Minutes:
Question 1
From Councillor Choudhury
Can the Cabinet Member for Finance, Growth and Investment outline when the Council expects the first applications from residents for the new ‘Right to Invest’ housing scheme to be approved?
Response
The Cabinet Member for Finance, Growth & Investment explained that the ‘Right to Invest’ tenant shared ownership scheme had been launched following the approval of the Cabinet on 28 June 2016. The publicity promoting the scheme which followed the launch had led to a considerable amount of interest from which it was expected applications would follow.
Question 2
From Councillor Kangethe
Can the Leader provide a progress update on the proposed ‘Youth Zone’ project in Parsloes Park?
Response
The Leader advised that having attended a meeting at The Vibe it was clear that young people were getting really excited about the project which they had closely been involved with, having named it and discussed its development with the architect.
The Cabinet Member for Community Leadership and Engagement had recently participated in the interviews to appoint the design team. The expectation was that a planning application would be submitted in October 2017, with work starting on site in March 2018 and an anticipated completion of June 2018.
Supplementary question
Councillor Kangethe enquired as to whether consultation had taken place with young people living near the park?
The Leader explained that the project had formed the biggest single consultation and engagement exercise relating to the development of the park with groups and individuals from across the Borough as well as the Parsloes area. Feedback from the One Community Show held in the park last summer also contributed to the consultation process.
Question 3
From Councillor Chand
Can the Cabinet Member for Social Care and Health Integration outline the Council’s response to the two week trial at Queen’s Hospital that will see patients who require non-emergency care being referred to their GP or pharmacist?
Response
The Cabinet Member for Social Care and Health explained that the Council had worked hard to build a relationship with local health care providers and therefore given the scale of the Council’s ambition to transform local health and social care services together, it was disappointing to receive details of the two week pilot. It was felt the pilot would do little to fix the problems around Accident and Emergency access and GP’s were already under enormous pressure.
Supplementary question
In response to comments from Councillor Chand the Cabinet Member for Social Care & Health Integration agreed that the Council would keep up the pressure on Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals (BHRUT) to make sure that the pilot at Queens Hospital did not become a permanent arrangement.
Question 4
From Councillor Haroon
This week marks the 21st anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which saw over 8,000 Muslim men and boys killed by Serbian nationalist forces. Can the Cabinet Member for Community Leadership and Engagement confirm what efforts are being made by the Council to mark this anniversary?
Response
Councillor Ashraf stated that the massacre at Srebrenica was the worst that had occurred in Europe since the Second World War and as one of the darkest chapters in history it was essential that the atrocity was remembered.
Monday11 July 2016 was Srebrenica Memorial Day and marked the 21st anniversary of the genocide. The Council hosted an event in the Town Square on that afternoon which included the raising of a flag, a two minutes silence and readings from members of the Faith Forum.
Supplementary question
Councillor Haroon enquired as to whether the Borough’s Bosnian community was invited to the event to show solidarity.
Councillor Ashraf confirmed that they had been invited.
Question 5
From Councillor Miah
Can the Cabinet Member for Community Leadership and Engagementprovide information on how many people had attended the Council’s “Summer of Festivals 2016” events so far?
Response
The Cabinet Member for Community Leadership and Engagement advised that despite a wet and muddy start to the Summer of Festivals Programme the public had turned out in large numbers to enjoy the events so far.
It was estimated that 8,000 people had attended the Barking Folk Festival in June, with a further 5,000 people attending the DagFest in the Dagenham Village and approximately 4,000 people enjoyed the Country Fair in Eastbrookend Country Park.
The production of ‘The merchant of Venice’ which took place throughout last week in Barking Town Centre, played to full houses and received a 4 star review in The Times newspaper.
Supplementary question
In response to a question regarding the overall costs of hosting the events, the Cabinet Member for Community Leadership and Engagement agreed to provide a written response to Councillor Miah.
Question 6
From Councillor Freeborn
Can the Cabinet Member for Equalities and Cohesiondetail what efforts were made by the Council to celebrate Pride Week 2016?
Response
Councillor Bright stated that supporting the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Queer or Questioning and Intersex (LGBTQI) community was a priority for her portfolio and she was proud to have raised the Pride colours outside Barking Town Hall in the presence of representatives from the Police and voluntary and community sector. The colours were also flown at Dagenham Civic Centre ahead of the main Pride weekend and to demonstrate the Council’s commitment to this section of the local community, “Flipside”, the LGBTQI group for young people would this year be holding the Borough Colours. The Council would also be working with the LGBTQI community to develop a greater presence within the London Pride festival at an appropriate time.
Question 7
From Councillor Ahammad
Can the Leader explain what impact the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union may have on the borough and any Council projects that rely on European funding?
Response
The Leader explained that the impact was potentially very broad. The Council received funding from the European Union towards the work of the Employment and Skills team, which was an essential service as it:
· Tackled one of the major challenges highlighted by the independent Growth Commission;
· Assisted residents who were struggling with the Central Government policies of welfare reform; and
· Provided one of the central blocks to the proposed Community Solutions services.
Whilst the Council has already secured £89m from the European Investment Bank towards the regeneration of the borough, it needed to ensure that the remaining £61m borrowing facility remained available. The uncertainty in the UK economy had the potential to push down interest rates and this would make it harder to achieve the investment income in the Council’s budget. It may, however, provide the Council with opportunities to borrow at lower rates as the Cabinet Member for Finance, Growth and Investment has indicated earlier in the evening.
Supplementary question.
Councillor Ahammad asked if the Leader had a message to the 62% of residents who voted to leave in the recent EU Referendum.
The Leader corrected the statement insofar as 62% was the overall turnout. He advised that the vote to leave the EU would be felt hardest on those most vulnerable members of the community and consequently this Council would do its upmost to protect its residents no matter how they voted.