Agenda, decisions and draft minutes

That the minutes of the meeting of the Cabinet held on 15 July 2024 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 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.

1.        To note the General Fund underspend of £0.298m (0.02% of budget).

2.        To note that the draw down of balances from the Housing Revenue Account (as set out in paragraph 4 below of this report.

3.        To note the significant reduction of the Dedicated Schools Grant High Needs Block deficit and the remaining cumulative deficit of £2.279m.

Councillor Rowan Ree, Cabinet Member for Finance and Reform, introduced the report setting out the revenue outturn position for the Council across the General Fund and Housing Revenue Account (HRA) for the 2023/24 financial year. Despite uncertainty over government funding, increased demand for council services and at a time when most councils were taking money from reserves to balance their books, Hammersmith & Fulham had returned a revenue budget surplus which had been added to the Council’s general balances. This was achieved without affecting front line services and ensuring the continued delivery of key council priorities.

Councillor Ree paid tribute to Councillor Frances Umeh, Cabinet Member for Housing and Homelessness, for successfully managing the HRA and all Council officers who managed budgets.

The Leader also paid tribute to Councillor Ree, Sukvinder Kalsi, the Executive Director of Finance and Corporate Services, and Richard Shwe, Director of Housing. He stressed that every Department across the Council had a duty to deliver the savings targets.

Councillor Adronie Alford complimented the Council for managing to balance the HRA but voiced her concerns for the future HRA due to the financial uncertainties.

AGREED UNANIMOUSLY BY THE CABINET MEMBERS:

1.        To note the General Fund underspend of £0.298m (0.02% of budget).

2.        To note that the draw down of balances from the Housing Revenue Account (as set out in paragraph 4 below of this report.

3.        To note the significant reduction of the Dedicated Schools Grant High Needs Block deficit and the remaining cumulative deficit of £2.279m.

1. To note the capital outturn for the year of £184.8m.

2. To approve the proposed budget variations to the capital programme (2023/24 to 2026/27) as summarised in Table 1 and detailed in Appendix 1.

3. To approve additional budget of £0.55m for the Council’s agreed contribution towards Education City Youth Zone build, funded from General Fund borrowing.

4. To approve an additional £3.277m budget in relation to pre–agreed works within the HRA asset and compliance programme, funded from HRA borrowing.

5. To approve an additional budget of £1,510m on energy efficiency works at Philpot Square across 2024/25 and 2025/26, of which £0.755m will be funded by the Heat Network Efficiency Scheme grant and £0.755m from HRA borrowing.

Councillor Rowan Ree presented the report setting out the Council’s strategy for delivering on the ambitions to transform its services and invest money to help protect high quality essential services for its residents, including significant capital investment in the infrastructure of the Borough.

AGREED UNANIMOUSLY BY THE CABINET MEMBERS:

1. To note the capital outturn for the year of £184.8m.

2. To approve the proposed budget variations to the capital programme (2023/24 to 2026/27) as summarised in Table 1 and detailed in Appendix 1.

3. To approve additional budget of £0.55m for the Council’s agreed contribution towards Education City Youth Zone build, funded from General Fund borrowing.

4. To approve an additional £3.277m budget in relation to pre–agreed works within the HRA asset and compliance programme, funded from HRA borrowing.

5. To approve an additional budget of £1,510m on energy efficiency works at Philpot Square across 2024/25 and 2025/26, of which £0.755m will be funded by the Heat Network Efficiency Scheme grant and £0.755m from HRA borrowing.

That the Treasury Management Outturn Report for 2023/24 be noted and approved.

Councillor Rowan Ree presented the report providing and overview of the Council’s Treasury Management Outturn over the previous financial year.

Despite the challenging strategic financial environment, the Council operated within the Treasury Limits and Prudential Indicators and met all of its prudential indicators. Councillor Ree paid special tribute to Phill Triggs, Director of Treasury and Pensions, and his team for their excellent Treasury Management.

Councillor Ree added that the Council had launched the largest ever Local Government ‘Green Bond’ on the previous year and had reduced the Council’s overall levels of borrowing.  There had been two tranches of ‘Green Bonds’ over the last 18 months raising £1.7m so far, with a limit set of £5m to go towards local projects dealing with climate change mitigations issues and green projects in the Borough.

