None received

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.

Councillor Marc Francis, Chair of the Grants Scrutiny Sub – Committee declared that he had a disclosable non – pecuniary interest in the following agenda item as his partner Councillor Rachel Blake was the Deputy Mayor and Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Air Quality:

6.1       Ocean Regeneration Trust / Harford Street Community Centre: grant funding 2018 - 2022

Councillor Francis advised that due to this interest, he did not participate in the discussion on this item at the Grants Scrutiny Sub – Committee meeting on 7^th January 2019

To approve as a correct record of proceedings, the minutes of the meeting held on 7^th November 2018.

RESOLVED:

The minutes of the meeting held on 7^th November 2018 were presented and approved as a correct record of proceedings.

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]

There were no public submissions relating to the agenda items to be considered at the meeting.

To note for information individual decisions relating to the award of grants that have been taken by the Mayor the last meeting

The Sub - Committee noted that, since the last meeting, the Mayor had taken no urgent decisions in the form of an Individual Mayoral Decision that related to grants.

Niall McGowan (Housing Regeneration) presented the report. This requested that the Ocean Regeneration Trust (ORT) was awarded grant funding to take on the lease for the Harford Street community centre and provide continued support for ongoing projects without a disruption in provision. The Sub – Committee were reminded that the ORT was a well established charity and had sound governance arrangements. They also noted the advantages of ORT taking over the lease for the community centre, in terms of the community benefits.  It was also noted that the proposals, once the shortfall had been overcome, should be cost effective in the long term, that it was a pilot scheme and be subject to monitoring.

The Mayor noted the GSSC’s comments on the report. The GSSC asked questions about the expected rents from the north side shops. They also asked questions about the deficit, highlighted in the report and the plans in place to reduce this.

The GSCC were satisfied with the responses and supported the project. The GSSC endorsed the report. A summary of the GSSC questions were circulated at the meeting.

The Mayor then invited GDSC Members to comment on the report. The Mayor welcomed the proposals and the GDSC supported the recommendations

RESOLVED

That the Grants Determination Sub – Committee approve:

1.         allocation of £80,000 grant to ORT for 2018/19, funded as agreed in previous years by an interim provision of revenue from the existing shops on the south side of Ben Jonson Road (Nos 38-82 even), and supplemented by revenue from the new retail units on the north side of Ben Jonson Road (Nos 41-73 odd) which is now coming on-stream;

2.         allocation of £809,000 grant to ORT for the period 2019 – 2022, comprising £528,000 projected revenue from the new retail units on the north side of Ben Jonson Road and £281,000 from existing shop units on the south side of Ben Jonson Rd: this grant will support ORT’s ongoing projects and core activities for this period, and specifically will enable ORT to take on a 3 year lease from the Council to manage the Harford Street Community Centre.

3.         allocate a further provisional grant of £61,000 as a contingency should ORT not be eligible for the anticipated 80% community rent discount, as explained in the report.

Steve Hill (Head of Benefits) and Robert Mee (Programme Analysis and Review Officer) presented the report regarding the European Social Fund, Community Employment Scheme (ESF), which was co – financed through the European Union, match funded by the Council and administered by London Council’s.

This was a three year programme and the report provided an update of projects funded through round one, and an update on round two in respect of the nine organisations that had provisionally secured funded. It was noted that the release of payment was dependant on results and that the London Councils and LBTH had carried out due diligence checks of the organisations and that that Officers and the Head of Audit would carry out further checks. Officers expressed disappointment at the number of applications for round two funding and London Councils were aware of these concerns. Officers also reported that they were working with the GLA and London Councils to review the threshold and to increase take up. 

The Mayor invited the Chair of GSSC to comment on the report. He indicated that the GSSC expressed some concern about the number of round two organisations with a track record in providing employment and skills training. The GSSC were however mindful of the projects engagement with the Work Path initiative. The GSSC also sought assurances about the effectiveness of the performance monitoring arrangements. A summary of the GSSC questions were circulated at the meeting. The GSSC noted the responses and endorsed the report.

The Mayor then invited GDSC Members to comment on the report. Members noted the issues around the track record of the applicants and it was noted that assurances were sought, at the assessment stage, regarding their ability to deliver employment related training. Members also welcomed the due diligence checks and requested that this be reported to the London Councils. It was felt that these checks were very important.

