Transcript
Thank you and good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for coming to the cabinet meeting. Thank you to the members. Before I get on to formalities, just the usual drill about fire alarms and filming in the meeting. If you need any clarification, let us know. We'll let you know.
Before I move on to councillor, I think we've got a member of the public. Elizabeth, you want to come here? I think you want to await my discretion to give an opportunity to ask or make a comment. Yeah, please, wherever you're comfortable, just press the button. I think you want to talk on something. If you just want to feel free, please, yeah?
That's OK, I've got it. I've got it. I was just getting my note. As you know, I've been involved with the LTM removal thing. And I'm very pleased with the result at the court this week.
But there is a lot of talk on social media at the moment of an appeal on the judge's decision. And they're raising money to make an appeal on the judge's decision. A lot of us would like to know if the council will continue to challenge this small minority of very wealthy people who have chosen to go against your will and that of your voters.
Thank you. I've got a statement to make on the LTM issue generally. And I'll cover that point when I get to that. Is that OK?
OK. Thank you. Thank you. And thank you for coming and making that point. Thank you very much. And thank you for your support to his council. Thank you.
Thank you.
Yeah, question, as you said, on reserves management. So in the papers, paragraph 3.3 shows a projected reduction in reserves of 50.8 million, which appears considerably higher than the combined budgeted drawdown of 32.4 million.
What accounts for this additional drawdown? And how does the anticipated year-end reserve level compare with the Section 151 officer's assessment of a prudent minimum reserve level, particularly in light of growing financial risks?
Thank you, Councillor. I'll ask the lead member and or the corporate director to pick it up when we talk about that topic. Is that OK? Thanks for coming. Grateful to you.
OK. Move on to the formalities. Any apologies from anyone? I know Simon is on jury service. Simon Daxter, Ashraf, you're debatising. Great. No other apologies? Any declarations of interest from anyone? None? Are the previous minutes agreed?
Yeah? OK. Great. Announcement. Steve, sir. Thank you, Mayor. I do have a few. I will read them for the purposes of the minutes.
So, firstly, on the 5th of December, the Council became the first in the country to secure a legal remediation order against a freehold of a private high-rise block in Stepney in relation to the dangerous ACM cladding, which is on the building.
The order requires the building owners to replace ACM cladding on the building and install new cavity barriers and replace combustible insulation.
Our in-house leisure service will be launched a new swim school, Be Well Swim Well at Marlene Leisure Park, on the 4th of December.
We also launched our winter fuel programme on the 5th of December to offer payment of £175 to residents who are affected by the recent cuts by central government.
Tower Hamlets is the first councillor in England to introduce such a scheme to restore this payment to pensioners.
An extraordinary meeting of the Strategic Development Committee on Monday, the 9th of December, considered an application to redevelop the Royal Mint Court complex that stands opposite the Tower of London into a new Chinese embassy building.
The committee voted to reject the plans. However, the final decision rests with the Secretary of State for Housing Communities and Local Government after she exercised her powers to call in the application.
I won't reflect on the LTN issue, Mayor, as I know you will do in a moment, and I've just received a message from Sustain that we are a top three finalist for the Children's Food Award in the category of Political Leadership in Children's Food,
which I understand the Deputy Mayor, which I understand the Deputy Mayor has been considered for, which is again great news and a reflection of the work that we're doing. Thank you, Mayor.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I'm grateful. Can I, I also, for the minutes, want to make the following statement, please, if that's okay.
I just want to talk about delivery and one or two other related matters, but primarily on delivery.
We are very pleased to announce two pieces of good news in this Cabinet session.
Yesterday, the High Court officially ruled in favour of Tri-Hamlet's Council, following the legal challenge to the decision,
our decision to remove free low-traffic neighbourhood schemes in the borough.
It was announced that the Council had been successful in defending all seven counts of the JR Judicial Review brought against it regarding the removal of the LTNs.
This means that from January, we can begin the process of reopening our roads, thus fulfilling one of our key manifesto pledges coming up to the 2022 elections.
Three key arterial roads will now no longer be subject to restriction and closure, namely Old Bretton and Green Road, Columbia Road and Arnold Circus.
Thank you for our residents who come here to support that decision.
While the reduction of pollution and the improvement of air quality are a critical aim of our Council,
we have all along been a sceptic of the effectiveness of LTNs in meeting these ambitions.
In Tri-Hamlets, their implementation has seen traffic pushed into the poorest parts of the borough.
While the restrictions may have reduced pollution in their immediate vicinity,
they have driven up pollution in other parts of the borough.
They have caused gridlock and chaos in and around Bethany Green Road, Columbia Road and Arlen Circus
and deeply affected the ability of residents to move around the borough.
This gridlock has also led to more emissions.
A direct contradiction of the supposed benefits of LTN interaction was to bring.
Thousands of residents have corresponded with us regarding the concurrent economic impact
these LTNs have had on their families and their businesses.
A large portion of our borough rely on car travel to undertake work to supplement their income.
We are one of the poorest boroughs in the country
and the introduction of the scheme has contributed to the continued economic polarisation in Tower Hamlets.
We are confident that the removal of these road closures
will generate more income for working families, for businesses,
rather than punishing them for working a second or sometime a third job.
As a council, we believe there are ways to reduce pollution.
We have invested huge amounts into the decarbonisation and greening of our borough.
We have planted nearly 1,500 trees, themselves a natural reducer of carbon emissions,
alongside a £6 million investment in the greening of our buildings, council buildings.
We have also switched street lighting to LED, installed low carbon heating systems such as air source heat pumps
and are in the process of transitioning all of our waste fleet to electric vehicles
and adding more electric vehicle charging points.
Indeed, we have installed 230 EV charging points to date
and by 2026, we will have an additional 2,300 across the borough.
And we are incentivising residents to use alternative means of travel through numerous initiatives,
including support for workplace and school travel plans,
adult and school cycle training, community cycle initiatives,
on-street cycle parking, estate cycle parking,
sustainable drainage systems,
implement and invest in cycle-friendly galleys,
community events to promote sustainable travels,
review and improvements to existing school streets.
This proves that we can reduce our carbon footprint
without penalising ordinary working residents of our borough
and we will continue pushing similar schemes in the future.
I would like to thank officers in our public realm and legal teams
who have worked tirelessly to ensure our success in contesting the JR proceeding.
I look forward to providing more updates on the progress of removal at our next Cabinet meeting.
To respond to our resident on the appeal,
it is the right thing to do.
I just hope common sense prevails.
I hope the people who have brought this expensive JR proceeding will see sense
and just leave it there and accept the judgment,
which on all seven counts found in favour of the Council,
will accept the judgment and not proceed to an appeal.
If they do, I strongly believe it is the right thing for this Council to contest it all the way
because the roads need to open and mobility needs to be ensured in the borough
for our residents and our businesses.
Thank you.
And moving on, at our last full Council meeting,
I called on officers to identify funding to reintroduce the Council's Mills on Wheels scheme.
This will build on our commitment to provide winter field payment support
for up to 5,000 vulnerable pensioners,
up to £175,
complementing this payment with a daily hot mill.
I am pleased to announce that as part of our robust MTFS process,
officers have kindly identified £1 million
that can go into the Council's base budget
for the coming years to fund the Mills on Wheels scheme.
This will see a significant number of pensioners
and vulnerable residents provided with a hot mill and a dessert every day.
It is the most humane thing that we as a Council can do.
We will continue to do all we can to help the most vulnerable
and our elderly with the heating and healthy eating.
And I look forward to providing more information
on how our residents can access this service in the new year.
And I want to once again thank our officers for the help
that you have given us to make this possible.
And on the 6th of December, ladies and gentlemen,
I and other councillors attended a launch event
for the Council's WOM Hub, pension credit and winter field payment campaigns.
This event was attended by over 30 pensioners from across the borough
who learned about ways in which they could receive additional support
from the Council during the winter months.
I am incredibly proud that as a Council we are continuing to provide
this support for our elderly residents.
They have dedicated their lives to the improvement
and the safety and the future of our borough.
And in our own small way, we want to extend our support
and appreciation in return.
I will provide an update on the number of pensioners assisted
in addition to the 1,500 already provided with the payment
at the next Cabinet meeting.
And I am pleased to attend with the Chief Executive
and the Corporate Directors and other lead members
to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee last night
where we discussed the ongoing delivery
of services with members.
And I do want to thank members of the Scrutiny Committee
for their excellent work and holding us to account.
As discussed last night, to date we have been able to deliver
73% of this administration's mandated manifesto pledges
with 24% in the pipeline for delivery in the next year.
This has included landmark policies
from education and maintenance allowance
to extended free school meals
to increasing council tax on empty property landlords.
We have also managed to deliver on policies
outside of the manifesto,
such as free swimming for all women and girls in the borough
and improving our leisure services
by bringing them in-house.
3,397 active members and they have used 11,130
of the available free swimming sessions
since the start of the programme.
The capacity created is 37,700 per year,
so there's an opportunity to increase
the number of women-only sessions.
This, in addition to the warm hubs, winter food payments
and meals on the wheels scheme proves that we are a council
that is driven by resonant need above all else
and that we will continue to deliver policies
that prioritise our residents' wellbeing
and serve to improve the borough as a whole
for everyone living and working here.
Our residents come first.
Thank you, ladies and gentlemen.
Can I now move on to the over-in-scrutiny part
of this Cabinet meeting, please,
and I invite the Chair for a few comments.
Please, welcome, Councillor.
Thank you. Good evening.
So, firstly, can I thank you, Mr Mayor,
for joining us in last night's meeting.
We discussed the Best Valley Inspection.
We considered the Best Valley Inspection report
and draft directions and progress
since the report was published.
I'd like to note that the committee's thanks
to Clive Hiffey, former Interim Chief Executive
for Middlesbrough Council,
who joined us to provide valuable insights
from the Best Valley Inspection
as we considered what Tower Hamlets can learn
from their recent experiences.
It was helpful to hear about the experiences
of addressing both political and organisational culture
and his experience of the specific roles
Scrutiny can play in the process.
We endorse his message around delivering at pace,
and that's matched with the Chief Exec's growth bid
in the budget for £6 million investment allocated,
which will help drive this.
We are pleased to hear a commitment
from the Chief Executive
to ensure Scrutiny members are engaged
in the development of the improvement plan.
We have agreed to meet with the Chief Exec early
in the new year to discuss
how we will help co-design the plan
and how we will continue to monitor delivery.
This demonstrates the Chief Exec's commitment
to partnership working and co-designing solutions
together, and this is appreciated by the committee.
We discussed flood risks,
the Council's approach to flood risk management.
I'd like to thank Councillor Shafi Ahmed
for joining us to discuss this item.
