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.

The minutes of the Cabinet meeting on 23 August 2011 were confirmed as correct.

The Cabinet Member for Finance, Revenues and Benefits presented a report on the Council’s revenue and capital budget position for 2011/12 as at 31 July 2011. 

The General Fund and Housing Revenue Account (HRA) showed a similar position to that for the end of June, with projected full-year pressures of £4.5m and £47,000 respectively.  The Cabinet Member confirmed that progress continued to be made in the efforts to redress the overspend positions, which had included the completion of a zero-based budget exercise within Environmental Services the implications from which would be reported in due course. 

The report also set out details of a number of proposed revenue and capital budget adjustments, the finalised reserves position for 2010/11, which reflected an additional £65,000 contribution to reserves to that contained in the provisional outturn report to Cabinet on 14 June 2011 (Minute 3), and transfers from reserves to Finance and Resources departmental budgets totalling £2.23m.

Cabinet agreed:-

  (i)  To note the projected outturn position for 2011/12 of the Council’s revenue and capital budgets as set out in paragraphs 3 and 6 and Appendix A and D of the report;

  (ii)  To note the progress against the 2011/12 savings targets as set out in paragraph 4 and Appendix B of the report;

 (iii)  To note the position for the HRA as set out in paragraph 5 and Appendix C of the report;

 (iv)  The following revenue budget adjustments:

·  £190,000 from Children’s Services to Legal Services to enable additional casework to be dealt with in-house and minimise the use of external legal firms;

·  £60,000 from Children’s Services to Legal Services to fund in-house Advocacy support and reduce the use of Counsel.

  (v)  The finalised 2010/11 reserves as set out in paragraph 3.8 of the report;

 (vi)  The following transfers from reserves:

·  £1.75m from the Operational Delivery Reserve to the Finance and Resources service to meet anticipated costs associated with the joint venture with Elevate;

·  £480,000 from reserves to the Finance and Resources service to release rolled forward underspends achieved within the Finance and Resources service in 2010/11.

(vii)  The capital budget adjustments as set out in the appendix E of the report.

Further to Minute 27 (23 August 2011), the Cabinet Member for Housing presented a report on the disposal and delivery options for the Gascoigne Estate element of the Council’s Estate Renewal Programme.

Previous reports to Cabinet on 6 July and 2 November 2010 (Minutes 21 and 49 respectively) established the principles for the Gascoigne Estate project.  The Cabinet Member advised that the availability of £18.3m funding from the Homes and Communities Agency and the affordability of the entire Estate Renewal programme had now led to a different approach being proposed to that adopted for the Leys and Goresbrook elements of the programme.  Of the three detailed options that had been considered - a partnership arrangement with a Housing Association, the procurement of a development partner via an OJEU compliant Developer Framework, and a stock transfer to a Housing Association - the partnership arrangement with a Housing Association represented, on balance, the best overall approach for the Council and the residents of the area.

Cabinet agreed:-

  (i)  That the preferred delivery option for the Gascoigne Estate be to select, through an OJEU competitive tender process, a Housing Association to enter into a partnership arrangement with the Council to regenerate the areas identified for redevelopment on the Estate, with the final terms to be agreed under delegated authority by the Corporate Director of Finance and Resources, advised by the Corporate Director of Customer Services and the Divisional Director of Legal and Democratic Services, and in consultation with the Lead Members for Housing and Regeneration; and

  (ii)  To delegate authority to the Corporate Director of Finance and Resources, subject to the advice of the Corporate Director of Customer Services and the Divisional Director of Legal and Democratic Services, and in consultation with the Lead Members for Housing and Regeneration, to negotiate and agree final terms of all necessary commercial and legal transactions, agreements and contracts, and do all other lawful things necessary to finalise and complete the project as set out in the report.

Further to Minute 31 (23 August 2011), the Cabinet Member for Crime, Justice and Communities presented a report on proposed changes to the Council’s parking policy and car park charges.

The Cabinet Member explained that the proposals, linked to the Council’s draft Local Implementation Plan (LIP), were aimed at:

·  increasing capacity for short term visitor and shopper car parking in town centres;

·  improving facilities for safe overnight parking;

·  improving accessibility to car parks for vulnerable groups; and

·  promoting the use of more sustainable modes of travel such as cycling or public transport to reduce traffic congestion in the borough.

The report also addressed the points raised at the last meeting during the discussions on the new staff car permit scheme in respect of consultations with Unions, the burden of the new charges on staff, enforcement arrangements, the criteria for Essential Car Users and the proportionality of the new charges in relation to salaries.

