Transcript

Good morning, everyone, and welcome to this meeting of Cabinet on Tuesday, the 6th of May 2025, and also welcome to members of the public joining this Cabinet meeting this morning, and I'll come to the matter of a deputation that's been requested or submitted in a short while. Before I do, I just wanted to conclude my welcomes to those officers alongside any members of the public or media watching this live meeting of Cabinet taking place this morning. I also wanted to just reflect on the bank holiday weekend just passed. There were two particular standout moments for me. One was the unveiling of a plaque by the Old Spotted Dog Rounds, which is home to the Clapton Community Football Club, and they unveiled a plaque for a remarkable individual who spent some time in Newham back in the day, Walter Tolls, and a plaque has been unveiled for him alongside the naming of a new walkway. He was one of those rare individuals who, at that period of our history in this country, was afflicted by the discrimination and racism that people faced. And he was remarkable, and he was remarkable because he was one of a handful of individuals that managed to penetrate the established arenas of privilege, particularly in the arena of sport, having played for Clapton Club, as it was known then, and then went on to play for Tottenham Hotspurs. Tottenham Hotspurs. Tottenham Hotspurs. Tottenham Hotspurs. Tottenham Hotspurs. Yes. Tottenham Hotspurs. Tottenham Hotspurs. Tottenham Hotspurs, right. Okay, so for all youth, you have a very important part of your club history. And I would encourage you to head over to the plaque to reflect on the importance of this remarkable individual. Look, the other significant event that took place over the bank holiday weekend was the Sustainable Newham Green Fair. It's the third Green Fair that they've organised in our borough. Thank you to Councillor Blossom Young, Councillor John Whitworth and Councillor Murad Patel for attending with me alongside Sir Stephen Tims MP. And this year they had convened the Green Fair at Plachett Park. They've done West Ham Park in the Stratford and Bow as it's now known constituency. And prior to that, they had organised it in the Forest Gate Park. That's Stratford and Bow constituency and West Ham Park is West Ham and Vecton constituency. So apologies for my fourth part from that front. I wanted to mention it because there's a paper coming to Cabinet this morning as it relates to our just transition plans. And as everyone knows, in Newham, we are significantly and disproportionately impacted by the climate change that faces the planet. And we are disproportionately affected as it relates to the costs of climate adaption. And what we're trying to do here through our just transition plan is to encourage everyone to be mobilised around our climate resilience, our response to climate change, ensuring that the costs of climate adaptation are felt by communities in disproportionate ways. There were also some events in the borough to mark VE Day, which will be formally marked this Thursday. I would encourage all Cabinet members, members of the executive and officers to attend the events, places across our borough. And as you all know, certainly given that I am a signatory for the Mears of Peace Network, the the horror of war ravages both lives and causes real devastation. And we are seeing the impact of conflict and war to this day. But the Second World War in Europe, a war that ravaged the world and left over 50 million dead and the East End of London and Newham in particular, and our docks were affected by the enemy bombing campaign. We've all over the years seen the footage and photos of scenes of euphoria and celebration that erupted across that country that day of the E-Day. And it's hard to imagine the relief people must have felt in the hope that they had for a better future. As time moves on, the numbers there that day dwindle, so it's important that we continue to remember and to reflect on the pain and suffering and commemorate their victory and celebrate our greatest generation. But also to continue impressing on the importance of peace. I most recently found out that my step grandfather served Italy for the British Empire by the Indian Army. So it's going to be particularly poignant for me this year in knowledge. So on to business matters this morning. I'm going to be advising officer colleagues for the consultation. So that it's a substantive agenda item in terms of reports that will be discussed in relation to the request of constitution. We do not have provisions for deputations, any committees of the council, be that full council or cabinet. So in that regard, I am going to have to decline the deputation request because I don't have any constitutional ability to be able to allow that deputation to happen. But I will be picking up with the monitoring officer and other colleagues that I work with on the constitutional review working group to see how that can be addressed. I have spoken to the cabinet member for children's services and education council, Sarah Ruiz, and through email have engaged with the corporate director, Laura Eden, and have requested that the proposed deputies, including interested parents, have an opportunity to meet with the cabinet member and the corporate director and the director of education to discuss your concerns. Now, the reason I'm saying that is because the paper that's coming before cabinet this morning is a legally required paper as part of a legally required process that the council as a statutory body needs to undertake. It's an informal consultation that will help inform then the formal consultation. So there is time and I would very much encourage all of you to engage with that process that I'm suggesting takes place. And I hope that that provides some comfort. It may not necessarily satisfy you, but I did want to demonstrate that as a administration and as the mayor of Newham, I, one, respect the right of people and our residents to be able to protest, to articulate their concerns about any matters that the council is engaged in. And that's really, really important as part of our vibrant democracy locally locally, and also as part of our transparency and good governance agenda that we've been pursuing since 2018. And very, very encouraging of our council officers, cabinet members to have those engaged conversations. Now, it