Agenda and minutes

That the minutes of the meeting of the Cabinet held on 5 March 2012 be confirmed and signed as an accurate record of the proceedings, and that the outstanding actions be noted.

There were no apologies for absence.

If a Councillor has any prejudicial or personal interest in a particular report he/she should declare the existence and nature of the interest at the commencement of the consideration of the item or as soon as it becomes apparent.

At meetings where members of the public are allowed to be in attendance and speak, any Councillor with a prejudicial interest may also make representations, give evidence or answer questions about the matter. The Councillor must then withdraw immediately from the meeting before the matter is discussed and any vote taken, unless a dispensation has been obtained from the Standards Committee.

Where members of the public are not allowed to be in attendance, then the Councillor with a prejudicial interest should withdraw from the meeting whilst the matter is under consideration, unless the disability has been removed by the Standards Committee.

There were no declarations of interest.

The Leader invited the Executive Director for Housing and Regeneration, Mel Barrett, to provide an update on the progress on the Conditional Land Sale Agreement (CLSA) and the outcome of the formal consultation with residents on the details of the proposals to include the estates within the comprehensive redevelopment scheme.  Mel Barrett introduced the Council’s three main advisers – Richard Budge (SNR Denton), Christopher Pratt (Jones Lang Lasalle) and Richard Parker (Price Waterhouse Coopers).

The Executive Director informed the meeting of the following key points:-

·        The proposal is a major opportunity for growth and development of the borough.

·        The proposed development will consist of four new villages linking Earls Court station to North End Road with a mixed use development to include 7,500 new homes, 2 million square feet of Commercial space, a new Lost River Park and playgrounds and facilities for children of all ages.

·        36,000 temporary construction jobs and 9,500 permanent jobs will be provided.

·        Once completed, the development could bring an estimated £99million per annum of additional local expenditure into the economy.

The draft Conditional Land Sale Agreement (CLSA) is a draft agreement for the transfer of the Council's land in phases, with phases of land not being drawn down until replacement homes have been provided.  The Council is under a duty to consider the views of its tenants, leaseholders and the wider population in the area.  It must also obtain 'best consideration' for its interest.

The proposed guarantees for tenants and leaseholders include:-

• Brand new replacement homes, one move only within the local area,
• Tenants remain secure Council tenants and continue to pay Council rents – there is no stock transfer and therefore no requirement for a ballot,
• Phased approach allows communities to be moved together,
• The compensation package for tenants covering statutory home loss payment, disturbance payment to cover moving costs and additional new white goods, carpets and curtains is generous,
• Resident leaseholders/ freeholders receive Market Value plus 10% statutory disturbance plus a further 10% early purchase discount on replacement property, i.e. two payments, and
• Service charges capped for 5 years and agreed by the Council beyond that.

Benefits for the Council include:-

• Comprehensive redevelopment allows existing housing stock to be replaced on a "new for old" basis and 16% of existing tenants who are overcrowded can be re-housed in homes with enough bedrooms to meet their need. 
• Replacement housing funded by private sector funding through the developer rather than scarce public sector resources.

Richard Budge (SNR Denton) provided advice on the legal agreement.  He stated that Capco must serve a Notice to Trigger the CLSA within 9 months of the completion of 150 replacement social housing units at Seagrave Road, or within 5 years, whichever is the earlier, otherwise the Council can terminate the agreement.  Consideration for the Council's land is 760 new replacement homes and £105 million.  Capco must have delivered all replacement homes before any land can be transferred.   This will require a significant amount of investment to carry through the scheme.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 230.

1.      That the changes to the capital programme as set out in Appendix 1 of the report be approved.

2.      That the changes to the General Fund revenue  budget and Housing Revenue Account as set out in Appendix 2 of the report approved.

3.      That the debt write off of £0.254m as set out in section 4 of the report be approved.

1.     That approval be given to award a contract and framework agreement  for the Provision of Service for Face to Face Customer Transactions to Post Office Ltd to commence in mid May 2012 for a period of 4 years.

