Agenda and minutes

There were no declarations of interest.

The minutes of the meeting held on 13 September 2017 were confirmed as correct.

- JNC Appointments Panel 19 September 2017; and

- Joint JNC Salaries & Conditions and Appointments Panel 31 October 2017

The Assembly received and noted the minutes of the JNC Appointment Panel held on 19 September 2017 and the Joint JNC Salaries & Conditions and Appointments Panel held on 31 October 2017.

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 including:

•  The launch of the Borough of Culture bid;

•  The saving of Dagenham Police Station from closure, albeit Barking Police Station was now under threat.  The Council would again fight the proposed closure;

•  The successful campaign to reinstate C2C train services previously withdrawn at Barking Station from December;

•  The Mayor of London backing the Council’s proposal to provide a brand-new film studio in Dagenham East;

•  Securing a High Court injunction to prevent illegal Traveller encampments;

•  The plans for London’s first Youth Zone being approved;

•  The Chancellor’s Autumn Budget announcement, which did not address the housing crisis which London currently faced; and

•  White Ribbon Week, in which the Leader would be taking part in various events including a sponsored silence and ‘walking a mile in her shoes’.

The Chair then granted permission Cabinet Member for Social Care and Health Integration to address the Assembly on health devolution.

The Cabinet Member advised that the London Devolution Deal on Health had been signed on 16 November 2017 by the Mayor of London, the Secretary of State for Health and organisations representing the health service and London local authorities, following two years of negotiation.  The devolution deal would transfer responsibilities related to funding and commissioning to local authorities and GP’s with arrangements agreed locally.

The Cabinet Member also advised on proposed changes to current payment incentives within the health sector as part of the devolution arrangements, as well as measures to reduce the pressures on local hospitals.

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

The Assembly resolved to appoint:

- Councillor Moin Quadri as the Lead Member for the Safer and Stronger Community Select Committee; and

- Councillor Faruk Choudhury to the membership and position of Deputy Lead Member of the Safer and Stronger Community Select Committee.

Further to Minute 30 above, the Chief Executive introduced a report on the appointment of a Director, Policy and Participation following the changes to the senior management structure agreed at the Joint JNC Salaries & Conditions and Appointments Panel held on 31 October 2017. 

The current Director of Strategy and Programmes, Tom Hook, held assimilation rights to the new post under the Council’s “Managing Organisational Change – Restructuring and Redundancy Procedure (including Assimilation Process)”.  As the new post would form part of the Strategic Leadership team, the Assembly was responsible for the appointment.

The Assembly resolved to approve the assimilation of Tom Hook, Director of Strategy and Programmes, into the post of Director, Policy and Participation, subject to the outcome of the formal consultation process.

The Cabinet Member for Social Care and Health Integration introduced a report on the Annual Safeguarding reports from the Barking and Dagenham Safeguarding Adults Board (SAB) and the Barking and Dagenham Safeguarding Children’s Board (SCB).

Each year, the SAB and SCB produced reports detailing the vision, make-up, work and challenges of the past year. These reports had been presented to the Health and Wellbeing Board and the Cabinet Member highlighted some of the key aspects from both reports.  The SCB had learnt from the Serious Case Reviews that had been undertaken and had implemented a comprehensive training programme for staff to help prevent serious incidents in the future.  Child Sexual Exploitation was also an increasing issue and the SCB was developing a week-long programme to increase awareness.

With reference to adults safeguarding, the SAB had identified that the issue often went under people’s radar and there was a general lack of awareness of the work that was being undertaken.  With that in mind, the SAB had also agreed to develop a campaign to raise awareness in the community.

Members thanked the Cabinet Member for bringing the reports to the Assembly and for raising the profile of children and adults’ safeguarding.

The Assembly resolved to note the Annual Safeguarding reports.

Further to Minute 61 (22 February 2017), the Cabinet Member for Finance, Growth and Investment presented the mid-year progress report in respect of the Council’s treasury management activities during the current financial year.

The Cabinet Member referred to the Bank of England’s recent decision to increase the UK interest rate by 0.25% and advised that more information on the effect on the Council’s investments and borrowing would be included in the February 2018 report.  The future plans for the Borough relied heavily on the success of the Council’s Investment and Acquisition Strategy and the Cabinet Member referred the revised net financing need for the year and Capital Financing Requirement as at 30 September 2017, set out at tables 3 and 4 in the report, which reflected that the Council continued to operate within the operational boundary limit for borrowing.

The Cabinet Member alluded to the Chancellor’s Autumn Budget Statement, which had been made that day, and expressed his concerns that the budget lacked substance and did not address issues such as additional social care funding.

The Assembly resolved to:

(i)  Note the approval of a loan of up to £595,000 for Barking & Dagenham Trading Partnership, as detailed in paragraph 6.5 of the report; and

(ii)  Note the delegated authority to the Chief Operating Officer, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Finance, Growth and Investment, to agree contractual terms, including the rate, duration and security as part of the loan agreements to Barking & Dagenham Trading Partnership;

(iii)  Note the Treasury Management Strategy Statement Mid-Year Review 2017/18;

(iv)  Note that in the first half of the 2017/18 financial year the Council complied with all 2017/18 treasury management indicators;

(v)  Note the value of investments at 30 September 2017 totalled £250.5 million;

(vi)  Note the value of long term borrowing at 30 September 2017 totalled £502.2m, comprising market, PWLB and EIB loans;

(vii)  Note the value of short term borrowing at 30 September 2017 totalled £70.0m; and

(viii)  Agree the revised Minimum Revenue Provision Policy Statement in Appendix 1;

The Cabinet Member for Economic and Social Development introduced a report on the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham Local Implementation Plan (LIP).

