Transcript

All right, good evening, I make it seven o'clock. Welcome to this meeting of the Cabinet. Welcome to those in the audience and those watching at home. I'm Councillor Shantanurad, Leader of the Council and Chair of this meeting. I'm joined around the table by my colleagues on the Cabinet who are part of the decision-making process. They will introduce themselves as they speak. I'm also joined by officers of the Council who do not take part in the decision-making process but are here to offer technical help and support should it be required. We've got quite a bit on the agenda so we're going to crack on fairly quickly. We'll start before we get into formal apologies. I do want to put on record, normally sat next to me, would be Nile Bolger, who was Chief Executive, who has now stood down. I'm sure Cabinet will join me. In wishing him well in his future endeavours and thank him for the support that he has offered all of us individually and collectively over the six years that he was here at the Council. Right. Apologies for absence. I've had apologies from Councillor Ragwinder Sidhu and Councillor Ajmer Garawal. I've also had apologies from Councillor Peter Thompson, who is the Leader of the Opposition, who has a standing invite, and Councillor C.R. Raza, who also has a standing invite as Chair of the overview and scrutiny committee. I think the rest of us are here, I think the rest of us are here, which is good. Are there any declarations of interest, Councillor Shaheen? Yeah, Item 9 falls in Isleworth Ward, my ward. I've had communications from residents there, so I declare an interest, but don't believe it prejudicial. Are there any other declarations of interest? No. And are there any communications, apart from the ones that Councillor Shaheen you just highlighted, any other communications? No? Yeah. Go on. Yeah. On the local list, I've had communication this week since publication of the Cabinet Report, which I will highlight in my, what's the words? Your report? My report. That's it. That's the word I was looking for. Thank you. I'm guessing, Councillor Sampson, it's the same for you, the same declaration as Councillor Shaheen. Yep. Yep. Excellent. Any others? Any other communications? No? Good. Then move on to Item 2. Minutes of the meeting held on 21st of January. I'll take them page by page for accuracy in matters arising. Page 8. Page 9. Page 10. Page 11. And finally, Page 12. Colleagues, are you happy for me to sign those minutes? Agreed. Excellent. Thank you very much. We now move on to the first substantive item on the agenda. I'm afraid, colleagues, you're going to have to hear my voice for a little while. I apologise. The first item is the Council Tax Support Scheme. So members will be aware that we offer a Council Tax Support Scheme that is locally administered and funded by the Council. In the context of the financial challenges that are set out in the budget report in a short while, it's absolutely right that nothing was off the table, including the Council Tax Support Scheme. And actually, it's always good to review that scheme because demographics are changing and the population is changing very regularly. Also, with the migration of historic council benefit claimants onto Universal Credit, it is a good opportunity to look at the scheme as well. You'll note that a little while ago, I came to Cabinet asking for authority to go out to consult. We have done that and that consultation has run and now been analysed and what you see before you is the final scheme with the Equalities Impact Assessment also appended to it. The scheme is looking to change down to a maximum of 75% support. So everyone in the borough who has a stake in the borough contributes something. However, we are being much more targeted, as you know, in where we offer our support. And those in receipt of carers allowance will have their discount with the maximum discount of 90% on their liabilities as well. Of course, it is a very difficult decision to move away from a scheme which was previously 100% offered up to 100% support. However, both in terms of financial challenge, but also in terms of being more targeted to larger families and those that are most vulnerable in our communities, I think it is the right thing to do. In terms of mitigating some of the effects of the changes that are proposed within this report, there is a hardship fund which will offer support on needs basis. And that could be anything from changing liability to support with goods and services that residents value. And that's quite important to to say. And of course, it goes without saying that this is a change for many of our residents. And so we are absolutely committed to offering support and advice, either through our corporate service through Liberata or through the Citizens Advice Bureau, who we contracted further at the last Cabinet meeting, as well as our community hubs as well. So with that, I will formally move the report. You can second. I will second and I will just speak briefly now. I mean, just to continue. Sorry, Councillor Tom Bruce, Deputy Leader of the Council. Just to continue on the leader's last point, actually, are thinking about the support that we are giving. Yes, these are significant changes we know, but changes that we need to make in the context that we find ourselves in financially. But looking at that support, what we know, whether it was under the previous scheme or one before that, one before that, that we don't reach everybody. And actually, this is a good opportunity with these changes that are being made to highlight to everybody and make sure everybody who is entitled to receive any support, whatever that might be, needs to come forward and come to the council and make make themselves known because that support is there for them. And we want to make sure that we can target absolutely everybody who needs it and deserves it in order that, you know, we can have a borough that is fair for everybody. So I just think making sure that if anybody is unsure, please do get in touch. Please find out that there may be something that can be can be done for you. And if it's not on this, then it could be on something else. And we might be able to target you to other to other areas or support you in a different way. So I think that's just a specific point on this, but a broader support point on it on anything wherever where anyone is finding financial hardship or difficulty with anything that they are experiencing at this time. That's what this council is about, and that's why we're making some of these changes difficult. Some of them might be, but absolutely right in the context that we want to make sure people are supported as best we possibly can. Thank you. Thank you, Councillor Bruce. It's been moved in second. It's now open for discussion and debate. Councillor Dunn. Councillor Catheryn Dunn, Cabinet Member for Climate, Environment and Transport. Yes, difficult decision to make around this in sort of shaping the scheme. How are we going to ensure that we continue to support those who need it the most whilst bringing in, and I think it is the right principle that everyone does contribute. Everyone who's resident in the borough contributes towards the running of the borough. Still considerable discounts for those who will struggle to afford the full amount. That's still in place, and of course we have our transitional additional hardship fund, which again I think is the right decision to support those who may struggle with this change. And obviously I would echo everything that Councillor Bruce has said about encouraging people to come forward if they do think they're going to struggle with this change or with anything else. Because there are support mechanisms in place. There are support funds in place that can help to either ease this transition or to help people at other difficult times in their lives, whatever it is they're struggling with. So yes, happy to support the report and thank you to officers who spent the time working on it and thank you to all of our residents who responded to the consultation on it as well. Absolutely. Thank you, Councillor Dunne. Anyone else on this one? I can't see anyone else indicating. So the recommendations on this report are on page 13, over onto page 14, 1 to 3. Can I see all those in favour? That is carried unanimously. Thank you very much indeed. Thanks. Now move on to the next item on the agenda, agenda item 4, budget 25-26. Again, a