2.    That the contract award for the services be as outlined in the report.

That approval be given to the care proceedings pilot at a total cost of £95,000 to Hammersmith and Fulham Council out of the total expenditure in the project of £220,000 as set out in paragraph 5.7 of the report.

1. That approval is given to proceed with option 2 for 2012/13 as outlined in paragraph 2.2 of the report, at a total maximum cost of £50,000 that will be met by carrying forward departmental underspends from 2011/12, and to waive the application of Contract Standing Orders to this award.

2.That authority be delegated to the Cabinet Member for Residents Services, in consultation with the Executive Director for Environment, Leisure and Residents Services, to consider, agree and implement what they decide is the most appropriate longer term solution.

1.      That the sum of £200,000 received from the Section106 fund as set out in this report be used to enable consultation with customers and stakeholders to commence, to scope and determine the costs of the building works and to engage an architect for the design element of the project.

2.      That the sum of £725,000 released from the Section 106 fund on the commencement of the construction of the South Building of Hammersmith Car Park be used to commence the build and refit of the library.

3.      That £725,000 be released from the commencement of the construction of the North Building (timeframe to be advised by developers).

1.            That the evaluation of estates as set out in Section 2 of this report be endorsed.

2.            That Fulham Court and Barclay Close be approved as the pilot HEIP scheme and that the framework of the Draft Investment Plan for Fulham Court and Barclay Close as set out in Section 4 and Appendix 3 of this report be agreed as the basis for developing the detail of the specific projects.

3.            That approval be given to the proposed physical improvements components of the Draft Investment Plan for Fulham Court and Barclay Close as set out in Section 4 and Appendix 3 of this report, at an estimated cost of £0.750m to be funded from the existing budget for Fulham Court of £3.469m  held within the Decent Neighbourhoods Pot.

4.            That authority be delegated to the Cabinet Member for Housing, the Executive Director of Housing and Regeneration and the Executive Director of Finance and  Corporate Governance to develop an initial pilot project to oversee the disposal of up to 10 void properties to the Council’s Local Housing Company as low cost home ownership units, following which a report will be bought to Cabinet.

5.            That the receipts generated from the sale of void properties be earmarked  for affordable housing and regeneration investment purposes at Fulham Court estate and Barclay Close (so far as possible and consistent with statutory pooling regulations), with the first call for reinvestment being the £3.469m.

6.            That a Local Lettings Plan be drafted on the basis set out in Section 5 of this report.

1. To note that the average anticipated works spend for this contract is £44,500 per full financial year, including an annual indexed uplift, and contingencies of 5%.

2. To note that the new contract is expected to start on 1 July 2012  for a period of five years with optional annual extensions up to a maximum of three years.

A Member queried the level of charges outlined in the report.  It was noted that there will be a minimum call out fee for repairs undertaken.  The purpose of the report was to act as an incentive for people not to damage council property and where damage had occurred the person who caused the damage was to be liable for the repair cost.  It agreed that the communication must be clear and level of charges easily understood by tenants.

That approval is given to implement the Recharges Policy for Repairs as set out in the Appendix to the report.

The Forward Plan was noted.

The summary was noted.

The summary was noted.

The Cabinet is invited to resolve, under Section 100A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972, that the public and press be excluded from the meeting during the consideration of the following items of business, on the grounds that they contain the likely disclosure of exempt information, as defined in paragraph 3of Schedule 12A of the said Act, and that the public interest in maintaining the exemption currently outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

That under Section 100A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public and press be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the remaining items of business on the grounds that they contain information relating to the financial or business affairs of a person (including the authority) as defined in paragraph 3 of Schedule 12A of the Act, and that the public interest in maintaining the exemption currently outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

[The following is a public summary of the exempt information under S.100C (2) of the Local Government Act 1972.  Exempt minutes exist as a separate document.]

That the minutes of the meeting of the Cabinet held on 5^th March 2012 be confirmed and signed as an accurate record of the proceedings, and that the outstanding actions be noted.

That the report be noted.

That the recommendations contained within the exempt report be approved.

The summary was noted.

The Summary was noted.