Agenda, decisions and minutes

The Leader congratulated Councillor Ben Coleman for being elected as the new MP for Chelsea and Fulham. He also welcomed Councillor Alex Sanderson’s new post as Deputy Leader (with responsibility for Children and Education) and Councillor Bora Kwon as the new Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Health. In addition, the Leader introduced Councillor Zarar Qayyum as the new Cabinet Member for Enterprise and Skills.

That the minutes of the meeting of the Cabinet held on 3 June 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.

The following councillors declared a significant interest on Item 4 - Third Sector Investment Fund Strategy Report. They left the room during the consideration of the item and did not vote.

·         Councillor Wesley Harcourt as a Trustee of the Hammersmith & Fulham Citizens Advice Bureau.

·         Councillor Sharon Holder as a Trustee of the Action on Disability.

·         Councillor Bora Kwon as a Trustee of the Hammersmith Lyric Theatre.

That Cabinet Agrees:

1.    To launch a Third Sector Investment Fund Round under the seven priority areas set out in this paper.

2.    That the newly allocated funding will run from 1^st April 2025 to 31^st March 2028, with the option to extend by 1 more year (up to 31^st March 2029).

3.    To approve the establishment of a framework for the approval of grants falling within the Third Sector Investment fund. Under this framework the Cabinet grants delegated authority for the Award of Grants under the Third Sector Investment fund from 1st April 2025 up to 31^st March 2028 with a potential extension of one year up to 31^st March 2029 to the Executive Director of Finance and Corporate Services in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Social Inclusion and Community Safety.

The following councillors declared a significant interest on this item. They left the room during the consideration of the item and did not vote.

·         Councillor Wesley Harcourt as a Trustee of the Hammersmith & Fulham Citizens Advice Bureau.

·         Councillor Sharon Holder as a Trustee of the Action on Disability.

·         Councillor Bora Kwon as a Trustee of the Hammersmith Lyric Theatre.

Councillor Rebecca Harvey introduced the strategy paper aiming to support residents and the third sector by renewing the Council’s grants funding strategy. As the Council was seeking value for money for residents, it aimed to strengthen the third sector, through the renewed Third Sector Strategy. The Council was investing up to £3.9m intended to deliver a broad range of Council priorities and calling on all the Voluntary & Community Sector to rise to the challenge and urgently tackle the big issues through different routes.

The Leader stated that the Council had invested in the Lyric Theatre to stop it going bankrupt as well as funded the Law Centre to continue its services to residents. But he stressed that organisations would need to strictly meet the ruthlessly financially efficient(RFE) criteria to ensure best outcomes for residents.

AGREED UNANIMOUSLY BY THE CABINET MEMBERS:

That Cabinet Agrees:

1.    To launch a Third Sector Investment Fund Round under the seven priority areas set out in this paper.

2.    That the newly allocated funding will run from 1^st April 2025 to 31^st March 2028, with the option to extend by 1 more year (up to 31^st March 2029).

3.    To approve the establishment of a framework for the approval of grants falling within the Third Sector Investment fund. Under this framework the Cabinet grants delegated authority for the Award of Grants under the Third Sector Investment fund from 1st April 2025 up to 31^st March 2028 with a potential extension of one year up to 31^st March 2029 to the Executive Director of Finance and Corporate Services in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Social Inclusion and Community Safety.

1.    Approval of  £595,044 interim funding per annum (up to a maximum of £935,837) in transitional funding to Ormiston Academy Trust for a 19-month period from September 2024 to March 2026 to match the resources currently allocated to support a small cohort of Hammersmith & Fulham high needs learners requiring provision above and beyond that would normally be expected from the Queensmill School current model.

2.    To note the ongoing discussions and associated risk for additional funding from Hammersmith & Fulham from the outcome of negotiations with the Department for Education and its Education Funding Skills agency for a package of up to £1.361m  in transitional funding for a 19-month period September 2024 to March 2026 to support the redesign of the Queensmill delivery model.

3.    To delegate authority to the Director of Education and SEND, in consultation with the Executive Director of People and THE Cabinet Member for Children and Education to agree a 19-month transformation programme with Ormiston Academy Trust for Queensmill School.

4.    To delegate authority to the Director of Education and SEND, in consultation with the Executive Director of People and the Cabinet Member for Children and Education to agree inflationary uplifts to proposed funding levels following the outcome of 2024/25 teachers and non-teachers national pay awards consistent with transformation programme to be agreed.

