Agenda and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber, Harrow Civic Centre, Station Road, Harrow, HA1 2XY. View directions

Contact: Nikoleta Nikolova, Senior Democratic & Electoral Services Officer  Tel: 07761 405898 E-mail:  nikoleta.nikolova@harrow.gov.uk

Media

Items
No. Item

478.

Welcome

Minutes:

Having declared the Cabinet meeting open, the Leader of the Council made the following clarifications in relation to the conduct the meeting:

 

·                 The meeting was being held in the Council Chamber at Harrow Civic Centre with Councillors Varsha Parmar, Natasha Proctor, Peymana Assad and the Leader present in the room.

 

·                 The other members of Cabinet (Councillors Sue Anderson, Simon Brown, Keith Ferry, Christine Robson, Krishna Suresh, Paul Osborn and John Higgins (voluntary sector representative) had joined the meeting virtually.

 

·                 Councillors Marilyn Ashton, Anjana Patel, Pritesh Patel and Kantilal Rabadia (for item 5 – Councillors questions) had also joined the meeting virtually.

479.

Apologies for Absence

To receive apologies for absence (if any).

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Phillip O’Dell.

480.

Declarations of Interest pdf icon PDF 68 KB

To receive declarations of disclosable pecuniary or non pecuniary interests, arising from business to be transacted at this meeting, from:

 

(a)          all Members of the Committee, Sub-Committee or Panel;

(b)          all other Members present in any part of the room or chamber.

Minutes:

RESOLVED:  To note that the declaration of interests had been published on the Council website.


481.

Petitions

To receive any petitions submitted by members of the public or Councillors.

Minutes:

RESOLVED:  To note that no petitions had been received.

482.

Public Questions

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, 14 June 2021.  Questions should be sent to publicquestions@harrow.gov.uk

No person may submit more than one question].

Minutes:

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

483.

Councillor Questions pdf icon PDF 195 KB

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, 14 June 2021].

Minutes:

RESOLVED:  That six Councillor Questions had been received and responded to and the recording placed on the Council’s website.

484.

Key Decision Schedule June - August 2021 pdf icon PDF 230 KB

Minutes:

Having noted that the report on “Treasury Management - Shared Service Arrangement with the Greater London Authority (GLA)” had been deferred to July, Cabinet

 

RESOLVED:  To note the contents of the updated Key Decision Schedule for the period June - August 2021.

485.

Progress on Scrutiny Projects pdf icon PDF 139 KB

For consideration

Minutes:

RESOLVED:  To receive and note the current progress of the scrutiny reports.

486.

Covid-19 Update pdf icon PDF 326 KB

Verbal update from the Chief Executive.

Minutes:

Having agreed to vary the order of business, Cabinet received a presentation from the Chief Executive, which provided Members with a regular update on Covid-19 cases across the borough, changes to community testing, role of the Council in key areas, vaccination progress and plans for future recovery.  Acknowledging the increasing pressures on Council services, significant public demand and the impact on organisational capacity and staff resilience throughout this challenging period, it was

 

RESOLVED:  That

 

(1)            the verbal update and accompanying presentation from the Chief Executive, be noted;

 

(2)            the drafting of a new business case for targeted testing, be noted;

 

(3)            the Corporate Director of Resources, following consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Finance and Resources, be authorised to enter into a new collaboration agreement with the Department for Health and Social Care for ongoing provision of asymptomatic Covid Testing.

 

[Call-in did not apply to the resolutions above as it was a presentation].

Resolved Items

487.

Adoption of the Edgware Town Centre Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) prepared jointly with the London Borough of Barnet pdf icon PDF 254 KB

Report of the Acting Corporate Director, Community.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

RESOLVED:  That

 

(1)            the representations received in response to the consultation on the draft Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) and the Councils’ responses to these set out in Appendix 2 to the officer report, be noted;

 

(2)            the revised Edgware Growth Area SPD attached at Appendix 3 to the officer report, which responded to the consultation responses received, be adopted;

 

(3)            the Interim Chief Planning Officer, following consultation with the Leader of the Council and Portfolio Holder for Strategy, Regeneration, Partnerships and Devolution, be authorised to consider and agree any necessary further amendments to the amended document arising as a result of Barnet Council’s formal consideration of the amended document;

 

(4)            the Interim Chief Planning Officer, following consultation with the Leader of the Council and Portfolio Holder for Strategy, Regeneration, Partnerships and Devolution, be authorised to make typographical corrections and any other necessary non-material amendments to the Edgware Growth Area SPD prior to formal publication of the SPD;

 

(5)            the Interim Chief Planning Officer, following consultation with the Leader of the Council and Portfolio Holder for Strategy, Regeneration, Partnerships and Devolution, be authorised to undertake any necessary statutory actions required for the formal adoption of the document.

