Agenda and minutes

That the minutes of the meeting of the Cabinet held on 11th August 2014 be confirmed and signed as an accurate record of the proceedings, and that the outstanding actions be noted.

An apologies for absence was received from Councillor Vivienne Lukey.

The following members declared an interest in item 6 - 3^rd Sector Investment Fund Allocation report:-

Councillor Lisa Homan as a Council representative/Trustee of the Hammersmith Citizens Advice Bureau. 

Councillor Wesley Harcourt as a Trustee, in a private capacity, of the Hammersmith Citizens Advice Bureau.

1.1.        That the forecast underspend of £1.086m for the General Fund and the break-even positionfor the HRA, be noted.

1.2.        That the virement requests totalling £0.811m General Fund and £0.112m Housing Revenue Account as detailed in Appendix 11, be approved.

1.3.        That the Transport & Technical Services debts of £0.037m are written off. These debts are old and deemed uncollectable due to the debtor being insolvent or untraceable.

1.1.        That the General Fund underspend of £11.5 m (including contingencies) and the HRA underspend of £1.5m, be noted.

1.2.        That the transfer to general reserves and earmarked reserves of £11.6m, be noted.

1.3.        That the increase in the HRA reserves of £3.2m, be noted.

Cabinet received a report seeking approval to fund 54 services for an initial 18 month term.  During this time, the Council will review service specifications, funding support and performance of funded services to ensure they robustly support the priorities of the Council and the needs of local residents.

Councillor Sue Fennimore noted that the new Administration was determined to strengthen its partnership with the 3rd sector and ensure that the services provided are even more effective and reach as many people as possible. Councillor Hamilton expressed concern that the Sands End Associated Projects In Action (SEAPIA) application was not recommended for approval.  Officers noted that that SEAPIA had requested funding for a citizenship project rather than the Adventure playground.  Officers will meet with the Group to go through their application.  Further funding would be available via the 2^nd bidding round.

The Leader noted that the new Administration had increased the budget by 40% providing greater opportunities for organisations to access funding than previously available.  He welcomed the move to strengthen the relationship with the 3^rd Sector and work in close partnership around a shared objective of promoting social inclusion and improving the lives of residents.

APPROVED:-

1.     That funding of 54 services for the period December 2014 until May 2016 (18 months) be approved:-

1.1        £463,500 investment in Infrastructure services

1.2        £882,701 investment in Children, Young People & Families services, including funding for a number of services commissioned by Children’s Services which are delivered by 3rd sector organisations and will contribute to the delivery of the specification outcomes.

1.3        £760,000 investment in Economic Development services, including consideration of additional employment support services needed for local residents.

1.4        £772,834 investment in Health & Wellbeing services.

1.5        £365,084 investment in Safer Communities services, including £145,833 contribution to Tri-Borough commissioning of VAWG services, or funding of local domestic violence services from April 2015.

1.6        £517,501 investment in Arts, Culture & Sport services.

1.7         £192,191 investment in Environment & Community Transport services, with the Community Transport service recommended for funding (and its associated budget moved to Infrastructure).

1.8        £202,500 investment in Homelessness Prevention & Home Safety services.

1.9        That extension of funding agreements beyond May 2016 will be subject to a review of 3^rd Sector Support, 3SIF service specifications and performance of funded groups.

2.      That a number of services funded under 3SIF be identified and developed to pilot a social investment approach.

3.      That further investment be made in the annual Fast Track Small Grant scheme.

4.      That the balance of the 3rd Sector Investment Fund be tendered for additional services that contribute to delivering the priorities of the Administration; and 

5.      That authority be given for this funding to be awarded by the Cabinet Member for Social Inclusion in conjunction with the Executive Director for Finance and Corporate Services and with the relevant Cabinet Member(s).

6.      That part of the balance of 3SIF from 2014-15 be carried forward to 2015-16. 

On 23 June 2014 Cabinet approved the publication of statutory proposals to revoke the decisions of 10 February 2014 to discontinue Sulivan Primary School and enlarge New King’s Primary School with effect from 1 September 2014.  A statutory notice about the revocation proposals was published on 30 June and the six-week statutory representation period ended on 12 August 2014. Officers reported that 51 representations were received, 47 of which supported the Council’s proposals.

Councillor Sue Macmillan noted that Sulivan School was an Outstanding School which had achieved very impressive Key Stage 2 results in the summer despite the uncertainty surrounding its status.  The change in the Council’s Housing Strategy which had placed a higher priority to provide more affordable rented housing and low cost home ownership opportunities in the borough will particularly have an impact on the South Fulham Riverside development and the need for school places in the area.  Councillor Fennimore also endorsed the comments and supported the proposal. Councillor Hamilton expressed concern about the impact of the removal of the shared ownership scheme in the area but supported the Sulivan School proposal.

Cabinet considered all the representations received and the equality impact assessment attached to the report as Appendix D.

1.            That, following full consideration of all representations received and other relevant information including the public sector equality duty and Equality Impact Assessment, and in light of the fact that, due to the change in housing policy with the aim of providing more affordable rented housing and the resultant increased demand for school places, circumstances have so altered since approval was given on 10 February 2014 that implementation of the proposals to discontinue Sulivan School and enlarge New King’s Primary School would now be inappropriate, the Council therefore resolves to revoke its earlier decisions to discontinue Sulivan Primary School and enlarge New King’s Primary School with effect from 1 September 2015 as set out in Option 2 in section 5.2 of the report.

Cabinet noted that the consultation by the Mayor of London to establish a Mayoral Development Corporation (MDC) for Old Oak and Park Royal ends on 24 September 2014.  The proposals would cede control of planning powers to the Greater London Authority (GLA) giving the Mayor control of plan making, determining planning applications and the Community Infrastructure Levy charge and collection for the area within the MDC boundary.  The report outlined a response to the Mayor’s consultation.

Councillor Jones in endorsing the response noted that the establishment of an MDC would take power away from the locally elected Members resulting in loss of their democratic mandate.  The Council was not convinced based on the levels of affordable housing currently being achieved by the Mayor that the MDC would achieve high levels of affordable housing.  Affordable housing provision should be left to the three local authorities to determine.

The Leader noted that this Council had constantly delivered local priorities through its local democratic mandate.  The Mayor of London had failed to deliver its affordable housing targets.  There was no role for the Mayoral Development Corporation in the regeneration of Old Oak and Park Royal.

1.1.          That in the light of the Mayor’s proposals summarised in this report, Cabinet endorses and approves the proposed Council response to the Mayor of London’s consultation on the proposals for a Mayoral Development Corporation (MDC) at Old Oak and Park Royal as set out in Appendix.

1.2.          That the Executive Director of Transport and Technical Services be authorised to make any further changes, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Economic Development and Regeneration, to the Council’s proposed response letter to the MDC Consultation.

The Key Decision List was noted.

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 11^th August 2014 be confirmed and signed as an accurate record of the proceedings, and that the outstanding actions be noted.