report in my name. And so tonight as a cabinet, I'm presenting our joint work, a lot of work that we hopefully, if agreed, will recommend for borough council in a couple of weeks time. This budget, as we know, is to build a budget for the future. And there are key tenants to this budget in terms of protecting the most vulnerable. Of course, improving services that matter to residents. We know that since the pandemic, the demand for our services has never been higher. And we are absolutely committed to being ambitious for Hounslow and its future, be that in health, social care, the climate emergency or public facing services that our residents use on a regular basis. But also delivering growth. Now, the government's been talking about growth since it came in in June. It was a key part of its manifesto. Well, actually, we've been talking about growth for a lot longer. The pandemic taught us that we need to have growth front and centre of our mind, supporting the many SMEs that exist in our borough, supporting young people to have the best life chances as possible and helping those that are most vulnerable, as we've just discussed in the previous report. It goes without saying the budget's delivered against a backdrop of absolutely significant financial challenge caused, I think, primarily by years of chronic underfunding from the previous government, but also a perfect storm of spiralling costs and increasing demand for our services. Of course, this leaves us with little choice but to reduce our spending, which can be seen within the report itself. This is not just a Hounslow problem. Many authorities across London and the country are facing similar problems. We have stewarded the finances over many, many years well, which means that we are able to weather this storm. But it does not mean that we turn our back on it. We have to take action now for future prosperity as well. And we absolutely take that obligation really, really seriously for our residents as well. To put it into context, if we had continued at the current rate of spending, we probably would have used up our reserves. And I'm clear and we are all clear as a cabinet that reserves are only for a rainy day. We are in that rainy day, but it's not an everyday fix. But we would have used them up in a couple of years. By law, we have to set a balanced budget. And this budget is future proofing Hounslow's economic stability and growth. Making these efficiencies alongside raising council tax by 4.99%. We'll also ensure that our most vulnerable residents are protected and key services are modernized. So I do move this report. Before we are still ambitious, we will remain ambitious. We want to protect services. And we want to make sure that the legacy that we leave for future generations is as strong as the legacy that we have inherited. So I formally move the report. Very happy to second and reserve my right to speak. Excellent. It's been moved and seconded. I want some speakers up and take. Councillor Chivaraj Garibar first, then Councillor Shaheen. Yes, Mr. Leader and Mr. Chair. I know to making this budget and presenting this budget. It's a very difficult task and you have done it very excellently. And this budget budget is focused on efficiency in every portfolio, as you mentioned. The cuts in the budget are not to reduce the services, but to improve the efficiency and the services which we provide to the residents in a borough and which will deliver services with efficiency. In my portfolio, we will manage our infrastructure more efficiently by improving the quality of our roads, footpaths, cleansing regime, recycling, managing our street lighting more efficiently, replanting trees. Our mission based parking strategy aims to deliver a cleaner, greener and healthier. And I really appreciate the amount of work which has been put in by the officers and my colleagues in the cabinet to make this budget a very successful. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Councillor Garibar. Councillor Sheen. Councillor Salman Shaheen, Cabinet Member for Culture, Leisure and Public Spaces. Leader, thank you very much for delivering this report. Also, thank you. I want to thank you for your prudence over the last years. I think you've absolutely recognised that this is a budget full of difficult decisions. But I think we should all recognise they would be much more difficult were it not for your prudence and the prudence of officers, both past and present, who put a tremendous amount of work into ensuring our budgets have been balanced year on year and that we are in, although a challenging position, not one that is not a challenge that is insurmountable. And we have a clear path through through those times with this budget. Within my portfolio, much of this has been well trailed already. But just to briefly mention the prison library service, it's very positive news that we're able to get the MOJ to fund that rather than the council having to subsidise that for this coming year. So that's a little bit of a saving for us. We've also got some fantastic opportunities in terms of the commercialisation of our parks. This is something that residents have been asking us, the friends of parks have been asking me for quite some time. How can we ensure those people who are making money out of our parks, those businesses that are making money out of our parks, be it dog walkers or personal trainers, and in some cases entailing a maintenance cost as well, particularly in the case of dog walkers, how do we ensure those people contribute fairly? So we are going to be looking at last to implement that alongside other opportunities to commercialise our parks, also opportunities to naturalise areas of our parks, to beautify them, to make them more interesting features, whilst at the same time making very small savings on maintenance budgets. I think you can make a little bit of money go a lot further by doing some interesting things with our parks, which also meet our goals towards nature recovery and biodiversity and sustainability as well. So not a huge amount of measures within my portfolio, but those that are, I think, can be good opportunities for the borough as well. Thank you, Councillor Sheen. Councillor Both. Thank you. I wasn't going to say anything, but I think it's, it would be not prudent of me to sort of thank the officers and you for all the hard work that they have actually done. Sorry, I was going to introduce, I'm going to introduce myself, Councillor Lily Barth, Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Public Health. So I'm really pleased to be able to support this budget because I know we are in a similar situation to many other local authorities. But particularly in my area, I oversee the delivery of statutory services, Adult Social Care and we, I think in Hounslow, get very good outcomes, as you would have seen from the CQC inspection. And whilst we also spend modest amounts. So I think that is really testament to the good work that is being done here in Hounslow. And it's, we haven't just been balancing the budgets. I think we've had lots of discussions and we've brought lots of reports here to Cabinet where we've looked at how we can be ambitious and be transformational with the kind of services that we've delivered. And I think that does, that does involve a lot of creative working and I've, and I've seen that across the board. So I'm really pleased to see that. I know it is very difficult and we've been prudent and we've been very lucky in that we've had, you know, reserves and we've been careful with it. But I also did want to thank all of the frontline staff and all of the officers that actually do a sterling job with demand going up all the time that that isn't going to go away. And so, and I think it's, it's important to acknowledge and recognise that. Yeah, thank you. Absolutely agree. Anyone else? Before we get to the recommendations, there is one additional recommendation. Jake is our Executive Director of Finance and Resources and Section 451 Officer. Do you want to just... I'll paraphrase it and then we'll make sure it's minuteed. Thank you very much. Jake Backus, Executive Director of Finance and Resources. I wanted to ask for another recommendation to go in. I appreciate it's a late recommendation, but it is the ability for the council to avail itself of what is called flexible use of capital receipts regulation. It's something that the government announced as part of its finance