The Barking and Dagenham Council cabinet met to discuss a range of issues, including the Neighbourhoods Programme, the Valence House and Museum masterplan, school place planning, and the sale of council-owned land. They approved proceeding with the development of a full business case for the Neighbourhoods Programme, endorsed the Valence House and Museum and Valence Park Vision and Masterplan, and agreed to enter into an agreement for the sale of the council’s freehold in the Crowlands Heath Golf Club.

Neighbourhoods Programme

The cabinet agreed to proceed with the development of a full business case for the Neighbourhoods Programme¹, with the aim of enabling improved health and wellbeing across the wider determinants of health, including housing, skills, and employment. The programme was established in 2023 (as the Localities Programme) to improve how the council provides information, advice, guidance and preventative support in relation to health and care, taking a public health approach to prevention at neighbourhood level. The cabinet endorsed option 3, broadening transformation beyond statutory services, as the preferred approach. They also endorsed the recommended hybrid model for resourcing the full business case, combining internal staff with targeted external support, and approved the proposed investment required to fund full business case development, subject to confirmation of funding eligibility and availability.

Councillor Saima Ashraf, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Community Leadership & Engagement raised the question of how to ensure delivery for residents facing the greatest inequalities. Councillor Dominic Twomey, Leader of the Council, said that the full business case would set out the pathways to follow to specifically target key groups. He noted that the borough is fairly consistent in terms of deprivation, poverty and vulnerability, and that the plan will target key areas to make the most impression in the quickest time at pace.

Councillor Jane Jones, Cabinet Member for Children’s Social Care & Disabilities, asked how the programme would address the needs of the most vulnerable residents, including those with complex needs, who may find it difficult to access services. Councillor Twomey responded that the neighbourhoods programme would give greater accessibility, and that the data and insight would be used to tailor what is being offered to different areas. He said that the council has evidence of working with families over one issue that they present with, and then suddenly out of that conversation comes five or six issues, but they're all at crisis point.

Councillor Syed Ghani, Cabinet Member for Enforcement & Community Safety, asked how the council would make sure that they are listening to the partners and also the residents when designing this programme, and that they are not actually working on their own, like isolation. Councillor Twomey responded that listening is fundamental, but then it's getting all of that down and moving on with the actions.

Councillor Maureen Worby, Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care, Health and Housing, welcomed the fact that the plan is from the grassroots up, and that the communities have been brought on board to be partners in making that change.

Councillor Elizabeth Kangethe, Cabinet Member for Educational Attainment & School Improvement, asked what the main risks are if this programme is not delivered or if there is a delay in delivering it. Councillor Twomey responded that the risk is that people are in a system for longer, which increases health issues and financial problems, and leads to a perfect storm of much more demand with much more complexity.

Councillor Cameron Geddes, Cabinet Member for Regeneration & Economic Development, raised concerns about evidence of customer experience challenges in the appendix on page 27 of the Neighbourhood Prog OBC Report. Councillor Twomey responded that the council is going to focus on AI, but that they have to make sure that they don't leave digitally excluded people behind.

Valence House and Museum and Valence Park Vision and Master Plan

The cabinet agreed the Valence House Report and the Valence House - App A and Valence House - App B and delegated authority to the Strategy Director, Inclusive Growth and Place, in consultation with the Head of Legal and subject to the endorsement of the Procurement Board, to conduct the procurements and award and enter into the contract(s) and all other necessary or ancillary agreements with the successful bidder(s) in order to fully implement and effect the proposals.

Councillor Ashraf presented the report, stating that residents were invited to contribute their ideas and feedback to inform the vision and master plan during a consultation process in 2023. She said that the vision builds on recent investments, and that in the last eight years, the council has invested £25 million into parks and open spaces.

Councillor Kashif Haroon, Cabinet Member for Public Realm & Climate Change, commented that this is an inspiring and forward-looking region that truly celebrates the unique heritage and diversity of Barking and Dagenham, ensuring our past is preserved while engaging future generations.

Councillor Jones asked when work on the moat can be expected to start. Councillor Ashraf responded that it all depends on the funding, and that they are expecting very good news shortly.

Councillor Syed Ghani asked how the council can improve the visibility and public awareness of Valence House Museum across the borough. Councillor Ashraf responded that by doing the work, they're looking at making a bit more improvement, especially coming towards the Morte, the Park, and all that investment. She said that she thinks that they need to do far more events and encourage residents and community groups to host events there.

Councillor Geddes said that he was really pleased to see the number of younger people that were attending events at Valence House. Councillor Dorothy Akwaboah said that the kitchen garden at Valance House represents the spirit and diversity of the borough.

