Agenda and minutes

The Leader expressed his contentment at seeing local people enjoying themselves outdoors, following the release of some lockdown restrictions. However he reinforced the need to continue to be cautious and maintain safety measures as there had been an increase in infection rates around the borough.

The Leader requested Cabinet to observe a minute's silence to honour His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, following the announcement of his death. Also, with great sadness, the Leader informed Cabinet of the recent death of Mike Cartwright, a former Mayor and Deputy Leader of the Council, who had stepped down at the 2018 council elections due to illness. Cabinet observed a minute of silence in their memory.

That the minutes of the meeting of the Cabinet held on 1 March 2021 be confirmed and signed as an accurate record of the proceedings, and that the outstanding actions be noted.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Sue Macmillan.

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 Standards Committee.

Councillor Max Schmid stated that this report demonstrated that the Council was in a good position and had a projected underspend. He paid tribute to officers for this remarkable achievement, specially taking into account all the expenses generated by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Councillor Ben Coleman reiterated Councillor Schmid’s comments and added that meals on wheels and free adult social care had continued to be delivered to residents throughout the pandemic.

The Leader asked Kim Smith, the Chief Executive, to pass his gratitude to senior officers for continuing to deliver more efficient services, despite the many financial challenges, and within the Council’s budget. Kim Smith stated that balancing the budget while delivering better services to residents was at the heart of the Council’s priority.

AGREED UNANIMOUSLY BY CABINET:

1.            To approve the General Fund virements of £0.405m as detailed in appendix 9.

2.            To note the General Fund forecast overspend of £0.525m, of which £0.741m arises from the net impact of Covid-19. Excluding the impact of Covid-19 there is an underlying underspend of £0.216m.

3.            To note the Housing Revenue Account forecast underspend of £0.867m.

4.            To note the in-year Dedicated Schools Grant overspend of £3.076m.

Councillor Andrew Jones stated that this report supported the Council’s Industrial Strategy which sets out a vision for economic growth for everyone. It aimed to support the borough’s long-term ambitions of an inclusive local economy. He added that Hammersmith and Fulham continued to suffer negative economic consequences as a result of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. From the beginning of the lockdown in 2020 until December, the number of work-related benefit claimants had more than doubled. In addition, thousands of residents had been furloughed and, with the continuation of lockdown measures, many of these residents could lose their jobs in the coming months. He thanked the Economy Team for working extremely hard to support residents and businesses during this pandemic.

The Leader added that the end of furlough would leave thousands of people in need of support. The Council would need to focus on equipping residents with the skills and knowledge to get them back into employment. Particularly sectors such as hospitality and retail would need support to be better prepared for the changing economy and in adapting their businesses to comply with safety measures as a result of the pandemic.

Councillor Coleman stated that the was happy to see the support initiatives targeted at BAME communities and disabled residents. These would give everyone the best chance without discrimination and help to build trust within these communities.

AGREED UNANIMOUSLY BY CABINET:

To approverevenue funding of £1.942m to fund economic delivery activity for 2021/22 using Section 106 (£1.850m) and Strategic Investment Pot (SIP) funding (£0.092m).

The Leader stated that the Council was very committed to combat climate change and had pledged to cut CO2 emissions from the Council’s activities to net zero by 2030 and be the greenest council in the country.

Councillor Lisa Homan stated that the Council, alongside 6 other councils, was successful in a joint bid to undertake a whole house retrofit project to make homes zero carbon using the innovative EnergieSprong (ES) approach. A total of 27 homes in the West Kensington Estate had been identified to take part in this project. Their aim was to take learnings from this project forward to apply across the whole of the Council’s housing stock. This report was to approve the ‘Design’ and ‘Prototype’ phases and delegate the approval to the Strategic Director of Economy.

AGREED UNANIMOUSLY BY CABINET:

1.    To approve progression to the ‘Design’ and ‘Prototype’ phases as described in the report.

2.    To approve delegated authority to the ‘Strategic Director of Economy’ to provide approval for the design and delivery stage gateway.

Councillor Larry Culhane stated that Queensmill was an outstanding autism specific special school in the north of the borough. They had applied to become an Academy, which was supported by the Council. This paper provided details of the terms and conditions of the conversion, making it a solid and seamless transition.

AGREED UNANIMOUSLY BY CABINET:

1.    To grant a 125-year lease of Queensmill Special School to Queen Charlotte Education Special School Trust.

2.    To enter into a Commercial Transfer Agreement, transferring school assets, contracts and staff from Queensmill Special School to Queen Charlotte Education Special School Trust.

3.    To delegate authority to the Interim Strategic Director for the Economy in consultation with the Head of Law to finalise and complete negotiations with Queen Charlotte Education Special School Trust in order to give effect to the decisions in 1 and 2 above.

4.    To delegate authority to the Director of Education in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Children and Education to make decisions to complete the outstanding works on the Queensmill Special School site.

5.    To enter into a High Needs Funding SLA and Services agreement with the Queen Charlotte Education Special School Trust, delegating authority to the Director of Children’s Services to finalise and complete negotiations in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Children and Education. 

6.    To delegate authority to the Director of Children’s Services in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Children and Education to increase place funding arrangements with Queen Charlotte Education Special School Trust up to the number of learners on roll in the October 2020 census which shall be detailed in the High Needs Funding SLA.

7.    To enter into a SLA with Queen Charlotte Education Special School Trust to formalise arrangements for the Post-19 college and Supported Internship delivered by the Q+ charity, delegating authority to the Director of Children’s Services to finalise and complete negotiations, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Children and Education. 

The Key Decision List was noted.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT 1972 - ACCESS TO INFORMATION

Proposed resolution:

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 3 of Schedule 12A of the said Act, and that the public interest in maintaining the exemption currently outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.       

There was no discussion of exempt elements.