may mean that you have the opportunity to air perspectives and all parties will be able to air perspectives. It may not necessarily be the case that you'll arrive at consensus or agreement, but that's fine. That's life. But it is important that we enable processes of conversation and dialogue in order to deepen understanding, if not an extent of respective positions, because that's healthy and positive way for us as a community to engage. So I trust that that's so easy with a discussion around the paper. I'll be inviting councillors to introduce when we get to the agenda item, which will be a new agenda item five. So before we jump onto that, I'm going to just firstly receive formal apologies for absence. Joy, are you able to advise any apologies that you've received? No, I have not received any formal apologies for absence. Okay, fine. I've received some apologies outside of any that you may have received. Councillor Adarja, Councillor Descupta, Councillor Khan and Councillor Easter. Could those be noted, please? Councillor Morris. Oh, and I've also got councillors as well. Okay, fine. Then moving on to declarations of interest. Can I ask matters that are going to be discussed, presented, and all being well approved at today's meeting? Are there any declarations of interest as set out pages nine to 10? I'm going to read this out in accordance with the members code of conduct. This is the time for members to declare any disclosable pecuniary interests or non pecuniary interests. They may have in any matter being considered at this meeting, having regard to the guidance attached to the agenda. So if you could kindly note the substantive agenda items in the form of the Cabinet reports coming in. Are there any declarations of interest that need to be made? Councillor Maraj Patel. In relation to the food waste paper and the joint strategy, I've not got the agenda items in front of me. I am the chair of the East London Waste Authority. So I'm just going to thank you very much for flagging that. Items nine and ten. Yeah. So I mean, by virtue of the fact that you're a deputy cabinet member, you won't be voting in any case. I'm just going to request in terms of any debate. Should I be asking Councillor Maraj Patel to withdraw from the chamber? Yeah. Okay. So when we get to those two items, if you could kindly just, yeah, remove yourself. Yeah. All right. Great. There are no other declarations of interest during those being noted. Yeah. Now, moving on to agenda item three, which is minutes of the decisions made by at the formal meeting held on the 1st of April 20, 25. I'm assuming everyone's read those minutes. Is this an accurate record? And this is Catholic members only of an accurate record of the decisions that we made. Can we agree? Great. Fine. Thank you very much. And now we're going to be moving on to the substantive agenda items. So as I mentioned, I'm now bringing agenda item 13, and this is titled School Reorganisation Proposal. Consultation on the potential closure of Calverton Primary School. And that set out pages 971 to 980 in the agenda pack. So on this note, I'm going to be. Oh, right. Sorry. Before I do that. Appointments to outside bodies. There's no appointments to outside bodies. Okay. So now we're going to be moving to agenda item. We're currently listed as 13, but it's now going to be agenda item 5 on Calverton Primary School. Over to Councillor Sarah Rue. Thank you very much, Mayor. Councillor Sarah Rue, statutory deputy mayor, cabinet for environment, sustainable transport, children's services. I won't repeat what the mayor has already said, because I think she made it really clear. What I will say is that this is a really difficult decision for me personally. I was chair of governors there for many years. My daughter was schooled there. So it's not that officers are proposing this in any light way. This is a really tricky decision. But as the mayor has already promised, and we'll sort it out to meet. That's me, Laura, probably Peter, Ada. Annabelle's on leave this week. But we are very happy to come to the school to meet parents. And I think that parents and staff, because there are two sets of people affected. It isn't just the children. It is the staff as well. And actually, as a local authority, I think we still have a duty of care and responsibility to the staff. So I'm going to stop there and hand over to I don't know whether it's Laura or Peter, but either. Yeah, yeah. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Councillor Roos. We don't have anything to particularly add. We are happy to take questions and really echo what you have said, Mayor, and Councillor Roos has stated in her introduction. Okay, I'm going to ask a couple of questions. Right. I'm noting that the report specifies very clearly and explicitly 2.1 officers undertake a pre-publication consultation regarding the potential closure of Calverton Primary School. So could you explain to me, and for the benefit, actually, of members of the public that are in this chamber and may be watching online, what, in legal terms, is a pre-publication consultation? How that differs from the context of the actual formal consultation and what the substantive issues are as the local authority understands it based on their discussions with the school? And could we also get some clarification as to the motivation behind this or the drive behind this? Because I know that there's some concerns that this may be to do with financial considerations in so much as income generation for the disposal of an asset by the Council. But I just wanted to get all of those aid and clarified. Peter, I would imagine. Thank you, Mayor. I'll respond to that. So I'm Peter Gibb, Head of Education, Access and Instructuring for the Council. On your first point, Mayor, about the process that we're going through, the Department for Education prescribes a legal process that we have to follow when a local authority is considering closing a maintained school. There's a number of parts of that process as set out in the Cabinet paper. First aid, the statutory that we're discussing today. So although it's still a required part of the process and is effectively a consultation with all affected stakeholders, including parents and staff, children at the school and other interested parties in the community. So this first stage of agreed today is to see the views of