The LIP was the Council’s transport strategy and delivery plan for improvements to the transport network in the borough.  Ahead of the development of the Mayor of London’s new Transport Strategy in 2018, the Council was required to submit a transitional 1-year spending plan to Transport for London (TfL) for funding for local transport schemes for implementation in 2018/19.

The proposed programme of investment focused on:

•  Tackling various road safety, congestion and accessibility issues in Gale Street and River Road;

•  Continuing the programme of public realm improvements in Barking Town Centre;

•  Funding for road safety education and schemes across the borough, including plans for improvements outside borough schools;

•  Funding for cycle training and school travel planning;

•  Studies to inform future LIP schemes at the Ripple Road gyratory, St Pauls Road roundabout and the ‘Lighted Lady’ roundabout in Barking Town Centre.

The Assembly resolved to approve the Council’s 2018/19 Local Implementation Plan funding submission to Transport for London, as set out at Appendix 1 to the report.

The Cabinet Member for Enforcement and Community Safety introduced a report on the Statement of Gambling Licensing Policy 2017 – 2020.

The Council, as local licensing authority for gaming and betting, was required under the Gambling Act 2005 to have in place a policy setting out how it would carry out its licensing responsibilities and to review that policy every three years.

On 25 April 2017, the Cabinet approved a draft policy for the purposes of public consultation. That consultation took place between July and September and the responses taken into account in the development of the revised draft policy.

The Cabinet Member advised that the revised draft policy reflected the Council’s serious concerns over the impact that any further increase in the number of gambling premises may have for the most vulnerable and ‘at risk’ areas of the borough.  The Council would, therefore, seek to strictly control the number of gambling establishments in those areas in accordance with the licensing objectives.

The Assembly resolved to adopt the Barking and Dagenham Statement of Gambling Licensing Policy 2017 – 2020, as set out at Appendix 1 to the report.

None were received.

(Standing Order 7.1 (Chapter 3, Part 2 of the Council Constitution) was suspended at this juncture to enable the meeting to continue beyond the 9.00pm threshold.)

There were none.

Question 1

From Councillor Choudhury

“Will the Cabinet Member for Social Care and Health Integration provide a progress update on the installation of a new 50 metre swimming pool at Becontree Leisure Centre?”

Response

The Cabinet Member for Social Care and Health Integration advised that hoardings were due to go up around the site shortly with groundworks starting before Christmas.  The pool development was on track to be completed in June 2018.

Question 2

From Councillor Freeborn

“Will the relevant Cabinet Member update the Assembly on what progress is being made to stop illegal Traveller encampments from blighting our borough?”

  Response

Following on from the Leader’s comments earlier in the meeting, the Cabinet Member for Enforcement and Community Safety advised that as part of the Councils ongoing efforts to promote civic pride and social responsibility, it had successfully obtained an injunction at the High Court to prevent illegal encampment of 140 named sites in the borough and against 23 named individuals preventing them from setting up an illegal encampment anywhere in the borough.

The injunction was for an indefinite period and combined two powers, the power of arrest and contempt of court.

Question 3

From Councillor Haroon

“Can the relevant Cabinet Member explain how the Council’s customer service performance is being monitored to ensure our residents receive better quality responses?”

  Response

The Cabinet Member for Economic and Social Development advised that customers were surveyed when calling the Contact Centre and when visiting the One Stop Shop.  The latest data for October gave a satisfaction level of 89% against the target level of 85%.  Satisfaction levels were also monitored through complaints and Members’ casework.

Supplementary Question

In response to Councillor Haroon’s follow-up enquiry, the Cabinet Member advised that the monitoring process was last revised approximately 18 months ago.

Question 4

From Councillor Miah

“Can the Cabinet Member for Community Leadership and Engagement tell the Assembly how much money has been raised for good causes in the borough through the new Barking and Dagenham Lottery?”

  Response

The Cabinet Member for Community Leadership and Engagement advised that sales for the B&D Lottery had already reached 849 tickets a week.  Based on that number, the B&D Lottery would raise £26,488.80 for good causes by October 2018, which would be distributed amongst the 23 approved ‘good causes’ groups currently registered.

Question 5

From Councillor Haroon

“Can the Cabinet Member for Enforcement and Community Safety outline what the Council is doing to reduce the number of acid attacks in the borough?”

  Response

The Cabinet Member for Enforcement and Community Safety expressed concern that London, and in particular the east of the City, had emerged as a hot spot for acid attacks and confirmed thatthe Council had actively lobbied the Government to ban the sale of corrosive substances to under 18’s.  The Home Secretary subsequently announced the Government’s intentions to implement new controls. 

The Cabinet Member also confirmed that Council was working with the Police to bring offenders to justice and was considering what action  ...  view the full minutes text for item 39.