The Chair, Councillor Andrew Wood introduced this report stating that the Scrutiny Review looking at ‘Recreational Activities for Children and Young People in Tower Hamlets’ was as a result of the Sub-Committee agreeing to examine this topic at its November 2017 meeting.

The purpose of the review was to investigate the different provisions offered by the Council for young people to stay active in the Borough. The review was underpinned by three core questions:

·         What Council provisions are currently available for Young People to stay active?

·         How does our Grants Programme support young people to be physically active? And

·         What recreational facilities do we have in the Borough and what can we do to make them more accessible?

As a result two evidence sessions were held. One in January 2018 to look at evidence from the Council’s Public Health Team, Youth and Community, Sports and Physical Activities sectors and another in February 2018 when evidence from the Grants, Arts, Parks and Events service as well as the Sports, Leisure and Culture services was held together with input from Robert McLean, the relationship manager for London Sports.

Councillor Wood stated that the review was making a total of seven recommendations stated on pages 63-64 and welcomed the views of the Sub-Committee prior to the review being submitted to the parent Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

Members of the Sub-Committee made the following comments and asked questions in relation to the report:

·         What is the Scrutiny Review into recreational services for children and young people trying to achieve? It is not clear how this relates to the remit of the Grants Scrutiny Sub-Committee.

·         Think the scope of the review is too board. Is the aim of the Review to deliver more physical activity or to look at grant funding streams for sport related organisations / events?

·         Recommendations 4 to 7 relate to planning matters and therefore are not relevant to the Review.

·         The remit of the Grants Scrutiny Sub-Committee itself is narrow - it is mainly concerned with the process of recommending for approval a grant to the Grants Determination Sub-Committee. Therefore whilst the review makes valid points in relation to space and physical activity it does not provide the evidence of how the recommendations made will be supported or costed.

In response Councillor Wood agreed the review had delved too broadly into the subject area and with hindsight should have focussed more on the grant funding of organisations that provide sport and youth activities. The review looked at “space and access to space” and not the allocation of monies. He said that due to the lack of time, and the impending local elections, the review was reporting back to the Sub-Committee with its draft report. However the work of the review should continue, with the new Sub-Committee looking at how the issues identified can be executed and delivered.

Members of the Sub-Committee AGREED to recommend to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee that:

1.    The recommendations identified as part of the Scrutiny Review into ‘Recreational Facilities for Children and Young People in Tower Hamlets’ should either be further developed by next year’s Grants Scrutiny Sub-Committee or that the issues identified should be broken down into smaller work streams for the parent Overview and Scrutiny Committee to consider further.