Agenda and minutes

To receive apologies for absence (if any).

There were none.

To receive declarations of disclosable pecuniary or non pecuniary interests, arising from business to be transacted at this meeting, from all Members present.

RESOLVED:  To note that the following interests were declared:

Agenda Item 4 – Public Questions

Councillor Paul Osborn declared a non-pecuniary interest in that he owned an electric vehicle.  He would remain in the room whilst the matter was considered and voted upon.

Councillor David Ashton declared a non-pecuniary interest in that he owned an electric vehicle.  He would remain in the room whilst the matter was considered and voted upon.

Councillor Marilyn Ashton declared a non-pecuniary interest in that she owned an electric vehicle.  She would remain in the room whilst the matter was considered and voted upon.

Councillor Hitesh Karia declared a non-pecuniary interest in that he owned an electric vehicle.  He would remain in the room whilst the matter was considered and voted upon.

Councillor Pritesh Patel declared a non-pecuniary interest in that he owned an electric vehicle.  He would remain in the room whilst the matter was considered and voted upon.

Agenda Item 8 - Local Areas of Special Character (LASC) - approval to consult on two areas recommended for designation.

Councillor Paul Osborn declared a non-pecuniary interest in that he lived near one of the proposed areas detailed in the report.  He would remain in the room whilst the matter was considered and voted upon.

Councillor Janet Mote declared a non-pecuniary interest in that she lived near one of the proposed areas detailed in the report.  She would remain in the room whilst the matter was considered and voted upon.

Agenda Item 9 - Public space protection order (PSPO) - Bentley Priory and the Viewpoint

Councillor Pritesh Patel declared a non-pecuniary interest in that he was a member of the Harrow Weald Common Board of Conservators.  He would remain in the room whilst the matter was considered and voted upon.

Councillor Stephen Greek declared a non-pecuniary interest in that he was the Chair of the Harrow Weald Common Board of Conservators as well as a member of the Old Redding Nature Reserve Management Committee.  He would remain in the room whilst the matter was considered and voted upon.

Councillor Marilyn Ashton declared a non-pecuniary interest in that she was a member of the Old Redding Nature Reserve Management Committee.  She would remain in the room whilst the matter was considered and voted upon.

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

RESOLVED:  To note that there were no petitions received at this meeting.

To note any public questions received.

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, Thursday 16 May 2024.  Questions should be sent to publicquestions@harrow.gov.uk

No person may submit more than one question].

To note that two public questions had been received and responded to and the recording had been placed on the website.

To receive any Councillor questions.

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, Thursday 16 May.]

RESOLVED:  That the Councillor Questions were responded to, and the recording placed on the Council’s website.

RESOLVED:  To note the contents of the Key Decision Schedule for the period May to August 2024.

For consideration

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

Report of the Corporate Director of Place & Chief Planning Officer.

RESOLVED: That

(1)            after discussion, the results of the review of two areas shown in Appendix 1 as proposed ‘Local Areas of Special Character’ (LASCs) namely: 3-29 (odd) and 2-40 (even) Butler Avenue and 2-26 (even): 1-33 (odd) Lance Road and West Harrow Recreation Ground: and in Pinner 1 and 3 - 40 (all) West End Avenue, 1-40 (all) Meadow Road and 24-38 (even) Eastcote Road, be noted;

(2)            the two recommended areas for designation as Local Areas of Special Character for consultation, be approved.

(3)            the outcomes of the consultation be reported back to the Planning Policy Advisory Panel and Cabinet with recommendations as to whether the areas should be designated.

Reason for Decision:  Harrow benefits from an exceptionally diverse historic environment.  It includes Conservation Areas designated under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as ‘areas of special architectural or historic interest, the character or appearance of which it is desirable to preserve or enhance’.  The National Planning Policy Framework [NPPF] cautions that ‘the concept of conservation not [be] devalued through the designation of areas that lack special interest’.  At the same time the NPPF and Historic England’s national guidance recognise the importance and necessity of identifying and maintaining up to date records of the significance of local heritage assets.  There are many local areas in Harrow that might not meet the strict criteria for Conservation Area status but do have local heritage interest.  This is a parallel to the existing local designations of locally listed buildings and locally listed parks and gardens in Harrow for those buildings and parks that do not meet the strict criteria for national heritage designation.  Accordingly, this report considers two areas against the designation criteria for Local Areas of Special Character and recommends specific streets / properties within these for consultation as Local Areas of Special Character.  The local consultation undertaken would be in accordance with national best practice and the Council’s Statement of Community Involvement.

Report of the Corporate Director of Place and Director for Environment.

RESOLVED:  That

(1)            the feedback received from the public consultation was noted;

(2)            the draft Bentley Priory and Viewpoint Public Spaces Protection Order was considered and approved for implementation;

(3)            authority be delegated to the Corporate Director Place to take all steps necessary to implement and publicise the Public Spaces Protection Order.

Reason for Decision:  The proposed Public Spaces Protection Order would allow direct action in relation to specified incidents at Bentley Priory and the Viewpoint.

Report of the Managing Director.

RESOLVED:  That the direct award for the provision of Temporary Recruitment Services to Pertemps Recruitment Partnership on a Master Vendor basis under the Yorkshire Purchasing Organisation (YPO) Managing Recruitment and Resourcing Framework, be approved.  The contract award was for 3 years with an option to extend by 1 year to commence on 6 August 2024, with a projected contract value for the term of 3 plus 1 year of £112m, of which £104m was salary cost and £8m was the charges paid to Pertemps and other agency suppliers.

Reason for Decision:  To ensure that the Council was able to continue to resource its workforce beyond August 2024 through a sustainable, efficient, and cost-effective model that would operate in the best interest of the Council.