I'd also like to thank METI's consultants
who joined us as co-opted experts
to provide independent technical advice.
Members of the committee carried out a site visit
to Fish Island as part of their evidence gathering
and resorted in identifying key risks
such as the relationship with key strategic partners.
Members felt responsibility for responding
to flooding incidents is unclear.
We requested better understanding
of the Council's approach to contingency planning
and management of risk,
and we scrutinised the overall resilience
of the drainage system.
Finally, we discussed the timeline and budget
for implementing the maintenance system,
proposed CCTV system, and gully sensor installation.
The scrutiny lead will bring a report
with recommendations for consideration by Cabinet,
and I will update Cabinet in a future meeting.
Next, we discussed strategic performance
and budget monitoring both together.
The quarterly performance and budget monitoring items,
standing items together,
we remain concerned that EHC assessments
continue to be significantly missing the target,
and we will be asking our children's scrutiny subcommittee
to look into this in further detail.
We really do appreciate that the Mayor was equally concerned
and recognised this as a priority.
We also raised concerns on uptake of free school meals
by primary school pupils,
and our children's scrutiny subcommittee lead
will look to carry out a detailed review,
including meetings with parents and visiting schools
to understand better.
It was good to see the Mayor approach this item
with clarity and acknowledgement
on the ongoing performance concerns for some areas,
and really listened and engaged with the committee
in our discussions.
We also questioned how the £5 million investment
in waste services will be sustained beyond this year,
what action has been undertaken to mitigate
for overspending in SEND,
how the £6 million for the best value improvement activity
will be funded,
and whether the Council's factored in potential overspends
in other housing areas outside homelessness.
Finally, the final item we considered,
the report of the Home Care Contract Award process update.
This follows a call-in meeting we held in September
to review this contract award.
Whilst the decision to abandon the procurement
was an officer decision,
the committee had mixed feelings around the decision
not to include the lead member's attendance.
Some members of the committee challenged me on this
and felt the lead member should have attended.
We request Cabinet, and specifically the lead member,
to watch the discussions
and address the concerns members have
as the service is re-procured.
We are frustrated that the Council finds itself
in this position,
and I know officers and yourselves
will all find yourself in the same position.
However, we question what assurances
the Council can provide to residents
that this will not happen again
in other large-scale procurements,
and how will we continue to ensure
vulnerable residents can continue to access
the care they need.
We also questioned whether there is a risk
of losing good service providers
and encourage the service
to maintain these relationships.
We welcome the actions
to strengthen our procurement procedures
and the Council's recognition
that we need to get better at managing risk.
However, more assurance is needed.
We recommend that the Council uses this
as a case study for referral to the LGA
when they revisit as part of their corporate peer challenge,
and that this is referred to
the Transformation Assurance Board for Oversight.
We will continue to monitor
interim service delivery arrangements,
and we will have received assurances
that we will be engaged to help shape
the options for re-procurement
at our meeting in January.
This, no doubt, was the most difficult part
of our meeting last night,
but I recognise the passion and drive
both our committee members and officers have
in delivering the best
for our vulnerable residents,
and that's the common goal
we all work towards.
I want to especially thank Julie Lorraine
for working with me
to be able to facilitate
the discussion last night.
You already have our questions tabled,
and if that's okay, thank you very much.
Thank you.
I'm grateful.
There are a number of...
Thank you for your presentation.
There are a number of questions
that have been raised by ONS,
and the answers are tabled,
so no need for lead members to come in.
Shafi, you need to repeat the answers.
They are already tabled.
You said, okay,
but can I just comment,
make one observation,
and we're going to talk about it later on,
the Home Co contract.
As a council,
we are, and I am,
very committed and passionate
about caring for,
looking after our elderly,
the most vulnerable in our community,
and I can assure you,
no member in our community
will forgo the care
that they deserve.
So whatever happens,
contractual issue,
the contract is a separate thing,
which is obviously led.
Yes, I have final say,
it's mine, the executives,
but it's obviously led,
and they do a fantastic job.
I have full confidence in Georgia,
our procurement team,
the work they do.
But for us as an administration,
we are fully committed,
and this council is committed
to providing care
for those who receive
home care or domestic care from us.
And we're going to be,
maybe the second council in the country
to provide free home care
for those who receive
care in their home
from next April.
That clearly demonstrates
our commitment
to our residents.
I want to reiterate that.
Is that okay?
Thank you.
Can I now move on to
the snow calling?
Move on to
the rest of the agenda, please.
Okay.
6.1
is the strategic delivery
and performance report
year three, quarter two.
Saeed?
Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Mayor.
So this is for us to note
the quarter two
strategic delivery
and performance report.
So at the end of year three,
quarter two of the ambitious
four-year strategic plan,
the overall picture is positive.
The council continues to deliver
on the strategic plan
and these ambitions
across the borough
while facing unique challenges.
Of the 56 strategic
performance measures,
32 are green
at the end of quarter two
up from 24 last quarter.
Four previously red measures
have improved to green.
Five previously amber measures
have improved to green
and those are all across
in various departments.
We have key achievements
so far in quarter two
and that includes,
which you've already touched on,
Mr. Mayor,
that to promote
the healthier communities
and reduce health inequalities,
the council's
Be Well leisure centres
launched free swimming
for women aged over 16
and for men over 55.
The programme has resulted
in over 10,000 new memberships
for women and girls
and at the end of September
and at the end of September 2024,
71% of the leisure centre members
were female.
The result of this year's
annual resident survey
are positive for the council
with almost all perception ratings
seeing statistically significant increases
compared to last year.
Residents continue to view Tower Hamlets
in a positive light.
84% are satisfied
with their local area
as a place to live
and 90% believe
people of different backgrounds
get on well together.
There's also challenges
that we are facing
at the same time
and there are a number of
red and amber measures
in this report
which is disappointing
to both lead members
and officers
who oversee their delivery
and are putting in mitigations
to make sure
that we are working closely
to make them into
a positive measure.
There are four red measures
down from nine
which was last quarter's report
and all four
are historically red.
So the first one being
KPI 021
which is around
percentage of education
health and care assessment
completed in 20 weeks.
KPI 026
is percentage of young people
that re-offend.
KPI 046
level of household recycling
and KPI 054
percentage of tenants
satisfied with overall service.
Further on the amber measures
there are five amber measures
down from eight last quarter.
So one of the previously red measure
has improved to amber.
Two previous amber remain as amber
and two previous green
have deteriorated to amber measures.
Lead members
and corporate directors
continue to lead the service
to tackle these challenges
head on
and as a council
we will continue to work
as hard as we can
to ensure that our residents
live in a borough
they are proud of.
Thank you Mr Mayor.
Thank you.
I'm grateful.
Steve
did you say anything
you want to add
before I bring our officers in?
Thank you.
Please did you say anything
you want to say quickly?
We don't have anything
particular to add.
We do
the corporate directors
and lead members
can address
the red and amber
KPIs that we have here
but there's nothing further
from us to add.
Okay.
Thank you.
Colleagues,
anyone?
Copy it please.
Yeah.
Thank you Mayor.
So
KPI 054
percentage of tenants
satisfied with the overall service.
we are in the red
but slightly
I would have thought
that should have been amber
because we're heading
in the right direction
we're 0.8%
off the mark.
However
we've got a permanent
corporate director now
who's put robust places
robust systems in place.
We've recruited
additional
customer service centre staff
and we'll be now
tracking and monitoring
from end to end
in terms of how
the repairs
service is operating.
I'll pass over to David
to say a few more words
and expand
on that process.
Yeah.
I think
first of all
to say
I'm pleased
that we have
a stretched target
because we have
a target
which very much
places us
in the upper quartile
of tenant satisfaction
in London.
That's where we want to be.
Cook my funder.
And
we are
seeing an improving
picture within the years
so we've gone up
to 62%
in the most recent quarter
which has
improved on the previous
so we're heading
in the right direction.
I think
the critical things
that Councillor Ahmed
talked about
in terms of
improving
the call centre performance
increasing resource
going into that
and the end to end
review of
the repair service
are central
sort of
drivers
but I would also
note that there's
some really strong
areas of performance
in areas like
caretaking
and grounds maintenance
where we get
consistently strong
feedback from tenants
which is one of the
reasons why
we are in the
upper quartile
in London terms
but as I say
we need to
drive on further
and hit this
stretched target
that we've got.
Thank you.
Great for you.
Anyone else?
Please mail.
Thank you Mr. Mayor.