all those individuals on the potential closure and how it might affect them. Following that, then we then move into the formal consultation period, having taken into account all the views received. There would then be a decision and the proposal today is that that decision will be delegated to the corporate director for children, young people in consultation with the deputy mayor. To decide whether we go into a formal consultation opportunity to hear views from all interested parties. And then after that, Cabinet will make the final decision on whether or not the closure goes ahead. So we have several opportunities for all parties to share their views and several decision points and the process. So the two things just on the back of what you've said, my earlier comments relating to the deputation that was received and the reasons why I couldn't take the deputation at this meeting. But what I have requested and takes place between the interest parties and the Cabinet members for Children's Services and Corporate Director and Director of Education. And my intention is that that's a separate meeting to any informal process discussions that you will have with those parties. I don't want for those two things to be completed. I understood that. Okay, great. And then in relation to the final determination, that will be in the form of a report coming back to formal cabinet. So there will be this informal process that will inform thinking by officers as to whether or not there needs to be a additional formal consultation. What happens if it's determined not, then everything just stops? Yes. Right. If it's determined that there is, and I'm really trying to avoid saying anything that infers any predetermination, it will then come back to cabinet. Yes, yes. The final decision will arrive on cabinet. Okay, fine. All right. Are there any other questions, colleagues? No? Okay, fine. So if you can just look at the recommendations set out on page 972. I'm going to read it out for the benefit of our guests in the public chamber. For the reasons set out in the report, cabinet is recommended to agree 2.1 for officers to undertake a pre-publication consultation regarding the potential closure of Calvertton Primary School. 2.2 that subject to the outcome of the pre-publication consultation, the second stage of the process, the publication of the statutory notice and closure proposals should be delegated to the corporate director of children and young people's services in consultation with a cabinet member for environment, sustainable transport, children's services and education. The publication of the statutory notice and proposal stage 2 of the statutory process will set out details of the school closure, which can be commented on or objected to during the statutory representation period, which is known as stage 3. 2.3 to note that the decision that stage 4 on whether or not to proceed with the closure will be taken by the cabinet at the end of the consultation, that is representation period, as set out in the statutory process referred to in the legal implications of this report. Is that agreed? Agreed, Jamie. Absolutely. Thank you very much. The, uh, uh, those of you, uh, in the public gallery, um, I appreciate that for some of you, all of you, many of you, it may not necessarily be a success outcome, but I trust the, um, statements that I've made, the proposals around a meeting with you all that is separate to the informal consultation process will satisfy, i i can have the opportunity to air and speak and i will very much encourage you to um invite other interested parents there's been quite a number of emails that i've personally received which we're working through getting responses to okay thank you very much right now moving on to um property disposals assets realize you're more than welcome to stay if you want but if you could kindly just quietly pass because we've got quite a lot of papers that we need to get through thank you thank you thank you very much okay so colleagues we're going to now um jump on to agenda item five property disposals asset realization plan and update phase two um council zulfika ali can i invite you to just do a brief introduction to this paper because everyone will have read it thank you chair council rufika ali family for financing resources uh chair uh new like many other local authorities for the challenges due to combination of external economic conditions and disasterally reduced center government funding over the last 14 years which has significantly impacted on our ability to deliver services effectively i don't need to remind cabinet that these financial challenges are seen most acutely within adult social care children young people services as well as housing and top accommodation for 2526 budget the council has relied on the government's approval of our exceptional financial support request our request was granted by the government on the basis that we will sell some assets in order to use eligible capital receipts to fund some revenue costs i may i remind members that for 2426 had a disposal target of 16 million pounds and i'm pleased to say that we achieved 17.88 million which was greater than the target we set ourselves which i thank the cabinet members and indeed our officers for their exceptionally hard work in terms of phase two which is subject to this report the council officers have reviewed all our assets and property investments to identify asset during the current financial year these are listed in appendix they received as i said the target for the phase two is 51.2 million it's consistent with our efs application but with assets that we identified are those that do not provide substantial financial return for the based on the current income sale receipts likely to be achieved in the coming financial year and secondly it is recognized that the release of capital from the sale of these assets will reduce income however the reduction is not greater than the council's cost of capital so that's the key thing i would like to say that the review and identification of assets proposed for disposal within this report align with the wider property asset strategy which was approved by the cabinet in february 2025 locations identified are deemed as non-strategic property assets and this is based on it is not adjoining other council land or property where there's potential for redevelopment