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 meeting held on 24 July 2012 were confirmed as correct.

The Divisional Director of Finance presented a report on the Council’s revenue and capital budget position for the 2012/13 financial year as at 31 July 2012.

The General Fund showed an improved position with a projected year-end overspend of £0.9m, compared to £1.1m as reported at the last meeting.  The Divisional Director referred to the main areas of overspend within the Housing and Environment directorate (£0.6m) and the Finance and Resources directorate (£0.5m) which were partly offset by a £0.2m underspend in the Chief Executive’s directorate.  The Divisional Director also advised on proposed transfers and adjustments between budgets totalling £565,000.

The Housing Revenue Account (HRA) showed a projected break-even position and the Divisional Director advised on the main variances within the updated Capital Programme which amounted to a projected underspend of £1.646m on projects totalling £195m.

Cabinet agreed:

  (i)  To note the projected outturn position for 2012/13 of the Council’s revenue budget at 31 July 2012, as detailed in paragraphs 2.3 to 2.11 and Appendix A of the report;

  (ii)  To note the progress against the 2012/13 savings targets at 31 July 2012, as detailed in paragraph 2.12 and Appendix B of the report;

 (iii)  To note the position for the Housing Revenue Account at 31 July 2012, as detailed in paragraph 2.13 and Appendix C of the report;

 (iv)  To note the projected outturn position for 2012/13 of the Council’s capital budget at 31 July 2012, as detailed in paragraph 2.14 and Appendices D and E of the report;

  (v)  A one-off transfer of £310,000 from the Contingency Budget for the construction of multi-sport outdoor gyms in Central Park and St Chad’s Park, as detailed in paragraph 2.15 of the report; and

 (vi)  An on-going budget adjustment of £255,000 within the Finance and Resource directorate from the project based activity budgets to the Customer Services Contracts & Business Improvement service, as detailed in paragraph 2.16 of the report.

The Leader of the Council presented the corporate performance report for the first quarter period 1 April to 30 June 2012.

The Performance House report covered the full set of the Council’s performance indicators, highlighting the 19 ‘key’ indicators as well as those where performance had deteriorated.  The report also contained information on customer complaints and Members’ enquiries and the Leader reiterated the importance of all Members registering enquiries through the Members’ casework process, as the information recorded via that process informed discussions on strategy and resource allocation.  The Cabinet Member for Environment added that he would welcome improvements to the way that the data was processed and presented to further assist in the discussions on future service provision.

Cabinet agreed to note the performance during quarter 1 of the 2012/13 financial year (April to June 2012) and, in particular, the analysis of deteriorating performance as detailed in Appendix A to the report.

The Cabinet Member for Environment introduced a report on the proposed Highways Investment Programme for 2012/13 and 2013/14.

The Cabinet Member advised that the £6m programme would build on the significant improvements that had been delivered by the Council’s £22m investment in the Borough’s roads since 2009 and would be focussed on those roads that had been identified as being in the most urgent need of reconstruction or repair.

Cabinet agreed:

  (i)  The allocation of £6 million to deliver priority highway maintenance works during 2012/13 and 2013/14 to the carriageways listed in Appendix A to the report; and

  (ii)  To authorise the Corporate Director of Housing and Environment, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Environment, to amend the priority list if other roads in the Borough deteriorated to such an extent as to be considered appropriate for inclusion.

The Cabinet Member for Crime, Justice and Communities presented the draft Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) Strategy for 2012/13 which had been developed by the Barking and Dagenham Community Safety Partnership (CSP) ASB Strategic Group.

The draft Strategy, which had been signed-off by the CSP on 12 June 2012 and endorsed by the Safer and Stronger Select Committee (S&SSC) on 17 July 2012, contained the following four strategic priorities:

a)  identifying and responding to the concerns of the Borough’s communities around ASB;

b)  challenging the behaviour of perpetrators of ASB;

c)  providing quality support for victims and witnesses; and

d)  working better as a partnership to identify and respond to the causes of ASB.

The Cabinet Member explained that a longer term strategy had originally been envisaged but the decision was taken to press ahead with a 12 month plan rather than to delay pending the Government’s long-awaited plans for reforming the approach to ASB.  The Cabinet Member confirmed that a longer term strategy would be developed for 2013/14 onwards which reflected the implications of the recently published White Paper “Putting Victims First: More Effective Responses to ASB”, as well as the outcomes from the S&SSC’s ongoing work in the area of ASB which, as referred to by the Cabinet Member for Housing, would be focussed on the support provided to Council tenants affected by ASB and dealing with those responsible.

Cabinet agreed:

  (i)  To endorse the Anti-Social Behaviour Strategy 2012-13 attached at Appendix 1 to the report, for implementation by the Community Safety Partnership; and

  (ii)  To note the local and national context in which the Strategy would be published.

The Cabinet Member for Crime, Justice and Communities introduced the draft Community Cohesion Strategy for 2012-16 entitled “Together”, which represented the first community cohesion strategy for Barking and Dagenham developed by local partners under the umbrella of the local Community Strategic Partnership (CSP).

The Cabinet Member advised that the Strategy had the overarching objective of “ensuring that the Borough would increasingly be a place where people got on well together and supported one another” and the action plan that formed part of the overall Strategy would be regularly monitored and updated through the CSP.

Cabinet agreed to endorse the Community Cohesion Strategy for Barking and Dagenham 2012-16, as set out at Appendix A to the report.

