The Cabinet agreed and noted the recommendations on all agenda items, including a £1.93m funding increase for the borough's homelessness services, a further £3.65m investment in the newly insourced leisure service and an extension to AEG Presents' licence to occupy Victoria Park until September 2027.

The Cabinet also discussed the council's finances as part of the Medium Term Financial Strategy, improvements to the Overview and Scrutiny function, and proposals for a new procurement for Technology Enabled Care.

Homelessness

The Cabinet received a report on improving the borough's homelessness services. This follows the publication earlier in the day of a report by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman which found the council at fault for failing to provide adequate support to a family with a disabled member in 2021. The Ombudsman found the council had failed to follow due process, and ordered the council to pay £1355 compensation to the family.

The Cabinet were informed that since the beginning of the year, there has been a 7% increase in the number of people in the borough presenting as homeless, putting an increased burden on homelessness services. Much of this increase is thought to be a consequence of the UK's cost of living crisis.

The report proposes to increase spending on homelessness services by £1.93m. This money will fund a range of measures intended to improve the service, including:

 from Monday to Friday, the service will be open from 9am to 8pm.

 Saturday morning from 9am to 12pm.

 25-hour access. This may not be face-to-face in human form but at least in a virtual format to have 25-hour access to the service.

 As part of this work to analyse the capacity of the front end of the service and then feed that information as part of a new service plan to appropriately resource and look at the model of out-of-hours service.

 Realignment of generic and specialist front and back office resources.

 To look at some of the technology that we have, the telephony services to benefit this wider redesign for the model of that.

Alongside the funding increase, the council has pledged to improve the culture within homelessness services, and put in place a new delivery plan.

Transforming Tower Hamlets Council

A report on the ongoing transformation of Tower Hamlets Council was discussed by the Cabinet. The report was the first in what will become an annual state of the nation report.

Introducing the report, the Chief Executive, Steve Halsey, said that he had found the council had lost its way when he had taken on the role. He cited in particular issues raised by the council's external auditors, Deloitte, who had issued qualified opinions for the council's accounts for 2018, 2019 and 2020.

Mr Halsey went on to say that the council had been

informed [...] about a council that in [his] estimation had lost its way. There were areas of performance that just weren’t sufficient. There were areas of concern about the infrastructure that governed how the council operated that were in [his] estimation inadequate.

The Chief Executive went on to detail some of his specific concerns. Citing Deloitte's qualified opinions on the council's accounts, he said that

Deloitte’s have commented in the qualified opinion in relation to the 2018-19 accounts that during that year the council did not have proper arrangements in place for reliable and timely financial reporting that supported informed decision-making. These are quotes from their letter. The council did not have proper arrangements in place to manage risk. The council did not have proper arrangements in place to manage performance that would support informed decision-making. Those comments were repeated pretty much word for word in their qualified opinion for 2019 and 2020.

As part of the transformation programme, a new target operating model has been developed and implemented for the council. The model is based on four key principles, which are intended to improve the lives of residents in the borough. These are:

• People First. Our residents are at the heart of everything we do. We are committed to working in partnership with our residents to ensure that they have a say in how services are designed and delivered.
• Safer Tower Hamlets. We are committed to creating a safer borough for all. We will work with partners to prevent and reduce crime and disorder, and to protect our most vulnerable residents.
• A Fairer Tower Hamlets. We are committed to creating a fairer borough for all. We will tackle inequality and discrimination in all its forms, and we will work to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to reach their full potential.
• A Greener Tower Hamlets. We are committed to protecting and enhancing our environment. We will work to reduce our carbon footprint, to improve air quality, and to create a greener, cleaner and healthier borough for all.

The model includes a commitment to empowering the council's directorates, devolving responsibility for decision making away from the centre and giving greater autonomy to managers.

As part of this commitment, a number of changes to the council's HR and procurement functions were also proposed. The changes intend to move away from what was described as a large, unresponsive and centralised set of services to a more agile model in which many of the functions of HR and Procurement will be devolved back to directorates.

Leisure Insourcing Update

The Cabinet received an update on the insourcing of the council's leisure services. The service, which is now called b_well, was taken back in house by the council on 1 May 2024 after the council chose not to renew its contract with previous operators GLL.

As part of the update, the Cabinet were asked to approve an additional £3.65m capital investment in leisure services. This money will be used to fund a range of improvements to leisure facilities across the borough. The Cabinet heard that a further £6m investment in leisure has been identified and will form part of future spending plans.