settlement, which essentially allows local authorities to use capital receipts to fund transformational projects that deliver cashable savings. So the recommendation would be to delegate that authority to me, and then we will put the detail of that recommendation in the full council report on the 25th of February, which outlines the regulation that we need to work under, the individual line items that we're identifying that can be, we can use flexible use of capital receipts towards. And then as we go through into the new financial year, we'll test and assess each of those line items for validity against that regulation and we'll capitalize them on a case by case basis. It's important that we get that into the budget before the year starts. Hopefully that's clear. Thank you. Yeah, very clear. That's fine. So as part of the moving and seconding, that's also included. I can't see anyone else indicating, so we'll move on to the recommendation, including the new recommendation. Page 275, 276, 277. It's a lot of them. Can I see all of those in favor? So this will now go on to Borough Council. That's unanimous. Thank you very much, colleagues. Right. Final report from me for a little while is the Hounslow Company's business plan. So colleagues around the table will know Lambton is our wholly owned company that delivers a lot of services that our residents do value. They are committed to producing a business plan. And what you see before you is the business plan that has been through the shareholder committee. However, it's for cabinet to formally ratify the business plan. And what this kind of sets out is some of the great work that is happening across our companies in many of the services that our residents see on a daily or weekly basis. Also highlights where growth is coming from. It is much more of an organic growth because there are challenges within the company and also a recognition that those challenges will need to be dealt with by Lambton. And they are absolutely committed to dealing with that. And in fact, we had a very rich conversation at shareholder committee around the action planning for that and being able to demonstrate to us as shareholders that they are dealing with some of those challenges, both in terms of service delivery, but also the financial challenges that exists so that it stays on Lambton's books until they resolve it and doesn't end up on our balance sheet. As a further pressure. So it is a positive report. It is forward looking and it does talk about what the future will look like. But to give colleagues around the table the absolute reassurance as shareholder committee, myself, Councillor Bruce and Councillor Sampson are monitoring this very, very closely and we are expecting updates regularly. And of course, we will come back at the appropriate moment to cabinet to report on these as well. So I formally move the report. Very happy to second and reserve my rights. Okay, it's been moved and seconded. It's now open for discussion and debate. Anybody? Trying to fill while I find the pages in the gender pack. Where's it gone? Okay, there's no one. That's fine. The recommendation is on page 547. Can I see all those in favour? That is carried. Thank you. I'm going to take a break now. Agenda item six is additional HMO licensing consultation proposals. Councillor Bruce. Yeah, first of a few from me this evening. As colleagues around the table will know and plenty of residents I'm sure know or even live in them. The HMOs are a very standard part of life in this country now, particularly in London and certainly in Hounslow. Houses of multiple occupancy are all over our borough in many different wards in many different guises. Part of the process for HMOs is that there is a mandatory scheme, a national scheme that some of these licensing scheme that some of these properties fit under. But there are properties, classes in HMO that actually fall out of that scheme so that don't come under what the national guidance, the national licensing requirements are there for. So for those councils are able to ask to consult, which we're doing today, ask to consult on an additional licensing scheme for many of those properties. Part of that is to prove that there is a need for these additional licensing, because as you said in the report, we recognise that many of these HMOs, I'm not talking about HMOs in general, but I'm talking about these specific HMOs, are managed ineffectively and inefficiently. And there are issues that arise from that quite often, antisocial behaviour and fly tipping, but there are plenty of other issues as well. And we don't see that as acceptable in this borough, as a council and as councillors, we don't see that as something that we want. So therefore, any measures we can put in place to alleviate that for our borough's residents is something we want to look at. And that's why we want to bring in this additional licensing scheme. We have one in place at the moment, it runs out at the end of July this year. So we're looking to go to consult on extending that for a further five years. And once we've gone through that consultation, we'll bring that back to Cabinet and hopefully progress that through into a full additional licensing scheme for Hounslow. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, House Bruce. Councillor Sampson, are you seconding? Yes. I'd like to second, but reserve my right to speak. Perfect. It's been moved and seconded. It's now open for discussion and debate. Councillor Bath. Thank you. I remember when we first brought it in the very first time round, and I absolutely support this, that we go up to consultation and I hope we come back and we're able to implement the additional licensing. It's not just about antisocial behaviour, that potential antisocial behaviour that we could get from HMOs. It's the fact that we do want to have some kind of management of poor quality housing, which we know that a lot of our residents do rely on. I've had quite a lot of experience of houses multiple occupations in the last few years because both of my kids have been student accommodation and I have seen some really bad ones and I have seen some really good ones. And it's the really good ones that give you hope that actually you can have some management in terms of providing a good quality accommodation for our residents because quite a lot of our residents will be renting HMOs, will be renting houses in multiple occupation. And I think it's only going to increase, so it's good that we have additional things in place to be able to manage that. So yeah, absolutely support this idea. Thank you. Thank you, Councillor Bath. Anyone else? Councillor Thompson, in a second, did you want to say anything? Are you okay? Are you all right? Okay, so we'll move straight to the vote on this. Recommendations are on page 573, one, two and three. Can I see all those in favour? That is carried unanimously. Thank you very much. Where are we next? Is yours again, Councillor Bruce? Absolutely, yes. The local heritage list. A number of reports this evening. We've got a massive agenda printed there, I can see. But this is my favourite, I have to say. Heritage assets in this borough are something that I think we need to make sure we do, and certainly something I approve of, the support for and encouragement to highlight wherever they exist and whatever they may be. They can be very small plaques on the wall. They can be bridges. They can be buildings. A huge number across our borough and the heritage list here just highlights all the fantastic historical things that we have here. There's been a huge amount of work, I need to say, by officers here, the spatial planning team and Sean Duran particularly looking into this, working not just on his own or on their own, but going out to residents and going out to groups, getting submissions in. And a large number of these additions to the list have been submitted by local groups and local residents. And I'm really grateful for all of them to get involved, a number of groups that have been involved. As I highlighted at the beginning, I have had an email. Local resident Christine Diewell got in touch this week, and I'm really grateful for her and her comments on this just clarifying a few things. And I think what I want to say is we see this as though not necessarily that we'll be able to make reiterations as we go through the next couple of years, that I want people to be involved in this. And I really appreciate, therefore, her