) meeting had been declined, and that there were some SHA residents in attendance who wished to raise concerns with their housing provider. At the invitation of the chair, a number of residents addressed the sub committee to highlight concerns with SHA, including:

• No response from SHA to complaints (residents also expressed doubt over the accuracy of SHA’s complaints data as presented in the report).
• Repairs not being completed.
• No non-email option to submit issues in writing. Little or no response to emails. Very difficult to contact SHA via phone.
• Lack of engagement with residents and no local presence of SHA; very difficult to speak to a representative face-to-face; the former local office has closed with no explanation and moved to Canada Square, but residents cannot access it.
• Residents being denied opportunity to participate in governance arrangements. Breaking down of community and democratic participation opportunities and an absence of oversight and accountability arrangements. Meetings (inc. the AGM) being held away from Spitalfields making it very difficult for residents to attend. 
• Residents would like the Council to intervene as they feel they currently have no outlet to raise their grievances within SHA.

Further to the comments of residents, The sub committee expressed concern and alarm at the seriousness, range and volume of issues raised, their longstanding nature and the apparent failure of the provider to respond adequately to them or to make representatives available to attend sub committee meetings (the chair noted that he had received a written statement from SHA which responded to some of the concerns made by residents at the 9 September meeting, however, this could not be made public as it disclosed personal information pertaining to tenants).  The chair suggested that SHA be given a further opportunity to attend a meeting of the sub committee to respond to residents’ concerns, following which the sub committee should develop recommendations for the administration, to include a proposed a course of action for steps the council can take to address the matter.

Shalim Uddin, Affordable Housing Coordinator, introduced the report which provided cumulative performance data for 14 registered providers (RPs) within the borough for quarter 2. Shalim provided a summary of the key achievements and challenges reflected in the report and, further to questions from the sub committee, explained some of the performance trends. He also highlighted an error in the performance table at Appendix 1 to the report: the number of complaints received by Southern Housing Group (question 1) should read 56.

Karen Swift, Director of Housing and Regeneration, provided some further context on the improvements that had been made to the format of the report since it was last submitted and future work that would make the data more accessible and useful to the sub committee. Karen noted there had been some mis-communications recently between the council and RPs and this had led to inaccuracies with some of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.1

To receive a presentation on the progress made on improving employment outcomes for residents with a focus on partnership working opportunities.

Vicky Clark, Director for Growth and integration provided a brief presentation to the sub committee on the Council’s services to improve employment outcomes for residents. The presentation provided a summary of the strategic context, including the Council’s Growth Plan priorities; the key performance metrics of the Work path service and Workpath partnership; and an overview of recent activity. Aelswith Frayne, Economic Development, provided some further information on the partnership working that had been undertaken with local universities and with Central London Forward on the green skills agenda.

Further to questions from sub committee members on the presentation, Vicky and Aelswith, provided more information on the following:

·         Apprenticeship opportunities in the borough, and the impact the Covid lockdown had on this work.

·         Discussions and plans for the co-location of services, including Job Centre Plus, Idea Stores and adult learning services.

·         Awareness of smaller projects and providers to help residents into work (for example Spear project in St Peters) and partnership work currently undertaken

·         Background of the Watney Market career advice site and possibilities for resuming operation at this site and options for services once the Town Hall moves to Whitechapel.

Further to a question from the chair which referred to the most recent cabinet report on strategic performance monitoring and revisions to Workpath targets since the pandemic, Vicky and Aelswith:

·         Provided an outline of the work underway to return performance to pre-pandemic levels. 

·         Indicated that due to various factors, including the reduced overall capacity of the service as a result of recent restructure and the uncertainty around the national employment market (including the impact of the impact end of furlough arrangements) that the current Workpath targets should remain at least until the start of the next municipal year.

The chair thanked Vicky and Aelswith for their contribution.

RESOLVED

That the presentation be noted.

To receive a presentation providing an overview of the council’s regeneration approach, how we have embedded this approach within the council,  how we are monitoring outcomes and what are the challenges and opportunities this presents for new ways of working.

Mayor John Biggs and Sripriya Sudhakar, Head of Regeneration, provided a brief update presentation to the sub committee on the Council’s regeneration approach. The presentation provided an Overview of the council’s regeneration policy and structures; how the council embedded its approach to regeneration; how the council monitored its policies to deliver regeneration outcomes and an overview of new ways of working.

Further to questions from sub committee members on the presentation, Mayor Biggs and Sripriya provided more information on the following:

·         Update of Crossharbour DLR station proposed works and how CIL may be used to help deliver the partnership project.

·         How the council’s regeneration outcomes are linked to its Local Plan to promote affordability, ensure uplift and deliver homes which can reduce pressure on the current housing waiting list.

Further to the presentation the chair expressed concern that past regeneration projects in the 1990s and 2000s did not do enough to address the wider economic decline of Tower Hamlets. He felt that the limited time and scope of this item did not allow the sub-committee to provide sufficiently meaningful input into the council’s regeneration approach.  He proposed an informal meeting or challenge session in the new year, to involve a wider group of non-executive Councillors, co optees and expert speakers from other authorities.  

The chair thanked Mayor Biggs and Sripriya for their contribution.

RESOLVED

1.    That the presentation be noted.

2.    That the sub committee consider an informal meeting or challenge session in the new year, to involve a wider group of non-executive Councillors, co-optees and expert speakers from other authorities, to explore the council’s regeneration approach.

The sub-committee asked for a note from officers on the refund of water commission rates to Tower Hamlets Homes’ (and other social housing) tenants following a recent court case and asked how the council can reassure residents they do not need to approach claims management companies to get refunds they are entitled to.