Transcript

Thank you for the meeting. Thank you to members, officers, the public. Thank you to you and those who have joined us online. Good. The usual drill about fire alarms and filming in the council. There's no questions from members of the public. Apologies. Do you have any apologies? You're here for Julia. Welcome. Thank you. Abdul Wahid. Abdul Wahid. Apologies from him. Other than that, all the other corporate directors and members are here. Thank you. Any declarations of interest, members? Anyone? No? Okay. Grateful to you. And minutes of the 29th of January. Anything burning there? You okay? Yep. Great. Steve, any announcements, please? Just one, Mayor. Thank you. You asked me to update Cabinet on a regular basis in relation to best value. And my update for this meeting is that the Transformation Assurance Board continues to take shape. That we are having regular meetings with the invoice. In fact, Kim is here this evening. There will be an away day for the Transformation Assurance Board in March. And there is a development session for overview and scrutiny to have input into the council's continuous improvement plan, which is scheduled for the 27th of February. And I will update members on a regular basis. Mayor, thank you. Thank you, Steve. Thank you, Steve. There's no pre-scrutiny of questions. I don't believe the chair is here. The chair is online. Please, if there's anything you want to say, Councillor, feel free. Now is your time. Thank you. Councillor Islam, are you there? Yes, I am. Hello. Please, it's your time. Thank you. Thank you. So, just to give you an update to our Cabinet meeting this week, our meeting this week focused on community safety as we held a spotlight with the Borough Commander and heard the views of Safer Neighbourhood Ward Panel Chairs. I'd like to note that the committee's thanks to the Borough Commander James Conway and Safer Neighbourhood Panel Chairs Julia, Shana Naha and Tim Lowe for joining us. I'd also like to thank Councillor Chowdhury for joining us and providing the council's perspective and key insights on how working as a partnership with the police. The views of the ward panels conveyed significant issues with drug dealing, drug use and an apprehension in residents to report incidents to the police, which is driven by a lack of trust and belief that action will be taken. They felt that addressing issues of drug dealing is not prioritised and the committee will be writing to the Community Safety Partnership Board to ask them to review this. The committee questioned how the police are addressing the lack of trust and the impact this has on reporting. We are pleased to hear that this is being taken seriously, with an acceptance that it is not a quick fix and will be a decade-long task. The committee identified a clear need for improved comms across the partnership, as well as increasing the capacity of third-party reporting sites. I'd like to note that we also held a scrutiny challenge session this week, focusing on hate crime. We will shortly present Cabinet with a report and recommendation that will call for further actions to strengthen third-party reporting. Closely linked to issues of trust, we discussed and raised concerns around the use of stop and search. There are clear issues of disproportionality in our black community, and we were encouraged by the Know Your Rights material, which is educating young people, along with working with officers, to ensure it is used at the right time and leads to better outcomes. It was widely acknowledged by the committee and our guests around the several strands that the Council is stepping up to fill the gaps in community safety. The committee has also discussed the need for better communication to residents to provide a clear distinction of roles between police and the Council, the need for increased representation in the police force, and the high level of turnover, and the impact this has on residents' feelings of safety and neighbourhood policing. Next, the committee also considered the workforce to reflect the community strategy, which is being considered by Cabinet this evening. The committee endorses this significant piece of work, and we'd like to thank the officers for comprehensive strategy that they have delivered. We discussed the Council's plans to increase representation in senior roles, how anonymous recruitment works, the impact of the redundancy programme, and how this will be monitored, trends in the disability pay gap, and how the strategy will look to capture and incorporate data around social class. We are pleased to see positive figures around the representation of care leavers, and we would ask the Council to push this further and ensure, as we do, they are supported with appropriate wraparound support to help set them up for long-term success. We know that some of the positive changes this strategy would deliver may take some time to see. However, the committee would emphasise the need to complement the mid- to longer-term success with immediate cultural and good practice, so that we match the strategy with aspiration, and the changes are seen at the highest levels of this Council. Our final item focused on the local plan and provided the committee with an opportunity to shape the plan