Members also expressed disappointment at the outcome of the round two application process and the lack of interest from groups with a stronger track record in providing education and funding training. Members sought clarity on the reasons for this and how this would be addressed.  In response, Officers expressed the view that a possible reason for this could be the low income threshold. It might deter a more broader range of groups from applying. It was confirmed that Officers would be carrying out further work with London Councils to look at increasing the threshold and ways of encouraging more groups to apply. However it should be noted that raising the threshold significantly could change the nature of the initiative - moving it away from providing small grants to small organisations to build capacity. It was also important to note the information in the attachments that provided a summary of the projects achievements.

Members welcomed the plans to encourage more groups to apply and considered that the verification checks were vital. The GDSC supported the recommendations.

RESOLVED:

1.         That the organisations and projects provisionally funded through  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.2

Rachael Sadegh, (Service Manager - Substance Misuse) presented the report requesting that the Council award an annual grant to the East London Foundation Trust to fund the drug related costs associated with substance misuse treatment interventions.  At the request of the Grants Scrutiny Sub – Committee, a summary of prescription costs was previously circulated to the GDSC.

Ms Sadegh provided an overview of the background to the decision, highlighting the key features of the previous prescribing arrangements as set out in the committee report

The Mayor invited the Chair of GSSC to comment on the report. He indicated that the GSSC sought clarity as to the future approach to prescribing and whether or not this funding was likely to be awarded as a grant in the future. They also asked questions about the funding split between the Council and the Clinical Commissioning Group. The GSCC were satisfied with responses  and noted the similarities between the arrangements and those in place elsewhere.  The GSSC endorsed the report.

The Mayor then invited GDSC Members to comment on the report.  Members noted the summary of prescription costs and asked questions of clarity that were responded to by officers.

RESOLVED:

1.            That an annual grant to ELFT to the value of up to £400k be approved to fund drug costs associated with substance misuse treatment interventions for the duration of the current Reset contract with ELFT (due to end on 30^th October 2019).

2.            That Corporate Director Health, Adults and Community be delegated authority to approve funding agreement between THCCG and LBTH.

3.            To note that payment of the grant will be made in arrears at the end of the year in which expenditure was incurred. The first payments will therefore be for the contract year 31^st October 2016 to 30^th October 2017 and 31^st October 2017 to 30^th October 2018

Kath Dane, (Street Population Co-ordinator, Housing Options) presented the report. The report sought the approval of two small grants to organisations to fund, in addition to GLA funding, homelessness initiatives.

It was proposed that the first grant should be awarded to Praxis to fund bed spaces for non - UK nationals with complex and unresolved immigration status who are rough sleeping in Tower Hamlets.

The second request sought to award funding to St Mungo’s, to provide specialist support for complex –co-dependant couples who were rough sleepers, based on a  best practice took kit funded through the GLA innovation fund. The Borough had identified six complex couples that have been rough sleeping.

The Mayor invited the Chair of GSSC to comment on the report. The GSSC were supportive of the proposed grant for Praxis given, amongst things, the current lack of clarity of the status of EU citizens. However, they had more issues with the proposal to fund St Mungo’s as they have attracted some public criticism for their work and that they already received funding from the Mayor of London. As a result, the GSSC questioned the need to provide a further grant to the organisation and how the grant would benefit Tower Hamlets residents. However, they welcomed the plans and felt that it was a good initiative for the Council to support and be involved in. The GSCC were satisfied with responses and supported the project. The GSSC endorsed the report. A summary of the GSSC comments were circulated to Members.

In response, Ms Dane addressed the concerns regarding St Mungo’s, and described in greater detail the benefits of the proposal and the council’s positive relationship with St Mungo’s.

The Mayor then invited GDSC Members to comment on the report. The GSDC supported the proposals

RESOLVED:

1.         That a grant for £15,000 to Praxis be approved to fund supported bed spaces for non-UK nationals with complex and unresolved immigration status who are rough sleeping in Tower Hamlets.

2.         That a grant for £30,000 to St Mungo’s  be approved to provide intensive specialist support to hostel staff and rough sleeping couples in Tower Hamlets based on best practice.

The Forward Plan was noted.

There was no other business.