Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Denise Jones.

Councillor Asma Begum declared a personal nonpecuniary interest relating to item 6.5 in that her husband was on the board of Tower Hamlets Youth Sports Foundation. She did not participate in the decision relating to that element of the MSG Monitoring report.

Mayor Biggs and Councillor Islam declared a personal nonpecuniary interest in regard to item 6.5 in that the Chair of the Culloden Bangladeshi Parents Association was known to them.

To confirm as a correct record of the proceedings the unrestricted minutes of the meeting held on 5 December 2017.

The minutes of the meeting held on 5^th December 2017 were received 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.

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.

General Feedback from Grants Scrutiny Sub Committee (GSSC).

A written summary of the comments of GSSC was tabled at the meeting.  At the Mayor’s invitation, the Chair of GSSC summarised this feedback informing the Sub Committee that there was support for the proposals on the whole although a small number had concerns around item 6.3, proposals for shop front payments as part of the Brick Lane Regeneration programme.  It was felt that, in making this award, the Council would be subsidising private sector businesses.

The Grants Determination Sub-Committee (GDSC) heard from the Pollution Team Leader noting:

• The purpose of the new award was to improve air quality in the borough in line with the Air Quality Action Plan.
• The report also asked the GDSC to agree to the establishment of a process to deliver and monitor the use of the grant.

The Sub Committee noted the written comments of GSSC broadly supporting the proposal and highlighting concerns around the effective use of the grant and arrangements for testing air quality.

The Chair invited members of the Sub-Committee to comment on the report and they indicated that they also broadly supported the proposal.

DECISION

1. The implementation of a grant scheme for promoting measures to improve air quality in the borough be approved subject to applications meeting the criteria set out in the growth bid i.e.

·         Be related to either reducing emissions of, reducing exposure to or increasing awareness of air pollution

·         Be directly relevant to actions in our Air Quality Action Plan;

·         Have a measureable impact; and

·         Have wider community benefits. 

2. That the Corporate Director, Place, or to any officer nominated by him/her, be delegated authority to make grant awards in accordance with the scheme criteria in 1 above, provided that the totality of the grants made does not exceed the available funding for grants.
3. That quarterly reports be made to the Grants Determination Sub-Committee on grants awarded and outcome monitoring.

4. That authorisation of the award of this grant be deferred to the financial years 2018/19 and 2019/20 from financial years 2017/18 and 2018/19 to enable committed monies to be allocated in preceding years.

The Grants Determination Sub-Committee (GDSC) heard from the Pollution Team Leader noting:

• The purpose of the new award was to improve air quality in the borough in line with the Air Quality Action Plan.
• The report also asked the GDSC to agree to the establishment of a process to deliver and monitor the use of the grant.

The Sub Committee noted the written comments of GSSC broadly supporting the proposal and highlighting concerns around the effective use of the grant, monitoring and arrangements for testing air quality.  Additionally since this was a new area of grant it was important that appropriate monitoring arrangements were incorporated into the grant framework.

The Chair invited members of the Sub-Committee to comment on the report and they indicated that they also broadly supported the proposal.  They queried how the grant would be publicised and were informed that a publicity plan would be announced in the coming month.

RESOLVED

1. The implementation of a grant scheme for promoting measures to improve air quality in the borough be approved subject to applications meeting the criteria set out in the growth bid i.e.

·         Be related to either reducing emissions of, reducing exposure to or increasing awareness of air pollution

·         Be directly relevant to actions in our Air Quality Action Plan;

·         Have a measureable impact; and

·         Have wider community benefits. 

2. That the Corporate Director, Place, or to any officer nominated by him/her, be delegated authority to make grant awards in accordance with the scheme criteria in 1 above, provided that the totality of the grants made does not exceed the available funding for grants.
3. That quarterly reports be made to the Grants Determination Sub-Committee on grants awarded and outcome monitoring.

4. That authorisation of the award of this grant be deferred to the financial years 2018/19 and 2019/20 from financial years 2017/18 and 2018/19 to enable committed monies to be allocated in preceding years.

GDSC heard from the Interim Parks Manager noting that the proposal related to a two-year service level agreement for the land management programme on behalf of the Council for Mudchute Farm and Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park.