ahead of approval at full Council. The committee noted the reservations raised by the Greater London Authority and questioned how the Council have incorporated an effective response to their concerns. The committee highlighted the need to ensure there is appropriate mitigation in place to respond to them. The committee also questioned how the plan reflects residents' engagement and the steps taken to ensure their views are considered and managed alongside statutory responsibilities the Council has. Specifically, the committee questioned the steps taken to ensure early engagement in Fish Island and Hackney Wick. The committee acknowledges all the hard work that goes into this piece of work and want to thank everyone involved in this process. Thank you very much. That's all from me. Thank you, Councillor, for your contributions. Grateful to you. Can we now move on to the formal part of the business, please? Yeah, thank you. Okay, first agenda is 6.1, a workforce to reflect the community. Please, officers, please, please. Please. Please. Thank you. Thank you. Good. All in, Anna. Welcome. Thank you very much. Saeed, you want to kick off, please, yeah? Okay. Thank you. Thank you, Mayor. So, this is a paper that we've worked on for a very long time, just to make sure that we are in track with what we sort of aspire to do. So, this paper here is mainly looking at our action plan, and it has a detailed action plan on areas we want to achieve, from monitoring, evaluations, recruitment selections, entry-level, graduate careers, and talent management, as well as leadership and pay gaps. It also increases into newer areas, which is highlighted in the report. So, it is a detailed report, and hopefully, through this amazing work, I want to thank the officers and lead members, as well as Mayor's Office, for taking this leadership and bringing this to the Cabinet today. And it shows us we have made great stride in getting to where we want to get to, and also shows us that the plans that we've put in place, it's going to show us a successful picture going forward. So, Mayor, I don't want to really take too much of our time, but I just want to say that this is a great piece of work here, and I would like kind of for the officers to go into the details. Thank you. Thank you. Is there anything you want to say, Julie? Madam Julie, are you okay? Yeah, please feel free. No, not at all. Anna has done all the work on this, Mayor. I think she should talk to you, please. Yep, thank you. Okay. Good evening, Mayor and Councillors, everybody. So, just before Anna speaks, this is just to summarise. So, this workforce to reflect the community and the action plan that you'll get a summary of this evening. It builds on the 2024 to 2026 plan. It is, this was, the work started in 2023, and it also talks about actions. It is ambitious because it needs to be. Anything that is aiming in terms of what we are here, in terms of the community, needs to be ambitious, and it needs to be innovative. All of that which is contained within this plan going forward. It is designed to be, it is designed to make us stand out in terms of EDI in this council, to be leaders in the field, in terms of working to reflect our community that we work in. And so, with that, I'll pass over to Anna to walk you through. Thank you. Thank you to the lead member who's already outlined the report. Just to go into a little more detail, there is a section on achievements for 23-24 that shows what we've delivered so far. And in the pack, Appendix 3, there are a number of charts and graphs which are in the strategy but have been pulled out for ease of reference. And they show actual progress from 22-24, just to give you a bit of a kind of wider view of what's happened over the past two years. We've added something about the context that we're working in, in terms of changes at senior levels, the insourcing of Tower Hamlets Homes, just to set the context around the work. And just to go into a little more detail on the five new areas that we've got in there, those areas have been added to address issues raised in the Best Value Inspection Report, as well as feedback from employees and staff networks, things that have come up over the last year or so. And those new sections cover culture, which covers issues around how we move to being an anti-racist organisation at a systemic level, rather than just personal and interpersonal, amongst other things. We've got a socio-economic section, which looks at how we start to look at socio-economic factors and how that underpins equality work, including moving to the ambition to report our class pay gap. There's a section on neurodiversity, which, again, is an issue that's coming more and more from staff, to look at how we support people who are neurodiverse right through the employment life cycle. Something around disability, again, part related to the Best Value Inspection around how we do reasonable adjustments better, how we can reduce grievances in that area. And then the last section is on care experience that we've adopted as an additional protective characteristic, what we can give for staff and how we collect data around that. So this has been done in terms of stakeholder engagement with trade union colleagues, with staff