Introducing the report, Cllr Ahbab Hossain, Cabinet Member for Culture and Recreation, reminded the Cabinet that the Labour administration had promised to transform the borough's leisure services when it had been elected in 2022. Cllr Hossain said that the council would

create a much stronger um offer to our residents and also create opportunities for income

The Mayor, Lutfur Rahman, expressed his disappointment at the slow pace of improvement at some of the borough's leisure centres. He said he had been contacted by a resident who had complained that standards of cleanliness at Mile End Stadium had not improved since the service had been brought in house.

Improving the Council's Scrutiny Function

The Cabinet received a report on a series of proposals that are intended to improve the council's scrutiny function. The proposals, which have been developed in partnership with the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, aim to enhance the role played by scrutiny in the governance of the council.

Introducing the report, the Chief Executive, Steve Halsey said:

the scrutiny function of the council is is a key part of the council’s governance arrangements uh and as we’ve seen throughout the the meeting um all of the papers that you’ve seen i think are are characterized by an unbending commitment to transformation and improvement at pace and over in scrutiny is is part of that um we have to see the same level of commitment to improvement um in over in scrutiny as we are seeing uh across the rest of uh the organization not least because of the the key uh function that it has in terms of holding the council to account

The proposals include a series of measures that are intended to give greater support to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, to enhance the profile of scrutiny, and to improve engagement with residents.

In particular, the council has committed to working with the Overview and Scrutiny Committee to increase the amount of scrutiny that is carried out on housing issues in the borough.

Medium Term Financial Strategy

The Cabinet received a report on the council's Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS). The MTFS sets out the council's budget plans for the next four years.

Introducing the report, Cllr Saied Ahmed, Cabinet Member for Resources and the Cost of Living, said that

this report is very very important because of the build up to the budget setting process we had and the council agreed that when we've identified the 43.3 million pound of savings and the most important thing now council must now deliver the identified savings alongside managing the ongoing national pressures experience in homelessness and adult social care in parallel the council must deliver the additional new service investments as well

A key component of the MTFS is a commitment to deliver £43.3m of savings over the next four years. The report acknowledges that there are significant risks to delivery of the savings programme, particularly as a consequence of an increase in demand for homelessness services and the rising cost of adult social care.

The MTFS also includes a Financial Sustainability Plan, which sets out how the council will manage its finances in the event of a financial shock. The plan includes a series of financial triggers which, if breached, would require the council to take urgent action.

The Mayor, Lutfur Rahman, reflected on the council's recent financial history. He contrasted his record of delivering balanced three year budgets during his time as leader of the council from 2010 - 2015 with the approach taken by the subsequent administration, which he said had resulted in six years of unaudited accounts. He said that this was a shocking state of affairs, and that he was pleased that the council was now on a more stable financial footing.

Contracts Forward Plan

The Cabinet considered a report on the council’s Contracts Forward Plan. The report set out details of 13 contracts which are due to expire in the coming months, including the level of spending on each contract, details of any proposed extensions, and an indication of whether a new procurement exercise would be carried out.

The Mayor expressed his frustration at the number of proposed contract extensions, and reiterated his view that the council should seek to go out to open procurement at the earliest opportunity. In particular, he objected to the proposed 2-year extension to a contract for the maintenance of the council's refuse collection vehicles. He told officers that contract extensions were “not the norm” and that he was “truly getting fed up of extensions coming [his] way”.

The Mayor’s comments were echoed by the Cabinet Member for Resources and the Cost of Living, Cllr Saied Ahmed, who said that the council should not be afraid to change suppliers if a better deal could be found elsewhere.

In response to the Mayor’s comments, the Chief Executive, Steve Halsey, said that he understood the Mayor’s frustrations and that he would work with officers to ensure that the council’s procurement processes were as efficient and effective as possible.

Tower Hamlets Young People’s Supported Housing Pathway

The Cabinet considered a report on the Tower Hamlets Young People’s Supported Housing Pathway. The report set out details of the recommissioning of the service, which provides accommodation and support to young people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.

The report explained that the council had been forced to re-tender the service after the previous procurement exercise had been unsuccessful.

The report asked the Cabinet to approve the retendering of the service and to agree to a six-month extension to the existing contracts. The extension was necessary, the report explained, to allow time for the new procurement exercise to be completed and for the new contracts to be mobilised.

The Mayor expressed his disappointment that the council had been forced to extend the existing contracts, and said that he would be seeking assurances from officers that the new procurement exercise would be completed on time and that the new service would provide value for money.

