Agenda and minutes

Agreed.

Received a report on proposed changes to the Council’s Code of Corporate Governance following the second annual review of the Code.

Agreed, in order to comply with the Corporate Governance Framework set by CIPFA and SOLACE and meet the expectations of the Council’s external auditors, to recommend the Assembly to agree the suggested revisions and the associated changes necessary to the Council Constitution as set out in Appendix A to the report.

Noted that the proposed changes will be incorporated into the report on the Council’s Constitution which is being presented to the Assembly on 17 May 2006.

Received a report on the annual review of charges for Social Care Services for 2006/07.

Agreed, in order to meet legislative requirements and assist the Council to achieve its Community Priority of ‘Improving Health, Housing and Social Care’, to the revised charges for Social Care Services as set out in Appendix A to the report, to be effective from 10 April 2006 to coincide with the increase in state benefits for 2006/07.

Further to Minute 376 (27 April 2004), received a report on a revised “Local Authority Gold” resolution that all London Council’s are being asked to adopt which will expand on the “Gold” Chief Executive’s powers to act on behalf of all London local authorities in responding to an emergency.

Agreed, in order to take account of provisions within the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 and lessons learned from the July 2005 bombings, to adopt the revised “Local Authority Gold” resolution as set out in Appendix B to the report.

Received a report presenting a review of the Council’s Race Equality Scheme (RES) for 2002/05 and the race equality priorities in the Council’s Corporate Equalities and Diversity Plan for 2005/08.

Agreed, in order to ensure compliance with current and future equality statutory duties on disability, gender, faith and sexuality, to:

(i)  Endorse the review of the Council’s RES for 2002/05 and priorities for 2005/08; and

(ii)  The Corporate Equalities, Diversity and Cohesion Board commissioning a review of compliance with current and forthcoming statutory specific duties.

Received a report on the Council’s expected position at March 2006 in meeting e-Government targets as set out in the Implementing E-Government (IEG) Statement 6.

Agreed, in order to meet e-Government ‘Priority Service’ requirements, to authorise the Corporate Director of Resources to approve and submit the Council’s IEG6 Statement by 10 April 2006.

Further to Minute 234 (24 January 2006), received and noted a feedback report on the attendance of two officers at this year’s IRRV Conference and the benefits to the Council of their attendance.

Received and noted a report on the results of the soil quality investigations on the Thames View Estate which were commissioned by the Council in response to contaminated land concerns.  Noted that the rigorous assessment and testing exercises have led to the conclusion that the whole estate should not be considered contaminated land under the Environmental Protection Act 1990.

Received a report on the annual review of charges for Environmental Management services for 2006/07.

Agreed, in order to recover the full costs of providing services in line with the recommendations of the Council’s Charging Policy Commission, to the revised charges for Environmental Management services as detailed in Appendix 1 to the report, to be effective from 1 April 2006 except where otherwise stated.

Received a report on the review of charges for planning-related enquiries for 2006/07.

Agreed, in order to recover the full costs of providing services in line with the recommendations of the Council’s Charging Policy Commission, to the increased charges for Planning Post Search and Consultancy enquiries as detailed in the report, to be effective immediately.

Received a report on the proposed location of seven Children’s Centres to be developed under Phase 2 of the Council’s programme to provide a Borough-wide service to all families with children under the age of five.  The report also set out the proposed procurement route for professional services and building works for six of the seven sites.

Agreed, in order to assist the Council to achieve its Community Priorities of ‘Better Education and Learning For All’ and ‘Improving Health, Housing and Social Care’, to:

(i)  The strategic location of the seven Children's Centres, as detailed in the report, under Phase 2 of the Council's programme; and

(ii)  The proposals for the procurement of projects as described in the report, subject to individual periodic gateway reviews within the Capital Programme Management Office appraisal process and appropriate funding.

Received a report on the proposed governance arrangements for all Children’s Centres in the Borough, the primary objective of which is to facilitate strategic service planning at a local level in line with the priorities identified in the Borough’s Children and Young People’s Plan. 

The arrangements will have a strong emphasis on partnership working, involving parents and users, front-line staff and other key stakeholders in the community, and will include the creation of Development Groups for each Children’s Centre.  These Groups, which will be led by the Centre Head, will be responsible for developing the key objectives and outcomes for service delivery in line with the overall Children and Young People’s Plan.

Agreed, in order to assist the Council to achieve its Community Priorities of ‘Better Education and Learning For All’ and ‘Improving Health, Housing and Social Care’, to:

(i)  The Children’s Centres governance arrangements as set out in the report, including the establishment of Development Groups at each Centre; and

(ii)  Further details being provided on the arrangements that will ensure that a common curriculum, themes etc. will be consistently delivered in all the Centres across the Borough.

Received a report on the proposed scope of a Best Value review for services to children with disabilities.

Agreed, in order to assist the Council to achieve its Community Priorities of ‘Improving Health, Housing and Social Care’ and ‘Better Education and Learning For All’, to the scope of the Best Value review as outlined in the report.

Further to Minute 51 (20 July 2004), received a report on proposed changes to the Council’s Discretionary Non-Domestic Rate Relief (NDRR) Policy in respect of the appeals procedure.

Agreed, in order to improve the arrangements for the determination of appeals for discretionary NDRR, to:

(i)  All appeals against decisions not to award Non-Domestic Rate Relief being considered by the Executive;

(ii)  The establishment of a NDRR Appeals Panel to deal with appeals on the Executive’s behalf;

(iii)  The terms of reference of the NDRR Appeals Panel as set out in Appendix A,

(iv)  The Panel consisting of three Members, who shall be the Lead Members with portfolio responsibility for Revenues and Benefits and Finance (presently Councillors M McCarthy and G Bramley respectively) and one Member of the Minority Group;

(v)  The Council’s ‘Policy for the Award of Discretionary Non-Domestic Rate Relief to Charities and other Not-for Profit Organisations’ being amended accordingly;

(vi)  Recommend the Assembly to agree the appropriate revisions to the Council’s Scheme of Delegation (Part C of the Constitution).