networks, through engaging with staff through things like a pod session for Innovation Month, and looking at external input from organisations that we are corporate members of, like the Employers Network for Equality and Inclusion. There will be a comms plan and branding around this. There will be a forward added from the mayor before we publish. And we're thinking of a year-long comms plan that looks at different areas each month, so that we embed this in the work that we do. And also to say that we will be on a reporting basis. I'll stop there, and if anybody's got any questions, I'd be happy to see them. Thank you. Thank you very much. The Deputy Mayor, please, yeah. Thank you, Mr Mayor. I welcome this strategy. Thank you to the lead member and our officers. I think it catches our vision, our aspiration, including the Mayor and the Cabinet. Since 2022, we've made a huge achievement. We've got so much to celebrate in terms of senior recruitment, not just in terms of gender gap, but also when it comes to BAME senior officers. I mean, we have one corporate director. I think we've got eight directors within the council, and also within the eight, we've got five Bangladeshi directors who are, you know, product of Tower Hamlets. And that's why the strategy targets are so important. And I would like to thank everyone who were involved, especially the Mayor and the Chief Executive and your officers, I think everyone contributed to all this achievement. And so I just wanted to highlight that. Thank you, everyone. Thank you. Tala. Thank you. Thank you, Mayor. Can I first start off by thanking Anna and the team, including colleagues in the Mayor's office, for producing this. It's been mentioned a few times already that it's been developing for quite some time. And there's reason for that, because we want to get this right. And I'm just referencing an email exchange from, I think, the 23rd of June, 2023, when we started talking about how, you know, we can develop this. And some of this stuff is within there. So whether it's in Section 10, looking at mentoring, reverse mentoring, we're talking about launching potentially or considering public versus private exchange program, see if we can learn things from the private sector, and vice versa, teach them a few things. And then some of the other more operational things, like ensuring all managers have an ED&R objective in their Mars process. I think all this stuff in time will make a huge impact. And I'm definitely looking forward to us being the trailblazer in London, if not beyond London. I do think some of the ideas that we've got on there really gives a step up to probably underrepresented groups. And I think one of the main reasons why I think this is so important is because, not because I think it's the right thing to do, but because for us to really make a change locally, and for us to understand some of the issues locally, officers within the council have to understand the issues locally. And I think that goes a long way, the whole lived experience. And when you combine that with data, and I know this organisation is working towards being more data-focused, I think that is a really powerful combination. So I look forward to this, you know, bearing fruit in months and years to come. And I just want to thank everyone that's been involved. Thank you, Tala. Councillor Schafi, please. Thank you, Mr Mayor. Good evening all. With the diverse and unique democratic makeup of Tau Hamnas as a borough, it's so important that the council and its services are reflective of this service. And I'd like to thank the officers for bringing this forward. And this will enable transparency, better representation and effective service for our residents. This council's commitment to reaching every minority group and each individual in its group, whereby continuing to strategise a way that we are improving our inclusivity, we can make a sustainable change for our residents and ensure the satisfaction. I look forward to the data going forward. Thank you. Thank you. No one else? Councillor Kabir Ahmed. Thank you, Mr Mayor. Let me start off by thanking Anna and the team for producing this report. One of the areas I just wanted to pick up on is in terms of benchmarking against £60,000 salad brackets, just if we draw context to it, in 21-22, £60,000 represented kind of grade O, N stroke O. In today's time, £60,000 represents the top end, or actually sort of you're with the new pay increase around the bottom of M grade and the top end of L grade. So in terms of grading and positions, that's moved on with inflation. So I think in future, we need to have an understanding of what it means to either be on £60,000 or your position within the council structure. So if we're looking at, in terms of the glass ceiling, where is that glass ceiling? Because financially, £60,000 doesn't necessarily cover that because we're moving with inflation. So, I mean, right now, it's a good sort of scoping exercise and we're capturing it at middle management level. But if we're fixated on the sum of money, then we're not following the trajectory of positions with inflationary increases. So, I mean, it's an excellent piece of work. But going forward, we've got to be a little bit more flexible in how we benchmark around positions as well, as opposed to just the financial element. