Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence had been received from Antonio Weiss.

RESOLVED:  To note that the following petitions had been received:

1.            Petition  - Community Centre, 18 Byron Road

Mr Mrinal Choudhury presented  a petition on behalf of London Kalibari with the following request:

We request the Council to remove parking restrictions on Oxford Road and Byron Road so that members and associates can park near the Centre, especially on Saturday and Sunday.

RESOLVED:  That the petition be received and referred to the Corporate Director, Community for a response.

2.            Petition – Parking in The Ridgeway

Stewart Burns presented a petition on behalf of residents of The Ridgeway with the following request:

We request the Council to make The Ridgway a Residents Only Parking Road with limited parking outside of the e.g from 10.00 am?11.00 am and from 2.00 pm to 3.00 pm.

RESOLVED:  That the petition be received and referred to the Corporate Director, Community for a response.

3.            Petition  - CPZ at Wealdstone High Street and Masons Avenue

Mrs Satma Cassim presented a petition on behalf of business owners and customers in Wealdstone High Street and Masons Avenue with the following request:

We request the Council to meet with business owners and customers to discuss the effects of the CPZ introduced in the area.

RESOLVED:  That the petition be received and referred to the Corporate Director, Community for a response.

To receive any public questions received in accordance with paragraph 16 of the Executive Procedure Rules.

Questions will be asked in the order in which they were received.  There will be a time limit of 15 minutes for the asking and answering of public questions.

[The deadline for receipt of public questions is 3.00 pm, Monday 8 April 2019.  Questions should be sent to publicquestions@harrow.gov.uk  

No person may submit more than one question].

RESOLVED:  To note that no public questions had been received for this meeting.

To receive any Councillor questions received in accordance with paragraph 17 of the Executive Procedure Rules.

Questions will be asked in the order agreed with the relevant Group Leader by the deadline for submission and there be a time limit of 15 minutes.

[The deadline for receipt of Councillor questions is 3.00 pm, Monday 8 April 2019].

The Councillor Questions were responded to and the audio recording placed on the Council’s website.

RESOLVED:  That

(1)          the contents of the Key Decision Schedule (KDS) for the period April to June 2019 be noted;

(2)          it be noted that the item on ‘Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) – Proposed Amendments to Neighbourhood CIL Allocations Process within the Harrow and Wealdstone Opportunity Area’ listed on the April KDS had been withdrawn; and

(3)          it be noted that the Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee had agreed that a Key Decision item relating to the ‘Property Acquisition’ be added to the agenda for the reasons set out in Public Notice 2 published with the agenda.

RESOLVED:  That the progress on scrutiny projects report be noted.

Report of the Divisional Director, Housing Services

RESOLVED:  That the Divisional Director of Housing be authorised to award a contract to Stannah (stairlift providers) for £956,000 via the PfH framework, following consultation with the Portfolio Holders for Housing and Finance & Commercialisation.

Reasons for Decision:  The estimated value of the contract to be procured was £956,000 therefore Cabinet approval was required in order to comply with the Council’s Contract Procedure Rules.

The £956,000 award was an estimate and would be contained within the approved DFG and HRA capital budgets over the four years 2019-20 to 2022?23.  The expenditure would form part of the overall aids and adaptations programme which had been approved as part of a separate Gateway report.

Alternative Options Considered and Rejected:  As set out in the report.

Conflict of Interest relating to the matter declared by Cabinet Member/Dispensation Granted:  None.

Report of the Divisional Director, Housing Services

Having considered the confidential appendices it was

RESOLVED:  That

(1)          the business model for the Grange Farm regeneration project and the capital budget for the delivery of Phase 1 be approved;

(2)          the award of a design and build contract for the construction of Grange Farm Phase 1 to Higgins Construction PLC on confirmed award of the £10m Housing Infrastructure Funding be approved;

(3)          the Corporate Director, Community, following consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Housing, Portfolio Holder for Finance and Resources and Portfolio Holder for Regeneration, Planning and Employment, Director of Finance and Director of Legal and Governance, be authorised to accept tenders and enter into contracts, submit grant applications and bids for additional resources and enter into any related legal agreements for any matters referred to in this report and which may contribute towards the Council’s housing regeneration initiatives.

Reason for Decision:  To ensure the delivery of Phase 1 of the Grange Farm housing regeneration project.