In respect of (vi) above, noted that the proposed changes will be incorporated into the report on the Council’s Constitution which is being presented to the Assembly on 17 May 2006.

Received the draft final report of the Community Consultation Scrutiny Panel and Councillor Denyer, the Lead Member of the Scrutiny Panel, introduced the report and highlighted the Panel’s main recommendations.  Discussed issues regarding the role and use of the Citizen’s Panel for consultation purposes and the need for all Members of the Council to be kept regularly informed of ongoing and future public consultation.

Agreed, in accordance with the Scrutiny Panel final report protocol, to note the draft final report of the Community Consultation Scrutiny Panel and commend its formal adoption to the Assembly.

Councillor Denyer placed on record his thanks to Susan Ritchie, Consultation and Involvement Manager with the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, for her services as the Panel’s external representative and to the officers that supported the Panel, particularly Jane Hargreaves, the Panel’s Independent Scrutiny Support Officer, and Valerie Dowdell, the Democratic Services Support Officer to the Panel.  The Chief Executive conveyed to Councillor Denyer the Corporate Management Team’s appreciation of the depth and quality of the Panel’s work.

Received a report and presentation from the Corporate Director of Customer Services on the Borough’s Municipal Waste Management Strategy for the period 2005/06 to 2019/20, which included the East London Waste Authority’s Joint Strategy for the whole ELWA area.

Discussed and noted a number of matters relating to the Borough’s Strategy, which included the following:

a)  A Best Value Inspection of the Borough’s waste services is to be carried out by the Audit Commission in May 2006;

b)  The Strategy includes a fully costed Action Plan;

c)  The dual collection of black, general refuse bags and orange, recycling bags, which are also known as ‘survival’ bags because of their durability when compacted, will be the subject of extensive publicity to ensure that residents are aware of the benefits of the dual collection scheme;

d)  The new Green Waste Sunday Collection registration scheme, introduced last month, will be publicised in the next edition of the Citizen magazine and via the “Cleaner, Greener, Safer” feature in partnership with the Barking and Dagenham Recorder newspaper;

e)  The sum of £53,000 is currently provided for in 2006/07 for publicity associated with the “Cleaner, Greener, Safer” campaign, and extra funding will be allocated to meet additional requirements;

f)  Barking and Dagenham’s recycling rate is projected to be the highest in London within three years time, once Shanks East London’s Biological Materials Recycling Facilities (Bio-MRFs) at Frog Island, Rainham and Jenkins Lane, Barking are fully operational;

g)  An Implementation Group, led by the Council’s Head of Enforcement and Environment and with support from officers from various Council departments and key partners including Shanks East London and ELWA, will be responsible for the delivery of the Strategy;

h)  The Implementation Group will oversee and update the Strategy’s Risk Management Plan to ensure that service objectives continue to be relevant and achievable;

i)  The ongoing plans to educate residents, both current and new, of the need to be responsible for their rubbish and the importance of participating in the project;

j)  The introduction by the Council of a Planning Advice Note, aimed at developers and architects, which sets out the waste management aspirations for new developments in the Borough;

k)  Community engagement and participation are key principles of the Strategy, with services adapted to meet customer needs;

l)  Possible plans to stage a public open-day at the new Bio-MRF at Frog Island to increase the community’s awareness of the new waste management services being provided in the local community;

m)  A report will be presented to the next meeting of the Executive seeking the sign-off of the Street Scene Review, the actions from which have either been fully implemented / completed or have been incorporated into the Waste Strategy.

Agreed, in order to assist the Council to achieve its Community Priorities of ‘Making Barking and Dagenham Cleaner, Greener and Safer’ and ‘Raising General Pride in the Borough’, to:

(i)  Adopt the Barking and Dagenham Municipal Waste Management Strategy 2005/06 to 2019/20 as appended to the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 287.

Received a report on the proposed environmental improvements to the Padnall Lake area, including the bringing forward of desilting works to the lake to achieve economies of scale linked to the nearby Chadwell Heath Cemetery Extension project.

Agreed, in order to provide best value for money and assists the Council in achieving its Community Priorities of ‘Making Barking and Dagenham Cleaner, Greener and Safer’ and ‘Raising General Pride in the Borough’, to:

(i)  The inclusion of £165,000 in the 2006/07 Capital Programme, as detailed in the report, to progress the de-silting of Padnall Lake, subject to the scheme receiving approval via the Capital Programme Management Office process; and

(ii)  Approve the tendering arrangements for the de-silting works as set out in the report.

Received a report on the current position of the Council’s revenue and capital budgets for the period 1 April 2005 to 31 January 2006 and noted a verbal update from the Head of Corporate Finance on the interim year-end position.  The report also contained proposals for the reprofiling of a number of schemes within the 2005/06 Capital Programme and an increase in the annual Arts budget to support staffing and service developments.

Agreed, as a matter of good financial practice and to assist the Council to achieve its Community Priority of ‘Raising General Pride in the Borough’, to:

(i)  Note the current position of the Council’s revenue and capital budget as at 31 January 2006;

(ii)  Note that the Regeneration and Environment Management Board are to further review the departmental budgets to ensure a balanced position by the year end through a detailed action plan;

(iii)  Note the position and projected out-turn for the Housing Revenue Account;

(iv)  The reprofiling of capital programme schemes as identified in Appendix D to the report; and

(v)  A permanent budget transfer of £48,000 to the Arts service from central funds from 1 April 2006.