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. This report addresses areas of inequality, which is a priority for this council. And I'm pleased that having a workforce that fully reflects at all levels, the diversity of the population of our borough is being taken seriously. And I strongly believe that we are well on track to achieving this. And I commend all those involved in this work. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Thank you very much. Councillor Kibria. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. We welcome this report. And I am very happy to see that we as a council are meeting all of our targets in terms of increasing the diversity of our workforce across race, gender, and ethnicity and religion. As we implement this action plan, it is essential to remember that structure is more important than numbers. As a borough, we must not lose sight of our core objectives to create a diverse workforce and a council that genuinely reflects its residents, not only through recruitment, but also in the way it operates as well. Thank you. Thank you. Steve, please. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I just wanted to make the point that I really, having been here on this journey for some time, I think it's an excellent piece of work. And when I speak to other chief executives, Mayor Ginoda, across London, they would love to be in the position that we are going to be in as a result of this piece of work. And I think it's a message for comms, really, as much as anything else. When we do good stuff, we need to get better at promoting it, making sure that others have the opportunity to learn from the work that we're doing. So I suppose it's a request, Mayor, and perhaps something that could be minuted as well. I think it's really important that we promote the excellent work that we're doing, that we promote the excellent work we're doing in this respect, and we ask for some comms, some feedback from comms, about how we might be able to promote that, both regionally and nationally. Sir Andrew is here, I'm sure, has made note of it. Okay, great. I mean, I echo the sentiments that have been expressed by the chief executive and members and officers. This was, and is a top priority for us since we've been here. A lot of work has gone into this area, and it was a top priority when we were here previously, making sure that this council reflects the very community that we serve in all levels of our staff force. I'm grateful to Julie for the time and effort that you've put in to make this happen. Pauline, thank you. I'm not sure if you've been here, you've been very much with it, but in particular to Anna. You've been very instrumental, very listened to our aspirations and our drive to get this document through Cabinet. It's taken us long, but it was necessary to spend that time to get it right, and Aliboy Chowdhury from the Mayor's Office at the time that you both, and others have worked together to bring this possible, make this possible. So I echo Steve's sentiments that it's something that we should share with others. We don't have all the wisdom. We want to learn from others too, but if others want to pick up some of our best practice, we should welcome that. So a good comms strategy around this is very important. I think we are on the right trajectory, given the makeup of our corporate management team and the DMT, the division management team, we'll go back to a lower level below that. We want to make sure it reflects the very aspiration that we have set out here. So thank you for the work that you've put in. So, okay, can we agree the updated workforce we'll select the community strategy, please? Yeah, an action plan. Okay, thank you. It's agreed. Thank you very much. Okay, can we move on to the next paper, please, which is the contracts forward plan. Okay, Said. Thank you, Mayor. So, we, as we know that supply and services contracts over 1 million pounds in value and Capital Works over 5 million come to Cabinet for approval. And for quarter three, we have three in communities. They are to do with CCTV operators. Second one is to do is purchase of mechanical sweepers for waste services. And third one is for purchase of food waste vehicle for waste services. We have one in health and adult social care, which is to do with the East London apartments. And we have one in housing and regeneration to do with electrical corporate contracts. The mayor, they are listed out in the appendix. And from our previous meetings, the amendments have all been carried out. I've gone through them. Thank you, Greg. Let's go through them one by one. Okay, so make sure we're on the same page. Andy and your colleague, thank you. Thank you for coming. So, is there anything you want to add, Julie, to what's been said? No, the information's all here, Mayor. Happy to answer any questions anybody's got. Appendix 1, C06062, CCTV operators. It's extremely important. We've invested a lot of money in the CCTV control room and a lot of money into fighting crime and the causes of crime. We've got to have the people to go with, making sure that the control room is working. Anything you want to add to this? It's 3 plus 1, which is what I