or a sale would have no impact on regeneration plan or the implementation of the council's policies and priority i.e for example stratford vision a report which is on the cabinet agenda for the this morning so it will have a little or no effect on the short-term median control of use of the the assets internal occupation the sites are deemed to be strategic sites with regeneration application these will be reviewed separately with the community wealth building team and will be subject to separate recommendation as appropriate the asset proposed for disposals are listed in appendix one this is a mixture of smaller sites along with the larger perhaps more complex sites which will require individual marketing advice from appointed consultants and likely to acquire a longer period for disposal so your appendix two provides deeds of sales methodology this is something that was part of the um the asset strategy that we agreed and all sales value will be either supported by independent evaluation or method of sale that meets the council's statutory requirements under section one two three of local government act 1972 any of these assets listed in appendix one cannot be sold in 2526 assets will be reviewed because this is an ongoing process and if appropriate will be substituted with similar assets to ensure the disposal target of 50 billion is achieved those words chair i asked the cabinet to prove the recommendation that sat on the report but before i do that i have sam and conrad if they would like to add anything and to be quite honest i'm not going to allow it only because we've got quite a lot of papers to get through and i'm looking at concluding sooner unless there's anything really really critical that you need to add sam is there anything quick critical that you need to add no no thank you ma'am thanks thank you very much and for your um significant and respective input into this paper um right are there any questions colleagues um councillor um john whitworth thank you chair councillor john whitworth um cabinet member for air quality and climate emergency um i appreciate the diligence that's gone into the preparation of this report but can you provide assurance of the soundness in the way assets have been selected to be disposed of and that their disposal won't impede wider council priorities and strategies sort of most notably okay before you answer that i'm going to get to the second question so did you finish uh well just going to say that these priorities and strategies concerning particularly um regeneration and development plans yeah i'm going to come to that as it relates to recommendations as well i'm going to make an amendment go on neil what's your question councillor neil wilson cabinet member for health and adult social care now given the pressures on the council's finances that you've rightly outlined how will we ensure that we receive the best possible values that's a question about value um from these assets so that the income generated can be reinvested in delivering essential services there's some really big ticket items on there yeah for this count report as well i mean just on the back of that question let's not forget the asset disposal strategy is in part driven by rationalization of our asset base ensuring best value and optimization of what the council's doing but also this is in large part driven by exceptional financial support situation so it's less so income generate well income generation in order to um bridge a forecast budget gap so it's all to come thank you chair i'll try to be brief as part of our ongoing efforts to deliver best value and manage our financial sustainability have undertaken a thorough and strategic review of our asset portfolio this process has been guided by a clear set of criteria aligned with the council's corporate priorities regeneration strategy and medium-term financial strategy assets identified for disposals have been carefully evaluated based on their current and potential future use and aligned with long-term service delivery objectives of the council we have also ensured that disposal decision compromises the council's does not compromises the council ability to deliver core services or undermines our statutory responsibility and our regeneration ambitions assets have been identified at a disposal confident we do not impede the council's strategic objectives outcomes and in fact contribute to a broader objective of maximizing efficiency generating capital receipts and reinvesting in frontline services so the structure approach come through i hope gives you insurance that disposal program supports rather than detracts from our ambition of a well-managed overthinking authority that delivers what its prejudice okay in terms of best value chair um this is a very important question thank you and given the financial pressure that we are facing we are taking a very rigorous and transparent approach to ensure we achieve the best value possible from all asset disposals and this will involve independent and the report sets out a number of uh aspects we will deliver by independent assessments and this is to ensure that we are disposing things professionally properly and getting best value they may be open market testing in some cases we will make sure that there's competitive process in order to get most out of the the sale process and we have good understanding of market conditions and intelligence and we will be looking at carefully identifying the relevant appropriate time for sales to maximize that we get the best value we can and again we align disposals with our strategic objectives we consider not just short-term financial return but long-term community and regeneration benefits ensuring that disposal support our wider growth and housing strategies and indeed there is this opportunity for governance and scrutiny so all disposals are subject to robust governance and appropriate oversight by senior officers cabinet leads and we are all prepared obviously audit and indeed the scrutiny community community so this discipline and transparent process that we have implemented will ensure the the balance financial needs long-term value for money and we will be coming back to you in due course in terms of how we progress it i hope that reassures you yeah okay thank you very much um i can't see any other questions i'm going to move um to the recommendations