comments about whether something should be there or exactly what its designation is or whether a photo is exactly right. And making sure that we're as clear and concise and accurate as possible on this is really, really important. So just asking cabinet to agree on our new heritage list and taking these forward and delegating any procedural matters that come from this, including its adoption over to the director of planning and building. Thank you. Thanks, Councillor Bruce. I'll second and formally reserve my right to speak. It's now open for discussion and debate. Any comments? No, it is an exciting, well, it is an exciting, not as exciting as the budget. I will give you also give you that. But yeah, no, it's good to see. I mean, we have to obviously keep and maintain this, but actually seeing the breadth of heritage that we've got within the borough and heritage assets, I think is really great and it really tells the story of where the borough has been and actually links in well to where the borough is going, linking to the cultural strategy that you're working on, Councillor Sheehan. Actually, that's also important. We in difficult times, you can lose sight of all of this and actually having this all together is really, really important. So I really do support this report as well. As I can't see anyone indicating, we'll move straight to the vote on this on 621, two and three. Can I see all those in favour? That is carried. Thank you very much. Right. We now move on to update on progress of SEND and AP program and safety valve. Councillor Chowdhury. Thank you, Leader. Councillor Samir Chowdhury, Cabinet Member for Children's Education and Employment Skills. This report is on updates on the progress of special education, educational needs and disability, and disability is an alternative provision program and safety valve. So this program was developed to meet the following the 2022 Ofsted and CQC inspection that resulted in the area being subject to a written statement of faction. The local authority participation in the safety valve program and DfE financial program designed to address the deficit in the high needs block and send off the dedicated schools grant. So the project within the progress are a program are progressing well. This is validated by acknowledgement from the DfE stating that they have seen improved, improved abuse and impact. And ofsted and care quality commission sent an AP inspection took place in October 2024 within an improved rating. Consequently, the written statement of faction and associated monitoring regime has now ended. And in October, Ofsted inspector acknowledged that there is a lot of positive changes happening in Hounslow to make things better for children, young people and their families. However, some of the changes are new and it is too early to see the sustained impact of the local areas work. And there is a lot of passion and ambitions from the professionals to make the lived experience of children, young people and family better leaders across the partnership are put in the self evaluation of their work, and they know that they are on a journey. But there is a strong evidence that this journey is going in the right direction. So we are making a good progress. As demonstrated by the recent Ofsted CQC inspection report, colleagues across the system, all our teams within the local authority, health and schools are working hard to, in fact, change of children's young people's families in Hounslow and our work with parents is much improved. So our improvement, improvement projects are having a positive impact and we remain within the planned budget. So we continue to see demand rising overall, though at the slower rate than national and have much more to do to bring about systematic change. So Cabinet is asked to approve, sorry, asked to agree the following note progress since Cabinet approved the strategic business case in December 2023 of the Sand and Attentive Programme. And the second recommendation is to approve continuity of the Sand and AP programme and ongoing use of funding as outlined in the benefits section of this report. And I move the report, Leader. Thank you. Thank you very much. I will formally second the report and reserve my right to speak. It's now open for discussion and debate. Councillor Bath. Thank you. Thank you, Leader. So it's been a long journey. I started it, I think, when we, 2022, when we had the written statement of action. And we had obviously a lot of things to do and a big project. And underneath all of this sits lots of different projects where you can see some of the outcomes from it. I think it's, it's, I wanted to really acknowledge all the progress that has been done. I think when Department of Education came, I think they've started that 99% of all the actions have actually been completed, which is, which is a really good position to be in. But behind all of this is about services for children with send. So I know we spend a lot of money like other local authorities. It's a high spend area and we park the safety valve. But underneath all of that, it's not just about balancing the budget. We have actually made some real improvements and outcomes for, for young people and children with send. So I think it's important to recognise that. And I think the report has, has some clear examples of where we've done that. So I think it's really positive. Obviously we've got more to do, but it's the right direction. So yeah, really, really pleased to see all of this progress. Anyone else on this one? I suppose as I seconded it, just echo what you said and what you said, and thank you both for your leadership in collectively over the years in this. But also, you know, I know that the safety valve process is not an easy process. And actually the evidence base is really, really difficult. And it's really pleasing to see that we are meeting all the milestones on that, because that will have a financial neutral benefit. Do I call it a benefit? I'll call it a benefit. OK, fine. But absolutely, to your point, House of Bath, you know, it is about our young people with SEND and giving them the best outcomes in life. And we never, ever lose sight of that. So it's really important to reiterate that point. OK, no one else is indicating. So the recommendations on this report are on page 903, one and two. Can I see all those in favour? That is carried. Thank you very much. Next item is agenda item nine, House of Land Acquisition Allotment. Councillor Shaheen. Thank you very much, Leader. Now, the pandemic really underscored for us the importance of allotments in terms of the physical and mental health of our residents. In fact, I've heard from constituents who said that without their allotment, they literally would not have survived COVID. And at the same time, the effect of the pandemic has caused our allotment waiting list to swell. The race for green space, the desire for people, especially in a borough in which many flats are rightly being built without gardens. It creates a demand and a need for allotments. It's a very treasured space for many of our residents. Now, of course, the council has a statutory duty to provide those allotments. And yet the impact of the pandemic since 2018, we've seen an exponential increase in the people on our allotment waiting list. There are now over 1,800 people waiting for allotments in our borough, and that waiting list can often stretch many years. Now, I think it forms a core part of our corporate strategy. It forms a core part of our green and blue infrastructure strategy, of our growth of the future policy, of our allotment strategy, that we should provide the allotments that we need for our residents. It also, to me, seems that we should preserve those allotments that we already have in our borough. And when allotments are under threat, we should do what we can to secure those allotments for the future of our residents. Now, in this case, the park road allotments have been under threat from development a number of times. There have been a couple of planning applications on those allotments by the landowner, and those have been overturned, been turned down to appeal. So what we would hope to do, what I ask cabinet colleagues to consider, is an acquisition of these allotments to preserve that site for the future and to protect it for our residents. It's a site that was managed by the council for 100 years since they were first leased by Northumberland Estates, by