prefer. Absolutely, Mr. Mayor. As I say, all the changes from the previous meetings have been incorporated into the supplementary pack. If you do have any further questions to this. Yep. You okay? Everyone okay? We can agree with this? Yep. Great. Good. And the next one is the purchase of mechanical sweepers for waste services, vehicle replacement programme for 2528. It's one off purchase, outright purchase. Anything you want to add, please, Andy? No, but again, for this one and the next one, Mr. Mayor, we have the officer present, if you want any further questions answering specifically. If you could just help me, Richard. Please, what we suggested last time, because of the size of our streets and our roads, you know, and how busy it is, we suggested that we don't purchase the same size that we purchased last time. Yeah, that we were more, the smaller vehicles, rather than very large vehicles, because of the accessibility through our roads. Has that been reflected in this? Yes, Mayor. So, basically, our proposal going forward will be to actually switch from mostly big sweepers to mostly small sweepers with one big sweeper. So, it's likely that we will have seven, or actually eight smaller sweepers that are more suitable for sweeping our roads and a large sweeper. And we will look to get some demonstration vehicles to show you those, Mayor, so you can have a look at what we're planning to buy before we buy. So, John Wheatley and Vlad, our passenger transport manager, are looking to line up those demos so we can show you exactly what we're intending to buy. But, yeah, what we get meets the needs of our streets to do a better job. We're saying eight smaller sweepers. How many large sweepers? It's likely to be eight small, one large. Okay, okay, okay. Obviously, you're the expert, but just because of practicality, you know, we just want to reach as many roads and streets, small ones, as possible, which sometimes are very dirty. Okay, thank you. Anyone? Anything you want to add to what's been said? No? No, just to note that, you know, once we see the vehicles before it actually is purchased, it'll be a good thing to showcase what we're going to do. So, looking forward to that soon. Okay. And how soon can we purchase these? Well, we are looking to crack on this procurement and have them by June, if we can get them. So, we're looking to really push hard with the shortest possible timescale. So, we're pushing hard. Good, good. And there'll be things of beauty. Yeah, we just want to make sure you continue with keeping our roads and our streets clean and safe. Anyone else? If not, can we go on? I'm just looking at this. It says opportunities to deliver social value will be explored as part of this procurement process. So, how do we know? I mean, if there's been any social value or anything, do we get any information? Well, all of our contractors now, and Andy can add to this, are expected to put forward social value proposals, whether that is supporting training, development. Quite often, the most easy one is that they offer to provide support for training, development, skills, expertise. So, we'll be looking at that as part of our valuation process. But the procurement regulations have changed and there's more pressure now to be able to extract tangible social value, which actually, for us, is probably more about opportunities for training, jobs. We have an expectation. I know you went through the new procurement rules with us the other day. But normally, we have an expectation of minimum 10%. Yeah? How come these don't reflect this? It's much, a bit more leaving it up in the air that you're going to explore. We'll write the 10% in as a stipulation, Mr Mayor. Can you do that? Rather than giving flexibility. I think the purpose of this was to explain that we're looking more creative ways than the bog standard. Give us this, that and the other. To explore how best to extract the social value from this sort of purchase, really. The first one... We'll make sure that we put the 10% in. Sure. The first one, you said 10%, which is good. Second one, please. Can we make sure... Can we put the amendment in, please? Yeah? Okay. The amendment is we're saying our expectation is 10%. You can get more, fantastic. If not, minimum, 10%. Yeah? Is that okay? We agree subject to that amendment. Absolutely, Mr Mayor. Okay? The third one is... Thanks, Richard. The purchase of food waste vehicles for waste services. Is there anything you want to add to that? What's there? It's quite self-explanatory. Again, it's one-off. We will request that the community benefits reflects the 10% desire, please. Yeah? Anyone? Any comments? Shafi, you okay? Okay. Good. Can we agree with this? Subject to that caveat, please. 