Agenda and minutes

Agreed.

Tributes were paid to the late Councillor Summerfield and a minute's silence was held in his memory.

(i)  Member Panels for Cross Cutting Best Value Reviews

(ii)  Integrated Waste Management Contract Liaison Committee

Agreed the following appointments:

·  Best Value Review Member Panels for Cross Cutting Best Value Reviews:

·  Regenerating the Local Economy - Councillor Wainwright

·  Procurement - Councillor Huggins

·  Integrated Waste Management Contract Liaison Committee - Councillor Mrs Twomey

(i)  Millennium Centre Car Park

(ii)  Hooks Hall Pond, The Chase Local Nature Reserve

Considered two petitions organised by the Dagenham Conservative Association.

(i)  Petition requesting CCTV to protect the Millennium Centre Car Park, introduced by Mr Kerry Smith, Hon. Secretary of the Dagenham Conservative Association.  The Assembly also considered a report by Peter Parkin, Parks and Countryside Manager.  Mr Parkin gave a verbal update on the outcome of a meeting, referred to in the report, which had taken place on site with the Crime Prevention Design Officer, who had made various recommendations for improving security at the car park.

Agreed to implement the modifications as advised by the Crime Prevention Design Officer.

  Councillor Parkin stated that he had arranged to meet Council officers to discuss ideas within the next few days and petitioners would be contacted directly to keep them informed of developments.

(ii)  Petition requesting the renewal of the tenancy/lease/licence to the members of the Eastbrook Anglers’ Club of the Hooks Hall Pond, introduced by one of the lead petitioners, Mr Charlie Lambert.

The Assembly also considered a report by Peter Parkin.  It was noted that a compromise on the use of the pond and a trial period of operation has been agreed between the three principal parties, namely the Eastbrook Angling Club, London Wildlife Trust and the Council, subject to ratification by the Eastbrookend Support Group.  If the compromise agreement and trial period of operation do not go well, a further report will be presented to the Executive to resolve this issue.

(i)  Barking Town Centre Action Plan - Presentation by Jeremy Grint, Head of Regeneration

(ii)  Roger Luxton, Director of Education, Arts and Libraries, will introduce the Education Development Plan (EDP) Update for 2003/04

  An introductory report is attached; the EDP itself has been circulated separately

Jeremy Grint, Head of Regeneration, gave a presentation on the Barking Town Centre Action Plan.  The purpose of this is to aid project management and delivery in Barking Town Centre and it sets out objectives, outcomes and priorities for taking the development forward.

The Assembly thanked Mr Grint for his presentation and agreed the Plan as a basis for work this year on Barking Town Centre, together with the outcomes and priorities.

Received the update of the Council’s second Education Development Plan (EDP2) for 2003/04.  The Authority is required to produce this plan by the Department of Education and Skills, review the priorities annually and update the plan accordingly.

Agreed:

1  The Plan for confirmation to the DfES

2  The School Improvement Priorities and Activities for 2003/04

Received the above report, which included recommendations on the Early Years Development and Childcare Partnership (EYDCP) Implementation Plan 2003/04.

Agreed the EYDCP Implementation Plan.

Noted that the integration of early years education and childcare and the development of neighbourhood nurseries may impact on the organisation of schools.  The uptake of part-time nursery education places in schools may be affected.

In response to a question raised by Councillor Bramley about progress on the Council’s campaign to reduce crime and improve security in the Borough, Councillor Fairbrass said he had recently been advised by the Metropolitan Police that 33 new Police Officers will be allocated to the Borough next year.  Including the 78 new Police Officers allocated last year, this means there will be over 100 extra Police Officers in the Borough.  There will also be 15 Police Community Support Officers, who will represent a whole new area of policing activity.  The 999 service will be manned by civilian workers in future, which will release a number of Police Officers for other duties, and there will be extra Police Officers for London Transport and other areas of policing, all of which will benefit Barking and Dagenham.

Councillor Fairbrass also reported that Borough Commander John Lansley had recently made a point of acknowledging the high level of support given by the Council, particularly from the Community Safety Strategic Partnership.  He had also reported that overall crime in the Borough is down by 1.4%, burglary by 11.2%, street crime by 14.2% and auto crime by nearly 10%.  Councillor Fairbrass stressed that these positive messages needed to be communicated to residents.

Noted.

Noted.

Agreed the revised Member/Employee Relations Protocol.

Noted.

Noted.

Noted.

Agreed the following terms of reference:

1  to identify best practice in other Councils

2  to create a vision for community empowerment and engagement in the area, building on work undertaken in the Community Forums, Community Development, Neighbourhood Management, Community Housing Partnerships and other initiatives

3  to develop some key actions for the Borough to improve community empowerment and engagement

4  to have regard to any related equalities and diversity and health issues

Received the report of the Director of Corporate Strategy on The Constitution: Plain Language Summary and Procedural Changes.

Agreed:

1  that the Summary be submitted to the Plain English Campaign for Crystal Marking in order to ensure that information on the Constitution is available to residents in plain language

2  to approve the proposed amendments to the Constitution set out in section 2 of the report.

Councillor Clark raised concerns about offensive and groundless remarks that had been made against him since his election to the Council.  He completely refuted the allegations made and hoped that they would not be repeated in future.