AGREED UNANIMOUSLY BY THE CABINET MEMBERS:

That the Treasury Management Outturn Report for 2023/24 be noted and approved.

1.    To note the General Fund financial forecast variance at Month 2 and mitigating actions to reduce the overspend forecast variance position (Table 1 and Appendix 1).

2.    To note progress on delivering the 2024/25 agreed budget savings (Appendix 3).

3.    To note the HRA forecast (paragraph section 13 to 15 and Appendix 2).

Councillor Rowan Ree introduced the report looking at spending as of Month 2 of the current financial year. The report noted a forecast overspend with mitigation measures in place. All budgets across the Council would continue to be monitored over the course of the financial year.

Councillor Adronie Alford expressed her concerns for the HRA if the contingencies failed to work due to the ongoing problems with the repairs works which was a large and undefined debt coming out of the HRA. She was also concerned by the rising cost of homelessness and temporary accommodation.

The Leader stressed that these were also their concerns, and they were determined to have the best Council Housing in Britain. He added that Councillor Umeh’s leadership on Housing had been outstanding and together with Councillor Ree, ensuring the finance was robust, they had managed to get both the HRA, the repairs and the housing service in a much better state. He added that they would need to have different settlements on the temporary accommodation budget and its approach to homelessness.

AGREED UNANIMOUSLY BY THE CABINET MEMBERS:

1.    To note the General Fund financial forecast variance at Month 2 and mitigating actions to reduce the overspend forecast variance position (Table 1 and Appendix 1).

2.    To note progress on delivering the 2024/25 agreed budget savings (Appendix 3).

3.    To note the HRA forecast (paragraph section 13 to 15 and Appendix 2).

1. To approve the procurement strategy to establish a closed framework (i.e. one that is not an ‘open framework’ within the meaning of the Procurement Act 2023) for the provision of travel care and support taxi services for a period of 4 years from September 2025.

2. To delegate authority to the Executive Director of People for any minor amendments required to this strategy.

Councillor Alex Sanderson, Cabinet Member for Children and Education, presented the report seeking approval of the procurement strategy for Travel Care and Support Taxi Services from September 2025 for a period of four  years.

AGREED UNANIMOUSLY BY THE CABINET MEMBERS:

1. To approve the procurement strategy to establish a closed framework (i.e. one that is not an ‘open framework’ within the meaning of the Procurement Act 2023) for the provision of travel care and support taxi services for a period of 4 years from September 2025.

2. To delegate authority to the Executive Director of People for any minor amendments required to this strategy.

That Cabinet:

1. Notes that the approximate contract value is outlined in Appendix 2 and is not for publication on the basis that it contains information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information) as set out in paragraph 3 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended).

2. Approves the procurement strategy to run a competitive procurement exercise for the provision of in-borough semi-independent living (SIL) accommodation for young people for up to seven years from May 2025. This includes relevant leases and Housing Management Agreements.

3. Delegates any minor adjustments that may be required as result of the procurement taking place when the Procurement Act 2024 comes into force on 28^th October 2024 to the Strategic Director of People.

Councillor Alex Sanderson presented the report seeking approval of a strategy to recommission, by way of a competitive procurement exercise, semi-independent living services for young people at risk of becoming homeless, sixteen and seventeen-year-old children looked after and care leavers across Hammersmith and Fulham.

AGREED UNANIMOUSLY BY THE CABINET MEMBERS:

That Cabinet:

1. Notes that the approximate contract value is outlined in Appendix 2 and is not for publication on the basis that it contains information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information) as set out in paragraph 3 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended).

2. Approves the procurement strategy to run a competitive procurement exercise for the provision of in-borough semi-independent living (SIL) accommodation for young people for up to seven years from May 2025. This includes relevant leases and Housing Management Agreements.

3. Delegates any minor adjustments that may be required as result of the procurement taking place when the Procurement Act 2024 comes into force on 28^th October 2024 to the Strategic Director of People.

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 an item of business, on the grounds that it contains 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.