Agenda and minutes

The minutes of the meeting held on 13 February 2017 were confirmed as correct.

The Cabinet Member for Community Leadership and Engagement introduced a report on the Council’s capital and revenue position for the 2016/17 financial year, as at 31 January 2017.

The General Fund showed a projected end of year spend of £155.3m against the approved budget of £150.3m, which represented an increased deficit of approximately £0.5m on the previous month’s position.  The main budget pressures continued to be within the Children’s Social Care and Homelessness services, while historical pressures within the Enforcement and Clean and Green services also contributed £1.295m to the overspend position.  The Cabinet Member stressed the importance of tackling overspends to protect the level of revenue reserves going forward.

The Housing Revenue Account (HRA) continued to show a projected year end underspend which would result in a contribution of £1.92m to the HRA reserve, although it was noted that approximately £1.4m was earmarked for the Housing Transformation Programme.  Expenditure on the wide range of projects within the Capital Programme was forecast to be slightly over budget at £200.028m due to several school expansion projects being ahead of schedule.

The Cabinet Member also reported on the proposed introduction of fees and charges for work undertaken by the Council’s legal service, BDT Legal, in respect of contract and procurement work and planning and highways agreements. 

Arising from the discussions:

·  The Director of Law and Governance undertook to provide the Cabinet Member for Corporate Performance and Delivery with details of the benchmarking exercise that supported the proposed level of fees; and

·  The Cabinet Member for Social Care and Health Integration advised that a report would be presented to Cabinet later in the year on the Social Care Ambition and Financial Efficiency (SAFE) Programme, including progress regarding social worker retention.  On that issue, the Leader advised that Coventry University London, based at the Civic Centre, Dagenham, would be offering teaching and social work courses in its curriculum.

The Cabinet resolved to:

(i)  Note the projected outturn position for 2016/17 of the Council’s General Fund revenue budget at 31 January 2017, as detailed in section 4 and Appendix A to the report;

(ii)  Note the overall position for the Housing Revenue Account at 31 January 2017 as detailed in section 5 of the report;

(iii)  Note the progress made on budgeted savings to date, as detailed in section 6 and Appendix B to the report;

(iv)  Note the projected outturn position for 2016/17 of the Council’s capital budget as at 31 January 2017, as detailed in section 7 and Appendix C;

(v)  Approve the flat rate sliding scale (discretionary) legal fees to be charged in connection with the preparation and sealing of contracts awarded where the value of a contract exceeds £100,000, as set out in section 8 and Appendices D and E to the report; and

(vi)  Approve the hourly rate of £175 (plus VAT) to cover the Council’s legal fees (operating through BDT Legal) in connection with planning and highways matters, namely agreements and undertakings under Section 106 of the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 105.

The Cabinet Member for Corporate Performance and Delivery introduced a report under the new, evolving corporate performance framework for the third quarter of the 2016/17 financial year.

The report covered 49 key accountabilities and 40 key performance indicators (KPIs) and the Cabinet Member drew particular attention to:

(a)   Anti-Social Behaviour Incidents (KPI 9) – The data now included ward-based analysis and the Cabinet Member encouraged all Councillors to study the information.  With regard to the street drinking statistics, officers were asked to provide a breakdown of the incidents;

(b)  Uptake of MMR2 (Measles, Mumps and Rubella) Vaccination at 5 years of age (KPI 18) – The Cabinet Member for Social Care and Health Integration advised on her work with the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) to improve performance in that and other areas which the CCG was responsible for.  The recent Mobile Breast Screening sessions around Barking Town Centre had been very successful and showed what could be achieved when the CCG took its work into the local community and the Cabinet Member would be pressing the CCG to carry out more initiatives of that nature.

The Leader referred to the local Ward plans that were being developed and the discussions on future service delivery arrangements that were taking place to ensure that the standards that local residents had come to expect were maintained in the future.  The Leader also invited residents to use the “Report It” web page to inform the Council of problems such as graffiti, eyesore gardens and fly-tipping. 

The Cabinet Member for Environment and Street Scene was pleased to report that approximately 4,300 households had subscribed to the Council’s new green garden waste collection service which would commence in the first week of April.

The Cabinet resolved to:

(i)  Note progress against the key accountabilities as detailed in Appendix 1 to the report; and

(ii)  Note performance against the KPIs as detailed in Appendix 2 to the report.

Further to Minute 86 (19 January 2016), the Cabinet Member for Community Leadership and Engagement introduced a report on the outcome of a review of options for the future hosting and support of the Council’s core finance and human resources IT system, Oracle. 

The Cabinet Member advised that the current contract with Cap Gemini expired in July 2018 and at least one year’s notice should be given of an intention not to renew, to avoid potential financial risks.  The review had assessed four main options and identified a commercial hosting option, procured via a G-Cloud Framework, as the most economically advantageous.

The Cabinet resolved to:

(i)  Agree the procurement of a contract for the provision of installation, hosting and support services of the Council’s Oracle E-Business Finance and HR system, in accordance with the strategy set out in the report; and

(ii)  Delegate authority to the Chief Operating Officer, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Finance, Growth and Investment and the Director of Law and Governance, to award and enter into the contracts and all other necessary or ancillary agreements.

The Cabinet Member for Enforcement and Community Safety presented a report on a proposed tri-borough civil protection service arrangement between Barking and Dagenham, Redbridge and Waltham Forest.

By Minute 50 (2 November 2010), the Cabinet had approved arrangements for a shared service with Waltham Forest Council following a successful pilot exercise the commenced in April 2009.  Last year, Redbridge Council made an approach to join the arrangement and positive discussions since that time had culminated in a business case supporting the move.

The Cabinet resolved to:

(i)  Agree that the Council enters into a tri-borough service arrangement with Waltham Forest and Redbridge Councils in respect of civil protection services on the terms set out in the report; and

(ii)  Authorise the Chief Operating Officer, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Enforcement and Community Safety and the Director of Law and Governance, to enter into all necessary agreements to implement, manage and operate the shared service.

The Cabinet Member for Community Leadership and Engagement introduced the performance report for the third quarter of the 2016/17 financial year in respect of the debt management function carried out by the Revenues and Benefits Service within Elevate East London.

The Cabinet Member advised that the performance of Elevate was predominantly positive against the stretched targets, with more money being collected in real terms during 2016/17 despite the challenges that many faced as a consequence of the Government’s welfare reforms.

The Cabinet resolved to:

(i)  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 enforcement agents; and

(ii)  Note the debt write-offs for the third quarter of 2016/17.