Agenda and minutes

There were no apologies for absence.

If a Councillor has a disclosable pecuniary interest in a particular item, whether or not it is entered in the Authority’s register of interests, or any other significant interest which they consider should be declared in the public interest, they should declare the existence and, unless it is a sensitive interest as defined in the Member Code of Conduct, the nature of the interest at the commencement of the consideration of that 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 disclosable pecuniary interest or other significant 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.

Where Members of the public are not allowed to be in attendance and speak, then the Councillor with a disclosable pecuniary interest should withdraw from the meeting whilst the matter is under consideration. Councillors who have declared other significant interests should also withdraw from the meeting if they consider their continued participation in the matter would not be reasonable in the circumstances and may give rise to a perception of a conflict of interest.

Councillors are not obliged to withdraw from the meeting where a dispensation to that effect has been obtained from the Audit, Pensions and Standards Committee. 

Disclosures of pecuniary interests were received from Councillors Mark Loveday and Andrew Johnson with regard to agenda item 9 as they were both private tenants of Council garages.  Both Members left the room for the duration of the item.

That delegated authority be given to the Executive Director of Finance and Corporate Governance, in consultation with the Leader and the Cabinet Member for Residents Services, to sign off the use of external funding by the Home Office allocated to the borough for the Bi-borough’s Prevent Programme across 2013/14 - 2015/16.

1.      That approval be given to award contracts for lot 1a, lot 1b and lot 2 to the following providers:

2.      That the Tri Borough Executive Director of Adult Social Care be authorised to negotiate any variations to the contracts prices that become necessary as a result of changes to the service levels that are required, but not exceeding a total of more than 10% of the contract sums subject to the necessary budget approvals and, in conjunction with the Head of Legal and Democratic Services/Director of Law, be authorised to agree any minor amendments to the contract deemed necessary and to conclude the contract accordingly, be approved.

1.            That approval be given to award contracts for Lots 1 and 2 to the following providers:

Lot 1 – British Red Cross

Lot 2 – Volunteer Centre Westminster

2.            That for Lot 1 the contract value is £164,752 per annum and will run initially for two years (September 2013 – August 2015) with the option to extend the contract for up to 2 additional years and the total contract value including all possible extensions is £659,008, be noted

3.            That for Lot 2 the contract value is £49,850 in year one and £50,150 in year two and will run for a total of two years (September 2013 – August 2015) with no option to extend the contract and the total contract value is £100,000, be noted.

4.            That the Tri-borough Executive Director Adult Social Care be authorised to negotiate any variations to the contract prices that become necessary as a result of changes to the service levels that are required, but not exceeding a total of more than 10% of the contract sums, subject to the necessary budget approvals and in conjunction with the three boroughs’ Legal Services departments be authorised to agree any minor amendments to the contract deemed necessary and to conclude the contract accordingly, be approved.

1.                  That the progress with the three main strands of direct housing development currently being pursued by the Council, set out in section 5 of the report, be noted.

2.                  That approval be given to the Housing Development Programme Business Plan for the period 2013-2017 (appended), based on the Hidden Homes, New Build Innovative Housing (Rational House) programmes, and the additional new build opportunities identified.

3.                  That approval be given for a budget envelope of £30.3m for the period 2013-2017, to be partially funded from the decent neighbourhoods fund and partially funded by sales receipts received throughout the development programme.

4.                  That approval be given to a peak funding requirement from the decent neighbourhoods fund for the whole programme (rolling up in this the previous approvals for Hidden Homes and the Spring Vale pilot scheme which have already set aside £5.7m) of £15.3m.

5.                  That approval be given to revenue funding from HRA reserves for 2014/15 of £1.8m and of £0.3m in addition to previous approvals for 2013/14, with the  intention that in so far as is possible any Section 106 resources available that can reasonably be applied to the programme will be so applied.

6.                  That £2.1m of the funding approved by recommendations 3 to 5 above to be designated for the initial feasibility work required to develop sites in this programme and to delegate authority to the Executive Director of Housing and Regeneration to determine the allocation of this expenditure between individual sites and to appoint the professional teams to carry out this work, be approved.

7.                  That the proposed delivery mechanism to undertake developments directly within the Council, rather than the Local Housing Company SPV, based on the updated legal and financial advice, as set out in section 7 of the report, be approved.

8.                  That the proposed Scheme of Delegation for further funding and scheme approvals, as set out in section 7 of the report within the budget envelope and resources set by recommendations 3, 4 and 5, be approved.

9.                  That the annual updating of the Business Plan and the proposed quarterly reporting cycle to the HFBB and Members, as set out in section 7 of the report, be approved.

10.             That the Executive Director of Housing and Regeneration be authorised to negotiate and enter into contract for a £2.7m grant from the Mayor’s Housing Covenant, be approved.

11.             That authority be delegated to the Cabinet Member for Housing, in conjunction with the Executive Director of Housing and Regeneration, to appoint professional teams as necessary to facilitate delivery of the programme, following completion of necessary procurement processes, be approved.

That the Earls Court  and West Kensington Local Lettings Plan, annexed to  this report at Appendix 1, be approved.

1.            That the outcome of the formal section 105 consultation with residents on parking and garage options, be noted.

2.            That the new management arrangements for garages including a new charging policy for garages, which will set a monthly flat fee for garage rent, and advance payment only (three months in advance), as set out in paragraphs 6.8 to 6.14 of the report, be approved.

3.            That the introduction of a policy for redevelopment, disposal, investment and change of use of garage sites as set out in paragraph 6.13 of this report and Appendix 1, be approved.

4.            That the progress and on-going review of parking control options be noted and that approval be given to the concept that all those that wish to park on HRA housing estates or land must pay a flat fee annual charge to do so, be approved.

That approval be given to carry out consultation on the scheme and (subject to a positive response and receiving s106 funding from the developer) to implement it, at a total cost of £300,000.

The Forward Plan 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 13^th May 2013 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 report be noted.

That the report be noted.

That the recommendations in the exempt report be noted.