10% caveat. The next one is the East London Department. Okay. Again, it's... Self-explanatory, please. Oh, I don't have anyone here specifically from the service, although I've been involved. This is a direct grant that comes from the Housing Ministry, which runs through us in order to fund this hostel. It's a direct award. It's been awarded there since 2021. We only know what the grant is on a year-to-year basis, so that's why it's for a year produced there. There are certain posts that the grant also covers which are under review as well, so that's with that caveat. And at the top, Mr. Mayor, you will see that if the grant is not extended into 2025, the service will be commissioned. But that is... The grant specifically comes to be commissioned for this particular hostel. Okay. There's a slight error at the heading. It says contract extension for six months. Later on, page 125, it says one year. I think it's one year, isn't it? Yes, Mr. Mayor, that's why the supplementary pack has included the amendment since they were published originally. Okay. So it is definitely one year, Mr. Mayor. Yeah, we say it's one year, 12 months, yeah, to align with the grant making. Community benefits, Andy, can you just explain it to us? Can we put... I think as this is an ongoing service, I think the community benefit in itself is a service to provide... Okay, it's an extension, that's why. Okay. Anyone else? Are we okay with it? Extend it for another 12 months, yeah? Is it okay? Okay. Then the next one is the electrical MTC corporate contract, two plus one plus one, four years in total, then we get breaks in between. Okay. Total value of services. What's the total value? Okay. Fun, capital eight, all right. It's a central service provided across the capital estate. Okay. And the social value is 10% overall weighting, which is good. Anyone? Anyone else? Fine. Yeah. You okay with it? Okay. Agreed. Okay. I think we're done. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Thank you, everybody. Thank you very much. Okay. The next one is the waste treatment disposal. Go on, please. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Just to clarity on this one is most of the reports in pink. Yeah. So just whether you're happy to continue in public or whether you wish to go into exempt session to discuss any part. Good. Okay. Shafi? Mr. Mayor, good evening again. As a waste disposable authority, we have a statutory duty to arrange for recycling treatment disposable of approximately 102,000 tons of waste per year of a local authority collection. We have two contracts that need to be renewed by this 31st March of 2027. The waste reception treatment reuse and recycle center contract with COREY Environmental Services. The recycling material sorting contract with Bywaters Latent Limited. Both contracts allow for further extension. The waste reception treatment known as the RRC contract can be extended up to eight years and the material sorting contract can be extended for one extra year. This report presents details of our options, appraisals and recommends a way forward in respect of the two contracts. Procuring waste management contracts is a lengthy and complex process and so early decision whether to extend the current contracts is necessary to allow time for procurement of new contracts if necessary by April of 2027. The report also sets up considerations for increasing future self-resilience in waste treatment and recycling to be less reliant on third-party facilities in the longer term for management of our waste. I will hand over to our officers to give an overview of the details and the recommendations. Thank you. Thank you. Simon, sir. I think you want to add. This has come up so many times in terms of waste disposal. We are a very recognizable position as a waste collection and disposal authority. We're not like our colleagues in Hackney, Newham and places like Southwark and Lewisham that have facilities to dispose of their waste. We are very much in a catch-22 position without any facilities of our own and my vision for the future would be to have our own waste facility within the borough. We are spending a lot of money if you look at the sums here over 10 years to private contractors and they know that we are in that vulnerable position so I think this proposal is strong. We do have to collect food waste by 2027 that's a government target and then the timelines for these contracts are essential that we meet the government targets but long term I think we need to be slightly more visionary and adventurous in our waste disposal plans for the future so I'll leave it at that. Thank you. So we've we've modelled options for contract renewal over 10 years but in the report we're making recommendations for shorter contract extensions and that's really to give us maximum opportunity to deliver value given changes to waste tonnage changes in the law so we're looking to give ourselves maximum flexibility through the shorter term contract renewal options that we're recommending and that also gives us the ability during the sort of two year period of contract extensions to assess the ability to develop our own facilities which would give us opportunities to get greater value in later years of any contract extension so I'm happy to I'm happy to give an overview of the recommendations yeah so we are recommending I think the recommendations are in part two restrictive so let's not just talk about it can I can I request that we go in session it's important and just to confirm as well so this is the last item so I will close the web so for anyone watching it won't come back on later I just want to make sure all the members are on the same page when it comes to recommendation yep I don't want to make a decision that you would like a chance to ask questions