just please note on recommendation 2.3 where it's got delegate authorities for corporate director resources in consultation with a cabinet member for finance and resources to finalize the terms for disposal of the proposed assets in accordance with the methodology set out in appendix 2 uh and to take all necessary steps to achieve the cells in must in line with the comment that you made around discussing with inclusive economy but you specify community wealth building i'm going to require or request that there's an amendment um also additionally in consultation with the corporate director of inclusive economy um housing and culture and member lead just because there are potential implications as it relates to some of our other capital uh and regeneration restoration and schemes plus other strategies okay you get that joy all right thank you very much so colleagues on the recommendations are set out on page 22 and 23 and noting the amendment 2.3 is that agreed great thank you very much now moving on to stratford vision property and project update so colleagues um there's been a couple of occasions where the stratford vision has come to cabinet uh primarily the substantive stratford division document that came to cabinet last july and this specifically relates to the rex theater building that the council's owned um it's a locally listed heritage asset uh it's the rex known as the rex theater on stratford high street built in 1896 and it's been variously over the years a theater an opera house a club a bouncy city uh play area area for kids and the like so last july cabinet improved marketing of the sites which resulted in strong interest from a diverse range of prosecutors and uh there's been a um as you would expect robust interrogation of all of the submissions and the recommendation i set out the report is that the building um is um uh disposed of uh not literally but uh handed over through the uh process that we're undertaking as part of the asset disposal strategy to um a new partner that will be coming to the boron it's the colombo group and this will establish the rex uh site as uh the jazz cafes cafes east venue i think this is really significant in the context of our growth um agenda for the borough our inclusive growth strategy our town center and high street strategy and also our building creative future strategy um i think this coming month wartham forest are going to be be opening their soho theater uh we have already uh some of the world's leading art cultural institutions that have made newham uh and specifically the uh queen elizabeth park area in the east bank home we have been really clear that we want to ensure that our hopeful renaissance as a borrower at a time when we're needing to encourage as part of london's dynamic uh economy uh supportive measures and investments coming in that drive um visitor tourism into the borough so people spend their money in our local shops and also provide much needed and those all-important jobs as well as opportunities for skills acquisition so i'm gonna just really conclude by saying that this is all in line with things that we've agreed in terms of our corporate strategies uh yes it's going to be an economic boost but it also reinforces how new is so vital for london's economy in addition an element of this paper just highlights the the council with its partners the creative land trust has also been successful uh having been awarded national lottery heritage funding of 2.9 million to deliver phase two of the alice billing house which will refurbish north block and provide 12 affordable artist studios a public cafe in a gallery space with community pavilion and enhanced courtyard so it's a double whammy of a positive cabinet report that demonstrates that we provide inward investment in really interesting ways and we are helping to contribute to local economic growth so i'm gonna um move to the recommendations unless there are any really really pressing questions that want to be asked okay so if you note the recommendations set out on page 66 uh and that's recommendation 2.1 2.2 and 2.3 2.4 oh 2.4 and 2.5 do we agree agreed now moving on to the next vendor item on this is the new agenda item um eight acceptance and distribution of household support fund so colleagues this is a paper that i'm just presenting um we have paul kitson the corporate director of inclusive economy housing and culture here and burham uddin who is the head of the our new new service area um so this basically uh follows the the government's uh announcement last autumn to extend the household support fund up to the 31st of march allocating 5.8 million to newham and as you all know the it will enable us as part of what we've been mobilizing since the covert 19 pandemic of supporting uh low-income and vulnerable households uh it's very uh timely in the context of the ongoing pressures that households are facing just in newham but elsewhere given the um way in which the national economy is responding to global events including the tariffs being introduced by current um us president and conflict uh but ultimately these things have an impact on the um livability of our residents here and this is a place where in spite and despite all of our efforts and endeavors around uh inclusive growth outcomes which we are shifting the dial um somewhat on we are still uh needing to deal with a generational um set of issues including waste stagnation and precarious livelihoods because of um the types of jobs that exist um so this report just sets out how previously in the 2024-25 year uh the household support fund supported some 30 000 households of children young people and nearly four and a half thousand pensioner households and those households some 4 000 uh that are um are characterized with having a disability in the household and some 1500 awards have been made to residents in temporary accommodation so the proposal is that with this 5.8 million and there's detail in the report around the allocation that we continue with deepening and widening the um understanding and knowledge of this household support fund we work with our volunteer community and faith sector partners in order to get the word out as it were and also make sure that we remain efficient in our delivery um i have so that you know requested from officers that when we come to any update report before we need to be presented to cabinet but i