Agenda and minutes

The Chief Executive shall invite nominations and conduct the vote for the positions of Chair and Deputy Chair of the Assembly.

The Chief Executive opened the meeting and invited nominations for the positions of Chair and Deputy Chair of the Assembly for the 2015/16 municipal year.

The Assembly resolved to appoint Councillors Ramsay and Ghani as Chair and Deputy Chair of the Assembly respectively.

There were no declarations of interest.

The minutes of the Assembly held on 24 February 2015 were confirmed as correct, subject to the amendment of Minute 59 and specifically the supplementary question under Question 5 to reflect that Redbridge Council was a Labour-run authority.

It was noted that the minutes of the JNC Salaries and Conditions Panel held on 15 May 2015 were not available for this evening’s meeting.  The Chair advised that the minutes would be presented for formal noting at the next meeting of the Assembly but that, in the meantime, he had asked the Chief Executive to circulate them to all Members by the end of the week.

The Assembly noted with deep regret that Honorary Alderman John Davis had passed away on 18 March 2015 following a period of illness. 

Mr Davis had served as a Borough councillor for 44 years until his retirement in May 2014 and was the Borough Mayor during the 1982/83 municipal year.  Mr Davis had held numerous senior and high profile positions during his time as a councillor and had been bestowed the Borough’s highest award when becoming an Honorary Alderman in February 2014.

A number of Members paid tribute to Mr Davis’ huge contribution to the Council and to his genuine commitment, not only to the constituents that he served as an elected representative for Triptons and Alibon wards but to all those that lived and worked in the Borough.  Tribute was paid for the guidance and support that he had given to his colleagues over the years and to his great sense of humour, with several Members fondly recalling their personal memories. 

The Assembly stood for a minute's silence as a mark of respect.

The Leader of the Council presented a verbal statement updating the Assembly on a range of matters which included:

·  His concerns at the financial challenges ahead for local government following the election of a Conservative Government and the need for the Council to prepare for greater austerity arising from the Chancellor’s emergency budget announcement expected in July;

·  The work that he and the Leaders of other London Boroughs were involved with to press for the greater devolvement of powers to local authorities within London, including powers that currently rested with the Mayor of London, as a way of achieving better value for money.  The Leader referred specifically to the areas of health and growth and advised that his London Leader colleagues had recently appointed him as the Shadow Health spokesperson for London;

·  The 10 most significant achievements in the first 12 months of the new Council leadership, which included the securing of over £¾ billion investment to bring prosperity to the Borough, the building of 669 new homes and plans to create of a new energy company that would enable the Council and its residents to save money;

·  The inauguration of the first Young Mayor of Barking and Dagenham, the first Youth Parade in the Borough and the staging of a Women’s Empowerment Month for the first time in the country’s history;

·  The plans to celebrate the 50 year anniversary of Barking and Dagenham with over 70 events across the Borough, more than any other London Borough.

The Leader was particularly pleased to announce that Her Majesty the Queen and His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh were to visit Barking and Dagenham as part of the 50^th Anniversary celebrations and he undertook to advise Members of the full details once they had been finalised.

The Head of Legal and Democratic Services (HLDS) introduced a report on the annual process of appointments to the various elements of the political structure and other internal and external bodies. 

The HLDS invited the Labour Group Secretary, Councillor Carpenter, to advise on the nominations to the various positions to be appointed to and the Labour Group Secretary referred to the schedule that had been tabled at the meeting.

Assembly resolved to agree the appointments to positions as set out in Appendix 1.

(Note: The full membership schedules for 2015/16 are also included as Annexes A to E).

The Cabinet Member for Finance and Central Services presented a report on the Members’ Allowances Scheme for 2015/16.

The Cabinet Member advised that, in view of the continuing pressures on public sector funding and the Council’s finances in particular, it was proposed that no changes be made to the scheme for 2015/16, representing a freeze in allowance levels for the seventh successive year.

Several Members spoke in support of the proposed freeze as a contribution to making best use of the Council’s money and the role of the previous portfolio holder in progressing the proposals was acknowledged.  Councillor Gill commented that he too supported the proposed freeze but placed on record his frustration at the removal last year of the right for councillors to participate in the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS), particularly bearing in mind the above-inflation benefits applied by the Government to the pension scheme available to Members of Parliament.  The Cabinet Member remarked that the removal of LGPS membership rights for councillors had led to a reduction of £100,000 in the overall Members’ Allowances budget and he added that he would support a continuation of the freeze of allowances for at least the next three years.

