Apologies for absence were received on behalf of:

·         Councillor Danny Hassell, Cabinet Member for Housing.

·         Ann Sutcliffe, Corporate Director, Place for whom Vicky Clark, Divisional Director, Growth & Economic Development was deputising.

·         Andreas Christophorou, Divisional Director of Communications.

Members are reminded to consider the categories of interest, identified 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, see the attached note from the Monitoring Officer.

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

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

Councillors Asma Islam and Motin Uz-Zaman declared pecuniary interests in relation to Agenda Item 6.6 (Correction to Private Rented Sector Housing Selective Licensing Designation) due to owning properties which they rented out near the boundary of the scheme. They left the meeting for the duration of that item.

The unrestricted minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on Wednesday 28 April  are presented for approval.

The notes of the Cabinet discussion held on Wednesday 26 May are presented for information.

RESOLVED

1.    That the unrestricted minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on Wednesday 28 April 2021 be approved and signed by the chair as a correct record of proceedings.

2.    That the unrestricted notes of the Cabinet discussion held on Wednesday 26 May 2021 be noted.

The Mayor asked the cabinet to note the tragic and untimely passing of Councillor John Pierce. The cabinet and officers present joined the Mayor in observing a minutes silence and reflection for Councillor Pierce.

Chair of Overview and Scrutiny Committee (OSC) to report on any issues  raised by the OSC in relation to unrestricted business to be considered.

The Mayor advised that it had not been possible to circulate Pre-Decision Scrutiny Questions and officer responses prior to the meeting but these would be made available shortly after the meeting. He indicated he would invite Councillor Muhammed Pappu, Chair of Overview and Scrutiny Committee to highlight any pressing issues the Committee had raised during the discussion on each item.

Councillor Pappu provided Cabinet with an update on his committee’s recent meeting. He reported that they had considered a number of issues including:

·         The Committee's has approved its work programme for the year ahead. This followed a workshop on 19 June to develop the work programme.

·         Councillor Bex White has been appointed Vice Chair of the Committee

·         The Committee reviewed the Annual Council Performance & Delivery Report 2020/21 and has raised several issues that it will pursue with lead members and officers. The Committee has requested that future reports are presented in a more accessible way.

The Mayor thanked Councillor Pappu for his update

(Under provisions of Section 30, Rule 59 of the Constitution).

Nil items.

DECISION

1.    To note the strategic delivery and performance report for 2020/21;

2.    To note that in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, throughout the past year we have rapidly pivoted many of our services to support residents, businesses and partners in the borough and this has had an impact on our ability to deliver everything that we had planned;

3.    To review the performance of the strategic measures, including those measures where the minimum expectation has been missed; and

4.    To review progress in delivering the council’s Strategic Plan.

Action by:

CHIEF EXECUTIVE (W. TUCKLEY)

(Director, Strategy, Policy and Performance (S. Godman)

(Head of Intelligence and Performance (T. Dreyer)

Reasons for the decisions

The council is committed to improving outcomes for residents. Our corporate priorities and outcomes are found in our Strategic Plan and provide a framework for action.

Our Performance & Accountability Framework sets out the process for monitoring the timely and effective delivery of the Strategic Plan to improve outcomes for residents. In line with the framework, Cabinet receives regular update reports to ensure oversight of pace, delivery, performance and improvement activities.

This report promotes openness, transparency and accountability by enabling Tower Hamlets residents to track progress of activities that impact on their lives and the communities they live in.

Alternative options

Cabinet may decide not to review the delivery and performance information. This is not recommended as Members have a key role to review and challenge underperformance and to utilise performance information to inform resource allocation.

Mayor John Biggs introduced the report that provided an annual update on the delivery and implementation of the council’s Strategic Plan throughout 2020/21. The Mayor explained that the report captured the period dominated by the Covid-19 pandemic, which had required the council to reprioritise. The Mayor indicated that, whilst the impact of the pandemic on performance made it very difficult to compare this report with equivalent reports from previous years, it demonstrated the council was making good progress in making the borough a cleaner, safer and fairer place to live and work.