the Duke of Northumberland's ancestor to the people of Isleworth to feed wounded soldiers coming back from the First World War. They've been in council managed for 100 years until the Northumberland Estates revoked that lease in order to develop the site. Now, I would ask cabinet to see if we can enter into negotiations with Northumberland Estates to acquire the allotments and preserve them for the future. Thank you, Councillor Shaheen. Councillor Sommers, are you seconding? Yes, I would just like to say a few words. This is, you know, a major step forward for us. This has been led by Councillor Shaheen, supported solely as well by Councillor John Stratter, board councillors and myself. It's, you know, the community are fully behind it, fully support it. Brilliant for Isleworth. Thank you, Councillor Sampson. It's been moved and seconded. It's now open for discussion. Councillor Dunn. Yeah, let's say well done for bringing this report. I know we're not there yet. You're asking us to approve, you know, those negotiations to go ahead. And I want to wish you or whoever will be carrying out those negotiations look in that because I think it is a really important project. And I'd like to thank you and Sue and others who have, you know, worked with residents to help preserve those allotments. You know, you've really fought for that the whole time that you've been councillor. And it's great to see it reaching this next stage of things to be able to preserve the land as allotments. And as you said, throughout the pandemic, I think as lead member for communities at that time, I saw we pioneered some micro allotments for people who didn't have any outdoor space. And that made a real difference to their lives. So I think that this this will continue in that vein as well. Thank you, Councillor Dunn. Any other comments, questions? Okay, we'll move to the vote then. The recommendations on this report are on page 930, 1.1 to 1.3. Can I see all those in favour? That is carried. Thank you very much. Unfortunately for you, it's back to me for agenda item 10, delivery plan monitoring. So this is a regular report that cabinet are used to seeing alongside our corporate plan. There was a delivery plan and being able to monitor that is incredibly important. This is the Q3 monitoring report, which has a lot of detail within the place capital and digital portfolios. Just a couple of things to bring out as part of the recommendations. We are asked tonight to approve the closure of the radical overhaul of consultation and engagement program. Everyone had a different way to pronounce the acronym across the organization, which is quite funny. That isn't going away. It is now going to be implemented as part of the business as usual within the organization. And in fact, some of the principles within ROSE, I'm going to call it ROSE, were used in the council tax support consultation as well. So it's good to see it in action. We're also approving the closure of the independent living program, noting the outcomes that have been delivered and the transition again of activity to business as usuals. And the return of 250,000 of unused budget to the one house of transformation reserve, which is always pleased to see. And finally, the addition of the end to end housing repairs project to the people portfolio as well. There is a lot of detail in here. Happy to take any questions or comments. Yes, very happy to second. And I will talk to it as well at this time just to pick out the place portfolio section, which I think is section three. Is that where it is? Sorry, wherever it is, the place portfolio part of the delivery plan. I mean, the loads of different things underneath it right across green, amber and red. And I think it would be remiss of me not to talk about some of those. As I said, huge number of green things on track, whether that's being delivered now, whether that's going to be delivered very soon, whether that's, you know, at the next stage of a long term delivery plan, number of things in amber, which means there are some risks there. And that's, you know, fair enough to, you know, we need some work to be done on those to get those moving forward. But as we talked about previously, whatever the iteration of a delivery plan or monitoring plan is, we don't greenwash here. And there are some red rated items. And I think it's important to recognize that there are some significant issues within building right across this country at the moment in London and in Hounslow. But key to Hounslow's delivery on those projects is the fact that we maintain those on our delivery plan. Those are things that we are absolutely categorically not shying away from, that we know Convent Way is a significant area for us and one that, despite financial difficulties, despite issues across buildings, we are going to push forward on. The same with Charlton House and Albany Parade, significant financial difficulties, significant financial issues in delivering those schemes. But something that we are going to continue to push forward on and exactly the same with Brentford Police Station. We know we've had reports here previously that we've moved forward. There has been planning. We've found a developer to move on that and then things have changed. But more recently, we are in very, very significant and very final stage discussions with a developer that's going to take this forward with a housing provider, I should say, that's going to take this forward. And I anticipate spades in the ground. I know it's a well used phrase and perhaps one that people don't like, but activity on site within the spring and early summer, because that is something very, very significant for that area. Something that has been coming for a long time and something delivering those homes and that art centre is not an easy thing to do, but something that we know. Absolutely. We are not shying away from and going to go full steam ahead towards it. So lots of great stuff, some challenges, but absolutely the right approach to keep going, because this is what's going to deliver the best outcomes for our residents. Inclusive growth. So we talked about it's all good. Anyone else on this? You've taken a leaf out of Councilor Dunn. You've stolen her thunder. She was she always picked something out of the delivery plan. So I'll go to Councilor Dunn next. Oops, thanks. I mean, I'd like to start by saying thank you to Councilor Bruce for talking about those particular items from the place portfolio and particularly the ones that are rated red. You know, I've raised your my concerns with you about some of those particular projects. It is concerning to see it as read on on this status report, but good to hear that, you know, we're not backing down from those plans. They are still in place and that we're working towards getting things moving where where they might have become stuck. So thank you very much for that. And yes, I was going to pull out something from my portfolio. And this time it's on the parking and curbside strategies, which we approved back in the summer and have been rolling out. And so achievements in the last period mentioned for this one and review of the area one and two of the e-bike scheme. And members will certainly be aware that there's been quite a bit of activity in this area, having rolled out the e-bike hire scheme with the dedicated parking bays for bikes in an attempt to stop them being left in places where they can cause problems for people. And we have completed now a complete review of every single one of those e-bike parking bays. And I think officers did a really, really thorough and detailed job on that. But also I need to thank all the members who contributed to that, but also all the members of the public who wrote in to express frustration about particular bays to make complaints or conversely to say how much they enjoyed using this scheme and that particular areas are the right place for a bay or asking for another one in some cases. So it was a very detailed review. The majority of the bays will stay where they are. Some will move if we found a better location. Some will be withdrawn where they're causing too many problems or where there is under use in that area. But we're determined to make the scheme work. We still think there are some problems when it comes to the way it is operated and we're in full and open discussions with the operator about that. And we're also looking forward to legislation that now has been announced