Agenda item
VERBAL UPDATES FROM SCRUTINY LEADS
Scrutiny Lead Members will report on their portfolio areas.
(Time allocated – 10 minutes)
Minutes:
Scrutiny review – Preventing Childhood Obesity
· Councillor David Snowdon, deputising for Councillor Archer, Scrutiny Lead – Healthy Communities, updated those present in relation to the Scrutiny Review ‘Preventing Childhood Obesity’:
· Two review meetings had been held since last update:
o The first a fact finding session to understand the extent of childhood obesity in Tower Hamlets. The Working Group had been joined by NHS Tower Hamlets who advised that the focus of the review should be around increasing the availability of healthy options. Accordingly the review now had the aim “To promote healthy eating by increasing the availability of and access to healthy food choices and reducing the availability of and access to foods that are high in fat, sugar and salt”. The review also now had the key focus to develop appropriate recommendations to ensure the issue around prevention of an over-concentration of fast food outlets could be operationalised.
o The second a session that evaluated the response of the Planning Department to childhood obesity, with consideration given to local planning policy, in particular the LDF Core Strategy which provides specific responses to childhood obesity, including: “Reduction of the over-concentration of uses that are negative to the health of local people”.
· The next review meeting in October would consider ways in which schools can encourage healthy eating through the food they provide.
· Councillor Heslop considered it might be useful if the review looked at the benefit of food cooperatives which the Tower Hamlets PCT had invested in for a number of years.
· The Chair considered it would be helpful to examine the linkage between child obesity and poor educational attainment
· The Chair also considered the engagement of Praxis would add value to any review/ recommendations particularly in the context of the challenges faced by new communities to the boroughin accessing services.
Noted
Scrutiny review – Strengthening Local Community Leadership
· Councillor Ann Jackson, Scrutiny Lead – One Tower Hamlets, updated those present in relation to the Scrutiny Review ‘Strengthening Local Community Leadership’:
o The review would focus on developing and supporting local councillors in community leadership.
o Her experience from the 2008/9 Child Poverty review was that capturing local level information to inform service development was a challenge for any community leader who wanted to make change. Another challenge was how changes needed to deliver better outcomes for residents increasingly required working across a range of organisations.
o The review would examine how the arrangements in place to deliver better outcomes for residents could be strengthened, and also how to strengthen the role and powers of councillors, and scrutiny more generally, across the work that could be undertaken with partners.
o Councillor Call for Action has been discussed for some time and a proposal had been developed for implementing this locally. The review was a useful opportunity for Members to test and shape how well this would work and how councillors could be meaningfully engaged in a less adversarial way.
o The review would endeavour to engage residents, talking to them about their concerns and how solutions could be developed to these, addressing any barriers which limited the ability of residents to influence the Council, exploring how councillors could be supported to talk to and manage residents concerns and would look at how neighbourhoods worked and community cohesion.
o The first meeting of the review group would be in late October.
Noted
Scrutiny review – The Private Rented Sector
· Councillor Alex Heslop, Scrutiny Lead – A Great Place to Live, updated those present in relation to the Scrutiny Review ‘The Private Rented Sector’:
· Two review meetings had been held to date:
o The first session looked at current Council policies in relation to the private rented sector and heard from the Lead Member Housing and Development and Council Officers from Housing and Environmental Health.
o The recent second session looked at the concerns of tenants residing in private rented sector accommodation, and presentations were delivered by the National Homelessness charity Crisis as well as Officers from the Councils Housing Advice and Environmental Health Enforcement Teams.
o The planned third session would look at student accommodation, the merits of provision on specialist sites versus dispersed accommodation borough-wide and in particular it would consider concerns regarding disreputable lettings agencies. It would hear from The National Landlords Association, Queen Mary College, medical students of the London Hospital and the Councils current Landlords Forum.
Noted
Scrutiny review – Youth Offending – Supporting Our Most Vulnerable Young People
Councillor Denise Jones, Scrutiny Lead – Safe and Supportive, updated those present in relation to the Scrutiny Review ‘Youth Offending – Supporting Our Most Vulnerable Young People’:
The key aim of the review would be is to consider the effectiveness of the partnership arrangements in place for preventing youth offending. In forming a view the review would be informed by the examination of the reasons why young people offend and re-offend, identified through seeking/ listening to their own views and experiences. Also through listening to young people about what preventative measures might work future support for them might be further developed.
A number of discussion sessions were planned with small groups of young people to make them feel comfortable in speaking. Also one to one interviews with young people in age ranges 10 to 14 and 14 to 16 years old. The Young Mayor had agreed to be involved in the facilitation of these sessions.
Parents and families had a key role to play and a visit to the Pupil Referral Unit was planned to speak with parents who have children who were at risk of re-offending to explore how they could be better supported.
A visit to a young offenders institute at Henley was also planned to examine the facilities and programmes to support young people; hearing from staff and also speaking to young people there, some of whom will be from Tower Hamlets. It was hoped to achieve a better understanding of the outcomes for young people who entered the youth justice system and the message that might be conveyed to other young people about this.
The first meeting of the Working Group would be in November and another would take place in February.
Noted
Scrutiny review – Reducing Worklessness Amongst Young Adults 18 - 24
· Councillor Abdul Aziz Sardar, Scrutiny Lead – A Prosperous Community, updated those present in relation to the Scrutiny Review ‘Reducing Worklessness Amongst Young Adults 18 – 24’:
· Two review meetings had been held to date:
o The first session looked at the national and regional context and the issues that exist in reducing worklessness, and heard from representatives from the London Development Agency, Learning and Skills Council and Host Boroughs Unit.
o The second session looked at what the Council was currently doing to reduce worklessness within the borough and presentations were heard from Council Officers from Human Resources, the Partnership, Skillsmatch and Job Centre Plus.
· Future planned sessions included a joint meeting with the Diversity Working Group looking particularly at equalities and worklessness and also one in the Community with Third Sector Organisations to look at their role in tackling worklessness. The review was keen to hear from local residents and practitioners who worked in the community and accordingly had co-opted three local people to the working group.
Noted