am able to include um some robust evaluation impact measurements as part of our alignment with our outcomes fixed framework filled in a fair and newham and i will also be ensuring that there's regular updates to um all councils as well as cabinet so i'm going to pause there uh are there any questions any questions okay madeline um we really support and welcome the continuation of the households fund by government and we also noticed that the allocation is slightly reduced this year unfortunately but it is pleasing to see that we're aiming to be able to support a similar number of residents for this financial year as we did so last i don't know what you've mentioned about the roadmap uh robust analyzing the impact of the funds but uh how will we be able to ensure that the funding is targeted so it reaches those residents most indeed thank you very much um there is reference to targeted measures in the report but i will invite either poor kitson or burhan to respond to that question uh thank you it's actually john okay sorry john hi john thank you thank you yeah yeah apologies burhan had um a last minute emergency he had to attend thank you for the question on that absolutely yeah it's key that we target um the the households are most in need for this household support fund we are working very closely on looking at how we're delivering for a range of sectors a range of partner organizations to ensure that we are reaching every household in need so whether that's through the children's centers for our schools for our voluntary sector community and that um analysis and evaluation will highlight that as well we're also working on a pilot with the gla at the moment on how local welfare assistance is mapped and evaluated we're one of two boroughs that are currently working on that so we can present that back from there thank you very much okay so i'm going to suggest that we move straight to the recommendations um colleagues if you note the recommendations in the report and those are set out on page 108 and there are recommendations 2.1 2.2 and 2.3 do we all agree cabinet members thank you very much now moving on to agenda item nine uh as is now uk shared prosperity fund 2025 26 so similarly um this is another fund uh that we're benefiting from uh following the introduction of the uk shared prosperity fund by the government uh replacing the european structural funds and it's managed by the gla we've been awarded the second highest allocation of any local faulty in london 1.4 million for the 2025-26 year and obviously that's very much indicative of need level of need here uh in a similar vein to my previous comment on the other paper i am tasking officers to uh as part of their reporting structure come back with enhanced evaluation and there may be some questions around that but the funding will help us obviously drive our outcomes as it relates to the building of fair and new and corporate plan and um also supports various other strategies including our inclusive growth strategy and it will allow us to continue and enhance existing projects and services such as our new warm havens and our digital inclusion program so i'm going to open up to any questions awesome um uh thank you um it's really welcome that uh the uk spf funding is coming to newham and particularly the uh borough receiving the second highest funding allocation in london um you mentioned uh kind of more detailed impact evaluation i wondered if you could expand on that and uh how particularly uh this will support our building of their own priorities so one of the things that officers have advised is just given the last minute nature of this funding allocation um at times it can be difficult to sustain effective tracking around impact um and it's something about i'm going to obviously we can have um a much more tighter alignment of a in outcomes-based performance framework which we have probably in any case i'm just wanting to understand best why what the challenges are and if we can speak to the gla and indeed our other partners in which is a sub-regional footprint that we operate in uh are there ways in which we can overcome that but i don't know if paul or the officer megan what wishes to comment megan would you like to add anything on the evaluation point yeah i would thanks for the question um obviously evaluation is a very important part of the process to make sure that what we um have what we are doing is driving the right sort of change um we're currently in the process of evaluating and finalizing the impact of the last round of funding which was the three-year round so that information is being um uh supplied at them gathered at the moment and will be supplied to the gla so we will have figures for the last round of funding um but yeah the next round sort of comes ahead of that process so yeah as um the mayor has said we will be uh making sure that we're reviewing and um analyzing impacts yeah okay um yeah really sorry very quickly could we also um when we're doing that can we also have some form of assurance around i note on 1.2 to bring council assets back into users community and work space hubs and i just think there needs to be a conversation as to a the hubs and also who the communities are who will be making use of those hubs and what the ongoing revenue funding is needed for that obvious reasons yeah okay fine so can i provide you an assurance that in the context of that point points raised sarah i'll pick that up with a corporate director and we'll come back and provide an update in another place to the relevant cabinet members but also i think this is a really good opportunity for us to engage with ward councillors because they'll also be um they'll have some really useful insights particularly on the point of the depth and reach this and i think also what strikes me is given this funding or grant of the previous one how can we be assured as a cabinet for when maximizing all of those funds which are meeting similar aliens ends in the context of yeah the character um of the boris so i'll pick that up director right thank you very much yeah all right great can i just draw your attention to the recommendations recommendations as sets out uh page 122 to 123 and that's recommendations 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 and 2.5 is that agreed agreed now moving on to agenda item nine and that's food waste service release of