Assembly resolved to:

(i)  Agree that no increase be applied to Members’ basic and special responsibility allowances for the 2015/16 municipal year, representing a freeze in allowance levels for the seventh year in succession; and

(ii)  Adopt the Members’ Allowances Scheme 2015/16 as attached at Appendix A to the report, to come into effect from 21 May 2015.

The Cabinet Member for Finance and Central Services presented a report on the latest updates to the Council Constitution.

The Cabinet Member explained that the Local Authorities (Standing Orders) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2015, which came into force on 11 May, 2015 introduced changes to the disciplinary process for the three statutory officer posts of Head of Paid Service, Monitoring Officer and Chief Finance Officer.  As a consequence, the terms of reference of the JNC Disciplinary Panel required amendment, as did the Council’s Employment Procedure Rules.  A number of other minor changes had also been made, as well as the inclusion of reference to the new Pensions Board which was formally approved by the Assembly under Minute 55 of the last meeting.

With regard to the changes to the disciplinary process for the three statutory officer posts, Councillor Young sought clarification of the decision-making process for any future cases.  The Cabinet Member confirmed that the recommendations of a JNC Disciplinary Panel would be presented to the Assembly, who in turn would deliberate the findings in private but make the final decision in public.

Assembly resolved to:

(i)  Note the revised arrangements in respect of the proposed dismissal of the Head of Paid Service, the Monitoring Officer and the Chief Finance Officer, in accordance with the Local Authorities (Standing Orders) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2015; and

(ii)  Note the schedule of updates to the Constitution as set out in Appendix 1 to the report.

Question 1

From Councillor Mullane

“In light of the recent press stories regarding the tragedy that has occurred in Rotherham, including allegations that elected Councillors have been criticised for not undertaking an active role in ensuring safeguarding of the Boroughs children, does the Leader of the Council feel this Council has all safeguards in place to ensure this cannot happen in Barking and Dagenham?”

Response

Councillor Rodwell, Leader of the Council, thanked Cllr Mullane for raising the very important report from Rotherham and stated that strong leadership was essential in making sure that the Council did all that it could to put in place the necessary safeguards to protect children in the borough.  Councillor Rodwell referred to the assurance received from OFSTED following its inspection of the Barking and Dagenham Children’s Services last year, which concluded that:

“The multi-agency work in relation to missing children is effective, there is good multiagency working and the Local Safeguarding Children’s Board (LSCB) has clear oversight of the issue via its Child Sexual Exploitation subgroups, which are chaired by senior representatives from the Police and Adults Services.” 

He also alluded to a joint review by several Government departments in April this year which concluded that:

“The Leader has made focusing on eliminating violence and abuse against women and children a priority for the council and the focus on child sexual exploitation sits within that context. The Council has been run by one political party for some time and the Leader is keen that scrutiny arrangements are robust to ensure there is proper challenge from both scrutiny committees and the Local Safeguarding Children’s Board.”

Councillor Rodwell also referred to the role of the Child Sexual Exploitation Champions, multi-agency working and the requirement for all staff, volunteers and school governors who work with children to have a disclosure and barring service (DBS) check.  He added that as all Members had a role as ‘corporate parents’ and in view of the potential to have access to detailed information on young people, Members may want to think about strengthening their own leadership role and undertaking DBS checks.

Question 2

From Councillor Young

“Could the Cabinet Member for Environment please outline the exact costs to the Council incurred due to the ongoing industrial dispute including but not exclusive to security costs, overtime payments, agency staff and landfill payments?”

It was advised that Councillor Twomey, Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Finance and Central Services, would respond to all questions that related to the industrial dispute with the GMB Union, as he was the Council’s lead spokesperson on the matter.

Response

Councillor Twomey advised that the current budget position showed a net underspend of £47,920.  The salaries not paid during the dispute amounted to £128,600, which was offset by £80,680 of additional costs relating to temporary staffing and recruitment, security, communications, vehicle costs, extension of opening times of Frizlands depot and miscellaneous equipment costs. 

Supplementary Question

Councillor Young asked whether the additional costs relating to staffing were  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.