Agenda and minutes

In the absence of the Chair and Deputy Chair, appointed Councillor McCarthy as Chair for this meeting.

Councillor P Waker reported on today’s International Green Apple Awards ceremony at which the Leys Children’s Centre was recognised for the contribution that its design and construction has made to the environment.  The Executive conveyed its congratulations and thanks to all those involved in the project.

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.

Further to Minute 58 (8 September 2009), received a report from the Corporate Director of Resources on the outcome of the public consultation on the proposed new executive arrangements for the Council and the steps to be taken to formally adopt the preferred model by 31 December 2009, for implementation in May 2010.

Agreed, in order for the Council to comply with its statutory duties under the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 (LGPIH 2007), to:

(i)  Reaffirm, in light of the outcome of the public consultation, the decision taken by the Assembly in May 2007 to support the model of a strengthened indirectly elected Leader and Cabinet as summarised in paragraph 3.3 of the report; and

(ii)  Recommend the Assembly, at its specially convened meeting on 9 December 2009, to:

(a)  ratify that decision, which shall become effective from the third day after the Municipal elections in 2010 (at midnight on 9 May 2010),

(b)  agree that the power to remove the Leader at any time by way of a vote of no confidence be vested in the Assembly, and

(c)  agree that any consequential changes arising from this decision be incorporated into the Council’s Constitution at the appropriate time.

(* The Chair agreed that this report could be considered at the meeting as a matter of urgency under the provisions of section 100B(4)(b) of the Local Government Act 1972)

Received a report from the Corporate Director of Customer Services on the delivery options for the building of new Council houses within the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) and the reallocation of funding from the Capital Programme to support the new build programme.

Noted details of the wider plan for housing regeneration in the Borough, which will involve the HRA new build programme running parallel to the formation of the Barking and Dagenham Local Housing Company (LHC) for the redevelopment of previously identified large scale multi-tenure residential sites, and the potential avenues of funding support such as National Affordable Housing Programme (NAHP) grant. 

Agreed, in order to assist the Council to achieve its “Prosperous” Community Priority through increasing the supply and range of family-sized social rented housing in the Borough, to:

(i)  The reallocation of £7.1m within the Capital Programme for the rolling programme of new build Council homes based on the sites set out in Appendix A, funded from the deferment of current Capital Programme Priority 3 schemes and savings on other capital projects, as detailed in the report;

(ii)  The ‘Phase 1’ sites listed below being funded for redevelopment as a priority, subject to further detailed development and financial appraisals and statutory consents as set out in the report:

§  Rogers Road Depot  4 units

§  Land adjacent to Essex Road  3 units

§  135 Bromhall Rd and Surgery  4 units

§  Highlands Ave (behind 28-30) garages  8 units

(iii)  The full extent of the programme being submitted to Executive for approval once confirmation of NAHP grant funding has been received from the Homes and Communities Agency for the ‘Phase 2’ sites listed below:

§  Maplestead Crescent  10 units

§  Beamway Road    5 units

§  Alfred gardens    5 units

§  Thornhill Gardens    6 units

§  Chelmer Cresecent    9 units

§  Curzon Crescent    7 units

§  Charlton Crescent (site 1)    4 units

§  Charlton Crescent (site 2)    6 units

§  Roycraft Avenue    6 units

§  Alderman Avenue    8 units

(iv)  Authorise the Corporate Director of Customer Services to submit Section 80B applications to the Secretary of State for any sites not benefiting from NAHP grant assistance where required.

Received a report from the Chief Executive on a proposal to cover, in the form of a grant, any planning application fees submitted by Borough-based registered charities for local projects that will assist in the delivery of the Council’s Community Priorities. 

Members proposed an amendment to the recommendation in the report in order to better clarify the intention of the proposal, which is to support, for example, small local voluntary and sports groups whose benefits are enjoyed by the wider local community rather than faith organisations who may be located in the Borough but whose projects would typically be targeted at particular communities.  Officers agreed to review the implications of this proposed amendment in the light of appropriate legislation.

