Agenda and minutes

The Chair gave a statement following the recent death of HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh who sadly passed away on 9 April 2021at the age of 99, and asked Cabinet colleagues and officers to join him in 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 16 March 2021 were confirmed as correct.

The Cabinet Member for Social Care and Health Integration gave an update to the Cabinet on the latest COVID-19 issues.

The Cabinet Member advised that from the period 9-15 April there had only been 54 new cases of COVID-19 in the Borough.  The Cabinet Member also advised that:

-  School Children: The majority of school age children in the borough were being regularly tested;

-  Vaccination Rates: Current vaccination rates were 86% for those aged over 80, 84% for those aged 70-79, 79% for those aged 60-69 and 75% of those aged 50-59.  Also, 70% of care and social workers in the borough had been vaccinated; and

-  Local Outbreak Management Plan: The Plan was being continuously updated as new information became available regarding the pandemic.

The Cabinet Member reiterated that although restrictions had been eased, members of the public should continue to be vigilant and maintain social distancing where possible.

Cabinet resolved to note the update on the latest COVID-19 pandemic issues relating to the Borough.

The Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Social Housing presented an update to Cabinet on the key issues and next steps in the regeneration of the Gascoigne Estate.

The Cabinet Member advised that significant progress had been made including:

·  Securing full planning consent to deliver 2375 new homes;

·  408 units completed in Phase 1 – Weavers Quarter and Kingsbridge;

·  Commencing construction works to deliver 253 units;

·  Construction works on a further 890 units due to commence in April 2021;

·  930 secure tenants rehoused;

·  174 Leaseholder interests bought back to enable development to progress;

·  Design work had commenced to prepare a full planning application to deliver approximately 320 new homes in the southern part of Gascoigne East, which was due to be submitted in Summer 2021; and

·  Establishing a coherent placemaking strategy for the Gascoigne Estate.

The Cabinet noted that approximately 56% of the new homes that were either under construction or had full planning permission were affordable and that 20% of affordable housing delivered across London last year was delivered by the Council.

The Cabinet Member advised that a wide consultation on the development had taken place and the feedback was overwhelmingly positive.  There had been significant input from schools in the consultation and the responses received would inform improvements to the physical environment of the area.

Cabinet Members praised the report, noting that the development was improving the health and wellbeing of residents.

Cabinet resolved to:

(i)  Delegate authority to the Managing Director, advised by Investment Panel and in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Finance, Performance and Core Services, to consider and agree investment proposals for individual parcels of the Gascoigne Estate regeneration as they are brought forward;

(ii)  Delegate authority to the Managing Director, in consultation with the Strategic Director, Law and Governance, to enter into a lease agreement with B+D Energy for the lease of land on Gudwara Way, to enable the delivery of the energy centre to provide energy to the new homes on the Gascoigne Estate and other town centre developments; and

(iii)  Re-affirm the approval given by Cabinet under Minute 31(xi) (24 July 2012) for the use by the Council of its Compulsory Purchase Order making powers pursuant to Section 17 of the Housing Act 1985 (as amended) for the acquisition of leasehold interests in relevant properties, for the purposes of securing land to facilitate the redevelopment of those areas.

The Cabinet Member for Social Care and Health Integration presented a report on proposals to procure a four-year Framework Agreement for the provision of Bespoke Packages of Care Service for Children in Need, Children in Care and Children subject to a Child Protection Plan.

The Cabinet Member advised that it had been agreed between Operational and Commissioning colleagues that the Bespoke Family Intervention Service should also reflect services for children with disabilities.  The packages would include:

·  Edge of care intervention;

·  Rehabilitation; and

·  Specialist interventions for fragile placements.

The Cabinet noted the importance of the packages around the need for intervention; however, the Cabinet also noted that the packages were there to help young people move out of the Council’s care system.