Will Tuckley, Chief Executive, responded to the report and highlighted some of the ways the Covid-19 pandemic had impacted on the council’s performance. He acknowledged there was an ongoing challenge to demonstrate, where performance had fallen, whether this was related to the pandemic or to other factors.

Councillor Mohammed Pappu, Chair of Overview and Scrutiny Committee addressed the meeting and highlighted concerns with the performance data that had been raised by his committee at its last meeting. The Mayor and Mr Tuckley provided summary explanations to Cllr Pappu’s queries and indicated that full responses to OSC’s queries would be provided in the officers responses to the pre decision scrutiny questions that would be published shortly after the meeting.

The Mayor moved the recommendations as set out and they were agreed without dissent. It was:

RESOLVED

1.    To note the strategic delivery and performance report for 2020/21;

2.    To note that in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, throughout the past year we have rapidly pivoted many of our services to support residents, businesses and partners in the borough and this has had an impact on our ability to deliver everything that we had planned;

3.    To review the performance of the strategic measures, including those measures where the minimum expectation has been missed; and

4.    To review progress in delivering the council’s Strategic Plan.

DECISION

1.    To note the contents of the report outlining our response to the Covid-19 pandemic over 2020-21.

Action by:

CHIEF EXECUTIVE (W. TUCKLEY)

(Director, Strategy, Policy and Performance (S. Godman)

(Head of Strategu and Policy Health, Adults and Community (J. Starkie)

Reasons for the decisions

To provide the Mayor and Cabinet with an overview of the wide range of actions undertaken by the council in response to the Covid-19 pandemic over the last year.

Alternative options

n/a

Mayor John Biggs introduced the report that that provided an overview of the council’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic over 2020-21. The Mayor described the council’s objectives to responding to the crisis and asked lead members for each of the objectives to provide more detail on each.

·         Councillor Rachel Blake, Deputy Mayor and Cabinet Member for Adults, Health and Wellbeing highlighted the challenges the pandemic had placed on the council’s health, adults and community services, and the key actions taken to address them.

·         Councillor Mufeedah Bustin, Cabinet Member for Planning and Social Inclusion (Job Share) lead on social inclusion, highlighted the challenges the pandemic had placed on the council’s services to support vulnerable people, and the key actions taken to address them.

·         Councillor Asma Begum, Deputy Mayor and Cabinet Member for Children, Youth Services and Education highlighted the challenges the pandemic had placed on the council’s services to support children and families, and the key actions taken to address them.

·         Councillor Motin Uz-Zaman, Cabinet Member for Work and Economic Growth,  highlighted the challenges the pandemic had placed on the local economy and the key actions the council had taken to support employees and businesses.

·         Councillor Sirajul Islam, Statutory Deputy Mayor for Community Safety, Faith and Equalitieshighlighted the impact the pandemic had had on community safety and how the council had worked to ensure the borough remained a safe place.

The Mayor welcomed the report and contributions and highlighted the importance of engagement from the wider community in responding to the pandemic, including police and health partners, and the community and voluntary sector. He particularly applauded the work of Covid champions and other volunteers involved in such activities as awareness-raising, food delivery and vaccination drives.     

The Mayor moved the recommendations as set out and they were agreed without dissent. It was:

RESOLVED

1.    To note the contents of the report outlining our response to the Covid-19 pandemic over 2020-21.

DECISION

1.    To agree to fund projects listed in Appendix 1 to the report totalling £2,406,048 as Mayor’s Covid Recovery Fund to support the recovery of the borough.

2.    From the Mayor’s Covid Recovery fund agreed in Recommendation 1, to add £50,000 to the cohesion theme of the Small Grants Programme in accordance with our current grants policy.

3.    To authorise the relevant Corporate Director to enter into an agreement with East End Community Foundation (EECF) for the management of the fund referred to in recommendation 2 in line with the other small grants fund themes.

4.    To authorise the relevant Corporate Director to enter into any other agreements to give effect to the recommendations in the report.

5.    To note that details of any grants awarded from Mayor’s Covid Recovery  Fund monies will be reported to Grants Determination (Cabinet) Sub Committee.