Alternative Options Considered and Rejected:  As set out in the report.

Conflict of Interest relating to the matter declared by Cabinet Member/Dispensation Granted:  None.

Report of the Divisional Director, Housing Services

RESOLVED:  That

(1)          the Corporate Director, Community, following consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Housing and the Portfolio Holder for Finance  and Resources  and the Director of Finance and Director of Legal & Governance Services, be authorised to commence the procurement process for a new Housing and Asset Management solution and a new Health & Safety Compliance System;

(2)          the Corporate Director, Community, following consultation with the Portfolio Holder  for Housing and  the Portfolio Holder for Finance and Resources,the Director of Finance and Director of Legal & Governance Services be authorised to approve the award of contract recommendations following the procurement process.

Reason for Decision:  To progress the procurement of the systems which would achieve improvements to health and safety compliance and the way in which we served our customers as it would enable service improvements and efficiencies.

Alternative Options Considered and Rejected:  As set out in the report.

Conflict of Interest relating to the matter declared by Cabinet Member/Dispensation Granted:  None.

Report of the Corporate Director, Community

RESOLVED:  That

(1)          approval to procure and select the contractor/(s) for the provision of the Special Needs taxi transport and the labour supply frameworks for the Harrow and Brent shared transport service be granted;

(2)          those frameworks detailed in Resolution (1) above should incorporate flexibility to accommodate the London Borough of Ealing who had expressed an interest in joining the Special Needs shared transport services and its associated contracts and framework;

(3)          as part of the procurement exercise, it be agreed and noted that officers from all relevant Directorates, would also consider alternative ways to deliver the special needs taxi transport service;

(4)          the Corporate Director, Community, following consultation with the Corporate Director People, the Portfolio Holder Environment and the Portfolio Holder for Finance and Resources be authorised to:

·         finalise the procurement exercises and award the framework contract/s, and/or

·         authorise the implementation of an agreed alternative delivery model for the service.

Reason for Decision:  To ensure the Council fulfilled its statutory functions for transporting those with special needs. 

Alternative Options Considered and Rejected:  As set out in the report.

Conflict of Interest relating to the matter declared by Cabinet Member/Dispensation Granted:  None.

Report of the Corporate Director, Community

Having considered the confidential appendices, it was

RESOLVED:  That

(1)          the proposed property purchase on the Head of Terms set out at Appendix 1 to the officer report be approved;

(2)          the Corporate Director, Community, following consultation with the Director of Finance, Portfolio Holder of Regeneration, Planning and Employment and the Portfolio Holder for Finance and Resources, be authorised to give the final approval of the purchase, including any variation to the Heads of Terms, subject to satisfactory survey reports, valuation, due diligence and financial viability.

Reason for Decision:  This proposed property acquisition would be a strategic addition to the Council’s property portfolio.

Alternative Options Considered and Rejected:  As set out in the report.

Conflict of Interest relating to the matter declared by Cabinet Member/Dispensation Granted:  None.

[Call-in did not apply as a waiver of Call-in had been obtained from the Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee that the decision proposed was reasonable and should be treated as a matter of urgency as any delay likely to be caused by the Call-in process would seriously prejudice the Council’s interests.

Reasons for Urgency:  The matter could not be delayed to a later Cabinet meeting as, under the Heads of Terms, the Council was required to simultaneously exchange contracts and complete the purchase within 25 working days of receiving legal papers from the Vendor.  These were standard commercial terms for property purchases and if the Council could not comply the Vendor may re-market the site and the Council may lose this opportunity.]

Report of the Divisional Director, Strategic Commissioning

RESOLVED:  That the report be noted and Portfolio Holders continue working with officers to achieve improvement against identified key challenges, Appendix 1 to the report refers.

Reason for Decision:  To avail Cabinet of performance against key measures and to identify and assign corrective action where necessary.

Alternative Options Considered and Rejected:  As set out in the report.

Conflict of Interest relating to the matter declared by Cabinet Member/Dispensation Granted:  None.

Visva Sathasivam, Interim Director of Adult Social  Services

On behalf of the Cabinet the Leader took the opportunity to thank Visva Sathasivam for his contribution to the work of the Council whilst Interim Director of Adult Social Services and wished him well for the future.