 

Reason for Decision:  To amend the document where appropriate to reflect the outcomes of the consultation process and to formally adopt the SPD to ensure that it was afforded weight as a material planning consideration guiding development for Edgware Town Centre.

 

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.

488.

Modernisation and Recovery Funding pdf icon PDF 439 KB

Report of the Corporate Director, Resources.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

RESOLVED:  That

 

(1)            the modernisation transformation be fully restarted and the Corporate Director of Resources, following consultation with the relevant Portfolio Holder, be authorised to take steps to progress the planned changes (Cabinet would be regularly updated on the steps taken and any significant proposed changes would be brought back to Cabinet for decision);

 

(2)            it be agreed that short-term capacity be added to key areas of support, to help staff and managers as they worked to recover the Council from the pandemic and therefore support residents;

 

(3)            the following budgets be set aside utilising the flexible use of Capital Receipts’ Scheme:

1.     Modernisation Programme - £3,804,638

2.     Additional Capacity - £640,000

 

Reason for Decision:  The Council needed to prepare itself to move from how it operated during the pandemic to how it would work and recover after the lockdown had ended.  Only by having an effective organisation would the Council be able to support residents and businesses during recovery and in the longer term.

 

There were two key activities that would be central to the Council making this move:

 

1.              Fully restarting the Modernisation programme.  Most of the programme was put on hold when the pandemic started in order to release capacity and to not divert focus away from the response to the Covid-19 emergency.  The Modernisation programme would now be key to developing the organisation, and so supporting residents, as we moved out of the pandemic, including supporting the Council’s equalities, diversity and inclusion agenda.

 

2.              Adding short-term additional capacity to two key support areas to support the transformation and so that all staff and managers could be appropriately helped as they grappled to re-start services and move forward as the pandemic lifted.

 

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.

489.

Procurement of Pensions Administration System pdf icon PDF 201 KB

Report of the Director of Finance and Assurance.

 

Minutes:

Having agreed to note the confidential background papers to the officer report, Cabinet

 

RESOLVED:  That

 

(1)            the commencement of a procurement for the provision of pensions administration software and the hosting thereof be approved;

 

(2)            the use of the National Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) Framework as the procurement route be approved;

 

(3)            the Corporate Director of Resources, following consultation with the Director of Finance  and the Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Finance and Resources, be authorised to approve any procurement decisions made through this process and to award the contract for the Pensions Administration System following a compliant procurement.

 

Reason for Decision:  To ensure that the Council had a Pensions Administration system to discharge its responsibilities for the LGPS in Harrow.

 

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.

490.

Revenue and Capital Outturn 2020/21 pdf icon PDF 679 KB

Report of the Director of Finance and Assurance.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

RESOLVED:  That

 

(1)            the revenue and capital outturn positions, as set out in paragraphs 1.2 and 1.3 of the officer report, be noted;

 

(2)            the proposed amendments to the Capital Programme, as set out in paragraphs 3.6 and 3.33 to 3.44 of the officer report, be approved;

 

(3)            the Council’s Trading Update, as detailed in Appendix 6 to the officer report, be noted.

 

Reason for Decision:  To report the 2020/21 financial outturn position and to update Cabinet on trading company performance.

 

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.

491.

Procurement of Pensions Administration System

Background papers to the report of the Director of Finance and Assurance.

Minutes:

See Minute 488.

492.

Exclusion of the Press and Public

To note the attendance at this meeting of any duly appointed Reserve Members.

 

Reserve Members may attend meetings:-

 

(i)            to take the place of an ordinary Member for whom they are a reserve;

(ii)          where the ordinary Member will be absent for the whole of the meeting; and

(iii)         the meeting notes at the start of the meeting at the item ‘Reserves’ that the Reserve Member is or will be attending as a reserve;

(iv)         if a Reserve Member whose intention to attend has been noted arrives after the commencement of the meeting, then that Reserve Member can only act as a Member from the start of the next item of business on the agenda after his/her arrival.

Minutes:

RESOLVED:  That the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following item for the reasons set out below:

 

Agenda Item No

 

Title

Description of Exempt Information

16.

Information Report: Extension of Housing Repairs Contracts

Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information).

 

493.

Information Report: Extension of Housing Repairs Contracts

Report of the Divisional Director of Housing.

Minutes:

Cabinet considered a confidential report relating to the extension of housing repairs contract.

 

RESOLVED:  That

 

(1)            the Divisional Director of Housing Services, following consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Housing, be authorised to approve the extension of the contracts to the companies detailed in the officer report for a duration of 3 years respectively, commencing on  1 July 2021, with both contracts terminating on  30 June 2024.

 

(2)            the collective annual value of the contracts for the figure set out in the officer report - over the 3 year contract extension term, be noted.

 

Reason for Decision:  The award of the contract extension would allow the Council to continue provision of services as per its statutory duties as a social housing landlord.

 

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 to the resolutions above as it was a noting report].