Action by:

CHIEF EXECUTIVE (W. TUCKLEY)

(Director, Strategy, Policy and Performance (S. Godman)

(Head of Strategy and Performance (A. Hoque)

Reasons for the decisions

There is a need to support the Tower Hamlets community to recover from the impact of the pandemic and to address the damage caused by it. This report presents details of the Mayor’s Covid Recovery Fund, including an overview of the proposed funding programme and themes, along with details of recommended project proposals to help achieve the commitments to support community recovery.

Alternative options

The Council can decide not to contribute to the borough’s recovery. This is not recommended as our impact and engagement work, detailed below, has highlighted that it is crucial to support recovery of the borough in order to ensure that we can achieve the aims and objectives of the Council’s Strategic Plan.

The Council could agree an alternative set of projects to be funded or ask for some proposals to be reworked.

Councillor Sirajul Islam, Statutory Deputy Mayor for Community Safety, Faith and Equalities introduced the report that that presented proposals for funding projects to support the Tower Hamlets community to recover from the impact of the pandemic.

Councillor Motin Uz-Zaman, Cabinet Member for Work and Economic Growth, highlighted the positive impact the grants were anticipated to have on helping recovery in the local economy.

Councillor Mohammed Pappu, Chair of Overview and Scrutiny Committee, addressed the meeting and highlighted a concern that had been identified by his committee at its last meeting, concerning an award for mindfulness services at the London Buddhist Centre. The Mayor welcomed the committee’s question and provided a summary response and indicated that a full response would be provided in the officers’ responses to the pre decision scrutiny questions that would be published shortly after the meeting.

The Mayor moved the recommendations as set out and they were agreed without dissent. It was:

RESOLVED

1.    To agree to fund projects listed in Appendix 1 to the report totalling £2,406,048 as Mayor’s Covid Recovery Fund to support the recovery of the borough.

2.    From the Mayor’s Covid Recovery fund agreed in Recommendation 1, to add £50,000 to the cohesion theme of the Small Grants Programme in accordance with our current grants policy.

3.    To authorise the relevant Corporate Director to enter into an agreement with East End Community Foundation (EECF) for the management of the fund referred to in recommendation 2 in line with the other small grants fund themes.

4.    To authorise the relevant Corporate Director to enter into any other agreements to give effect to the recommendations in the report.

5.    To note that details of any grants awarded from Mayor’s Covid Recovery  Fund monies will be reported to Grants Determination (Cabinet) Sub Committee.

DECISION

1.    To approve the inclusion of £17.083m of the additional capital schemes and amendments to existing capital schemes, as set out in the report, into the council’s 2020-24 Approved Capital Programme for the General Fund.

2.    To note the detail of the first 1,000 new council homes delivery programme and approve the scheme-specific budgets and identified funding sources within the previously approved total budget of £232.768m.

3.    To approve the allocation of £5.000m to enable the direct delivery of Landon Walk scheme as part of the HRA first 1,000 council homes programme, including the purchase and installation of the modular homes, instead of via a loan agreement to PLACE Ltd, currently included in the General Fund approved capital programme funded by £3.820m of borrowing.

4.    To approve the inclusion of £1.400m for the delivery of the Sewardstone Road scheme to be funded by RTB receipts (£0.560m) and borrowing (£0.840m) (from the reduction in borrowing achieved through the removal of the PLACE Ltd scheme to fund this) as part of the General Fund programme.

5.    To approve the inclusion of £2.980m for the purchase of additional buy-backs to be funded by borrowing (£2.980m) (from the reduction in borrowing achieved through the removal of the PLACE Ltd scheme to fund this).

6.    To approve the funding sources for the additions and amendments to schemes in the Approved Capital Programme 2020/21 to 2023/24 as set out in para 4.7, Table 1 of the report.

7.    To agree that approval to proceed to award contracts for works and services be delegated to the Corporate Director of Place, in consultation with the Corporate Director of Resources, subject to the procurement process and approval through the capital governance process and tenders being within agreed budgets. .