Report of the Director of Finance & Assurance.

RESOLVED:  That the following was noted:

(1)            the programme for all procurement with an aggregate value of over £100,000 for the period April 2024 to March 2025 and the subsequent two-year ending March 2027, contained in Appendix 1 of the officer report,

(2)            all contracts awarded over £100,000 during the period April 2023 to the end of March 2024, contained in Appendix 2 of the officer report;

(3)            the contracts that were extended be compliant with the Public Contract Regulations 2015 and the Contract Procedure Rules, using extensions facilities already approved by the financial scheme of delegation, contained in Appendix 3 of the officer report;

(4)            an update be bought to Cabinet in July 2024 on the progress of the implementation of the Procurement Act 2023.

Reason for Decision:  The reason for the recommendations was to provide Cabinet with full oversight of the procurement programme for the period April 2024 to end of March 2025 and the subsequent two years, this was to ensure that Cabinet had an early opportunity to see the planned procurement programme to allow for timely engagement of portfolio holders in each of the procurements under the programme.

[Call in did not apply to the decision above as it was for noting.]

Report of the Managing Director.

RESOLVED:  That the following be approved:

(1)            the compliant direct award of contract via the YPO Software Application Solutions Framework for the following two IT systems:

a.     Social Care Case Management System

b.     Early Years ICT systems;

(2)            the following action be delegated to the Managing Director in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Performance Communications  and Customer Experience, to exercise the additional optional functionality detailed in the financial implications of this report, subject to a satisfactory full business case, which included:

·       Community Access Gateway Customer Portal

·       HIV/ MIE Health Integration

·       Provider Portal

·       Premium Customer Success Plan

The term of the contract for both systems is 3 years from June 2024, with an option to extend for a period of up to 2 years (+1+1) with effect from June 2024.The recommended provider was named in Appendix 2 of the officer report.

Reason for Decision:  The current contracts for the Mosaic Social Care Case Management and Synergy Early Years ICT systems are due to expire on 27 June 2024.

Both IT systems had been used by the London Borough of Harrow for a long period - 9 and 14 years respectively.  They were critical systems used by over 800 members of staff as well as over 1000 users within nursery and schools.  There were two dominant suppliers in the market and a reprocurement gave the best value for money for the local authority.

Report of the Assistant Director of Corporate Strategy

RESOLVED:  That

(1)            the allocation of the fifth extension of the Household Support Fund as set out in the officer report, be approved;

(2)            the purchase of select codes vouchers from Blackhawk Network to a value of £18,000 for the low-income proactive awards to care leavers and £31,000 for the application-based scheme (total £49,000) , be approved;

(3)            the transfer of approx. £1,174,707 to schools for them to provide free school meals (FSM) vouchers for approximately 6,500-6,750 households with children during the school holidays for Summer and Autumn terms 2024, be approved;

(4)            the transfer of £148,000 to Help Harrow to provide food aid across the borough, be approved;

(5)            the policy for the application-based scheme and the proposed administering process by Citizens Advice Harrow, be approved;

(6)            the Council’s Hardship Fund be redirected to the Household Support Fund application-based scheme for 2024/25;

(7)            authority be delegated to the Managing Director following consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Performance, Communications and Customer Experience to make technical scheme amendments to ensure the scheme met the criteria set by the Government and the Council and remained within the indicative grant level, including decisions on individual expenditure areas that exceeded the £500,000 threshold, if required; and

(8)            authority be delegated to the Assistant Director of Corporate Strategy following consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Performance, Communications and Customer Experience to best determine the expenditure of any underspend, to be repurposed in the following areas:

a)    to top up the application-based scheme; or

b)    to provide resources to food aid in Harrow through Help Harrow; or

c)     to rent arrears, or:

d)    to any area of eligible spend where extra resources are needed at that time.

Reason for Decision:  The recommendations in this report met the essential criteria for the grant as set out by the Department of Work and Pensions.  The Council had considered where best to target the funding and the proposals provide a balance of support, mindful that the funding was not spread too thinly.

The proposal for the eligible spend covered the following:

·                 Free school meals (FSM) vouchers, which had previously been found to provide effective support to vulnerable households with children.

·                 Vouchers for care leavers moving to independent accommodation.

·                 HelpHarrow and the Community Hub – this partnership with the Voluntary and Community Sector had shown to be effective in providing essential food assistance and other support quickly and effectively to any vulnerable household in the borough.

·                 Advice services – through the Conversation Café model, targeting support for unpaid carers.

An application-based scheme to be run within the Voluntary and Community Sector, which targeted households who had presented with financial hardship and in need of emergency financial support.

Report of the Director of Legal and Governance Services.

RESOLVED:  That the timetable for the preparation and consideration of the plans and strategies set out at Appendix A be noted and the Monitoring Officer be authorised to vary the timetable if appropriate.

Reason for Decision:  To comply with paragraph 3 of the Budget and Policy Framework Procedure Rules in Section 4C of the Council’s Constitution

Report of the Director of Legal and Governance Services.

RESOLVED:  That the membership and terms of reference of Cabinet Panels and Consultative Forums, the Chairs and Nominated Members of the Panels and Consultative Forums as set out in Appendix A to the officer report, be confirmed.

Reason for Decision:  To confirm appointments and to allow the Panels to be constituted.

Report of the Director of Legal and Governance Services.

RESOLVED:  That the Leader’s appointment of the identified Portfolio Holder Assistants and responsibilities be noted and that these supersede previous appointments.

Reason for Decision:  To enable the support to Cabinet Members in terms of information provision and management, to contribute to and ensure an effective decision-making framework as part of the democratic process.

[Call in did not apply to the decision above as it was for noting.]