The Cabinet Member for Health presented a report on the responsibilities and implications of the transfer of the public health function from NHS North East London and the City (NHS NELC) to the Council under the Health and Social Care Act 2012 with effect from 1 April 2013.

The Cabinet Member welcomed the return after almost 40 years of the leading public health role for local authorities and explained that the current proposals focussed on the establishment of key staffing and governance / constitutional arrangements.  Further proposals aimed at ensuring a successful transition would be forthcoming in due course through the ongoing work with the shadow Health and Wellbeing Board and partners.

Cabinet agreed:

  (i)  To authorise the Corporate Director of Adult and Community Services to make arrangements for the appointment of a Director of Public Health to serve Barking and Dagenham by means of transfer or TUPE arrangement, in line with Department of Health proposals following the Health and Social Care Act 2012;

  (ii)  To authorise the Corporate Director of Adult and Community Services to explore options for sharing public health functions / services with other local authorities, as referred to in paragraph 4.3 of the report;

 (iii)  To note the national approach taken to transferring staff from NHS organisations to the Council, including the implications for the initial transitional structure for the public health function at the point of transfer on 1 April 2013, as set out in paragraph 5 of the report;

 (iv)  To note the indicative Public Health Grant of £11.019 million for 2013/14; and

  (v)  That, in line with the new responsibilities, the Council’s strategic priorities be reviewed to ensure that ‘Health’ was appropriately aligned to the Council’s core business.

The Cabinet Member for Children’s Services presented a report on the proposal to expand Manor Infant School to become Manor Primary School from the Autumn Term 2012.

The Cabinet Member referred to the significant demand for school places that continued to be experienced in the Borough.  It was noted that the proposal sought to formalise an interim arrangement implemented from the start of the 2011/12 academic year whereby the Governors of Manor Infant School, Sandringham Road, Barking, had agreed to take on the responsibility of managing a newly constructed school on the site of the former University of East London, known as Manor School (Scholars Way).  The new Manor Primary School would have an admissions number of 120 at the Sandringham Road site (four forms of entry operating from Nursery through to Year 2) and an admissions number of 90 at Scholar’s Way (three forms of entry operating from Nursery through to Year 6).

Cabinet agreed the formal expansion of Manor Infant School to become Manor Primary School for children from nursery age to Year 6 with effect from the Autumn Term 2012, as detailed in the report.

Further to Minutes 20 and 24 (11 and 24 July 2012), the Cabinet Member for Children’s Services introduced a report setting out the formal steps required to no longer implement the proposed amalgamation of William Ford Church of England Junior School and Village Infant School and to maintain the current, separate status of the schools.

Cabinet agreed:

  (i)  That there be no duty to implement the changes agreed by Minute 11 of the Cabinet of 11 July 2012 in light of the decision by the William Ford Church of England Junior School Governing Body, at its meeting on 17 July 2012, not to proceed with the proposal to amalgamate William Ford Church of England Junior School and Village Infant School to become an all-through Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School with effect from 1 September 2012;

  (ii)  That the Governing Body of William Ford Church of England Junior School be relieved of its duty to implement the proposal to expand the age range of the William Ford Church of England Junior School;

 (iii)  That the Council be relieved of its duty to implement the proposal to close Village Infants School with effect from 1 September 2012; and

 (iv)  To note that the following two actions approved under Minute 11 were no longer necessary:

a.  the grant of a lease for a peppercorn rent of the amalgamated site together with the adjoining access road and school house, as shown on drawing number LBBD/GIS/002, to the Trustees of William Ford School for the purposes of ensuring that the through school can operate on one site;

b.  the delegated authority to the Corporate Director of Children Services, in consultation with the Corporate Director of Finance and Resources and the Divisional Director for Legal and Democratic Services to agree terms and conclude the necessary legal agreements to facilitate the merger of the two schools.

The Cabinet Member for Housing presented a report on the outcome of the retendering of the contract to provide Leasehold Buildings Insurance Cover.

The Cabinet Member advised that there had been very limited interest from the insurance industry in the contract and only one bidder, Zurich Municipal, had met the Council’s specification requirements.  The Cabinet Member added that, despite the lack of interest, the new contract represented a better deal for leaseholders and arrangements were in hand to encourage greater involvement of leaseholders and interest from potential bidders for future contracts.

Cabinet agreed:

  (i)  To award the contract for the provision of Leasehold Buildings Insurance Cover in respect of the Council’s leasehold properties to Zurich Municipal, commencing 29 September 2012, on the terms detailed in the report; and

  (ii)  To authorise to the Corporate Director of Finance and Resources, in consultation with the Corporate Director of Housing and Environment and following procurement and legal advice, to exercise any contract extension options deemed to be in the best interests of the Council and leaseholders.

The Divisional Director of Finance presented the quarterly performance report for the period April - June 2012 in respect of the debt management function carried out by the Revenues and Benefits Service within Elevate East London, together with details of the debts written-off as uncollectable during the period and comparable information from the previous financial year.

Cabinet agreed:

  (i)  To note the performance of the debt management function carried out by the Revenues and Benefits service operated by Elevate East London, including the performance of bailiffs, as detailed in the report; and

  (ii)  To note the debt write-offs for the first quarter of 2012/13 and that a number of the debts would be publicised in accordance with the policy agreed by Minute 69 (6 November 2007).