The Sub Committee noted the written comments of GSSC.

DECISION

That two Service Level Agreements (appended) for the Mudchute Farm (£31,000 per year from April 2018 to March 2021) and the Friends of Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park (£31,900 per year from April 2018 to March 2021) be approved.

GDSC heard from the Interim Parks Manager noting that the proposal related to a two-year service level agreement for the land management programme on behalf of the Council for Mudchute Farm and Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park.

The Sub Committee noted the written comments of GSSC.

RESOLVED

That two Service Level Agreements (appended) for the Mudchute Farm (£31,000 per year from April 2018 to March 2021) and the Friends of Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park (£31,900 per year from April 2018 to March 2021) be approved.

The Grants Determination Sub-Committee (GDSC) heard from the Brick Lane Town Centres Manager noting:

• That the proposal concerned improvements to shop fronts in Brick Lane as part of the wider Brick Lane Regeneration Programme.
• Brick Lane was a heritage area and the Shop Front Programme sought to address issues around the appearance and ambience of the area.
• Safeguards and legal penalties had been designed into the shopfront grants payments scheme to ensure probity and accountability in the delivery of this scheme.

The Sub Committee noted the written comments of GSSC and the concerns expressed around the use of public sector money to subsidise private sector businesses.

The Chair invited members of the Sub-Committee to comment on the report and they queried how the intended benefits would be safeguarded.  The Brick Lane Town Centres Manager responded to concerns raised and provided the following information:

• There were legal safeguards built in to ensure against financial loss to the Council.
• There were detailed specifications around the nature of the shopfront that could be installed.
• Wider issues in the area relating to public toilets and antisocial behaviour would be addressed via the Licensing Team.
• The present scheme was small but the intention was to extend the regeneration to the whole of Brick Lane.
• The community and business supported the initiatives to regenerate the area.

DECISION

1.    That the grant payment for the Shopfront Improvement Programme, namely £135,000 drawn from S106 contributions, contained within Brick Lane Phase 2 PID, the latter of which was approved at Cabinet on 19^th December 2017 be approved.

2.   That it be noted that the balancing contribution of £135000 contribution will be provided by shopkeepers.

The Grants Determination Sub-Committee (GDSC) heard from the Brick Lane Town Centres Manager noting:

• That the proposal concerned improvements to shop fronts in Brick Lane as part of the wider Brick Lane Regeneration Programme.
• Brick Lane was a heritage area and the Shop Front Programme sought to address issues around the appearance and ambience of the area.
• Safeguards and legal penalties had been designed into the shopfront grants payments scheme to ensure probity and accountability in the delivery of this scheme.

The Sub Committee noted the written comments of GSSC and the concerns expressed around the use of public sector money to subsidise private sector businesses.  It was their view that monies would be better directed towards addressing other issues in the area.  The Town Centres Manager informed Members that there were plans to address wider issues in the area as part of the regeneration of the area and that the programme would evolve to capture these matters.

The Chair invited members of the Sub-Committee to comment on the report and they queried how the intended benefits would be safeguarded.  The Brick Lane Town Centres Manager responded to concerns raised and provided the following information:

• There were legal safeguards built in to ensure against financial loss to the Council.
• There were detailed specifications around the nature of the shopfront that could be installed.
• Wider issues in the area relating to public toilets and antisocial behaviour would be addressed via the Licensing Team.
• The present scheme was small but the intention was to extend the regeneration to the whole of Brick Lane.
• The community and business supported the initiatives to regenerate the area.

RESOLVED

1.    That the grant payment for the Shopfront Improvement Programme, namely £135,000 drawn from S106 contributions, contained within Brick Lane Phase 2 PID, the latter of which was approved at Cabinet on 19^th December 2017 be approved.

2.   That it be noted that the balancing contribution of £135000 contribution will be provided by shopkeepers.

The Chair introduced the item and the Corporate Director Resources advised that:

• The Council’s contribution was small in relation to the cost of the whole redevelopment.  £16.4M towards the total of £16.7M had been raised through other sources.
• The premises had community value and had been a venue delivering community support for many years and the redevelopment would continue to support community activities and would enable some new ones to be established.
• The premises had heritage value having been part of the character of the area for over 100 years.

