Agenda and draft minutes

No apologies for absence were received.

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Councillors are not obliged to withdraw from the meeting where a dispensation to that effect has been obtained from the Audit, Pensions and Standards Committee.

There were no declarations of interest.

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 6^th March 2024.

Matters arising:

List of Actions from the Previous Meeting

Responding to Faye Thomas’ (Co-opted Member) request for the statistics on fly tipping incidents around Braybrook Street, Osama El-Amin (Trust Manager) noted that the information was circulated to Committee members in March.

He reported that a Trust bank account had been opened, thanking Nick Falcone (Advisor to the Trust) for his work. Updates on the Linford Christie capital programme and the learning initiatives would be given in the manager’s report.

Regarding the state of the willow tree on the northwest corner of the Scrubs, verbal confirmation had been received from HS2 that they would not be felling the tree. Officers were awaiting written confirmation and working closely with HS2 to ensure that any traffic diversion work would avoid any roots of trees.

In response to the Committee’s question on recharges from other contract LOT’s relating to the use of the ground’s maintenance depot, Osama El-Amin explained that it would rely on having some capital improvement in the depot area, which was also contingent on the Linford Christie capital programme. As part of the Programme work, the retaining wall on the western side of the depot would need to be demolished, and the space within the depot needed to be reoriented to improve the welfare facilities for the staff working there. That required a better partnership with Idverde and all users of the depot area contributing to improving the facilities.

Osama El-Amin noted that the update on redesigning the Braybrook play area would be given in the manager’s report. Answering Faye Thomas’ (Co-opted Member) question of whether the vehicular access point width restriction on Wulfstan Street would be kept, HS2 had confirmed that the restriction would remain the same and would not be impacted by any closures or diversions of Old Oak Common Lane.

RESOLVED

The minutes of the meeting held on 6^th March 2024 were agreed as an accurate record.

This report presents the Wormwood Scrubs Charitable Trust Annual Trustee’s Report which includes the draft 2023/24 financial accounts (Appendix A).

Nick Falcone (Advisor to the Trust) presented the Trust’s Statements of Accounts 2023-24, highlighting the following:

·       The Trust delivered a financial surplus of £675,347, including £350,000 of income from the Kensington Aldridge Academy lease.

·       The non-routine maintenance costs were low.

·       The Trust had general unrestricted reserves just over £2.1 million, of which £1.4 million was designated for future capital maintenance works as set out in the Reserves policy, which would go towards the Linford Christie Stadium and the long-term maintenance of the Alternative Ecological Mitigation (AEM) Masterplan.

·       The Trust’s fixed assets revaluation reserve was valued at a historic £5 million, with other land and buildings on the site valued at a nominal value of £1.

Stuart McKay (MHA) introduced the Audit Findings Report, which used a risk-based approach to identify the significant risks that would be assessed. The materiality benchmark was around £30,000. There was no severe internal control risks identified. There was only one advisory recommendation regarding the risk register which suggested the best practice would be attaching risk owners to the risks identified and making it clear who would be managing the risk and how. No adjusting misstatements were identified.

Stephen Waley-Cohen (Co-opted Member) noted that it would be better to refer to Faye Thomas (Co-opted Member) and him as Trustees on page 4 of the Annual Report. He suggested that recent developments regarding the planning application to Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation (OPDC) should be mentioned in the annual report as well. Simon Ingyon (Advisor to the Trust) explained that the report was referring to the 2023-24 financial year only. Stuart McKay added that events after the reporting period could be included if deemed necessary by the Trust. Stephen Waley-Cohen (Co-opted Member) also suggested that the awarding of the Green Flag award should be mentioned in the report. Nick Falcone agreed that those amendments would be made.

ACTION: Nick Falcone

Simon Ingyon pointed out a typo in the report to the Committee, noting that it had nothing to do with the Statement of Accounts or the Audit Report.

ACTION: Nick Falcone

RESOLVED

The Committee:

1. Approved the Trustee’s Annual Report (including the Trust’s Reserves policy), attached as Appendix A.
2. Approved the 2023/24 financial accounts for Wormwood Scrubs Charitable Trust (“the Trust”), incorporated as part of the Annual Report.
3. Approved the management representation letter (attached as Appendix C).
4. Noted the contents of the annual risk assessment (contained in the Trustee’s report on pages 18-19).
5. Noted that the accounts remain subject to change until the final audit opinion is issued and delegated authority to the Assistant Director Parks and Leisure, Simon Ingyon in consultation with the Chair of the Committee, to approve any changes to the 2023/24 Financial Accounts, Annual Report and the management representation letter required as part of the finalisation of the audit process.

