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 and noted a report from the Corporate Director of Customer Services of the value and type of debts written off from the Income, Collection, Rents and Benefits Service areas as uncollectible for quarter 2 of the 2008/09 financial year (July to September 2008).

Further noted that a number of these debts will be publicised in accordance with the policy agreed by Minute 69 2007/08.

Appendices A - D to this report are included in the separate document ‘Supplementary 1’ and are available on the Council’s website www.lbbd.gov.uk

Received a report from the Corporate Director of Regeneration concerning proposals in line with the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 to extend the Abbey and Barking Town Centre and Abbey Road Riverside conservation areas to create a more cohesive and rational designation that more adequately protects the special historic and architectural interest and character of the town centre.

Agreed, in order to assist the Council achieve its Community Priorities of “Raising General Pride in the Borough” and “Regenerating the Local Economy” approved the draft Abbey and Barking Town Centre Conservation Area Appraisal and draft Abbey Road Riverside Conservation Area Appraisal for consultation.

Received a report from the Corporate Director of Resources which provides an overview of the performance of the pension fund and details of the work carried out by the Pension Panel for the financial year 2007/08.

Agreed, in order to assist the Council to achieve its Community Priorities and as a matter of good financial practice, to approve the Pension Fund Annual Report 2007/08. 

Received a report from the Corporate Director of Resources concerning the Local Government Pension Fund Governance Compliance Statement of the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham Pension Scheme for 2008/09.

The main purpose of the Governance Compliance Statement is :

• To meet the regulatory requirement that requires the administering authority to prepare and publish a Governance Compliance Statement. 

• To detail the extent to which the authority delegates its functions.

• To detail the extent to which the Pension Fund complies against the Department for Communities and Local Government principles as set out in Appendix A.

Agreed, in order to assist the Council to achieve its Community Priorities and as a matter of good financial practice, to approve the Governance Compliance Statement.

As a result of the Heritage Bill intending to introduce a duty for English Heritage to create and maintain a Historic Environment Record for Greater London, received a report from the Corporate Director of Regeneration detailing buildings within the borough which are of local historical or architectural interest and important in defining the character of the borough’s built environment.

Agreed in order to assist the Council to achieve its Community Priorities of “Raising General Pride in the Borough” and “Regenerating the Local Economy” to approve for consultation the draft Local List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest in the Borough and authorising the Corporate Director of Regeneration to make any necessary non-material changes.

Received a report from the Corporate Director of Customer Services concerning re-tendering of the Highway Reactive Maintenance Term Contract. The work consists of small patching and reactive repairs to the highway and it is intended that the contract duration be for 3 years with a possible extension up to a year subject to the Framework requirements being met and the successful contractor maintaining a presence in the Borough and employing local people wherever possible.

Agreed in order to assist the Council to achieve its Community Priority of “Making Barking and Dagenham Cleaner, Greener and Safer”, to:

  (i)  The procurement strategy outlined in the report for the procurement of Highway Reactive Maintenance services;

  (ii)  The procurement being open to the four highway and civil engineering contractors who are part of the Council’s Highways Construction Framework Agreement;

  (iii)  The contract being awarded in line with criteria detailed in the report.

Received a report from the Corporate Director of Customer Services proposing a Sex Establishment Licensing Policy for the Borough, which addresses suitable locations for premises and issues of equality and human rights.

Noted that clause 28(2) of the draft policy has been deleted and a new clause 48 inserted which reads “No 18R rated recorded images to be shown on the premises at any time”.

Agreed, in order to assist the Council achieve its Community Priorities of “Developing Rights and Responsibilities with the Local Community” and “Raising General Pride in the Borough”, to endorse the proposed policy and revised standard licence conditions set out in the report and recommend their adoption by the Assembly.

Received a report from the Corporate Director of Resources concerning air quality management and the making of an Air Quality Management Order extending the pollutants and boundaries agreed by the Executive in February 2002.

Agreed, in order to assist the Council to achieve its Community Priority of “Developing Rights and Responsibilities with the Local Community”, to recommend the Assembly to approve:

  (i)  the Air Quality Management Order as detailed in the report; and

  (ii)  the use of the power to issue Fixed Penalty Notices under Section 42 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 in respect of heavily polluting passenger vehicles on our borough’s roads.

The Achieving Excellence performance information is included in the separate document ‘Supplementary 1’ and is available on the Council’s website www.lbbd.gov.uk

Received a report from the Corporate Director of Resources summarising the performance of the Council to date for the year 2008-9, the aim being to assess how well the Council’s services are being delivered and what needs to change or adjust in order to improve these services.

