Agenda and minutes

That the minutes of the meeting of the Cabinet held on 2 February 2015 be confirmed and signed as an accurate record of the proceedings, and that the outstanding actions be noted.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Wesley Harcourt and Max Schmid.

1.1.        That the General Fund underspend of £4.464m and the HRA underspend of £0.636m, be noted.

1.2.        Subject to the overall General Fund financial position of the Council and the departmental underspend being higher or the same as the carry forward request at the year end and clearance by the Section 151 Officer in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Finance:

·         To agree the carry forward of departmental underspends of £1.398m as detailed in appendix 11.

·         To agree that Adult Social Care can carry forward budget underspend up to £1.325m to meet future identified budget pressures as outlined in appendix 1, subject to the final ASC outturn position and confirmation from the Cabinet  Member for Finance.

·         To agree that if a budget underspend in Environment, Leisure and Residents Services is achieved at year end they carry this forward to cover the budget pressures arising from Fulham Palace commitments as outlined in appendix 4. subject to the final ELRS outturn position and confirmation from the Cabinet Member for Finance.

1.3.        That a virements totalling £3.175m General Fund and £0.871m HRA (appendix 12), be approved.

1.4.        That the request for the Section 151 Officer, with the confirmation of the Cabinet Member for Finance, to take the necessary decisions required to ensure the Council’s accounts are closed by 30^th June 2015, be agreed.

Cabinet was informed that the finance comments in paragraph 8.1 of the report had been amended as a result of inconsistencies which arose from a drafting error.  The proposal to spend £2.16m as itemised in Appendix 1 was correct. 

The total spend in Appendix 1 breaks down as follows:

That officers be authorised to spend Section 106 monies as set out in section 5 and  Appendix 1 to the report.

Councillor Andrew Jones endorsed the scheme and highlighted that the Administration had successfully negotiated an increased affordable housing offer.  The Leader noted that the Administration had inherited the scheme with little affordable housing provision.  There had been a significant improvement to the affordable housing offer which will benefit local residents.  A review of the Council office accommodation will take place once the Council’s long term requirements are established.

1.1.        That approval be given to accepting the offer from King Street Developments (Hammersmith) Ltd to pay a commuted sum (as set out in the exempt report) under the King Street Regeneration Project to the Council for off-site affordable housing;

1.2.        That approval be given to accepting the offer from Tesco Stores Ltd to pay a sum (as set out in the exempt report) to the Council and provide a total of six shared ownership residential units as consideration for releasing the restrictive covenant on the site at 84 - 90B High Street in Fulham; and

1.3.        That the transactions in recommendations 2.1 and 2.2 be completed simultaneously.

Cabinet noted an update to the legal and procurement comments due to changes to legislation.

1.1       That Contract Standing Orders be waived, in accordance with CSO section 3.1, to approve an extension of the Early Years speech and language contract from 1 April 2015 to 30 September 2016 with the current provider, Central London Community Healthcare NHS Trust (CLCH).

1.2       That Contract Standing Orders be waived, in accordance with CSO section 3.1, to approve the extension of the Education speech and language service level agreement from 1 April 2015 to 30 September 2016 with the current provider, Central London Community Healthcare NHS Trust (CLCH).   

1.3       That approval be given to the placing of a joint prior indicative notice with the NHS Clinical Commissioning Groups to signal the intention of running a competitive tendering exercise in 2015-16, and to help support pre-procurement dialogue with potential providers on how to optimise quality and value for money in the new contract.

1.4       That authority be delegated to the Cabinet Member for Children and Education to take any further decisions needed to continue existing service provision until the new contract is in place, should this be needed to ensure service continuity.

Councillor Lisa Homan observed that there had been a catalogue of failures on this project.  The scheme had cost the Council over £5m without the original objective being achieved.  The properties could not be sold on the open market because the lift could not be used by the occupiers.  In line with their manifesto commitment, the accommodation would be let to teachers.  If the flats are not filled by teachers, they will be open to other people via a local letting policy.

The Leader noted that in 2007 the intension was for the flats to be sold as luxury flats but they could not be sold on the open market nor did they fit the Council’s social housing criteria.  The flats would be let to teachers who live in Hammersmith and Fulham.  A number of lessons will have to be learnt from the project. 

1.    That delegated authority be given to the Director for Housing Options, Skills and Economic Development in conjunction with the Cabinet Member for Housing to develop in consultation with residents a Local Lettings Plan to govern the allocation of these properties.

2.    That the letting of the rooftop apartments be carried out by the Allocations team with the homes allocated in accordance with the Local Lettings Plan agreed specifically for these properties.

Councillor Vivienne Lukey noted that the procurement was being undertaken alongside Westminster City Council and Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.  After the service review, each Council will be able to let sovereign contracts and shape local services.  The Leader asked why the Council had the 2^nd highest rate for alcohol related hospital admission in the country.

1.1       That approval be given to procure core drug and core alcohol services during 2015 in accordance with Option 3b as set out in this report,  providing for a revised service model across the three boroughs that retains sovereignty.

1.2       That the appointment of the successful provider be delegated to the Cabinet Member for Health and Adult Social Care.

1.1.        That the revised Enforcement Policy, attached as Appendix 1 to this report, be adopted by the Council.

1.2.        That any future minor amendments and updates, following annual reviews, be approved by the Cabinet Member.

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 2 February 2015 be confirmed and signed as an accurate record of the proceedings, and that the outstanding actions be noted.

That the recommendations in the exempt report, be approved.

That the recommendations in the exempt report, be approved.