Agenda and minutes

The Chair will ask all Members to observe a minute’s silence in memory of HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh who sadly passed away on 9^th April 2021 at the age of 99.

Following the recent death of HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh who sadly passed away on 9 April 2021 at the age of 99, the Chair asked the Assembly and officers to hold a minute’s applause in recognition of the service the Duke of Edinburgh gave to Her Majesty the Queen and across the Commonwealth.

There were no declarations of interest.

The minutes of the meeting held on 3 March 2021 were confirmed as correct.

The Assembly received and noted the minutes of the JNC Appointments, Salaries and Structures Panel held on 19 March 2021.

The Leader will present his statement.

The Leader of the Council presented a verbal statement updating the Assembly on a range of matters since the last meeting:

Progress in the Borough:  Despite the significant struggles that COVID 19 had brought to the borough, Cabinet Members were working hard to secure a future recovery for the borough and make things better for residents.  The Leader gave a brief summary of the projects each Cabinet Member had been progressing during the pandemic.

HRH Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh:  The Leader reflected on the death ofPrince Philip, whose life spanned several generations and his dedication and public service was praised by all members.  Prince Philip was a friend of the Borough along with Her Majesty the Queen and received a wonderful reception when they chose to visit the Borough to mark the 50^th anniversary of London Borough’s in 2015.

Glow Festival:  The Glow Festival recently took place in the Boroughwith bright colours of the rainbow shooting across the night sky.  This was part of the ‘Becontree 100’ events marking the estate’s 100^th year anniversary.

COVID-19:  This week marked the 13^th month since the country entered the first lockdown brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.  The Leader recognised the huge sacrifices made by everyone to protect each other and thanked those who came together to light a candle as a ‘Beacon of Remembrance’ for everyone who had been lost.

The Cabinet Member for Social Care and Health Integration reminded residents that although there had been an easing in restrictions, the rules had not been completely abolished and residents must continue to remain vigilant.

The Cabinet Member advised that:

·  In the last week, there had been 64 new cases of COVID 19 in the Borough.  The case rate was now at 30 per 100,000 people;

·  Vaccinations were going well with 86% of residents who were aged 80 plus being vaccinated; and

·  Hospital waiting lists were large however residents were urged to attend appointments where they need to go to the local hospitals.

The Strategic Director, Law and Governance, introduced a report on the annual process of appointments to the various elements of the political structure and other internal and external bodies for the 2021/22 municipal year. 

The Strategic Director advised that in view of the impending election of a new Thames ward councillor at a by-election on 6 May 2021, it was proposed that the Chief Executive be authorised to approve the appointment of the new councillor to any vacant positions on Council committees, to enable that individual to commence his/her involvement in the Council’s business as soon as possible.

It was also noted that the schedule of proposed appointments that was appended to the report had incorrectly shown that there was a vacancy on the Pensions Committee, to which Councillor Miah was to be appointed to.  The Labour Group Secretary confirmed that the membership of the Pensions Committee remained unchanged from 2020/21.

The Assembly resolved to:

(i)  Approve the appointments to various Council committees and other internal and external bodies, as set out in Appendix 1; and

(ii)  Delegate authority to the Chief Executive, in consultation with the Leader of the Council, to approve the appointment of the new Thames ward councillor, to be elected on 6 May 2021, to vacant positions on Council committees.

The Strategic Director, Law and Governance, presented a report on the Members’ Allowances Scheme for 2021/22, which proposed that Members’ basic and special responsibility allowances should remain at the same levels agreed by the Assembly in July 2018.

(i)  Agree that no increase be applied to Members’ basic and special responsibility allowances for the 2021/22 municipal year; and

(ii)  Adopt the Members’ Allowances Scheme 2021/22 at Appendix A to the report, to be effective from 28 April 2021.

The Cabinet Member for Finance, Performance and Core Services introduced a report on a complaint against the Council which was investigated by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGO).  The final report was returned to the Council on 15 January 2021 and was appended to the report as Appendix 1.

The complainant (referred to as Mrs D) complained that the Council failed to take appropriate action after she raised concerns of a cancer cluster in her neighbourhood in April 2018. She did not receive responses on a number of occasions, the Council only provided a stage 2 response after the complainant went to the LGO, and then she was wrongly signposted to the Environment Agency.

The Cabinet Member advised that the Council acknowledged fault and had accepted responsibility for this complaint. The council agreed to the LGO recommendations and had actioned them.

The Assembly resolved to note the LGO report and actions taken in response to the complaint findings.

The Cabinet Member for Social Care and Health Integration presented a report on the Local Safeguarding Children Partnership Annual Report 2019/20. 

The Cabinet Member advised that the Barking and Dagenham Safeguarding Children Partnership (BDSCP) Annual report was an opportunity to highlight the progress that the Safeguarding Partnership, consisting of the Local Authority, NHS BHR Clinical Commissioning Group and the Police, had made in achieving its safeguarding priorities in 2019/20.

The Annual report provides a progress update on the work carried out in context of addressing the 2019/20 safeguarding priorities outlined below:

·  Tackling knife crime and gang culture;

·  Protection of vulnerable children and young people from all forms of exploitation;

·  Reducing the impact of domestic abuse;

·  Strengthening work at pre-birth stage to minimise neglect; and

·  Establishing consistent and agreed thresholds across the partnership.

The Assembly resolved to note the Local Safeguarding Children Partnership Annual Report for 2019/20 at Appendix 1 to the report.

The Cabinet Member for Social Care and Health Integration presented a report on the Children’s Social Care Annual Self Evaluation 2021.

The Cabinet Member advised that the self-evaluation outlined the quality and impact of social work practice and built upon previous self-evaluations. The document was a key part of the Councils commitment to continuous improvement of children services and vulnerable children’s outcome and experiences. It drew upon existing documentation, activity data and performance for 2019/20 compared to the rest of London and nationally.  Where available, it also considered in-year local data and performance.

The Assembly resolved to note the summary report and the full version of the 2021 annual self-evaluation of children’s social care at Appendix A to the report.

There are no motions.

There were no motions.

There are no Questions with Notice.

There were no questions with notice.