School Place Planning and Capital Investment Update

The cabinet agreed to note the actions being taken to manage school places across the borough and to meet the demand for specialist places, to agree the extension of Local Education Partnership for a further 18 months ending April 2027, to agree to a 125-year lease of City Farm, Thames Road, Barking to the Partnership Learning Trust using the DfE’s standard academy lease terms, and to approve the proposed projects, allocations of funding amounting to £24,404,726 and procurement routes to support the provision of new specialist places and improvements. They also delegated authority to the Strategic Director, Children and Adults, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Educational Attainment and School Improvement and the Head of Legal, to conduct the procurements and award the respective project contracts.

Councillor Kangethe presented the report, highlighting the incredible achievements by the borough students in their GCSE and A-level results. She said that the report recommendations continue to build on the progress in line with the government's mission to provide the best start in life, fresh investment in the borough schools to the tune of over 2.4 million, creating new places where they are needed, in particular for SEND students, and future proofing of school buildings.

Councillor Geddes thanked Councillor Kangethe and all the education officers for the report, and congratulated everyone for the work that's done there. Councillor Haroon welcomed the fact that the schools are leading the way in sustainability through the Mayor's Greener School Programme.

Sale of Council-Owned Land - Crowlands Heath Golf Club

The cabinet agreed to enter into an agreement for the sale of the council’s freehold in the site, shown edged in red in Sale of Land - App B, on the terms set out in Sale of Land Report and delegated authority to the Strategic Director, Resources, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Economic Development and the Head of Legal, to determine whether the land for the retail unit shall be returned to the Council and to the transfer of the Community space/cafe, and to agree the final terms and enter into the agreement for sale and all other related documents.

Councillor Twomey presented the report, explaining that the Crowlands Heath Club has a 125-year lease from the council with effect from 2000, and that the owners of the club are finding it very hard to continue sustainability of the golf club. He said that they were approached by Homes for Life, who made an offer to purchase the freehold, and that the key point of this is that circa 1,106 homes all affordable, which is a mix of 60% social rent and 40% key worker housing, would be built.

Councillor Geddes said that from a financial point of view he totally supports this, and from a planning point of view this looks extremely good. He said that if they can get 60% social housing here, this will really bring a lot of families off of the housing waiting list.

Councillor Worby welcomed the fact that the report mentioned key worker accommodation, which she said is desperately needed, particularly with Queen's Hospital with its problems around recruitment.

Council-Owned Companies - 2025/26 Quarter 1 Update

The cabinet resolved to note the key highlights and issues relating to Council-owned companies in the first quarter of 2025/26 and the ongoing scrutiny provided by the Shareholder Panel.

Councillor Worby presented the report as the chair of the shareholder panel, giving a quick status update and the key challenges for each of the companies, and also the council's response to the recommendations relating to governance.

She noted that B first has delivered over 2,000 homes to date, and that there are 1,357 in the pipeline, 90% of which will be affordable. She said that Reside Group manage and own various housing tenures, with 2,500 properties in the portfolio, and that a major issue and challenge they face is that handovers are coming together too closely together. She said that B&D Energy provides low carbon supply of heat energy, mainly in the town centre, and that there are 2,616 connections at present time, which will increase to 7,000 by 2030. She said that BDTP is repairs maintenance cleaning catering and LE UK, and that there have been huge governance changes to the board, and that a completely new business plan is being brought forward for cabinet.

Councillor Twomey commented that the board the shareholder panel has been strengthened, and that the council known companies have delivered really tangible benefits to the council, but that it needs good governance.

Joint Procurement of a UCaaS Solution and a CCaaS Solution

The cabinet agreed that the council proceeds with the procurement of a contract(s) for both a new UCaaS supplier and a new CCaaS supplier commencing March 2027, in accordance with the strategy set out in the UCaaS and CCaaS Report, and authorised the Strategic Director, Resources, in consultation with the Head of Legal, to conduct the procurements and award and enter into the contract(s) and all other necessary or ancillary agreements to fully implement and effect the proposals.

Councillor Twomey presented the report, explaining that CCaaS and UCaaS refer to the use of soft telephony, the virtual phones that sit on a user device, and that this was brought in during COVID to enable staff to work more flexibly. He said that different departments across the council have decided that it no longer fits and they have got different needs, so the strategy is to extend this current service through to March 2027 which will enable the council to have sufficient time to enter in procurement separating out the two services.

Debt Management Performance 2025/26 (Quarter 1)

The cabinet resolved to note the performance of the debt management function carried out by the Council’s Collection service for the first quarter of the 2025/26 financial year, and the London comparative data relating to Council Tax and Business Rates.

Councillor Twomey presented the report, highlighting the fact that there are comparators in there with both inner and outer London boroughs, and that it very much highlights high levels of deprivation and poverty that make it much more difficult to collect money in more deprived areas. He said that the collection rates remain relatively stable, and that they will continue to follow through that policy of pursuing people or residents that are deemed to just won't pay, whilst working very closely and very supportively with people that find themselves in a position where they can't pay. He also brought attention to the fantastic work that's happening in adult social care, with an increase a year on year increase of 7% in the collection of adult social care payments.