Agenda and minutes

In accordance with the Council’s Constitution, Members are asked to declare any personal or prejudicial interest they may have in any matter which is to be considered at this meeting.

There were no declarations of interest.

All stood for a minute’s silence as a mark of respect for the death of a serviceman from the Royal Anglian Regiment who was on active duty in Afghanistan. 

Agreed.

Agreed that Councillor NSS Gill be appointed as the Council representative to the vacancy on the Corporation of the Barking College.

Noted a proposed change to the Council’s Constitution in relation to the process of approval the Council Tax Base so as to enable more effective financial planning.

Agreed to adopt the change to the Council’s Constitution as set out in the report and noted that in line with delegated authority the Chief Executive has made a number of minor amendments, all of which come into immediate effect.

Received a report from the Corporate Director of Finance and Commercial Services setting out the Annual Report of the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham Local Government Pension Scheme for 2008/09 which provided an overview of the performance and detailed work of the Council’s Pension Fund throughout the financial year.  The detail was set out as an appendix to the main report.

In relation to the current performance of the Pension Fund questions were raised in relation to the potential effect on the fund of possible future redundancies brought about by the economic downturn, and the current performance of the Fund and the age profile of contributing staff.

The Assembly were informed as to how the Fund operates and that by law it has to ensure that its assets cover its total liabilities. The value of Fund is set every three years by the Council’s Actuaries and this includes assessing the age profile of the Fund and in turn reviewing the level of the employee contributions. 

The current age profile of the Fund indicates of those in the 40 to 50 and 50 to 60 age bracket are considerably less than the local government average.

In November 2009 the Assembly, in making a number of changes to the Council’s Constitution, agreed that all policy decisions relating to pension investments for all employees should be an Assembly rather than an Executive function in line with the requirements of the Superannuation Act 1972, the Local Government Act 2000 and subsequent Local Authority Function and Responsibilities) Regulations 2000. 

Under the regulations it is permissible to further delegate the pension functions to either an officer of the Council, a committee or a sub-committee.  Under the Council’s existing scheme of delegation day to day management of the pension fund is administered through Corporate Finance reporting through to an annually appointed Pension Fund Panel which in turn recommends decisions to the Assembly.

In view of the current frequency of the Assembly such reporting arrangements are neither practical nor efficient, and therefore in line with best practice adopted by most other local authorities we have agreed to:-

  (i)  delegate authority to the Pension Fund Panel to deal with all pension matters, on the basis the terms of reference set out in an appendix to the report;

  (ii)  the necessary amendments to the Council Constitution to facilitate the above; and

  (iii)  authorise the Chief Executive to arrange for the appointment of an additional member of the current Panel to accord with political balance requirements.

Presentation from the Divisional Director of Asset Management and Capital Delivery

Received a presentation from the Divisional Director of Asset Management and Capital Delivery concerning proposals to fund a new council house building programme.  This provided an overview of the project which has seen the Council making grant applications for HCA funding supported by £7 million of identified funding within the existing Council Capital Programme.

The presentation highlighted a number of potential sites identified within Council ownership from an agreed disposal list, focussing on four early win sites, for which planning approval has been sought, with potential start dates of February 2010. The first phase of development involves eighteen new 3/4 bed family homes with in the longer term construction of an additional forty three units at Thames View and thirty one units at King William Street.

Councillor Carpenter in commending the presentation referred to the pre-Assembly briefing on employment and skills services to residents and businesses and enquired as to whether targets have been set to use local employment, local suppliers and create apprenticeships.

The Divisional Director explained that the Council now has a standard framework in its tender documentation covering all three issues with at least seven apprenticeships being created over the life of this project. 

In general Members are supportive of the proposed house building programme although some comments were made in relation to the timing of the announcement, the funding arrangements, the projected unit costs and the proposed allocation criteria.

The Leader of the Council stated that this Council has wanted to build Council houses for many years but that previous governments have favoured the social housing route through housing associations.  Barking and Dagenham has consequently resisted pressure to hand over land to housing associations and at long last after a tireless campaign by this Authority, the Government has finally agreed to review its approach to housing policy.

The Council intends therefore to utilize funding that was already earmarked in its capital reserves to start to build decent homes for local people at affordable rents. In relation to construction costs it was explained that the first build of eighteen units represents the first phase of a much larger longer term project which will see unit costs in the region of £150,000 which represents good value for money.

All these points were echoed by the Portfolio Holder for Housing who added that it has been a frustrating period but with the support of the Government the Council can now move forward and start to do something positive for local residents. In relation to the allocations policy he confirmed that the Council now places strict conditions on all new tenancies in the first year in order to keep tenants on track.

In conclusion he thanked the officers for the work they have achieved in a short space of time that has enabled the Council to get to the position to be constructing the first Council houses in this Borough for over twenty five years.

No motions have been received.

None received.

None received.

None received.