Cabinet resolved to:

(i)  Agree the procurement of a four-year framework contract for the provision of a Bespoke Packages of Care Service for Children in Need, Children in Care and Children subject to a Child Protection Plan, in accordance with the Council’s Contract Rules and the strategy set out in the report; and

(ii)  Delegate authority to the Strategic Director, Children and Adults, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Social Care and Health Integration, the Managing Director and the Strategic Director, Law and Governance, to award and enter into the framework agreements and all other necessary or ancillary agreements with the successful bidders.

The Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Social Housing introduced a report updating the Cabinet on the disposal of land at North Street/London Road, Barking.

The Cabinet Member advised that on 5 February 2021, planning consent had been granted for a residential-led development at the land (reference 19/00855/FUL).  As a consequence of the planning negotiations, a marginal amendment was required to the proposed site boundary to facilitate the development.

The Cabinet Member for Finance, Performance and Core Services also confirmed that the developer was now intent on transferring its land to a wholly owned UK registered company prior to the land being acquired by the Council for planning purposes, with the successor company then undertake the development.

Cabinet resolved to:

(i)  Agree, otherwise on the same terms as previously agreed by Cabinet under Minute 117 (17 March 2020), to:

(a)  the acquisition of the Developer's Land for planning purposes pursuant to section 227 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, as shown edged green on the plan at Appendix 3 to the report;

(b)  the appropriation of the Council's land for planning purposes pursuant to section 122 of the Local Government Act 1972 as required to deliver the Development in accordance with Planning Consent 19/00855/FUL, as shown edged red on the plan at Appendix 2 to the report;

(c)  the disposal of the revised site area as required to deliver the Development in accordance with Planning Consent 19/00855/FUL, as shown edged red on the plan at Appendix 1 to the report;

(ii)  Approve the principle of contracting with a UK registered wholly owned subsidiary of the Developer on the same terms as previously agreed for the development;

(iii)  Delegate authority to the Managing Director, in consultation with Strategic Director, Law and Governance and the Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Social Housing, to agree (a) the new contracting party after appropriate due diligence had been undertaken, and (b) the contract documents to fully implement and effect the proposals set out in the report;

(iv)  Authorise the Strategic Director, Law and Governance, or an authorised delegate on her behalf, in consultation with the Managing Director, to execute all the legal agreements, contracts and other documents on behalf the Council; and

(v)  Delegate authority to the Managing Director to acquire the Developer's land pursuant to s227 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, appropriate the Council's land pursuant to section 122 of the GLA and use of the Council's powers pursuant to sections 203-206 of the Housing and Planning Act 2016 in respect of the land to override third party interests infringed by the development.

The Cabinet Member for Finance, Performance and Core Services introduced a report on the procurement of a Cloud Support Contract and IT Database Administration Management Service.

The Cabinet Member advised that the Council, until late 2020, had most of its servers and software applications in the Agilisys Private Datacentre (IaaS). Before the Elevate partnership ended on 9 December 2020, servers and software applications were moved to Microsoft’s Public Cloud Platform (Azure).  Agilisys, through the Elevate partnership, were managing the IaaS environment and built the Azure environment for LBBD, where most of the Council’s servers and software applications now reside. Contracts were extended for continued support for the Azure environment (based on the IaaS contract) and the CSP agreement until 9 June 2021.

The report therefore requested authorisation for the Council to procure a replacement managed service contract for Cloud Services, specifically: Microsoft Azure, Windows Virtual Desktop (WVD), Database Administration (DBA) Service and a Cloud Service Provider (CSP) agreement.

Cabinet resolved to:

(i)  Agree that the Council proceeds with the procurement of managed service contracts for Azure, Windows Virtual Desktop and IT Database Administration and a Cloud Solution Provider Agreement to purchase services from Microsoft, in accordance with the strategy set out in the report; and

(ii)  Delegate authority to the Managing Director, in consultation with the Strategic Director, Law and Governance, to award and enter into any contracts and/or agreements and any periods of extension with the chosen suppliers in accordance with the strategy set out in the report.