by the government will be coming forward in the English devolution bill, which will assist local transport authorities in further regulating schemes of this type. Absolutely. Thank you, councillor and councillor Sheen. Thank you very much, Leader, and thank you, councillor Bruce, for your appraisal of the schemes in this report. I just want to talk briefly about the police station site of the new arts centre, which, of course, remains an absolutely integral part of our emerging cultural scene and is fundamental and vital to our culture strategy going forward and to the emerging Brentford as a destination for culture in the borough. I recognise, of course, in the report, it is rated red, but that red rating is a reflection of the challenges we've faced so far. And I think it's important to recognise those. There have been colossal challenges to that site. Everything we've done to try and overcome those challenges, which we introduced in the autumn, including the 1.4 million spend, including the changes to the design, the plans, including the advance negotiations, which are even more advanced now with the new housing provider that we'll need to take that site forward are all on track. Every conversation we've had with officers tells me that absolutely every step that needs to be taken is being taken. And every every indication is we are absolutely still on track for that. So I welcome I welcome that we are still looking forward to seeing spades in the ground in spring or summer this year. Thank you, Councillor Shaheen. Right. Can't see anyone else indicating. So the recommendations on this report are on page 980. One to seven. Can I see all those in favour? That is carried. Thank you very much. We now move on to agenda item 11, the HRA business plan. I believe Councillor Bruce, you're going to introduce this. I will introduce this. Yes, thank you very much. The HRA is the mechanism for us being able to firstly build new council homes and secondly, our estate regeneration programme, looking after the homes we have. What the business case here is looking at, and it was referenced in the budget, part of the budget that we'll see the budget that will be going to borough council, are some savings that need to be made against the HRA in order to bring the HRA business plan into line and ensure that our continued ability to build homes and to maintain the ones we have at the moment is protected. That obviously creates a difficulty because it means we're not going to be able to deliver homes or fix homes in the way that we could have done previously under the previous plan. But in order to make this economically viable, we will have to reprofile some of those to further down. It needs to protect the homes that are currently being delivered on site. It needs to protect our ability to fix and maintain the homes that we have at the moment. It maintains our commitment to building the homes that we have. And we've got some numbers within the report that we talked to how significant we feel building homes for local residents is. But we will have to reprofile them further down the business plan in order to make the whole plan come together. Clearly, you know, we had we had a business plan last year and the year before. And if the economic situation changes and changes significantly in whatever that that is, we can bring another business plan next year. And I would like to think if that was possible, we would bring some of those projects back forward again to ensure that we're building as much and as quickly and as efficiently as we possibly can. Homes in this country, homes in London, homes in Hounslow are at a premium. We know that's one of the greatest emergencies, if not the emergency, along with climate emergency, perhaps, that this country is facing. And any part that we can play as a council in delivering that for our borough's residents is vitally important. So what this report is asking is to recognise the savings targets that have been suggested within the budget. Look at how we can make further savings as this the HRA business plan goes forward over the 30 years. But I repeat, maintain our commitment to building homes and the estate regeneration that we have in the plan at the moment. So I move the report. Thank you, Councillor Bruce. Can you second Stephanie? Yes, I'd like to second. I don't want to repeat anything that Tom's already said. But I would just like to add that with the plans proposed savings, the HRA business plans proposed savings, the, I want to place special emphasis on the, we need, you know, we're maintaining our stock at the highest standards of safety and quality. And this is to meet the new regulatory standards that come into effect from April. So I just want to make sure that, you know, there's particular emphasis on there. Yep. Well made point. Thank you, Councillor Samson. So it's been moved and second it is now open for discussion and debate. So from my perspective, if I may, I'd say absolutely echo both Councillor Bruce and Councillor Samson's words. Absolutely, we have an ambitious set of targets in terms of building and maintaining our estates. But this is a prime example where a number of factors working against us have come to the fore, you know, increasing demand, increasing inflation. But then also in this context, rent caps over many years have impacted on the HRA. Again, why stewardship of the HRA has meant that a little bit of tough love now means that the HRA does become more viable very, very quickly. And I think that's that's important to note. It is completely reinforced towards those regeneration ambitions that we have, but also the maintenance of our existing stock as well to make sure that they are not only fit for purpose, but also fit for the climate emergency as well going forward. So whilst on paper, this looks tough, I'm confident that we are making the right decision at the right time for future viability of the HRA. So I can't see anyone else indicating. So the recommendations on this are on page 1,086, 1.1 to 1.7. Can I see all of those in favour? Thank you very much, colleagues. Right, we then move on to the Tenancy Strategy 2025. Councillor Samson, over to you. Thank you, Leader. The Cabinet, I'm bringing forward the Tenancy Strategy 2025. The Cabinet is asked to approve recommendations 1.1 to 2.8 in the Cabinet report. And I would just like to add that the overview really, that the main change proposed in the Tenancy Strategy is to remove the five year fixed term flexible tenancies as the default granted to new tenants on completion of their introductory 12 month tenancy. To instead grant a secure lifetime tenancy, this gives additional security to our tenants and removes an administrative burden on housing to review tenancies every five years. We consulted with all our current tenants and households on the Housing Register, over 500 of whom responded voicing overwhelming support of this measure. So I therefore recommend this report to Cabinet for approval. Thank you. Councillor Samson, Councillor Bruce, are you seconding? I'm seconding and supporting, obviously, this report. I mean, I think the underlying principle perhaps behind what it appeared, the underlying principle behind the original idea of these fixed term flexible tenancies sounded perhaps a good idea. But what the report makes clear is in practice that actually doesn't work. And the mechanism within the lifetime tenancies is sufficient to work to our advantage, but also the advantage of the residents who are moving in. And I think actually taking away that administrative burden, but also giving people a bit more security where they deserve it. Both of those things are absolutely right. Where things go wrong and things do go wrong, there are mechanisms in place that we can use to solve those. So I think that needs to be clear that it's not, you know, under no circumstances will anything happen. But it does give that, you know, greater assurance to residents while also taking away any burden that we might have in the administration of it. So very supportive. Yes. Thank you both. As we moved in a second, it's now open for discussion and debate. Can't see. Oh, Councillor Bath. Yeah. Nearly got away with it there. No, I'm going to be very brief. I absolutely support it. I know that the principle behind why we had it in the first place was to make sure that we, you know, we are also able to use it where we need to. But actually, given the insecurity in the housing