I just want to
cover the KPI
0 to 1
so we have
recruited
interim
senior manager
and also
additional case workers
we have appointed
those
and also
we're reviewing
the ongoing system
in terms of
caseload management
also we are
developing
a recovery
plan as well
so I'm hoping
with the investment
you've agreed
we will make
improvements
so I'll pass on
to Steve
if you can
give further details
thank you
thank you deputy mayor
just in addition
to the commentary
in the report
I'd also say
the last couple
of months
we have seen
recovery in terms
of performance
so you'll see
it's down at
24%
October's 32%
and November's
back up to
40%
but obviously
short of target
and the team
and the team
are working
really hard
and we've had
a significant
rise in demand
one of the
changes that we
feel will make
a big difference
though is we
did previously
externalise
the writing
of plans
so we're
recruiting staff
to actually do
the writing
of plans
in house
now which
should make
a really big
difference
to performance
too
thanks
thank you
Mr Mayor
I'm just
touching on
the three
KPRs that
sit within
my portfolio
I think
starting off
with KPR
42
is around
uniform patrols
so just to
give an update
on the
recruitment
we've recruited
more
enforcement
officers
nine joined
quite recently
and we literally
have a handful
left
otherwise the
recruitment
is complete
so we have
consistently been
green in this
indicator
and we continue
to be
performing
against our
target
KPI 43
so this is
victims of
violence against
women and
girls who
feel safe
after engaging
with our
commission
provider
just to
set context
this relies
on women
who have
gone through
our DV
support service
and complete
the post
support survey
each quarter
this means
numbers filling
them in
vary
although we
encourage as
many to
complete it
as possible
so we have
scored 100%
over recent
quarters
however in
Q2 this
year it's
the first
time we
didn't and
were amber
getting 94%
against a target
of 95%
and that's
because 16
out of 17
women completed
the survey
saying they
felt safer
so we need to
work with the
corporate comms
team on how
we can report
this better
and finally
KPI 44
you may remember
from previous
cabinet meetings
this to do
with adults
with substance
misuse treatment
need
who engage
in community
based structured
treatment
following
release from
prison
we had
issues with
the data
matching
and we've
had so many
discussions
around that
percentage
it was a
stretch target
and I'm
pleased to say
we are green
at this
cabinet
our data
from the
national drug
treatment service
shows 60%
so we are
meeting the
target
however local
data suggests
much higher
so we're
around 70-80%
so according
to the
source that
we're benchmarking
against we
are green
which is
brilliant but
we are still
working on
improving that
figure and
that will
continue
thank you
anyone else
councillor
Kibria
thank you
Mr Mayor
in relation
to KPI
0 to 1
it's good
interim
a CNR
manager has
been appointed
alongside
additional
case workers
to support
capacity
which is
quite good
but my
question is
what is
that specific
timeline for
completing
the review
of systems
and case
load
management
practice
and how
will
progress
be
monitored
and
second
was
what
specific
measures
are being
prioritised
within the
recovery plan
to address
the critical
issues
affecting
the
EHS
KPI
thank you
for the
question
the review
is currently
being carried
out and
will be
finished
within
the first
month
of next
year
we're
also
because
we're
anticipating
a
send
inspection
within
the next
12 months
or so
set up
an
inspection
preparation
and
performance
improvement
group
which I'll
be
chairing
which
meets
every
two
weeks
as well
so we
can
monitor
the
impact
of those
actions
as well
thank you
anyone else
no one
else
okay
can I
just
thank you
thank you
to
everyone
for the
comments
can I
I and
Steve and
officers
were
on
S
yesterday
and
rightfully
so
that
OMS
OMS
scrutiny
should have
an oversight
about the
performance
of this
council
of lead
members
the mayor
and
officers
it's so
important
and as I
said yesterday
end of the
day we
are all
here
to serve
our
residents
they are
the number
one people
here
and we're
all here
whether you're
officer or
elected
member
we're all
here
for the
residents
and they
deserve
a
excellent
delivery of
services
from us
they deserve
a high
performing
council
and high
performing
council
isn't about
just every
quarter
it's a
continuous
endeavour
throughout
the lifetime
of this
council
it's a
continuous
endeavour
I am
grateful
to the
officer
lead
members
by the
number
of greens
that's
come
increased
from
24
to
32
that's
excellent
number
of
ambas
have
also
from
red
to
amber
and
green
has
improved
that's
very
good
number
of
reds
have
come
down
substantially
from
94
I think
that's
a good
indicator
of
the
trajectory
of this
council
as
David
said
we are
a very
ambitious
council
at the
same
time
to be
fair
to
our
officers
we're
a very
ambitious
council
and we
have
really
stretched
ourselves
in when it
comes to
performance
but
nevertheless
we
cannot
take
our
eyes
off the
ball
you know
all of us
are here
to do a
job
whether
you're
paid or
unpaid
whether
you're a
member
or an
officer
is to
care for
and deliver
excellent
services
for our
communities
for our
residents
and that's
going to be
our
continuous
endeavour
we've got
to make
sure
the
greens
remain
greens
we're
going to
try our
best to
turn the
ambers
into
green
and the
red
through
amber
and
eventually
into
green
that's
so
important
and there
should
be
no
reds
because
I'm sure
there are
councils
in this
country
or in
London
who are
performing
far better
than us
although we
stretch
ourselves
I want
us to
be
Steve
in those
top
performing
councils
we as
an
administration
as a
council
together
we're
putting
in
we have
invested
and we
have put
in so
much
money
into the
communities
and some
of the
benefits
are already
paying off
you can
see it
female
participation
in sports
and leisure
has gone
up
tremendously
it's
gone
green
now
why is
it
because
the
insourcing
of the
leisure
services
when some
people
in this
council
you know
advocated
against it
for
insourcing
insourcing
gives us
flexibility
I think
it's
value
for
money
but more
importantly
we can
design
and deliver
better
tailor-made
services
for our
communities
for women
and for
the middle-aged
men
we have done
that
you know
the swimming
sessions
has increased
women participation
in our sports
and our leisure
services
and the investment
that's gone in
that will go in
over the next
one year
into our leisure
services
investment
that will go in
in St George's
and other
facilities
hopefully
in due course
will clearly
bring up
standard
and bring up
participation
and also
will derive
and contribute
to more income
for this borough
so it's a good
thing
the money
in the youth
services
it will begin
to pay
dividend
you know
the re-offending
of youngsters
young people
you know
it's gone
down
first time
youngsters
committing
offence
it's gone
down
but it's
red
because of
technology
small
number
of people
you know
re-offending
it can
still remain
red
but we
will do
our best
Steve
to see
how we
improve
on that
what I'm
saying
our
investment
in the
communities
some
45 million
pounds
over the
last
two and
half
years
more money
has gone
in
into the
communities
because our
residents matter
in our
current budget
we will see
in February
we're working
together
with Julie
and the
finance team
and Steve
and the
lead member
to make
sure we have
a sustainable
budget
over the
next three
years
whilst we
continue
to support
our residents
with some
of the
schemes
that we
supported
we said
in our
manifesto
and some
schemes
outside of
the
manifesto
we're
supporting
the
winter
fuel
payment
is outside
of our
manifesto
however
I am
Steve
I'm glad
councillor
Kibra
has raised
it
you know
one
KPI
which
continues
to cause
me
concern
I know
we're putting
investment
Steve
ready
I know
you and
your team
are doing
your best
and a
lead
member
but it's
got to
be
accelerated
it's
the
assessments
education
health
and care
assessments
for our
youngsters
because they
as I said
they are the
most vulnerable
in our
community
we get a number
of parents
coming to us
who have been
waiting for a
long time
to get their
children assessed
by the time
the assessment
comes along
damage has
already been
done
without
identifying
the damage
much early
on
to prevent
the damage
and my
worry is
by the time
the assessment
is done
and the
damage to
that child
has been
identified
it's too
late
Steve
it's too
late
we can't
let that
continue
because those
kids
are precious
to us
they need
to have
the same
life chance
as a
child who
doesn't have
an issue
they need
to have
same
life chance
for the
parents
it's also
causing them
serious
problems
we have
put in
more
resources
we need
that
improvement
plan
to be
turned around
very quickly
Steve
is there
anything
further
we need
to do
as an
administration
as a
council
to help
you and
your team
and the
chief executive
we are
going to
do so
if that
means
we need
to look
at
and get
knowledge
and the
wisdom
for the
best
performing
councillors
in the
country
let's do
that
please
Steve
yeah
so I'm
pleading
with you
and your
team
we've got
to turn
around
it's not
just about
the indicator
it's about
life chances
about the
livelihood
it's about
the well-being
of our
youngsters
that's my
request to
you
recycling
we are
already
seeing
the investment
paying
dividend
we are
quite
confident
by
now
the rate
should
go up
to
19
it's a
historical
indicator
that we
inherited
we have
put the
money in
officers
have
helped
us
and the
lead
member
to
devise
improvement
plan
and we
can see
it
already
kicking
in
the benefits
kicking
in
I've
already
spoken
about
the
household
sorry
the
children
re-offending
we know
it's
improving
we know
what's
happening
tenant
satisfaction
I'm
quite
confident
with the
insourcing
of
Tarmus
Home
the
investment
that's
going in
with the
current
leadership
we're
going to
see the
benefit
over the
next
few
months
and years
to come
but our
residence
survey
is very
good
it's
positive
our
residents
are on
the same
page as
us
that we
are an
improving
council
satisfaction
rate
when it
comes to
residence
satisfaction
has gone
up
tremendously
and very
importantly
90%
of our
residents
feel we
get on
with each
other
community
coercion
is very
strong
whilst these
indicators
are important
is what
we see
what we
feel out
in the
states
on the
streets
are equally
important
if not
more
important
so well
done to
each one
of you
let's
not take
our eyes
off
the
ball
let's
continue
the
improvement
because
we
can't
we
have
to be
a
continuously
improving
borough
is that
okay
thank you
can we
note the
report
thank you
very much
can we
move on
to the
next
agenda
please
very
important
another
paper
budget
monitoring
24 25
quarter
two
please
say
thank you
mr.