Action by:

CORPORATE DIRECTOR OF PLACE (A. SUTCLIFFE) CORPORATE DIRECTOR OF RESOURCES (K. BARTLE)

(Interim Head of Capital Delivery, (J. Abraham)

Reasons for the decision

Additional capital schemes have progressed through the capital governance process since the current capital programme was approved by Full Council in March 2021. Funding sources have been identified for these schemes and allocated. In accordance with the council’s financial regulations, formal approval from Cabinet is required for these schemes to be included in the 2020-24 Approved Capital Programme. The report includes changes to existing capital schemes which have progressed through the capital governance process and require approval. It also includes detail of the schemes which form part of the first 1,000 homes programme and individual scheme budget allocations from the total approved  budget of £232.768m. 

Alternative options

An alternative route for capital programme approvals is through the Quarterly Monitoring Report prepared by Corporate Finance. The next opportunity for approvals to incorporate additional schemes into the programme is late July 2021.

In order to maintain the pace of delivery, this report seeks approval for the schemes listed, between quarterly monitoring, an approach which was agreed by the Mayor in Cabinet in June 2019. 

Councillor Rachel Blake, Deputy Mayor and Cabinet Member for Adults, Health and Wellbeing introduced the report that sought approval for additions and amendments to the 2020-24 Approved Capital Programme.

During discussion, including contributions from Councillor Peter Golds, Leader of the Conservative Group and Councillor Mohammed Pappu, Chair of Overview and Scrutiny Committee it was noted that

·         the reference to the Savills ‘report’ in paragraph 5.3 of the report should more accurately read as ‘advice’ and referred to an ongoing exercise to help the council map its growing capacity and use of reserves. The cabinet asked that officers provide a briefing for the overview and scrutiny committee to aid understanding of how this work related to the council’s capital programme.

·         new community spaces built as part of the council’s home building programme would provide for wider community use, even where the primary use was faith-related.

The Mayor moved the recommendations as set out and they were agreed without dissent. It was:

RESOLVED

1.    To approve the inclusion of £17.083m of the additional capital schemes and amendments to existing capital schemes, as set out in the report, into the council’s 2020-24 Approved Capital Programme for the General Fund.

2.    To note the detail of the first 1,000 new council homes delivery programme and approve the scheme-specific budgets and identified funding sources within the previously approved total budget of £232.768m.

3.    To approve the allocation of £5.000m to enable the direct delivery of Landon Walk scheme as part of the HRA first 1,000 council homes programme, including the purchase and installation of the modular homes, instead of via a loan agreement to PLACE Ltd, currently included in the General Fund approved capital programme funded by £3.820m of borrowing.

4.    To approve the inclusion of £1.400m for the delivery of the Sewardstone Road scheme to be funded by RTB receipts (£0.560m) and borrowing (£0.840m) (from the reduction in borrowing achieved through the removal of the PLACE Ltd scheme to fund this) as part of the General Fund programme.

5.    To approve the inclusion of £2.980m for the purchase of additional buy-backs to be funded by borrowing (£2.980m) (from the reduction in borrowing achieved through the removal of the PLACE Ltd scheme to fund this).

6.    To approve the funding sources for the additions and amendments to schemes in the Approved Capital Programme 2020/21 to 2023/24 as set out in para 4.7, Table 1 of the report.

7.    To agree that approval to proceed to award contracts for works and services be delegated to the Corporate Director of Place, in consultation with the Corporate Director of Resources, subject to the procurement process and approval through the capital governance process and tenders being within agreed budgets.

DECISION

To note the report (Appendix 1 of the report) of the scrutiny challenge session on examining the council’s revised approach to Idea Stores and library services; and

Agree the action plan (Appendix 2 of the report) in response to the scrutiny recommendations.

Action by:

CORPORATE DIRECTOR, PLACE (A. SUTCLIFFE)

(Director, Customer Services (R. Chand)

Reasons for the decisions

To provide a formal response to the OSC report and an action plan to cover any recommendations, or elements thereof, not already included in the report that was taken to Cabinet on the 3 March 2021.

The attached report is the Executive’s response to the scrutiny recommendations arising from the scrutiny challenge session’s examination of the council’s revised approach to Idea Stores and library services.