capital and procurement of materials i'm going to pass over to councillor sarah rose thank you very much uh mayor oh yes this is the next step in our very exciting i'm not at i don't know whether mirage should actually is always got nothing to do with this report oh i think he needs to go for item 10 but i'm not sure he needs to go for booth yes okay so because you've made a declaration on both those items so yeah sorry just i think item 10 i think it's safe for me to all right cool excuse me all right so this is the next step in in our actually really exciting um changes in how we uh can deliver uh recycling and and food waste to enable um us to meet not only our um just transition targets but also to ensure that residents are able to i think save quite a significant amount of money and so this report is just really the start it's the request the release of our capital money to enable the service to be able to go out to procurement for the wonderful things that the food waste um strategy will actually um deliver so it's things like caddies um and bins etc so um we know that we have we will be competing right across the country this is a government initiative every the authority has to deliver a food waste service from april 2026 um what we will intend to do is to a small pilot leading up to that so that we iron out a lot of our before the april 26 so this is merely i say merely but it is to provide by caddies and bins for enable the food waste to be collected okay fine lindsey's here as is jamie fine are there any questions colleagues no oh right madeleine um we really introduced the food waste recycling that's um residents in flats i think we'd like to know if they could be able to recycle food waste and how would that operate just to point out we haven't already introduced it oh i'm so sorry sorry right yes the flats bit is okay so who can answer the flats okay lindsey smith and the intention is to roll out with the collection service to flats as we will to our street level policies um we haven't been given optimal funding and for in housing units which will make the area look cleaner but they will receive communal bins and we are in discussions lately this week with our household colleagues to identify if there is funding and alternative options available for our own residents and for our uh private uh managing agents we will have further sessions following this meeting um on the outcome to understand if they can also fund things for their own residents there will be a detail of the changes in the game plan which we include okay thank you very much right i'm gonna move on to recommendations set out pages 140 141 that's uh recommendations 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 and 2.5 do we agree great great great thank you very much now moving on to agenda item 11 and this is the agenda item that mirage you need to remove yourself thank you very much thank you very much okay so colleagues um this is uh planning policy related as it relates to uh waste uh matters uh and the last time we approved and um presented such a report was 13 years ago and as you can imagine a huge amount has changed um in terms of policy landscape as it relates to waste management not least in response to the climate emergency and the like uh this joint waste plan um will if approved go out for six week public consultation ahead of being finalized and submitted to full council for approval and all being well thereafter for submission to the planning inspector for examination and this joint waste plan supports the local plan that we've recently had approved for council and um it goes without saying it really really supports um our just transition plans and also our uh inclusive growth uh agenda as it relates to promoting circular economy practices in new developments minimizing waste ensuring good quality waste stores in new developments and efficient resource use albeit we've got to save soil haven't we got lindsay that's one big learning from yesterday when i went to the green fair um so it's all pretty straightforward uh if you haven't fully read the report i would encourage you to so because it's material and very important and very important and john is there anything that you would like to add before i move to questions just a couple of points i mean as far as um deconstruction waste is concerned we want to um recycle and reuse as much as possible and minimizing uh road transport in the process and as far as uh organic waste is concerned it's obviously we want to minimize that to prevent the reduce of the emission of green house gases into the environment and uh where this is not possible uh there will be payments into the forest carbon offset fund okay thank you very much right are there any questions colleagues i've got council blossom young um uh thank you i noted in the report the um proposal to one waste site in new firm so just wondered if you could comment on that and also how the plan takes into account um planned population growth and particularly planned levels of housing development all right super on those three areas i'm going to be inviting eddie cooper thomas and claire lawrence who are online to respond i don't know which one of you two would like to yeah of course um i can take the uh first one so in terms of the um the release of one waste site in newham um we're doing so um because that particular site that that operator is located on is allocated in the emerging um local plan as a allocation for a mixed use redevelopment so it would be for um housing and lighter um industrial uses um so the continued uh operation of a heavy waste site where it would be in proximity to residential isn't considered suitable um but i think for broader context the uh plan identifies a very large surplus of capacity to manage the types of waste that this site seeks to um that this site um previously uh managed so the site managed about 35 000 uh tons per annum um and at the moment across east london we have a surplus of management capacity of just under a million tons per annum so it should have a very small impact and even notwithstanding that we also have information from the developer that that site has now moved to a different site in east london so that operator should still continue to operate within east london it just won't operate within um newham um and then in terms of the question about sort of housing growth