The Sub Committee noted the written comments of GSSC.

DECISION

That the grant of £305,000 as a contribution to Toynbee Hall in support of their refurbishment project be approved.

The Chair introduced the item and following this the Corporate Director Resources advised Members that:

• The Council’s contribution was small in relation to the cost of the whole redevelopment.  £16.4M towards the total of £16.7M had been raised through other sources.
• The premises had community value and had been a venue delivering community support for many years and the redevelopment would continue to support community activities and would enable some new ones to be established.
• The premises had heritage value having been part of the character of the area for over 100 years.

The Sub Committee noted:

·         The written comments of GSSC.

·         That the Council had contributed to other similar schemes that involved the redevelopment of premises in the borough which were of historical value and which provided a community benefit.

·         The signage outside of the premises was misleading and that this be altered to better reflect the project.

RESOLVED

That the grant of £305,000 as a contribution to Toynbee Hall in support of their refurbishment project be approved.

The Chair introduced the item and following this the Corporate Director Resources advised Members that:

• The report concerned performance of projects in receipt of MSG funding in the period July – September 2017.
• The data reported was affected by outstanding premises issues and some monitoring returns not submitted.
• The Mainstream Grants Spotlight Review Panel met on 8^th December 2017 to consider red and amber rated projects.
• The recommendations are made on the basis of the follow up work carried out following the Panel’s meeting.
• A community building review arising from the decision on 10 July 2017 that the process and criteria for reduced rent for community buildings should be extended to all council buildings as set out at 3.13 of the report identified a number of organisations which fell within the scope of the review.  It was proposed that payments to these organisations should continue until the review concludes.
• Pollyanna Training Theatre had made a significant variation request; this had been considered by the Mainstream Grants Spotlight Review Panel.
• Other boroughs’ CVS organisations were extending their activities beyond their own borough boundaries.

The Sub Committee noted the written comments of GSSC.

Councillor Begum abstained from the decision relating to Recommendation 3.

The Sub Committee discussed the significant service variation request from Pollyanna Training Theatre and felt that more they could not support the request on the basis of the evidence provided.  They asked for more information around how the project would engage with wider community and in particular BAME community.

RESOLVED

Recommendation 1 - Culloden Bangladeshi Parents Association

That it be agreed that:

·         Payment be suspended to the Culloden Bangladeshi Parents Association until financial concerns regarding spend are resolved by the organisation.

·         Once resolved, that the Corporate Director, Resources in consultation with the Executive Mayor, be delegated authority to release payment for this period - subject to satisfactory performance.

Recommendation 2 – Our Base

That it be agreed that:

·         The Council explore whether a license for the use of the premises will be more appropriate then a lease.

·         That the outstanding lease/premises issues be resolved before funds can be released to Our Base.

Recommendation 3 – Pollyanna Training Theatre

That in recognition of Pollyanna Training Theatre’s willingness to enter into a property agreement with the Council, that payment be released to the organisation subject to satisfactory performance.

Recommendation 4 – Tower Hamlets Youth Sports Foundation (Use of Various Schools)

·         That in acknowledgment that booking forms have been submitted for the Hub Club Programme and Stepping Stones Programme, payment be released subject to satisfactory performance.

·         That payment continues to be suspended for the Active Families project until premises and performance related issues are resolved.

Recommendation 5 - Family Action

That in acknowledgement of Family Action completing their old license, including payment of rent and considering their willingness to enter into an appropriate property agreement, MSG payments be released for this period subject to satisfactory performance.

Recommendation 6 – Wadajir

That whilst negotiations take place between the Trustees of the Teviot  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.5

RESOLVED

The forward plan was noted.

The Clerk informed Members that a new calendar of meetings was being prepared and asked them to consider if they wished to review and amend the time and interval of future meetings.

RESOLVED

a.    That the4 scheduled time of meetings in the new municipal year continue at 5.30pm.

b.    That the interval between meetings in the new municipal year be increased.  A suggested schedule of bi-monthly meetings was accepted and this would be monitored.

c.    That the next meeting would take place on revised date of 13^th March.