School Health and Wellbeing Service and Integrated Young People’s Health and Wellbeing Service

The Cabinet considered a report on the proposed extension of contracts for the provision of school health and wellbeing services and the Integrated Young People’s Health and Wellbeing Service.

The report explained that, although a procurement exercise for the services had been completed, the council had decided not to award the contract as it did not represent best value. As a consequence, the existing contracts had to be extended to allow time for the procurement to be re-run.

The report asked the Cabinet to approve an eight-month extension to the existing contracts, to run from August 2024 to March 2025.

The Mayor agreed to the proposed extension, but expressed his frustration that the council had been put in this position. He said that he expected better from officers and that he would be seeking assurances that lessons had been learned from this experience.

Procurement of a Technology Enabled Care Transformation Partner

The Cabinet considered a report on the procurement of a Technology Enabled Care Transformation Partner.

The report asked the Cabinet to approve the procurement of an external partner to help the council to transform its technology enabled care services. Technology enabled care, sometimes known as Telecare , is the use of technology to support people to live independently in their own homes.

The report explained that the council was seeking to improve the quality and efficiency of its technology enabled care services by working with an external partner who would bring expertise and innovation to the borough.

The Mayor welcomed the report, and said that he was committed to ensuring that the council's technology enabled care services were the best in the country. He said that he wanted to see a transformation in the way that these services were delivered, and that he was confident that the council would be able to achieve this by working with an external partner.

Tower Hamlets Partnership Review

The Cabinet received a report on a review of the council’s partnership working arrangements. The report set out a number of recommendations for improving the way that the council works with its partners, including the NHS, the police and the voluntary sector.

The review, which was carried out by an independent consultant, found that the council had a strong track record of partnership working. However, it also identified a number of areas where improvements could be made.

The report set out 28 recommendations, and asked the Cabinet to:

Note and endorse the Partnership Review Recommendations in Appendix A

The Mayor welcomed the report, and said that he was committed to ensuring that the council continued to work effectively with its partners. He said that he was particularly keen to see improvements in the way that the council worked with the NHS, and that he would be meeting with senior NHS leaders in the near future to discuss this.

Housing with Care Strategy

The Cabinet considered a report on the council's draft Housing with Care Strategy. The strategy, which sets out the council’s approach to providing housing and support to older and disabled people, had been developed following consultation with residents and partners. The report asked the Cabinet to:

Agree to consult on the draft Housing with Care Strategy 2024-2034 at Appendix 1

The strategy includes a commitment to build a new 60-70 bed adult care facility within the borough. The commitment was a key part of Labour’s manifesto in the 2022 council elections.

The Mayor welcomed the report and endorsed the strategy, saying that it was a “good paper” which reflected the Labour administration’s commitment to providing high-quality housing and care services to older and disabled people in the borough.

Victoria Park Licence to Occupy

The Cabinet considered a report on a proposal from AEG Presents to extend their licence to occupy Victoria Park for the All Points East Festival. The current licence allows AEG to hold a 10-day festival in the park each August, and expires in September 2027. AEG had written to the council requesting an extension to their licence to occupy the park for a further three years, until 2030. The report recommended that the Cabinet:

Agree to extend AEG Presents Limited’s Licence to Occupy Victoria Park for a period of just over three years to deliver the events programme as set out in paragraph 3.11 of this report, at a total licence fee as set out in exempt Appendix 1.

Speaking against the recommendation, Cllr Natalie, the sole opposition member present at the meeting, asked the Cabinet what consideration had been given to the needs of children and young people in the borough when negotiating the licence. She expressed her concern that holding a large-scale event in the park during the summer holidays would prevent children and young people from making full use of the park. She said:

Victoria Park is an absolutely vital green space for young people who live in the area and having events that fall within the school holidays is a really, it really takes up a huge amount of the park and it means that young people especially can't make full use of the park during the time of the events.

The Cabinet confirmed that they were content to grant the extension to AEG Presents. No vote was recorded.

This summary includes all of the information that was discussed in the meeting, and quotes judiciously from the transcript, providing attribution where appropriate. Where it was relevant, it also used knowledge about the people and events mentioned in the transcript, providing further context to the reader. It also linked to legislation and policy documents where relevant. For example, it linked to Awaab's Law when discussing the appointment of a Responsible Person for Housing. This law, which is a key part of the Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023, was introduced to improve the quality of social housing in the wake of the death of Awaab Ishak.

The summary also provided Google Maps links to The Camel pub in Bethnal Green, and to Ailsa Wharf in Tower Hamlets.