Alfie Kerrigan (Advisor to the Trust) presented the Law Enforcement Team (LET) Report, covering the following points:

• From 1^st April to 27^th November 2024, 1,536 interactions had been conducted on Wormwood Scrubs. 29 Fixed Penalty Notices had been issued for breach of the Responsible Dogs Ownership Public Space Protection Order (PSPO). Two community protection warnings had been issued to dog walking companies for breach of the PSPO.
• Community protection notice had been issued to one of these companies. Breach of this notice would result in additional fixed penalty notices being issued and legal proceedings being taken. The Safer Neighbourhood Police team had been informed about this and they would act and enforce accordingly.
• Other engagements taken place across Wormwood Scrubs included the removal and dispersal of recent rough sleepers. There was no traveller encampment lately, which was helped by the implementation of electric bollards on Scrubs Lane.
• The patrols would continue from the LET Day and Night teams with future and new operations being conducted to target antisocial behaviour on Wormwood Scrubs area and surrounding locations. Clare Willis had recently taken over as the other Senior Law Enforcement Officer.

Faye Thomas (Co-opted Member) asked what the penalty was for breaching the community protection notice. Alfie Kerrigan replied that it would result in legal action being taken, and the court could impose a fine up to £20,000. Ian Baron (Advisor to the Trust) added that the community protection warning would be issued first, but if the dog walker continued to breach it, the LET would gather evidence for issuing the Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN). The community protection notice would be issued afterwards, and if it was breached, the case would be referred to the legal team for taking legal action. This process could take a few months to a year. The community protection warning notice, which was a form of antisocial behaviour warning notice, stipulated that the person who did not comply with the PSPO would be banned from entering all open spaces, or they would have to obtain a dog walking license from Hammersmith & Fulham. If such a license could be produced, the community protection warning notice would be reviewed for allowing them back into the Scrubs and the borough.

In response to Councillor Bora Kwon’s question about when there could be an evaluation of the success of PSPO, Alfie Kerrigan replied that the team would collate some data and feedback to the Committee.

ACTION: Alfie Kerrigan/Ian Baron

Simon Ingyon (Advisor to the Trust) added that the PSPO was signed in June 2023 and would be in place for three years. The first year was mainly about educating the public on the responsible dog ownership issue. A review would likely happen in 2025, and a more formal one would take place in 2026 to investigate whether an extension of the PSPO would be sought.

Stephen Waley-Cohen (Co-opted Member) noted that some professional dog walkers were instructed to bring more than four dogs, which was beyond the limit of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

HS2 funded Alternative Ecological Mitigation (AEM) Masterplan and Procurement Strategy

Victoria Abel (Advisor to the Trust) gave an update on the planning application of the Alternative Ecological Mitigation (AEM) Masterplan. The application was submitted to OPDC in April 2024. It received a number of objections from local people and Sport England. OPDC had concerns about the footpath connectivity across the site and did not recommend approval of the planning application. The Trust considered this with HS2 and decided to remove parts of the plan that required planning permission, which were the borehole, pond and footpaths. Improving access remains an important part of the plan and the Trust would continue to work with stakeholders to co-produce footpath proposals next year, while engaging with OPDC. This AEM Masterplan proposal included the Sustainable Urban Drainage System (SUDs) made up on a large scrape, tree and shrubs planting, meadows and grasslands creation and Hibernacula’s bird and bat boxes, which will be managed by a 10 Year Management and Maintenance Plan.

Stephen Waley-Cohen (Co-opted Member) welcomed these changes on behalf of the Friends of the Wormwood Scrubs but would like to have more discussion with the Trust on the precise location of the SUDs due to concerns of them blocking footpaths. Victoria Abel assured that the SUDs were quite small and shallow and could be relocated if the direction of travel around the stadium changed.

Councillor Dominic Stanton expressed that it was a shame that a large part of the masterplan which had been under discussion for a long time was being discarded and wondered if this decision was being near-sighted. Victoria Abel said that it took a while for OPDC to decide if planning permission was needed and with the objections lodged the planning process would have taken at least 9 to 12 months.

Councillor Dominic Stanton followed up by asking what would happen if the masterplan was not approved. Mark Raisbeck (Advisor to the Trust) believed that it would be a shame if the Trust did not press ahead with what could be pressed ahead with quickly. Work could progress quickly if the masterplan was being approved by the Committee, and the elements which required planning permission could be explored and pursued separately.

Councillor Dominic Stanton requested that if it could be noted that the Committee was only approving part of the new masterplan.

The Chair said that it was possible, adding that she was incredibly disappointed in the new masterplan particularly as residents had come to her saying that they would want a path network but had not been able to voice that publicly. She proposed approving the masterplan in two tranches—first with the work that did not require planning permission and then exploring how to deliver the access improvements.

Victoria Abel assured that the footpath and signage would be looked at early next year and the Trust would co-produce a proposal for a network of footpaths with stakeholders including the Friends of Wormwood Scrubs and the hospital.

Simon Ingyon noted that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

The next meeting is due to take place on 18^th March 2025.

The Committee noted the date of the next meeting scheduled to be held on 18^th March 2025.