Agreed in order to assist the Council to achieve its Community Priorities of “Developing Rights and Responsibilities with the Local Community”, “Raising General Pride in the Borough” and “Making Barking and Dagenham Cleaner, Greener and Safer” to the actions as set out in the report.

Received a report from the Corporate Directors of Customer Services and Resources which outlines the key elements and broad principles of the One Barking and Dagenham Programme. Specifically, the report seeks approval of a new set of values that will drive the next stage of the Council’s improvement programme designed to further improve services to local residents.

Agreed, in order to assist the Council to achieve all of its Community Priorities to the programme vision and values of One B&D and noted the progress made to date.

The draft Council Plan document is included in the separate document ‘Supplementary 2’ and is available on the Council’s website www.lbbd.gov.uk

Received a report from the Corporate Director of Resources concerning the Council Plan which sets out the Council’s vision, values and priorities, identifying the links with the Community Plan.  The Council Plan runs from 2008-2010, and after this time it is intended that, in line with the medium-term financial planning of the Council, the Plan will cover a three year term, with annual updates reporting back on the progress of the Council Improvement Priorities.

Agreed in order to assist the Council to achieve all of its Community Priorities to recommend the draft Council Plan 2008-2010 for adoption by the Assembly.

Received a report from the Corporate Director of Resources providing an update on the Council’s revenue and capital position for the period April to September of the 2008/09 financial year.

The position for revenue expenditure indicates that current budget pressures exist across three departments amounting to £4.5million. Overall this reflects a £1.8m reduction from the position reported in August. 

However the largest pressure continues to remain 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. In order to achieve a balanced budget by the year end, all departments are now addressing both their own pressures and the approved action plan agreed by Minute 68 2008/09.

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

  (i)  note the current position of the Council’s revenue and capital budget as at 30 September 2008;

  (ii)  note the position and projected out-turn for the Housing Revenue account;

  (iii)  note that where pressures and targets exist, Directors are required to identify and implement the necessary action plans to alleviate these budget pressures to ensure that the necessary balanced budget for the Council is achieved by year end

  (iv)  the re-profiling of individual capital schemes as set out in appendix D to the report;

  (v)  note the prudential indicators for April to September 2008; and

  (vi)  note the second quarter financial health indicators.

Received a report from the Corporate Director of Children’s Services outlining the position with regard to primary school place demand over the Summer recess and identifying ways to provide some temporary school places.

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

  (i)  the building formerly used by B&D Training Services be brought back into use as a primary school annex linked, in principle, to Roding Primary School, subject to discussion with the Headteacher and Governors;

  (ii)  funding of £650,000 from the Exceptional Basic Need Grant of £16,204,438, less commitments of £9.5m Eastbury Primary and £5m Northbury Infant and Junior, be set aside to support the start of this project.  ( This will leave a balance of £1,054,438 to be allocated);

  (iii)  the Corporate Director of Children’s Services be authorised to place orders for any refurbishment work to secure the use of this building quickly; and

  (iv)  the Corporate Director of Children’s Services bring forward a report on how this project might be progressed to provide a new school.

Agreed to exclude the public and press for the remainder of the meeting by reason of the nature of the business to be discussed which included information exempt from publication by virtue of paragraphs 1 and 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended).

Concerns a contractual matter (paragraph 3)

Received a report from the Corporate Director of Adult and Community Services concerning procurement for the provision of a support service to Tenants of the Jack Petchey Foyer.

Agreed, in order to assist the Council to achieve its Community Priority of “Improving Health, Housing and Social Care” to waive the requirement for a competitive tender exercise to be conducted and that the Council enters into a contract with East Potential for the provision of support services to residents of the Jack Petchey Foyer for a period of three years, with no option to extend as detailed in the report.

Concerns staffing matters (paragraph 1)

Received a report from the Chief Executive on proposals to streamline senior management arrangements with a view to achieving efficiency savings.

Agreed, in order to assist the Council to achieve all of its Community Priorities, to authorise the Chief Executive to:

(i)  bring forward detailed proposals for the council’s organisational structure to be delivered through four main departments instead of five departments; and

(ii)  carry out appropriate consultation with JNC and other senior officers.

Noted that the Chief Executive will bring back any substantive or material issues which arise through consultation that would affect the principles established in the report.  Also that in the forthcoming reports on the budget 2009/10 the present estimate is that it is possible to streamline senior management at first, second and third tier through efficiency savings by the net reduction of some 15 – 18 posts, saving the Council £1.1m per annum in a full year effect.

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