Agenda item
Mayor's Executive Decision Called-in
Minutes:
The Chair moved to vary the order of business. Accordingly, the call-in of the Mayor’s executive decision was considered as the second item of business.
Councillor Judith Gardiner presented the call-in on behalf of Councillors Joshua Peck, Bill Turner, Shiria Khatun, Khales Uddin Ahmed, Rajib Ahmed and Carlo Gibbs outlining the reasons and the concerns that were raised. Councillor Gardiner then responded to questions from the Committee. The concerns highlighted together with Councillor Gardiner’s answers are summarised below:
· the Mayor's decision that the ALMO should continue was supported.
· however the decision to reform the Board of Tower Hamlets Homes (THH) and the methods undertaken to do this caused concern.
· the source of legal advice that had been sought which then led to the disbandment of the previous THH Board was not clearly presented in the report and not consistently identified across documents and correspondence to Board Members.
· many of the key decision criteria were clearly fulfilled but the decision was not dealt with in this category. It was the Call-in Members' view that this had therefore been dealt with incorrectly.
· interim arrangements had not been put in place while the reform of the Board was undertaken
· the method for handling the old Board was inconsistent. The Independent Members had been dismissed whilst Resident Representatives had been given interim appointments on the Board which, in Call-in Members' view, risked its stability.
· it was argued that rather than dismiss the Board, interim arrangements should have been put in place until new Board members were recruited to prevent any risk to THH services.
· it was noted that THH had received positive comments about the involvement and commitment of Board members during a recent Audit Commission inspection that has resulted in a two-star rating.
Councillor Rabina Khan, Cabinet Member for Housing, Isabella Freeman, Assistant Chief Executive – Legal Services, and Jackie Odunoye, Interim Corporate Director for Development & Renewal responded to the concerns raised informing the Committee that:
- appointments to the THH Board were an Executive not a Council matter.
- reform of the Board would ensure monies received though Decent Homes Scheme will be utilised effectively.
- THH performance had improved but had yet to attain excellent standards.
- ensuring there were Resident Representatives on the Board was most important to the Executive.
- THH Memorandum and Articles state that all Board Members will stand down at the third AGM and a new Board be established.
- it is intended that the process for appointment of independent Members be changed from previous interview based arrangements.
- advice from Counsel confirmed that Memorandum and Articles of THH confers powers on the Council's Executive. It was then concluded that appointments formerly made through General Purposes Committee were incorrect. This had to be rectified.
Overview and Scrutiny Committee considered the views and comments made by Councillor Judith Gardiner in presenting the call-in, the information and answers provided by Jackie Odunoye, Interim Corporate Director for Development and Renewal, Isabella Freeman, Assistant Chief Executive, Legal Services, and Councillor Rabina Khan, Cabinet Member for Housing, in response to Councillor Gardiner’s issues.
The Committee's discussion of the call-in brought forward the following views:
· the timescales for the decision were short, falling just before a national holiday, with no real working days being available for adhering to regulation timescales.
· a key decision had been incorrectly processed through the decision making procedures. The Chair expressed her concern that this contravened the Council’s constitution.
· the Committee noted the Monitoring Officer’s statement that the General Purposes Committee guidance (electing board) about Members was incorrect, and was only discovered after consulting Counsel about the Executive process. The Committee was very concerned about this and requested that the Monitoring Officer now check whether other appointments by General Purposes Committee might be affected. The Chair also requested that the Monitoring Officer report back that this had been done.
· that the process that had been undertaken to amend the Memorandum and Articles should be clarified.
· decisions were taken without adequately advising Board Members and that this would have a destabilising effect on THH. Board Members had asked the week before what was happening but had not received any information.
· the process undertaken to renew the Board had not been transparent. The Committee agreed that rules for new members must be seen to be robust in future and that Independent Members brought expertise and commitment, and had performed a key role in the ALMO’s success thus far. The decision to exclude them was not explained.
· given the above, the Committee agreed that the decision be referred back to the Mayor with a request that a proper transition process for the Board be put in place establishing formal interim arrangements.
· it was noted that Resident Representatives had been kept on during the interim. As the Committee felt that this had been fair and open this should also be the case for Independent Members of the Board.
Following discussion, the Overview and Scrutiny Committee endorsed the reasons for the call-in and alternative action proposed as submitted by the call-in Members as set out above. Accordingly the decision was referred back to the Mayor for further consideration.
RESOLVED
1. That the Call-in be endorsed by Overview and Scrutiny Committee
2. That the Mayor’s Executive Decision called-in “Housing Stock Options Appraisal” (Mayor's Decision Log No. 013), be referred back to the Mayor for further consideration in the context of the views brought forward by the Committee.