mayor
so this
quarter
two
general
fund
forecast
upton
position
for the
year
is
forecasting
overspend
of 18.4
million pounds
the position
continues to be
significantly
impacted by
nationally
recognized
demand
driven
pressures
in
homelessness
adult
social
care
and special
education
needs
and
disabilities
there's also
significant
pressures
coming from
the waste
operations
department
forecast
underspends
related to
q2
are somewhat
mitigating
the pressures
mentioned
above
which
includes
young
tower
hamlet
services
forecasted
underspend
of 2
million
pounds
the forecast
will continue
to be
monitored
reviewed
and challenged
including
focus on
the specific
drivers
of the
financial
challenge
in a
planned
and measured
way
this
quarter
two
forecast
upton
position
is based
on
departmental
predictions
at the
mid-year
through the
current
financial
year
as such
it still
provides
all
corporate
directors
the
opportunity
to
identify
agree
and
implement
in-year
mitigation
actions
to improve
the forecast
outton
position
by the
end
of the
year
so we
have
some
time
left
to make
sure
that
we
end
the
year
in a
positive
note
looking
at the
DSG
the
quarter
two
forecast
outton
is an
overspend
of
2.7
million
pound
at the
year
end
largely
due
to
pressures
in
high
needs
block
the
HRA
quarter
due
forecast
revenue
outton
is
positioned
in
an
in-year
overspend
of
5.1
million
pounds
as the
HRA
is ring
fenced
account
this
overspend
will need
to be
funded
from the
HRA
general
reserves
at
year
end
looking
at
savings
we
had
a
target
of
37.4
million
pounds
18.2
million
pounds
which is
49%
of the
savings
are
reported
as
already
achieved
and
12.7
million
pounds
which is
around
34%
of the
savings
are on
track
to be
realised
by the
end
of the
financial
year
and
6.4
million
pounds
which is
around
17%
of the
savings
may have
some
risks
involved
but there
is
generally
high
confidence
that
they
will
be
delivered
by the
end
of the
financial
year
and
40,000
pounds
less
than 1%
of the
savings
target
is
reported
to have
some
delays
the
general
fund
quarter
to
capital
forecast
out
turn
for the
year
is
69.8
million
pounds
which
represents
53%
of the
revised
capital
budget
of
131.9
million
pounds
resulting in a
forecast
variance of
62.1
million pounds
that year end
in comparison
with other
local authorities
in London
we are
around the
halfway mark
in the
table
in terms
of
overspends
reported
by 29
out of
the
30
reporting
authorities
that are
forecasting
overspends
too
very
important
to note
in
forecasting
though
we want
to be
accurate
as
possible
same
time
it is
also
important
to be
prudent
which
is
also
crucial
last
year
at
this
time
we
also
reported
an
overspend
but
putting
in
the
right
mitigations
the
outcome
for
the
year
was
actually
0.3
million
pounds
underspent
but
Q3
would
give
us
more
of
an
accurate
picture
which
way
we
are
heading
I'll
hand
over
to
Julie
if
that's
all
thank
you
I
think
the
members
done
a
very
thorough
job
thank
you
just
a
couple
of
things
I
wanted
to
add
the
first
is
as
Councillor
Saeed
ended
this
is
a
quarter
two
forecast
position
the
biggest
difference
between
the
commercial
and
the
public
sector
is
probably
accuracy
of
forecasting
we've
just
implemented
and rolled
out
real
time
power
BI
and
so
the
reporting
timescales
for
members
is
different
now
to the
advantage
I
and the
team
have
of
real
time
reporting
so
I
was
able
to
give
scrutiny
some
assurance
last
night
that
when
we
wrote
this
report
it is
accurate
it is
the
forecast
position
as at
Q2
use the
Q3
position
to set
the
budget
for a
number
of reasons
a couple
of which
I'll
mention
I'm
confident
that
the
year
will
not
end
at the
forecast
showing
as of
yesterday
both
Abdul Razak
and myself
were confident
around 50%
of that
forecast
overspend
will not
materialise
we do
have
a risk
reserve
of
18
million
which
we
set
aside
I'm
confident
that
the
year
will
end
up
well
under
that
risk
reserve
position
I'd like
to
comment
on
two
other
areas
specifically
in
relation
to
those
mitigations
a number
of them
are
service
based
and
colleagues
fellow
corporate
directors
have
been
tireless
in
really
focusing
alongside
portfolio
holders
on
actions
they
will
take
to
reduce
those
pressures
with
mitigating
actions
by the
year
end
but that's
not the
only reason
that I
have
the
confidence
I do
in the
report
if you
look at
section
5.24
on page
137
you'll see
in relation
to the
HRA
has been
a benefit
which we've
taken as
a result
of
decisions
for prior
year
adjustments
taken with
our
external
auditors
and that
has
added a
contribution
of
8.9
million
to the
HRA
reserves
which
offsets
more than
offsets
the
forecast
overspend
position for
the year
so in
that
case
the
mitigated
action
has
been
taken
it's
visible
in your
report
and you
can see
it
and the
only other
thing I
just want to
touch on
and I think
it plays
very well
to a very
strong question
that was asked
by the
council at the
beginning
and she
asked around
the
additional
drawdown
of
reserves
that
had been
reported
as
50.8
million
in the
document
and I
just want
to say
the
budgeted
position
was
32.4
million
and
the
difference
between
the
32.4
and the
50.8
is
entirely
relating
to the
overspend
forecast
overspend
of
18.4
million
because
that's
taken into
account
for
reserve
forecasting
purposes
so if
a forecast
is saying
you know
overspend
by 18.4
million
we forecast
that that
risk reserve
we set
aside
is going
to be
utilised
and that
explains
the
difference
so
it's
just to
assure
you
that's
not
the
actual
reserves
position
that's
saying
if
this
18.4
million
overspend
materialises
that would
be the
impact
the
other
thing
the
councillor
asked
was
given
her
concerns
that
that
looked
alarming
which
A
it
isn't
going
to
materialise
and
B
it
was
a
risk
reserve
for
that
purpose
she
asked
my
view
on
prudent
assessment
of
minimum
reserves
and
in
general
SIPFA's
guidance
although
it's
about
judgment
and
risk
associated
with
the
environment
you're
in
the
general
rule
of thumb
is it
should
be
around
5%
of
net
budget
at
Hamlet
traditionally
it's been
set at
20
million
as part
of the
budget
setting
process
that you
will see
published
early next
week
and members
have been
involved
in
we've
reviewed
that
position
with the
intention
of returning
us to
the
SIPFA
recommended
level
of
minimum
reserves
for
this
year
I
would
draw
to
your
attention
that
although
the
minimum
reserve
balance
on the
general fund
is set
at
20
million
actually
we do
have
reserves
that
cover
the
full
SIPFA
requirement
balance
more than
cover it
so I
just wanted
to provide
that
context
and
assurance
I
can't
see
the
future
but I
can see
reality
and it
is reality
in terms
of those
mitigating
factors
that have
materialised
that I've
just spoken
about
thanks
thank you
Julian
thank you
for
commenting
on that
question
from
that
councillor
thank you
very much
is there
anything
else you
want to
add
officers
not
okay
please
anyone
Deputy Mayor
thank you
councillor
Saeed
and Julie
I just
want
I'm looking
at page
158
in terms
of the
embers
on
savings
so I
just
how
assurance
you can
give us
that it
will be
met
saving
targets
on all
those
embers
hi
councillor
thank you
Mr Mayor
so we
have been
tracking
during the
year
all the
savings
so anything
that's
already
been
achieved
we've
marked and
green
and we
took a
prudent
approach
that you
know
anything
that's
not
achieved
yet
we
kept
it
as
amber
but at
the
moment
as we
speak
everything
is on
track
to be
achieved
this
year
so
okay
thank you
anyone else
please
keep
your way
thank you
Mr Mayor
in relation
to the
saving
target
that's
fine
but
6.4
million
in saving
with some
rigs
is a
concern
my
question
is
what
steps
are
being
taken
to
ensure
the
6.4
million
in saving
with
some
rigs
will
be
achieved
I
think
specifically
that one
relates
to
timing
and
it's
a
certain
saving
what's
uncertain
is the
decision
by
TFL
in that
particular
case
the
timing
of when
that
decision
will be
taken
because
as
Abdul Razak
said
we take
a prudent
approach
it takes
from
convincing
councillors
accountants
if we
can't see
the cash
we don't
can
agree
if we
can't
see
the
date
at
which
the
cash
is
going
to
appear
we
don't
turn
it
amber
we
leave
it
as
red
so
we
can't
mitigate
the
fact
that
that
is
a
decision
that
we
know
is
going
to
be
taken
the
timing
of
the
decision
has
been
delayed
what we
have
to
do
is
ensure
that
we're
not
reliant
or
dependent
on
that
6.4
million
coming
in
at
the
time
we
originally
thought
it
was
so
every
time
we
do
this
we
build
into
our
forecast
assumptions
related
to
this
so
our
forecast
is
assuming
that
that
6.4
million
does
not
come
in
on
time
so
two
things
we
do
one
we
consider
let's
not
pretend
this
is
going
to
come
in
let's
look
at
the
picture
as
if
it
doesn't
are
we
still
in
a
position
where
we
can
afford
to
take
that
delay
and
the
answer
in
this
case
for
time
is
yes
so
it's
not
that
that
will
fail
to
materialize
or
we
need
to
choose
a
different
saving
which
would
normally
be
what
we
do
it
we
know
that
the
decision
is
going
to
be
taken
but
it's
a
delay
in
the
timing
of
the
decision
so
I
hope
that
we
can't
see
a
date
at
which
that
will
definitely
come
into
us
thank
you
anyone
else
councillor
kobri
ahmed
thank
you
mayor
in
terms
of
my
director
mr
mayor
we
have
underspense
in
planning
and
building
control
and
housing
policy
which
is
protected
however
as
stated
by
councillor
saeed
Ahmed
the
biggest
challenge
for
us
comes
from
housing
options
and
homelessness
it's
a
national
landscape
however
we're
not
remaining
stagnant
and
just
watching
it
grow
so
some
of
the
measures
that
have
already
taken
place
is
to
exit
commercial
hotels
particularly
for
families
and
going
forward
we're
also
looking
at
exiting
B&B
hotels
for
families
as
well
that
was
our
target
area
a
people
focused
approach
the
next
phase
will
be
looking
at
singles
exiting
hotels
and
also
there
are
a
number
of
programs
that
are
set
up
including
the
acquisitions
program
as well
as
reviewing
how we
operate
as a
council
I want
to take
this
opportunity
to thank
Julie
who's
been
stewarding
housing
options
in the
area
and
also
it's
going to
be handed
back over
to
David
as
corporate
director
for
housing
and
regeneration
so
just
to be
aware
that
we're
not
stagnant
we are
working
on
multiple
plans
in order
to try
to reduce
that
overspend
and going
forward
have a
sustainable
approach
so we
don't
occur
overspends
in that
area
David
do you
want to
add
anything
yeah
I mean
I suppose
the focus
within
homelessness
and
housing
options
is looking
both at
prevention
and
managing
demand
but also
looking at
how we
can
reduce
the cost
of
accommodation
as you've
said
and
how we
can
really
maximise
our
procurement
levers
and as
we know
we've had
some
really long
and detailed
sessions
that have
looked into
how we
will
do that
including
looking at
where we
can get
accommodation
where there
is the
lowest
differential
between
the LHA
rate
that we
can
reclaim
and what
we have
to pay
so we're
looking at
every single
possibility
really to
reduce the
cost
but also
I think
we'll get
the best
quality
accommodation
for people
and hopefully
preventing
people
presenting
as homeless
in the
first place
that is
critical
as well
Thank you
Anyone else?
Nope
Okay
Thank you
Julie
Saeed
and the
finance team
and the
housing team
and all
other
teams
for the
work
that
you
do
in
and
around
this
area
It's a
note
and report
we
note
the
report
Is that
okay?
