Agenda and minutes

There were no declarations of interest.

The minutes of the Assembly held on 18 May 2016 were confirmed as a correct record.

The Leader of the Council, Councillor Rodwell, paid tribute to Jo Cox, MP who was brutally murdered on 16 June 2016.outside a public library in her constituency.

The Assembly stood for a minute’s silence in her memory and as a mark of respect. 

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 which included:

·  Meetings with the Mayor of London’s Office to discuss issues such as housing (including affordable housing) and transport.  Further meetings were planned to discuss the Council’s priorities and the ambitions for a ‘cut and cover’ tunnel to be built along the A13.

·  The Leader and officers had met with the HM Treasury team to discuss how the Borough was coping with austerity and cuts in Government funding.

·  The Right to Invest initiative was launched, which would enable Council tenants to purchase a stake in their home and continue to contribute to their local community.

·  Bidding had started for the Council to become the ‘green energy capital of London’ by establishing an energy services company with the aim of cutting the borough’s carbon footprint.  The new company, B&D Energy Limited was expected to start trading in early 2017.

Other key achievements that the Leader referred to were:

·  £1 billion of investment secured in the last two years in new homes and jobs;

·  £35m deal on Vicarage Fields to deliver homes and revitalise the shopping centre;

·  Selection of a developer to build 3,000 new homes at Beam Park Dagenham;

·  Agreement for a three-screen cinema to help  the night time economy in Barking Town Centre.

·  £7.4m secured for 2,500 low energy street lights;

·  £350m committed to modernise council housing;

·  The ‘Modern University of the Year’ which would move into Dagenham Civic Centre;

·  Dagenham Library winning the Library of the Year award; and

·  Valence House Museum voted one of the 50 best free things to do in London.

In conclusion the Leader paid tribute and thanked staff across the range of Council services who helped and supported the more vulnerable members of the community affected by the floods on 23 June 2016, as well as putting in place measures to allow polling to take place relatively incident free. 

The Director of Law and Governance introduced a report advising on a proposed change to the membership of the Development Control Board to reflect the recent change in Cabinet portfolios and the consequential changes required to the Council Constitution.

Having considered the proposal the Assembly resolved to:

(i)  Agree to increase the voting membership of the Development Control Board to 19 members, two of whom shall be ex-officio voting members by virtue of their portfolio responsibilities, namely the Cabinet Members for Economic and Social Development and for Finance, Growth and Investment; and

(ii)  Note that the Monitoring Officer shall make the necessary amendments to the Articles of the Development Control Board (Chapter 9, Part 2 of the Council Constitution).

The Labour Group Secretary will announce any nominations to fill vacant positions on Council committees or other bodies.

The Assembly resolved to appoint Councillor L. Smith to the Development Control Board to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Councillor White from the Board.

The Cabinet Member for Finance, Growth and Investment introduced the Treasury Management Annual Report 2015/16 which set out the Council’s outturn position in respect of its treasury management activities during the year.

The Cabinet Member referred to the to the Council’s  borrowing strategy and in particular the agreed £150m loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB) secured at a considerably lower rate of interest than that of even the Public Loans and Works Board (PWLB). He reminded the Assembly that the Council had already drawn down £89m of the loan as part of the Gascoigne redevelopment. The remaining £61m would continue to be available to the Council and would be released once suitable regeneration projects had been identified.

With regard to borrowing, the Council was taking advantage of very low interest rates available at the present time, for which there were plans to develop/invest in up to 21 sites in the Borough. 

The Cabinet Member outlined the investment decisions taken by the Council during the year which showed that rates of return for the Council had consistently outperformed both London and national averages helping to protect the Council during times of austerity.

Furthermore, the Council had a clear strategic plan in place including paying down ‘old’ debt taken out at significantly higher rates of interest in the past. 