sector for so many rented people, I think this is absolutely the right way to go. So, yeah, thank Councillor Sampson for taking this forward. Thank you. Yeah, absolutely. OK. The recommendations on this report are on page 1,125, 1.1 and 1.2. Can I see all those in favour? That is carried. Thank you very much. Right. We now move to agenda item 13, the admissions arrangements for the London Borough of Hounslow. Councillor Chowdhury, over to you. Thank you, leader. This report is on admission arrangement for our community schools for 2026 to 2027. academic year. And we are not recommending any changes to the admission criteria from previous year. It sets out in the Appendix A scheme. And we are just seeking agreement. So there is no key financial. implementation of for for for for us. Only item of change is the published admission. Now. And we are proposing for primary and secondary with enhanced law for 2026 to 2027 academic year. And we are not recommending any changes to the admission criteria from previous year. It sets out in the Appendix A scheme. And we are just seeking agreement. So there is no key financial implementation of for for for us. Only item of change is the published admission number of Isleworth down reducing intake for reception for 2026 from 120 to 90 people. And for Wellington primary reducing intake for reception for 2026 from 120 to 90. These changes have been not and this has been basically looked at and there have been not any objection raised during consultation on this. And the school and the governors are very supportive of this change. And I moved the report on my paperwork where I've got is one hundred and eighty six report is one hundred hundred eighty six. The recommendations on page hundred and eighty six. So I think you've got the different number. I certainly do have a different number. I'll formally second it and reserve my right to speak. It's open for discussion and debate. I can't see anyone indicating. So my report is on page one thousand one hundred and fifty two. I've got everything. Yeah. There's one recommendation on that page. Can I see all those in favour? That is carried. Thank you very much. Right. Hounslow Heat Network project agenda item 14. Council done. Thank you. So this is the report I've been waiting to introduce all evening because I think this is an incredibly exciting project. I'm really pleased to be bringing this report to Cabinet to ask for your go ahead to move to the next phase. To give a little background for this and explain it to people and anyone who was watching the last Cabinet meeting will have seen me give the my annual update on the climate emergency action plan and will have seen me speak about the difficulties. And the big challenges that we face, particularly in terms of heating domestic properties and the houses, the flats, the homes that we all live in throughout the borough, but also when it comes to commercial properties as well. And this heat network is going to be one of the answers and it's it's it's a brilliant project. I mean, we're in very early stages. There's a long way to go yet, but if it is successful, it could be delivering heat produced from waste. Sewage basically waste heat from sewage from from from Mugden Sewage Works, which is in our borough. It could be delivering heat by 2030 potentially if if this if this goes to plan. And so there's been a lot of work done so far in mapping out where the network would sit, where it could deliver heat to what would be the most efficient way of doing it. And we're now at that next stage or where we want to move to the next stage to develop the first phase of a of a heat network. Now, we would be doing this in in collaboration with a commercial partner. It's not something that the council has has the funds to deliver. And and and the plan is that we that that that would be funded by by the private sector, but with that co cooperation of of the council and with those overseeing things to make sure that we're delivering a network that delivers for the people of the borough. And not only to provide carbon free heating, but also that people are getting a good deal that they won't be paying more than they would have been otherwise if they stayed on gas heating and and to make sure that that it's. Yeah, that people are getting a good deal out of this, the new the future potential customers, whether that is domestic customers or indeed businesses, although there would be greater protections, I think, for for our domestic customers. And this is a network that would serve both council housing, other housing association, other social housing, but also private sector housing and other organizations in many places in the borough. So what we need to do next is put in a bid to the green heat network fund. So this is government fund. I'm proposing that we put in a bid for 11 million pounds of capital funding. This is for commercialization and construction of the phase one scheme. We move ahead with finding, you know, commercial partner who would then bring in funding of their own and and then move forward from that stage. So that's the ask, really. I hope everyone here agrees with me that it's an exciting idea and something that we absolutely should be doing and moving ahead with. Thank you, Councillor Dunn. I was also very secretly excited about this report. It brings out the inner geek in me. So in second, I'll just say a few words. I mean, I was fortunate with our our friends at Opportunity London to be able to visit Copenhagen recently to see their district heat network, which was has been in operation for a very, very long time. And and coming back to have these discussions with you, Councillor Dunn, on this, our version of the heat network is incredibly exciting, because you can actually see apart from the the sciencey bits which were really, really interesting, actually how how transformative it is for residents in Copenhagen, how much it could benefit residents here in Hounslow and also the benefit for us in terms of decarbonizing some of the grid, which I think is really, really important as well. And taking it from waste heat is is really, really, really interesting as well. But sort of looking at it through the planning lens as well, we know that there is a big demand for data centers. So actually there is a potential future pipeline of waste heat there as well that we can tap into and utilize. So, you know, I think we should hopefully be successful in this bid. I think we will have a very strong case to make famous last words. I hope not. But, you know, I think there is a strong bid there. And actually, this is the catalyst for even more work across the borough that I think will absolutely transform this borough and really benefit all of our residents, no matter where they are and businesses as well in this borough. So I support this with both hands up because I think it is absolutely fantastic. So it's been moved and seconded very enthusiastically. Councillor Shaheen, are you going to be as enthusiastic? I am indeed. And I must say, as politicians, I think it should surprise no one that we all get excited about hot air. But Councillor Dunn, thank you very much for bringing this forward. It's an absolutely fantastic proposal. I think if you look at the colossal challenges we face as a planet, which are just getting harder and harder by the day, we're not going to meet those challenges unless we are innovative in terms of technology and also infrastructure. And this ticks the box as one of those forward thinking policies, forward looking policies that if we invest in now can pay dividends for our environment. We'll, as we always say, is that always caveat that Hounzo is just a small part of that. But this is us playing our part. Thank you for bringing it forward. Absolutely. Thank you very much, Councillor Shaheen. Can't see anyone else indicating on this report. So the recommendations on this report are on page 1191. One to three. Can I see all those in favour? As promised, I'll put two hands up. I can't vote twice. But I can't vote twice. That's not been recorded twice. Good. Thank you, Councillor Dunn. Right. Agenda item 15, the infrastructure funding statement and update on SIL and Section 106 allocation process. Yes, Councillor Bruce. Thank you. Yes. So we've had a number of the most exciting reports this evening. I'm going to take back my original comment on the heritage and say this is the most exciting. So I'm very, very keen on development