Thank you
Can we move
on to
the next
paper
please
Thank you
to the
officers
The
Waste Improvement
Programme
Quarter 2
Update
We can see
streets
are getting
cleaner
and the
report
will now
indicate
exactly
that
and
on the
KPRs
also
we are
on
only one
red
which is
the
recycling
and making
improvement
on the
collection
of waste
and street
cleaning
Your
Mayor's
Waste Improvement
Plan
was approved
in April
2024
This is
in response
to the
Mayor's
declaration
of waste
emergency
in Tawahamlas
and one
off investment
of a
£5 million
for the
2024-2025
year
to transform
the waste
service
This
report
provides
details
of the
progress
of the
work
streams
and
the
key
achievements
The
trajectory
for
improvement
is
moving
in the
right
direction
You will
see that
there has
been a
45.4%
drop in
the number
of street
cleaning
requests
in
quarter
two
compared
to the
same
period
last
year
and
95%
of
keep
Britain
tidy
inspections
for
street
cleaning
in
Tawahamlas
were
graded
as
acceptable
in
quarter
two
I would
now
like to
handle
the
director
of
public
realm
ashrafari
to
continue
with
the
report
thank
you
thank
you
thank
you
just
without
going
through
the
figures
just
want
to
actually
mention
a couple
of
things
in terms
of
visits
where
our
deputy
mayor
and
some
of the
lead
members
visited
a couple
of
weeks
ago
to
the
depot
they
met
the
staff
where
we
were
this
time
last
year
in
terms
of
morale
and
staff
is
completely
different
and the
actual
staff
feel
motivated
in terms
of
forward
thinking
of
what
they
wanted
to
do
the
place
to work
for it
so in terms
of the
whole
ethos
forthcoming
motivated
to do
lot
more
work
each
show
with
the
added
investment
that
you've
put
in
there
in terms
of
getting
additional
staffing
getting
the
staff
motivated
to
train
the
right
skill
set
all
these
things
that
we've
put
in
place
and
as a
result
of
this
we
are
actually
able
to
see
turn
around
the
figures
where
now
on an
average
of 95%
where
in
quarter
one
we
were
actually
reporting
way
way
below
that
some
awards
were
80%
some
goes
as low
as 62%
in
quarter
one
so we
see
significant
improvement
with
the
investment
with
the
additional
support
and
training
to
staff
that
has
led
to
that
quarter
two
in
terms
of
national
KPI
we've
seen
one
of
the
highest
in
terms
of
London
benchmarking
now
so
it
is
for
us
to
maintain
this
level
and we
could
do
more
better
going
forward
so
hoping
that
in
quarter
three
and
quarter
four
we will
actually
exceed
a lot
more
so
thank you
for the
investment
that's been put in
and we could
actually see
those changes
have been
made
in the right
direction
so we
want to
actually
grow
this
continuous
progress
going
going
going
forward
happy
to
take
any
questions
from
the
report
okay
thank you
thank you
leader member
and
Ashraf
director
for your
comments
anyone
please
any
comments
Kabir
Ahmed
thank you
mayor
although I
have
huge
eagerness
for us
to
expedite
the
level
of
efficiency
we
have
I
also
have
to
acknowledge
and
understand
that
it is a
vast
task
considering
the
landscape
of
tower
hamlets
particularly
with the
number
of
high-rise
buildings
and
flat
pack
recycling
so
they're
the
challenges
we
face
and
I
look
forward
to
scrutinizing
lead
member
and
your
department
in
the
various
meetings
we
have
but
if
we
don't
have
ambition
we
won't
have
targets
and
if
we
don't
have
targets
will
be
stagnant
and
stale
so
it's
good
to
see
that
we
have
ambition
and
drive
we've
got
the
money
behind
it
and
we've
got
the
infrastructure
set
up
and
it's
good
to
see
the
increase
from
15%
I
believe
we're
on
19%
close
to
20%
now
so
I
hope
you
keep
up
the
work
and
you
know
we
absolutely
try
to
get
to
our
target
of
25%
thank
you
is that
okay
do you want to
comment on that at all
the only thing I would say Mr Mayor
obviously there's two reports
the next report actually goes into a bit more detail on
recycling
this report is more specifically focused on street
cleaning
and just to actually make that distinction
okay anyone else
anyone else
okay
as I said
with
when you spoke about the performance
it's a continuous endeavor
you know
we need to
ensure
the investment
that's been put in
you know
that's on top of the core investment
so
you have some
25 million pound
of investment
in that services
alone
we want to see
our borough
cleaned
we want to ensure
the waste
are collected
on time
and regularly
but
still
fly tipping
in a lot of respect
continues to be a problem
we're out there
we're out on the streets
we're out on the states
and
we see
fly tipping
it's quite
prevalent
so can you please
attend to that please
I'm sure it's a mechanism
where we don't just rely on residents informing us
we should have a mechanism
that independently
if we're investing in
timeless enforcement officers
we're investing in housing officers
that we should also be
going out
and we've got so many waste
officers
in the waste service
somehow there must be a mechanism
where we get to know where
fly tipping is
and where
there are hot spots
so we can go and sort it out
because come
you know
spring summer
they get mouse
invested
and mouse is a serious problem
in the borough
so can you attend to that
and graffiti
obviously is a problem
but when we see our streets
the states continue to be clean police here
and
the services
the money that's gone in
that clearly pays dividends
is very important
but we are beginning to see improvement
to be fair
to the officers
and the lead member
we can see
the difference
but we need to see
much more
and a quicker improvement
please
than we've seen so far
if that's okay
yeah
okay
so can we again
note the report
if that's okay
yeah
thank you and grateful
okay
that's done
then we move on
to the next one
the recycling plan
thank you
thank you Mr. Mayor
again
your words are
truly taken on
as a continuous endeavour
and this is exactly
where we are
with the recycle reduction plan
we want to
progress report
is provided here
to the cabinet
on a quarterly basis
and the report
is presented
as a cabinet
to note
with focus
on community engagement
community
and behavioural change
with the BAME community
starting to make an impact
the household
recycling rate
has increased
from 15.7%
in quarter one
to 17.25%
in quarter two
we have also seen
a decrease
in contamination rate
we expect
this improvement
to continue
as the combined impact
of plant activity
starts to drive
recycling
behavioural change
and I'd like to
thank you
for attending
the summit
last week
in relation
to the climate
and going forward
we will work
with these communities
to ensure
that we deliver
and have a
carbon zero
council
very soon
thank you
thank you
please
if there anything
you want to add
officers
just to say
Mayor
that we're working
hard on estates
to get people
doing the right
thing
so the event
last week
was really good
we identified
some really good
super champions
but we're trying
to leverage
community activism
so we're pushing
hard on that
it's moving
in the right
direction
we've decided
to introduce
daily sack
trials
to another round
we're going to
be introducing
cardboard collections
before Christmas
so we're pushing
hard really
to get to that
target
this year
I'll make some
comments afterwards
Deputy Mayor
thank you
thank you Mr Mayor
thank you to the
cabinet member
and Ashraf
the director
I think you've done
quite a lot of
engagement work
with a lot of
faith groups
and school
I believe
but directly
engagement
with residents
is important
and I believe
you have
but I just
wanted more
information
how we're
directly engaging
with residents
because
to make
improvement
and create
awareness
I think
directly involving
or communicating
to our residents
is the most
important thing
so I just
wanted some
if you can
just expand
how we're
doing that
thank you
so just
Richard will
come in
a bit more
detail
we've
recruited
eight
engagement
officers
who are
actually
directly
going
to
residents
state by
state
area by
area
engaging
with the
resident
doing a
direct door
knocking
and understanding
issues they're
facing within
each block
and obviously
giving some
solution
and also
educating them
about the
contamination
and how to
recycle
so obviously
along with that
are free
piloted
recycling bags
distributed
so that will
obviously help
towards the
recycling
some of the
feedback
I mean we're
out on the
estates in
Shadwell
Whitechapel
particularly at
the moment
pushing to
get participation
up
we did
the week
before last
we visited
1800 properties
but we're
getting to
talk to
about
2900 people
that's the
reality
but we
are targeting
recycling
champions
so we've
recruited an
extra 35
we're aiming
now to get
to 1000
we recognise
that actually
by knocking
on people's
doors and
identifying those
champions
we're trying
to get those
champions to
help us get
other people
engaged
so we've a
real push
on recruiting
champions
the event
last week
was excellent
because we've
got some
real super
champions
there
and we're
looking to
host an
event in
January
to bring
those champions
in and really
get them engaged
we're working
with caretaking
staff as well
so we've got
champion
caretaking
so we're
really trying
to get
onto those
estates
get local
people involved
in helping
us spread
the word
and I think
it's going
well
but that's
a big
focus
Councillor
Shafi
please
thank you
Deputy Mayor
we wanted
to also add
to the
engagement
with residents
on a
borough-wide
and even
a national
wide
campaign
in terms
of setting
up a
video
or an
advertisement
information
advertisement
in the
BAME
community
to ensure
that they
understand
recycling
and educate
in bilingual
language
as well as
using a
younger generation
older generation
mid generation
to ensure
that across
the board
people are
aware of
recycling
so that's
one of the
key factors
that hopefully
in the new
year will
be on
your TV
screens
thank you
isle of dogs
and poplar
is also
part of
hamlet
so
you're
always
talking
about
whooping
and so on
but
I don't
I don't
know how
you keep
it
clean
on
my
young
we
need
to
champions
from
I love
dogs
and poplar
as well
we agree
agreed
noted
noted
Richard
we noted
okay
thank you
for that
comment
noted
anyone
else
anyone
else
on a much
more serious
note
anyone
can I
say
this
you know
I was
shocked
to see
a level
of recycling
when we
got here
in 2022
it's not
about
political
football
but generally
the recycling
is so
important
you know
it's about
our future
our children's
future
and to
let it
deteriorate
the way
it deteriorated
over the
last
previous
seven
eight
years
is shocking
we weren't
in that
condition
when we
left
in 2015
Steve
you are
you are
privy to
that
I mean
you were
here
before
I'm
grateful
to the
plan
that you've
put in
place
the
chief
executive
has
contributed
to this
and both
Simon and
the officers
tremendously
we have
put the
money
into where
it needs
to go
I'm grateful
to officers
across the
board
mayor's
office
and across
the board
for the
work
we have
done
and we
are grateful
to the
community
but the
deputy mayor
is right
the residents
we need
to get
that campaign
up and
running
yeah
residents
need to
understand
the
importance
of
of
recycling
I'm not
trying to
patronize
them
I'm just
saying
generally
because
I remember
once upon
a time
10 years
ago
12 years
ago
children
come home
and talk
about
recycling
they used
to talk
to and put
pressure on
the parents
about recycling
I remember
my father
in the 80s
used to do
recycling
then in
70s
I remember
they used
to put
the food
waste
out
in a
box
or
the
paper
waste
or boxes
in a
recycling
bag
last 7
8
years
10
years
that
somehow
has gone
by the
wayside
we've got
to get
back to
that
culture
it's so
important
so please
we want
to see
a very
driven
campaign
to educate
us
ourselves
educate
our
youngsters
and
people of
my generation
too
that
recycling
is very
important
to us
and put
out
the
infrastructure
that goes
with it
I went
to that
event
last week
David was
there
other
senior officers
were there
in the
London
Mosque
and the
London
Muslim
Centre
you were
there
Richard
and other
officers
Fiona
and lead
members
it was
fantastic
to see
so many
of our
stakeholders
in that
room
talking
about
recycling
talking
about
waste
collection
and making
it interesting
it's not
just a
boring
subject
it's a
subject
that we
all relate
to
and it's
part and
parcel of
our lives
so please
it's nice
to see
the trajectory
keep up
the good
work
keep up
the pressure
work with
our NGO
sector
work with
the residents
the RSLs
you've got yourself
a tea
we all can have
a tea
please
and we need
to also
work with
our kids
they are the
future
but their
lives
our lives
their
children's
lives
we want
to support
and help
to develop
an emerging
young population
who take
greening of our
planet
cleaning of our
planet
reducing carbon
emission of
our planet
quite seriously
so if you can
continue that
work please
is that ok
and thank you
for the effort
that you have
put in
can we please
note the report
yeah
thank you
grateful to
you
ok
great
let's move
on to
a very
important report
the best value
report and draft
directions update
please Steve
thank you
Mr Mayor
you have a report
in front of you
that sets out
detail around
the progress
that we are
making in relation
to the best value
inspection report
I know
there's been
lots of discussion
we've had
various meetings
you've had
opportunity to
review the
actual report
and you are
aware of the
meetings that the
Mayor and I have
had with the
Minister
I've attached
to this report
the council's
formal response
to the draft
best value
notice that we
have received
and this report
tonight asks you
to endorse that
approach
I would draw
your attention
to paragraph
3.3
where it's made
absolutely clear
that the council
accepts all of
the recommendations
that have come
out of the report
we want to work
with government
when we have met
with the minister
he has talked
a lot about
local solutions
locally led
and we are
absolutely on board
with that
and we have
as you have heard
earlier on
from the chair
of Overview and
Scrutney
I know you're in
the process of
considering allocation
of 6 million pounds
to resource our
improvement programme