In practice, the challenge session formed part of the consultation process that fed into the final report on the revised approach to Idea Stores and library services taken to Cabinet on 3 March 2021

Alternative options

The alternative option would have been to delay the cabinet report until after the formal report from OSC had been received.  This was not acceptable as it would have delayed the timing of any savings agreed in the final report.

The option to delay engaging with OSC was dismissed as this would have reduced the potential for the session to influence design and decisions.

Councillor Sabina Akhtar, Cabinet Member for Culture, Arts and Brexit introduced the report that submitted the executive’s response to the scrutiny challenge session recommendations which examined the council’s revised approach to Idea Stores and library services. Councillor Akhtar explained how the timescales for delivery of the council’s revised approach to Idea Stores and library services had made it impractical for formally respond to the scrutiny challenge session’s recommendations prior to the decision made at cabinet in March 2021, but feedback from the session did influence the shape and content of the March cabinet paper. 

Councillor Mohammed Pappu, Chair of Overview and Scrutiny Committee, welcomed the report, thanked the Mayor and cabinet for their response to the scrutiny proposals and encouraged engagement of scrutiny at formative stages of proposals as had been the case with this review.

The Mayor moved the recommendations as set out and they were agreed without dissent. It was:

RESOLVED

To note the report (Appendix 1 to the report) of the scrutiny challenge session on examining the council’s revised approach to Idea Stores and library services; and

Agree the action plan (Appendix 2 to the report) in response to the scrutiny recommendations.

DECISION

1.    To vary/amend the Cabinet decision of 28 April 2021 relating to the selective licensing designation (due to commence 1st October 2021), to exclude the following post codes:  E1 1ES, E1 1FA, E1 7HS, E1 8EU, E1 1LP and E1 1DQ.

2.    To note that these postcodes relate to student accommodation accredited by ANUK and fall within the Weavers, Whitechapel and Spitalfields and Banglatown areas Selective Licensing scheme.(pre 2014 boundaries) 

Action by:

CORPORATE DIRECTOR PLACE (A. SUTCLIFFE)

(Divisional Director Public Realm (D. Jones)

(Head of Environmental Health &Trading Standards (D. Tolley)

Reasons for the decision

Following Cabinet approval on 28th April 2021 for the continuation of the selective licensing scheme for a further five years, during the statutory publication process the Council received a query as to why the student accommodation blocks associated with ANUK were excluded and whether the Council could actually make this exclusion.

After further consideration it was determined that the Council may not be able to make this exclusion via accreditation awards. Therefore, officers have determined to remove this exclusion from the designation and to amend the designation to remove geographical locations for the selective licensing area. This report effects that change.

Alternative options

The current designation made on the 28th April 2021 could remain in place without correction. This may result in a legal challenge and delay the commencement on the designation on the 1st October 2021. However, by making this small administrative change excluding the geographical areas where the accommodation blocks accredited by ANUK sit reduces the risk of a challenge.

Councillor Eve McQuillan, Lead Member for Planning and Social Inclusion – Lead on Planning, introduced the report that proposed to correct the designation, made at the 28 April 2021 cabinet meeting, to remove the student accommodation accredited to ANUK by geographical basis rather than by accreditation basis. Councillor McQuillan explained the change was a minor administrative amendment.

The Mayor moved the recommendations as set out and they were agreed without dissent. It was:

RESOLVED

1.    To vary/amend the Cabinet decision of 28 April 2021 relating to the selective licensing designation (due to commence 1st October 2021), to exclude the following post codes:  E1 1ES, E1 1FA, E1 7HS, E1 8EU, E1 1LP and E1 1DQ.

2.    To note that these postcodes relate to student accommodation accredited by ANUK and fall within the Weavers, Whitechapel and Spitalfields and Banglatown areas Selective Licensing scheme.(pre 2014 boundaries).

DECISION

1.    To approve the formal amendment of the neighbourhood planning area to the boundaries shown in appendix 1 to the report.

