Agenda and minutes

To approve as an accurate record, and the Chairman to sign, the minutes of the meeting held on 27 June 2016.

RESOLVED

The minutes of the meeting held on 27 June 2016 were agreed as a correct record and were signed by the Chair.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Elaine Chumnery and Miriam Shea.

Councillor Wesley Harcourt declared a non-pecuniary interest as a member of the OPDC planning committee and as Hammersmith and Fulham’s Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport.

This report presents the Trust’s Annual Trustee’s Report which includes the draft 2015/16 financial accounts.  The external auditors (KPMG LLP) require the Trust to approve a letter of representation.

Mark Jones presented the Wormwood Scrubs Charitable Trust Annual Trustee’s Report which included the draft 2015/16 financial accounts. He noted that financial performance for the Trust was £52,655 worse when compared to last year and the net incoming resources for the year totalled a loss of £59,199. The amount carried forward consisted of unrestricted income funds of £254,618 and designated funds relating to the valuation of land and buildings of £5,000,001.

Sarah McKean (KPMG) presented the external auditor’s report and highlighted the following key points:

·         The auditor would issue an unqualified audit opinion which indicated that they had found no significant accounting issues and the Trust’s policies and controls were considered appropriate.

·         There were three audit adjustments detailed in Appendix E of the report but no major weaknesses were found.

·         The charity had made a loss this year and were forecasting losses going forward for three years. The auditor advised bringing expenditure in line with income to secure the long term viability of the charity.

Councillor Joe Carlebach commented that the Trustees were well aware of the cash position and have been taking steps to rectify the current position. He asked that that be made clear in the report. Sarah McKean assured him that it would not be in the auditor’s opinion or the management letter.

Stephen Waley Cohen requested the following changes:

·         That the report include a line stating that the Trust had to either ‘increase income or reduce expenditure’.

·         In the first paragraph (page 2) under Overview of the Year – the phrase ‘much valued area of open space’ be attributed to OPDC.

The Committee noted that the auditor’s report had been tabled on the evening of the meeting – not giving members adequate time consider it. They asked that, in future, officers ensured all papers were submitted by the standard deadline of five working days before the meeting.

Councillor Joe Carlebach asked what the distribution of the Annual Trustee’s Report was. Mark Jones responded that it would be published on the website and sent to the Mayor’s Development Corporation. Councillor Carlebach asked that it was sent to the relevant contact at the Ministry of Defence, through the Minister.

The Committee agreed the recommendations, subject to the points raised above.

RESOLVED

1.    That the Committee noted the content of the draft 2015/16 financial accounts for Wormwood Scrubs Charitable Trust.

2.    That the Committee approved delegation of authority to the Director for Finance & Resources, Environmental Services for the approval of the audited 2015/16 Statement of Accounts and Trustee’s report in the event of auditor changes subsequent to this Committee meeting.

3.    That the Committee approved the management representation letter (attached as Appendix 2 of the report).

4.    That the Committee approved the Trustee’s Annual Report, attached as Appendix 1 of the report.

5.    That the Committee noted the contents of the annual risk assessment (contained in the Trustee’s report on pages 25-26).

The Trust is asked to consider the content of this report and agree the proposed cycle path through Wormwood Scrubs.

HS2 – Wetland Mitigation Legal Agreement and Stamford Brook Sewer

Farah Rossi presented the HS2 elements of the report. She noted that the wetland migration legal agreement was with lawyers and they were waiting for the engrossments. Regarding the Stamford Brook sewer realignment – officers were meeting with engineers to discuss the proposals.

Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation – Draft Local Plan

Officers reported that the consultation on the draft local plan had finished. There had been over 7000 responses that had been broken down into 28 key themes for the OPDC papers. The document will be revised with regard to the responses received and a further, final consultation (Regulation 19) will take place in Spring 2017.

OPDC Wormwood Scrubs Survey Questionnaire

Councillor Harcourt noted that the questionnaire was only sent to him and not the other members of the Trust. Officers noted that the survey raised a number of issues – and supported the idea that the Trust should have a dedicated supporting officer. It was also noted that the scrubs should be removed from the OPDC planning area. Farah Rossi said that OPDC officers would analyse the returns and we could ask for feedback to the Trust soon.

Filming and Events Update

Dave Page noted that Jem Kale had taken a secondment within the Council and recruitment to replace him was ongoing. The website was in development and should help to promote Red Gra as a filming destination - screenshots of the new site would be emailed to the Trust.

Community Safety Update

Dave Page reported that there had been no increase in incidents over the summer.

Grounds Maintenance and Site Management Update

Ian Ross noted that officers had been approached by a developer looking for translocation sites for slow worms from the Oaklands site off Old Oak Lane. Piles of mulch had been dropped to build up the slow worm population. Councillor Harcourt noted that this was a good example of information that should go on the new website to alert residents.

Officers reported that Network Rail had not been responsive to their requests for a joint approach to dealing with Japanese Knotweed. Councillor Carlebach advised officers to speak to the Office of Rail Regulation, Network Rail’s regulator, if they continued to be unresponsive on this issue. Farah Rossi noted that they had asked HS2 to consider removal of the knotweed as early works.

Introduction of Cycle Quietway between East Acton and Kensington

Richard Duffill presented proposals for the cycle quietway. The proposals were in line with H&F’s cycling strategy and TfL's efforts to get more people cycling. He explained that Quietways were routes that encouraged residents who aren't already cyclists to take up cycling. They were, as the name suggests, quiet and safe as they were located away from main roads. Consultation with residents showed that 71 percent favoured the whole route and 15 percent partially favoured the route, with minor amendments.75 percent of respondents approved the proposed new path on the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

The date of the next meeting is on Tuesday 6 December 2016.

The next meeting was scheduled for 6 December 2016 – venue TBC.