however rather
tonight than
concentrate on the
detail of the report
Mayor and I'm more
than happy to answer
any questions in that
respect
Clive Heafy is here
Clive has been
involved in best
value intervention
and a number
of local authorities
but his specialism
I hope you don't
mind me saying
is supporting
local authorities
to move out
of intervention
as quickly
as is
practically
possible
and with your
approval
Mayor I've
invited Clive
here tonight
just to give
a few words
about his
experiences
and perhaps
then for members
to ask any
questions about
not the detail
of the report
as I say
I'm happy to
answer those
but how we
move forward
we want to be
out of intervention
as soon as
is practically
possible
that's our goal
and to work
with government
in partnership
to get to that
point
so if it's
ok Mayor
I'd like to
hand over
to Clive
please
Clive
welcome
thank you
for coming
thank you
Mr Mayor
and thank you
Chief Executive
so very
quickly
I've spent
42 years
in public
services
most of that
in local
government
and I've
seen a fair
bit in those
42 years
some good
and some
not so good
in latterly
years
I've worked
with a number
of authorities
such as
Birmingham
Northamptonshire
Nottingham
and latterly
Middlesbrough
in terms of
various levels
of intervention
to help those
authorities move
out of intervention
and most recently
in Middlesbrough
we managed to get
out of intervention
within a period
of around 20 months
by convincing
government
that we'd taken
seriously
the things
that they
wanted us
to address
we also got
out of children's
statutory intervention
in that period
of time
and out of
auditors
recommendations
as well
in that period
of time
so it was
a real focus
by the council
also worth saying
I sit on the
Peterborough
improvement board
as an improvement
board member
and again
looking from
a different
perspective
on Peterborough
and the work
they're doing
and we're hopeful
that Peterborough
as a council
are moving
very rapidly
now to coming
out of best
value intervention
as well
based on the
work they're doing
so that gives
you a little bit
hopefully of the
credentials
what I would say
is that best
value intervention
is serious
in whatever form
roughly around
10% of councils
maybe 30 councils
or so
at any period
of time
are subject
to a form
of intervention
and I'm
really pleased
to hear you
say that your
aim is to get
out of intervention
that's what
it's about
the aim is
to make sure
that you have
local democratic
control
and make sure
the very thing
that you've been
elected as members
to do
that you can
carry out
in the way
that you want
to carry them
out
but that means
convincing government
that the issues
that they have
raised
through the best
value report
in this case
particularly
a toxic
culture
which affects
leadership
which affects
culture
and which affects
governance
that we're going
to address
those issues
and I'm sure
you will
in my short
time here
i.e. yesterday
and today
and the opportunity
to talk with
overview and scrutiny
yesterday
I can see
the council
is already
committed
to a course
of action
which is to
address those
issues
I can see
there's been
considerable
discussions
with staff
considerable
discussions
with partners
considerable
political
discussion
as well
and you have
a determination
to move on
and to get
out of that
and I would
encourage you
to carry on
doing that
now clearly
you're awaiting
a ministerial
envoy decision
and notice
on both
who the envoy
will be
or the envoys
will be
and the
requirements
as well
so that is
a bit of a
hamper at the
moment
but you're still
nonetheless
progressing
with your
plans
central to
getting out
of best
value notices
is a clarity
around the
plans that you
have for
improvement
across all
of the
different areas
of concern
to make sure
that those
plans are
properly resourced
that you have
the capability
and the capacity
in the organisation
to deliver
against those
and you have
a firm grip
on those plans
in terms of
what needs
to be done
when it needs
to be done
by who's
going to do
it how you're
going to measure
success along
the way
and that was
critical to
Middlesbrough
getting out
of that
was being
able to
demonstrate
that we
had those
plans
and to
share those
plans as
well with
the council
and with
the cabinet
in Middlesbrough
on a regular
basis
it's also
worth remembering
that once
you're in
intervention
then government's
eye is upon
you and
everything that
you do
you don't do
anything anymore
that's below
the radar
as it were
tonight government
will be watching
this if not
live they'll be
watching the
playback of it
but everything
you do on
social media
everything you do
in council
and cabinet
everything that
appears on the
local news
is seen
not just by
government but
also by staff
as well and
that impacts on
the staffing
culture the
behaviours of
members the
behaviours of
officers and
particularly senior
officers will be
seen so remember
that and I think
good behaviour is
something that
government want to
see and I've seen
that in a number of
occasions working
together in a
collaborative way
looking for
opportunities to
work together
you're all here at
the end of the day
regardless of your
political party and
political views
you're all here
for the betterment
of the residents
aren't you that's
why you're in
office that's what
you do so working
together to try to
find that common
ground at
Middlesbrough for
instance we used
the constitution
working group to
review the
constitution financial
regulations etc and
that proved a really
good way of getting
members working
together to look at
what was the right
way of governing the
council and moving
it forward and that
certainly was something
that government took
on board we also
had a very open
relationship with
MHCLG I met with
them as the chief
executive on a
regular basis
probably monthly
with several levels
within the hierarchy
including with their
finance people
Middlesbrough had
more financial
problems than you've
got which is good
to know you've not
got so many in that
area but meeting
with them having a
good relationship an
honest open
relationship where
they felt that we
were able to raise
issues with them and
then with us so
sometimes we said to
them you need to know
that this is happening
this is where we are
on this journey
before they came and
asked us the question
and having that open
relationship was that
we got a lot of
feedback at the end
of the process that
our openness and our
transparency and our
willingness to work
with them was
something that really
counted in our favour
because they believed
at the end of the day
they could trust what
we were saying and
that could be evidenced
as well which was
fantastic we put in
place you'll have your
own transformation
assurance board we had
an improvement board
that we put in place
it was wholly
independent we
brought in we had
nobody no officers
and no members on
that board but we
had high achievers
both in the political
and officer world
from around local
government who gave
us that independent
assurance and that
overview that what
we were doing was
right they held our
feet to the fire in
terms of saying we
want to see evidence
that where you're
saying you're
progressing on this
let's see the
evidence of that
and that again was
quite useful as a
conduit and I'm sure
the transformation
assurance board will
play that kind of
role here but work
closely with them as
a board and make
sure you can
evidence what you're
doing and be open
and transparent would
be my advice
reform of overview
and scrutiny we
spent a lot of time
working with the
centre for scrutiny
studies in reviewing
the role of
scrutiny scrutiny
plays a critical
function in any
local authority
and particularly
ones with direct
mayors directly
elected mayors as
here and as in
Middlesbrough and
that was important to
get that scrutiny
function right and
it now is a high
performing function and
doing well and had
to have that power
understanding of
roles and
responsibilities was
I won't go on for
too much longer
don't worry
understanding of
roles and
responsibilities I
think was something
as well that we
really had to focus
on we spent a lot of
time with members and
a lot of time with
senior officers
understanding the
members role versus
the officer role and
making sure that roles
were understood and
respected and there
was dignity and
respect then for each
as a role local
government works
because we come
together as a team
we work together as
members and officers
and that close
collaboration and
working together and
understanding each
other's roles and
responsibilities was
critical so government
wanted to see evidence
that there was a real
understanding of that
of the roles and
responsibilities
partnerships again
important I know that
featured in your
review work not just
about operational
partnerships in
Middlesbrough they were
always quite strong
operationally on the
ground we work very
closely with health
colleagues with police
colleagues with education
colleagues in the
colleges and the
universities but
actually having a
more strategic approach
to partnerships was
critical as well
understanding the
outcomes that we
wanted for the place
that it's called
Middlesbrough or the
place that's called
Tower Hamlets
understanding that and
having all partners
working towards similar
outcomes and trying to
share resources and
pulling the effort to
make sure that residents
get the best possible
services and finally I'd
say making sure we had
as well formal decision
making processes not
ad hoc decision making
processes but those
processes were clear
they were written down
they were followed
particularly around the
clearance of committee
reports the timing of
committee reports the
input into them how
they were socialised
between officers and
members that was really
important to get that
right as well and we've
invested a fair bit of
time so I think my
message to you in
conclusion is it is
possible to get out of
best value take it
seriously because
government will and
they'll want to see
evidence that you can get
out I've offered my
services to Stephen and
to the mayor to help
you in this journey
my interest is in making
sure that you get out of
this and get to be an
authority where democracy
is healthy and thriving
and the authority is in a
strong position
thank you for those
comments and thank you
for coming in yesterday
ONS and today in
cabinet and some of the
suggestions absolutely
colleagues anyone any
comments
thank you Clive for your
presentation we will do
everything possible from
the cabinet members as the
mayor said to come out of
this we will work we are
committed I mean we are as
cabinet we're attending a lot
of training we're also in
discussion with the LGA about
mentoring you know all the
cabinet members so we'll do
everything possible I just
wanted top three things from
you in terms of coming out of
intervention so just top three
tips would do I know there's so
many but just top three thank
you
well first of all on the comment
around around the work you do I
can see the commitment to the
council which is great member
development was a key part of
what we put in place we put in
place a thorough program officers
have a training program which is
quite clearly set out and on our
internet in Middlesbrough members
couldn't access that in quite the
same way so making sure that
members had access to that full
material was was really important
and we did that we also work very
closely with the local government
association in terms of providing
support to members at a variety of
levels support to officers at a
variety of levels we were brought
in the LGA leads with individual
groups to work with the
conservative group the labor
group the independent groups etc
to make sure that there was a real
understanding of the roles and how
one group of members could work
with another and we talked a lot
about communications as well and
making sure that social media
interactions in particular became
more based on dignity and respect
you know what what I often stress
the point of Middlesbrough is
political difference is healthy
you're in a political organization
that's good to have political
difference but do so with respect
with dignity for one another's
views and where you can come to a
common consensus try to do that
where it got negative in in
Middlesbrough and where it became
slightly toxic in Middlesbrough
initially was because that that was
spilling out into personal comments
on social media which were wholly
inappropriate so you know getting
out of intervention meant the
government seeing a big change in
the way that things were operating
and they clearly saw that change
and we worked through that process
over that 18 to 20 month period
great thank you anyone else
Saeed thank you Mr Mayor thanks
Clive for for your for your
presentation I just wanted to
understand one thing just touching on
from what Deputy Mayor has asked
from our willingness to work and so
far what you've seen from Tower
Hamlets what's your perception and
which way do you think we are going
we are going in the right direction
or do you think we need to put a
lot more measures in place I think
you're absolutely going in the
right direction I think I can see
the green shoots there if you like
use that well well worked phrase
green shoots of what you need to do
but as I said at the start it's about
now talking to the envoys as they
come in about what their
requirements are and how that's going
to flow through to have in place
clear improvement plans which are
properly measured and monitored by
cabinet by the council as a whole
and you get regular reports on that
but by all means resource it
properly as well don't don't just
believe it's going to happen it will
need a in jargon terms of PMO a
program management office to be able
to deliver this to be able to hold
everybody's feet to the fire and if
you say you're going to do something
by a date you resource it properly to
hit that date and hit that target and
make sure that's evidenced if it's not