Councillor Alex Sanderson presented the report seeking approval for a jointly crafted approach with Queensmill School, Ormiston Academy Trust, the Department for Education, and its Education Skills Funding Agency to develop a transitional funding approach in support of a transformation programme for a sustainable delivery model for Queensmill School.

Councillor Jose Afonso asked the reason for the Council not providing an uplift on top of funding for Queensmill since 2021.

Councillor Alex Sanderson replied that this question was not related to this paper, which dealt with transitional defunding. She would be happy to response to him separately.

Councillor Jose Afonso also asked which criteria had been applied to determine which children would get the interim transitions funding, and if not all children at Hammersmith & Fulham places, then why not.

Councillor Alex Sanderson replied that she would come back to him with a written answer as it involved a lot of sensitive and complex information on different children and different care packages.

The Leader reiterated that this paper related to move Queensmill School to the next stage and stated that the Council had been investing a record amount of funding into children with disabilities.

AGREED UNANIMOUSLY BY THE CABINET MEMBERS:

1.    Approval of  £595,044 interim funding per annum (up to a maximum of £935,837) in transitional funding to Ormiston Academy Trust for a 19-month period from September 2024 to March 2026 to match the resources currently allocated to support a small cohort of Hammersmith & Fulham high needs learners requiring provision above and beyond that would normally be expected from the Queensmill School current model.

2.    To note the ongoing discussions and associated risk for additional funding from Hammersmith & Fulham from the outcome of negotiations with the Department for Education and its Education Funding Skills agency for a package of up to £1.361m  in transitional funding for a 19-month period September 2024 to March 2026 to support the redesign of the Queensmill delivery model.

3.    To delegate authority to the Director of Education and SEND, in consultation with the Executive Director of People and THE Cabinet Member for Children and Education to agree a 19-month transformation programme with Ormiston Academy Trust for Queensmill School.

4.    To delegate authority to the Director of Education and SEND, in consultation with the Executive Director of People and the Cabinet Member for Children and Education to agree inflationary uplifts to proposed funding levels following the outcome of 2024/25 teachers and non-teachers national pay awards consistent with transformation programme to be agreed.

That Cabinet approves the SPD for adoption incorporating amendments following the public consultation. The amendments are outlined in a schedule of representations at appendix 3.

Councillor Andrew Jones introduced the report seeking approval to adopt the Hammersmith Town Centre Supplementary Planning Document, which along with the review of the Local Plan would provide an important planning framework to deliver the Council’s ambitions for regeneration and development in the borough.

Councillor Jose Afonso welcomed the fact from the report that there would be 2,800 new homes including provision of 50% genuinely affordable homes. He asked if the Council planned to buy any of these affordable homes in the future.

Councillor Andrew Jones replied that the short answer was yes, but this question was not relevant to a planning document which set out the level of affordable housing provision needed in the borough.

In relation to the Hammersmith Bridge repairs, Councillor Jose Afonso asked when the tunnel proposal to replace the decaying bridge was predicted to be completed.

The Leader replied that the issue with the Hammersmith Bridge repairs had been highly politicised, which considerably delayed the repairs progress. The complex structure of the decaying bridge and the urgent need for repair to prevent its imminent collapse let to its fully closure in 2020. Since then the Council had spent £30 million in stabilisation work that allowed the bridge to reopen to pedestrians and cyclists. However, £250 million was the estimated cost to complete the repair work, which the Council would need to pay a third of this value. Therefore, the Council had proposed a plan to put tolls on the bridge to cover their share of the cost.

The Leader added the alternative proposal of having a “flyunder” the River Thames had the advantage of costing significantly less; and the Council could reclaim all the land left to pay off for the infrastructure cost. But this proposal would take a lot of government intervention and different thinking.

With the Leader’s permission, a local resident asked whether the proposal for the Hammersmith Gyratory in 2 to 3 years’ time would be to make it two-way to traffic and to create open spaces by St. Paul’s Church.

Bram Kainth, Executive Director of Place, replied that this was one of the many options proposed by the Supplementary Planning Document to better manage the traffic, but currently there was no firm proposal.

The Leader stated that the process carried out by the Council had always been to take genuine consultations, asking people’s opinions on the proposals and then making a decision, which would also be open to public scrutiny.

AGREED UNANIMOUSLY BY THE CABINET MEMBERS:

That Cabinet approves the SPD for adoption incorporating amendments following the public consultation. The amendments are outlined in a schedule of representations at appendix 3.

The Key Decision List was noted.