Agenda and minutes

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

Contact: Kenny Uzodike, Senior Democratic & Electoral Services Officer  E-mail:  kenny.uzodike@harrow.gov.uk

Media

Items
No. Item

9.

Attendance by Reserve Members

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.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

RESOLVED:  To note the attendance at this meeting of the following duly appointed Reserve Member:

 

Ordinary Member

  

Reserve Member

Councillor Govind Bharadia

Councillor Matthew Goodman-Freeman

 

10.

Declarations of Interest

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;

(b)          all other Members present.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

RESOLVED:  To note the declarations of interest, if any, as published on the Council’s website prior to the meeting.

11.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 135 KB

That the minutes of the meeting held on 17 October 2022 be taken as read and signed as a correct record.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

RESOLVED:  That the minutes of the special meeting held on 17 October 2022 be taken as read and signed as a correct record.

12.

Public Questions

To receive any public questions received in accordance with Committee Procedure Rule 17 (Part 4B of the Constitution).

 

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, 3 November 2022.  Questions should be sent to publicquestions@harrow.gov.uk  

No person may submit more than one question].

Additional documents:

Minutes:

There were none.

13.

Petitions

To receive petitions (if any) submitted by members of the public/Councillors under the provisions of Committee Procedure Rule 15 (Part 4B of the Constitution).

Additional documents:

Minutes:

There were none.

14.

References from Council/Cabinet

(if any).

Additional documents:

Minutes:

There were none.

Recommended Items

Additional documents:

15.

Overview and Scrutiny Work Programme 2022-2026 pdf icon PDF 114 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee received the Overview and Scrutiny Work Programme, a report of the Acting Corporate Director, Resources which set out scrutiny work programme for 2022-26, as devised by the Scrutiny Leadership Group and provided an outline of the key areas of focus for the scrutiny function until the next whole-borough elections in 2026.

 

The officer informed Members that Council directorates and NHS partners were asked for advice on scrutiny’s proposals for its work programme, on timing, feasibility and approach.  As part of the engagement on the draft scrutiny work programme discussions were also held with CSB (Corporate Strategic Board) and DMTs (Directorate Management Teams).

 

The Scrutiny Leadership Group would provide steer for the work programme and have quarterly reviews to prioritise items and consider emerging topical issues that warranted attention during the course of the year.

 

The work programme was divided into the following three categories:

 

·                 the work Scrutiny Leads could pursue through scrutiny leads responsibilities,

·                 the reports that could be listed on the agenda of Committee for input

·                 work areas that warranted more in-depth scrutiny through review work.

 

The officer informed Members the following review areas had been that identified for immediate start from 2022 to 2024, once the work programme was approved:

 

·                 customer experience strategy – immediate start

·                 childhood immunisations – immediate start

·                 climate change strategy development - 2023

·                 enforcement strategy development - 2023

·                 implementation of the adult social care reform provisions – 2023/24.

 

The officer suggested that as there were several new Members in the Scrutiny Committee, an induction, or a briefing on the different available approaches in terms of taking identified topic areas forward might be helpful.

 

Members agreed that induction sessions would prove useful to both old and new Members and expressed a desire for them to be scheduled as soon as possible.  The Chair commented that although the Committee Members had gone through an induction session previously, additional sessions would be welcomed. 

 

A Member questioned about the time scales for the Committee’s review of the implementation of a new customer experience strategy as stated on page five of the Programme and if scoping meetings would be held before the report was produced.

 

The officer explained that customer experience strategy reports to Cabinet could be listed on the Committee’s agenda for the next meeting for Members’ input and scoping would begin once the work programme was approved.

 

Resolved to RECOMMEND: 

 

That the Scrutiny Work Programme 2022-26 be approved and referred to Council for endorsement.

Resolved Items

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16.

Harrow Strategic Development Partnership - Review and Progress

Minutes:

Following a brief introduction by the Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Planning and Regeneration Councillor Marilyn Ashton, the Committee received the report of the Corporate Director, Place which set out review results and progress on the HSDP.

 

Members asked questions as follows:

 

·                 A Member questioned if homes for private sale were freehold or leasehold and if any thought had been given to present financial difficulties and people obtaining mortgages to purchase these homes in the future.  The Interim Director for Commercial Development responded that the flats would have a 250-year lease and there was no intention to transfer the freehold but with the houses, the freehold would be transferred.  He confirmed that current issues had been considered and the partnership would look to take advantage ofwhatever products may be available to help in the future. Mortgage difficulties would not help the sales rate which was important to the HSDP.  However, the sales were not due to take place for some time and by then the situation may be different.

 

·                 A Member questioned about the availability of grant funding for Phases two and three of Grange Farm. Alison Pegg, the Director for Regeneration responded that there was no grant funding.  The Housing Infrastructure Funding (HIF), which was available to the Council as long as the whole development continued, had been paid. Phases two and three would be funded entirely by the Council.

 

·                 A Member questioned if vacant properties in phase three of Grange Farm would be used as temporary accommodation as was done in phase one and the Director for Regeneration confirmed that phase three properties would be used as temporary accommodation for as long as possible, and there were plans to enable people currently living in phase two temporary accommodation to move to phase three so they could continue living in Harrow.

 

·                 Members questioned about the availability of public parking on the site for the Town Hall and the possibility of hiring out the council chamber and the large committee rooms to generate income for the Council.  Interim Director for Commercial Development confirmed that 60 car parking spaces were intended to be dedicated to the Town Hall.  It was early in the design process and there were a number of options available to the Council which would be considered in terms of what would go on site including car parking, subject to consideration by the planners.  The Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Planning and Regeneration stated that the construction of the Town Hall so that the building that could balance being a democratic hub and also be flexible enough to be hired out to generate income for the Council was an option.

 

·                 Members welcomed the fact that a decision had been made about the Peel Road site and the removal of the Civic Centre as the decision had been pending for many years.  They also welcomed the proposal for the location of the Town Hall as they felt it would make the Town Hall a focal  ...  view the full minutes text for item 16.