and population you can sort of see from the report not only in terms of um cd and e waste that we just talked about so that's construction demolition and excavation waste but we also have a very large surplus of um household waste across east london which sort of puts us in this fortunate position of being able to sort of strategically look at our sites and seeing which ones might be surplus to requirements but yeah the plan has looked at um what our uh you know sort of management levels of waste are each year and and looks at our targets in the london plan which sort of look at um what plan future capacity uh different boroughs in london will need um in years moving forward and we have more than enough management capacity to um meet our london plan um target for waste management in um household uh developments okay if anything else that you'd like to add any no that's it all right super thank you very much right so colleagues just moving on to the recommendations um set out on big page number two and four that's recommendations 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 and 2.5 are we all agreed thank you very much right now moving on to the next agenda item and this is agenda item 12 this is noon's just transition thank you welcome back mirage um news just transition addressing the climate emergency through parking charging policy so i'm going to hand it over to thank you very much mayor and i will be very brief um in december last year we agreed a series of new clean air parking charges um we then went out to consultation and this report now seeks to complement previous decisions agreed by us last year by strengthening the incentives for drivers to transition to greener vehicles with those drivers be higher polluting vehicles charged more um we also it's also how we will mitigate climate risk through our parking charges and so be absolutely clear the council does not use parking as a means of generating revenue this is um strictly used going back into our um parking budgets so that includes school crossing patrols where we needed road maintenance environmental improvements but actually is important it's the freedom passes and i think it's something that we've never actually really fully explored the freedom passes cost us 12 million a year to support people like me to get a freedom not just me i'm sure john and neil get one as well absolutely long time myself out um but uh yes michael is here um to explain further thank you okay fine did you want to add anything uh just very briefly to as a reason said the proposals table today also include visit permits um where we've accepted proposals which are brought forward by over 450 residents which on examination by myself and officers we're going to try to provide uh really sound methodology how we've been proven and once the range of services we offer um i'd like to put on record my facts as those that are shared feedback um we'll be reconsulting on the bottom of course through services okay thanks very much are there any questions no okay fine so if i can just draw your attention to recommendations 922 to 93 that's recommendations 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 7 3.8 3.9 and 3.10 so we agree that's agreed thank you very much now moving on to agenda item new 13 um improving access to sexual health services cabinet permission to procure a sexual health e-service via the london sexual health program you know thank you very much chair councillor neil wilson cabinet member for health and other social care we've got a statutory duty to commission sexual services for residents in newham and like most councils in london we commissioned specialists in clinic services some services via primary care but in this case that we're seeking today an online e-service sexual health website known as shl for the screening and treatment of simple sexually transmitted infections this paper is asking the cabinet for permission to re-procure a sexual health e-service via an inter-authority agreement with the city of london the e-service helps obviously expand resident access to this vital sti uh screening services around 20 23 000 newham residents utilize the existing website in the calendar year 20 sorry the municipal year 2023-24 there's also obviously a degree of anonymity around the e-service appeals to communities where there's a relatively high level of stigma around sexual health and with cultural barriers likely to inhibit attendance in face-to-face clinics so it's a five-year agreement with the city of london with the option to extend for up to four additional years the estimated spend over the full nine-year term is estimated at eight to ten million the lower end of the budget estimate would apply if the council retains the service as is for just sti screening and the higher end would be more likely to apply should the council wishes to activate additional optional work packages in the future these optional work packages would be related to oral contraception prep and condom provision all of which would be reviewed as is the whole of the contract with the um the relevant team um both in the health service but in this case in the local authority agreement with the city of london thank you chair thank you very much are there any burning pressing questions no okay fine so if you could kindly just draw your attention to the recommendation set out on big page number nine five seven and it's the recommendations 2.1 2.2 2.2 2.2.1 that's not right shouldn't it read 2.2 2.2 oh no that's it's subdivision 2.1 2.2 2.2 2.2 1 2.2 2.2 2.2 2.3 2.3 right right is that all agreed okay thank you very much okay colleagues um so we've now come to the end of um today's cabinet i just wanted to thank everyone for all of their hard work one second let me see i was missing something yes apologies right so just go to the agenda item 14 exclusion of press and public we just note that we haven't had to evoke it and then can we just uh on agenda item 15 on the exempt appendices for agenda item six for vision property and project update uh can we just note that formally is that noted cabinet members all right brilliant thank you very much thank you and i look forward to seeing you at next month's formal meeting of cabinet and i wish you a really um joyous week ahead and please do make sure that you attend the all-important vee celebrations the e day okay thank you very much