Agenda and minutes

In accordance with the Council’s Constitution, Members are asked to declare any personal or prejudicial interest they may have in any matter which is to be considered at this meeting.

There were no declarations of interest.

Agreed.

Received a report from the Corporate Director of Resources providing an update on the Council’s revenue and capital position for the first two months of the 2008/09 financial year.

The position for revenue expenditure indicates that current budget pressures exist across four departments amounting to £6.4m. The largest pressure is within the Children’s Services department where significant budget pressures continue to arise from Looked After Children placements and in meeting the Councils’ Leaving Care responsibilities.

Agreed, in order to assist the Council to achieve all of its Community Priorities and as a matter of good financial practise, to:

(i)  Note the current position of the Council’s revenue and capital budget as at 31 May 2008 as detailed in the report;

(ii)  Note the position and projected out-turn for the Housing Revenue Account as detailed in the report; and

(iii)  Note the action plans being undertaken to alleviate the budget pressures to ensure that the necessary balanced budget for the Council is achieved by the end of the financial year.

Received a report from the Corporate Director of Resources on the Council’s performance management for the final quarter of 2007/08, including the progress of actions previously agreed and overall achievements.

Noted that during 2007/08 the Council attained an improved Corporate Assessment score of ‘3’ and the annual assessment of Adult Services delivered a 3-Star service rating, resulting in an overall rating of ‘Good’ in the Comprehensive Performance Assessment.

Arising from consideration of the key performance targets and specifically BV199a (cleanliness of public places), the Corporate Directors of Customer Services and Regeneration were asked to review the operations around the cleaning of Council parks that are hired out for weekend football and other recreational use.

Agreed, in order to assist the Council in achieving the Council Priority of “Improving Performance Across the Board”, to:

(i)  Note the progress against Quarter 3 actions; and

(ii)  The further actions as set out in Appendix F to the report.

Received a report from the Corporate Director of Customer Services following the Audit Commission’s inspection of the Council’s Housing Advice Service.

The inspectors made a number of recommendations to improve the service including:

·  Targeting homeless households for support with bidding for available houses;

·  Ensuring the homelessness strategy is thoroughly reviewed and agreed with all stakeholders and published, with opportunities for scrutiny; and

·  Ensuring that the service is achieving value for money by assessing unit costs and outcomes, and benchmarking these against other services.

Agreed, in order to assist the Council in achieving its Community Priorities of “Improving Health, Housing and Social Care” and “Promoting Equal Opportunities and Celebrating Diversity”, to:

(i)  Note the Audit Commission’s Inspection Report and, in particular, the main recommendations as detailed in the report;

(ii)  Endorse the Improvement Plan produced in response to the inspection findings and recommendations; and

(iii)  Note that a progress report on the implementation of the action plan will be submitted in March 2009.

Received a report from the Corporate Director of Adult and Community Services supporting a donation from the Council to the National Memorial Fund being launched by the Evacuees Reunion Association in recognition of the significant numbers of Barking and Dagenham residents who were affected by the evacuation in World War II.

Agreed, in order to assist the Council in achieving its Community Priority of “Raising General Pride in the Borough”, to a donation of £1,000 to the Evacuees Reunion Association Memorial Fund, subject to confirmation by the Association to the Corporate Director of Adult and Community Services that sufficient funds and an appropriate site have been secured for the purpose of erecting a national memorial to the evacuees of World War II.

Received a report from the Corporate Director of Children’s Services setting out the Strategy for Change document to submit to the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) to secure funding to invest in the Borough’s primary schools.

The objectives of the programme are:

·  For Primary Schools to be fully equipped for 21st Century learning;

·  To be at the heart of the community;

·  For Children’s Services to be in reach of every family;

·  To rebuild, remodel or refurbish at least half of primary schools;

·  To target and address deprivation in every authority; and

·  To responding to population changes

Having regard to the need to maximise the provision of new school places generally, requested the Corporate Director of Regeneration, in liaison with the Corporate Director of Children’s Services, to consider the possibility of appropriating the paved area (public realm) adjacent to St. Joseph’s Primary School for use by the School for classroom expansion.

Agreed, in order to assist the Council to achieve its Community Priority of “Better Education and Learning for All”, to:

(i)  Approve the Primary Strategy for Change document attached to the report;

(ii)  The various funding streams to secure value for money and best outcomes for projects;

(iii)  The provisional priority list of projects as set out in the document, which will be subject to annual review; and

(iv)  The procurement route as set out in the ‘Primary Capital Programme - Strategy for Change’ document appended to the report.

Received a report from the Corporate Director of Children’s Services setting out the proposed change of status for Dagenham Park Community School to a school with religious character, as part of the Council’s Building Schools for the Future (BSF) Strategy for Change programme.

Noted that initial discussions have taken place with the School Governors and the Director of Education at the Church of England Diocese of Chelmsford and, as a result, it is now proposed to engage in a wider dialogue with a range of stakeholders.  Also discussed issues relating to the renaming of the school in the event of a change of status.

Agreed, in order to assist the Council to achieve its Community Priority of “Better Education and Learning for All”, to:

(i)  The consultation process in respect of the proposed change of status of Dagenham Park Community School to become a voluntary controlled school, as set out in the report; and

(ii)  The principles of the ‘Memorandum of Understanding’ as appended to the report.

Received a report from the Corporate Director of Children’s Services on the proposal to expand Ripple Infant School from a two-form to a three-form entry Infant School to meet the increase in demand for primary school places brought about by, amongst other things, the regeneration of Barking Town Centre and the extended area of Barking, which is attracting more families to the Borough.

Agreed, in order to assist the Council in achieving its Community Priority of “Better Education and Learning for All”, to the expansion of Ripple Infant School from a two-form to a three-form entry Infant School with effect from the start of the Autumn Term 2008.

Received a report from the Corporate Director of Resources setting out the discretions within the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) Regulations 2007 and 2008 that the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, as the employer, is required to agree as part of its pension policy.

Agreed, in order for the Council to fulfil its statutory responsibilities to formulate, publish and keep under review a policy statement in relation to the exercise of a number of discretions under the Local Government Pension Scheme, to:

(i)  The discretionary policies as detailed in section 2 of the report; and

(ii)  The approval process for discretions as set out in section 3 of the report, including the creation of a panel consisting of the Corporate Director of Resources, Divisional Director of Corporate Finance and Divisional Director of Legal and Democratic Services to determine all cases that are not cost neutral.

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