The Assembly resolved to:

(i)  Note the Treasury Management Annual Report for 2015/16;

(ii)  Note that the Council complied with all 2015/16 treasury management indicators;

(iii)  Approve the actual Prudential and Treasury Indicators for 2015/16;

(iv)  Approve the amendments to the counterparty limits as set out in section 4.4 of the report;

(v)  Note that the Council borrowed £50m from the Public Works Loan Board (PWLB) in June 2016 to fund capital expenditure;

(vi)  Agree to maintain the delegated authority to the Strategic Director for Finance and Investment, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Finance, Growth and Investments, to continue to proportionally amend the counterparty lending limits agreed within the Treasury Management Strategy Statement to take into account the additional cash holdings resulting from borrowing from the European Investment Bank and the PWLB;

(vii)  Agree to borrow the remaining £61m from the European Investment Bank as soon as suitable regeneration projects are identified;

(viii)  Delegate authority to the Strategic Director Finance & Investment, in consultation with the Director of Law & Governance, and the Cabinet Member for Finance, Growth and Investment, to negotiate terms with the EIB; and

(ix)  Authorise the Director of Law and Governance, or an authorised delegate on her behalf, to execute all of the legal agreements, contracts and other documents on behalf of the Council.

The Assembly noted the outcome of the Standards (Hearing) Sub-Committee held on 25 February 2016. 

The Director of Law and Governance introduced a report regarding the appointment of a Parent Governor (Primary) Co-optee to the Children’s Services Select Committee.

The Assembly resolved to appoint Ellen Grant to the position of Parent Governor (Primary) Co-optee to the Children’s Services Select Committee.

No motions have been received.

None had been received.

Question 1

From Councillor Choudhury

Can the Cabinet Member for Finance, Growth and Investment outline when the Council expects the first applications from residents for the new ‘Right to Invest’ housing scheme to be approved?

Response

The Cabinet Member for Finance, Growth & Investment explained that the ‘Right to Invest’ tenant shared ownership scheme had been launched following the approval of the Cabinet on 28 June 2016. The publicity promoting the scheme which followed the launch had led to a considerable amount of interest from which it was expected applications would follow.

Question 2

From Councillor Kangethe

Can the Leader provide a progress update on the proposed ‘Youth Zone’ project in Parsloes Park?

Response

The Leader advised that having attended a meeting at The Vibe it was clear that young people were getting really excited about the project which they had closely been involved with, having named it and discussed its development with the architect.

The Cabinet Member for Community Leadership and Engagement had recently participated in the interviews to appoint the design team. The expectation was that a planning application would be submitted in October 2017, with work starting on site in March 2018 and an anticipated completion of June 2018.

Supplementary question

Councillor Kangethe enquired as to whether consultation had taken place with young people living near the park?

The Leader explained that the project had formed the biggest single consultation and engagement exercise relating to the development of the park with groups and individuals from across the Borough as well as the Parsloes area.  Feedback from the One Community Show held in the park last summer also contributed to the consultation process.

Question 3

From Councillor Chand

Can the Cabinet Member for Social Care and Health Integration outline the Council’s response to the two week trial at Queen’s Hospital that will see patients who require non-emergency care being referred to their GP or pharmacist?

Response

The Cabinet Member for Social Care and Health explained that the Council had worked hard to build a relationship with local health care providers and therefore given the scale of the Council’s ambition to transform local health and social care services together, it was disappointing to receive details of the two week pilot.  It was felt the pilot would do little to fix the problems around Accident and Emergency access and GP’s were already under enormous pressure.

Supplementary question

In response to comments from Councillor Chand the Cabinet Member for Social Care & Health Integration agreed that the Council would keep up the pressure on Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals (BHRUT) to make sure that the pilot at Queens Hospital did not become a permanent arrangement. 

Question 4

From Councillor Haroon

This week marks the 21^st anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which saw over 8,000 Muslim men and boys killed by Serbian nationalist forces. Can the Cabinet Member for Community Leadership and Engagement confirm what efforts are being made by the Council to mark this anniversary?  ...  view the full minutes text for item 23.

(The Chair agreed that this item could be considered at the meeting as a matter of urgency under the provisions of Section 100B(4)(b) of the Local Government Act 1972.)

The Assembly received a report from the Chief Executive regarding the consideration of dispensation under the provisions of Section 85 of the Local Government Act 1972 in respect of Councillor Liam Smith’s non-attendance at designated Council meetings since 24 February 2016.

The Leader advised that he was aware of personal reasons that had prevented Councillor Smith’s attendance at meetings and proposed that the period within which Councillor Smith must attend a qualifying meeting be extended by one month to 25 September 2016.

The Assembly resolved to grant a one-month dispensation for personal reasons to Councillor Liam Smith, in accordance with the provisions of Section 85 of the Local Government Act 1972, who shall be required to attend a qualifying meeting before 25 September 2016 or otherwise cease to be a Member of the Council.