Cabinet agreed:-

  (i)  That Parking Charges Orders in respect of the existing public car parks set out in Appendix A, Schedule 1 of the report be varied so as to allow for increased or decreased charges (as the case may be) in accordance with the charging scheme set out in Appendix A, Schedule 1;

  (ii)  That the Council takes steps to establish the new pay and display public car parks identified in Appendix A, Schedule 2 as off street parking places under the Road Traffic Management Act 1984;

 (iii)  That Parking Charges Orders in respect of the proposed new pay and display car parks set out in Appendix A, Schedule 3 be introduced to allow for parking charges to be levied in those car parks; and

 (iv)  That parking should remain free for the public on Sundays in all car parks operated by the Council.

The Cabinet Member for Children and Education presented a report on the proposal to establish an Additionally Resourced Provision (ARP) at Monteagle Primary School for pupils with statements of Special Educational Needs with a diagnosis of Asperger’s Syndrome. 

The Cabinet Member advised on the benefits of the proposal, which included the provision of local, specialist places within a mainstream school setting, considerable savings on out-of-borough placements and improved access to specialist staff, and confirmed that the new service would commence from the start of the 2012 Spring term.

Cabinet agreed the establishment of an ARP at Monteagle Primary School as detailed in the report.

The Cabinet Member for Health and Adult Services reported on the proposal to convert Fews Lodge, Gregory Road, Chadwell Heath, into Extra Care Housing for people with dementia.

Funding from the Department of Health now enabled the Council to commence the project that it had intended to progress with Hanover Housing at the time of the development of the Kallar Lodge residential care home on the site in 2008.  The Cabinet Member advised that the new provision would enable the Council to meet growing demand for this type of care, particularly for couples, and gave greater levels of independence in a more cost-effective way than residential care.

Cabinet agreed:-

  (i)  That the main building of Fews Lodge be converted into Extra Care Housing provision for people with dementia as detailed in the report; and

  (ii)  That the project be provided jointly under the management of Customer Services for landlord services (with rent being paid by tenants to the HRA) and Adult Social Care for care provision (funded through adult social care budgets), while the bungalows and houses on the site revert to general needs housing.

The Cabinet Member for Finance, Revenues and Benefits presented a report on the proposals for the retendering of the contract for the provision of temporary agency staff, the current contract for which expired on 30 September 2011.

The Cabinet Member explained that an options appraisal had identified a ‘master vendor’ solution in collaboration with up to eighteen other London Boroughs/ALMOs using the national procurement framework MSTAR as the preferred solution, and he outlined the main differences with the ‘neutral vendor’ approach that applied to the Council’s current service.

Cabinet agreed:-

  (i)  The extension of the existing Matrix contract for a period of six months from 1 October 2011;

  (ii)  To the Council participating in the MSTAR framework for the procurement of a contract for the provision of temporary agency staff; and

 (iii)  To authorise the Corporate Director of Finance and Resources, in consultation with the Divisional Director of Legal and Democratic Services, to award contracts for the provision of temporary agency staff using the MSTAR framework.

The Cabinet Member for Customer Services and Human Resources presented a report introducing a revised Council Disciplinary Procedure.

The Cabinet Member explained that all key employment policies and procedures were subject to review to ensure that they were in line with current legislation and best practice and the revised Disciplinary Procedure had been considered and endorsed by the Employee Joint Consultative Committee on 6 June 2011.

Cabinet agreed to adopt the Disciplinary Procedure as set out at Appendix A to the report.

Cabinet received and noted a report from the Cabinet Member for Finance, Revenues and Benefits on the performance during the first quarter of the 2011/12 financial year of Elevate East London in carrying out the debt management function on behalf of the Council, together with details of the debt written-off as uncollectable during the period and comparable information from the previous financial year.

The Cabinet Member for Finance, Revenues and Benefits reported on the proposed procurement of a new contract for insurance related services, the current contract for which expired on 31 March 2012.

The Cabinet Member advised that the potential benefits of joint arrangements with other local authorities had been explored but the options appraisal had identified a stand-alone contract, of a duration to be determined during the procurement process, as being the most cost-effective for the Council.

Cabinet agreed:-

  (i)  The procurement of a stand-alone contract (Option 1) for managing the Council’s insurance programme as detailed in the report; and

  (ii)  To authorise the Corporate Director of Finance and Resources, in consultation with the Divisional Director of Legal and Democratic Services, to award the contract following the procurement process and to enact the extension options provided for within the contract in the event that it is deemed to be in the best interests of the Council.