Agenda and minutes

The minutes of the meeting held on 21 March 2023 were confirmed as correct.

The Leader introduced the draft Corporate Plan for 2023-2026 which set out the Council’s key priorities, aims and objectives for the next three years and the activities that would help achieve them.

The Leader referred to the strong links between the Corporate Plan and the Borough Manifesto agreed in 2019, as well as the political manifesto that the Labour Group stood on at last year’s Local Elections.  The new Corporate Plan had been developed over many months in collaboration with local partners and the wider community and would maintain the Council’s long-standing vision of “One Borough: One Community: No-One Left Behind”.

The new Corporate Plan set out the Council’s seven main priorities for the years ahead, namely:

·  Residents are supported during the current Cost-of-Living Crisis;

·  Residents are safe, protected, and supported at their most vulnerable;

·  Residents live healthier, happier, independent lives for longer;

·  Residents prosper from good education, skills development, and secure employment;

·  Residents benefit from inclusive growth and regeneration;

·  Residents live in, and play their part in creating, safer, cleaner, and greener neighbourhoods;

·  Residents live in good housing and avoid becoming homeless.

The Leader referred to the working culture that would drive service delivery, performance and innovation and the important role of local voluntary and community sector partners as well as other partners such as the local NHS organisations and the Police in helping to achieve those priorities.  The document also set out the actions that the Council would be taking to address structural inequality, over and above its statutory responsibilities under the Equality Act 2010, to ensure that Barking and Dagenham was a place where every resident could thrive.

Cabinet Members gave their unanimous support for the new Corporate Plan and referred to a range of issues within the document and aspects relating to their respective portfolios.  Members also spoke on the magnitude of delivering on the priorities and ambitions within the Corporate Plan, particularly bearing in mind the significant underfunding of local services by the Government.

Cabinet resolved to:

(i)  Endorse the new Corporate Plan for 2023-2026, as set out at Appendix 1 to the report, and authorise the Director of Strategy, in consultation with the Leader and Deputy Leaders, to make any non-material amendments to the document prior to its submission to the Assembly; and

(ii)  Recommend the Assembly to:

(a)  Approve the Corporate Plan 2023-2026; and

(b)  Delegate authority to the Director of Strategy, in consultation with the Leader, Deputy Leaders and Deputy Cabinet Member for Performance and Data Insight, to develop and implement an Outcomes Framework relating to the new Corporate Plan.

The Cabinet Member for Educational Attainment and School Improvement introduced a report on the proposal to redevelop and refurbish Padnall Hall in Marks Gate into a new Youth Centre for the Borough via funding from the Department for Culture Media and Sport (DCMS) Youth Investment Fund (YIF).

Barking and Dagenham had been identified as one of only two London Boroughs eligible to apply for YIF funding.  The Cabinet Member explained that an assessment of local need identified the Marks Gate area as lacking any kind of bespoke youth facility that was fit for purpose.  Furthermore, data provided by Future Youth Zone showed that youngsters from the Marks Gate area were the most isolated from the Future Youth Zone facility in Parsloes Park. 

To meet the timescales for development under the YIF programme, the existing Padnall Hall building, which had disused for the past 15 years, was identified as the preferred site for a new, bespoke youth centre.  The overall capital cost of the project was estimated at £1.964m, to be met in full via the YIF, and the Cabinet Member also confirmed that revenue funding would be available from the YIF up to March 2025 to support running costs.  Those costs would include the engagement of a youth development / engagement worker to lead on community development and engagement with young people.  The Cabinet Member also confirmed that while it had been agreed that the Council would lead on the delivery of the building works, a consortium of local voluntary and community sector organisations, including Future Youth Zone, would run the facility and be responsible for fundraising to cover ongoing revenue costs post-March 2025.

Cabinet Members expressed their wholehearted support for the project in the Marks Gate area.

Cabinet resolved to:

(i)  Agree to the conversion of the derelict Padnall Hall into a new Youth Centre for the borough, subject to a successful grant application via the DCMS Youth Investment Fund to fully fund the conversion project; 

(ii)  Agree the procurement of architectural, engineering, surveying and building works contractors for the refurbishment of Padnall Hall, in accordance with the strategy set out in the report; and

(iii)  Authorise the Commissioning Director, Education, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Educational Attainment and School Improvement, the Strategic Director, Finance and Investment and the Chief Legal Officer, to agree the framework, conduct the procurement and award and enter into the contract(s) and all other necessary or ancillary agreements with the successful bidder(s).

The Cabinet Member for Enforcement and Community Safety presented a report on the new overarching Community Safety Partnership Plan (CSPP) for 2023-2026.

The Cabinet Member explained that the CSPP had been developed by the Borough’s Community Safety Partnership (CSP) Board and represented a significant commitment by partners, including the Council, Police, Fire, Probation and Health authorities as well as local voluntary groups, to working together to improve the lives of the Borough’s residents.  A Crime and Disorder Strategic Assessment (CDSA) was undertaken last year to understand trends and patterns in crime and disorder locally and to support priority setting.  The CDSA identified that burglary, robbery, theft and vehicle offences during 2021/22 were below pre-Covid 19 levels although in comparison to 2020/21, total offences were up by 10.4% to 20,560. 

The previous three-year CSPP had established five key priorities and the public consultation on the 2023-2026 plan supported the retention of those five priorities, namely:

·  Priority 1 – Keeping children and young people safe.

·  Priority 2 - Tackling safety in the neighbourhood & community.

·  Priority 3 - Reducing offending.

·  Priority 4 - Standing up to hate, intolerance and extremism.

·  Priority 5 - Tackling violence against women and girls.

The Cabinet Member confirmed that the CSP Board and its sub-groups would be responsible for ensuring that progress against the CSPP was maintained and regularly reviewed.

The Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Health Integration welcomed the CSPP and the prioritisation of local concerns alongside national priorities.  She also alluded to the Baroness Casey Review and the need for a fundamental change in culture within the Metropolitan Police that would be clearly visible to the local community in order to regain confidence.  The Leader also referred to discussions with the local Chief Superintendent on a joint local plan to rebuild the “policing by consent” principle within the Borough.

Cabinet resolved to:

(i)  Endorse the Community Safety Partnership Plan 2023-26, as set out at Appendix 1 to the report; and

(ii)  Recommend its adoption by the Assembly.

The Cabinet Member for Finance, Growth and Core Services introduced a report on the proposed procurement of a new, maximum four-year contract for the provision of a Managed Training Service via the ESPO Managed Training Services Framework (framework number 383_21).

The Cabinet Member advised that the engagement of external trainers was a fundamental element of the Council’s commitment to staff development, alongside in-house training and e-learning.  The previous contract was also procured via the ESPO Framework and the managed service provider model had proved to have significant advantages, including providing value-for-money and a higher quality of training delivery, ease of procurement and consistent contract monitoring and management.  The Cabinet Member also referred to the overall value of the contract over the potential four-year period and the alternative procurement options that had been considered.

Cabinet resolved to:

(i)  Agree that the Council proceeds with the procurement of a contract for a Managed Training Provider in accordance with the strategy set out in the report; and

(ii)  Authorise the Director of Workforce Change, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Finance, Growth and Core Services and the Chief Legal Officer, to conduct the procurement and award and enter into the contract and all other necessary or ancillary agreements with the successful supplier to fully implement and effect the proposals.