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

(i)  The introduction of the scheme to recompense, by way of a grant, planning application fees incurred by local registered charitable organisations based in the Borough where the planning application is assessed as helping to deliver the priorities of the Council’s Community Plan, subject to any grant funding being repayable to the Council in the event that the planning permission is not implemented; and

(ii)  Authorise the Chief Executive, acting on the advice of Legal Partners and in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Regeneration, to make any appropriate amendments to the detail of the scheme to reflect the preferred position as referred to above.

Further to Minute 24 (15 July 2008), received a report from the Corporate Director of Children’s Services on the progress that has been made with the joint proposal of the Council and the Diocese of Chelmsford for Dagenham Park Community School to become a Church of England Voluntary Controlled School with effect from January 2010. 

The proposals will offer greater diversity and choice to parents through the provision of the first Church of England secondary school in the borough and is considered to be in the best interests of the pupils.  In terms of other apparent effects of the proposed change of status, these are limited in their impact with the key aspects being the investment in a trust or charitable foundation of the school buildings and hard standing areas as well as a greater representation of the Church on the School Governing Body.  Noted however that the Department of Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) has asked that the Governing Body give further consideration to the school moving to Voluntary Aided status from the 2011/12 academic year, which will need to be the subject of further public consultation and detailed discussions between the Council, the Diocese and the School Governing Body at the appropriate time.

Agreed, in order to assist the Council to achieve its Community Priority of “Inspired and Successful” and in accordance with the provisions Sections 15 (1) and 10(2) of the Education and Inspections Act 2006, to the change of status of Dagenham Park Community School to a Voluntary Controlled Church of England School with effect from 1 January 2010.

Received a report from the Corporate Director of Finance and Commercial Services providing an update on the Council’s revenue and capital position for the 2009/10 financial year as projected at 30 September 2009.

The current forecast for revenue expenditure across the Council shows in-year pressures amounting to £3.227m, which represents an improved forecast position to that contained within the budget report for the period to end of August 2009 but would still place a considerable burden on the Council’s General Fund balances in the event that departmental recovery plans failed to achieve the necessary savings.

Agreed, as a matter of good financial practise, to:

(i)  note the current projected position for 31 March 2010 of the Council’s revenue and capital budget as detailed in sections 3 and 5 and Appendices A and B of the report;

(ii)  note the position for the HRA as detailed in section 4 of the report;

(iii)  note that in light of the current potential overspend, the Chief Executive has asked each department to implement, as a matter of urgency, recovery plans to eliminate these overspends;

(iv)  note the 2009/10 prudential indicators as at 30 September 2009 as detailed in section 6 and Appendix C of the report; and

(v)  note the first quarter financial health indicators as detailed in section 7 and Appendix D of the report.

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 paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended).

Further to Minute 154 (7 May 2008), received a report from the Corporate Director of Adult and Community Services on the development of the new leisure centre at Becontree Heath and proposals in respect of the appointment of contractors to progress various aspects of the project. 

Noted that site enabling works to support the development of the new centre are well underway, as is consultation with staff, service users and other local residents, and planning, provisional building control and decontamination approvals have been received.  With regard to the existing leisure facilities in the immediate area, it was noted that while the Dagenham Swimming Pool site will be cleared soon after the opening of the new Centre in order to provide additional parking it is proposed that further consideration is given to the future of Wood Lane Leisure Centre.

Agreed, in order to assist the Council to achieve its Community Priorities of “Healthy” and “Clean”, to:

(i)  the placing of an order with JB Leadbitter & Co. Limited to construct a leisure centre on the terms detailed in the report;

(ii)  A total budget for preparing the site and building and equipping the leisure centre of up to £23,115,000, to be funded by prudential borrowing;

(iii)  in principle, the decommissioning and demolition of the Wood Lane Sports Centre but that a final decision on the future of the Centre will be the subject of a further report to the Executive once the opportunities and risks associated with the potential alternative use options and the planning implications have been fully evaluated;

(iv)  continue the appointment of the existing Design Team and the appointment of the Project Manager through to the completion of this project as set out in the report; and

(v)  the design and development parameters for the Leisure Centre as detailed in section 2.13 of the report.