and housing and providing homes for people in this borough. It's a very important thing. I talked about it in the previous in the HRA business plan, providing those homes. We have a housing emergency here and making sure that people have a nice place to live is incredibly important. But, however, on the flip side of that, often the criticism we get from residents who are already living here or in that area where a development takes place is, well, that's all well and good. But what do we get from this? You're building all these homes, there's, you know, extra people, extra cars, extra, you know, what do we get? And the response to them and my, you know, technical now response, my actual official response here can be, and it always is, this is part of that. This is what you are going to get back from those developments. Developers build some homes and part of the money that they spend has to go into the community infrastructure levy in the council, which then we can allocate to various projects across the council. Some of those are within our own programs, whether that be transport or parks. And there's a significant number amount of money going towards transport and parks provision, green space provision in this borough, almost almost 8 million into our green spaces, but also into external projects as well. Money going towards Chiswick House and Gardens, money going towards the NHS at West Mid. So really exciting things that we are able to do for our boroughs residents as a result of the development that comes here, as a result of homes and houses that get built here. The infrastructure funding statement talks about previous allocations to various projects. It talks about the SIL and the S106, of which there is a slight difference, but essentially it's money going towards projects. And it talks about that which is allocated for this financial year. We're talking around 10 million pounds this year, which is a huge amount of money. And although there are fluctuations over time, the anticipation over the next few years is if things continue to improve as we hope they are going to be, this will only continue to get bigger and grow. And we'll be able to allocate more money to projects like this. So extremely exciting. Absolutely what people, I think, look for when we talk about developments in their area. This is what you are getting back or one of those things that you are getting back, those additional money that we can spend on things that matter to you in your area. So I move this report. Thank you. Councillor Bruce. Councillor Schoening, do you second? I wasn't going to second. I'm happy to do that. Yeah, go on. Well, may I second this report and put on record thanks for all the dosh. I very much appreciate it. Harking back to what I said earlier in the evening about allotments and how it's important to preserve and enhance our green spaces when we are a borough that rightly prioritises development. We are a borough that has overseen a great amount of construction and that has built the houses that we need. But with that, we also need to have green spaces that those people who are coming into our borough, those people who are living in the many flats that are going up, can come and enjoy. And by creating, preserving, enhancing, expanding our green spaces, as this money helps us to do, we secure a future for our borough that is one which gives people places to live, but also a quality of life that they enjoy. Yeah, completely agree. Okay, it's been moved and seconded. It's now open for discussion and debate. Can't see anyone indicating, so we'll move straight to the vote on this. Recommendations are on 1,209. One, two, three. Can I see all those in favour? That is carried. Good. Back over to you for agenda item 16, confirmation of Article 4 direction, Councillor Bruce. Yes. So, people may remember, we have an Article 4 direction in the Council already. A couple of years ago, we confirmed, 18 months, two years ago, we confirmed Article 4 direction on HMOs borough-wide. That means not that HMOs can't be built or can't exist, but it means that they will need to get planning permission going forward. They need to get planning permission if they want to convert a home or any property into an HMO. It takes away permitted development rights for those. What we're saying here is that we're taking away, we're asking to take away permitted development rights on a particular class of property, class E, which means that under the current rules, those office blocks can be directly converted into homes. And what we think is actually that shouldn't happen without planning permission. We want the highest quality of homes in our borough. So, we're saying that putting an Article 4 direction in place means that we can take far more control over any changes that people wish to make. Again, it doesn't mean it can't happen, but it just means that there is control within the Council about where it happens, how it happens, and which properties it happens to. It's not a borough-wide one. It is specific in various areas. Essentially, a red line has been drawn around where there are all commercial properties here, which targets it in those areas and isn't a borough-wide thing, but does specify all the town centres, all the small parades of shops to make sure that we captured them within this Article 4 direction. So, we have had significant consultation that was brought forward, I think, April last year. And assuming that we agree to this right now, this will be implemented from April this year. I move the report. Thank you. Thanks, House Bruce. I'll formally second and reserve my right to speak. Fairly straightforward report. I think anyone? Councillor Dunn. Yes, I think obviously very much the right thing to do for all the reasons set out by Councillor Bruce. But also to mention that one of the ways we managed to secure affordable housing for the borough is through planning applications. And then there's Section 106 agreements, including provision of affordable housing that come along with that. And we need all of the affordable housing that we can get. So, every councillor will know that housing casework is the biggest thing that lands in their inbox, that comes to their surgeries. We need more homes for the borough, and we need more homes that people can afford for the borough. And so, by having this Article 4 direction in place, we can ensure that as many of the new developments as possible do include either affordable homes on site or that contribution to them elsewhere. Absolutely agree. Thank you, Councillor Dunn. Okay. Can't see anyone else indicating the recommendations on this report are on page 1,278, 1 and 2. Can I see all those in favour? Thank you. That's unanimous. Right. Final report of the evening is agenda item 17, financial monitoring update. This is the update for quarter three. And in many respects, whilst there is a substantial amount of detail, we've covered a lot of it when we talked about the budget. And actually this is playing out some of the themes that are contained within the budget report at a quarter level. It highlights where some of the pressures exist and how we're doing financially. It reads itself. Needless to say, the report obviously requires us as a cabinet to carry on being financially prudent and looking at every cost, every efficiency that we can drive within the system to help prevent those in-year pressures that do exist, that get compounded when we get to budget time. So I'm not going to dwell too much on it, but happy to take any questions if there are informally moving it. Can you second it? And I will second it and reserve my right to speak. Cool. It's been moved and seconded. Anybody wish to comment on this? No? Okay. So the recommendations on this are on page 1,357, 1 to 7. Can I see all those in favour? That is carried. Thank you very much. Right. Gender item 18. I've not had any referrals from any other council committees. I've not had any urgent business. Would someone mind moving exclusion of press and public? Councillor Bruce? Oh, Councillor Bath, seconded by Councillor Chowdhury. Is that agreed? Right. At this point, for those on the webcast and those that are not council officers or councillors in the audience, thank you very much. Good night. See you again soon. Just let me know what's going on. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. We will see you next time. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Zolanda.