hit for whatever reason then that
target needs to be addressed very
quickly and brought forward so if
you're reporting that regularly to
government I think they'll see that
you're really serious about doing
this where I've seen it fail before
is where authorities have said we're
serious but actually don't really have
the plans to deliver don't really have
the capacity or the the skills in
house to be able to deliver that so
showing that you've got that I think
is part of that serious intent that
will give government the assurance that
they need about the journey you're on
but for my two days here it appears to
me you are serious
thank you please please tell her that
I've been shoved you thank you mayor
thank you Clive I was out on SES
today watching for the public gallery
and it was interesting to hear from
you so just following on from
colleagues I hope you can clearly see
that there is strong commitment from
our side and on behalf of the council I
guess what I would like to understand
from your experience working with other
local authorities is how important has
the relationship with government been so
for example in this case MHCLG or the
invoice and what arrangements or
relationships did you have in your
sort of previous experiences to help
get us out of that notice or that
situation so talking of the Middlesbrough
situation first and we met as a group
of statutory officers the chief executive
the section 151 officer and the
monitoring officer sometimes with the
mayor as well not always but sometimes
we met on a monthly basis with
officials and convincing officials of
what we needed to do was important
the the improvement board we had also
met with those officials we gave them
license to go and talk to those
officials so the officials were getting
assurance from a number of different
sources and having that relationship and
then being able to evidence it from
different sources was really critical so
that when they prepared the submissions up
to ministers the ministers were getting a
clear picture evidence-based picture
not just a political position or a
subjective position it was very much
based on the evidence and it was clear
to us at the end of it and the officials
very much fed back to us that having
that evidence to be able to give back
perhaps countered some of the political
negativity that might have come through
on the other side so I would say that's
that's really important I've seen it
elsewhere as well in Nottingham for
instance where I worked where Sir Tony
Redmond led the improvement board there
his remit went further than you'll see
here which was to go in and report
quarterly directly to the Secretary of
State as well so that was a really
important thing that we gave a really
a picture to Sir Tony that enabled him
to give that picture when I talked
earlier on about different forms of
intervention that's why I talk about it
being a ladder you will have heard me say
this last night and you're on the bottom
rung at the moment best value notice is
the bottom rung of that ladder moving to
an improvement board without powers of
direction takes it higher an improvement
board with powers of direction and
ultimately commissioners takes it to
another level and you want to keep on
that lower level in Nottingham they were
sort of moved into that direction
position because because they weren't
able to address some of the key
concerns in Northamptonshire where I was
before they had a they had a full
commissioners model where decision making
was largely taken out of the hands of
members and put into the hands of
technocrats and you know I've been in
local government long enough to know
that it's about local democracy and
political choices and you want to keep
it at your level in political choices
you do not want technocrats coming in to
run that so I think if you follow the
steps I'm talking about and have those
plans in place and have an open and
transparent culture and a good
relationship with MHCLG you stand
every chance of getting through this and
coming out of intervention before it
goes any higher and just worth saying I
don't think government want authorities
to be in an intervention mode either
it's a lot of effort for them and
frankly they're running out of
commissioners and people to help as
well so they're looking for you to do
this yourself and and and own your own
journey thank you very much
councillor Shafi then I'm going to move on
thank you Mr Mayor Clive thank you I was
also at the ONS city so I had a good
insight of Middlesbrough and your good work
there as you've been in local government
for many years there is a timeline or a
time frame that this envoy is here for
or in your experience or in any
authority that you've delivered has it
ever been that the timeline was there
but we've done the improvement or and
that timeline has been decreased and
gone off after a year two years or has
it gone over that's what I'm going to
generally speaking the timelines for
intervention are measured in years two
years three years four years that sort of
time and when Middlesbrough was taken
into intervention when I joined I fully
expected that timeline to be operating
in Middlesbrough as well what we were
able to do by the kind of approach of
outline was to shorten that time scale
to just 20 months by by taking that
really structured approach and having
that open relationship so so in my
experience do the do the work and
really take it seriously and evidence it
brings the timeline down but otherwise
you're working towards a sort of three
year kind of norm some authorities the
likes of Birmingham will have been in
and out of intervention over a lot much
longer period of time and much more
deeply entrenched problems but I think it is
possible particularly when it is just the
lowest level of intervention of the best
value notice I think it is possible to
shorten those timescales by by just doing
the work and and following some of those
rules thank you I'm grateful unless
anyone else anything else anyone else
burning can we thank both Steve and
Clive for coming we very much want to
continue being an improvement council and
do three areas that concern has been cited
we very much want to address those yeah
address those in a very open and
transparent way at the end of the day it's
not that us it's about our residents you
know that's what matters so any help in
order to ensure that we continue the good
work we're doing we continue to be
improving council we don't have I don't
have Steve may I don't have all the
wisdom so any wisdom that we have from
others who are far more experienced
than I am I'm open-minded and we will
welcome that so we don't waste that money
our public money on BVI improvement plans
and come out of it as quickly as possible
but with a better council an improved
council absolutely so any suggestion from
you or others Richard is here the most
welcome thank you very much bye bye
thanks okay can we note the report
please and the response yeah thank you
okay yes we agree the recommendations
thank you great let's move on to another
straightforward paper okay
uh kabir is the scrutiny session yeah
uh paper thank you go on I'll I'll be
relatively brief mayor um on the 26th of
March uh earlier this year um there was a
scrutiny subcommittee uh challenge session
the chair the former well not the current
chair but the former chair of housing uh and
regeneration scrutiny subcommittee requested a
challenge session on housing provider
uh performance um I welcome the scrutiny
committee to uh taking time to scrutinize
this important matter um this report sets out
the recommendations from the challenge session
uh that I fully endorse mr mayor
um four of the five recommendations are
actually for the committee themselves uh and
the committee has committed to uh number one
find time in its busy agenda to invite more
registered providers to attend and account for
their performance undertake training to
analyze performance invite residents to give
evidence uh and number four closer scrutiny of the
council's own management of the newly insourced
housing stock namely housing management uh the fifth
recommendation relates to members being better
equipped to raise complaints to registered providers
uh in the most effective way to get a result now as a
result of that uh a member seminar is planned for
january uh and advice packs will be issued so I look
forward for scrutiny committee members to attend that uh training
session and the advice use the advice pack that's provided
uh karen's here if there are any further questions around that
and david's here as well thank you thank you korea I think you've
a lot of respect to david and karen I think you've covered it
this paper is quite straightforward uh unless anything's burning
I don't want to take any more questions or comments on this
it's a good paper this is a good example where uh the executive and the
over-inscruiting committee working together this is where where the
over members of the over-inscruiting committee uh are complementing the work
that we do and we welcome this kind of positive contribution uh in
improving services in the borough the rsl site extremely important
you know we can't deliver all the services we do so in partnership
with others rsls when it comes to housing housing services rsls play a big
role big part so the the ons calling the rsl system talking to them
getting them to a position to support us
cuts out your job and my job david helps you too and karen and the team
so it's a good thing we accept the recommendation
and i'm going to say let's agree the report is that okay thank you karen
thanks for coming grateful to you good uh okay can we take a similar approach
with the safeguarding adults board annual report please 23 24
who's doing that
go on keep it away please here
thank you mr he's a good he's agreeing on your behalf
go on please the safeguarding adult board annual report for 23 24 each year in
accordance with its statutory obligation the safeguarding adult boards releases an
annual report detailing the progress achievement and insight gain from prior
year it is an important function for the council to have oversight of the adult
safeguarding activity in tower hamlets this provides an update on multi-agency work
by the same partnership to safeguarding adults in tower hamlets and how agencies
work together the annual report is intended for both resident and professional and is
presented to cabinet for economic management and it will be made available on the council's
website doctors uh dr susan rose uh she's in online recently taken on the role of independent
chair we will come to her in our health and well-being board today we will come again in
our cabinet meeting i would like to extend an invitation to dr susan rose to present a summary
of the progress outlined in the annual report thank you can i also welcome dr ross thank you for
helping us on this thank you for your independent act and the invaluable work that you do in this
critical area so grateful to you and thank you for joining us please over to you before i bring
the corporate director to say a few words thank you thank you very much mr mayor i hope you can hear me
okay and thank you councillor um and thanks for the opportunity to present this report to you
and as um as councillors indicated um i was appointed relatively recently in the summer by the three
statutory bodies led by your chief exec uh to be your independent chair um which i do on a two day a month
uh basis just to be clear about the nature of my work with you um the adults say uh the safeguarding
adults board is a requirement in law um for the council and its key partners and it has three um key
requirements set out in the care act 2014 that it must deliver and these are addressed in the report
in front of you but just for your um for your uh information the three key requirements that the
board must do is it must produce an annual report and that's why you have this one before you it must
produce and deliver a business plan about how it delivers its safeguarding arrangements across the
borough not just from the council but across its statutory partners and it must commission uh and um
uh adhere to the requirements and recommendations of uh any safeguarding adults reviews which are
uh called SARS um which are which follow from uh sadly from the deaths or serious injuries um
concerning adults at risk of abuse and neglect in any or all of its forms now um there are many other
things which a sab can and should do um depending on the safeguarding challenges they face within the
borough but these three things are fundamental i just want to address those very briefly for you uh in
relation to the report you have in front of you um it was largely completed um just in the autumn
uh after i took over the role of chair and it covers the period uh april 23 to march 24
and it describes the four activities that i've talked about um and gives more detailed information
about other safeguarding activities across across the wide range of agencies involved my ambition i have
to say for the board going forward is that future reports may be more uh succinct and a bit clearer
as we can talk about the complex arrangements for safeguarding and also and i think this is really
important for us going forward um to enable those who experience safeguarding services for a variety
of in a variety of ways to give something of their voice about what it's like to um to be in receipt
of services um to help them be live safer um lives in the community or to recover from abuse but this
report nevertheless does give a flavor of the work of the council and its partners and what it did during
the period uh 23 24 to keep people safe and keep uh help victims of abuse and neglect um this work
obviously as you're aware has to have the highest priority for all the partners um and not not just
for the council so the brief highlights that i would i would draw to your attention in the report
