Agenda and minutes

Agreed.

Received a report setting out the following urgent action taken under Article 1, Paragraph 17.1, of the Constitution:

Councillor Bryan Osborn was appointed as the Council’s representative at a meeting of the Association of London Government (ALG) Leader’s Committee.  The Council’s nominated representative, Councillor Geddes, was on holiday, and his deputies, Councillors Alexander and McKenzie, had other prior commitments.  Councillor Osborn was appointed as a substitute as it was essential that the Council be represented at this key external meeting.

Agreed to recommend the Assembly to agree that in future, if a similar situation arises, that any Member of the Executive be authorised to act as a substitute representative.

Received a report seeking approval for a Member / Officer visit to Holland, to take place on 28 - 29 November 2003, in order to gain a first hand appreciation of the likely approach to be advocated by the Dutch Master Planners, appointed for Barking Reach and South Dagenham. 

Agreed, a study tour to sites in Holland by the Leader of the Council, the Portfolio Holder for Regeneration, Director of Leisure and Environmental Services, Head of Regeneration and the Regeneration Manager - London Riverside, at a total cost not to exceed £2,500 and funded from the Regeneration Budget, in order to gain an appreciation of the likely type of housing, public spaces, car parking and other facilities that will result from the master plans being developed for Barking Reach and South Dagenham.

Received a report proposing to hold the launch of the Local Business Partnership at the Centre for Manufacturing and Engineering Excellence (CEME). 

Agreed, to a launch event to be held at CEME, at an estimated cost of £5,000, to be met from a grant awarded to the Council by the Small Business Service to develop the Partnership.  The Partnership is a vital development in engaging the business community along with external agencies to work closer with the Council.

Received a report requesting approval for an away day to be held at the CEME in order to facilitate participation in the development of the Service’s Balanced Scorecard.

Agreed, in order to assist with the development of the Health and Consumer Services Balanced Scorecard, that an away day be held at CEME, at a total cost of £3,817.50, to be met from current Health and Consumer Services estimates.

Received and endorsed a report outlining progress in implementing the Council’s statutory Race Equality Scheme as agreed in May 2002 (Minute 4, 28 May 2002 refers).  The report highlighted achievements against the Year One Action Plan (Human Resources) and the contents of the Year Two Action Plan (Community Involvement), to be funded from existing Department resources.

Noted a report outlining the corporate arrangements put in place to conduct Impact Assessments as part of the Council’s statutory Race Equality Scheme Year Two (Community Involvement) Action Plan to be managed within existing service budgets. 

In 2003 / 2004 all services, functions and policies designated as of high and medium priority, in terms of relevance to race equality, will need to be assessed to ascertain areas of potential adverse impact for Black and Minority Ethnic communities.  Wider equalities and community cohesion issues will also be considered as part of this process.

Received a monitoring report covering the Council’s revenue expenditure to the end of August 2003.

Noted the current position of the Council’s revenue budget and the continuing pressures on Education and Social Services totalling approximately £2.1 million and that Action Plans are in place.  Also noted the position and projected out-turn for the Housing Revenue Account with pressures of around £1.3 million which are to be contained within the relevant working balance.

Agreed that the Director of Education and Libraries and the Director of Social Services ensure continued delivery of their proposed Action Plans, as set out in the report, and that Members receive further updates on their progress in future budget monitoring reports.

Received a report seeking the adoption and publication of Service Standards across the Council.  The Comprehensive Performance Assessment self-assessment identified that the Council did not currently have information about all its services.

Agreed, in order to provide better information to the community about Council services, to:

1. The Council’s Service Standards in the format set out in the report;

2. The final draft of the Service Standards be agreed in consultation with the Leader of the Council;

3. The January 2004 edition of the Citizen to be a special issue devoted to the Service Standards;

4. The Standards being publicised on the Council’s website;

5. The Service Standards to be reviewed in light of targets being set and improved on a constant basis; and

6. A full review of the Service Standards to be undertaken once every three years, and that the review of these Standards will be integrated into the Customer First programme.

Further to Minute 200 (12 November 2002), received a report detailing the reasons why the submission of a Stage 1 Application to the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) on 12 November 2002 had been unsuccessful.  The report also outlines the HLF’s recommendation that the Council applies for a Project Planning Grant to fund the appointment of consultant(s) to prepare a revised Stage 1 Application.

Agreed, in order to secure external funding to support the refurbishment of Barking Park, which will also assist the Council in achieving its Community Priorities of “Making Barking and Dagenham Cleaner, Greener and Safer”, “Raising General Pride in the Borough” and “Regenerating the Local Economy”, that:

1. An application for a Project Planning Grant for Barking Park be submitted to the HLF; and

2. Funds within the Capital Programme be re-profiled and considered as part of the Capital Programme review as set out in the report.

The Leader of the Council brought to our attention the vandalism that had been carried out over the last weekend to the flagpole on the Barking Park War Memorial and thanked staff in the Leisure and Environmental Services Department for the quick repair in time for the remembrance service taking place as part of Armistice Day.

Agreed to offer a reward of £500 for the positive identification of the culprits and have asked that security arrangements for the War memorial be included in plans for the refurbishment of Barking Park.

Agreed to exclude the public and press for the remainder of the meeting, as the business was confidential.