Action by:

CORPORATE DIRECTOR PLACE (A. SUTCLIFFE)

(Divisional Director, Planning and Building Control (J. Peters)

(Principal Planning Officer, Plan Making Team (S. Heywood)

Reasons for the decision

The Roman Road Bow Neighbourhood Plan underwent statutory consultation from 15 March to 27 April 2021 under Regulation 14 of the Neighbourhood Planning (General) Regulations 2012. As part of that consultation it was identified that part of the neighbourhood planning area as currently designated falls within LLDC.

The Council cannot designate land for planning purposes within area under the LLDC’s authority. Officers discussed options with the Roman Road Bow Neighbourhood Forum and LLDC planning officers, including the option of retaining the existing boundary and cooperating with LLDC to develop a trans-boundary neighbourhood plan.

Given the added complication and time required to develop and adopt a trans-boundary neighbourhood plan, and the relatively small amount of land that falls within LLDC, the neighbourhood forum expressed a preference to amend the boundary to remove the area falling within LLDC.

Officers discussed the process to be followed with the Council’s legal team, who also sought external counsel advice, which concluded that it would be appropriate to correct an error in the boundary as long as the correction was properly publicised. Counsel advice also advised that the neighbourhood forum should consult on the impact of the changed boundary on the neighbourhood plan, although this decision is in the hands of the forum.

Alternative options

The alternative to making these changes would be to leave the neighbourhood area boundary as designated in 2017. However, as the Council has no authority at this time to designate land that sits within the LLDC for planning purposes, this is not seen as a realistic alternative, and would create problems for further consultation and examination of the neighbourhood plan.

On this basis, it is considered that there are no reasonable alternative options to the correction of the eastern boundary of the neighbourhood area to match the boundary between Tower Hamlets and the LLDC planning areas.

Councillor Eve McQuillan, Lead Member for Planning and Social Inclusion – Lead on Planning, introduced the report that proposed to correct an error in the designation of the Roman Road Bow Neighbourhood forum to match the boundary between LBTH and the London Legacy Development Corporation, to allow neighbourhood planning process to move forward.

The Mayor moved the recommendations as set out and they were agreed without dissent. It was:

RESOLVED

1.    To approve the formal amendment of the neighbourhood planning area to the boundaries shown in appendix 1 to the report.

DECISION

1.    To agree the nominations to outside bodies as shown in Paragraph 3.3 of the report.

Action by:

DIRECTOR LEGAL AND MONITORING OFFICER (J. FASAN)

(Head of Democratic Services (M. Mannion)

(Democratic Services Team Leader (Committee) (J. West)

Reasons for the decisions

Having representatives on outside bodies increases the Council’s engagement with the local community and improves its potential to offer leadership and guidance in relation to activities taking place in the borough.

London-wide initiatives can also offer considerable benefits that promote delivery of the Council’s key priorities. Conditions of some London-wide partnerships and trusts are that the Council is represented on their boards.

Alternative options

The cabinet could decide not to make appointments to outside bodies at all. However, this is not recommended as it would reduce the Council’s opportunity to be involved in and to support good work within the community and it would also reduce the Council’s leadership opportunities. There are also a number of bodies where the Council is required or expected to provide a representative.

The Mayor introduced the report setting out a number of nominations to Outside Bodies. He moved the recommendations as set out and they were agreed without dissent. It was:

RESOLVED

1.    To agree the nominations to outside bodies as shown in Paragraph 3.3 of the report.

Nil items.

Should the Mayor in Cabinet consider it necessary, it is recommended that the following motion be adopted to allow consideration of any exempt/restricted documents.

“That, under the provisions of Section 100A of the Local Government Act, 1972 as amended by the Local Government (Access to Information) Act, 1985, the Press and Public be excluded from the remainder of the meeting for the consideration of the Section Two business on the grounds that it contains information defined as Exempt in Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government, Act 1972”.

EXEMPT/CONFIDENTIAL SECTION (PINK)

Nil items.

The exempt / confidential minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on xxxxxx are presented for approval.

Nil items.

Nil items.

Chair of Overview and Scrutiny Committee (OSC) to report on any issues  raised by the OSC in relation to exempt/confidential business to be considered.

Nil items.

(Under provisions of Section 30, Rule 59 of the Constitution).

Nil items.

Nil items.