there has been a small rise in the number of safeguarding concerns between 2022 23 and 23 24
um of those that go on to become full inquiries um so not just concerns but then go on to be uh to be
um inquired into in detail um there is again a small rise uh neglect and acts of omission was the largest
category of abuse recorded and this very much follows the national trend um which similarly shows exactly that
um that feature um that feature and it's really of note and perhaps won't surprise people who uh
understand safeguarding listening but the majority of safeguarding occurs in people's own homes or in a
care setting uh not in in in the outside sort of stranger world um and it's also of note and it's
important for tower hamlets particularly because you do very well in this that the number of
deprivation of deprivation of liberty safeguards reports that's uh known as dolls where someone
requires to have their liberty taken from them in a care home or in a hospital because they are unable
to give informed consent as to where they should live or be uh and how they should live um these numbers
have gone up but you um unlike many parts of the country uh don't carry a significant waiting list for
these uh dolls reports which is really really good to note um there has been one safeguarding
adult um uh review during the period of 23 24 uh related to mrs n and mrs o and you'll see the details of that in the
report um the other achievements of the um in the reported period um you'll note the information around a conference that was held in
2023 on homelessness and substance abuse which was attended by over 200 people which is really um
fantastically important such an important area um homelessness and substance abuse in relation to
the safeguarding risks that people in those circumstances face um and also you'll see that
there's been a practice tool developed for self-neglect and for escalation and resolution
processes which again are really important so the report um described goes on to talk about the work of the subcommittees
and the key thing i want to stress here though is that the board isn't somebody else it's actually
you and your strategic strategic partners as independent chair i bring together um you and the partners
um with support from the board manager and administrator but it's your work uh focused on safeguarding which is described
and it relates specifically to the risks that vulnerable adults uh face in the in our communities
you can see in the report that the partners involved in in safeguarding um have itemized some of the
activities they've been involved in um and there's there's uh quite a bit about the specific activities of
your partners so the board the board's work i would say to conclude is the tip of a much bigger safeguarding
structure but it is a key part of delivering the corporate pet priority across the whole council and its partners for
safeguarding adults um i'm happy to take any questions mayor that you may have or or your colleagues
thank you uh dr ross please uh georgia is there anything you want to add nothing from me mayor i think
um dr ross has been very comprehensive in an update thank you thank you comments from colleagues anyone
uh mr mayor i've already had sight of this at the adult health and well-being scrutiny board so
uh dr ross has already answered questions uh just i'll leave it at that mr mayor okay thank you
anyone else okay can i can i come in and say uh once again uh thank you for the the work that you do
in this area i'm grateful to the officers uh around social services generally whether children or adult
social care uh social care uh and social workers officers the the invaluable work and the care
workers in particular the frontline workers uh and the colleagues in the health service the invaluable
work that they do uh in the community looking after the most vulnerable in the community safeguarding
whether children or adult we take very seriously take very seriously these are uh people
who need specialist help who need attention who need care uh their well-being is very important to us
as uh as members of the community and important to the council but your uh your role and the role of
the board you know the partnership is very important to give us the reassurance that we are doing the right
thing and we are on the right track uh in at any time if you have any concerns please feel free to talk
to us is there anything else we need to do to support the partnership support you and your team
the work you're doing we are at your disposal madam thank you very much that's very reassuring to hear
okay okay so on that note can we note the report and thank you for the work uh to the team thank you
very much okay okay okay should we move on please yep uh again another straightforward one record of
corporate directors actions called to one and two 20 24 25 say anything burning you want to say
no mayor that's just 10 there to be noted uh which we've gone through previously is it is it run of
the mill nothing out of the ordinary we've seen those already you're okay with these yeah yeah i'm
fine confusingly mayor they've managed to put the list in alphabetical order rather than date order
i'll make sure that that's corrected but it's the six month period year to date and there is nothing
at all exceptional in the decisions the values or the numbers great again it's straightforward we have the
assurance from uh julia and saeed can we can we uh note them yeah okay thank you noted okay the last one
is the home care procurement contract award process update thank you
may so this is an unusual report to an officer report and it's quite an unusual situation where
uh cabinet supported by a decision from scrutiny made a decision on the basis of accepting recommendations
from officers and it was delegated to officers to implement the decision um at the point of
implementing the decision there were a number of factors we needed to take into account
and it was unusual but the right decision to take that officers georgia myself um felt
due to a number of factors that culminated in us being unable to demonstrate it was a decision that
could reflect value for money or best value we reluctantly withdrew from the procurement process
and did not therefore award the contracts as yourself and cabinet had originally instructed i've set out
for you a summary report there's an additional detail behind it and i would simply emphasize to you
it's a democratic process members decisions are really important and officers jobs are to implement
those decisions that you took on our recommendations it is unusual it's not a decision georgia or i took lightly
we stand by it and we simply report that action to you for noting thank you just come in and uh
thank and express my gratitude to the officers the work that you have done i know julie's come in
quite later on uh but uh sorry not julie georgia forgive me uh julie steve and the team warwick
and others who've been part and parcel of this uh over the last you know uh months and since we've been here
uh we were involved in the design uh redesign of and the lead member remembers when we after we came in
the redesign of uh the tender process then we left it to the officers officers did a good job good job
there's bound to be two things i want to say there's bound to be those who are who didn't
receive an award about or didn't receive a satisfactory award bound to be tests from them challenging from
them that's that's how the human nature is your lawyer superior you know that we've been here before
you know as lawyers you know because they're trying to protect the business interest yeah so bound to
be that that doesn't and didn't worry me because i was we were you were very confident with the process
i was very confident with your recommendation hence we agreed the recommendation in cabinet previously in
cabinet to proceed with it so legal challenges from two or three organizations you know although it
comes with risks but those risks are acceptable risks and we would have obviously would have defended
the process vigorously so i i don't have any qualms in that i have no qualms with the process
process was vigorous robust and you came to a right decision in the organization that awarded however the budget
the autumn budget it put us in a very sticky situation with the increase in the employers contribution
in the uh in the uh in the nhs uh sorry national insurance uh contribution the financial obligation on us
uh was quite significant the the national insurance threshold lowering of that was to worry
also the increase to living wage rate was to worry so the obligation on us as a council
which we didn't know if we went ahead and awarded that 160 million pound contract those organizations
would have come back to us come back to us for a bigger for for uh even uh bigger request for for bill
where would we have got the money from it's a good opportunity before the contract was awarded legally we
we were lucky we won't we didn't enter into a legal obligation we had a legal firm trials and hamlins
who were advising this council throughout
julia and the team georgia's team were on it throughout and the advice was the recommendation was
steve you you you have sight of this i have sight sight of this it's the best time to pause it
look at the redesign of the service going forward look at how we're going to finance this how we're
going to get the shortfall and look at how we deliver this service going going forward
thank you and we're very fortunate that we're able to capture that at the right time and it was only
proper the officers made that recommendation made that decision i'm very grateful to you
i want to say for the record is that every single one of those recipients who receive care from us
they're not affected in any way they will continue to receive receive top class services from us
that won't be compromised their care workers will be supported going forward and i requested julie when
when in march when the contracts come to an end and we look at how we before we extend that in those
new contracts interim contracts will we start the new process that in the new interim contracts we have
an inbuilt provision for those uh care workers who have zero hour contracts we want to support them
yeah so they can opt in not to have zero contracts swapped out okay i want that to be put into those new
contracts going forward but will be an opportunity to redesign the service try to identify where that
shortfall will come from and deliver a better service to our residents that's important so i'm grateful for
the work that you've done that's very important to us i'll ask steve to come in and say a few words
other than that you know i think we're in a we're in a very good position uh to reconsider reappraise and
move on steve if you want to add anything please thank you i would actually in my comment i endorse all
the comments that you've made but i actually wanted to make a comment um about the quality of the officers
that have dealt with this this is an incredibly important contract and in all the conversations
i've had with julie all the conversations latterly i've had with georgia have always been about not
just sticking to process not just talking truth to power not just making sure that we stick to the
appropriate procurement regime that we do but also putting the community first that has always been at
the forefront and it's a testament actually i think to the council's ability to recruit what
i now think and i say this a lot to you mayor is one of the the most capable and best senior leadership
teams in a local authority you have corporate lead corporate directors now you have a team of
corporate directors that will always put the community first will deliver the council's agenda
and will do so in the right way and this is a reflection of that and i really would like to
to record that for the purposes of this meeting thank you steve and can i also say the misinformation
that went on in the community from a very small minority self-interested small minority spreading lies
about this council when that when officers decided not to pursue with that contract is absolutely
unacceptable and if any member of this council councillor needs a bit of education from the officers go up to the officers
talk to them get the information before you open your mouth okay don't listen to the lies misinformation
from self-interested people out there who are who are doing it purely for political gain
yeah as like steve we have full confidence in the senior management team they have gone out of the way to protect
the residents protect those who receive care and by stopping it what they've done they will
take an opportunity to redesign the service look at the service again look at the pot and see how
how whether we need to compliment that compliment that pot by further amount of money if we do
where do we get that money from we're in a budget making process we can't just do it blind so it's the
best thing that you you did i'm very grateful to to both georgie georgia and and to julia and to steve for
what you did you have our full support kobit yeah so once again uh and i think i've reiterated this a
number of times i think it's really important to acknowledge uh the permanent clt we have
um and the hard work that they do um and i want to commend the officers who are involved in this
uh in the robust action that has been taken and highlight my absolute confidence in your abilities
i think i've made i made the points very clear uh can we uh note uh the report and the reasons for
the officers decision and can we please move on is that okay thank you i'm grateful to you okay i don't
believe we have any other business can i once again thank members and officers for your invaluable time
grateful to you uh until the new year have a nice uh break and seasons greetings to each and every one of
of you thank you very much