Councillor Paul Edwards

Cabinet - Tuesday 17th September, 2024 7.00 pm, NEW

The meeting began with a discussion on the council's financial position. Councillor Peter Zinkin raised concerns about the council's finances, referring to an in-year recovery plan that he said had appeared out of nowhere . Councillor Ammar Naqvi, Cabinet Member for Financial Sustainability and Reducing Poverty, responded to Councillor Zinkin's concerns. He stated that the plan had come about as a result of extensive discussions with officers and cabinet members over the course of August, where in quite excruciating detail, disgust [sic] why spend was happening at all . He added that the council is committed to dealing with its finances responsibly and would soon be able to present a fully costed recovery plan. Councillor Zingavala also raised concerns about the council's HMO licensing scheme. He argued that the council seemed to be more interested in making money from the scheme than ensuring that the quality of HMO accommodation is good. Councillor Geofree Perrin, Cabinet Member for Housing, Economy and Placemaking, responded that this is not the case. He explained that the council has to ensure that the scheme covers its costs, but that the team also provides a valuable service to landlords and tenants by ensuring that shared accommodation is safe and well-managed.

Adults and Health Overview and Scrutiny Sub-Committee - Thursday 5th September, 2024 7.00 pm

The committee discussed a report on children's oral health in Barnet. The committee was concerned that Barnet was the only borough in North Central London that did not provide a targeted fluoride varnishing programme for children, due to funding constraints. The committee requested data on how many children had been identified with safeguarding concerns from dental assessments or from the supervised toothbrushing scheme. There was disappointment that only 69% of Barnet's looked after children have had dental checks, which the Executive Director of Communities, Adults and Health agreed to raise with Tina McElligott, the Director of Children's Social Care. The committee also discussed whether there was any funding available to help people who have to travel to access NHS dentists, and asked the Integrated Care Board (ICB) to consider commissioning a mobile dental van, similar to some other boroughs.

Health & Wellbeing Board - Thursday 25th July, 2024 9.30 am, NEW

We couldn't generate a summary for this meeting. Please check back later.

North Area Committee - Thursday 25th July, 2024 6.30 pm

The North Area Committee approved funding requests for the Barnet Elizabethans Rugby Football Club, Hadley Football Club, The Darlands Conservation Trust, and Oak Hill Parkrun. The committee also noted the latest updates to the Community Infrastructure Levy and Road Safety & Parking budgets.

Cabinet - Tuesday 16th July, 2024 7.00 pm

The Cabinet noted the end of year performance for the Our Plan for Barnet 2023-2026[https://barnet.moderngov.co.uk/documents/s76605/Barnet%20Corporate%20Plan%202023-26.pdf], approved the final revenue and capital outturn for 2023/24, and agreed the approach and process for setting a balanced budget for 2025/26 and the Medium-Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) to 2030. They approved the Modern Slavery Strategy (2024-2027), approved the Draft Planning Obligations Supplementary Planning Document for public consultation, noted the complaints performance and service improvement report for 2023/24 and approved the Housing Ombudsman Complaint Handling Code Self-Assessment 2024, approved the grant of a renewal lease to Arts Depot Ltd for a term of 50 years at a peppercorn rent, approved the updated Neighbourhood Community Infrastructure Levy Policy, and agreed to retain Barnet Homes and commence a review of the Management Agreement.